K-pop pioneer SM Entertainment debuts Riize, its first new group in three years
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Members of the new South Korean boy band Riize pose for a photo during a news conference in Seoul on Sept 4, 2023.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
SEOUL – SM Entertainment, the South Korean company that pioneered the K-pop genre three decades ago, has unveiled a new seven-member boy band named Riize.
Its first band in three years since girl group Aespa, SM’s latest ensemble held a showcase in Itaewon, Seoul, on Monday to launch their debut album Get A Guitar, in what the studio behind K-pop acts Shinee and Girls’ Generation said was a major step towards expanding globally.
Riize comprise six South Koreans (Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee and Anton) and one Japanese member (Shotaro) who are aged 19 to 22, and will devote themselves to the music subgenre of “emotional pop”.
The septet’s launch comes on the heels of a fierce power struggle between SM’s board and its founder Lee Soo-man, who tendered his stake to arch-rival Hybe, the talent agency behind hit boy band BTS. SM fended off Hybe’s takeover attempt after a month-long bidding war by teaming up with South Korea’s Internet giant Kakao.
Along with entertainment unit Kakao Entertainment, Kakao now holds about 40 per cent of SM. SM has said Kakao’s investment will help expedite new band and album launches that would boost its sales and profits.
Riize – short for “Rise and Realize” – has signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment’s label RCA Records, which houses American artistes such as Justin Timberlake and Doja Cat, SM said.
The boy band are SM’s first major production without the charismatic Lee, who was criticised for exerting excessive control over artistes’ projects and causing release delays.
Members of SM Entertainment’s new boy band Riize, at a launch event for their debut album Get A Guitar in Seoul on Monday.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
However, their big debut was marred by recent controversy.
Last week, photos circulated online of 19-year-old member Seunghan and a woman kissing in bed, taken during his trainee days.
Following his apology last Thursday on Riize’s Instagram account and SM’s threat to take action against the parties who spread the photos online, some enraged fans sent protest trucks to SM’s premises in Seongsu-dong last Friday, demanding that Seunghan be removed from Riize. BLOOMBERG
