K-pop has garnered massive recognition and cultural popularity worldwide. Known as Hallyu — the Korean Wave, it is a winning recipe with a perfect blend of catchy melodies, glitzy performances, attractive choreographies and costumes along with multilayered audiovisual entertainment. Starting with OG K-pop bands like BIGBANG in 2006 or Girls’ Generation in 2007, the Korean pop music scene has exploded since then, with new K-pop artists dominating the charts every year. Who are the most-anticipated newcomers and the best K-pop songs you must listen to in 2022?
Be it Korean skincare products, fashion or makeup routines, Korean dramas on TV and international streaming platforms, Korean food or the rise of K-pop bands such as BTS and BLACKPINK , the growing influence of the South Korean phenomenon on the global and cultural economy can be seen everywhere. 2022 is set to be an amazing year for K-pop with many of the hottest newcomers geared up for their sparkling debuts.
Among all these South Korean pop-culture exports, K-pop, short for Korean pop music, lies at the crux of it all. With many phenomenal K-pop groups already ruling the billboard charts, several major labels are all set to debut new groups in 2022, such as Trainee A, NCT Hollywood and Girls on Top, giving hardcore K-pop fans all the more reason to rejoice.
Here are seven of the most-anticipated K-pop newcomers you should look out for in 2022
Kep1er by Wake One and Swing Entertainment
Comprising nine members, Kep1er is an international K-pop group with a talented cohort of Chinese, Japanese and Korean artistes. They were first grouped together on the Mnet show, Girls Planet 999: The Girls Saga, which is a South Korean reality show consisting of female contestants from China, Japan and Korea, fighting to realise their common dream — making a grand girl-group debut.
The show broadcasted its final episode in October 2021. Kep1er, whose name is inspired by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, subsequently made their debut on January 3, 2022, with their Extended Play (EP): First Impact.
Featuring their lead single “Wa Da Da,” Kep1er made waves in the K-pop world with their brilliant roster of artistes including Chaehyun, Yujin, Youngeun, Mashiro, Xiaoting, Dayeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih and Yeseo.
NCT Hollywood by SM Entertainment
Scouted from the reality-TV competition, K-pop Goes Hollywood, the Korean record label behind popular bands like Exo and SuperM — SM Entertainment — is all set to debut an all-American boy band called NCT Hollywood in 2022, a conglomerate of NCT, that will be based in the United States.
The original NCT is a boy band with 23 members, who occasionally perform together, but are predominantly seen in subgroups like WayV, NCT Dream and NCT 127.
The group members of the new American K-pop outfit will be shortlisted and finalised via auditions based on style, dancing and vocal skills, conducted on the TV show with 21 male artistes ranging from 13 to 25 years of age – vying for a spot in the band. Contestants who succeed in winning over the judges will be given the opportunity to fly to Seoul, South Korea and participate in a ‘K-pop boot camp’ organised by the label, SM Entertainment.
The esteemed panel of judges and mentors will include SM Entertainment founder, Lee Soo-Man and other incredible NCT members.
However, K-pop fans will have to hold on to their horses because the premiere date for the show has not been officially announced yet.
PURPLE KISS by RBW
Made up of seven incredible artistes like Park Ji-eun, Na Go-eun, Dosie, Ireh, Yuki, Chaein and Swan, PURPLE KISS is currently one of the hottest all-girl K-pop groups, after making their highly-anticipated official debut in March 2021.
The members of this multi-talented and self-producing group write, compose and choreograph their own songs, boasting addictive melodies like the grunge and hip hop inspired “My Heart Skip A Beat” (2020) and the soulful Rhythm and Blues (R&B) track, “Can We Talk Again” (2021).
Their foot-tapping debut single “Ponzona” (2021) beautifully demonstrated the seven members’ diverse range and multi-dimensional vocal and dancing skills.
Comprising six tracks, PURPLE KISS took the K-pop industry by storm with the release of their second mini-album HIDE & SEEK including self-composed, smashing K-pop songs such as “2am”, “So Why” and “Zombie”, in September 2021.
Girls On Top by SM Entertainment
Armed with a super-talented roster of existing SM Entertainment performers such as BoA, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet’s Seulgi and Wendy, and aespa’s Winter and Karina, Girls on Top aka GOT, is a South Korean girl group showcasing different powerful artists on rotation.
With ‘GOT The Beat’ as their first sub-crew of artistes, the agency debuted the K-pop newcomers and released a music video with catchy choreography on January 1, 2022.
Girls on Top officially released their groovy song “Step Back” on music streaming platforms on January 3, 2022, after an unforgettable performance at a New Year’s Eve concert, SMTOWN LIVE 2022: SMCU, organised by SM Entertainment.
Trainee A by Big Hit Music
K-pop fans, fasten your seat belts for the most-awaited boy band debut of 2022 — Trainee A by the record label Big Hit Music.
Consisting of young, multinational and multilingual artistes including Yorch Yongsin, Jihoon, James, WooChan, Leo, Sangwon and JJ, the seven member group is already a big hit in the K-pop scene, thanks to their millions-strong social media following on Instagram and TikTok and swoon-worthy looks.
The line-up of this Big Hit Entertainment boy band is all set to capture a global fan-following owing to their multicultural group members like Thai-Chinese artist, James, Leo from Australia, Japanese-American JJ, Yorch Yongsin with a Thai nationality and the rest of the three singers from South Korea.
YOUNITE by Brand New Music
All set to debut in the first half of 2022, record label Brand New Music has revealed a new K-pop boy group named YOUNITE, consisting of nine multi-talented K-pop newcomers.
The group will include Eunsang, Eunho, Steve, Hyunseung, Hyungseok, Woono, DEY, Kyungmun, and Sion, making it a highly-anticipated boy band debut by Brand New Music after almost three years. Some of the members have already made appearances in 2021 as trainees.
The nine-member group boasts well-known K-pop faces such as Kyungmun of the reality TV show fame, LOUD — a show started by Park Jin-young’s JYP, and Psy’s P NATION — aiming to scout worldwide talent with a boy group debut up for grabs for the contestants.
The boy band will also feature former X1 member Lee Eun Sang as the group leader, and ex-contestant of reality TV show, High School Rapper 4, DEY.
Brand New Music officially introduced YOUNITE’s members in late February 2022, by releasing beautiful and editorial prologue pictures and videos on Instagram and YouTube.
ENHYPEN by Belift Lab
Brought together through the Mnet survival competition show I-Land, the seven member group, ENHYPEN, is a joint venture between two South Korean entertainment moguls — Hybe and CJ E&M.
With an explosive debut of their EP, Border: Day One in 2020, the R&B, dance-pop group wowed the audiences and amassed millions of followers on various social media platforms.
The debut was followed by Japanese and Billboard’s World Albums chart topper Border: Carnival in 2021. The boy band consists of seven members namely, Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-ki, a multicultural group consisting of musicians with South Korean, American, Australian and Japanese nationalities.
Named after the word ‘hyphen’, the group was christened ENHYPEN to symbolise the ‘connections, discovery and growth’ people around the world are able to enjoy through their music.
With “Tamed-Dashed” as its title track, the boy band’s first studio album, Dimension: Dilemma, made its crackling appearance in October 2021.
(Main and featured image credit: Purple Kiss/@purplekiss_official/Instagram)
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