TRI.BE’s Leader & Producer’s Lives Have Changed Since The Group’s Debut—But In Different Ways
It’s been less than six months since rookie girl group TRI.BE debuted under famous producer Shinsadong Tiger, but they’re fast becoming one of the most popular new groups around. Of course, even though TRI.BE hasn’t been around for long, a lot has changed since their pre-debut days—both for the members and for Shinsadong Tiger himself. In a new interview with AYO on YouTube, the pair revealed how their lives have changed in different ways.
24-year-old TRI.BE leader and main vocalist Songsun had one of the longest training periods in K-Pop. Partly inspired by her cousin, Girls’ Generation‘s Yuri, Songsun trained under various agencies for a staggering nine years—since she was just a young teen.
After such a long struggle to become a star, it should come as no surprise that Songsun’s life before debuting was a lot different from how it is now. But, when one AYO commenter asked her the “question that rookie idols always get“—”What has changed after debut?“—Songsun had a somewhat surprising answer considering she’s always been gorgeous…
“I have to say… appearance,” she revealed. Shinsadong Tiger joked that it was down to “camera massage” (the Korean myth that spending a lot of time in front of a camera makes you prettier), but Songsun went on to explain that it’s down to how she presented herself as a trainee. She didn’t wear makeup and only wore sweatsuits to train in.
Conversely, since debuting, Songsun says she gets her hair and makeup done and spends more time beautifying herself. She even revealed that when she participated in a photoshoot for The Korea Defense Daily after debuting, her friends who enlisted in the military and saw her pictures didn’t recognize her at all until they saw her name!
Although Shinsadong Tiger has been in the industry for almost two decades and previously produced EXID, things have changed for him too. Of course, appearance isn’t one of them. Instead, the producer says the biggest change for him is the pressure.
“I tried out different things before their debut,” he revealed, but now, he has to be more careful. “Since the debut, the pressure got bigger because they have to succeed,” he says.
That said, Shinsadong Tiger says work-life balance is very important to him, so he does get off work on time and sleep well. That’s probably made easier by the fact that TRI.BE is doing pretty well for a rookie group. While their first single album, TRI.BE Da Loca, peaked at 57 on the Gaon chart, second single album Conmigo shot to no.25 just three months later.
