“Evolving kpop. HYBE again?”
HYBE, led by Chairman Bang Si Hyuk, will start discovering global girl groups.
HYBE x Geffen Records, a joint venture between HYBE and Universal Music Group’s (UMG) label Geffen Records, held a meeting for the global girl group audition project “The Debut: Dream Academy” at IGA Studio in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, United States, at 9 a.m. on August 29 (Korea Standard Time).
“The Debut: Dream Academy” is an audition in which Chairman Bang Si Hyuk appears in person through his first global project in more than two years since the creation of the first Japanese group &TEAM of HYBE in 2021.
“HYBE x Geffen Records” announced the recruitment of audition participants in November 2021 and launched a full-fledged global rookie discovery project.
Chairman Bang Si Hyuk said, “I have long wanted to nurture talented people from different countries based on the K-pop methodology and create a global K-pop style group with them,” explaining his collaboration with Geffen Records.
The audition, supported by 120,000 talented people from around the world, counted among the finalists 20 participants from diverse cultural backgrounds.
President Bang Si Hyuk said the same day, “Just as they have diverse cultural backgrounds, the activities are not limited to the United States. We will do our best to show the best of the countries and cultures related to each talent, the world will want to see how this group grows with us.”
In addition, a total of 20 “Dream Academy” participants were unveiled for the first time on the site. Most of them are in their mid to late teens and girls of various nationalities, including the United States, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland, Sweden, Belarus, Australia, Korea and Slovakia.
Beginning with this press conference, trainees from “The Debut: Dream Academy” will go through a 12-week audition. A Netflix documentary series featuring their blood, sweat and tears will then be released in 2024, and “The Debut: Dream Academy” will meet audiences via social platforms from September 1.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: HYBE Press Conference
