A promotional poster for JYP Entertainment’s new boy group KickFlip / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment
By Lee Gyu-lee
JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment, BigHit Music, and other K-pop agencies are preparing to launch new groups in 2025, promising another successful year for the K-pop music scene.
JYP is the first on the list, finally announcing the start of pre-debut promotions for its new seven-member boy group, KickFlip.
During the 2024 MAMA Awards, held in Los Angeles last November, the agency’s head Park Jin-young unveiled the group, saying he is “finalizing preparations for the debut of KickFlip set to launch next year.”
The group’s name refers to a skateboarding technique, in which a rider rotates the board 360 degrees with the toes.
“The seven-member group KickFlip, which has become JYP’s new face, will make a spectacular start to 2025 with the ambition to forge new ways without being bound by existing conventions, just like rotating a board forward,” the agency said in the release.
Among seven members, four of them are the finalists from the 2021 music survival show “LOUD,” which Park joined hands with PSY to scout members to make their debut. The top five finalists for JYP Entertainments were Lee Gye-hun, Amaru, Keiju, Lee Dong-hyeon, and Yoon Min. But Yoon left the agency last year to debut as a solo under another label, Howtouse.
The group was scheduled to begin its debut project on Wednesday and drop promotional content. However, due to the tragedy of the Jeju Air plane crash, the agency has postponed the schedule to Jan. 6.
Boy group dearALICE is set to release its official debut single this year. Courtesy of SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment also announced that it will be debuting a new girl group within the first quarter as it announced big plans for its 30th anniversary this year. This will be the first girl group in five years since aespa.
“SM has been building intellectual properties (IP) of artists across all generations of K-pop through not only existing artists but also continued debuts of new artists. And we will strengthen our artist lineup further through the debut of a new girl group,” Jang Cheol-hyuk, the co-CEO of the agency said in the release.
“As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we plan to present various projects including concerts, albums, and merchandise for the many fans who have loved SM, so please look forward to it.”
SM’s first British boy group, dearALICE, is also set to make its official debut. Last November, the agency announced that it had inked a partnership with the U.S. label gamma. to release the five-piece act’s debut single in the coming months.
BigHit Music and Starship Entertainment are preparing to make their next boy group. BigHit held a global audition in 2023 to scout for talents to follow BTS and Tomorrow X Together, and IVE’s agency, Starship, launched an open audition “2025 New Kids On The STARSHIP,” last July, with the goal to debut a new boy group in 2025.
A concept photo of UDTT’s pre-debut single “RETRY” / Courtesy of SW Entertainment
Star composer and producer Yoon Il-sang will be presenting a new girl group, UDTT, this year. The five-pieced group is comprised with contestants from survival shows “Girls Planet 999,” “Universe Ticket,” and “My Teenage Girl.”
It has been gearing up for its official debut with a webtoon, following the group’s debut story, and releasing a pre-debut single “RETRY” to draw fans’ anticipation.
The finalists from the music competition show “Make Mate 1” are set to make their debut under the name NouerA. The seven members — Gihyeon, Junpyo, Hyunjun, Yuseop, Lin, Fan and Miraku — inked a deal with the agency Nouer Entertainment, led by the former BigHit Entertainment head CEO Chae Young-gon, who spearheaded the rise of BTS.
The group has been gaining attention even before its official debut this month, thanks to its popularity from the audition show. It held its first fan meeting event in Japan in September and released a pre-debut single, “MU,” in December.
A concept photo of NouerA’s pre-debut single “MU” / Courtesy of Nouer Entertainment
The new virtual boy group, SKINZ, is set to make debut, according to Bridge Entertainment. The seven-membered group is preparing for its debut album, joining hands with the star producer EL CAPITXN, who previously worked with BTS, IU and NCT.
The group recently unveiled a teaser during SBS’ year-end music festival Gayo Daejeon on Dec. 25, giving a glimpse of its energetic and mischievous concept.
