KPOPWORLD #5

KPOPWORLD #4

KPOPWORLD #3

KPOPWORLD #2 (Poster Version)

Set to Take Over Alamodome Oct. 28–31, 2026

KPOPWORLD Festival & Worldwide Dance Competition

idntt (아이덴티티; read as identity) is an upcoming 24-member boy group under MODHAUS. They are set to make their debut sometime in 2026. The group consists of members divided into 3 rotational sub-units consisting of 8 members each - uneverm8t, yesw8are and itsnotov8r.

idntt

For their new album &lt;itsnotover&gt;, idntt sat down with KPOPWORLD to talk about where they've been, what this group has demanded of them, and what they refuse to let go of

idntt: The KPOPWORLD Digital Cover

EPEX [‘i:peks] (이펙스), formerly known as C9ROOKIES (C9루키즈) is a 7-member South Korean boy group under C9 Entertainment, consisting of Wish, MU, A-Min, Baekseung, Ayden, Yewang, and Jeff. On November 21, 2025, it was announced that Keum had left the group. They debuted on June 8, 2021, with their first EP album, BIPOLAR Pt.1 : 불안의 서 (Prelude of Anxiety)

EPEX

Closing a trilogy is easy. Closing it by handing the story back to the people who lived it is something else. EPEX's Youth: Epilogue wraps up two years and three albums of coming-of-age storytelling

EPEX Talks Youth Epilogue, Ownership and Growth

XLOV is a South Korean boy group formed by 257 Entertainment and currently managed by [WM Entertainment]. The group consists of four members: Wumuti, Rui, Hyun, and Haru. They debuted on January 7, 2025, with the single album I&#x27;mma Be. XLOV gained attention for promoting a genderless concept, incorporating androgynous styling and performances that challenge traditional gender norms in Kpop. The group&#x27;s name combines &quot;X,&quot; representing the unknown and negation, with &quot;LOV,&quot; symbolizing incomplete love, while their fandom name, EVOL, represents the completion of that concept. Several members were previously known through survival programs before debut. Wumuti, Rui, and Haru participated in Boys Planet, while Wumuti was also active in the project group WATERFIRE before helping form XLOV. The group is particularly noted for Wumuti&#x27;s involvement in songwriting and production, including contributions to their debut release. Since debuting, XLOV has released music including I&#x27;mma Be and I ONE, earning recognition for their distinctive concept, performance style, and growing international fanbase. In 2026, the group&#x27;s management structure changed following the acquisition of 257 Entertainment by WM Entertainment through RBW. Their music primarily incorporates elements of hip-hop, R&amp;B, and pop, while their visual identity and performances have distinguished them as one of the more unconventional rookie acts of the fifth generation of Kpop.

XLOV

On July 14, inner beauty brand LifePharm announced that genderless group XLOV will become their newest Global Ambassadors. The brand is known for their viral dietary Mood Change Alpha Plus range, described as self-care for K-pop idols

XLOV Announced as Ambassadors for Inner Beauty Brand LifePharm

K-pop’s contract system has undergone many changes since the industry’s inception in the 1990s. From 13-year slave contracts to a reduced term of seven years — with options for renegotiation

K-pop’s Contract System, Explained – And Why So Many Artists Are Leaving Big Labels

ENHYPEN is a boy group formed through the 2020 survival show I-LAND and managed by Belift Lab. The current lineup consists of Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-ki. They debuted in November 2020 with Border: Day One, arriving with a built-in global audience from the show and a concept built around connection, transformation, and fate. The group&#x27;s early work used dark, dramatic imagery to separate them from brighter rookie-boy-group formulas. &quot;Given-Taken,&quot; &quot;Drunk-Dazed,&quot; &quot;Fever,&quot; and later songs in the Dimension and Dark Blood eras leaned into supernatural metaphors, sharp choreography, and a tension between elegance and danger. That made ENHYPEN feel less like a simple survival-show product and more like a group with a continuing storyline. ENHYPEN&#x27;s member appeal is strongly performance-based. Jungwon gives the team a steady center as leader, Jay and Jake bring international texture, Sunghoon&#x27;s skating background informs his clean stage image, Sunoo adds brightness and contrast, and Ni-ki anchors the dance line with unusual precision for a maknae. Their fandom, ENGENE, grew quickly because the group&#x27;s identity invited close reading: fans could follow the music, the lore, and the members&#x27; development at the same time. As a fourth-generation act, ENHYPEN&#x27;s importance sits between survival-show fandom and global idol scale. They showed how a group could debut with a transnational audience already watching, then keep that audience through consistent visual storytelling, polished performance, and songs that made adolescence feel mythic rather than ordinary.

ENHYPEN

Just under a month after his departure from ENHYPEN, Lee Hee-seung has a new identity

HEESEUNG Is Now EVAN – BELIFT LAB Officially Launches His Solo Career

NCT, short for Neo Culture Technology, is a boy group project under SM Entertainment. The system was built around multiple units, changing combinations, and regional expansion rather than a single fixed lineup, making NCT one of SM&#x27;s most ambitious idol structures. The project began publicly through NCT U in 2016, then expanded through fixed or semi-fixed units such as NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV, and NCT WISH. Each unit carries a different role: Seoul-based performance, youth-to-adult growth, Chinese-language promotion, rotational experiments, and the final new-team expansion. NCT&#x27;s music is often associated with dense production, experimental structures, and performance-heavy arrangements. The group&#x27;s system allowed SM to place members in songs by concept, which helped produce very different sounds under the same brand without asking every unit to serve the same identity. The project also made member identity central to the fan experience. NCTzen follows not only the full brand but also unit dynamics, cross-unit collaborations, and individual member activities, which makes the profile more complex than a normal group page. NCT is both a group brand and a structure for multiple teams. That structure shaped how SM approached global boy-group promotion from the mid-2010s onward, making the project as much about organization and unit design as individual songs.

NCT turns 10 this year – and a decade in, the case for their influence on K-pop is hard to argue with. From the industrial chaos of NCT 127's early releases to NCT Dream's coming-of-age arc, WayV's urban sophistication, and NCT Wish inheriting the torch

How NCT’s “Neo-Ness” Went From A Liability To Its Greatest Asset

MONSTA X is a boy group formed through the survival show No.Mercy and debuted under Starship Entertainment in May 2015. The group is associated with a powerful performance image built around Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, and I.M, with Wonho as a former member. Their sound often leans muscular: EDM drops, hip-hop percussion, dark synths, and choruses designed for heavy choreography. MONSTA X became one of the most forceful performance groups of their generation through a run that moved from the breakthrough energy of &quot;Dramarama&quot; to the sharper drama of &quot;Love Killa.&quot; At the same time, their vocal line and later English-language work showed a smoother R&amp;B and pop side that softened the edges without removing the group&#x27;s intensity. MONSTA X became especially important in the bridge between Korean idol promotion and Western touring. They pursued English-language releases, appeared on American media, and built a strong international audience while keeping a clear group identity. Their fandom, Monbebe, is known for loyalty through lineup changes, military service periods, solo work, and long gaps between full-group schedules. The group&#x27;s legacy rests on consistency and stamina. MONSTA X did not need to reinvent themselves every comeback; they refined a recognizable image of power, charisma, and emotional loyalty. That made them a template for later boy groups that wanted to look tough on stage while still building a close, fan-centered identity off it.

MONSTA X

MONSTA X have released Unfold — their third full English-language album, and the first time any K-pop group has reached that number. It's a record built around healing in the least comfortable sense: not moving on, but actually dealing with what broke in the first place

MONSTA X Make K-Pop History With Third Full English Album Unfold

When Mark Lee confirmed his departure from NCT after a decade, the response was unlike anything K-pop has seen before. Within 24 hours, his handwritten letter had accumulated millions of likes, shares, and comments – but what stood out wasn't the numbers

Mark Lee Has Left NCT – And The Response is Unlike Any Other

Wanna One was an eleven-member project boy group formed through Produce 101 Season 2 and managed by Swing Entertainment. The lineup consisted of Kang Daniel, Park Jihoon, Daehwi, Kim Jaehwan, Seongwu, Woojin, Kuanlin, Jisung, Hwang Minhyun, Jinyoung, and Ha Sungwoon. The group debuted in August 2017 with 1X1=1 (To Be One), led by &quot;Energetic,&quot; and almost immediately became one of the biggest acts in Korea. Wanna One&#x27;s appeal came from the survival-show bond already formed with viewers: fans had watched the members compete, struggle, and be selected, so the debut felt less like an introduction than a payoff. That emotional investment translated into huge album sales, music show wins, endorsements, and concerts during a very short contract period. Musically, Wanna One balanced bright rookie energy with more dramatic performance tracks, moving from &quot;Energetic&quot; and &quot;Beautiful&quot; to later releases that emphasized nostalgia and urgency. Because the group was temporary from the start, even ordinary comebacks carried a countdown feeling. Their fandom, Wannable, supported the group with the intensity of knowing the project had an end date. Wanna One disbanded in early 2019, but their influence lasted through the members&#x27; later solo, acting, and group careers. They became one of the clearest examples of survival-show fandom turning into full-scale mainstream power, and their success shaped expectations for later project groups across the Produce system and beyond.

Wanna One

Seven years after disbanding, Wanna One are back – and the internet has not forgotten them. The first teaser for their new reality show, WANNA ONE GO: Back to Base

Wanna One Reunite After 7 Years With Reality Show ‘Back To Base’

SEVENTEEN is a thirteen-member boy group formed by Pledis Entertainment, debuting in May 2015. The group is organized into three internal teams: hip-hop, vocal, and performance. That structure is more than branding; it explains how SEVENTEEN functions, with members contributing to songwriting, choreography, staging, and the division of energy across a very large lineup. The members are S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino. Their nickname as &quot;self-producing idols&quot; comes especially from Woozi&#x27;s central role in music and Hoshi&#x27;s role in performance direction, but the larger appeal is how the group makes thirteen people feel coordinated rather than crowded. SEVENTEEN&#x27;s early music leaned bright, youthful, and rhythmically nimble, with songs like &quot;Adore U,&quot; &quot;Mansae,&quot; and &quot;Very Nice&quot; presenting them as a group with unusual stage chemistry. Later releases such as &quot;Don&#x27;t Wanna Cry,&quot; &quot;Home,&quot; &quot;Left &amp; Right,&quot; &quot;Rock with you,&quot; and &quot;Super&quot; widened the scale while keeping the choreography and vocal distribution clear. Their best songs often turn teamwork itself into the hook: repeated gestures, fast transitions, and formations that reward watching the whole stage. The group&#x27;s growth into one of K-pop&#x27;s top album sellers came from consistency as much as spectacle. SEVENTEEN built trust through steady comebacks, strong variety content, and concerts that emphasized the members&#x27; humor as well as precision. Their fandom, CARAT, became part of that identity, following a group that could be technically impressive without losing warmth. SEVENTEEN&#x27;s legacy is tied to durability. Few large idol groups have kept such a clear group image while allowing so many individual personalities to stand out. As their scale expanded under the wider HYBE era, they remained recognizably Pledis-born: performance-first, member-driven, and unusually good at turning the mechanics of a big team into something emotionally easy to understand.

SEVENTEEN

Seventeen closed their "New_" world tour in Incheon on April 5th with an announcement that had nothing to do with the setlist. All thirteen members have renewed their contracts with Pledis Entertainment for the second time

Seventeen Renew Contracts With Pledis For The Second Time

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's London live debut landed in a club basement – and it was exactly the right room for them. The BEBEOM: BE THE TIGER tour stop at EartH Hackney was packed, loud, and full of moments that felt genuinely unscripted

82MAJOR Live In London: The TROPHY Moment

Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim is teaming up with CNN for K-Everything, a four-part original series exploring the global rise of Korean culture – from K-pop and K-dramas to food and skincare

Daniel Dae Kim To Host CNN Special “K-Everything”

This week's Comeback Corner is all about soloists stepping out and making their case

Comeback Corner: WONPIL, NiziU, KINO & More

ITZY is a five-member girl group formed by JYP Entertainment, consisting of Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna. They debuted in February 2019 with &quot;Dalla Dalla&quot;, a song built around self-acceptance, difference, and the refusal to fit neatly into other people&#x27;s expectations. ITZY&#x27;s early identity was direct and performance-forward. &quot;Icy&quot;, &quot;Wannabe&quot; and &quot;Not Shy&quot; expanded the same confidence-first message with sharper choreography, chant-like hooks, and a visual style that mixed teen crush, streetwear, and runway attitude. Their dances became a major part of the group&#x27;s public image, with Ryujin&#x27;s shoulder move in &quot;Wannabe&quot; standing out as one of the most recognizable fourth-generation choreography moments. The group&#x27;s strength is the way its members divide the performance picture. Yeji gives ITZY a precise leader and dance center, Lia brings a warmer vocal tone, Ryujin anchors the cool charisma, Chaeryeong adds technical dance detail, and Yuna gives the group a bright visual spark. Even when the music shifted into different textures, that balance kept ITZY recognizable as a group built around motion, confidence, and clean stage impact. ITZY&#x27;s fandom is known as MIDZY. Their place in K-pop comes from helping define the fourth-generation girl-group language of self-confidence: louder than simple cuteness, less dark than some girl-crush concepts, and built for fans who wanted slogans they could actually say back to themselves.

ITZY

In February, ITZY performed an updated version of their 2020 B-side "THAT'S A NO NO" on tour – and within weeks, a six-year-old deep cut had become a TikTok challenge, climbed the Korean charts, and landed the group a special MCountdown stage

ITZY’s “THAT’S A NO NO” And The Power of Virality 

BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed by Big Hit Music in 2010 and debuting on June 12, 2013, with the single album &quot;2 Cool 4 Skool&quot;. The group consists of seven members: RM (leader), Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. The name BTS stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan (“Bulletproof Boy Scouts”), reflecting the group’s original concept of resisting societal expectations and criticism aimed at youth. Members RM, Suga, and J-Hope have played significant roles in songwriting and production throughout the group’s career. BTS first gained widespread attention with the [The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 era], particularly the single I Need U, which earned the group their first Korean music show win in 2015. Their international breakthrough followed with releases such as Wings and the Love Yourself series. In 2018, &quot;Love Yourself: Tear&quot; became the first album by a Korean act to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The group achieved further global success with singles including &quot;Dynamite&quot;, &quot;Butter&quot;, and &quot;Permission to Dance&#x27;&quot;, all of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. BTS is among the best-selling artists in South Korean history and has received numerous international awards, while also participating in global initiatives such as the UNICEF Love Myself campaign. Between 2022 and 2025, BTS paused full-group activities as the members completed South Korea’s mandatory military service. The last member, Suga, was discharged in June 2025, marking the completion of service for all seven members. Following their reunion, the group confirmed they were preparing a new album and world tour for 2026. Their tenth studio album, &quot;ARIRANG&quot;, recorded between July and November 2025, was released on March 20, 2026, marking their first group release in more than three years. The album will be supported by the Arirang World Tour, beginning in April 2026.

BTS have officially made history (again). Their fifth studio album ARIRANG debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units in its first week – the biggest debut of 2026

BTS Make History With Simultaneous Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 Number Ones

HYBE INDIA is looking for its next girl group – and applications are open now

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