JYP introduces first Japanese boy group Nexz

Nexz introduces debut single "Ride the Vibe" during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. (Hwang Youn-ha/ The Korea Herald)

JYP Entertainment launched its first Japanese boy group, Nexz, Monday -- the agency's first boy group in six years.

Nexz consists of six Japanese nationals and one South Korean national born and raised in Japan, selected through the K-pop agency’s “Nizi Project Season 2” audition program which aired on YouTube and Hulu Japan last year.

The audition program is part of JYP Entertainment’s “Globalization by Localization” project aimed at localizing K-pop in different countries including Japan.

“It would be a lie if we said that we weren’t burdened by the fact that we are the first boy group to debut after the popular K-pop boy group Stray Kids under JYP Entertainment. But we will take it as our responsibility to live up to the high standards that they've set,” said Yu during a press conference in Seoul on Monday.

“Our group name is an abbreviation of two words: ‘next’ and ‘generation.’ We hope to draw our future together with the new generation,” said Tomoya, leader of Nexz.

Nexz members are Tomoya, Yu, Haru, So Geon, Seita, Hyui and Yuki.

Despite consisting of Japanese members and a Korean member born and raised in Japan, the entire press conference was conducted in Korean.

“We really studied hard the Korean language for today, to communicate with reporters and fans in Korean on the day of our debut,” said Tomoya in fluent Korean.

Nexz debuted with single album “Ride the Vibe,” led by the title track, “Ride the Vibe,” in which the group experimented with diverse electronic sounds to sing about the wave of emotions the group experienced embarking on their new journey as K-pop idols.

“This song made us dance to the rhythm the first time we listened to it," said Yuki.

The single album also carries b-side track “Starlight,” which is an R&B number that conveys the pizzicato sounds of a contrabass.

In “Starlight,” Nexz compares the group's passion to a starry night.

“We love to challenge ourselves to try something new. Each presents different charms and vocal characteristics when performing live. We would love to take the stage in front of people in different places around the world to make a name for ourselves,” said Hyui.

By Hong Yoo(yoohong@heraldcorp.com)