Monsta X

Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program "No.Mercy" by Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney and I.M, with former member Wonho leaving the group in October 2019.
The group debuted on May 14, 2015 with their first EP "Trespass". In March 2017, Monsta X released their first studio album and final part of "The Clan" series, "". Since 2018, Monsta X has had four Japanese singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Since 2019, three of their Korean albums have been certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association. In February 2020, Monsta X's first English album, "All About Luv", ranked number five on the US "Billboard 200".
Since debut, Monsta X has been known for their aggressive style, combining elements of EDM, hip hop and pop. This aggressive style with "tracks centred around loud, clattering, electronic instrumentals, vicious rap verses and striking vocals" has been influential across the fourth generation of K-pop.
History.
2014–2015: "No.Mercy" and debut.
The group was formed as the result of a survival program called "No.Mercy", which was launched by Starship Entertainment and Mnet in December 2014. Through the course of ten episodes, twelve trainees (thirteen after I.M  joins the competition in episode 8) competed against each other through various performances and are ranked from one to twelve, with one being the best and twelve being the worst. They also have to wear a nametag with their ranking that changed following the challenges and performances set by the judges. For the show, the participants worked directly with artists from Starship Entertainment, including Hyolyn, K.Will, Mad Clown, and Soyou as well as other artists such as Rhymer, San E, Giriboy and Genius Nochang. These artists also served as judges for ranking the contestants. For the concluding mission, the nine remaining members formed into three groups of three to compete and the members of Monsta X were selected from these nine in the final episode as the seven members of the group, Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, and I.M.
"No.Mercy" also led to the 2014 spin-off web series “Deokspatch”, which also began airing in December, which was meant to showcase a more casual and lighthearted side to the competition in order for people to get to know the trainees better. On May 14, 2015 it continued on as “Deokspatch X” and as "Deokspatch X²" in October. These seasons focused on the newly formed Monsta X participating in variety show activities.
The group's name, "Monsta X", contains the double meaning of "Monsters conquering the K-pop scene" and "My star" (Mon means "My" in French). The X symbolizes an unknown existence. Jooheon, Hyungwon, and I.M also released their song "Interstellar" on February 12, which was produced for the final mission by producer Yella Diamond.
Monsta X made their debut with the release of their first extended play, "Trespass" on May 14, 2015. The title song of the same name is produced by Rhymer and described as a "strong and edgy track that reflects Monsta X’s unique character". "Trespass" includes seven different tracks. Rapper Jooheon was the most involved member in the production of the album and composed several songs, including "One Love", "Steal Your Heart", and "Blue Moon". Monsta X's other rapper, I.M was also involved in the rap making of several songs. Kihyun and Wonho also contributed song lyrics for the album.
On September 1, the group returned with their second extended play titled "Rush". The title track of the same name is described as a song representing the signature style of the group, produced by Giriboy. Keone Madrid choreographed the dance and Joo Hee-sun directed the music video. The mini-album contains six tracks produced by Mad Clown, Crybaby and Rhymer. Jooheon also took part in making the rap for five out of the six tracks, while fellow member I.M was involved in four songs, including the title track "Rush".
In 2015, Monsta X made their first U.S. appearance performing at KCON 2015 in Los Angeles. Monsta X received the "Next Generation Asian Artist" award at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards and the "1theK Performance Award" at the 2015 Melon Music Awards.
2016: "The Clan Pt. 1 Lost" and "The Clan Pt. 2 Guilty".
In January 2016, the group released a new variety program titled "Monsta X Right Now!". In April 2016, the group participated on a Chinese survival program called "Heroes of Remix", which was aired in June on Jiangsu Television. The show holds a remix competition in the program and each one of the participants receive a lesson from its assigned mentor and perform its stage by remixing representative Chinese music. Monsta X also appeared in a Chinese web drama "Good Evening, Teacher", receiving positive responses from local viewers.
Monsta X's third extended play, "The Clan Pt. 1 Lost," was released on May 18 with the title track "All In". It was directed by filmmaker Shin Dong-keul, a former winner at the Canada International Film Festival who is known for his dreamy and euphoric style in producing music videos. The album debuted at number five on Billboard's World Albums Chart and stayed for two consecutive weeks on it. On May 9, the group pre-released one of the album songs, "Ex girl" featuring Wheein of Mamamoo. The album is the first in the trilogy of albums, titled "The Clan".
In July, Monsta X held their first solo concert, "The First Live "X-Clan Origins"" from July 16 to July 17, which sold out in five minutes. In August 2016, Starship formed a project group with Monsta X and their label-mates Cosmic Girls as part of a promotional project with KT. As part of the project group, they released the single "Do Better", with an accompanying music video.
Monsta X's fourth extended play and second part of "The Clan" series titled "The Clan Pt. 2 Guilty" was released on October 4. The EP contains six tracks including the title track "Fighter". In December, the group was awarded the "Best of Next Male Artist" award at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
2017: First studio album, Japanese debut and first world tour.
In January 2017, the group launched its own variety show called "Monsta X-Ray" through JTBC2. In March, Monsta X released their first studio album and the final part of "The Clan" series titled "" with the title track "Beautiful". The album debuted at number one on Billboard's World Albums Chart and at number ten on the Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart and the title track "Beautiful" debuted at number four on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales Chart.
On May 17, Monsta X made their debut in Japan under Universal Music's new label Mercury Records Tokyo with their first Japanese single album, which included Japanese versions of "Hero" and "Stuck". "Hero" reached number two on the Oricon’s weekly single chart, number one on the Tower Records’s chart, and number two on Billboard Japan’s weekly chart. "Hero" single album from a foreign artist who debuted in 2017 to make it into the top three of Oricon's weekly charts.
On June 19, Monsta X released a repackaged version of "The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter" called "Shine Forever" which features the original songs from the album and two extra songs "Shine Forever" and "Gravity". The music video for "Shine Forever" was released on June 19. The title song, "Shine Forever" combines future bass and hip-hop styles and includes rap lyrics written by members Jooheon and I.M. The group began their first world tour, "Beautiful", in June. Monsta X aired the second season of "Monsta X-Ray" in July. Monsta X released a summer song, "Newton", on July 27. The music video for the song was produced by Yoo Sung-kyun of SunnyVisual.
On August 23, their second Japanese single, "Beautiful", was released. The single album contains the Japanese version of "Beautiful" and "Ready or Not". It reached number one on Oricon's daily chart. On November 7, their fifth extended play titled "The Code" with title track "Dramarama" was released. On the day of the album release, Monsta X held a comeback show at Jangchung Arena. Following this, on November 14, they won their first music broadcast award through SBS MTV's "The Show", with "Dramarama". On December 18, the group released the special single "Lonely Christmas" as a surprise holiday release for their fans. The song was written, produced and co-composed by Jooheon.
2018: Second world tour, Japanese album and "Take.1 Are You There?".
On January 13, the group served as torchbearers on the first day of the Seoul leg of the Olympic torch relay in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics torch relay. On January 31, the group released their third Japanese single album, which included their first original Japanese song "Spotlight" and Japanese version of the group's previously released Korean track, "Shine Forever". They had previously performed this song in "Monsta X Christmas Party 2017". They also opened a collaboration cafe for a limited time from January 19 to February 18 at Shinjuku Box.
In February the group announced their second world tour, "The Connect", with the first show held in Seoul at Jang Chung Arena on May 26 and 27. On March 26, the group officially released their sixth mini album "", containing seven tracks with the lead title track "Jealousy", and the songs "If Only", co-written by Wonho, and "Special", co-written by Jooheon. "Jealousy" was produced by Hayden Bell, Shane Simmons & Harry Sommerdahland. In this comeback, they won a music broadcast award again through SBS MTV's "The Show". In April, Monsta X partnered with Lens Town, a fashion eyewear and contact lens company, to work as models. They participated in the release process with Lens Town to produced their lens as "Monsta X Lens" or "MnX" and the members coordinated their design and detail points. The lens released officially in May.
On April 25, they released their first Japanese studio album "Piece" with the lead title track "Puzzle", including the songs from their previous Japanese single albums and four additional songs. "Piece" reached number one on Tower Records’ chart all store, number three on the Oricon's weekly album and Billboard Japan's weekly chart. On April 27, they started their first Japan tour in Nagoya. On May 2, they attended the cultural festival, "C-Festival 2018" as official ambassadors for its promotion, held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Thailand (Embassy of the Republic of Korea), Gangnam-gu, the largest public-private partnership event in Korea hosted by COEX.
On August 1, Monsta X released a music video for their Japanese comeback, "Livin' It Up". The single album was released on September 12. On October 1, the group became a print model for Tony Moly's new lip tint cosmetic line. On October 4, they partnered with the Italian clothing company Moncler for with the company's new flagship store in Minato ward, Tokyo.
On October 22, Monsta X released part one of their second studio album "Take.1 Are You There?" with the title track "Shoot Out". On November 9, an English version of "Shoot Out" was released.
In December, Monsta X performed for iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball tour, making them the first Korean group to perform at iHeartRadio's annual event.
2019: "Take.2 We Are Here", international expansion and Wonho's departure.
On January 20, Monsta X released the second part of their second studio album "Take.2 We Are Here" along with its lead single "Alligator". At this time, Jooheon changed his stage name for English activities to Joohoney. In March, Monsta X collaborated with music producer Steve Aoki for the track "Play It Cool" and its English version.
In addition, the group signed another five-year renewal contract with "Litmus" as its print commercial models. Their parent company, Starship Entertainment, announced a world tour of 12 countries and 18 cities, making it their largest to date.
On May 27, Monsta X was rendered by Cartoon Network in an episode of the animated series "We Bare Bears", making them the first-ever guest stars in an American animated series. On May 28, Monsta X signed with Epic Records for their English language recordings and distribution outside South Korea. On June 14, Monsta X released a new English song called "Who Do U Love?" featuring French Montana. On September 20, the group released another English song called "Love U" and a remix version of "Who Do U Love?" by will.i.am.
In June, NCSoft announced its collaboration with Monsta X though the creation of TwoTuckGom (투턱곰). TwoTuckGom are bears designed to represent each member of Monsta X, and NCSoft released goods themed around the bears, including stationary and plushes. For promotion of the goods, Monsta X began a series of variety shows with TwoTuckGom.
In September, it was announced that Monsta X had partnered with TogetherBand to become ambassadors for the United Nations' Goal 16.
On October 4, Monsta X released another English song titled "Someone's Someone" co-written by Before You Exit members and Monsta X's Shownu. On October 28, the group released their seventh EP "" containing eight tracks with the lead singles "Find You" and "Follow".
On October 31, Starship Entertainment publicly declared that member Wonho would be departing following recent allegations of owed money and assets, and that the company intends to "hold legal liability" for "malicious and distorted claims" about him. Fans expressed their disapproval and requested of Starship that he be reinstated in the group. Wonho was subsequently cleared of drug charges in March 2020 and was signed with a subsidiary of Starship Entertainment to pursue a solo career.
On December 4, the group performed at the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards at the Nagoya Dome in Japan. In December, the group performed for the second year in a row for iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball Tour. On December 19, the group released "Magnetic", a collaboration with Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra, with Yatra singing in Spanish and Monsta X singing in English and Spanish. The group also performed at MDL Beast festival in Saudi Arabia, performing thirteen songs including performing "Play It Cool" alongside Steve Aoki.
2020: "All About Luv", "Fantasia X" and "Fatal Love".
On January 11, Joohoney announced that he would take a break from the group to focus on his mental health.
On Valentine's Day, Monsta X released their sixth studio album and first all-English album, "All About Luv". It debuted at number five on the US "Billboard 200".
In March, the group donated 100 million won to the Good Neighbors, a charity organization helping low-income families in South Korea and were later included in "The Neighbors Club" for their contributions, listing themselves alongside their fanbase, Monbebe.
On March 30, the group released their seventh Japanese single, "Wish on the Same Sky", ahead of the physical release of the single album of the same name on April 15. Upon debut, it ranked number one on Tower Records weekly chart and number two on "Billboard Japan". It ranked number one overall for the first half of 2020 on Tower Records chart.
On May 26, the group had their first Korean comeback of the year, with the debut of their eighth EP, "Fantasia X", with the lead single "Fantasia". Prior to this comeback, Joohoney had rejoined promotions with the group and thus, they were a six-member group for the promotion of "Fantasia".
The group performed at the "Time" 100 Talks, where they also voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as drawing attention to the work of medical professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The group had announced a fourth world tour, but it had to be delayed because of COVID-19. Unable to perform at in-person concerts, they participated in the live-streamed KCON event, "K:CONTACT 2020". They also announced they would hold a live-streamed concert, "Live From Seoul With Luv." The concert was initially scheduled for July 25, but was rescheduled to August 8, to allow Shownu to recover from an unexpected surgery he had undergone. They held the event through the streaming platform LiveXLive and performed several songs from their English-language album, "All About Luv", as well as several from their most recent Korean EP, "Fantasia X" and several older title tracks.
In September, the group was announced to be participating in the "Visit Cultural Heritage Campaign", a campaign to promote traditional Korean culture through tours of South Korea's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
In October, Monsta X announced their third studio album, "Fatal Love", which was released on November 2, with the lead single "Love Killa". Monsta X also announced their eighth Japanese single album, which included Japanese versions of their tracks "Fatal Love" and "Fantasia" and was released on December 16.
The group was announced as the ambassadors for the 19th International Anti-Corruption Conference, which was hosted in Seoul in December 2020.
2021: "Flavors of Love" and "One of a Kind".
In January, the group was announced as global brand ambadassors for the cosmetics brand Urban Decay. The group was also announced to be one of the artists featuring on NCSoft's new platform Universe, beginning with an original series called "Area 51: The Code".
Monsta X also released a new Japanese single album on March 10, with the lead single "Wanted" and another original Japanese track, "Neo Universe". The lead single "Wanted" was pre-released ahead of the physical album release on February 10, and the music video was released on February 13. Following the release of "Wanted", Monsta X announced the release of their third Japanese studio album, released on May 5, "Flavors of Love", which includes their Japanese singles released since 2020, as well as five new Japanese tracks.
In May, the group announced the release of their ninth EP, "One of a Kind", set for June 1. Starship announced that Shownu will take a hiatus from the group and will not participate in the group's upcoming promotional activities due to resurfacing issues of retinal detachment.
Artistry.
Monsta X is known for having a unique style, often described as intense or aggressive, they combine elements of EDM, hip hop and pop. Philip Merrill described their sound for the Grammy's news publication as distinct in the K-pop scene with Monsta X "adding their Korean eclectic backgrounds to a meld between American rap, rock and pop, they bring a throbbing rhythmic bounce, lyrics hard enough to slide in raps at will, melodies pop enough to hold you, all with a rock edge as the greater context". Their aggressive style with "tracks centred around loud, clattering, electronic instrumentals, vicious rap verses and striking vocals" has been influential across the fourth generation of K-pop.
While they are often known for their intense style, their albums frequently are a mix between intense songs and softer ballads. For example, Michael Cerio of "Radio.com" described their album "Follow: Find You" as "a balance of ballads and bangers". Their English album, "All About Luv", was noted for its sound change from much of their Korean work, being less of a "dance-orientated album" and instead focused on "an overwhelming sense of sentimentality and smoothness". The album was also said to have "proven that K-pop transcends language barriers".