New K-pop group 1VERSE reflects future of a global music scene
New K-pop group 1VERSE reflects future of a global music scene
One of the newest groups in K-pop is making their long-awaited debut after building a sizable online fanbase through the use of social media and their funny personalities.
SEATTLE - One of the newest groups in K-pop is making their long-awaited debut after building a sizable online fanbase through the use of social media and their funny personalities.
1VERSE, pronounced like universe, officially debuted on July 18 with their album, "The 1st Verse."
Over the last year, the five members of the group, from the company Singing Beetle, consistently posted on social media. The posts were mainly Tiktok and X, and they gained fans across the world with the use of viral trends and their own content.
"I think that actually the only people who might be more excited than us are our fans, because these are the people who have been watching over us ever since the days of SBBOYZ," Hyuk says.
SBBOYZ was the original name of the group in the beginning as they were preparing and building their lineup.
The lineup has been a big talking point worldwide. There was national and international news outlets covering the group even before its debut, because two members of the group, Hyuk and Seok, are from North Korea, making 1VERSE the first K-pop group with two North Korean defectors.
The other members are Kenny, who is Chinese-American, Aito who is Japanese-Korean, and Nathan, the final addition to the group, is Lao-Thai from Arkansas.
From different cultures to different languages, the members have worked to get to know each other through the language barriers as they work and live together in South Korea.
"Even if between the five of us we don’t speak perfect English or Korean, we’re still able to comfortably get by with body language and a few staple phrases," says Hyuk.
While they have faced difficult times preparing for their big debut when not fully understanding each other’s languages or cultural differences, they were able to work through that to become one.
"It's so fun to see how we try to get along with each other. We really put a lot of effort into trying to get to know each other's likes and interests more," says Nathan.
1VERSE has gained hundreds of thousands of followers online over the past year just from their personalities, but fans continued to ask, "when is the debut," and "these guys are doing everything but debuting," in a playful way, of course.
"Now that we’ve finally debuted, fans who had previously been jokingly saying 'They’re doing everything but debuting’, are now saying, ‘Oh they’re doing everything including debuting’! So, even though it’s taken a while, I’m just so happy that we’re finally able to show everything to our fans," Hyuk says.
The group has been preparing their debut release for over a year, with songs being completed before Nathan joined in December 2024, and they wanted to make sure it was perfect before releasing it to the world.
"‘Shattered’ was completed almost a year ago, and then we started choreography and recording at the beginning of this year," says Kenny, who has a big hand in the creation of the group, as he contributes a lot of the concept ideas, and is even the one who found Nathan on YouTube, which led him to becoming a member of the group.
1VERSE pre-released their single "Multiverse" on July 3, giving fans their first taste of original music, before officially debuting with the song "Shattered" on July 18.
1VERSE 유니버스 'Shattered' Official MV
"When we used to do monthly evaluations, we were always practicing songs with these really intense choreographies, so when I first heard ‘Shattered’ I thought ‘Oh wow, this song suits us perfectly,’" says Seok.
The debut is described by members as intense and showcases the group’s high-energy performance skills.
The choreography was even done by the group’s youngest member, Aito.
"For me when I heard 'Shattered', the first thing that came to mind was what the choreography would be...Now that the 'Shattered' choreography is complete, I want to take this moment to say ‘I'm sorry to our members that the choreography came out to be so difficult,’" he jokes.
As the group has gone from pre-debut, which gave fans months of just online social media content, to debuting with original music, one thing fans wanted to know is if that content would change now that they have debuted.
As typically in the idol industry, online content for new idols is more heavily regulated, but the members say that under their company, Singing Beetle, they are able to truly be themselves even after debut.
"While the context that we’re in might have changed, we ourselves haven’t. The only thought I really have is a desire to complete this journey with the exact same intention that I started it with," says Hyuk, while Nathan adds, "Being in Singing Beetle, we’re able to embrace ourselves, and as long as we are still here, we will continue to just be ourselves."
With this debut of multinational idols, they are giving hope to fans across the world that no matter where you are from, you can also accomplish your dreams.
"I hope that, after seeing our performances, fans say ‘wow, that was so much fun! That was so impactful! I can’t wait to see that again!’ That’s what I would like to hear," says Aito.
One of the first performances fans will get to see is right here in the United States, when the members take the stage at K-PLAY FEST in Anaheim, California on Aug. 30.
"We will be working really hard preparing more performances, putting our best efforts into each one, so please keep watching over us and supporting us," concludes Seok.
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