A new boy band by the name of WayV is set to debut later this month in China, and it will feature some members who are already familiar to fans of K-pop entity NCT.
The seven-member boy band, known as WeiShenV (??V) in Chinese, features NCT’s Ten, Lucas, Kun and WinWin, plus three members — Hendery, Xiao Jun, and Yangyang — who were previously introduced through SM Entertainment’s SMRookies platform.
While associated with NCT and its company, SM Entertainment, WayV’s official Weibo page says that it is managed by Label V.
WayV has yet to announce the date of its first release, but has begun teasing videos of the band on social media since Dec. 30 (31 in Asia). The same day, SM’s official Twitter account posted an image of the act and stated, “WayV to make their long-awaited debut in January! Let’s get ready to fall in love with their awesome performances!”
??V(WayV) to make their long-awaited debut in January!
Let’s get ready to fall in love with their awesome performances! #WayV #WeiShenV #??V @WayV_official pic.twitter.com/pDvP4qmtLo— SMTOWN (@SMTOWNGLOBAL) December 31, 2018
Formed in 2016 by SM Entertainment, NCT is an umbrella term for a variety of associated artists and teams under the K-pop company as an experimental approach to the typical K-pop group structure. Last year, 18 men were part of NCT. Together, they released one joint album, NCT 2018 Empathy, and members were featured in three teams, NCT U, NCT Dream and NCT 127; Empathy debuted on the World Albums chart at No. 5 during the week dated March 24. Along with the four participating in NCT’s joint single “Black on Black” last year, Lucas, Ten and WinWin have each released music as part of NCT U, and WinWin is also a member of NCT 127. In May, NCT became the first K-pop group to ever top the Emerging Artists chart.
In August, SM announced through Twitter that it would be launching a new NCT China team in the second half of 2018. However, Korea’s Osen reports that WayV “may” work with NCT in the future. Billboard has reached out to SM for clarification regarding the connection between WayV and NCT.
SEE THE V#WayV #WeiShenV #??V
? Jan. 2019 pic.twitter.com/VyM7iAt5FV— WayV (@WayV_official) December 31, 2018