Vivien Wu

Crush is good at many things – singing and harmonising, writing lyrics and melodies, arranging music – but perhaps his most interesting and important talent of all is his ability to do… nothing.
Born Shin Hyo-seob, the Korean singer-rapper made unusual headlines in 2016 when he won the Space-Out Competition, a growing event in Seoul where people compete to do nothing for the longest and with the most stable heart rate. Inspired by the creator’s experience of burnout, it was designed to highli...

Roses adorn the tapestry of Lee Taeyong’s work. As a member of SM Entertainment’s multi-unit boy group NCT, whose social media makes a point of representing individual members with specific emojis, his photos are often succinctly captioned with a single red rose. Over the six years of his career, the 26-year-old leader of NCT 127 has come to embrace this symbol with increasing enthusiasm, and roses are now an integral part of his artistic identity.
They're the subject of “Rose,” a song releas...

“I’ve been thinking about dreams a lot these days!” Mark Lee exclaims over Zoom from SM Entertainment’s Seoul headquarters.
The 21-year-old leader of NCT Dream is enthusiastic as he mulls over the meaning of dreams, his back against a wall of pink and yellow flowers assembled by his fellow NCT members. He’s wearing a simple, white tee, and when he gestures with his hands, you can catch glimpses of the friendship ring that all seven members of NCT Dream wear as a symbol of their bond.
“I actua...

For Halloween, NCT 127 serenaded us with “Favorite (Vampire),” an epic, vampire-themed love song exuding nostalgia for the sentimentality and romance of R&B and K-pop classics from the ‘90s and early 2000s. Produced by veteran songwriters Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and Kenzie, it lifts a haunting whistling hook over rousing pop-trap production and a luscious vocal chorus, on which the group passionately proclaim true love. The beautifully wistful chorus alone would reward any idol’s decision to join SM Entertainment – it continues the company’s legacy of iconic melodies and helps make...

November marked the 15th anniversary of SM Entertainment boy group, Super Junior, whose 2009 hit “Sorry, Sorry” remains a classic to this day. Despite a number of setbacks that reduced their 13-member line-up to nine, the group has never stopped moving forward, releasing album after album while members like Heechul gained footholds as popular TV personalities. Now into their thirties, the group is a rare example of longevity in an industry known for its “7-year curse.” And with their celebratory single “The Melody” and a 10th album on the way, it doesn’t look like they’ll be going anywhere...

Over a month ago, world superstars and most successful K-pop group of all time, BTS, made waves with their decision to take a break from group activities to focus on solo ventures. The news reverberated through not just the K-pop community but mainstream media worldwide. Hybe’s stock price plummeted overnight, but loyal shareholders will likely be rewarded, because the first album in this new chapter, J-Hope’s Jack in the Box, returns to the Bangtan Boys who were worth our investment in the f...

BTS return with their album, Love Yourself: Answer, on the 24th of August, following Love Yourself: Tear. Already, it has broken records for the number of pre-orders, adding to the ever-growing list of achievements by the 7-member group.

Throughout their rise, many have pondered the secret to BTS’ success. Numerous factors have been suggested, but it has been the remarkable luck – serendipitous, even – and a combination of factors that have been responsible. That is to say, a combination of a...

“Shinee’s back” has been Shinee’s catchphrase for years, but never has exclaiming it felt more like welcoming these once boys, now men home. With members Onew, Key and Minho having completed their respective military services, the group recently returned with Don’t Call Me, their seventh full-length album and first group release since 2018’s The Story of Light.
As the longest gap between albums yet, the anticipation building up towards this release was palpable; after all, Shinee’s legacy of ...

Having tentatively returned last August after a hiatus with their EP Queendom, Red Velvet are back to their vibrant selves with a much more adventurous follow-up EP, The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm, along with its stunning title track, “Feel My Rhythm”. The album continues 2019’s The ReVe Festival trilogy of releases, and so will most likely precede another EP and full-length album to be released later this year.
Perhaps intentionally, in light of Irene’s 2020 controversy, Queendom an...

Even if you haven’t been following them closely, the success of SM Entertainment’s multi-unit boy group NCT over the last year has been hard to ignore. In the first half of 2020, NCT 127’s Bruce-Lee-inspired “Kick It” went viral with one of the most iconic dance trends of the year, while NCT Dream’s “Ridin’” earned them their first real-time Melon number one. In the second half, their reunion project NCT 2020 continued that momentum, which manifested as over two million in album sales and inc...

The transformation that Jackson Wang has undergone since debuting in 2014 as the lovable funny guy and self-professed rap amateur from Got7 is, frankly, incredible. Having first explored solo work in 2017 under his independent label Team Wang with the comically try-hard “Papillon” — music which he himself now also admits was “wack” — his artistic efforts since then have seen him deservedly win the title of first Chinese solo artist ever to break the US radio top 40.
As well as being an impres...

Following Got7’s departure from JYP Entertainment at the beginning of this year and JB‘s subsequent signing with Jay Park’s label, H1ghr Music, the 27-year-old leader of Got7 finally released his first official solo album, SOMO:Fume, last week. Now known as Jay B (not to be confused with his other alter ego, Defsoul or Def.), the EP features six tracks, along with an impressive list of featuring artists and producers, including Jay Park himself, Mamamoo’s Wheein, GroovyRoom, Cha Cha Malone, a...

It’s a strange feeling to have followed a group from debut to disbandment. Specifically, to have come across its members as trainees, witnessed their debut, then observed them for seven years while growing with them in parallel, before finally seeing them go their separate ways at the end of an era. It’s a feeling you don’t experience often, and one which reminds you that time is passing, all too quickly.
With the recent news that, after seven years at the company, all seven members of Got7 e...

After a number of singles released over the summer, SM Entertainment’s “Avengers of K-pop” SuperM are back with their first full-length album, Super One. A year on after they debuted with the polarising “Jopping”, SM have cranked up the hit-making machines to produce a hefty 15-track album, three tracks of which were released as singles: the energetic “100” and chic “Tiger Inside”, as well as new single “One”, which is a montage of two B-sides, “Infinity” and “Monster”.
As expected of any SM ...

For long-time K-pop fans that have, by some miracle, avoided feeling old while mingling online with the legions of teenage fans that have just been introduced to the genre, let this fact now sink in: veteran SM Entertainment boy group Super Junior have now been active for longer than many of those fans have been alive. The once thirteen-, now nine-membered, group first debuted on 6th November 2005 with “Twins (Knockout Song)”, when oldest member Leeteuk was just 22 years old. To put things in...