Who exactly is Young Posse? The girl group, dubbed the “honorary daughters of the Korean hip-hop scene” by online fans, has an answer in its fourth and latest EP, "Growing Pain pt.1: Free.”

“Our new album started from this question of ‘So, who are you?’” said leader Sunhye during a press event, dubbed the Media Mini Festival, which took place at Yes24 Wanderloch Hall in western Seoul on Thursday.

"It expresses, through our unique playfulness, the growing pains we experienced while searching for our sense of self in a world that constantly pressures us to find our identity," Sunhye explained.

"Growing Pain pt.1: Free” marks the beginning of the “Growing Pain” series. Young Posse's last project, the “Food” trilogy, began with its debut EP “Macaroni Cheese” (2023) and was followed by “XXL” (2024) and ”Ate That” (2024). The new album, which comes five months after its special album, “Cold,” features seven tracks: the lead track “Freestyle,” and B-sides “YSSR,” “ADHD,” “School’s Out,” “Mon3y Bank,” “soju” and “Same Shit 中 Another One.”

All five members — Yeonjung, Jiana, Sunhye, Jieun and Doeun — contributed lyrics to the album as they did for their previous works. The lead track, “Freestyle,” in particular, serves as Young Posse's declaration to continue carving out its own unique path, the members said.

"From being trainees to becoming singers, I think we often felt a lot of uncertainty about whether the path we were on was really the right one," said Jieun. "Even though the future is uncertain and sometimes scary, we poured our current emotions and thoughts — our determination to pursue what we truly want — fully into the lyrics."

The Thursday event was called a "mini festival" by Young Posse’s agency Beats Entertainment, as the members performed not only the group’s latest song, “Freestyle,” but also its previous songs “XXL” (2024) and “Ate That” (2024). The group performed as if headlining a hip-hop concert, interacting with both the audience and each other on stage — showcasing Young Posse’s biggest strength as live performers.

“Right before we were about to perform, I made eye contact with my fellow members, and that made me so happy,” said Doeun with a smile. “I find ourselves the coolest in these kinds of moments, when we can show our energy to the audience.”

Sunhye admitted that she gets nervous before every performance, but said, "[as I perform more and more,] I’ve come to feel a stronger sense of responsibility — because I believe that the most important thing is for the audience to enjoy the performance."

She continued on to say that by focusing on the mindset of having fun, no matter the response from the audience, she was able to "ease some of that pressure."

Young Posse wrapped up its first U.S. tour, “The Hungry Tour,” last year, which ran from October to November.

“We always love performing at festivals,” said Jieun. “So I want to perform at bigger events — not only in Korea but also overseas, like Coachella or Lollapalooza.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]