DSP Media is home to legendary K-pop girl groups like Fin.K.L and KARA, and while the company is not quite what it was in its heyday, it has continued to produce high-quality groups like April and KARD. In more recent times, DSP and co-producer Beats Entertainment created the five-member K-pop girl group Young Posse, and between TikTok and unique visual teasers, the group was creating a distinct style for itself before the members had even been fully introduced! The group name derives from the Latin root word “posse,” meaning “to be able to,” and Young Posse more specifically refers to “a group of young teens who have come together with a purpose.” And we have the story behind their debut! So here is the full answer to when Sunhye, Yeonjung, Jiana, Doeun, and Jieun made their debut as Young Posse at DSP and Beats.
Young Posse Made Their Debut on October 18, 2023
Young Posse made their debut on October 18, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. KST, with the first EP / mini-album, Macaroni Cheese, and an accompanying music video. The tracklist for Macaroni Cheese contains four songs in total: “POSSE UP!,” “MACARONI CHEESE” (title track), “OTB,” and “Cooing.” Members Sunhye, Yeonjung, and Jiana wrote the lyrics for “POSSE UP!” and “MACARONI CHEESE,” with Doeun and (not a member) Jaedyn also contributing lyrics to the latter. Kiggen, Rick Bridges, and Deevan composed the title track, and Kiggen and Deevan also arranged it. The debut promotion schedule for Macaroni Cheese was uniquely formatted like a grocery store circular, and it is filled with fun-sounding yet utterly cryptic events, like a “Cheese Cave” that occurred on October 12. Frankly, the weirdness was part of the fun.
An animated “Departure Time” video, published September 19, 2023 KST, originally revealed the debut date for the group, and it featured internet memes and an art aesthetic somewhat reminiscent of Adult Swim cartoons. As the five girls skateboard along to chill visuals, it created a relaxed, urban vibe. (Incidentally, on October 10, 2023, Young Posse were announced as models for Murasaki Sports in Japan, heightening the urban sports connection.) The song that plays in the video, “OTB,” was notably performed live by Young Posse predebut at RBW 2023 SUMMER Fes: Over the Rainbow, on July 16, 2023. Even prior to debut, K-pop fans had felt that there were similarities between Young Posse and XG, a group with distinct Y2K flair and hip hop edge, since Young Posse too has a retro and hip hop flavor.
Incidentally, the Young Posse members had not even been formally introduced at the time of these initial teasers. Their names were first revealed in a short video clip published on YouTube on September 18, 2023, but it was not specified to whom those names belonged among the five members until September 24, 2023 KST.
The “Macaroni Cheese” music video was directed by Grammy-nominated music video director and filmmaker Ben Proulx. In October 2023, he shared his own complete side-by-side video of what the music video looked like before and after VFX footage was applied, and he separately provided a commentary and behind-the-scenes footage of what filming the “Macaroni Cheese” MV was like. It is incredibly rare for the director of a K-pop video to provide explicit insight like this, making it especially valuable information. Among other things, Proulx revealed that the “Cheese Cave” was an actual scale model made with real cheese and milk that had been commissioned and was not simply VFX. (That being said, the video editing still required “approximately 20 full days of work” to complete.) Music video filming occurred over a period of approximately 22 hours, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 a.m. the following day. However, the results speak for themselves.
Incidentally, on November 3, 2023, a “no CG” version of the “Macaroni Cheese” music video was officially uploaded to the Young Posse YouTube channel.
Young Posse held a showcase on the day of their debut, and after that, they performed for the first time on M Countdown on October 19, 2023 with “Macaroni Cheese.”
In summary, Young Posse made their debut on October 18, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. KST at DSP. This is an exciting new frontier for DSP Media. Next up, you can check out how old (or how very young) the Young Posse members are, what their MBTIs are, or who the leader of the group may be. Or for more DSP groups, you can check out when KARD originally debuted or how old its members are now.