These days, there are K-Pop stars with heritage from Japan to China to Thailand to Indonesia. However, Vietnam has remained relatively unrepresented in the industry for years—until now. Meet BEAUTYBOX‘s Anh, a Vietnamese rookie debuting in a new K-Pop group.
Born on August 5, 1999, in Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam, 22-year-old Anh is one of the members of BEAUTYBOX—a new K-Pop group under BY-U Entertainment.
Real name Trần Nguyễn Trâm Anh, she was the third member to be revealed and already has a history as a singer. In 2019, she released a cover song under the name Cherie with Vietnamese channel A.G – Entertainment. At the time, many expected her to become a V-Pop artist.
However, that same year, she also took part in a contest to become a member of Z-Girls—a K-Pop-inspired group with members from all across Asia. While she didn’t make it through, destiny had other plans for Anh.
Alongside her fellow members (Koreans Gahyun and Sori, Japanese members Sara and Rina, and Thai maknae Jerin), Anh is making her debut in the new K-Pop girl group BEAUTYBOX.
In the lead-up to her debut, she’s been sharing plenty of content and information about herself over on BEAUTYBOX’s YouTube channel. In July, for example, she dropped a vlog showing fans around Vietnam before she jetted off to South Korea.
She also recorded an interview for her birthday in August, opening up about how she’s not fluent in Korean just yet.
Of course, she’s also been showing off her talents as a performer. In one video with Gahyun, the pair covered a song by the Vietnamese Korean singer Hari Won.
And in a video posted a few weeks ago, Anh can be seen practicing hard for her debut.
All in all, there’s plenty to look forward to with Anh, who is set to be part of BEAUTY BOX’s vocal and rap lines.
Technically, Anh isn’t the first-ever Vietnamese singer to debut on the K-Pop scene. Back in 2014, DK Entertainment‘s A-Daily debuted with a Vietnamese member: Nguyen Hoang Bao Ngoc, who went by the stage name Jade. However, the group remained unknown to most until their recent presumed disbandment, reaching less than 100,000 views on their music videos. Plus, Jade left the group all the way back in 2015.
Last year, another Vietnamese aspiring star also appeared on the scene: Hanbin, a contestant on Mnet‘s I-LAND. Sadly, Hanbin wasn’t able to make it through to the final ENHYPEN lineup, but many fans still hope to see him debut.
All that considered, Anh is currently the only active Vietnamese idol in the K-Pop industry—and hopefully she’ll pave the way for many more to join her.
BEAUTYBOX debuts this week with single album Beyond of BB and title track “RAT A TAT.”
