Celebrity 23 Oct 2023

7 Things You Need To Know About SEVENTEEN

Here are 7 SEVENTEEN facts for you to get to know the groundbreaking South Korean boy band

by Pianca Ngan

13+3+1=SEVENTEEN

Despite its name which might seem self-explanatory, SEVENTEEN is actually composed of 13 members, and they are split into 3 sub-units according to the members’ specialties. While the Hip-Hop unit consists of S.Coups, Wonwoo, Min-gyu and Vernon; Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, DK and Seungkwan make up the Vocal unit. Last but never least, the Performance unit consists of Hoshi, Jun, The 8 and Dino. Altogether, they are 1 group – SEVENTEEN.

Photo: @dk_is_dokyeom via Instagram

SEVENTEEN debuted in 2015

Before SEVENTEEN was officially named, the group members as well as other trainees of the company were collectively referred to as “Pledis Boys”. They even performed under this name on several occasions to increase media exposure. Since 2013, their management company, Pledis Entertainment, has been broadcasting “SEVENTEEN TV” on UStream regularly. Their original intentions were to prepare the SEVENTEEN members for their debut and to document their lives as trainees. On May 26, 2015, their debut was announced in the seventh episode, “Showcase” of the reality program “SEVENTEEN Project: Debut Battle”. 3 days later they released their first mini album “17 Carat”, with one of the members, Woozi, being one of its producers.

Photo: Courtesy of Pledis Entertainment

SEVENTEEN are their own producers

Ever since their debut, every member has massively contributed to the arrangement, composition and lyrics of each album, as well as the choreography being led by the Performance Unit. Prior to debuting, they performed live on “Andromeda Broadcasting”, during which they communicated with their earliest fans in real time. For each episode, the members would personally come up with their own content ideas and divide up the workload so that everyone gets a fair share.

Since 2017, SEVENTEEN has been regularly producing and uploading the variety web series “Going Seventeen” on YouTube and V Live. Before the start of each new season, the members prepare the content they would like to produce in advance, and the production team work according to their ideas. On top of the members’ original ideas, the production team’s impressive work ethic and interesting content have also helped make the show a local hot topic. Korean netizens have commented that even if you are not a SEVENTEEN fan, you will be drawn to the show. In 2023, the series accumulated over 100 million views on YouTube.

SEVENTEEN’s dancing redefines precision and synchronisation

“Knife-like dancing” is a popular term among K-POP fandoms, used to describe group dances wherein movements are sharp and defined yet perfectly synchronised. Once, when SEVENTEEN starred in a variety show, they managed to execute the group dance for their brainwashing hit “Don’t Wanna Dance” at 2X speed, which instantly became an internet hot topic. Today, besides having reached a breathtaking record of 26 million views, it has even unofficially become the textbook example of “knife-like dancing” to which many emerging groups strive.

SEVENTEEN has 4 MVs with over 100M views and has sold over 10M albums

Since debuting in 2015, SEVENTEEN has sold 10.13 million albums. Their 3rd regular album “An Ode”, mini albums “Heng:garæ”, “Your Choice” and “Attacca”, as well as special album “Semicolon”, have achieved sales of more than 1 million copies for 5 consecutive times. Particularly, the cumulative sales of the record-breaking “Attacca” exceeded 2 million copies. For 5 consecutive times, SEVENTEEN topped the charts among other million-selling albums, making them the only artist to achieve two consecutive million sales in 2021. The MVs of “Don’t Wanna Cry”, “Clap”, “Very Nice” and “Left & Right”, all exceeded 100 million views.

SEVENTEEN was awarded Breakthrough Performance of the Year at VMA 2022

At the MTV 2021 Video Music Awards, SEVENTEEN was nominated for Best K-POP Video for the first time with the title song “Ready to love” from their 8th mini album “Your Choice”. Just last year, SEVENTEEN won the Push Performance Of The Year Annual Breakthrough Performance Award at MTV 2022 with the title song “Rock With You” from “Attacca”. At the same time, they were also nominated for Best New Artist Award and Best K-POP Video Award with the title song “HOT” from their 4th official album “Face the Sun”. By being shortlisted, SEVENTEEN set themselves a record.

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SEVENTEEN successfully broke the seven-year curse

It is typical of K-POP idols to sign 7-year contracts with their entertainment companies. Before SEVENTEEN’s contract expired last year, Pledis Entertainment announced the contract renewal of all 13 members, who then promised that with mutual trust and teamwork, they would do their best to bring better music and performances to their fans all around the world.