NCT 127 (Korean: 엔시티 127; RR: Ensiti Il-i-chil) is the first fixed and second overall sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They originally debuted on July 7, 2016, with their debut extended play NCT, with an original lineup of seven members: Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, and Haechan. Doyoung and Johnny joined the unit in December 2016, ahead of their second EP Limitless, while Jungwoo, the final member, was introduced in September 2018 ahead of their first studio album Regular-Irregular. They are known for their experimental hip hop-based music, which they refer to as "neo music", as well as their vocal and rap abilities, choreographies, and performances.
After debuting in 2016, they broke into the domestic mainstream in 2017 with "Cherry Bomb", now recognized as one of their signature songs, and received greater international attention following the release of "Kick It" in 2020.
In April 2019, NCT 127's increasing global popularity prompted SM Entertainment to sign marketing and distribution deals with Capitol Music Group and Caroline Distribution, respectively. The unit subsequently released the EP We Are Superhuman that year and their second Korean studio album, Neo Zone, in 2020, the latter becoming their first top-five entry on the US Billboard 200 and their first release to sell over one million copies. In 2021, NCT 127 released their third Korean studio album, Sticker, and its repackaged version Favorite. With a combined 3.58 million copies sold, it broke the record for the best-selling album of all time by an act under SM Entertainment and earned the group the Daesang award at the 31st Seoul Music Awards. Sticker debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest and highest-charting K-pop album in the US in 2021. In 2022, NCT 127 released their fourth Korean studio album 2 Baddies, which sold 3.2 million copies and made them the second K-pop act to have three albums debut in the top five of the Billboard 200.
Background and name
In January 2016, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man delivered a presentation at the SM Coex Artium titled "SMTOWN: New Culture Technology 2016". Lee announced that the label planned to debut a new boy group with an "unlimited" number of members, in alignment with their "culture contents" strategy. The group would have "sub-unit teams" of different members from different cities around the world, and the units would collaborate with each other frequently. Lee revealed the name of the group to be NCT, an acronym of the presentation title. NCT was to be SM Entertainment's first idol group to debut since Red Velvet in August 2014 and the label's first boy group to debut since South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo in 2012. During the presentation, Lee also announced plans to debut the first NCT unit within the first half of 2016 in Seoul and Tokyo, with sub-units based in Chinese cities to follow in the latter half of the year and units in Southeast Asia and Latin America later.
On July 1, 2016, NCT 127 was announced as the second sub-unit, a Seoul-based, multi-national boy group that would promote actively in South Korea. The name "NCT 127" combines the acronym for Neo Culture Technology with the number "127", the longitude coordinate of the city of Seoul.
History
2013–2016: Formation, pre-debut activities and early days
All ten members of NCT 127 were originally introduced through SM Rookies, a pre-debut training team established by SM Entertainment. Johnny was the first member to join the label through an American audition at Chicago, Illinois, in 2007, while Yuta was recruited through the SM Global Audition in Osaka, Japan and Mark in Vancouver, Canada in 2012. The same year, Taeyong and Jaehyun joined the label after being cast by label employees and passing auditions and were the first members to be introduced through SM Rookies. Taeil was the next member to join the label in 2013, despite having chosen twice before to not pursue an idol career. Doyoung and Donghyuck joined the label in 2013, with Winwin being introduced through SM Rookies on January 5, 2016, and Jungwoo on April 17, 2017.
Prior to the unit's debut, several members had solo activities during their time in SM Rookies, including Taeyong's music video for "Open the Door" and feature in Red Velvet's second single "Be Natural" (credited as SR14B's Taeyong) in 2014. Taeyong then joined fellow trainees Johnny, Mark, Donghyuck, Yuta and Jaehyun in the Mnet-produced reality show Exo 90:2014. Doyoung and Jaehyun became fixed MCs for the music show Show Champion from January to June 2015, while Mark and Donghyuck were Mouseketeers on Disney Channel Korea's The Mickey Mouse Club in July 2015. The members eventually had their first official show, titled SMRookies Show, in Seoul in September 2015 and later in Bangkok, Thailand in February 2016. Taeil released his first solo soundtrack "Because Of You" for the television series The Merchant: Gaekju 2015 on January 26, 2016, and Winwin, who appeared as a dancer for the live performance of NCT U's "The 7th Sense" during the sub-unit's first live performance in China at the 16th Music Feng Yun Bang Awards later in April 2016. Along with other SM Rookies trainees, the members starred in their first reality show series, titled NCT Life, in the same month. Taeyong, Taeil, Jaehyun, and Mark—all of whom previously debuted in NCT U—as well as Yuta, Winwin, and Haechan were confirmed to debut in NCT 127, the Seoul-based unit of NCT, on July 1, 2016.
NCT 127 officially debuted with the release of the music video for "Fire Truck" on July 7, 2016, and had their debut performance on Mnet's M Countdown on the same day. They performed the single alongside another promotional song, "Once Again". They released their self-titled extended play (EP) on July 10, 2016. The record was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and rising to the number one position by the third week of its release, while reaching number two on the Billboard World Albums Chart. In collaboration with Coca-Cola, NCT 127 released the single "Taste the Feeling" under the SM Station project on July 29 while continuing promotions for "Fire Truck" on television music shows such as Music Bank, Show Champion, and Inkigayo. The group then collaborated with the W Korea magazine and modeling agency ESteem for a special performance video, which featured five members (Yuta, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark, and Winwin) performing a then-unreleased track, titled "Good Thing". On December 20, NCT 127 released the music video for "Switch", previously issued as a bonus track on NCT, which featured other SM Rookies trainees (who were referred to as SR15B at the time of release). The unit was named the Best New Group of 2016 at several music award shows, including Asia Artist Awards, Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Mnet Asian Music Awards and Gaon Chart Music Awards.
2017: New members, breakthrough with Cherry Bomb and Japanese debut
On December 27, SM Entertainment confirmed that NCT 127 would release their second EP Limitless in January 2017. The label then announced that new members Johnny and Doyoung would join with NCT 127, becoming a nine-member boy group, with Doyoung having previously debuted with NCT U in April 2016. The group premiered two versions of the EP's eponymous lead single on January 4 and 5, 2017. The EP, released the next day, was commercially successful, becoming NCT 127's second chart-topper on the Gaon Album Chart and their first to reach number one the Billboard World Albums Chart. The lead single also received positive reviews from music critics, hailed by Dazed Digital as one of the top 20 best K-pop songs of 2017, and a fan favorite. Similar to their previous releases, the unit began their promotion cycle for "Limitless" and "Good Thing" on M Countdown on January 5. They released their EP Cherry Bomb on June 14, led by their single of…