Groove

#Showbiz: Magnificent 7

SEVEN confident and energetic girls are ready to take on the global K-pop scene dominated by the likes of BTS and BlackPink.

Speaking and singing in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, they are Songsun, Jinha, Hyunbin and Soeun hailing from Seoul, Kelly and Jia from Taipei and Mire from Tokyo.

Known as Tri.be, the team is Universal Music Group Korea's first K-pop idol group.

Earlier this year, they released a two-song debut album, Tri.be Da Loca, which featured the hit singles Doom Doom Ta and Loca.

The tracks were produced by LE of Exid and S.Tiger, who has worked on a slew of successful K-pop acts like Beast, IU, Momoland, Apink and HyunA.

Both tunes have already garnered over five million streams. They showcase catchy grooves and unshakable choruses that mash up future house, Afrobeat, and Moombahton.

Building on the momentum of the funky tracks, the girls recently released another twin-singles album, Conmigo.

The new songs — Rub-A-Dum and Loro — fuse a refreshing mix of Dancehall and Reggaeton beats to dynamic performances from the girls.

LOVE YOURSELF

Conmigo is Spanish for "with me" and is an invitation to join in the group's spirit of self-empowerment and confidence.

The girls describe the new group's concept as "Girl Swag".

"The term is meant to express confidence and self-pride. We want all of our fans to receive this message of confidence," says Jinha.

"Our name Tri.be is a combination of the geometrically most perfect shape 'Triangle' and the word 'Being' for existence, meaning the 'Most Perfect Existence'.

"That's why our signature shape is a triangle, which is also our signature pose," says Soeun.

Drawing inspiration from a myriad of artistes, including American popstar Ariana Grande, as well as fellow K-pop big wigs Taeyeon and BlackPink, the girls plan to stand out from the competitive K-pop landscape with their colourful personalities and performances.

"We are 'happy viruses', quips Songsun, while Hyunbin says that: "We're unique because we don't try to stick to the norms and try to show our true selves."

Jia adds: "Our powerful performances, catchy songs and different personalities, when we are on and off stage, should do the trick."

All relate that their main message of confidence and self-love will set them apart.

The girls add that they're trying their best to keep in touch with fans despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that has prevented travel and physical interaction.

"We do a lot of online fan meetings and try to communicate as much as possible with our fans through our social media accounts.

"We also plan to provide our fans with a lot of YouTube content such as reality shows and vlogs," says Mire.

Songsun adds: "We're practising very hard so that we can showcase cool performances to our current and potential new fans as well."

FUN PROCESS

So far, the girls have been happy with their output, from their infectious songs to the ultra-colourful music videos.

"The Doom Doom Ta music video revolves around Tri.be's signature shape triangle, where most of the sets and scenes contain the shape in various forms such as pyramids, choreography formations and objects.

"While the music video itself gives off a mysterious vibe, it also demonstrates the group's powerful performances through strong colours and eye-catching scenes," say the girls.

"We recorded numerous times to get Doom Doom Ta to sound just right. It was a difficult process but S.Tiger was very kind during the recording process, giving us a lot of advice to help us get the right feeling.

"Thanks to him, I remember really enjoying the recording process," says Mire.

Despite the different nationalities of the group members, the working experience has been a fun ride for them as well.

"I'm glad that I'm able to learn about different cultures. Also, it's really cute to see our members speaking Korean fluently," says Songsun.

Kelly says: "At first, it was difficult because I couldn't speak Korean but my members helped me a lot."

"We're all running towards the same goal so it's amazing to have such great companions with me on this journey," adds Jia.

"We did have a little bit of communication difficulties because of the language but I think we've naturally overcome them with time.

"Also, like Songsun said, it's very interesting to learn about different cultures and languages," says Mire.

Tri.be's group leader Songsun is the cousin of Yuri from seminal K-pop group Girls' Generation.

Songsun says Yuri gave her some valuable advice when she first started out.

"Yuri told me to stay firm and to be proud of who I am.

"She also said that I'm doing a great job so I just need to continue doing what I'm doing right now."

The girls are off to a good start and are excited to share their enthusiasm, as well as new material with all the fans of music out there.

"With a new double singles album out already, we are also hoping to have a mini album released within this year.

"Please look forward to what we have prepared because we have a lot of things we want to show you!"

Follow Tri.be on social media via YouTube (www.youtube.com/TRIBE_2021), Twitter (twitter.com/tribedaloca), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tribedaloca), Instagram (www.instagram.com/tribedaloca) and TikTok (www.tiktok.com/@tribedaloca).

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories