Indonesian girl group StarBe throws K-style I-pop on 'Grow TWOgether' stage

▲ Indonesian girl group StarBe poses at a press conference for South Korean government-led cultural exchange program "Grow Twogether" in Seoul on Aug. 30, 2023. (Yonhap)

 

Indonesian girl group StarBe throws K-style I-pop on 'Grow TWOgether' stage

By Chung Joo-won 

 

SEOUL, Aug. 30, (Yonhap) -- Indonesian girl group StarBe blasted Seoul stage with its new song with multicultural vibe on Wednesday, highlighting 50-year diplomatic and cultural ties between South Korea and Indonesia.

 

All four members of the I-pop quartet, including Abelle, Chelsea, Kezia and Shella, performed “Bang,” a powerful dance number composed and choreographed by Korean artists, in a press conference held in central Seoul.

 

“I wanted to visit Korea for a long time. I am happy to win this opportunity through Korea-Indonesia cultural exchange program,” said Shella, the main vocal of StarBe.

 

“K-pop is on Many Indonesian listeners’ daily playlist. We are proud to present our songs that include both the K-pop and I-pop factors,” said Kezia, the main rapper and main dancer of the group.

 

The event came as a part of this year’s “Grow TWOgether,” government-led musical and cultural exchange program. The program invites promising foreign pop artists to Korea, and offer them advanced K-pop training sessions at a local management agency for three to four months.

 

StarBe’s predecessors include Vietnamese idol group Super V and girl group O2O Girl Band, who received K-pop training program in 2021. Thai rookie girl group RoseBerry underwent the program in 2022, and won a Thai rookie’s award for 2022.

 

This year, StarBe was invited to Seoul for a K-pop musical training session, set to run August to November.

 

During the program, the group is also supported in producing a music video with Korean staff.

 

“Shooting a music video in South Korea was a whole new experience for us. There are some visual references to the two cultures, such as the LED background lighting switches between red-and-white and red-and-blue, like the colors in their national flags,” said Abelle, the lead vocal.

 

During its stay in Korea, StarBe will also be aided with making short-form video content, which is expected to raise its recognition in the global pop scene.

 

“Short-form videos on Tiktok and Facebook are far more viral in Indonesia than here. We see great deal of potentials in their short-form content,” said Park Chang-woo, the chief executive of Soon Entertainment, in charge of StarBe’s content operations here.

 

“We want to let many people know about I-pop girl group StarBe, and wish to grow into world-level artists. We also wish a long-lasting Indonesia-Korea relationship,” Kezia said.

 

“We have seen (K-pop girl group) BLACKPINK really enjoy themselves on the stage. We also wish to grow into artists who know how to have fun on stage. Our song has strong hip hop colors, but we are ready to go for many other genres whenever we are given the chance,” she added.

 

StarBe is gearing up for their stage for Asia Song Festival, slated for Sept. 8.

 

“We are brushing up our song and moves for the Asia Song Festival. We also have been making daily-life clips to let more people know about our everyday lives,” Abelle said.

 

StartBe debuted in 2019 with first single “I’m Complete With You.”

 

Its second single “Bye Bye Drama” came in 2020, third single “Time to Fly” and fourth single “Cheesecake” in 2021, and fifth single “Touch The Sky” in 2022. Time To Fly, a powerful hip hop number, topped 4 million views on YouTube.

 

▲Indonesian girl group StarBe poses at a press conference for South Korean government-led cultural exchange program "Grow Twogether" in Seoul on Aug. 30, 2023. (Yonhap)

 

jwc@yna.co.kr 

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