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Keyveatz debuts with fresh take on girlish hip-hop
Members of K-pop girl crew Keyveatz, from left, Newy, Kang Ye-Seul, Um Ji-one, Son Ju-one and Kim Yu-na pose during a press event held to commemorate the team's official debut at YES24 Wanderloch Hall in Seoul's Seodaemun District, Tuesday. Courtesy of AOMG
By Pyo Kyung-min
Hip-hop and R&B label AOMG's first-ever girl crew Keyveatz made its official debut Tuesday, dropping its title track "OXY" and staking a claim in one of K-pop's last open spaces — girlish hip-hop.
The five-member group — Son Ju-one, Newy, Um Ji-one, Kim Yu-na and Kang Ye-seul — have been deliberate about the "girl crew" label, positioning themselves apart from the typical girl group mold for an identity rooted in "subculture and underground aesthetics."
Hours before the release of its debut EP "OXY_GEN," the group met press at YES24 Wanderloch Hall in Seoul, arriving in sharp streetwear but radiating first-day nerves.
"I'm incredibly nervous," said Son, the group's leader. "Standing on an official debut stage, I feel excited and anxious all at once. A lot of time and effort went into getting here ... Our slogan is 'Don't miss what's next,' so we're asking you to keep an eye out for us."
On what "girl crew" means in practice, the members pushed back against the idea of image as something manufactured.
"It's built on attitude, not concept," Kim said. "Creating unpredictable individuality and style is our identity, our edge."
Members of K-pop girl crew Keyveatz pose during a press event held to commemorate the team's official debut at YES24 Wanderloch Hall in Seoul's Seodaemun District, Tuesday. Courtesy of AOMG
"OXY_GEN" is framed as a document of the group's own momentum. The members said the EP grew directly from their personal stories, with songwriters using those conversations as the foundation for the record.
"This album is especially meaningful because we built it together," Son said. "The production team listened to our stories and used them as the starting point. That's why we sang it with such sincerity."
The title track layers multiple hip-hop sounds that build nearly to a breaking point, channeling what the group calls a high-confidence attitude. EBACK, a member of AOMG co-ed hip-hop group SIKKOO, contributed to the track.
"It's a fast-driving melody with an addictive, rough rhythm that keeps escalating," Kim said. "It's the song that best captures our intense energy."
Newy kept it simple: "We hope people take to it as naturally as breathing in oxygen."
The five-track EP also includes "SUCK IT UP," on which all five members share writing, composing and arrangement credits; "SUB_ZERO," featuring rapper punchnello; prerelease double single "Key Beats"; and "Catch My Breath," produced by AOMG founder Jay Park.
Members of K-pop girl group Keyveatz / Courtesy of AOMG
Keyveatz arrives with live experience already banked. Following pre-debut releases in April, the group performed at KCON Japan 2026 and the 2026 Seoul Park Music Festival, among other major local festivals and university shows. Son, Newy and Um also previously appeared on Mnet's audition show "I-LAND2: N/A."
"The road to debut felt long, but looking back it also feels like it went by in an instant," Son said. "As leader, I felt the weight of responsibility for the others. But when the team name was set and our direction became clear, I was overjoyed. The drive just ignited in me."
For Newy, the only Japanese member of the group, the hardest stretches came with distance from home.
"There were difficult moments in the lead-up to debut," she said. "I'd think about my parents back in Japan. But the members wrapped around me like family, and that's how I made it through."
As for where Keyveatz wants to go from here, Kang put it plainly.
"Our biggest goal is to become iconic — to be a group with such a distinct genre identity that we become someone's motto. Short-term, though? A No. 1 on a local music program."