BTS has taken the world by storm. They’ve been on Ellen, SNL and James Cordon. Now that many people have had their introduction to K-pop, here are four other groups you need to check out.
1. GFriend
Formed by Source Music in 2015, GFriend is a six-member girl group taking the world by storm. The members include the leader, Sowon, Eunbi, Yerin, SinB, Umji and Yuju. The group’s main concept is “powerful and innocent,” which they maintain through their knife-like choreography and “passionate melancholy,” which is shown in their softer comebacks. Their company, Source Music, was recently purchased by Big Hit Entertainment, making their company a subsidiary.
GFriend debuted in 2015 with the song, “Glass Bead,” but found success after their hit song, “Rough.” They recently released their album, Fever Season with the title track, “Fever,” which received six wins on music show broadcasts in Korea.
2. Seventeen
Seventeen is a thirteen-member, self-producing K-pop group formed by Pledis Entertainment. Made up of three units, vocal unit, performance unit and hip-hop unit, Seventeen is known for their ability to remain in-sync through their choreography and for writing their own songs.
The vocal unit is led by Woozi, who writes the majority of Seventeen’s music and includes Joshua, Jeonghan, Seungkwan and DK. The hip-hop unit led by S.Coups includes Wonwoo, Vernon and Mingyu, who write the rap parts of the music. The performance unit led by Hoshi includes Jun, The8 and Dino creates the beautiful choreography that the group performs.
Seventeen debuted in 2015 with the song “Adore U,” a funky pop song. Their music has evolved over the past few years with releases like “Don’t Wanna Cry,” a melancholic EDM song and “Getting Closer,” which is a much darker concept than Seventeen has portrayed in the past. Most recently, Seventeen released their album, An Ode, with the title track, “Fear.”
3. Ateez
With four albums under their belt, Ateez is far from being a rookie even though the group just debuted last year. Made up of eight members, Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Mingi, Yeosang, San, Wooyoung and Junho, Ateez has grown rapidly since their debut song, “Pirate King.” Formed by KQ Entertainment, Ateez has become an international star, even signing with RCA Records in America.
They just released the final installment of their Wonderland series with the title track, “Wonderland.” This song is a much darker concept than their previous release, “Wave” and proclaims their wish to create their own Wonderland where everyone can reach their dreams. Ateez is a definite group to watch.
4. CLC
With member changes and concept evolutions, CLC has grown a lot since its initial debut. The group consists of Seunghee, Yujin, Seungyeon, Sorn, Yeeun, Elkie and Eunbin. However, the group included only five members when they debuted with “Pepe.” After releasing cuter songs, like “High Heels,” where Elkie and Eunbin were added to the lineup, the group made a complete concept change when they released “Hobgoblin.”
CLC has continued releasing songs with a darker and more mature vibe. Their song “No,” written by members, Seungyeon and Yeeun, discusses rebelling against the harsh beauty standards in society today and earned them their first win on a music broadcast show. Their most recent release, “Devil” brings back a cuter side to CLC while also being a mature and sophisticated track.
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