On May 6, 2021, it was announced that SM entertainment (SME) would partner with MGM Television (an American television production/distribution studio) to launch an American competition show to create a new NCT sub-unit that would be called "NCT Hollywood". This article will be split into three parts: First, explaining the concept of NCT, a Kpop boy group under SM entertainment and its many, MANY members. Second, stating what has been officially announced, so we're all on the same page and no false information would be relayed. Last but not least, I'll give my very humble opinion on the matter. So, has SM entertainment gone over the limit for its "limitless-concept" group? Let's find out!

Once upon a time, Neo Culture Technology...

Neo Culture Technology, most commonly known as NCT, is a Kpop boy group under the label SM entertainment. It is CURRENTLY composed of 23 members: Taeyong (the leader), Mark, Johnny, Taeil, Doyoung, Jungwoo, Haechan, Jaehyun, Yuta, Ten, Lucas, Hendery, Xiaojun, Yang Yang, Kun, WinWin, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle, Jisung (the youngest), Shotaro and Sungchan (the newest members who were introduced in 2020). However, they function in sub-units, meaning that they do not always perform altogether, but in small groups that are: NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV. 

The first sub-unit of NCT is NCT U that debuted on April 9, 2016. The line-up for this unit keeps changing, meaning that you might have multiple songs sang by "NCT U", but the members would be different from one song to another. For example: In the song "Make a Wish" we have Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jaemin, Lucas, Xiaojun, and Shotaro. And for "Work It", we have Johnny, Ten, Jisung, Jaemin, Yuta, Jungwoo, and Hendery.

The second sub-unit is NCT 127 that debuted on July 10, 2016 with the song "Fire Truck" and is composed of Taeyong, Mark, Johnny, Yuta, Jungwoo, Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Haechan. 

The third NCT sub-unit is NCT Dream that debuted on August 24th, 2016 with the song "Chewing Gum" and is composed of the youngest NCT members: Mark, Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, Chenle, Renjun and Jisung. 

The fourth NCT sub-unit is WayV. The sub-unit is based in China making WayV the first sub-unit in NCT based out of Korea. WayV is under S.M Entertainment’s China-exclusive label: Label V and is composed of the members Ten, Xiaojun, Kun, Hendery, Lucas, YangYang and WinWin. They debuted on January 17, 2019 with the song "Take Off". 

You might have noticed it already, but yes some members are in multiple units, and four of them (Taeyong, Mark, Ten and Lucas) are part of another group under SM entertainment that is called "SuperM", a project Lee Soo Man (CEO and founder of SM entertainment) created to "conquer" the American market. SuperM's members are Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127, Lucas and Ten from WayV, Kai and Baekhyun from EXO, and Taemin from SHINee. 

And it seems that the limitless concept really doesn't have any limits, since a fifth unit is said to be soon added to the pile...

All we need to know about NCT Hollywood

According to an article on "The Hollywood Reporter" published on May 6, 2021 (and written by Rebecca Sun) and according to an article released by Soompi on the same day, there will be an audition program open to American males aged between 13 and 25 years old in order to form a new NCT sub-unit that will focus on promoting in the U.S: "NCT Hollywood". 

"Contestants will be flown to Seoul for K-pop bootcamp training at the SM campus, where in each episode, they will compete in dance, vocal and style tests and will be judged and mentored by SM founder Lee Soo-man as well as various current NCT members." We still don't have more information about how many NCT members will be involved in this and who exactly. 

“I look forward to making an unconventional audition show that all music fans around the world can enjoy,” said Lee Soo Man, founder and CEO of SM entertainment in a statement. “I hope the audience enjoys watching the journey of new stars being born in Hollywood, that will be promoted as NCT-Hollywood in the global market in the future.”

The general public's response and my personal point of view

The general public's response was, to say the least, intense: the fans are divided and felt mixed feelings. Some arguments popped up more often than others such as: "Take care of the current members before adding new ones to the list", "Sungchan and Shotaro haven't been properly introduced yet", and "stop wanting to please to everyone, let K-pop be". I do agree with all these points and I will elaborate on them right now.

From a fan's perspective, here's what I would say:

Currently NCT is made of 23 members. When you have that many members in a group, it is evident that the work distribution will be unequal. Some members (like WinWin and YangYang) barely get one or two lines in a song, when others get a whole verse. Some members are even overworked by being in almost every single unit (like Taeyong and Mark). So SM, keep adding members and you'll see that the more you add people the less efficient they'll become. 

Next, we have to talk about Shotaro and Sungchan. Both of them have made their "official" debut in the "Resonance" era with Make A Wish for Shotaro and 90s love for Sungchan. However, both songs were promoted under NCT U, which is not a fixed unit (the lineup keeps changing). So SM, please, put them in a fixed unit before creating a new one!

As for the "stop trying to please everyone", I totally agree with this. Following BTS's huge success in the US market, every other company wants to achieve the same thing, and for long-time Kpop fans it kind of sucks because it makes Kpop lose its spark. And this issue makes us ask ourselves: What is Kpop? Is it only pop music sang in Korean? Or is it more than that? I don't really have an answer to be honest, because of all the boundaries that are being crossed. 10 years ago, I would've said that Kpop is music made in Korea, sung by Korean people (or asian people if we include the japanese/chinese members that were in groups back in the days) within the asian continent. Because that's literally what it stands for, "Korean pop music". And that's why I like to make the differentiation between Kpop and Kmusic, because Kpop only refers to the pop genre.   Nowadays, the music is not only in Korean. They've been doing English, Japanese, Chinese versions of songs. Plus, they've been promoting all over the world, including Europe and America. So the previous definition becomes obsolete. And so it really depends on your own definition of Kpop. 

Now, from a business student's perspective, here's what I would say:

It's a smart move. I'm going to compare the situation to brands/product lines/portfolios but I'm not dehumanising NCT. What SM wanted to do back in 2015-2016 was literally creating a new brand (here NCT) in their portfolio of brands (Shinee, EXO, Girls Generation, etc.). And that brand would have different strategic business units, aka NCT dream, NCT 127, NCT U, WayV and NCT Hollywood. Each of these units would aim at targeting a different market (here the criteria are socio-demographic aka age of the fans, location of the fans, the language they speak, etc.). So yes, business-wise, it's something all big companies do in our everyday life and it's something smart to do in the Kpop industry.

I really look forward to see how the show will look like, what will be the training the participants will go through, and if current NCT members will be part of the unit because SM didn't give much information regarding the composition of the unit. Again, let's not forget that the ultimate goal is to make money, and that conquering the US market is still not an easy task, and that you need a very specific "product" to please that very specific market.

And this, my friends, is the end of the article! I would love to know your own opinions, so feel free to comment it down below! 

Take care and I'll see you soon ^^ 

Love, Swan

 

 

Sources: Soompi, The Hollywood Reporter, Wikipedia. 

Hello everyone and welcome to the summary of the "K-News" (Korean entertainment industry news) section. Here you'll find all the articles I wrote about the news within the Korean entertainment industry. Friendly reminder: this section is NOT a gossip room. In this section you'll find only topics I personally wanted to tackle, or that were HIGHLY requested. I try as much as possible not to get into pointless debates around the idols' personal lives.

The way I write the articles of this section is pretty simple: I make my own research based on trustworthy references, and provide my personal opinion regarding the matter that is being discussed. Now, mistakes happen, especially within the "misinformation" era we're living in. Even the most trustworthy sources might relay fake news, so I might do some corrections after the article is published, in which case you'll be notified if you follow me on my social media accounts. 

The articles are sorted by alphabetical order, and date next to the name of the article is the date it was published. The list will be regularly updated as soon as a new article comes out.

B

Bicycle: Chungha's long awaited comeback. (February 17th, 2021)

Birth of Enhypen: What happened during the last episode of I-LAND? (September 21st, 2020) 

Blackpink: Light up the sky, a Netflix original documentary. (October 23rd, 2020)

D

Debut of SME's new girl group: ÆSPA. (November 24th, 2020)

E

"EXCALIBUR": Kingdom's strong debut. (March 19th, 2021)

G

GOT7 and JYP Entertainment: The divorce. (January 29th, 2021) 

N

NCT Hollywood: Is SM going over the limit? (June 14th, 2021)

R

"Racism is not an opinion": Matthias Matuschik VS. BTS. (March 2nd, 2021)

S

SHINee's Back! (February 26th, 2021)

U

Underage Idols: Exploited Dreams. (October 12th, 2020)

?

2021 Kpop Predictions: What odoes 2021 have in store for us? (January 22nd, 2021)

~ EXCALIBUR: Kingdom's strong debut ~

Members from left to right: Ivan, Dann, Jahan, Arthur, Mujin, Louis, Chiwoo.

I wasn't planning on making an article about KINGDOM's debut (hence why I am publishing this article way after their debut), but someone requested it and I thought: Yeah, why not? So yes, we're doing this, and surprisingly enough I have a lot to say about this debut!

KINGDOM is a new 7-membered Kpop boy group under GF entertainment (a company I've never heard of) and debuted on February 8, 2021 with the song "Excalibur" (you can watch the official MV here). Every member is supposed to represent a king in history; which is a concept that has never been done before and that I find kind of clever. 

Before we dive into the actual debut, let's get familiar with the members (why do I feel like I'll feel old when finding out their age lol?)

Stage Name: Dann

Birth Name: Jung Seungbo

Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist

Birthday: November 1, 1997

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 64 kg

Fun facts: He was born in Ilsan, South Korea but moved to Dubai when he was 10, he was a translator for KCON Dubai when he was 19, he can speak four languages (Korean, English, French and Arabic), his role models are Jooheon from Monsta X, Jay Park and Jimin from BTS, he likes Italian food, he is a good swimmer, and he was a contestant on MIXNINE. 

 

 

Stage Name: Arthur

Birth Name: Jang Yunho

Position: Main Vocalist, Main Dancer

Birthday: April 15, 2000

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 57 kg

Fun Facts: He's good at street dancing and urban choreography, he learned to dance by being in a street dance crew, he's good at girl group dances, he would like to be a mentor on dance-related programs, his favorite artist is BTS's Jungkook, his habit is touching his lips, shaking his head to flip his hair, and crossing his legs when he’s on his phone, his favorite clothing brands are sports brands, his motto is: “let’s not postpone to tomorrow the things we can do today”, and his ideal type is "a  shot woman with lots of aegyo".

 

Stage Name: Mujin

Birth Name: Go Sungho

Position: Vocalist, Rapper

Birthday: November 20, 2000

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Fun Facts: Mujin's MBTI is ENFP, his favorite sports are soccer and swimming, he likes mint chocolate, he's a night owl, he helped compose part of their debut album, his mother majored in music, he claims that the maknae line plays a lot of pranks on them and he can’t control them, he got into JYP, but his phone broke, so he found out about his acceptance when it was too late, his role model is G-Dragon and he wants to collaborate with him, he sings and snores in his sleep, he has a cat named Cheolsoo and he has a habit of bobbing his head.

 

Stage Name: Louis

Birth Name: Yang Dongsik

Position: Vocalist

Birthday: April 8, 2001

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Fun Facts: His MBTI is ENFP, he wanted to be an idol because of the thrill he got when he was on stage, his favorite foods are meat, fast food and sushi, he is one of the mood makers in the group, he likes to go out driving alone, he has been training for 3 years, his role models are BTS and Big Bang, he was the first member to join GF entertainment, he has a habit of talking in his sleep and Dann described Louis as having a fiery personality, but a good heart.

 

 

Stage Name: Ivan

Birth Name: Park Yoosung

Position: Vocalist, Visual

Birthday: October 12, 2001

Height: 182 cm

Weight: Unknown

Fun Facts: His specialties are Taekwondo and Bowling, his favorite colours are black and sky blue, he enjoys spicy food, he wants to be in a web drama, he began his trainee career when he was a freshman in high school, after being cast by a large agency, he joined Kingdom after being cast by Louis, his role models are the groups SEVENTEEN and BTS, he snores in his sleep, his nicknames are Prince, High-Pitched Machine and Positive King, he is camera shy, and Mujin described Ivan as having a bright personality, very passionate and always kind.

 

Stage Name: Jahan

Birth Name: Lim Jihun

Position: Vocalist, Rapper

Birthday: August 1st, 2002

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Fun Facts: His specialties include popping dance and beatboxing, his hobbies are listening to music and shopping, he has been dancing for about 7 years, he taught himself BTS's choreography for "I Need U" and practiced it 5 hours a day, Jahan and Ivan trained at the same academy, so when looking for members, Ivan suggested Kingdom to Jahan and he ended up joining, his role models are BTS's J-Hope and Jungkook, he loves Justin Beiber’s "Nothing Like Up", he has a habit of sniffling constantly and Chiwoo said that Jahan is bad at lying, as he is too honest.

 

Stage Name: Chiwoo

Birth Name: Guk Seungjun

Position: Rapper, Maknae (Youngest)

Birthday: September 2, 2002

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Fun Facts: Chiwoo is a big fan of the variety show called "Knowing Brothers" and has watched every episode, he claims to be the mood maker of the group, he has a habit of rubbing his face because of his sensitive skin, he likes cats and fantasy movies, his role models are Jungkook and V of BTS, his favorite foods are shrimp and grilled clams, he was casted by the head of GF Ent at the Yeouido Dance Competition, and he had wanted to be a soccer player at first, but after watching BTS's DNA performance, he wanted to become an idol.

 

Excalibur: My thoughts on the Music Video

According to the legend, Excalibur is a magical sword that had been sealed with some sort of magic. This sword belonged to King Arthur who managed to remove it from the ground and to break the magic. Which is why, throughout the whole MV, Arthur is at the center of attention, and becomes the king at the end.

This music video was to say the least astonishing (and this is still an understatement to me). You can feel how much work was done to produce such a short movie, because that's what it is, a short movie. It tells the story of a man who becomes a king after sacrificing himself and becomes in possession of the sacred sword. The epic atmosphere was carried from start to end, thanks to the sets, the props, the special effects, the costumes, the choreography, the music, and everything else.

I really want to praise the team behind this music video, because not only is it well executed, it is also very creative and innovative. It is at the extreme opposite of the era we're living in, and this is what makes it so powerful! Take Black Mamba from Aespa, the perfect representation of the digital era we're living in. It didn't have that much of an impact on me because we know it by heart! We know A.I is coming for us. But the Kingdom era seems so far behind, unattainable and mystical, that it fascinates me even more.

Excalibur: My thoughts on the Song

I would be lying if I said that this song is as amazing as the music video. If you're listening to the song while watching the MV, you'll find yourself focusing on what's happening in the MV more than on the song itself, and when this happens you have to listen to the song alone. So this is what I did, and here's what I thought: The song is an 8/10.

I really like how the song starts. The godly vocals followed by more or less heavy percussions makes an impact. I also like how after the first verse they don't go straight into the chorus. What I also like is the lyrics, because it's coherent with the Kingdom and King concept they've been going for. However, what really kills this majestic vibe for me is this heavy electronic sounds in the chorus. And the bridge? A big no for me. What the hell were those weird vocals?  It's like we switched to another song in the bridge and came back to the original song when going into the last chorus. 

Excalibur: My thoughts on the Performance

This performance is everything I expect a debut performance to be. Let me elaborate: Nowadays, the standards are SO HIGH that they want everything to be perfect, especially performances. But hey, are you forgetting that they are humans and can make mistakes? I didn't forget and I'm just glad that this performance wasn't perfect.

The costumes were amazing and so was the makeup, the stylist deserves a praise. The dancers did a great job too. However, something I was afraid would happen actually happened: The epic vibe from the MV didn't translate into the performance. For the performance to be as epic as the MV, I needed to hear some live vocals. But, because the industry has been trying to focus SO MUCH on the performance, the vocal aspect tends to be neglected, and here it was clear that they were lip-syncing. Just stop making them jump all around in the live performance when what we need is just powerful moves (the energy put into the moves can be enough to make them seem powerful, no need to jump around) and some live vocals!  

And here my friends is where I'll stop! I won't comment on the whole album simply because I haven't listened to it (I will listen to in when I'll have the time and maybe update you on my Instagram, so go ahead and follow me there!). Now, this was my own personal opinion, and I'm really curious to know what were YOUR thoughts on this debut! Feel free to leave a comment down below ;) I really look forward to their comeback, because this group really sounds promising. They debuted with such a strong concept so I wonder if they will keep it and create a story line or totally change the concept for the next album they're going to release. 

Take care and I'll see you all soon!

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Allkpop, Wikipedia, Kprofiles