H//PE Princess’s Debut Deserves all the Hype

Photo: H//PE Princess Official X

The Unpretty Rapstar survival show has introduced K-Hip-Hop to masses through a female-focused lens, introducing the likes of Jessi, Heize, and i-dle’s Soyeon. Now, almost 10 years since its final episode in the summer of 2016, Mnet greenlit a new installment in the franchise last year with Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess. As its name implies, this joint South Korean-Japanese project strived to debut a cross-national group that fuses hip-hop with pop. The winning lineup, H//PE Princess, made their simultaneous debut in South Korea and Japan with the EP 17.7 on May 27. 

The Concept Behind H//PE Princess

Much like how South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM collaborated with Japanese entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kyogo to create the Japanese version of the PRODUCE 101 survival show series, its resulting groups, and its management label LAPONE ENTERTAINMENT, they partnered with Japanese marketing company Hakuhodo Inc. to produce Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess. In August, they launched the company Chapter-I, with its initial goals to oversee the show and co-manage its debuting group. Standing for “I open the first chapter of my dream,” Chapter-I represents the latest South Korean-Japanese push to capture both music markets. 

Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess premiered last October with 40 contestants (20 Korean and 20 Japanese participants) looking to join a unique cross-cultural, cross-genre group. After 10 episodes, four Korean and three Japanese contestants emerged victorious in Coco, YSY, Yuju, Doi, Rino, Niko, and Sujin. Re-recorded versions of the Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess original songs “DAISY” and “gOOd!” appear on their debut EP. 

The Title Track: “Stolen”

In an unconventional move, H//PE Princess chose to release their title track four weeks in advance on April 29. “Stolen” is a laid-back song that includes a minimalistic beat and a chanted hook. The group commits to their South Korean-Japanese aspect with lyrics in both languages and English. 

Though “Stolen” eventually received a Korean version, the original song containing trilingual lyrics makes a statement. Both versions came out with the same music video of H//PE Princess preparing for a plane ride. As a new global group, they will constantly need to travel back and forth between South Korea and Japan. 

The New B-Sides: “One day” and “Hoppin’”  

Trilingual lyrics also show up in the soft rock track “One day” and the hip-hop R&B track “Hoppin’.”  All the members helped write “One day,” with a classic message about persevering to eventually achieve large dreams. Dynamicduo’s Gaeko, who served as a judge and music producer on Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess, and Taka, the lead vocalist of Japanese rock band ONE OK ROCK also co-writing the lyrics strengthen its importance. 

With so many global groups emerging out of K-Pop, H//PE Princess’s debut shows that they will try to cultivate a niche. Unpretty Rapstar : HIP POP Princess watcher or not, 17.7 is worth checking out. Future releases will no doubt give the members more opportunities to showcase what they can do.

Edited by Clark Royandoyan