If we had to describe NCT with a few short keywords, we would probably choose "infinite members", "constantly changing subunits" and "unusual concept". Whatever it is, it works! NCT have won numerous awards and sold countless copies of their albums over the five years of their career.
The boy band NCT is best known for having more members than any other K-pop band. There are currently 23 and there will probably be more in the future! There is often confusion, especially among new fans, when it comes to the concept of the different sub-units. But let's be honest, even those of us who witnessed NCT's debut in 2016 didn't really know what to expect. If you still have questions or would just like an overall overview, you've come to the right place!
In January 2016, Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM Entertainment, introduced the concept for a new boy band that would debut that year. The idea is that the group consists of an infinite number of members who are constantly active in various sub-units around the world. This means that the members of NCT are not always active in the same constellation like regular groups.
There are currently four sub-units: “NCT U”, “NCT 127”, “NCT Dream” and “WayV”.
In this article we introduce you to the first two units “NCT U” and “NCT 127”. You will find the details about the other two units soon in Part 2!
NCT U
In April the first unit called “NCT U” debuted with two singles. The concept already became clear there, because while “7th Sense” was sung by members Taeil, Taeyong, Doyoung, Ten, Jaehyun and Mark, only Taeil, Doyoung and Jaehyun were involved in the second single “Without You”. The Chinese version of the song was even recorded with another member named “Kun”. Since Kun only officially debuted in NCT later, the boy band consisted of six members at the time.
Two more sub-units debuted in the same year: “NCT 127” and “NCT Dream”. In order not to lose track, let's first go through the other releases from NCT U before we introduce you to the other units!
In January 2018, Taeil, Doyoung and Jaehyun release the digital single “Timeless”.
Two months later the project album “NCT 2018 Empathy” was released. All 15 members who had debuted in the three sub-units were involved in this album. Three new members - Kun, Lucas and Jungwoo - were also introduced. So at this point NCT had a total of 18 members. Starting with “Boss” by NCT U, a music video was released for six songs on the album. These include “GO” by NCT Dream, “Touch” by NCT 127 and “Black on Black” by all 18 members. As always, each of the NCT U songs on the album is sung by different members of the unit.
The fourth sub-unit WayV debuts in January 2019.
In October 2020, another project album titled “ NCT Resonance Pt. 1 ” was released. NCT now consists of 23 members! 21 have already debuted in various units and two - Shotaro and Sungchan - were new additions. The album has two title songs: “Make A Wish” and “From Home” by NCT U.
A month later “NCT Resonance Pt” was released. 2”, a repackage of Resonance Pt. 1. Once again there were two title songs: “90s Love” and “Work It” by NCT U. In December, the digital single “Resonance” was uploaded, on which all 23 members can be heard together for the first time.
NCT U is a very open unit. Which members record a song depends on who fits into the concept. Each of the 23 current members has now appeared on at least one NCT U song.
So far there is no physical album that only contains NCT U songs. All of the unit's songs are included in the project albums “Empathy” and “Resonance”. Empathy also features the previously released singles “7th Sense”, “Without You” (2016) and “Timeless” (2018).
NCT Project Albums
| NCT 2018 Empathy | published on 14.03.2018 |
|---|---|
| NCT Resonance Pt. 1 | published on 12.10.2020 |
| NCT Resonance Pt. 2 | published on 23.11.2020 |
NCT 127
On July 7, 2016, NCT's second sub-unit "NCT 127" debuted with the single "Firetruck". Three days later the accompanying mini album “NCT #127” was released. The unit consisted of seven members at the time: Taeil, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark, Yuta, Winwin and Haechan. The first four were already familiar to fans from their debut in NCT U three months earlier. Yuta, Winwin and Haechan were new additions.
In December 2016, SM Entertainment announced that NCT 127 had added Doyoung from NCT U and a new member named Johnny. The first comeback took place in January 2017 with the new album "Limitless" with nine members. The third album “Cherry Bomb” was released in June with the same constellation. The theme song of the same name brought the group their first win on a music show!
In November, NCT 127 released the Japanese version of “Limitless” with a new music video. That same year, SM Entertainment confirmed that the unit would make its official Japanese debut in 2018. Before that happened, NCT 127 first worked with the other two units on the project album “NCT 2018 Empathy”.
The first Japanese album “Chain” was released in May 2018 with the Japanese version of “Limitless” and four brand new songs.
During the preparations for the new Korean album “ Regular-Irregular ” in October, Jungwoo was introduced as a new member of NCT 127. He had previously made his debut in NCT through “NCT 2018 Empathy”.
Before 2018 ended, the ten members released two more albums together: first, the digital album "Up Next Session: NCT 127", which is part of a series of Apple exclusive albums released as part of Apple's monthly "Up Next" program. Then, " Regulate ", a repackage of "Regular-Irregular" with the title track "Simon Says". Winwin did not participate in the promotions for "Regulate" because he was preparing for his debut in Chinese sub-unit WayV. In fact, it was the last album he recorded with NCT 127, as he has since focused on his activities in WayV.
From then on, the unit is active with nine members. To date, NCT 127 has released eight more albums without any further changes in the line-up.
NCT 127 Discography
| Album | Release date |
|---|---|
| NCT #127 | 10.07.2016 |
| Limitless | 06.01.2017 |
| Cherry Bomb | 14.06.2017 |
| Chain (jap.) | 23.05.2018 |
| Regular-Irregular | 12.10.2018 |
| Up Next Session: NCT 127 | 22.10.2018 |
| Regulate (Repackage) | 23.11.2018 |
| Awaken (jap) | 17.04.2019 |
| We Are Superhuman | 24.05.2019 |
| Neo City: Seoul − The Origin (Live Album) | 24.10.2019 |
| Neo Zone | 06.03.2020 |
| Neo Zone: The Final Round (Repackage) | 19.05.2020 |
| Loveholic (jap.) | 17.02.2021 |
| Sticker | 17.09.2021 |
| Favorite (Repackage) | 25.10.2021 |
Almost a month after releasing “Regulate” in November, Haechan took a break due to an injury. In January 2019, the remaining eight members gave concerts without him as part of the “Neo City - The Origin” tour. It was the unit's first solo tour. Luckily, Haechan rejoined the others in March. The tour was then even expanded to include additional dates from April to July!
Between concerts, NCT 127 released the single “Let's Shut Up & Dance” with Jason Derulo and EXO's Lay in February, the Japanese album “Awaken” in April and the Korean album “We Are Superhuman” in May! This meant that even fans who couldn't attend any of the concerts were able to see something from the unit again and again.
In August 2019, Jungwoo retired due to health reasons. Two months later, a live album for the Neo City Tour was released, which consists of recordings from the concerts in the first half of 2019 and therefore shows all 9 members. In January, Jungwoo returned; just in time to take part in the preparations for the new album “Neo Zone”. He was also seen in the short music video for the pre-release song “Dreams Come True”, which was uploaded to YouTube in January 2020.
After the release of “Neo Zone” in March, a second tour was actually planned. However, this had to be canceled due to the Corona pandemic. The boys organized a live concert in May. Over 104,00 tickets were sold to fans from 129 different countries! “Neo Zone: The Final Round” was released in the same month; a repackage of “Neo Zone”.
Later in the year, NCT 127 reunited with the three other units for two project albums: “NCT 2020 Resonance Pt. 1” and the repackage “NCT 2020 Resonance Pt. 2”. This year, NCT 127 released the third Japanese album “Loveholic”, the digital single “Save” in collaboration with the record label “Amoeba Culture”, and most recently two Korean albums: “ Sticker ” in September and the repackage album “ Favorite (Vampire) ” in October.
We are excited to see what the unit will present to us next year!
You can find out more about the other two units “NCT Dream” and “WayV” in Part 2 !
There you will also find a list of all 23 members of NCT! For the sake of clarity, we have listed not only the units in which each member is active, but also the unit and the album with which they debuted.
