Considerably SM Entertainment’s biggest idol group project yet and the agency’s expansion into the Western music industry, SuperM made their debut with their first ever self-titled mini-album, SuperM. Comprised of SHINee’s Taemin, EXO’s Baekhyun (who is also named the leader of the group) and Kai, and NCT members Taeyong, Mark, Ten, and Lucas, SuperM brings one of the biggest collaboration groups that K-Pop has seen to date. 

The Beginnings 

Specifically marketed to branch out into the Western market, SM Entertainment dubbed this boy group the “Avengers of K-Pop,” thanks to the members coming from different groups to create an ultimate boy band. When they were first announced in early August 2019, there was a lot of hesitancy towards the group, mainly due to their tagline of being called the “Avengers of K-Pop.” Just how would this group work out, especially with members of different groups coming together? In anticipation of the group’s debut, several teasers were released to get fans excited for their October release. The whole month of September was dedicated to releasing several photo and video teasers, proving that SM Entertainment was not playing around when it came to how much they have invested in wanting to create something big. As SuperM is marketed towards the Western music industry, it comes as no surprise that there is also a big push for merchandise as well as promoting within the United States. While most K-Pop debuts are used to holding some sort of press conference and debut showcase in Korea, this is the first time where a K-Pop has taken it overseas. 

The Debut

In the hours leading up to the release of the music video and album, SuperM held their press conference at Capitol Studios inside Capitol Records, where it was broadcasted live via YouTube for fans all over the world. This press conference was held up until the release of the music video for “Jopping.” Amongst the audience, Lee Sooman was also present, as he was very important in the creation of SuperM as well as the founder of SM Entertainment. 

“Jopping,” which is a electro-pop dance track that is sure to get listeners up on their feet dancing along, is the featured track from the mini-album. “Jopping” is the combination of jumping and popping, which is a phrase that means to get hyped up and excited; the song itself is addicting and catchy. Whether it is the chorus or the beat, there is something about “Jopping” that will have listeners putting it on repeat. There is heavy emphasis on the visuals for each member in the music video, as well as showcasing the choreography for “Jopping.” To up the ante for this debut, the music video was also shot in Dubai, which provided amazing backdrops to the members. The song is primarily sung in English; however, Korean lyrics can also be heard in the song as well. At first there was a concern for what language SuperM would perform in, as they are being marketed to tackle the Western music industry as a K-Pop group. But with the inclusion of both English and Korean with “Jopping” and the rest of the album, it still sticks true to the K-Pop formula of songs. 

The rest of the album is a pleasure to listen to as each song gets listeners to groove and dance along. The mini-album progresses to an upbeat and hyped up set of tracks that are all worth several plays. There is a sexy and alluring quality that SuperM gives off from this album. It will be hard to pick a favorite from the album, but nonetheless, it is solid through and through. Each member does have a moment to shine in this album, with some of the songs also breaking off into units within the K-Pop super group. For those who are really invested in the instrumentals of the song, there are additional instrumentals for “Jopping” and “I Can’t Stand the Rain” included on the mini-album.

It comes as no surprise that SM Entertainment pulled out all the stops for this debut. This also includes the live showcase (which was also livestreamed for fans all over the world), where SuperM performed a free event for their debut stage in front of Capitol Records. This event brought in hundreds of fans to witness the debut stage of SuperM. Although the group only performed a total of three songs, the debut showcase also included showing behind-the-scenes moments of the making of “Jopping” as well as moments where each member spoke to the audience in attendance. Perhaps the most touching thing to see throughout the audience was not only the SuperM lightstick that was given to fans, but to also see EXO, SHINee, and NCT lightsticks that were intermingled throughout as well. The unification of the fandoms for SuperM was truly a sight to see. 

The Future of SuperM

Despite the very ambitious scale that was put out for SuperM’s debut, the group has managed to make a solid impression, and it will be quite interesting to see what the group will come out with next. SuperM will soon embark on their North American tour, as they announced an arena tour the same day as the release of the album. Initial thoughts of the tour announcement had fans wondering how this newly debuted group can take on such large venues, but after taking a listen to the album, and seeing how each member was carefully picked to be part of this SM supergroup, there is a lot of power and potential to SuperM. There is still some uncertainty when it comes to what else will be done during the concert, as the group only has a total of five songs together. But we will all soon find out when their tour kicks off this coming November. For now, aside from the arena tour, SuperM is also greeting fans through fanmeets taking place in Los Angeles, their pop-up shop, as well as maintaining a large social media presence. 

As all the members are from different groups, there is a bit of wonder how the group will manage with not only SuperM promotions, but with their respective group’s promotions as well. However, despite the apprehension and doubt surrounding the group, SuperM has the potential to be a big K-Pop powerhouse within the industry. All eyes are on them, anticipating what they have in store. There is definite room for improvement, and SuperM can only go up from here. Many should give the group a chance and really give their mini-album a listen. It is well worth the recommendation and as for their debut, SuperM has definitely knocked it out of the park.