HYBE Japan’s group &TEAM, “We want to create the music that is loved by people around the world like senior group BTS”
HYBE Labels Japan’s first global group &TEAM will start promoting in Korea for the first time since their debut.
On June 18th, the media showcase for &TEAM’s second mini album “First Howling: WE” was held at Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo.
&TEAM is a nine-member group consisting of EJ, Fuma, K, Nicholas, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, and Maki that debuted on December 7th last year. The group was formed by HYBE JAPAN led by Chairman Bang Si Hyuk through the audition program “&Audition – The Howling”. EJ is the only Korean member in the group but all of them can speak Korean fluently. The group name &TEAM means nine people forming a team and connecting diverse worlds.
At the media showcase, member K said, “We really want to show various aspects of our group”, expressing his feelings about making a comeback after debut. Nicholas also shared, “We realized our tasks while promoting &Team for the past half a year and we will work hard to solve the tasks”. Leader EJ confessed, “We tried to communicate a lot among the members and understand each other to strengthen our teamwork”.
With their debut album “First Howling: ME”, &TEAM swept various major music charts in Japan, such as Oricon and Billboard Japan. Therefore, they decided to announce their full-fledged activities in Korea with this comeback. &TEAM recently communicated with Korean fans at the 2023 Weverse Con Festival on June 10th and 11th. They surprised everyone by performing the Korean version of their new song “Fire Walk” and “Road Not Taken”.
Regarding the new song, Fuma said, “As soon as we heard it for the first time, we got energized. The song was so good and the lyrics also touched my heart”. Nicholas mentioned the difficult choreography, saying “We practiced hard, and our teamwork was the most important because there are many acrobatic moves”.
The members also expressed their excitement to carry out activities in Korea, such as music shows, entertainment programs, and various concerts. Jo shared, “We will appear on many Japanese and Korean music shows and showcase our charms”. EJ revealed his feelings, saying “As HYBE artists, we’ve been preparing hard for our promotion in Korea despite our shortcomings in order to become a global group like our senior artists.” Emphasizing that their aim to break the boundaries between J-pop and K-pop, leader EJ said, “Seeing our senior group BTS uniting the world through K-pop culture, I developed my dream. No matter what language we use, I want to create music that is loved by people all over the world, just like the senior group BTS.”
Attention is focused on whether &TEAM will be able to break the barrier as a Japanese group and continue “HYBE’s Success DNA” with their promotion in Korea.
Source: Daum
