Absurd Buzz NewJeans 'Cookie' Turnaround, NYT's Best Song

Pop Music Critic Says "Not Over the Top or Dramatic"
Brand Reputation No.1... 18 Consecutive Weeks on 'Global 200' Chart
Dominates Various Music Charts with 'Attention' and 'Hype Boy' at No.1

The girl group 'NewJeans' song 'Cookie' has been selected as one of the best songs of the year by the New York Times (NYT). Photo by ADOR

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "The cookie I made~ I baked it for you~"

Girl group NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein) debut song "Cookie" has been selected as one of the best songs of the year by the New York Times (NYT). Among the songs selected by NYT, "Cookie" is the only K-pop song.

NYT recently published a list of 70 songs selected by three popular music critics: Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica, and Lindsay Zoladz in their article "2022 Best Songs".

Caramanica praised "Cookie" as "the most impressive and best track on the debut album of the young K-pop girl group NewJeans," adding, "What stands out most about 'Cookie' is its simplicity. It is neither excessive nor dramatic."

Is it referring to a specific female body part? Controversy over sexual content abroad

Although selected as one of the best songs of the year, "Cookie" was embroiled in controversy over sexual content when it was released to the public. "Cookie" is a song about the so-called "some" stage, where a man and a woman feel mutual attraction just before dating. However, in American music communities and elsewhere, some argued that parts of the lyrics of "Cookie" are slang implying a specific female body part, sparking controversy that the song itself is inappropriate. In response, the agency ADOR strongly denied the allegations in August, stating that "no sexual lyrics were included."

ADOR explained, "'Cookie' was inspired by the idea of 'burning a CD = baking a cookie,'" adding, "'Cookie' expresses confidence that it can surpass the staple food we eat every day, encapsulating NewJeans' musical value and their challenge toward novelty."

Regarding the controversy over sexual content, they clarified, "We confirmed with multiple English literature PhDs, translation and interpretation experts, native speakers, and ordinary foreigners, and the majority opinion was that it is 'not a commonly used concept.'" They emphasized the importance of context, stating, "The most important point in interpretation lies in the context of the matter. Please consider the context."

NewJeans' 'Cookie' Music Video Capture

Average age 16.4 years... Number one wherever they go

The average age of the five NewJeans members is only 16.4 years, not even 17. NewJeans gained fame even before debut as the so-called "Min Hee-jin girl group." Min Hee-jin, CEO of HYBE's new label ADOR, was known in the industry as a talented producer who created concepts for SM Entertainment's representative idols such as Girls' Generation, SHINee, and f(x) during her time at SM. With such high expectations, NewJeans caused a sensation by taking first place on various music programs despite fierce competition from prominent girl groups like BLACKPINK and TWICE.

They also hold another number one record. NewJeans was the most searched K-artist this year. On the 7th, Google Korea announced the 2022 domestic trend search rankings based on Google searches. The rankings were divided into nine categories: ▲Comprehensive ▲News & Society ▲K-Drama ▲Movies ▲Games ▲People ▲K-Pop Artists ▲Sports ▲Soccer, with the top 10 in each category revealed.

The 2022 K-POP artist search rankings were: 1) NewJeans, 2) Go Woo-rim (Forestella), 3) Jang Won-young (IVE), 4) LE SSERAFIM, 5) IVE, 6) Ahn Yu-jin (IVE), 7) Kazuha (LE SSERAFIM), 8) BIGBANG, 9) Lee Seung-gi, 10) Minji (NewJeans).

NewJeans, who dominated various music charts upon their debut, will release a new single album titled 'OMG' next month. Photo is a capture from NewJeans' 'Cookie' music video.

They also ranked first in brand reputation. On the 11th, the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute announced that the December big data analysis of girl group brand reputation ranked NewJeans first, BLACKPINK second, and Red Velvet third. This result was based on analyzing 51,632,684 pieces of brand big data collected from November 11 to December 11, measuring brand reputation indices through participation, media, communication, and community indices related to girl group brands.

Gu Chang-hwan, director of the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, stated, "In the link analysis of the NewJeans brand, keywords like 'advertise,' 'record,' and 'select' scored high, and in keyword analysis, 'Attention,' 'YouTube,' and 'Best Song' were prominent," adding, "The positive-to-negative ratio analysis of the NewJeans brand showed a positive ratio of 83.29%."

NewJeans, who swept various music charts with songs like "Attention" and "Hype Boy" immediately after debut, have been on Billboard's "Global (excluding US)" and "Global 200" charts for 18 consecutive weeks. Their Spotify follower count has surpassed 1 million. NewJeans will release a new single album "OMG" next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.