[SHOWCASE] 82Major hopes to represent Korea following debut with single 'ON'

K-pop boy band 82Major, under Great M Entertainment, debuted with their single "ON" showcasing a mix of hip-hop and love songs. The group aims to be a standout presence and garner love from fans.

Boy band 82Major poses for photos during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. The six-member group made its debut with two-track single ″ON″ as the first boy band to come from newly-founded agency Great M Entertainment. [NEWS1]

“Like a roll of tissues.” That's what boy band 82Major wants to be, as a representative Korean group that stands out among the flood of newly-debuting groups in K-pop.

“You always need tissues, whether you’re indoors or outdoors,” member Yoon Ye-chan said to the local press. “We want to be a band that people think of wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. We hope people will always look for us and love us.”

The boy band made its official debut Wednesday with its first single “ON,” a two-track compilation of the powerful hip-hop dance track “First Class” and casual love song “Sure Thing.”

Its six members — Nam Sung-mo, Park Seok-joon, Yoon Ye-chan, Cho Seong-il, Hwang Seong-bin and Kim Do-gyun — began their journey Wednesday with both excitement and anticipation as they met with the local press for the first time in their debut showcase, held at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul.

Boy band 82Major performs its debut track ″First Class″ from single ″ON″ during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

“It's my first time debuting, so I’m just excited for everything that is going to happen in the coming days,” Park said.

“It honestly didn’t feel so real until a month or two ago, but shooting music videos and preparing for the showcase made it all real,” the group leader Cho said. “I’m so nervous, but we’ll do our best today. I couldn’t sleep well yesterday because I was so nervous, but I’m even more determined to give it my best.”

82Major is the first boy band to debut under Great M Entertainment, a K-pop agency founded in 2020 by Kim Young-sun, also one of the founders of FNC Entertainment, who took part in producing groups like FTIsland, CNBlue, AOA, N.Flying, SF9 and Cherry Bullet. Former AOA member Choa signed an exclusive contract with the agency in 2020.

The name 82Major comes from the number 82, Korea's international calling code, and the word "major," reflecting the group's aspiration to be a pop act that becomes a major player in the K-pop race.

Boy band 82Major performs its debut track ″First Class″ from single ″ON″ during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

Using their full names including their surnames, instead of only their first names like most K-pop bands, is also part of their endeavor to represent Korea in the global scene, according to the members.

“We were asked if there were any stage names we wanted to use before our debut,” Park said. “But we all said that we’d use our real names because we didn’t think we needed any other name.”

“Our real names are all so pretty,” Cho added. “And since our group is called 82Major, we wanted to keep that identity and use our Korean names.”

The band has been actively promoting itself online even before its debut.

Boy band 82Major performs its debut track ″First Class″ from single ″ON″ during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

Last Thursday, the band unveiled the YouTube music video for “Sure Thing.” The track has a lyrical melody featuring a story of young love in which they are willing to give it all for the ones they love.

Earlier this month, the band released short introduction videos for each member. Dance challenges with key moves from “Sure Thing” have already begun on TikTok as of last month.

The goal is to keep on going and showing themselves more to the public, members said.

“We’ll show more of the six members in more places and more often,” Nam said.

“We’ll be a group that always brings something new with every new music and new release,” Kim said.

Boy band 82Major performs its debut track ″First Class″ from single ″ON″ during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

Boy band 82Major performs its debut track ″First Class″ from single ″ON″ during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]

Boy band 82Major poses for photos during its debut showcase held on Wednesday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. The six-member group made its debut with two-track single ″ON″ as the first boy band to come from newly-founded agency Great M Entertainment. [NEWS1]

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]