NCT 127

Image by Pop!

NCT 127 is the first stable and second overall sub-unit of the SM Entertainment-created and -managed South Korean boy band NCT. With the single "Firetruck" and the initial roster of seven members (Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, and Haechan), they made their debut on July 7, 2016. After the release of their first extended play (EP), NCT #127 (2016), they won the Best New Group award at many South Korean music award events. Doyoung, Johnny, and Jungwoo all joined the group before their second EP Limitless (2017); Jungwoo was added in September 2018 in preparation for the group's debut studio album Regular-Irregular (2018).

NCT 127 has released four extended plays as well as three studio albums, two repackaged albums, and two reissues in South Korea since their debut. With "Cherry Bomb," which is now known as one of their signature songs, they emerged into the public in 2017. They gained more international recognition after the release of their debut studio album and its lead single, "Regular," in 2018.

Image by K-Pop Fandom

The unit's label, SM Entertainment, signed marketing and distribution agreements with Capitol Music Group and Caroline Distribution, respectively, in April 2019 as a result of the group's rising international success. In the years that followed, NCT 127 released the EP We Are Superhuman and Neo Zone, their second Korean studio album, the latter of which was their first top-five entry on the US Billboard 200 and their first record to sell more than one million copies. Sticker, the third Korean studio album by NCT 127, and Favorite, its repackage album, were released in 2021. Together, they broke sales records and set a new standard for albums by acts under the SM Entertainment umbrella, selling a total of 3.58 million copies. The album also made its US Billboard 200 debut at number three, rising to the third spot to become the highest-charting K-pop album in 2021. With the release of an EP, a studio album, and a Japanese version of their second song "Limitless," NCT 127 have also entered the Japanese music scene.

In accordance with their "cultural contents" approach, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man stated during a presentation he gave in January 2016 at the SM Coex Artium titled "SMTOWN: New Culture Technology 2016"[8] that the company planned to debut a new boy group with a "infinite" number of members. The group would be divided into "sub-unit teams" with individuals from various cities around the globe, and the units would frequently work together. NCT, the acronym of the presentation's title, was revealed by Lee to be the name of the group. The first boy group to debut under the SM Entertainment label since the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo in 2012 and the first idol group since Red Velvet in August 2014. During the presentation, Lee also disclosed plans to introduce the first NCT unit in Seoul and Tokyo in the first half of 2016, with units in Southeast Asia and Latin America to follow in the second part of the year.

Lead Image by K-Profiles