South Korea's Howon University has a K-pop program where students study how to become as successful as BTS, and it has recently launched its very first K-pop group, Azer, with their debut song, Elegante.
Azer, which translates to "the first woman of mankind," is composed of seven young girls in their first year at the university since it opened its K-pop department in 2019. They are Yookyung, Minseo, Mijung, Soyeon, Juyeon, Jaein, and Yoojin, and their new song has been streaming on YouTube and other media platforms in South Korea this March.
The university stated that the song was composed to highlight the individual voices of the members. On the other hand, the video release was made to showcase the "powerful yet feminine choreography" of the girls' dance moves.
Shin Yeon Ah, who is part of the K-pop girl band Big Mama, trained Azer as the head professor of the university's K-pop department. The girls also received vocal training from professors Lee Jung Ah and Kim Ki Won.
The head professor said that she hopes Azer will feel a sense of accomplishment with this debut release, which would hopefully propel their future careers in the billion-dollar K-pop industry. K-pop fans, meanwhile, praised the song for its danceable yet pleasant beat and the video for being better than what's expected. Other fans are quite curious about the university program and if Howon would still be involved in the group's future projects as graduates.
Prior to having a K-pop program, Howon University has trained members of successful groups like GOT7, VIXX, BtoB, 2PM, Wanna One, and After School. Reports cited that graduates from this private university have one of the highest employment rates in South Korea. Its famous alumni members include Baek A-yeon, Kim Won-shik, Park Jin-young, Hwang Chan-sung, Bae Sung-yeon and Riana.
K-pop colleges have been slowly growing in number since the success of many groups. However, most band members receive their training from talent agencies like SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment or JYP Entertainment. These agencies recruit aspiring talents at a very young age to live together and train in singing and dancing for several years until they ready for their big outing.
Because K-pop aspirants usually start out very young, someone who is of college age might have fewer chances of success in this industry. That all changed when K-pop universities have established in South Korea. Along with a good music program, this type of program also offers foreign language studies like English.
