About a shining star in the K-pop sky: Monsta X
About a shining star in the K-Pop sky: Monsta X
Author: Helen Bosch / Dec 15, 2021
K-Pop Blog > Artists > Monsta X
Monsta Strong voices, an aggressive style and a combination of hip hop, EDM and pop still inspire the boy band's fans to this day!
NO.MERCY - The survival show where Monsta X was born
The first episode of “NO.MERCY” was broadcast on December 10, 2014. This is a survival show from Starship Entertainment in which 12 trainees from the agency were given the chance to make their dream “debut” come true.
At the time, Starship was home to the girl group Sistar, the boy band Boyfriend and successful solo artists such as K.Will and Mad Clown. Monsta X was only Starship's second boy band and third idol group.
In a series of missions, the 12 trainees gave everything to prove their talent. In fact, 13 trainees ended up taking part because a new participant was added during the show. I.M joined after the first trainee was eliminated. At first he was understandably not greeted with enthusiasm, as he represented unexpected competition for the others. Over time, however, the trainees pulled themselves together and I.M ended up being just as much a part of the group as everyone else.
As the name suggests, "NO.MERCY" was staged as a brutal battle for the debut. Seven winners emerged from this fight in the final on February 11, 2015: Jooheon, Shownu, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Wonho, I.M and Minhyuk
If you missed the trip or want to watch it again, you can find all 10 episodes of NO.MERCY on YouTube:
During the show, seven trainees were eliminated, most of whom are now also active as idols: Yoonho debuted in 2015 under his new stage name “Ayno” in “VAV”, #Gun has been active as a rapper since 2016, Minkyun debuted in 2017 as “MK” in ONF, and Seokwon recently made it to the stage too! In March 2021 he made his debut as “Tan” with the boy band “Ciipher”.
Deokspatch
Parallel to NO.MERCY, a reality show called "Deokspatch" was broadcast with seven to ten minute episodes so that fans could get to know the trainees a little better. The first episode aired a week after the first episode of NO.MERCY. Likewise, the last episode was uploaded a week after the finale.
You can also watch Deokspatch on YouTube!
Monsta X
The name Monsta
The probably obvious one is that the name represents monsters that are taking over the K-Pop scene. The X symbolizes the unknown. The second meaning is a bit hidden: “Mon” means mine in French. “Mon sta” can therefore be translated to “My Star”.
The name of the fan community also fits in with this: “Monbebe” is also French and means “My baby” (mon bébé).
2015: Debüt & Deokspatch X
On May 14, 2015, Monsta X debuted their first album “Trespass” and the title song of the same name!
Jooheon and I.M contributed to the lyrics of most of the songs. Jooheon also co-composed three of the seven. With Kihyun and Wonho, a total of four members worked on the lyrics.
Just one day after the music video, Deokspatch went into round two! Ten-minute episodes were broadcast weekly until the end of June, in which the boy group showed their funny side. The second season is called “Deokspatch X” and was also uploaded to YouTube.
The boy group returned on September 1st with their second album “ Rush ”. This time, too, Jooheon and IM are mentioned in the credits for most of the song lyrics. In fact, the two names run through Monsta X's entire discography to this day. We won't mention it every time, but you can assume that Jooheon and IM co-wrote almost every song on all subsequent albums. In addition, Wonho is also involved in individual songs from time to time.
Because it was so nice, “Deokspatch x²” was even broadcast in October.
So in just one year, the boy band released two albums and 3 reality shows! And that even though Monsta X was only founded at the beginning of the year by NO.MERCY. At the end of the year, they were awarded the “Next Generation Asian Artist” award by the Mnet Asian Music Awards for their achievements.
| Album | Titelsong | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Trespass | Trespass | 14.05.2015 |
| Rush | Hero | 01.09.2015 |
2016 - 2017: Japan debut, “The Clan” series
The boy band started 2016 the same way 2015 ended. With a reality show! However, the Deokspatch series was no longer continued. The new show is called “Monsta X Rigt Now!” and consists of a total of eight episodes, each almost 50 minutes long. As you might imagine, Right Now has also been uploaded to YouTube:
On May 18th, Monsta X released their third album “The Clan Pt. 1 Lost”. This began the three-part “The Clan” album series, which ended in March 2017. On The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter was followed by a repackage album called “Shine Forever” on June 19th.
| Album | Titelsong | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Clan Pt. 1 Lost | All In | 18.05.2016 |
| The Clan Pt. 2 Guilty | Fighter | 04.10.2016 |
| The Clan Pt 2.5: The Final Chapter | Beautiful | 21.03.2017 |
| Shine Forever | Shine Forever | 19.06.2017 |
The members of Monsta X didn't take a break between albums, but regularly provided their fans with new content. In mid-July 2016, the boy band held their first solo concert entitled The First Live “X-Clan Origins”.
In August they released a joint song called “Do Better” with their own music video together with the girl group Cosmic Girls, which also belongs to Starship Entertainment:
At the end of 2016, Monsta X again won an award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards; this time the “Next Male Artist” Award.
The new year started once again with a new reality show! This is called “Monsta X-Ray” and consists of eight approximately 50-minute episodes.
In May, the boy band made their Japanese debut with the single album Hero, which contains Japanese versions of the two songs “Hero” (from Rush) and “Stuck” (from Clan Pt. 1). Hero peaked at number two on Japan's Oricon Charts and number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Charts, an impressive feat for a debut from a foreign artist!
In July, a second season of Monsta X-Ray aired and a summer song called “Newton” was released.
Already in August, three months after “Hero”, the second Japanese single “Beautiful” was released, which topped the Oricon charts!
In November, Monsta X presented the new Korean album “The Code”.
As if that wasn't enough, the guys ended the very productive year with the special single “Lonely Christmas”.
| Album | Titelsong | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Hero (jap. Single) | Hero | 17.05.2017 |
| Beautiful (jap. Single) | Beautiful | 23.08.2017 |
| The Code | Dramarama | 14.11.2017 |
2018-2019:
Over the next two years, Monsta X was no less active. Fans were able to look forward to two new Japanese single albums, one Japanese album and four Korean albums!
| Album | Titelsong | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Spotlight (jap. Single) | Spotlight | 31.01.2018 |
| The Connect: Dejavu | Jealousy | 26.03.2017 |
| Jealousy | Puzzle | 25.04.2018 |
| Livin’ It Up (jap. Single) | Livin’ It Up | 12.09.2018 |
| Take.1 Are You There? | Shoot Out | 22.10.2018 |
| Take.2 We Are Here | Alligator | 20.01.2019 |
| Follow: Find You | Find You & Follow | 28.10.2019 |
The boy band also released four English singles in 2019: “Play It Cool” with Steve Aoki, “Who Do You Love” feat French Montana, “Love You” and “Someone’s Someone”.
Confident as always, Monsta X was also present in other places between all the releases.
In 2018, the group collaborated with Lens Town, a fashion eyewear and contact lens company, and promoted the new Lip Tint cosmetic range from “Tony Moly” as well as the new store of the Italian clothing company “Moncler”. They also embarked on their first Japanese tour in April.
Monsta X ended the year with an appearance on iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball Tour. This made them the first Korean group to perform at the event!
In 2019, the group collaborated with international game development company NCSoft to develop a line of merchandise centered around specially designed bears (TwoTuckGom), each representing a Monsta X member. They also extended their exclusive contract with the clothing company “Litmus” for which they have been modeling since their debut!
Wonho leaves Monsta X
At the end of October, Starship Entertainment announced that Wonho was leaving the group. Shortly before, allegations of debts and illegal marijuana use arose on social media. Wonho himself decided to leave Monsta X in order not to further damage the group's reputation. However, Starship added that the agency would take legal action against the malicious and distorted claims.
In March, Wonho was cleared of drug charges and signed a contract with Highline Entertainment, a subsidiary of Starship. In August 2020 he began a solo career with his first album “Love Synonym Pt.1”. He most recently released his third album “Blue Letter” in September.
Fans probably wish nothing more than for Wonho to still be in Monsta X, but we're just happy that all seven guys are continuing to thrive on the stage.
2020 - Today:
Since Wonho's departure until today, Monsta X has released 10 more albums. A colorful mix of Korean, Japanese and English, which shows that the boy band has been very successful outside of Korea for a long time!
The first English album “All About Luv”, which was released on February 14, 2020, was almost like a farewell gift for the fans because, much to their surprise, Wonho was featured on it! Starship explained that the album was recorded before he left.
| Album | Titelsong | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| All About Luv (eng.) | Who Do You Love | 14.02.2020 |
| Wish On the Same Sky (jap. Single Album) | Wish On the Same Sky | 15.04.2020 |
| Fantasia X | Fantasia | 26.05.2020 |
| Fatal Love | Love Killa | 02.11.2020 |
| Love Killa (jap. Single Album) | Love Killa | 16.12.2020 |
| Wanted (jap. Single Album) | Wanted | 10.02.2021 |
| Flavors of Love (jap.) | Flavors of Love | 05.05.2021 |
| One of a Kind | Gambler | 01.06.2021 |
| No Limit | Rush Hour | 19.11.2021 |
| The Dreaming (eng). | One Day | 10.12.2021 |
Monsta X leader Shownu was the first member of the boy group to go into military service. Since July, fans have had to make do without him. The album “ No Limit ” released recently in November is the first without Shownu.
The second English album, which was released a few days ago, was recorded together with Shownu! “ The Dreaming ” is a small consolation and makes the time without Shownu seem shorter.
Did you know that Monsta X is coming to Germany next year? “Kpop.Flex” is set to be the largest Kpop festival in Europe, with 44,000 visitors and seven different Korean artists. Two have been announced so far: Monsta X and (G)I-dle. We look forward to more information in the future!
The members
| Stage name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Shownu | Son Hyunwoo | 18.06.1992 |
| Minhyuk | Lee Minhyuk | 03.11.1993 |
| Kihyun | Yoo Kihyun | 22.11.1993 |
| Hyungwon | Chae Hyungwon | 15.01.1994 |
| Jooheon | Lee Jooheon | 06.10.1994 |
| I.M | Im Changkyun | 26.01.1996 |
Formerly
| Wonho | Lee Hoseok | 01.03.1993 |
|---|
Bonus
In early February 2019, Jooheon officially adopted the new English stage name “Joohoney” for international activities. For example, this name is also listed in the credits of the first English album “All About Luv”.
Jooheon probably had the new stage name in mind for a long time, partly because “Jooheon” is often misspelled. He also hopes the stage name will be easier for global fans.
He now also signs letters to his fans with “Joohoney”.
A very cute name for a great rapper! What do you prefer to call him? Jooheon or Joohoney?
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