Dara, former member of 2NE1, recently joined Kim Jae Joong‘s YouTube talk show ‘Jaefriends‘ to discuss how things used to be between SM and YG artists.
Kim Jae Joong started by explaining their connection: “We met through a movie, but YG and SM artists didn’t interact much. It was a bit awkward when we crossed paths.”
Dara chimed in, saying, “We couldn’t really call each other friends. When we saw each other, we weren’t sure if we should say hello.”
Kim Jae Joong pointed out, “There was a kind of territorial rivalry between YG and SM. We were like, ‘We’re YG,’ and ‘We’re SM!’ There are some interesting stories from those times that we can’t share on YouTube.”
Dara added, “I’m close to many SM artists now, but back then, we couldn’t get too close. We were always competing for the top spot. Girls’ Generation was often our rival.”
They also revealed some envy for each other’s entertainment agencies. Kim Jae Joong said, “We admired YG’s approach to music. We wanted to do music like YG did.”
On the other hand, Dara shared, “We were envious of SM too. I was friends with Super Junior’s Donghae, and he’d say, ‘We have too many comebacks.’ We’d reply, ‘We wish we had that many comebacks.’ Our agencies operated differently.”
Dara also talked about the pressure they felt when compared to SM artists. She explained, “We won many awards at the time, but we couldn’t even shed tears. People scolded us, saying, ‘Why don’t you cry like those SM artists?’ We’d cry after leaving the stage.”
Source[1]
