The Negative Feedback HYBE Gave To ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin About NewJeans

Since their debut, NewJeans has enjoyed positive attention for their unique concept and music, both in South Korea and internationally. Behind the scenes, however, not everything has been sunshine and rainbows.

In an interview, Min Hee Jin, the creative director of the group as well as the CEO of their label ADOR, revealed that the group’s much-anticipated debut track actually didn’t get positive in-house feedback.

Min Hee Jin said that she purposefully chose songs that were not the usual K-Pop sound to make the group stand out and induce curiosity in the listeners. But during the process of selecting songs for NewJeans’ debut, there were inevitable conflicts between her and the label representatives of HYBE.

During the listening session of the song, some HYBE representatives felt that “Attention” was a flat song with an unpopular sound style. She also heard opinions that the group might not make it big since they are not the traditional K-Pop material.

Min Hee Jin said that this feedback initially made her anxious that her choice might not be comprehensible to the public. But eventually, she realized that it would be impossible to match the taste of every listener out there, no matter what sound she chose.

So, in the end, I didn’t care. Because I had a clear goal and I was confident of the song I picked.

—Min Hee Jin

Netizens praised the CEO for pushing through her decision to introduce NewJeans through a “non-K-Pop” sound that ultimately benefitted the group.

Min Hee Jin is just good. She found the members well and hired the members of her label well too. She pulled through just like she planned, and it worked. There were probably a lot of people who didn’t know Min Hee Jin, but there were also a lot of people who were waiting for Min Hee Jin. I’m sure she already had some sort of sense that it’ll work out well.. I’m sure even if people around her told her that it won’t work or that it will work, this path wouldn’t have been easy for her if she didn’t believe in herself.

— Netizen

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Check out NewJeans’ “Attention” below: