Discovering the meaning of “First Love” with CSR

CSR. In Korean it’s a short form to say “first love”. The group, formerly known as 05class is a 7-member girl group under POPMUSIC and RBW Entertainment Japan and it’s composed of SUA, DUNA, GEUMHEE, SIHYEON, SEOYEON, YUNA, and YEHAM.

Everything behind the concept of this one-of-a-kind girls group is amazing. First of all, CSR is the only group in K-pop history to have members of the same age. Their storyline is also pretty unique: the group theme changes every year following the girls’ aging. Now the girls are 18, the age in which they shine the most. A hint of their new era was given on their last track of 2022's "Sequence: 17&" single album 'Anding(&)' in which there was a line that says "A light shines in between the gaps". In Korea, where celebrating turning 18 years is like the US version of a “sweet sixteen”, the members of CSR choose to show their listeners how they go on a journey to find their true charms to finally discover their true selves as 18 year old, aiming to send a message of loving yourself.

Panorama.it spoke with them.

Hi girls, nice to meet you. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Love at the first sight! Hello, we are 첫사랑 (CSR)! 첫사랑(CSR) is the only girl group whose members are all 18 year old girls, and we came back with the new theme for our 18, ‘Journey of Light’, and our 2nd mini album "DELIGHT"!

SUA - Hello~ I’m the sweet leader of CSR, SUA~

GEUMHEE - Hello~ I’m the human kitten of CSR, GEUMHEE!

SIHYEON - Hello~ I’m the bubbly charm of CSR, SIHYEON~

SEOYEON - Hello~ CSR’s life of the party, SEOYEON~

YUNA - Hello~ CSR’s cutie with reverse charm, YUNA~

DUNA - Hello~ lovely face of CRS, DUNA~

YEHAM - Hello~ the precious main vocalist of CSR, YEHAM~

CSR, can you tell us more about the name of your group?

SUA - CSR comes from a Korean phrase meaning "first love", which is something that is remembered forever without changing. CSR also wants to become a group that can be remembered for a long time. Our group name in English, CSR, comes from the first consonants of the phrase "first love" (첫사랑) in Korean. I think everyone has a different image of their first love, and we would like to show many different sides of CSR. I wish people would think of our team when they hear the phrase "first love". And we also hope that people around the world could get to know more about the Korean language!

You are the first group where all the members are the same age, but is there someone who you consider the eonnie (big sister) and the dongsaeng (little sister) of the group?

GEUMHEE - I think the older sisters of our team could be SUA and DUNA while YEHAM is the younger sister! DUNA is reliable like an older sister, and SUA has great chemistry with YEHAM. And their interactions resemble real sisters playing with each other! (she laughs)

18 years old. What a great age to live. What do you want to share with your listeners while you are living your youth?

SUA - Like you said, I wish people could be happy just by listening to our music and watching our performances. I wish the bright and powerful music of CSR could be a source of energy for some people and comfort for others!

Love yourself is one of your mottos: what do you love the most about yourself?

SIHYEON - Sometimes I hear that I am very compassionate and that I care about other people a lot! I think that’s my biggest strength and charming point!

I want to talk about your music; how would you describe your second mini album "DELIGHT"?

YEHAM - Our 2nd mini album "DELIGHT" is the album that introduces the first journey of the 18-year-old girls who realized they are shining bright! You could feel the happy and powerful vibes of CSR in our songs. The mini album opens with "Eighteen (Signal)", a song introducing the main theme of this era for CSR. Then comes our title track "Shining Bright", which is full of excitement. The third track "Picnic" is perfect for going on a picnic or driving and "Dandelion" is a fan song dedicated to our MAEUMs. You will be able to feel the bright energy of CSR if you listen to "DELIGHT". So please check out all the tracks and send your love!

The title track is Shining Bright. What makes CSR shine?

YUNA - I think CSR is shining because all seven of us could unite as one. Each of our members has a distinct charm, and all our members are shining bright. The members who could shine individually by simply existing have united, and I think that’s why we shine brighter! Also, I think our bright energy helps us to shine when we perform on stage.

There is a tagline in the song, “I’m self-luminous”. Can you explain it to us a bit more?

SEOYEON - Our 2023 theme is the ‘Journey of Light’. It’s about the hope that CSR, who begin their journey to find the light and everyone who joins them, could love each other a little bit more! Sometimes things might be tough and you might blame yourself, but we wanted to say that our important values are never lost and they always shine. I hope everyone can cheer up and realize that they can always shine on their own!

Do you have any role models you admire in the industry?

DUNA - Girls' Generation Sunbaenim are our role models! They are very much loved by many people and the friendship between members is beautiful. We would really like to be like them, and there’s a lot to learn from them. We wish to learn their best traits and present amazing chemistry and performances that only CSR can show!

If you had to describe yourself with one word, which would you choose and why?

SUA - Just like last year, we have a key object that is linked to our age! You can see how we like to spend our 18, if you see our object. Our members will introduce their own object~

SUA - My object currently is "wings"! Wings help you to fly, and since I am the leader of the team, I would like to be a wing for CSR to help us fly higher. Also, wings symbolize freedom and I would like to fly freely with our members in 2023!

GEUMHEE - My object is "football"! Just like in football, I think my current age can be divided into two parts. Many things could happen during a match, and I think I will learn many things in the process. After an exciting first half, I would like to finish this year becoming more mature.

SIHYEON - My object is "strawberry"! Everyone likes strawberries and they have a very distinctive charm unique to them. So, while I’m 18, I want to be special (just like a strawberry), pull off any role I need to perform well and become an artist who’s loved everywhere!

SEOYEON- My object is "Freesia"! In flower language, Freesia means self-love, bliss and future! Just like Freesia’s flower language, I would like to retain the happiness I felt when I was 17. And I am very excited to learn new things while I’m 18!

YUNA - My object is "unicorn"! Unicorn is really valuable because it’s special. Also, a unicorn can be someone’s dream! While I’m 18, I would like to be someone’s dream, and I want to show my special charm that’s different from others!

DUNA - My object is a "mirror"! Just like a mirror, I want to be someone everybody wants to become and look like! But if you want to be somebody’s mirror, you have to be worthy of it. So while I'm 18, I will reflect on myself and develop as much as possible!

YEHAM - My object is "sneakers"! Sweet 18 is an age that you want to do everything and go everywhere. Just like the old saying 'You go to nice places if you wear nice shoes'. I am just 18 years old, but I wish there’s only a beautiful flowery road ahead!

What do you want to achieve in 2023?

SUA - I would like to perform outside Korea this year. I wish to communicate with MAEUMs all over the world, which we couldn’t do last year. If possible, I would like to conduct fan meetings and concerts, too.

GEUMHEE - This year, I hope more people get to know our group CSR and I also hope that our song gets in the top 50 of the music charts!

SIHYEON - We have many fans abroad who are supporting CSR from all over the world, so I wish to make great memories with our foreign fans and have concerts in various countries by going outside Korea!

SEOYEON - We couldn't go last year, but I wish to go abroad this year, and communicate with MAEUMs who are far away.

YUNA - We didn’t have a lot of chances because it was right after our debut last year, but I wish to meet our MAEUMs all over the world and make beautiful memories by going abroad this year. Also, I wish to be on the music award stage and show new sides of CSR.

DUNA - I wish a lot of people would listen to the title track of our album "DELIGHT", "Shining Bright" and gain our bright and powerful energy. And I would also like to have a concert with a set list made up of only our songs.

YEHAM - I want to have a global tour, which we couldn’t do last year. I wish to visit YUNA’s home country Japan and visit the US as well. Also, just like our first 1st place in the music broadcast show, I wish to have 1st place with this album, too.