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New K-pop group Viviz are made up of three former members of GFriend (from left) SinB, Eunha and Umji.
K-PopNews

Viviz, IVE, NCT Hollywood – K-pop’s next generation is about to make some noise

  • The label behind Twice and Stray Kids has been introducing members of new boy band XDinary Heroes, while an American NCT subgroup is in the works
  • Familiar faces will return too – three former Gfriend members will form Viviz, while two former IZ*ONE stars are among the six members of new girl group IVE
K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop
Tamar Hermanin United States
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Some prominent K-pop groups may have said “farewell” in 2021, but a lot of new faces are set to make their debuts before the end of the year and at the start of 2022, with big South Korean entertainment companies announcing launch plans for upcoming idol groups.

November has seen several K-pop labels solidify arrangements for their latest acts and begin to unveil them.

On November 7, JYP Entertainment, home to popular K-pop groups including Twice and Stray Kids, announced the upcoming debut of boy band Xdinary Heroes.

Lengthy rollouts of K-pop groups often help build anticipation among fans, and a member of Xdinary Heroes was unveiled each day starting from November 15. At the time of writing, five members had been unveiled along with a series of promotional teaser videos and their public social media accounts launched.

Xdinary Heroes will be JYP’s first new boy band since Stray Kids was formed in 2017.

They are one of several acts in the works at JYP, along with a female outfit who have been unofficially introduced to the public as “JYPn” and are said to be formally debuting in early 2022.

Starship Entertainment, best known as the home of Monsta X, is promoting an upcoming team, the girl group IVE, who have already gained a lot of attention for featuring two members of popular former girl group IZ*ONE, who disbanded earlier this year.

Along with the two former IZ*ONE members, Ahn Yu-jin and Jang Won-young, IVE features four other women; their scheduled first release is being promoted, but no date has been set for their debut.

Another high-profile new group, Viviz, features three former members of GFriend, which disbanded this year. The date of their debut is not known, but the trio are promoting their new identity in a variety of ways – group member Eunha joined Adora, a producer turned singer, on her song Make U Dance earlier this month, for instance.
In addition to these groups, other K-pop labels have announced plans to launch one or more new groups in 2022; alone, subsidiaries of Hybe Corp., which manages popular K-pop groups BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Enhypen and Seventeen, plan to launch several acts.

The company has teamed up with Universal Music to search for female talent in the United States with a view to launching a globally oriented K-pop girl group there.

A new Hybe subsidiary, ADOR, an acronym that stands for “All Doors, One Room”, was announced on November 12. Headed by Min Hee-jin, who was integral in the creative direction of popular K-pop groups including f(x) and Red Velvet, ADOR is reportedly launching a new girl group in 2022.
Other new acts in the works include SM Entertainment’s NCT Hollywood, an American subgroup within the 20-plus-member group NCT group, and a girl group under the YG Entertainment label, home of supergroup Blackpink.
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