We’ve lost count of the number of new K-pop groups that have debuted since the genre first started captivating people worldwide in the last 10 years or so, but we are excited to see what happens to two new ones, both featuring Indonesian members, in the hopes we’ll finally see one of our own making it big in the land of catchy songs and iconic dance moves.
The groups, known as Z-Girls and Z-Boys, have been dubbed “the first Pan-Asian K-pop idols” and will debut under a new management company (slash K-pop academy) called Z-POP Dream.
The groups are pretty diverse, as they include members from India, Vietnam, The Philippines, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and, of course, Indonesia.
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The Indonesian members of Z-Girls and Z-Boys are Vanya and Mavin, respectively. They were scouted through auditions held in numerous Asian countries by Z-POP.
Z-Girls and Z-Boys will make their debuts at the Z-POP Dream Live in Seoul concert this Saturday at Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium in Seoul. The lineup for the concert is pretty solid too, with K-pop legends Rain, Monsta X, and A Pink also set to perform.
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Check out the teasers for their debut singles, Z-Girls’ What You Waiting For and Z-Boys’ No Limit, below. The full music videos for both songs will be released on Friday, Feb 22.
Vanya and Mavin are actually not the first K-pop idols from Indonesia. That title falls to Loudi, who debuted with the 14-member boy band called 14U. Loudi, real name Edward Wen, was born in Yogyakarta and went to Korea five years ago to study. Below is a music video of one of their most recent songs.
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Z-Girls and Z-Boys may be the first truly multinational groups in K-Pop, with more foreigners than Korean members, but this isn’t a new practice in the industry. As part of their global marketing strategy, K-pop labels have recruited idols from other countries in the past, most notably Hangeng, a former member of Super Junior from China, and Nichkhun of 2PM, the first Southeast Asian K-pop idol, from Thailand.
Popular foreign K-pop idols who are currently active are, among others: Lisa of BLACKPINK (Thailand), Amber Liu of f(x) (Taiwanese American), BamBam and Jackson of GOT7 (Thailand and Hong Kong, respectively), Ten of NCT (Thailand), and Tzuyu of TWICE (Taiwan).
