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On September 17, 2024, MAMAMOO's Hwasa appeared on Jonathan's popular YouTube show, The K-Star Next Door. Currently, she is on her promotional schedule for her upcoming 2nd Mini Album, [O], set to be released on September 19, 2024.
During her interview with Jonathan, she was asked about her trainee days when she rebelled against her agency's CEO.
Hwasa debuted as a member of the four-piece girl group, MAMAMOO, in 2014 under the agency, Rainbow Bridge World. During her trainee days, she weighed around 60 kg and was asked by the CEO to reduce her weight to 48 kg.
Failing to achieve the body goal requirement to debut as an idol, the CEO warned her that they would terminate her contract.
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In response, the Maria singer wrote a song, My Heart, and mailed it to the CEO. Hwasa claimed that she poured all her anger into the song and fought with her boss via it.
"I weighed 60kg when I was a trainee. My boss told me to lose weight down to 48kg. I did my best and reduced it down to 49kg. Yet he still wanted to fire me. So I got upset at my boss. After a bout with him, I wrote a song about my feelings. The title was, 'My Heart.' What my boss expected to see was an apology. He actually liked me more after that."
More about MAMAMOO's youngest member, Ahn Hye-jin aka Hwasa, and her body positivity messages
Hwasa is known as one of those rare few K-pop idols who doesn't fit the standard mold of Korean beauty standards. Oftentimes, she has been subjected to online ridicule and cyberbullying for not fitting the K-pop body goal standards.
Hwasa terminated her solo contract with Rainbow Bridge World and joined PSY's company, P NATION, on September 1, 2023.
The MAMAMOO singer dropped her second solo single, I Love My Body, on September 6, 2023, under P NATION, where she addressed the topic of body positivity. Forbes reported that the singer recalled having several mental breakdowns due to facing harsh criticism on how she looked for over a decade.
She underscored that I Love My Body is a call to her younger self and an encouragement to other women who feel insecure about their looks.
Before this, she released her debut solo EP, Maria, in 2020 (her Baptismal name) which explored the dark side of unrequited love and fame.
Furthermore, MAMAMOO is well-known across the globe for writing songs that address societal norms and unrealistic expectations of body goals. They released their album, Reality in Black, in November 2019, along with the track HIPI, which also traced the message of embracing oneself and not chasing an unhealthy body image.
MAMAMOO consists of Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa. Although Sola and Moonbyul are still with Rainbow Bridge World, Wheein terminated her solo contract in June 2023, followed by the Maria singer in September 2023.
The four members, however, renewed their group contract with Rainbow Bridge World and continued to promote and create music as MAMAMOO.
