Just eight days into their debut, it looks like South Korea’s freshest boy band, Riize, is already creating waves among K-pop fans.
Not only did the band under the South Korean agency SM Entertainment make history, selling over a million copies of their album in under a week, but their first music video has surpassed 23 million YouTube views in just eight days.
Riize made its highly-anticipated debut on September 4 with its first single album ‘Get A Guitar’, with a catchy title track of the same name.
The septet consists of singers Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee, and the maknae (youngest member) Anton.
Hanteo Chart, a South Korean music chart system, which counts K-pop albums reported that ‘Get A Guitar’ sold a total of over 1,016,849 copies in the first week of its release (September 4 to 10).
As reported by the South Korean entertainment website Soompi.com, this makes Riize the first group not formed in a reality contest to surpass 1 million first-week sales with their debut album.
“Even including survival show groups, Riize is only the second artist in Hanteo history to sell over a million copies of their debut album in the first week of its release (following ‘Boys Planet’ project group Zerobaseone, who became the first to achieve the feat earlier this year),” the article highlighted.
The album is available to stream on various music sites such as Melon, Spotify, and QQ Music.
The title track ‘Get a Guitar’ was shared on September 4 on SM Entertainment’s YouTube channel SMTOWN.
The group already seems to have a huge fan following. In just eight days, the music video crossed 23 million views.
YouTube user @nothx8642 commented: “I love the old-school vibes. This is one of the best debut songs I've ever heard in K-pop. Looking forward to seeing more from Riize.”
And, @Jade-my7hc wrote: “The visuals and talent in this group are crazy amazing! Looking forward to hearing and seeing more in the future.”
According to a press release by the band’s agency, this album was produced with the theme of the time the members spent together preparing for their debut, and it contains two songs – ‘Get A Guitar’, a song meant to inspire listeners and ‘Memories’, a song for memories and beginnings.
“This album marks the beginning of ‘Emotional Pop’ and is expected to receive a huge response from global music lovers,” the press release added.
“Additionally, the title track is an impressive song with an old synthesizer and a funky guitar beat, and the lyrics describe the process of the members coming together in one place to the sound of the guitar, understanding and empathising with each other. It refers to becoming a team through music, at the same time, it also conveys the message that you will pursue your bright dream.”
Explaining the band’s name ‘Riize’, the agency’s press release said that the English words ‘Rise’ and ‘Realise’ were added to the group's name to convey the meaning that they are "a team that grows together and makes dreams come true”.
As Korea’s freshest rookie band, Riize seems to be already proving its prowess in the world’s biggest music market (US and Canada). According to Forbes.com, the band released their first song under their Korean label and agency SM Entertainment, and in the US, with one of the biggest American record labels – RCA Records.
“As one of the most influential and longest-running K-pop companies, SM Entertainment always demands local attention when they reveal new artists. SM’s acts like Girls’ Generation, NCT, and aespa have inked label deals a few years into their careers, but Riize kicking off their career with a partner like RCA Records shows not only a well-prepared debut but promise for the group’s overseas prospects,” Forbes reported.
