SuperM, a group dubbed “the Avengers of K-pop”, was formed in 2019. The group’s nickname makes sense: it’s a dream team of seven members who have already established their legendary status in K-pop. The members come from some of SM’s most popular groups (EXO, SHINee and NCT), collectively selling more than 14 million adjusted albums combined.
The founder of SM, Lee Soo-man, selected the seven members himself. The group’s leader and main vocalist Baekhyun, with his impressive range, along with Kai’s top-level dancing skills and expressiveness bring maturity to the group. Both of them originate from EXO, a group that has been in the industry since 2012, and has a fantastical concept expressed through their songs, building an intriguing narrative about the EXO Planet.
Taemin, the most experienced artist in SuperM, is part of SHINee, one of the few K-pop groups that remain relevant after 13 years in the industry. The group established their identity by being unpredictable and delivering an eclectic discography throughout the years. Taemin started in the group in 2008 when he was only 14, and now he also has a successful solo career.
The younger members include NCT’s leader and main rapper, dancer and visual Taeyong and the highly skilled main rapper Mark, who hails from Canada and is also an essential part of NCT’s Dream. SuperM is completed with members of the NCT’s Chinese group WayV’s Thai member Ten, an impressive performer and a dance master with soft vocals, and Lucas, a rapper with appealing personality and killer visuals from Hong Kong.
As a group, SuperM is a combination of complex dance choreographies, master level range of vocals, addictive raps and top-notch visuals. In addition, they all have several years of experience in performing already under their belts, so for a “rookie group,” they had a huge head start. You could say, SuperM started from the top, and it showed: SuperM’s first EP, “SuperM – The 1st Mini Album”, was released in 2019, and it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
SuperM has also been promoting wellness, health care and charitable projects such as the “One World: Together At Home” broadcast, a campaign supported by “Global Citizen” that rallied funds for the COVID-19 Solidarity Fund for the World Health Organization. Among incredible artists, SuperM was the only K-pop group that participated in performing the song “With You”.
SuperM’s strength is its diversity. The group’s songs range from soft R&B style performances to hard beating tunes you can dance to. In addition to group performances, SuperM concerts also showcased solo stages and Taeyong has proven his magnetic stage presence in his now released song (April 2021) GTA. In this solo performance, Taeyong combines a glittery mask with fast rap, vocal fry and stylised choreography, charming the audiences and bringing the song to life.
In SuperM, Taeyong has created iconic moments and performances that fans can’t stop talking about. During the release of the teasers for the single ‘100’, Taeyong made K-pop and anime fans on Twitter collide because of his Todoroki style pictures. Another example of his impact is Taeyong having one of the most talked-about moments in SuperM – We Are The Future concert with a sexy dance move for the song ‘No Manners’.
For Taeyong, being a part of a group filled with professionals has been inspiring and a learning experience. He has mentioned several times how he has learned to handle the fame and the industry’s expectations better by talking to the older, more experienced members of the group. While in NCT, Taeyong is the leader; in SuperM, he has more room to be an equal member, bringing his best and learning from others.
“There are a lot of groups out there and a lot of competition,” Taeyong says in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, “but our goal is to make K-pop shine even brighter. The spirit of competition is not necessarily bad, because it pushes us to want to put out better things.”
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