Does A “NewJeans Universe” Exist? CEO Min Hee Jin Offers Clarification

In a recent interview with Cine21 magazine, Min Hee Jin, the CEO of HYBE’s subsidiary label ADOR, shared why NewJeans doesn’t have a multiverse concept for their discography.

There are many K-Pop artists whose discography revolves around an alternative universe created through the storytelling aspect of songs and music videos. It’s like all their songs tell bits and pieces of a continuous story and every new release reveals a small puzzle piece that will eventually complete the big picture. Artists like EXO, BTS, TXT, and aespa have all explored the concept in different ways. But NewJeans has never strayed in its proximity.

When Min Hee Jin was asked why NewJeans doesn’t even aim at such a concept, the creative director-cum-CEO explained that she has an aversion towards the multiverse concept as a whole.

To put it bluntly, I’m a person who has a lot of antipathy towards the multiverse of K-Pop.

—Min Hee Jin, Cine21

As the creative director of the group, Min Hee Jin’s ideas and beliefs are very prominently reflected in NewJeans, as admitted by the CEO herself. She explained that there are certain messages that the group’s music contains. If people connect them to curate a larger worldview of the group, she is okay with that interpretation. But there is no deliberate continuous narrative-building in NewJeans’ music.

People who have continuously paid attention to the messages that we’ve been expressing may connect the messages to one worldview. I welcome multiverses in that sense.

—Min Hee Jin, Cine21

Finally, she mentioned that there is no reason for the group to be restricted to a single story. Their music, as was stated in the explanation of NewJeans’ name, focuses on topics that are fresh and relevant.

There’s no reason for us to obsess over worldviews. NewJeans will continue to quickly hit the issues whenever they arise.

—Min Hee Jin, Cine21