Meovv Are Ready For The K-Pop Crown

With such different backgrounds, it almost seems like fate for the five multinational members of Meovv — Sooin, Gawon, Anna, Narin, and Ella — to come together. Gawon says the reason for their success after dropping their debut EP, My Eyes Open Vvide, on May 12 is their “shared vision.”

The K-Pop girl group’s bond is something that almost seems magical, and according to Ella, Meovv might even have a bit of telepathy. “When we’re in a situation, we can look at each other and we get the vibe,” she says. Their strong connection is clear, even through Zoom, as they agree on almost everything together. That’s come in handy recently as the group’s schedule has become more packed than ever.

Meovv is the first girl group to sign with TheBlackLabel, a management company founded by legendary producer Teddy Park. He’s worked with Blackpink on tracks like “How You Like That” and “Pink Venom,” and TheBlackLabel signed Rosé as a soloist in 2024 before she released “Apt.” with Bruno Mars. It’s safe to say that Meovv is in good hands, and the quintet has been the definition of booked and busy while promoting My Eyes Wide Vvide.

Meovv’s anthem-like debut single, “Meow,” landed the group on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart at No. 10, and their most recent music video for the poppy “Drop Top” racked up more than 18 million views in just two weeks. “Seeing a new success every day for us is so fun,” Ella says. “It feels satisfying because we put a lot of work into this.” For Gawon, she says, “It feels like the beginning of something really big.”

The multinational members of Meovv made their debut as a group in September 2024 after being handpicked by Park to represent TheBlackLabel. For Gawon, who is one of the two Korean American members of Meovv, working with Park and co-writing tracks has been a surreal experience. “Even before I knew what K-pop was, my parents would only listen to Teddy-produced songs, so I’ve had this really deep-rooted respect for him going way back,” says the 20-year-old.

Being in a K-Pop group wasn’t something Gawon ever envisioned for herself as a kid, though. “Music was always such a definite part of my life,” she says. “I never really thought of it as a career path.” However, when she got the chance to audition for TheBlackLabel and become a trainee, she took the opportunity and realized it was what she wanted to do.

While Gawon, Sooin, Anna, Narin, and Ella come from different countries (namely South Korea, Japan, and the United States), they all ended up as trainees at TheBlackLabel. Ella, a Los Angeles native who got the nickname “little Jennie” for her resemblance to the Blackpink member, began her career as a model for brands like H&M, Levi’s, and Gap, and says she wanted to be an actor. “Whenever I would submit audition videos, they would ask me to sing something,” the 16-year-old says. “That’s when I first tried singing, and it was just really fun, so I wanted to keep doing it.”

Then, there’s Anna, 19, who only ever wanted to be a singer; Narin, 17, who had dreams of being a diplomat; and Sooin, 20, who tried everything from tae kwon do to jumping rope as a kid. Their various childhood dreams eventually all led them to TheBlackLabel, and now, the group is ready to take on the world.

My Eyes Open Vvide may be a six-track EP, but it was hard to pick the songs that would appear on their EP (and according to Ella, there are more “in storage” that the team would love to release eventually). “We have so many good songs,” Ella says. Gawon chimes in, “Even choosing ‘Hands Up’ as the pre-release was a decision we made after lots of discussions with Teddy.”

After they released the EP, Anna says fans were quick to comment online that “this is the moment that they've all been waiting for.” “With this release,” Gawon says, “we’re... trying to put as much of ourselves out there as possible, which is kind of different from what we did with our past releases.” While the group may not be getting as much time to rest as they’d like — Anna especially loves sleeping in her free time — Meovv is just happy to be seeing their fans more than ever.

One of Meovv’s most recent stops was at a festival in Daegu, where Sooin is from in South Korea. “We always talk about how we want to perform in everyone’s hometown,” Gawon says. “And yesterday we actually hit hers.” Even though they won the Favorite Rising Artist award at the 2024 MAMA Awards, performing in Daegu at her sister’s university is Sooin’s biggest “pinch me” moment thus far — and Ella is hoping to be next.

In August, Meovv will be going on their first U.S. trip as a team to Kcon in Los Angeles. “We hope that kickstarts us meeting international fans,” Gawon says. Traveling overseas would be the perfect opportunity for a My Eyes Vvide tour, which is something Narin is manifesting for Meovv. “A world tour and meeting fans” is what she’s hoping to cross off her list next.

The group may have the same producer as Blackpink and tracks that give off the same vibe like “Body” and “Hands Up,” but there’s also slower emotional singles like “Toxic” and bops that were made for scenic drives with the windows down in the summer like “Lit Right Now.” This EP is the beginning, but it’s not the last time you’ll hear from Meovv.