&TEAM’s Debut Korean Album Sells Over 1 Million Copies In 1 Day

&TEAM performs at the KR 1st Mini Album ‘Back to Life’ media showcase

YX LABELS

&TEAM made a forceful entrance into the larger global market when the Japanese boy band sold more than 1.1 million copies of its first Korean release with their Back to Life EP, further solidifying the nine-member group as one of the most exciting groups out today and as part of the ever-growing definition of the K-pop industry.

According to South Korea’s real-time sales chart Hanteo, Back to Life sold over 1.13 million copies worldwide upon its release on Tuesday, October 28. In the four days since its release, the EP also sold an additional 32,300 copies globally. While boys are gearing up to celebrate their third anniversary together with multiple studio albums, EPs and single releases under their belts, the high enthusiasm for their first-ever Korean release marks a particularly remarkable move for the ever-expanding K-pop industry.

While &TEAM has mainly focused on the Japanese market under HYBE’s YX LABELS imprint with occasional appearances on Korean music shows, the intent to transition to a full global K-pop contender was clear with a decoration wrapping of HYBE’s Seoul headquarters, a special light-up of the N Seoul Tower as well as a local media showcase in Seoul that reportedly drew nearly 100 local reporters.

Musically, Back to Life spans six tracks, blending rock, hip-hop, and R&B styles. The title track single features a rushing, rock-inspired gusto that aligns with several past &TEAM releases, allowing the group’s core sound to be infused into the K-pop scene and reach new audiences. The rest of the mini album allows for the group to showcase flexible versatility jumping from throwback moments like “Lunatic” embracing the 2000s with its recalling of N.E.R.D.’s debut single “Lapdance” and the ‘90s, lovelorn R&B groove taking over “MISMATCH” to the experimental pop/hip-hop cut “Rush” that hops between contrasting rhythms and vocal textures into a listening experience that’s as thrilling as it is confounding.

The record shines until its end with the group ending with the more sentimental songs in the somber “Heartbreak Time Machine,” that sounds like a prime crossover rock-pop track and could easily soar with an English version, and album closer “Who Am I” that acts as a next-level power ballad with slight dance rhythms and moving synthesizer production.

&TEAM’s members EJ, Fuma, K, Nicholas, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, and Maki arrived in Korea with a clear ambition to showcase their growing and diverse sonic identity, with fans eagerly embracing this next step with such a major commercial showing from the start.

From Japan to Korea: A Winning Strategy for Boy Bands?

While many K-pop acts tend to begin in Korea and eventually expand into the larger Japanese market, &TEAM’s strategy marks a still new approach in the industry that shows significant promise.

While &TEAM boasts similar hallmarks of previous K-pop creations, including being formed on their own signing competition series in &AUDITION — The Howling and performing Korean versions of their Japanese songs on television, the group had not officially connected with the larger Korean industry as much as other globally focused acts had. For example, HYBE’s U.S.-based girl group KATSEYE made their debut live performance at the KCON festival and have performed their English tracks across various Korean music shows. (Notably, South Korean law does not allow the broadcast of Japanese music over terrestrial signals or airwaves.)

But the strategy for boy bands to begin in Japan and expand into Korea certainly shows promise with not only &TEAM’s runaway success with Back to Life, but also seen in the Japanese group NCT WISH under fellow Korean-music titan SM Entertainment that was that have hopped back and forth between countries with both of their latest Korean EPs selling more than one million copies with April’s poppop – The 2nd Mini Album (which has sold nearly 1.4 million copies to date) and COLOR – The 3rd Mini Album from last month (almost 1.5 million copies sold), which will likely be some of the best-selling albums to come out of Korea this year.

&TEAM’s Back to Life becoming an instant million-seller in their first attempt at the Korean market indicates an openness and excitement from fans and consumers to welcome new kinds of contenders to the scene.