Babymonster discusses debut world tour, working with G-Dragon and the success of album ‘Drip’
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“We are really late, thank you so much for waiting,” politely said the K-pop group Babymonster as the members gathered around a boardroom in the YG Entertainment offices in Seoul.
The seven-member girl group — consisting of Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Ahyeon, Rami, Rora and Chiquita —had been stuck in gridlock traffic as they came directly from rehearsals to the interview.
Babymonster members have been devoting much of their time to rehearsals as they prepare for their debut world tour, Hello Monsters, which stops in Los Angeles on Sunday at the Kia Forum.
The group were visibly excited as their faces lighted up with the prospect of coming to California and meeting their Monstiez — their fandom name — for the first time. Rami also expressed how it was “such an honor” to get the opportunity to perform at a venue like the Kia Forum and follow in the footsteps of K-pop idols such as aespa, Suga of BTS and Blackpink.
Babymonster members were tight-lipped about what L.A. fans could expect from the upcoming show as they wanted it to be full of surprises and wanted each show to be different and fun for the fans.
Despite their young age — with the youngest member Chiquita being only 14 years old when she debuted — the group members have carried this same confident and graceful demeanor throughout their journey to stardom.
The members were brought together from all over Asia — South Korea, Japan and Thailand — to take part in the high-pressure audition process to form Babymonster and enter the K-pop scene.
“We were really young when we came into this company but we came in knowing that we wanted to do it. There was a lot of pressure on us but we enjoyed some of the moments under that pressure,” said Pharita. “We enjoyed developing ourselves and working towards our goals and we are happy where we are.”
Babymonster made its official debut with a self-titled mini-album in April 2024 and in less than a year, the young group members have been propelled to stardom and captured the imaginations of fans across the world.
“It hasn’t even been a full year since we debuted with our mini-album, ‘Babymons7er,’ but we are so happy with how everything has turned out and incredibly grateful to have received so much love from the beginning,” said Rami.
The self-titled mini-album introduced fans to the group’s versatility and emphatic performances with tracks such as “Sheesh,” “Like That” and “Batter Up.”
The group members further built upon their success with their debut studio album, “Drip,” which was released in November 2024.
If you talk to Babymonster long enough, then a word that will inevitably come up: “swagger.” This is at the heart of everything they do as they effortlessly express themselves through their music, fashion and performances.
A song that encapsulates that swagger is the title track, “Drip,” which quickly became a fan-favorite with its infectious hooks and braggadocious lyrics such as “I could be the GOAT.” Babymonster believes that this track perfectly encapsulates the image the group wants to project — showing their true colors with a “super hype” track.
The track — which has almost 120 million streams on Spotify alone — was a huge moment for the group as it further showcased its versatility with the unexpected help of K-pop idol G-Dragon.
The Bigbang rapper — who recently released his first full-length album in 12 years — has been supportive of Babymonster during the group’s rise to fame as he watched the group’s live performance in Seoul in October and also contributed to their title track, “Drip.”
“G-Dragon is a senior that we really look up to and we really want to express our gratitude towards the support we received throughout the production of ‘Drip,’ ” said Rora. “G-Dragon provided a lot of help with the demos he sent over and tried to play around with different tones and the swag and hip-hop vibe was something that Babymonster played around with to showcase their best.”
Asa added: “At first, there originally wasn’t a rap part, but after we received a G-Dragon demo we played around with the raps and it was able to showcase the swag that G-Dragon possesses.”
When talking with Babymonster, it became evident very quickly how motivated the group was to grow as artists. They are inspired by their “seniors” — artists who debuted before them — and watch performances from groups such as 2NE1 and Blackpink.
They also meticulously rewatch their own performances to “monitor their growth” and learn from past experiences, ensuring they continue to grow as artists.
Ahyeon shared that when performing at concerts, they fully immerse themselves in the moment and enjoy the energy. “It was a really happy time for us and it’s a very important thing for artists to feel the happiness on stage. [We were able to] express ourselves and feel that vibe and energy.” They remain committed to learning from every experience and deliver even better performances for their fans in the future.
Babymonster remains one of the leading fifth-generation K-pop groups — artists who made their debut after 2023 — and look to follow in the footsteps of their labelmates Blackpink by bringing Korean culture to the masses.
“We are thrilled to see Korean culture spread across the world and it’s all thanks to our seniors, who have been doing this continuously for the past [few] years,” said Rora. “Babymonster plans to work as hard to continue this momentum and spread K-pop and Korean culture to the whole world.”
