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One of the most vivacious and fiery girl groups, TRI.BE is already making waves as one of the most promising talents to watch out for.
The talented seven-member, multi-ethnic group consists of SongSun, Kelly, JinHa, HyunBin, Jia, SoEun, MiRe.
TRI.BE debuted on February 17, 2021, with their debut single album Tri.be Da Loca, and just like their name suggests, perfect existence or perfect being (derived from the words: triangle, and being), TRI.BE is a triple threat possessing abundant talent, unparalleled charisma, and star power like no other.
On February 14, 2023, three days shy of their second debut anniversary, TRI.BE has released their second EP W.A.Y. (We Are Young), consisting of the tracks We Are Young (title track), Stay Together, Witch, Wonderland and Would You Run (original version.)
Notably, their new album has exceeded all expectations as W.A.Y. recorded 5,474 copies in sales on the first day of its release (February 14), marking a new record for the talented girl group.
TRI.BE’s new mini-album has now become their highest-selling album with its day one sales collection, smoothly surpassing the previous record set by their third single album LEVIOSA, which recorded 3,700 album sales on the first day of release.
In an exclusive chat with SK POP’s Anwaya Mane, TRI.BE dishes about their new album W.A.Y., why its title track is the group’s favorite, and collaborating with Allu Arjun and Armaan Malik on Coke Studio’s multi-lingual collab track Memu Aagamu.
TRI.BE talk about being a multi-ethnic group and wanting to collaborate with Justin Bieber and Kehlani
1) Hello TRI.BE. Thank you so much for taking out time to speak with me. Hope you are doing well.
TRI.BE: Hello! We’ve been doing great and we’re honored to participate in this interview. Thank you for having us.
2) Congratulations on your new EP W.A.Y., which focuses on the ripe age of youth and being authentic to ourselves. Was it relatively easier to draw from your real-life experiences considering you are in the prime of your youth?
Can you share the thought process and experiences that went into making W.A.Y.?
TRI.BE: We had a thorough discussion and review session with our producer S.Tiger after we finished the promotions for our previous release LEVIOSA.
It was proposed that it would be intriguing if we attempted something we had never done before. We’ve always tried to show power and charisma in our performances, but we have always been keen to do something that would let us have fun and just exert energy.
S.Tiger collected our thoughts together and that’s how our new title track WE ARE YOUNG came to life. WE ARE YOUNG is a very bright track and our mindset is to “have fun” rather than “do well.”
We had an exciting time preparing for this album because it felt like we were just hanging out with our childhood friends.
3) You are including Would You Run’s original version in your new EP. How different is this version from the 2021 version of the same name?
Which track from W.A.Y. do you think represents the rebranded version of TRI.BE the best at the moment?
TRI.BE: The 2021 version focused more on showcasing power through the track’s strong beats to match TRI.BE’s previous concept, “girl crush.”
While the original version is a bit more dreamy and mature; the two are technically the same track but give off very different vibes depending on the version.
We honestly love all the tracks in [W.A.Y.] but the title track WE ARE YOUNG definitely represents us the best. It allows us to show off our bright and positive energy while staying in line with our core message of staying true to yourself. It also matches well with our real personalities so it synergizes with us very well.
4) Your Indian TRUEs loved your collaboration with Indian megastars, Allu Arjun and Armaan Malik, which was released last year. Can you reveal how did Memu Aagamu come to fruition and share your experience of working with them?
TRI.BE: We also had an amazing time working on Memu Aagamu so we’re happy that our Indian TRUE enjoyed it as well.
It was a big honor for us to be able to collaborate with world-famous Allu Arjun and Armaan Malik. We had some great moments, including practicing the choreography together and teaching each other new languages.
It was a heartwarming experience to see how I-POP and K-POP could come together as one despite cultural and lingual differences. As it was our first time collaborating with international artists on one track, we were very nervous, but they treated us very warmly and helped us to feel comfortable so our memories of the Memu Aagamu collaboration project are fond of us.
We’ll never be able to forget the memories and we would love to meet them again in the future.
5) Going back in time a bit. You debuted in a post-pandemic world. What kind of challenges did you guys face back then and what is the most important lesson you have learnt so far?
TRI.BE: We think the hardest challenge was being unable to see our fans in person.
We were always in front of cameras, and this often made us think, "Did we really debut?" We often talked about how to greet our fans when we got to see them, but everybody had no idea because nobody had any experience talking to a fan in real life.
The experience we imagined included having fun with our fans on stage, but in reality, we were only performing in front of cameras and broadcasting machines. This is probably why we always appreciate the existence of our fans. They are the ones who complete our performances and are the ones who make us complete.
Our fans tell us that they are energized by TRI.BE’s energy but it’s us who actually get energized, all thanks to our fans. Now, we’re incredibly happy to be able to perform in front of our fans and each and every performance means a lot to us. We’re very thankful for the love and support we received, even during the pandemic, and we really want to give back as much as we can.
6) You are still new and young in your career. What kind of themes and genres do you intend to dabble in the future?
TRI.BE: Starting with [W.A.Y.], we’re trying to focus on highlighting TRI.BE’s bright energy and having fun on stage. We want to see our TRUE have fun as well so we’re looking forward to what this comeback will bring.
In the future, we’ll also be trying out various concepts to show that TRI.BE can do anything. We’ll keep challenging ourselves and make sure to keep improving so we hope you enjoy it!
7) You are a multicultural group consisting of Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese members. What is it like to have this confluence of different cultures and how do you plan to leverage this in the future?
TRI.BE: It’s an amazing experience to have multiple cultures come together as one. Even though we had some natural cultural difficulties in the beginning, we have been constantly learning from each other and this has helped us in many ways.
Having a group of members that can collectively speak Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese help us to communicate with more international fans and understand them better.
Even though we come from different backgrounds, everyone is going in the same direction with the same goal, and having each other’s support is what keeps us strong.
8) Who are some Korean or international artists you look up to and would love to collaborate with in the future?
TRI.BE: Honestly speaking, any kind of collaboration would be an honorable experience for us. We recently talked about some of our favorite international artists and some of the artists that were mentioned were Justin Bieber, Kehlani, New Hope Club, and Etham, but the list goes on!
9) What can your fans look forward to from TRI.BE in the near future?
TRI.BE: With all the stress everybody endures in their daily lives, we hope our WE ARE YOUNG performance can make you feel better and happier.
If there is anyone who is experiencing a loss of confidence, we want to encourage and support you because you are already doing well. There’s no need to feel down and if you ever do, come to us and we’ll do our best to cheer up your day!
This year, we really want to show our fans a lot of variety and color when it comes to our music and performances. When the opportunity comes, we’ll make sure to visit our international TRUE so we can perform for them live.
10) We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Do you have any plans on touring India in the future and what message would you like to convey to your Indian TRUEs?
TRI.BE: We’re very grateful to our TRUE in India. Thank you so much for your support and love and we sincerely want to meet you in person. Despite being so far away from each other, we are always thankful for your encouragement and we dream of the day we get to visit you. Please wait a little more and we hope to see you soon!! Love you!
Disclaimer: The interview was edited for clarity and grammar purposes.
