KPOPWORLD #6 (Yves)

KPOPWORLD #6 (KEYVITUP X VAYONN)

KPOPWORLD #5

KPOPWORLD #4

82Major (stylized in all caps) is a South Korean boy band formed by Great M Entertainment. The group consists of six members: Cho Seong-il, Yoon Ye-chan, Nam Seong-mo, Hwang Seong-bin, Park Seok-joon and Kim Do-gyun. The group&#x27;s name is a combination of South Korea&#x27;s calling code (+82) and the word ‘major’, expressing their desire to become a group that represents Korea. They debuted on October 11, 2023, with the single album On.

82MAJOR

82MAJOR have their first music show win — and SEONG MO, who spent over a year presenting trophies on Show Champion as an MC, finally got to receive one

82MAJOR on HEAT, Their First Win, and What Comes Next

BIGHIT MUSIC just opened its 2026 Global Audition, and the door is wide open. Any male born in 2008 or later can apply, from anywhere, with zero restrictions on category – singing, dancing, producing, whatever shows your talent best

BIGHIT MUSIC Opens 2026 Global Audition for Male Talent

ZEROBASEONE, commonly known as ZB1, is a five-member boy group formed through the Mnet survival show &quot;Boys Planet&quot; in 2023. They originally debuted as a nine-member group — along with AND2BLE&#x27;s members Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyuvin and Han Yujin — under WAKEONE Entertainment, with &quot;In Bloom&quot; setting first-week sales records that demonstrated the massive anticipation built through the survival show. As a project group with a limited contract period, ZB1 operates with an urgency to make every comeback count, and they have delivered with consistent chart-topping releases and sold-out concerts. The group&#x27;s strength lies in their strong individual star power combined with impressive group synergy, cultivated through the intense bonding of their competition experience. Their fandom, ZEROSE, mobilized quickly into one of the most organized fan bases in fourth-generation K-pop. ZB1 represents the continued power of the survival show format to create commercially dominant groups with built-in passionate audiences. On March 15, 2026, they held their last concert as a nine-member boy group, sparking sadness among fans, who had grown fond of the relationship that had developed between the nine boys. As YH Entertainment did not renew the contracts of Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyuvin, and Han Yujin with WAKEONE, ZB1 are now promoting their career as a five-member boy group, with Sung Hanbin, Kim Jiwoong, Seok Matthew, Kim Taerae, and Park Gunwook.

ZEROBASEONE

Seok Matthew and Park Gunwook, members of WakeOne’s ZEROBASEONE, have announced the September 21 release of their long awaited sub-unit project under the duo name ‘EMP’

ZEROBASEONE’s Seok Matthew and Park Gunwook Announce Mixtape Under Sub-unit ‘EMP’

Rookie groups have taken over this week’s latest K-pop releases with songs that are intense, dramatic, soft, and lighthearted

Comeback Corner: IU, YOUNGTAK, NAZE & MORE

TOMORROW X TOGETHER, often shortened to TXT, is a five-member boy group under BIGHIT MUSIC. The group consists of Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Huening Kai. They debuted in March 2019 with The Dream Chapter: Star, becoming BigHit&#x27;s first boy group after BTS and immediately attracting heavy attention. TXT&#x27;s early identity centered on youth, friendship, imagination, and the strange emotional weather of growing up. Instead of debuting with a hard-edged performance image, they leaned into brightness, fantasy, and vulnerability on songs such as &quot;Crown,&quot; &quot;Run Away,&quot; and &quot;Blue Hour.&quot; That made the group feel distinct within fourth-generation boy-group trends, especially because their storytelling often treated adolescence as magical, confusing, and a little unstable. As their catalog developed, TXT added sharper pop-rock, emo, and dance influences through songs like &quot;0X1=LOVESONG,&quot; &quot;LO$ER=LOVER,&quot; &quot;Sugar Rush Ride,&quot; and &quot;Chasing That Feeling.&quot; The members&#x27; strengths map cleanly onto that evolution: Soobin&#x27;s calm leadership, Yeonjun&#x27;s performance charisma, Beomgyu&#x27;s color, Taehyun&#x27;s vocal focus, and Huening Kai&#x27;s bright tone all help the group move between softness and intensity. TXT&#x27;s fandom is known as MOA, short for Moments of Alwaysness. The group&#x27;s significance is tied to how carefully they built a coming-of-age identity across albums, videos, and performances. Rather than defining themselves through a single sound, TXT became a group about transition itself: childhood into adulthood, fantasy into reality, and polished idol pop into something more emotionally restless.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER

When Dolce &amp; Gabbana named SOOBIN its newest ambassador, they led with skincare. Alongside the expected fashion portraits, his debut imagery puts glass skin and product front and center. It's not a random choice

SOOBIN, Dolce & Gabbana and the Growing Power of Male K-Beauty

AtHeart is a seven-member girl group under Titan Content. The lineup consists of Arin, Michi, Katelyn, Bome, Seohyeon, Aurora, and Nahyun. The group introduced its members gradually from 2024 into 2025, released the pre-debut single Good Girl (AtHeart), and officially debuted on August 13, 2025 with Plot Twist. Their fandom is known as Heartbeat. AtHeart&#x27;s early identity centers on polished pop, individual member visibility, and a social-media-friendly rollout that lets each member show a distinct personality. After debut, the group expanded the Plot Twist era with Plot Twist (English ver.) and Plot Twist (Remixes), then continued with singles such as Shut Up and Butterfly Doors.

AtHeart

Moving through K-pop as a rookie demands resilience. For AtHeart, that adjustment has come quickly, shaped by equal parts patience and momentum

AtHeart on Growth, Timing, and Moving Forward Together

Billlie is a seven-member girl group under MYSTIC Story, consisting of Moon Sua, Suhyeon, Haram, Tsuki, Sheon, Siyoon, and Haruna. They debuted in 2021 with &quot;RING X RING.&quot; The group became known for an unusually developed narrative concept built around mystery, memory, and the repeated question of what happened to &quot;Billlie.&quot; Rather than using lore only as decoration, Billlie&#x27;s albums, videos, and styling often connect back to that story world. Musically, Billlie has moved through experimental pop, rock touches, jazzier textures, and bright dance tracks while keeping a theatrical edge. Tsuki&#x27;s viral performance moment helped bring broader attention to the group, but the team&#x27;s appeal is broader than one fancam: the members are presented as characters inside a larger pop project. The fandom is known as Belllie&#x27;ve. Billlie&#x27;s appeal comes from the balance between concept, lineup, and musical personality, with the lore adding texture without overwhelming the group&#x27;s pop identity.

Billlie

Since their debut, Billlie have built a reputation as one of K-pop’s most conceptually driven acts – a group whose music, visuals, and narratives are stitched together across chapters rather than confined to single releases

Interview: Inside Billlie’s False Awakening

TUNEXX have arrived with SET BY US ONLY – a debut that doesn't ease you in. Across four tracks, the seven-member group move through old-school swagger, electronic hip-hop, R&amp;B warmth

Track-By-Track With KPOPWORLD: TUNEXX’s ‘SET BY US ONLY’

CLOSE YOUR EYES (also shortened as CYE) is a seven-member boy group under UNCORE. They were formed through JTBC&#x27;s survival show PROJECT7. They made their debut on April 2, 2025, with the mini album &quot;Enternalt&quot;. PROJECT7 started airing on October 18, 2024, and the finale was broadcast live on December 27, 2024, revealing the group name, CLOSE YOUR EYES, and the seven winners, in order: Ma Jingxiang, Kenshin, Jeon Minwook, Seo Kyoungbae, Song Seungho, Jang Yeojun, and Kim Sungmin. Before joining PROJECT7, Jeon Minwook had already debuted as a member of the boy group BAE173 and the project group A-SIX. Additionally, Ma Jingxiang was a contestant on Boys Planet, while Jang Yeojun also participated in Boys Planet and was a contestant on Wild Idol.

CLOSE YOUR EYES

Formed as the winning participants of survival show Project 7 (2024) and made up of seven members chosen by a global audience, CLOSE YOUR EYES arrived with attention already trailing behind them

CLOSE YOUR EYES Learning How to Be Seen

Big Ocean have never made music about easy wins. THE GREATEST BATTLE isn't about to change that. Their third mini album, available now, opens with "Alive" – a declaration of presence

Track-By-Track With KPOPWORLD: Big Ocean’s THE GREATEST BATTLE

SKINZ is a virtual boy group under Bridge Entertainment. It consists of seven members: Dovin, Dael, Theo, Finn, Jaon, Ilang Kwon, and Yull. The group uses motion capture technology for their idol activities. They debuted on April 10, 2025, with the single &quot;YOUNG &amp; LOUD.&quot; In December of that year, they made their first appearance as a group at SBS INKIGAYO &#x27;UNI-CON&#x27; in TOKYO DOME.

SKINZ

For our latest Digital Cover, the seven-member virtual idol group SKINZ sat down with KPOPWORLD to talk through their debut mini album SKINZ IS SKINZ – a record that doesn't try to explain itself

SKINZ: The KPOPWORLD Digital Cover

For our latest track-by-track feature, Korean rock icon Luli Lee takes us deeper into the process of her latest EP, Brave New World

Track-By-Track: Luli Lee – Brave New World

TNX (an acronym for The New Six) is a five-member boy group under P NATION. Originally debuting as six members, the group was formed through the SBS survival program LOUD, a collaboration project between J.Y. Park and PSY. They officially debuted on May 17, 2022 with their first mini album Way Up. The group’s lineup was finalized during the finale of LOUD in 2021, where Kyung Jun, Tae Hun, Hyun Soo, Jun Hyeok, Hwi, Sung Jun, and Tanaka Koki were selected for P NATION’s upcoming boy group. However, in January 2022, P NATION announced that Tanaka Koki would not debut with the team in order to continue training, leading the group to debut as six members under the name TNX. On their debut day, they also introduced their fandom name THX, meaning “Together with TNX.” Following their debut, TNX continued building their discography with releases such as Love Never Dies, Boyhood, and the digital single &quot;Fuego&quot;, while also participating in the survival competition Road to Kingdom : Ace of Ace in 2024. During this period, member Jun Hyeok temporarily paused activities due to anxiety before later returning to the group. In October 2024, it was announced that member Kyung Jun would enlist in the military and depart from the group following the completion of his service, reducing TNX to five members. The group continued activities with releases including the mini album For Real? in 2025 and the digital single &quot;Call Me Back&quot; in 2026, maintaining their growth under P NATION.

For “CALL ME BACK,” TNX traded heavy staging for instinct, letting the camera follow moments that felt closer to real life than performance

TNX in Their Own Words: The “CALL ME BACK” Music Video

To celebrate their new single “CALL ME BACK,” the members of TNX curated a playlist for KPOPWORLD, offering a glimpse into the emotional and sonic headspace they were in while shaping this era

TNX’s 10 Essential Tracks for the “CALL ME BACK” Era

Soul delivery have never moved with urgency. Their music grew slowly – out of university classes, informal jam sessions, shared meals, and time spent listening to one another

Soul delivery on Jamming, Depth, and Building a Scene Beyond Categories

AHOF is a 9-member group under F&amp;F Entertainment, consisting of members: Steven, Jeongwoo, Woongki, Shuaibo, Han, JL, Juwon, Chihen and Daisuke. The multinational boy group, formed through SBS&#x27;s survival program &quot;Universe League&quot;, name of AHOF stands for &quot;All-time Hall Of Famer&quot;, representing the members&#x27; bold ambition of one day entering Kpop&#x27;s Hall Of Fame. Their group name has further meaning, with it in Hangul (&quot;아홉&quot;) translating to &quot;Nine&quot;. In July of 2025, they debuted with the EP &quot;WHO WE ARE&quot;, with their title track &quot;Rendezvous&quot; winning the music show &quot;The Show&quot; only 7 days later. Their fandom name, FOHA, was released a few months later, on September 9, 2025. While literally being a reversal of AHOF&#x27;s group name, it also stands for &quot;Forever Our Hope, AHOF&quot;. AHOF continue to develop their musical journey, through wins on music shows, new albums, and unwavering support from fans.

AHOF

AHOF debuted with a name that already pointed far beyond the present. All-time Hall Of Famer is not a label built for quick wins or fleeting attention. It implies longevity, discipline, and the kind of consistency that only reveals itself over time

AHOF: The KPOPWORLD Digital Cover

Latency was formed in 2026 by Oddinary Records. They released their debut single, &quot;It Was Love,&quot; on January 8, 2026. The group consisted of five members at debut: Heeyeon, Jeewon, Haeun, Hyunjin, and Semi. The members are known for their experience in the South Korean entertainment industry, Jeewon, Haeun, and Semi were members of Cignature, Hyunjin was a member of Loona and Loossemble and Heeyeon is a YouTuber known as Fingerstylish. On May 22, 2026, Hyunjin announced her withdrawal from the group, citing health related reasons.

LATENCY

LATENCY arrives without the usual debut mythology. There’s no grand origin story, or illusion of discovery at exactly the right moment

Interview