Anticipating CLASS:y’s Future Comeback Under New Management

Photo: CLASS:y YouTube channel screencap

At a time when girl groups usually go their separate ways after multiple sizable hiatuses, CLASS:y’s move to a new label comes as a relief. On November 14, the septet, composed of winners from the survival show My Teenage Girl, announced switching to K-TIGERS Entertainment with new music in the works. Though the group debuted under M25 in 2022, they underwent many gaps in releases after their first year. This latest development renews hope that the group will continue on.

2022: A Packed Debut Year

On February 28, 2022, television broadcaster MBC wrapped up My Teenage Girl, a survival show focused on school-aged trainees. It crowned Won Jimin, Kim Seonyou, Myung Hyeongseo, Hong Hyeju, Kim Riwon, Park Boeun, and Yoon Chaewon as the winners after a three-month run. CLASS:y wasted no time on their debut EP, having released CLASS IS OVER with the title track “SHUT DOWN” later that year on May 5. Described by Jimin as a hybrid of K-Pop and Bollywood, “SHUT DOWN” came off powerfully like an anthem to prepare for battle.

Not including television OSTs, CLASS:y would eventually release a total of three EPs, one Japanese single album, and one Korean single over the course of 2022. All delivered spins on the classic school-girl concept, including the Day&Night EP, which references how CLASS:y went from students to idols. CLASS:y’s rapid-fire releases made sure that many people stumbled across their music one way or another. 

2023: A Selection of Singles

CLASS:y’s first Japanese comeback came on February 22, 2023. As their first original Japanese song, “TARGET” delivers an exciting brass-filled track with a spy concept. By the time May rolled around, CLASS:y were ready to celebrate their first anniversary with the single “My Love.” Its joyous acoustic guitar sound makes this ballad sound earnest towards CLASS:y’s fans, CLIKE:y. 

The group would make it through the summer with their first Japanese OST, “Crack-Crack-Crackle,” for the anime Undead Murder Farce. Likely due to the anime’s setting in the late 1800s, the track fuses classical strings with the ever-popular rock genre. CLASS:y would deliver one final present for 2023 with their Christmas single “Winter Bloom” in December. As the song’s sole lyricist, Chaewon wrote about a warm winter romance. The group eventually performed the song on music shows in 2024. 

2024: A Long-Awaited EP

As CLASS:y entered 2024, their first related single would happen not under their group, but through a co-ed collaboration. Select idols under PocketDol Studio, the parent company of M25, would come together as A SIX: a project group with Jimin and Boeun, BAE173’s J-Min and Youngseo, and FANTASY BOYS’s Lee Hanbin and Lin Qi. They released their first and only single, “Love is All Lies,” on January 30. 

In the last stretch of the year, CLASS:y released their first EP since 2022. On November 15, they dropped LOVE XX with the title track “Psycho and Beautiful.” It sports trends of that year, including a laid-back subdued instrumental with minimal hip-hop beats. Chaewon once again contributes lyrics to the song, alongside co-writers ZNEE, Ji-in, and Colin. “Psycho and Beautiful” depicts a toxic love, far removed from the meet-cutes that CLASS:y sang about in the past. The two-year gap between CLASS:y’s first EP and second EP finally ended, and the comeback renewed interest in a group whose releases seemed dormant. 

2025: A New Future

Though CLASS:Y has not yet released any music as a group this year, smaller activities have shown continuing progress. They completed a Japanese fanmeeting in May, and Hyungseo released a duet single with OMEGA X’s Yechan in August. The soft ballad “Up and Down” depicts “the excitement of falling in love and playing hard to get.” 

Last week, the group confirmed they are preparing a new album under K-TIGERS Entertainment. While small, K-TIGERS Entertainment also manages artists including RAINBOW sub-unit RAINBOW18, former miss A member Min, and the co-ed group K-TIGERS ZERO. The company addressed concerns and assured fans that their “anticipation does not turn into worry.” With a concept film also released for this announcement, positive times lie ahead.

Edited by Clark Royandoyan