HYBE's new girl group TUIDE (투이드) officially debuted on August 24 with their first mini-album, 'TUNE & PLAY.' However, just months into their career, the group appears to be facing unexpected changes. The sudden announcement of their main visual creative director's resignation has sparked intense online discussion, with many drawing parallels to NewJeans' past contractual disputes with HYBE. Fans are speculating whether TUIDE will also undergo a concept adjustment, with some even asking, "Is 'NewJeans 2.0' coming?"
On the 25th, Kim So-yeon (김소연), the visual creative director for ABD, a new label under HYBE and home to TUIDE, announced her departure via her personal social media after two years with the company. In her post, she spoke about the pressure of shaping the group's overall creative direction and emphasized that the team's collective efforts were crucial in accomplishing their work during her tenure.
The news quickly spread across social media platforms, drawing extensive discussion from netizens, many of whom immediately linked the incident to NewJeans. Some speculated whether Kim So-yeon's departure was related to TUIDE's recent comeback performance falling short of expectations. Others wondered if she left due to HYBE restricting her creative freedom, preventing her from fully expressing her artistic vision. However, the true reason for her resignation remains unconfirmed.
One netizen commented, "Is that label about to collapse? NewJeans will be free soon, it feels like it's about to happen!" Another expressed curiosity, asking, "This is very interesting, what exactly happened?" Some even speculated that TUIDE's group concept might have become oversaturated, leading to a bottleneck in their current development.
Other netizens offered sharp critiques, with one saying, "Their debut performance was too poor; the creative director saw the competition and decided to leave directly!" Another suggested that HYBE might have wanted her to start imitating the styles of other new groups, which she refused, leading to her resignation. However, these remain mere speculations by netizens, lacking concrete evidence.
With the creative director's departure, some fans have grown concerned about TUIDE's future direction. Fans noted that the initial debut period is crucial for a rookie group to build its fanbase and expressed hope that this personnel change would not affect the group's growth or lead to the company altering their original music style and group concept.
However, some netizens believe that a creative director's departure does not necessarily mean a drastic change in the group's direction. They cited the boy group TWS (투어스), also under the HYBE system, as an example. TWS also experienced a creative director's departure early in their career, but the group did not completely abandon its original style. Instead, they made subtle adjustments, gradually evolving towards a more mature direction.
One netizen pointed out, "TWS hasn't had the same creative director since their second mini-album, and it's really not a big deal because they still maintained their original concept." Others believe that TUIDE might adopt a similar approach, gradually adjusting their group style while preserving their existing unique characteristics.
Despite these perspectives, the personnel change leaves many questions about TUIDE's future development. Whether this is merely a simple staffing change or if the group is on the cusp of a conceptual transformation remains unclear. As the situation continues to unfold, TUIDE's upcoming music releases and stylistic direction have become a focal point of fan attention.
