YouTube K-pop battle series: Stray Kids, Ateez, iKon, The Boyz, and others fight to become top boy band of their generation

Kingdom: Legendary War will feature older, more established bands and newer groups battling it out

The series, which follows Queendom and Road to Kingdom, will be broadcast on YouTube and international fans will be able to vote for their favourites

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The Boyz will be taking part in the new K-pop series Kingdom Legendary War. Photo: @Creker_THEBOYZ/ Twitter

Published: 2:30am, 25 Feb 2021Updated: 12:26pm, 4 Mar 2021

Six K-pop group are preparing to fight to be recognised as the reigning boy band of their generation on an upcoming music competition show.

Kingdom: Legendary War launches on April 1 on South Korean cable broadcaster Mnet, bringing together BTOB, iKon, SF9, Ateez, Stray Kids and Road to Kingdom champions The Boyz.

It will be the third Mnet show featuring K-pop acts competing against one another in recent years. It follows 2019’s Queendom – which girl group Mamamoo won after facing off with Park Bom, formerly of 2NE1, AOA, Lovelyz, Oh My Girl and (G)I-DLE – and 2020’s Road to Kingdom – which saw The Boyz defeat Pentagon, ONF, Golden Child, Verivery, Oneus and Too for a spot in the 2021 programme.

During the previous instalments of the series, the groups were able to showcase their artistry beyond their typical wheelhouse, revealing new sides to themselves and gaining the attention of a wider audience beyond their typical fandoms.

Previous seasons featured the groups performing their own songs, cover versions and producing new music, and it is expected that Kingdom: Legendary War will feature similar challenges.

The upcoming show is hotly anticipated by K-pop fans worldwide, as Kingdom: Legendary War – like the earlier instalments – will pit more established, senior acts against newer ones. BtoB are the most senior act competing this year – the band debuted in 2012 and are known primarily as a vocal-pop group, although in their early days they released more dance-oriented music. Meanwhile the youngest act, Ateez, released their first single in 2018.