Girls’ Generation-HRS Commits to the Bit
Girls' Generation’s newest subunit HRS (HyoRiSoo)'s biggest rival is the group’s first iconic subunit TTS – and each other.
YURI, HYOYEON, and SOOYOUNG
A few weeks ago, Tiffany Young appeared on The Manager, a KOWCA variety show, to promote her new album. Tiffany debuted as a member of 'Girls' Generation nearly 20 years ago, and later formed the subunit TTS with TAEYEON and SEOHYUN. Together, the three were the strongest vocalists of Girls' Generation, and their two EPs, Twinkle and Holler, remain iconic fixtures of second-generation K-pop. Eventually, after discussing her marriage and new music, the conversation turned to Girls’ Generation-HRS, a new subunit HYOYEON formed with YURI and SOOYOUNG.
“It’s obvious they formed the group to go against TTS,” one of the hosts told Tiffany, attempting to goad her into a response. She smiled good-naturedly. “Well, they beat us,” she said with a laugh. When her husband saw how ambitious HRS is, though, his response was more grave. “I really don’t know how far my sisters-in-law will go,” he told Tiffany.
Over on her variety show Amazing Saturday, TAEYEON, too, was asked about HRS. “I always support them,” she said a clipped smile. When a co-host pointed out that she always says this, she laughed and seemed exasperated. “What else am I supposed to say!?” (Translation: She doesn’t give a fuck.)
The members of HRS are candid that they did, indeed, start the sub-unit to beat TTS. In dance practice videos, they try to show that they, too, can hit their groupmates' high notes, although their voices crack and sound uneven.
HRS was formed on HYOYEON’s reality show FAKE HYOYEON, where she also named herself as leader. “I’m the center! ME!” HYOYEON shouts in one gag. SOOYOUNG looks around, shocked. “Did we agree to this?” YURI asks. “We didn’t agree to this.”
Throughout the series, the ladies endure painfully awkward dance practices and hail themselves as the rookie leaders of sixth-generation K-pop (we are still in fifth). Some of the funniest moments unfold when the women meet actual K-pop rookies, like Hearts2Hearts, a group directly inspired by Girls' Generation. When one of the members tells HRS that they were born in 2007 – the same year Girls' Generation debuted – Yuri looks gagged.
Their persona has worked so well at blurring the line between camp and serious pop star imagery that it’s hard to know when they’re actually doing a bit. Take, for example, HRS’s new single “Skibidi," a ridiculous title track that is accompanied by the B-side “Lowkey in Love.” The track names are meant to make you cringe. The whole point of HRS is that the ladies are so delusional about their success that they can't register that they’re has-beens. At this week's music show performances, the girls used the ending fairy segments as bits to push each other and fight for camera time. In HRS, their biggest rivals aren’t just TTS – but each other.
I laugh out loud whenever I watch HRS content. Like all good camp, HRS is so committed to the gag that they actually seem sincere in their attempt to make “Skibidi” a hit. On music shows, they nail the choreography and amp up the aegyo. At their first festival appearance, they performed several Girls' Generation signature singles and seemed delighted that the music was going viral in Korea. (“Skibidi” is actually charting on all Korean charts.)
I can’t help but compare “Skibidi” to other songs that seem made for mass consumption and irritation. Take KATSEYE, a global girl group who seems to be finding the most success in rage-baiting audiences with tracks like “Hootie Frutti” or the HYBE super-girl group diss track “Iconic By Mistake”. HRS doesn’t condemn any of this music. If anything, they seem to find it funny or even interesting to parrot.
While HRS hasn’t elicited any reaction from TTS, the ones actually taking the bait are K-pop fans, who debate and fight in comment sections over whether this is satire or reality. Should women over 35 make music using the word “Skibidi”? How out of touch are they to think that’s cool? And anyway, aren’t they too old to be doing this?
HRS doesn’t seem to care about the discourse. Instead, they seem to be concerned with something much more pressing: Who will be the center?
