Got7


Got7 is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of seven members: Jay B, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom. Got7 debuted in January 2014 with the release of their first EP Got It?, which peaked at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and number one on Billboard's World Albums Chart. The group gained attention also for their live performances, which often include elements of martial arts tricking and street dancing.
In late 2014, Got7 signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and ventured into the Japanese market to release their debut Japanese-language single "Around the World." They returned to South Korea a month later to release their first full-length studio album Identify, which topped the nation's charts. In 2015, Got7 released the EPs Just Right and Mad, which yielded their most commercially successful single, "Just Right." In 2016, they moved into the Japanese market with a full-length Japanese studio album, Moriagatteyo, which entered the Oricon Albums Chart at number three.
Their fifth Korean EP Flight Log: Departure and their second full-length studio album Flight Log: Turbulence were both chart-toppers, and the 2017 EP Flight Log: Arrival, the third and final part of the group's Flight Log series, was their first album to sell more than 300,000 copies.
The group departed from JYP Entertainment in January 2021, following the expiration of their contract with the agency.
As of November 2021, Got7 has sold 4.1 million copies according to the South Korean Circle Chart.

History

2009–2013: JJ Project and formation

After 2PM's debut in 2008, JYP Entertainment began working on the creation of a new, international boy group. In 2009, b-boy Lim Jae-beom and dancer Park Jin-young ranked first place in the open auditions and began their idol training; in 2012, they were removed from the new group project and debuted first as actors in the television drama Dream High 2, then as singers in the duo JJ Project, for which they adopted the stage names JB and Junior, respectively. Over the years, they changed their stage names to Jay B and Jinyoung. The following year, while JJ Project was preparing for their second album, they were reinstated as trainees in the group project.
In the three years of the project, the potential candidates for debut reached 30 people and the new boy band formation underwent continuous changes. In 2013, JYPE recruited Choi Young-jae at the closed auditions of a singing academy in Mokpo and included him in the group's project as a singer after a month of dance training. At the time, the debut line-up consisted of five people: in addition to Youngjae, Jay B and Jinyoung, there were American-Taiwanese Mark Tuan, who had arrived in South Korea from Los Angeles in August 2010, and the former Hong Kong fencer Jackson Wang, who had passed the international auditions in Kowloon in December 2010 and had moved to Seoul in the summer of 2011.
On September 6, 2013, Mark and Jackson appeared on the fourth episode of Mnet's reality-survival program Who is Next: WIN with two other trainees: BamBam, who had passed the auditions in Thailand in March 2010, and Yugyeom. On the same month, the final line-up was decided: having impressed Yang Hyun-suk on WIN, BamBam's debut was brought forward, and the boy joined Yugyeom in the pre-existing quintet when the debut song had already been decided, bringing the members to seven.
The debut of the group, temporarily called "Post 2PM", was announced in October for the following January. A tentative name of the group was "Get7", but in December 2013 the agency finally opted for Got7 because it didn't sound good. According to J.Y. Park, "Got7" originated from best-selling first-generation group g.o.d, as Park was supposed to debut with them as a six-member mix-gender group and used the working name "Got6." The final name includes the lucky number seven, meaning "seven lucky people who found each other and will go on together forever."

2014: Debut with ''Got It?'', first album and Japanese debut

JYP Entertainment announced Got7 on January 1, 2014, debuting their first boy group since 2PM in 2008. It was described as a hip-hop group that incorporates martial arts tricking and b-boying styles in their performances. This style drew comparisons to their senior group, 2PM, who are well known for their acrobatic dance styles.
On January 15, the group held the Garage Showcase, which aired live through Daum Music, and debuted on January 16 on Mnet's M Countdown, performing their debut single "Girls Girls Girls." The music video was released at the same time and exceeded one million views on YouTube after two days, an unusual result for a new group, generating expectations for their subsequent activities. Got7 released their first EP, Got It?, on January 20, 2014: the album shot to No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums Chart and was No. 2 on the Gaon Album Chart. Shortly after their debut, the group signed a contract with Japan's Sony Music Entertainment and held the Got7 Showcase 1st Impact in Japan on April 4 at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and on April 17 at Zepp Namba in Osaka. In the meantime, they became brand ambassadors of sportswear brand Black Yak and ice cream brand Natuur Pop.
On June 18, Got7 presented their second EP, Got Love, and its title track "A" with a showcase at Ax Hall in Seoul, performing in front of 1,000 fans. The album was released on June 23. For their new EP, the group opted to show a brighter and more colorful image than their martial arts and b-boy style choreography emphasized at debut.
On September 25, Got It? and Got Love were released in Thailand as a special two-disc edition titled Got7 Thailand Special Set. In October, Got7 held their first Japan Tour, and made their Japanese debut on October 22 with their single Around the World. This included the hip-hop track "So Lucky," composed and written by 2PM's Jun. K. The single ranked No. 3 on the Oricon Weekly Chart and became the best-selling debut single by a K-pop artist in Japan between 2013 and 2014.
In November 2014, the group released their first full-length album, Identify, as well as the music video for its title track, "Stop Stop It." Identify topped Gaon's Weekly Album Chart in its first week and "Stop Stop It" peaked at number four on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart.

2015: New music in South Korea and Japan

In January, Got7 were awarded the "New Artist Award" at the 29th Golden Disc Awards and at the 24th Seoul Music Awards. In the same month, Got7 starred in their own web drama Dream Knight, co-produced by Youku Tudou and JYP Pictures, and featuring actress Song Ha-yoon as the female lead role. The drama tells the story of a girl who shares dreams, love and friendship with a group of mysterious boys with magic powers and gathered close to 13 million hits in total. The show received the "Best Drama Award", "Best Director Award" and "Rising Star Award" at the K-Web Fest in July.
On June 10, 2015, the group released their second Japanese single "Love Train," which debuted at No. 4 on the Oricon Singles Chart. The single contains "Love Train," the original Japanese song O.M.G. and the two tracks' instrumental renditions. The group released their third EP, Just Right, on July 13, 2015. The title track, "Just Right," peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, remaining in the top three for two consecutive weeks.
Got7 released their third Japanese single "Laugh Laugh Laugh" with its B-side "Be My Girl" on September 23. It sold over 35,000 album copies in the first week of its release and made its debut at No. 1 on the Oricon's singles chart.
The group released their fourth EP, Mad, and the music video for its title track, "If You Do", on September 29. They followed up this release with their first repackaged album, Mad: Winter Edition, on November 23, with the three additional tracks, "Confession Song," "Everyday," and "To. Star."

2016: Start of the ''Flight Log'' trilogy and first world tour

On February 3, 2016, Got7 released their first full-length Japanese studio album titled Moriagatteyo, which charted at No. 2 on the Oricon Album Chart. The 12 tracks featured in the album include songs from their first three Japanese singles, and the Japanese versions of "Girls Girls Girls," "A," "Stop Stop It," and "Just Right."
On February 15, 2016, Got7 were confirmed as new clothing ambassadors for NBA Style Korea with labelmate Twice, while, starting from April, they participated in a Japanese educational TV program realized by NHK Educational TV on the Korean language. They were featured in the textbooks and appeared regularly for two years until March 2018.
On March 21, 2016, Got7's fifth EP, Flight Log: Departure, and its title track, "Fly", were released. With this album, Got7 became the first Korean act to chart on Billboard's Artist 100 since Psy, entering the chart at No. 45. Flight Log: Departure debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart and on the Billboard World Albums Chart. On April 12, Got7 digitally released "Home Run," the second title track from Flight Log: Departure, which was co-written and co-composed by Jay B.Got7 held the first concert of the "Fly Tour" on April 29 and 30 in Seoul, with the tour continuing on to dates in China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and the United States throughout the summer.
In the first half of the year, the group became brand model in Thailand for It's Skin, softlens brand Bausch+Lomb, and Est Cola. For Bausch+Lomb, Mark, BamBam and Jinyoung starred in a short film titled Sanctuary, which was released on May 11.
On September 27, Got7 released their second studio album titled Flight Log: Turbulence, contributing to the composition and lyrics of 11 out of 13 tracks. It sold 200,000 album copies in South Korea on its first month and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums Chart, selling 2,000 copies in the U.S.
On November 16, Got7 released their first Japanese EP titled Hey Yah, which took third place on the Oricon chart.
At the end of the year, Flight Log: Departure charted at No. 15 on Billboard 2016 year-end World Albums chart, marking Got7's first appearance on the chart, while the group ranked at No. 6 on the Billboard 2016 year-end World Albums Artists chart.