Who is BABYMONSTER?
After seven successful years of BLACKPINK, YG Entertainment debuted their seven-member girl group BABYMONSTER. The “baby” part of the name comes from how young the members are, as the youngest is only 15. The “monster” comes from their darker concept with three hard-hitting rappers. Firstly, AHYEON of the group sat out of their first debut due to health issues. The six girls released the songs “BATTER UP” and “Stuck In The Middle.” “BATTER UP” is a classic YG Entertainment sound of a hip-hop beat with angelic vocals and strong raps. The classic YG ending appears in this track: a switch-up at the end where the girls do a chant with intense choreography. “Stuck In The Middle” was a ballad with soft angelic vocals that showcased BABYMONSTER’s pure talent. It was a switch-up from “BATTER UP,” which was more intense and “in your face.”
The group formed through multiple evaluations of the girls that were posted to YouTube. This included a mashup performance of their senior 2NE1’s greatest hits. All of the fans who tuned into the weekly videos wanted YG Entertainment to debut all of the girls and not leave anyone behind. Eventually, the company decided to debut all of the girls in the finale episode.
BABYMONSTER Makes their Seven Member Debut
YG announced after “Stuck In The Middle” AHYEON’s return to BABYMONSTER participating in their upcoming first mini album, BABYMONS7ER. Released on April 1, it’s composed of seven tracks. Three repeat songs are “BATTER UP (7 ver.),” “Stuck In The Middle (7 ver.)” and “Stuck In The Middle (Remix).” Lastly, they added their pre-debut single, “DREAM,” to the mini album as well. The “7 ver.” indicates new versions of the previously released songs with AHYEON receiving lines.
AHYEON covered Charlie Puth’s “Dangerously” with outstanding vocals, which led Puth to gift BABYMONSTER a full English song called “LIKE THAT.” This is the best track off of the mini album with an infectious chorus and a ’90s hip-hop-sounding production. The girls also deliver perfect high notes in the post-chorus—a highlight of the project. There are no bad songs on this album. This writer, though, wishes they released more songs that weren’t debuted already. The seven versions are a must to include all the members, but there should’ve been more original tracks.
Title Track “SHEESH” Review
BABYMONSTER did a great job sticking to that dark, intensive concept and sounds like a classic YG Entertainment hit. They switch off from perfectly delivered vocals to the rap line delivering impressive bars in a verse. The chorus is repetitive but catchy, repeating the word “sheesh.” The best parts of the song are the rap verse and the switch-up chant at the end where they spell out their name. This is the perfect song to debut with as it follows the YG formula while creating a storyline for BABYMONSTER, as they want people to fear them. According to NextShark, “Lead track ‘Sheesh’ received more than 25 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours after being posted on Sunday.”
Being the newest girl group in the company to debut after BLACKPINK came with heavy pressure. They handled it effortlessly and definitely left a mark on the K-pop scene. BABYMONSTER is oozing potential to be a prominent fifth-generation girl group. The group plans on allegedly releasing a full-length project sometime this year. For their broadcast stage, the group has been receiving multiple praises for their stage presence with exceptional vocals and a live band.
