Tuesday, February 1, 2022

KPOP OT EP 16: Top 10 KPOP Boy Group Leader

Welcome to KPOP OT where we talk about everything and anything related or about KPOP or the Korean Hallyu Wave. 

In today episode, we are talking about my favorite boy group leaders. In the last episode, if you haven't seen it, I was talking about my favorite girl group leaders. 

The position leader is someone who leads and represent the team during their activities. They will have the respect of their fellow members and guide their members. Many times the leader position is given to the oldest member, the member that been trained the longest or the member that mature and charismatic. Some groups may choose to not have a leader and some groups may change their leaders every so often. Some groups may even share that position with two members in the group. 


10. Ateez Hongjong

Hongjoong is the leader, captain, composer, rapper and center in Ateez.

Ateez debuted on October 24, 2018 under KQ Entertainment with a double title tracks 'Treasure' and 'Pirate King.' They are an eight member group. 

Hongjoong is not the oldest member in the group. Although the oldest member and Hongjoong are born in the same year, Seonghwa was born in April and Hongjoong was born in November. Hongjoong was the very first trainee under KQ Entertainment. 

He participated in MIXNINE in October 2017 and ranked 42 after elimination in the tenth episode. He was part of KQ Fellaz, a pre-debut team of trainees under KQ Entertainment. He has composed about 40 songs for Ateez since their debut. 


9. NU'EST JR

JR is the leader, main rapper, main dancer, vocalist and face of the group in NU'EST. 

NU'EST debuted on March 15, 2012 under Pledis Entertainment with the song title 'Face.' They are a five member group. While fellow member Minhyun promote with Wanna One, the four member promoted as a sub-unit group.

JR is not the oldest member in the group, but the second oldest member instead. He was the first male trainee under Pledis and the first member to reveal as NU'EST. He joined Pledis in 2009, so you can say he was trained for three years before his debut. 

He participated in Mnet's survival show Produce 101 Season 2 and became known as National Leader. He ranked 14th at the final and didn't make the final group.  


8. Big Bang G-Dragon

G-Dragon is the leader, main rapper, vocalist, face of the group in Big Bang. 

Big Bang debuted on August 19, 2006 under YG Entertainment with the song title 'We Belong Together.' The group was originally a five member group until their maknae Seungri left the entertainment industry on March 11, 2019 due to the Burning Sun Scandal. 

G-Dragon is not the oldest member in the group. He spent eleven years training before his debut in 2006. He trained under SM Entertainment for five years and then six years under YG Entertainment. 

He became a member of "Little Roora" at the age of seven. In 2015, GQ Korea named him as the Man of The Year. 



7. SHINEE Onew

Onew is the leader and main vocalist in SHINEE.

SHINEE debuted on May 25, 2008 under SM Entertainment with the song title 'Replay (Noona, You're Pretty).' They were a five member group until fellow member Jonghyun passed on December 18, 2017. 

Onew is the oldest member in the group and have been trained for two and a half years before his debut. He was discovered in 2006 at SM Casting Academy. 

He made his solo debut on December 5, 2018. In mid 2015, Onew has a vocal polyps surgically removed. He had to retrain his single skills due to the period of his voice lost. 



6. Stray Kids Bang Chan

Bang Chan is the leader, producer, vocalist, dancer, and rapper in Stray Kids. 

Stray Kids debuted on March 25, 2018 under JYP Entertainment with the song title 'District 9.' The group was originally a nine member group until member Woo Jin left the group due to personal reasons on October 27, 2019. Stray Kids debuted through the survival show of the same name, Stray Kids

Bang Chan is the oldest member in the group. He was trained for seven years before his debut. He is the longest trained member in the group. He joined JYP Entertainment in 2010 after passing an audition in Australia. 

He trained with Day6, TWICE and GOT7 members. Bang Chan and two fellow members Han and Changbin created a group name 3RACHA that debuted in 2017 before Stray Kids. 



5. Super Junior Leeteuk

Leeteuk is the leader, sub vocalist and sub rapper in Super Junior. 

Super Junior debuted on November 6, 2005 under SM Entertainment with the song title 'Twins (Knock Out).' They originally debuted as a twelve member group before adding in their thirteen member in 2006. Currently, they are a ten member group with one inactive member. 

Leeteuk is the oldest member in the group. He trained for six years before his debut. He became a trainee at the age of thirteen. He has the longest period of trainee out of all the members. 

In 2007, Leeteuk was in a car accident with two managers and fellow members: Shindong, Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk. In 2018, he had to take a break from all activities after receiving surgery, because of inflammation of the gallbladder.


4. BTOB Eunkwang

Eunkwang is the leader and main vocalist in BTOB. 

BTOB debuted on March 21, 2012 under Cube Entertainment with the song title 'Insane.' The group was originally a seven member group until fellow member Ilhoon left the group on December 31, 2020 to investigation by the police for marijuana usage. 

Eunkwang is the oldest member in the group and is consider to be the father in the group. He joined the agency in 2010 and was trained for about three years before his debut. 

He made his solo debut on June 8, 2020. Fellow member Sungjae stated that Eunkwang is a tender leader and isn't able to scold the members. Eunkwang is the first Cube Entertainment artist to join the board of directors.


3. NCT Taeyong

Taeyong is the leader, rapper, dancer, vocalist, center and visual in NCT. 

NCT is an acronym for Neo Culture Technology and described as having unlimited number of members. The group is under SM Entertainment. The group promotes in subunits and in each units, the member can change depending on the release. The first group to promote NCT is NCT U that debuted on April 9, 2016 with the song title 'The 7th Sense.' NCT U does not have fixed members. The second group is NCT 127 and they debuted on July 7, 2016 with the song title 'Fire Truck.' The group has ten members and Taeyong is the leader of this group. The third group is NCT Dream and they debuted on August 25, 2016 with the song title 'Chewing Gum.' This group consisted of the younger members of NCT and has seven members. WayV is the fourth unit to debut on January 17, 2019 with the song title 'Regular.' WayV is a sub-unit based out of Korea, promoting in China. The whole entire group consisted of twenty-three members as of April 2021.

Taeyong is not the oldest member in the group. He joined the agency in 2012 and was trained for four years before his debut. 

2. Seventeen S.Coups

S.Coups is the leader of the group, leader of the Hip Hop Team, main rapper and sub vocalist in Seventeen. 

Seventeen debuted on May 26, 2015 under Pledis Entertainment with the song title 'Adore U.' The group has thirteen members. The group is divided into three subunit: Hip Hop, Vocal and Dance. Each subunit have a different leader. 

S.Coups is the oldest member in the group. He was trained for six years before his debut. He was suppose to debut with NU'EST and he was part of the original Pledis Boys. 

He was formerly a member of Tempest before Seventeen was created. 



1. GOT7 Jay B

Jay B is the leader, main vocalist, lead dancer and center in GOT7.

GOT7 debuted on January 16, 2014 under JYP Entertainment with the title track 'Girls Girls Girls.' They are a seven member group. The members left JYP Entertainment after their contract ended on January 19, 2021. They signed with Warner Music Korea and release their 1st single on February 20, 2021 after leaving JYP Entertainment. 

Jay B is not the oldest member in the group but the second oldest though. He was trained for four years before his debut in JJ Project, a duo group with fellow member Jinyoung in May 2012 and then debuted with GOT7 in 2014. 

He became a trainee in 2009, after winning 1st place at a JYP Open Audition. He shared his place with fellow member Jinyoung. He made his acting debut in Dream High 2 before his music debut with JJ Project. 


That is it for today episode. I will see you in the next episode to see which position ranking am I doing next. Let me know if we share the same favorite male leaders or how is your favorite boy group leader that is not on this list. 

Image Credit: Hongjoong, JR, G-Dragon, Onew, Bang Chan, Leeteuk, Eunkwang, Taeyong, S.Coups, and Jay B

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