CSR, a rookie girl group introduced in July 2022 has been gaining popularity among Korean and international fans for two reasons– positive and negative.
Who Is CSR? Members & Age + Concept Draws Attention Due To Resemblance With GFRIEND
Amid the fame of current fourth-gen representative girl groups ITZY, aespa, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, NMIXX, Kep1er and more, this girl group from a small-sized subsidiary label has been gaining attention from K-pop enthusiasts.
In particular, Cheos-Sarang, also known as CSR is a group that debuted under POP MUSIC, a subsidiary label launched in 2018 by parent company WYSIWYG Studios.
The team is comprised of seven members namely Sua, Sihyeon, Yuna, Seoyeon, Duna, Geumhee and Yeham.
Upon their debut, they immediately gained attention from international K-pop fans due to their unique age line, wherein all members were born in 2005.
The girl group's concept is a "class of young girls who were born in 2005." It was also explained that their group aims to instill the word, "cheos-sarang (first love) in people's memories for a long time, just like their first love."
On July 28, 2022, the septet released their first mini-album, "Sequence: 7272," which contains the title track, "Pop? Pop!"
The song became a hot topic among international fans for its concept that deviates from the "girl crush" and "high-teen" concept most girl groups has these days.
Instead, CSR brought back the concept of "early schoolgirl," giving K-pop fans nostalgic feelings from second-gen and third-gen K-pop girl groups.
Internet users and fans highlighted that CSR reminds them of groups like Apink, Laboum, Lovelyz and especially GFRIEND.
A lot commented that the group doesn't have a visual hole, and everyone has impressive vocal and dance skills just like GFRIEND, not to mention their nostalgic school uniform outfits.
CSR Draws Attention From Koreans After Winning 1st Music Show Win, Faces First Controversy Since Debut
Amid rising popularity due to their unique 05-line group concept and songs, CSR is also establishing their name in the domestic music scene after winning their first-ever music show win with their comeback single, "LOVETICON" on December 2.
International fans, the backbone of their fandom rejoiced at their win and were impressed that they snag the first-place trophy against Younha, one of Korea's representative soloists.
Following the results, Korean K-pop fans also showed interest in CSR, for winning first place in "Music Bank" with only broadcast scores, with 0 digital and physical album scores.
Due to this, it sparked controversy as to how CSR attained a high score with broadcast points alone when even top-tier singers Lim Young Woong and SNSD Taeyeon were pushed out of the top spot despite high digital and physicals due to this criteria.
Adding to the controversy, it was reported that promotional messages were written at CSR's Daum Café at 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., KST, even before announcing the first place on the day.
Netizens speculated that the sns manager tried to write a manuscript in advance and use it as viral material, but was mistakenly posted as a publication, not private. The post since then has been deleted.
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Written by Eunice Dawson.
