BLACKPINK and I.O.I (Photo : Twitter/@pd101withhearts)
Girl groups BLACKPINK and IOI are both nominated for Best New Female Artist in MAMA 2016 and it BLACKPINK may lose from the project girl group that is set to disband in early 2017.
BLACKPINK is YG Entertainment's second generation female group seven years after 2NE1 debuted. For quite a long time, YG held back in debuting another girl group building the anticipation on possible members.
BLACKPINK debuted on August 8 with two title track "BOOMBAYAH" and "Whistle" - tunes that are reminiscent of 2NE1 songs. They recently held a comeback on Nov. 1 with more mellow tracks "Playing With Fire" and "Stay" that shows off the versatility of the members.
The girls also responded to accusations that they were just a copycat of their sunbae group from the same agency 2NE1. Instead of being disappointed from the comparisons between them and 2NE1, BLACKPINK members felt flattered and said that they look up to 2NE1 as they were a huge influence to them.
Meanwhile, IOI is an 11-member girl group that debuted after the Mnet's survival program "Produce 101". The girl group is like the cream of the crop as 101 girl group trainees from various entertainment agencies joined the reality show before the top 11 girls were chosen.
IOI debuted in April with "Dream Girls" that catapulted them to stardom. A sub-unit promoted in July with "Whatta Man" and the whole group held a comeback in October and topped the charts with "Very Very Very".
IOI is set to disband in early 2017 as their contract is for one year only under YMC Entertainment. Some members of IOI debuted as part of girl groups in their respective agencies.
Other nominees for Best New Female Artist are Gugudan, Bolbbalgan4, and WJSN. The awarding ceremony will be held on Dec. 2, 8 p.m. EST, at the AsiaWorld-Expo Hong Kong.
Watch BLACKPINK's "Playing With Fire" below.
