Since their debut, NewJeans have only seen their popularity worldwide soar, aided by catchy songs and visually appealing concepts. In particular, NewJeans have become the poster image of Y2K in K-Pop and similar youthful images, though they were not the first to do the concepts.
Recently, however, many have found a newly debuted group’s concept and visuals to be too similar to NewJeans.
The first images of members of TOP Media’s new girl group, ODD YOUTH, were released on September 18, 2024. The group immediately attracted attention due to the inclusion of popular Girls Planet 999 contestant Guinn Myah.
Based on the group’s name and logo, it was easy to assume they would go for more youthful concepts, which were seen in the first teasers for their track “Best Friendz.”
ODD YOUTH
'BRAND LOGO'#ODDYOUTH #오드유스 #BestFriendz #Play_with_us pic.twitter.com/CvtllsfHIs
— ODD YOUTH (@oddyouth_offcl) October 7, 2024
Best Friendz
BRAND MUSIC VIDEO
2024.10.18 0AM (KST)#ODDYOUTH #오드유스 #BestFriendz #Play_with_us#MYAH #마야 #SUMMER #써머#MAIKA #마이카 #KANIE #카니 #YEEUM #예음 pic.twitter.com/lMTC6PDdzg— ODD YOUTH (@oddyouth_offcl) October 16, 2024
Best Friendz
긴장되고 설레는 첫 시작!
지금 이 순간 가장 힘이 되어주는 존재는 누구야?Feeling nervous yet excited for the first step!
Who’s the one person that gives you the most strength right now?#ODDYOUTH #오드유스 #BestFriendz #Play_with_us#MYAH #마야 #SUMMER #써머#MAIKA… pic.twitter.com/cHpHHyAfBr— ODD YOUTH (@oddyouth_offcl) October 17, 2024
In the days before “Best Friendz”‘s release, ODD YOUTH shared teaser images featuring the group. The first image shows the five members as the only ones colorized in a photo, while the other is a lower angled group shot.
Many were reminded of NewJeans in the quotes of the group’s tweets, accusing the group’s company of “stealing” from NewJeans’ earlier concepts.
Damn she was 100% right… https://t.co/XcPlGZ4qxr pic.twitter.com/ARHaJFlHiS
— K! 🏄🏻 (@HAE3IN) October 18, 2024
this has to be a joke right…? https://t.co/Hr9bju5T55
— ☆ 🏁 (@khiawings) October 17, 2024
congratulations to newjeans debut on their 3445454th child https://t.co/vYzbLMwQd6
— ae–nini ໒꒰ྀི˶˃ᆺ˂˶ ꒱ྀིა ❀ ࿔*:･ﾟ (@straw6unni) October 17, 2024
On the other hand, many felt that the concept was not owned by NewJeans and has been done by many other groups.
I don’t understand what people are upset about when literally most 5th gen girl groups look and dress like this it’s literally the 5th gen style. Like New Jeans maybe trendsetters but don’t attack one group (or any) who are just following a trend that everyone is doing https://t.co/Aql5E4f9UI pic.twitter.com/ld852dTSU9
— halojustinOnce On Strike (@halojustinOnce) October 18, 2024
Y’all need a wake up call cause NewJeans does not own this concept, some of y’all need to get a grip and not hate on young girls for no reason https://t.co/xMgm0fEFDG
— Taylor♡always with seunghan (@tay_tortots) October 18, 2024
Oh no, five young girls ?
Singing about being best friends ?
Is that a "__" copy ?No it's a basic concept.
That's it.
Now if the songs sound like them, it'll be different. https://t.co/uqCrn2spoO— M◐◑N ☽ 月亮 🍉 (@dallunatic) October 18, 2024
You can check out ODD YOUTH’s music video for “Best Friendz” below.
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