NewJeans (also known as NJZ) member Danielle has spoken out against the K-pop training system, which she says “deprives us of creativity”.
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On March 15, NewJeans’ Danielle held a livestream on the band’s independent Instagram page, where the Korean-Australian singer shared her experience as a trainee under various K-pop music labels and spoke out against the system.
“Back when I was a trainee, there were times [when] deep down I knew something was wrong, but I forced myself to believe that was normal and everything that happened to me is very much normal,” she told fans.
She added that as a trainee, she “didn’t have much freedom at all”. “You had to leave a message before you were able to go to the toilet and this was even in free time. You were constantly being watched over when you were in the practice room,” she shared.
Danielle also recalled her diet being strictly controlled during her time in the system. “I remember having to take pictures of what I ate before I was actually able to consume it. I had to send pictures to our manager and she would have to check it,” she recalled.
The NewJeans member said that she still hasn’t “gotten past that mindset”, despite having already debuted almost three years ago. “I remember thinking, ‘Why would they use this kind of system, when in fact it deprives us of creativity?’,” she said.
“I’m not sure, it could be just because it’s being passed down through the industry. It also could be just because the people in control just wanted it to be easier to take control,” she added.
Completed by Hanni, Hyein, Minji and Haerin, the K-pop quintet rebranded as NJZ last month amid their legal battle with former label ADOR. They are set to headline ComplexCon Hong Kong later this month, marking their first performance since the rebrand.
According to a press release at the time of the announcement, Minji had revealed plans to release new music as part of the set. NJZ have been dropping cryptic teasers on Instagram hinting at new music in the lead-up to their ComplexCon appearance.
The first court hearing for the legal battle between both parties took place last week, where ADOR expanded the scope of its injunction in a bid to ban the five-piece from all “entertainment activities” as an independent band. ADOR first filed the injunction in January to stop them from signing independent brand deals.