45 Fun Facts About Kpop

Rosé's 2024 hit duet 'APT.' featured which American singer?

Bruno Mars joined Rosé on 'APT.', whose title comes from a Korean party drinking game called 'apartment'.

Which SM Entertainment boy group debuted in April 2012 with the single 'Mama', split into Korean and Chinese sub-units?

EXO's twelve members debuted as two sub-units, EXO-K and EXO-M, singing the same songs in Korean and Mandarin so the group could promote in both countries simultaneously.

Which girl group, built around a 'metaverse' concept, debuted in November 2020 with the single 'Black Mamba'?

Aespa's name joins 'avatar' and 'experience' with 'aspect', because each member launched alongside a digital avatar counterpart called ae.

Which eight-member KQ Entertainment boy group debuted in 2018 with 'Treasure EP.1'?

ATEEZ traces back to a letter and demo Hongjoong sent KQ Entertainment; staff who found it contacted him, and he became the label's first trainee.

Which girl group under HYBE's sub-label ADOR debuted in 2022 by releasing the 'Attention' video before even revealing its members?

NewJeans took their name from jeans, a staple that never goes out of style, as a bid to become timeless icons themselves.

2019's Mnet Asian Music Awards named which BTS single Song of the Year?

Boy with Luv features Halsey, who joined BTS to perform it live at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards.

Which label launched Big Bang and 2NE1?

YG Entertainment began in 1996 as Hyun Planning, and its first act, Keep Six, flopped before the hip-hop acts Jinusean and 1TYM broke through.

At the end of JYP's 2015 survival show Sixteen, which contestant was added to the lineup purely on viewer votes?

Tzuyu, who led the viewer vote among all the trainees, was added to the planned seven members; Momo was also added separately, on JYP's own call.

What is the term for the youngest member of a K-pop group?

Maknae literally means 'the youngest in a family', and the role carries real weight in a culture that emphasises respect for elders.

Which artist is widely known for the global hit song 'Gangnam Style'?

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' was watched more than 2,147,483,647 times, forcing YouTube to upgrade its view counter to 64-bit numbers.

Which SM Entertainment boy group had 23 members across its sub-units in 2020?

NCT, short for Neo Culture Technology, was designed with no fixed member count, adding sub-units based in cities around the world.

Which K-pop girl group debuted under Source Music in 2022 with the mini-album 'Fearless'?

LE SSERAFIM's name is an anagram of 'I'm fearless', echoing the debut EP's title, and also nods to the six-winged seraphim.

Fans of the JYP Entertainment girl group formed on the 2015 show Sixteen go by which name?

TWICE's fans are called ONCE, from the members' promise that if fans love them even once, they will repay that love twice over.

Which K-pop soloist, known for 'Good Day' and 'Palette', earned the nickname 'Korea's little sister'?

IU, born Lee Ji-eun, was turned down at audition after audition before LOEN signed her, then broke through with 'Good Day' in 2010.

Bang Si-hyuk began building BTS in 2010 around which member, then an underground rapper?

RM anchored what Bang Si-hyuk first planned as a hip-hop crew before it was reshaped into the idol group BTS.

Which 2009 single spent nine straight weeks at No. 1 on KBS's Music Bank?

Gee's video put Girls' Generation in brightly colored skinny jeans, a look that swept South Korean fashion.

Stray Kids' production unit 3Racha consists of Bang Chan, Changbin and which other member?

Han completes 3Racha with Bang Chan and Changbin; the trio posted its own mixtapes on SoundCloud in 2017, before the group's official launch.

Which SM Entertainment group was launched in 2005 with a plan to swap out members every year?

Super Junior was meant to rotate members like Japan's Morning Musume, but SM dropped the plan after adding a 13th member, Kyuhyun, in 2006.

What is the official fandom name of the boy group SEVENTEEN?

Carat is the unit used to weigh diamonds, casting fans as what makes SEVENTEEN's diamond shine, a nod to their debut EP 17 Carat.

Red Velvet's fifth member, Yeri, joined in March 2015 alongside which chart-topping first EP?

Yeri joined Red Velvet in March 2015 for the group's first EP, Ice Cream Cake, which topped the Gaon Album Chart; the quartet had debuted in August 2014 with 'Happiness'.

The seven members of BTS made their debut with which single album?

BTS debuted with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool on June 12, 2013, led by 'No More Dream'; it sold modestly at the time.

2NE1's 2009 debut EP produced 'Fire' and which other hit single?

'I Don't Care' followed 'Fire' months after 2NE1 first appeared beside Big Bang on 'Lollipop', a song made for an LG phone ad.

The K-pop term 'aegyo' refers to what kind of behavior?

Displaying cuteness through baby talk, facial expressions and gestures is aegyo, and K-pop idols of both sexes are commonly expected to perform it.

Stray Kids' 2022 hit 'Maniac' led which EP?

Oddinary blends 'odd' and 'ordinary', because the group wanted listeners to see the parts of themselves that seem odd as what makes them special.

Which of these K-pop groups was formed through the survival show 'Produce 101 Season 2'?

Wanna One was a temporary project group whose contract ran out at the end of 2018, and it disbanded after farewell concerts in January 2019.

The official fandom name for the K-pop boy group BTS is what?

ARMY, BTS's official fandom, has answered the members' charity gifts with donations of its own, at times matching what the members gave.

Which K-pop girl group debuted under RBW in 2014 with 'Mr. Ambiguous'?

MAMAMOO built buzz before debuting by recording songs with established acts, including Bumkey, K.Will, Wheesung and the duo Geeks.

Which JYP Entertainment girl group debuted in 2019 with the hit song 'DALLA DALLA'?

ITZY debuted on February 12, 2019, with their single album 'It'z Different' and the title track 'DALLA DALLA.' They quickly gained recognition for their 'teen crush' concept and empowering messages.

Which Lady Gaga album featured a K-pop girl group on the 2020 track 'Sour Candy'?

'Sour Candy', Lady Gaga's collaboration with BLACKPINK, appeared on Chromatica and was released as a promotional single on May 28, 2020, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Korean name of BTS, Bangtan Sonyeondan, literally translates to what?

Bangtan Sonyeondan means 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts' because the group set out to block the stereotypes and pressures fired at teenagers like bullets.

SM, YG and JYP are collectively known by what nickname in K-pop?

SM, YG and JYP are known as 'The Big Three' of K-pop; in 2011 they joined Key East, AM Entertainment and Star J to found the joint management firm United Asia Management.

Which group debuted in March 2019 with the track 'Crown' as Big Hit's second boy group after BTS?

TXT was unveiled one member at a time in January 2019, with a separate introduction video for each, weeks before the group debuted.

'Boombayah' and 'Whistle' made up which BLACKPINK single album?

Square One launched BLACKPINK as a quartet, though a YG official said the label had first planned a nine-member girl group.

Which K-pop boy group debuted in 2018 after releasing 'Hellevator' as a pre-debut single?

Stray Kids came from a JYP survival show on which Lee Know and Felix were both eliminated, yet the pair returned for the nine-member debut lineup.

Fans of the group behind 'Say My Name' (2019) go by which fandom name?

ATINY, blending ATEEZ with 'destiny', is the fandom of the group whose 'Say My Name' led its second EP in January 2019.

Which member is the leader of Red Velvet?

Irene danced beside Seulgi to S.E.S.'s 'Be Natural' in a pre-debut SM Rookies video, and soon after debuting Red Velvet released its own remake of that song.

SHINee debuted in May 2008 with an EP fronted by which single?

Replay launched SHINee with a look that set off a student fashion craze the media dubbed the 'SHINee Trend'.

'Hype Boy' (2022) became the longest-charting song by a K-pop girl group on which chart?

Billboard Global 200 kept 'Hype Boy' for 42 weeks, then a record for a K-pop girl group, and the song launched with four separate music videos focused on the members.

The K-pop survival show 'Produce 48' created which temporary girl group?

IZ*ONE's lineup was later found to have been picked by the show's producer before the finale vote, halting promotions before the group disbanded as planned in 2021.

Which K-pop boy group debuted under Starship Entertainment in 2015, known for their hip-hop sound?

MONSTA X officially debuted on May 14, 2015, with their first mini-album 'Trespass' and its title track of the same name, known for their powerful performances and distinct hip-hop style.

The 2021 K-pop hit 'Next Level' remakes a track from which film's soundtrack?

aespa's 'Next Level' reworks A$ton Wyld's song of the same name from the 2019 Hobbs & Shaw soundtrack, adding a second half tied to the group's virtual-avatar storyline.

The K-pop term 'comeback' refers to what event?

A release of new music is a comeback in K-pop even when the act never went away, and it kicks off a fresh run of music-show stages.

Which Starship Entertainment girl group debuted in December 2021 with the single album 'Eleven'?

IVE took its name from 'I have', a pledge to show audiences what they have, presenting themselves as complete from their very first release.

GOT7 debuted under JYP Entertainment in January 2014 with which EP?

GOT7 debuted with the EP Got It? on January 20, 2014, led by 'Girls Girls Girls'; their early shows mixed martial arts tricking with street dance.

Which K-pop soloist, formerly of a girl group, is known for hit songs like 'Gashina' and 'Siren'?

Sunmi left her girl group in 2010 to focus on her studies, then rejoined it in 2015 before going solo again with hits like 'Gashina'.