Introducing: VCHA! The first global girl group trained under the K-pop trainee system consists of six teenagers from around the United States and Canada. The group includes members Lexi, Camila, Kendall, Savanna, KG, and Kaylee, who sat down with J-14 to talk the hardest part about competing on A2K, when they first knew they wanted to become performers and what J-14 readers should know about VCHA!
Keep reading to see J-14‘s exclusive interview with VCHA.
Who Are VCHA? Meet the Members
VCHA is a pre-debut global girl group under JYP Entertainment, the South Korean music label known for huge groups in K-pop such as TWICE, Stray Kids and ITZY. The global girl group was created from a project survival show titled A2K (America2Korea), which first premiered in July 2023 on YouTube. They released a pre-debut single, “SeVit (NEW LIGHT)” on September 22, 2023, but have yet to make their official debut.
Lexi, who ranked No. 1 on the show, is the leader of the girl group. A Chicago native, the VCHA leader did ballet for 11 years and took part of a competitive dance team before competing on A2K.
“I used to be on a dance team before this, so I did a lot of performances and competitions all around the U.S. and I didn’t really want it to be a one-time thing that just happened on the weekends,” she exclusively revealed to J-14. “I really liked the feeling and the passion that I felt while performing on those stages during those competitions, and I wanted it to be something that I could continue for the rest of my life.”
KG shares her leader’s “passion,” as she was musically talented since she was a child living in Michigan!
“I learned how to play the guitar and piano and sing around when I was seven years old,” KG shared. “I started in a band with my brothers when I was really little growing up, and I learned how to play a bunch of instruments and it was a lot of fun.”
As for Camila, who was born in Barcelona, Spain but grew up in Canada, the singer was inspired to pursue her passion for music after looking up to artists like Shakira.
VCHA’s youngest member Kaylee revealed that she “never really thought” that her dream of becoming a performer would come true, as she felt felt too young to do so! Only 13 years old, she explained that seeing groups like NewJeans and NMIXX debut with members around her age inspired her to pursue the music industry.
“Ever since I was younger, I always loved performing for my family and being in gymnastics,” Savanna, who is originally from Florida, told J-14. “I always looked forward to competitions and I really just got such a good adrenaline from showing what I’ve worked on.”
Kendall’s passion for music took awhile to actualize, as she originally intended to follow in her parents career footsteps, who work in the STEM field.
“Even though I did choir and dance outside of school, I didn’t necessarily take it completely seriously as a career until about one to two years ago when I started seriously thinking about college and what I wanted to do,” she revealed. So, I decided to switch what I wanted to do to be music production in college, which led me to be more of a performer.”
What Was the Hardest Part While Competing on ‘A2K’?
For Camila, the hardest part about A2K was it ending!
“I started realizing that it was coming to an end and it was becoming more real. ‘Okay, this is ending. You might not make it. You might, you’re going to maybe say goodbye to your friends, you might not.’ So it was a very uncertain time. It was a little bit stressful.”
Kaylee revealed that “mentally” the whole competition was difficult, especially the waiting aspect. “From the LA Bootcamp to the Korean training bootcamp and saying goodbye to a lot of close friends you make in the process is very sad.”
What Should J-14 Readers Know About VCHA?
“I think a little bit of an introduction to us is that we are the first American girl group based on Korean training or the Korean system,” Camila began. “We all have different backgrounds, different cultures, and also we had different paths that led us to this moment right now.”
Lexi summed it up, “I think another general thing is that we’re literally just six teenagers from all around the U.S. and Canada. So like you said, it’s cool bringing in different backgrounds and cultures into this.”
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