You know how cats have nine lives?
Well, if there's a group like that in K-Pop, it's Highlight.
Formerly known as BEAST, this boy group prospered for over ten years.
Helping K-Pop become a worldwide phenomenon during the second generation K-Pop with massive hits.
Today we're gonna cover Highlight's history, rise to K-Pop legends, and how they had to start all over again.
But before looking forward..
I always like to look back.
I'm too old for that.
In 2009, Cube Entertainment was ready to make an entrance into K-Pop by debuting their first groups.
A boy, and a girl group within the same year.
The girl group would be known as 4Minute.
As you know, they went on to be leaders for girl groups in K-Pop, but so did their male counterparts.
Cube revealed this boy group would be called "BEAST", with a 2 in the name. (B2ST)
The meaning of the name was "Boys To Search for Top", but, with a possible confusion made by the name, it was soon changed to just "BEAST" before debut.
Now, what may be so incredible is that Cube shows guys already experienced in the music industry.
Gi-kwang previously debuted as a solo singer.
Du-Jun was a JYP trainee who was in their survival show "Hot Blood Men", which created the groups 2PM And 2AM.
Jun-Hyung came from an already established boy group "XING".
Hyun-Seung was known as the trainee under YG Entertainment, and was almost picked to debut with BIGBANG
Dong-woon and Yo-seob were already Cube trainees.
These boys had the making of something special, as they made their official debut with a showcase and release of their debut song "BAD GIRL".
[So beast!!!]
[Down, down, we gotta get down]
Oh man, this is the definition of a guilty pleasure.
It's cringe but..
Down, down, we gotta get down!
Aw come on, you have to admit- you have to admit..
You have to admit that's pretty good stuff man.
The following year in 2010 and BEAST made their first comeback with "Mystery".
And I have never seen a Tech Deck finger skateboard music video, but...
Here we are.
Still, they were able to sell out within a month, with over 20,000 albums sold.
But nothing compared to their next release.
[Every day I shock (shock)]
[Every night I shock (shock)]
The title track "Shock" was BEAST's first outright hit.
They achieved all kills, and received their first ever music show win.
(BEAST, number 1 in the 4th week of March)
BEAST, along with 4Minute, was then invited to perform at the Singapore Olympic stage, and even won a golden disc award in a foreign country.
Later in the year, BEAST was able to show some versatility with the drop of their third mini-album "Mastermind".
The group was praised for their strong vocal ability, and they continued to be the fastest rising stars and influential artists in the East.
The success of Shock fed into BEAST's next album "Lights Go On Again" with the title track "Beautiful".
Which completely dominated Korean charts, occupying the top five spots.
And funny enough, it wasn't just Korea or Asia that was falling in love with BEAST..
It was actually America too.
American R&B singer Omarion became a fan after seeing BEAST cover a song of his.
And eventually, flew all the way out to Korea to present the boys with an award at MNET's 20th Choice Awards
Hello Korea, I'm Omarion, and I'm so happy to have had this moment with BEAST. Thank you guys so much. Thank you.
With Korea now wrapped around their fingers, Cube wanted to test a whole new market.
In Japan.
Arriving to their first Japanese showcase..
In style.
BEAST would lead a very successful Japanese debut and promotions in 2011.
It sure sounds like BEAST had their biggest year in 2010, but 2011 would be immensely bigger.
The reason?
The release of this song that put BEAST and K-Pop on the map.
이렇게 난 또 (Fiction in Fiction) [Like this again (Fiction in Fiction)
Fiction was one of those K-Pop songs that many fans today say was their first K-Pop song they ever heard.
And it quickly became a sensation across the globe.
It was the perfect formula of catchiness and unforgettable choreography.
You know, I still have no idea how to do any of that.
I got chancletas on so..
Sandals for my English speakers, and for my Korean speakers
Sandals, I don't know..
BEAST, that year, etched their names into K-Pop history by winning song of the year for Fiction at the KBS Song Festival.
This was also the time when member Hyun-Seung brought even more attention to BEAST as a troublemaker, in the duo with labelmate Hyuna in Trouble Maker
You know, no duo was ever as iconic as Trouble Maker.
You know, just test me, test me. I'll wait.
That's right, let's move on with this video.
Because of the international presence. Fiction made BEAST was given the opportunity not many K-Pop groups had at the time.
A world tour.
BEAST visited 17 cities from Asia to Europe to North and South America.
Which of course, only helped BEAST build that international fan base.
And in July, while the summer sun was blazing hot..
BEAST channeled that heat to come back with a song that even casted a shadow on the major hit Fiction.
I'm yours 너만이 [I'm yours - only you]
Beautiful Night is like that cheating boyfriend mean for BEAST fans.
This song and music video did dive into appealing to a broader audience than just Korea and Asia.
Even shooting the music video on location in New York.
Back in Korea, BEAST went to the streets to put on a show and promote the new release with a guerilla concert attracting around 4,000 people.
This proved BEAST's undying fans in Korea even donning a triple crown on MCountdown, staying on the charts for three consecutive weeks.
2013 was marked with BEAST turning a bit more ballad, and mature, and darker with the release of the ballad single "Will You Be Alright" and "Shadow"
The next two years were painted with three total comebacks, the first being what I believe is like a 10 out of 10 for ice skating routine of a K-Pop song.
Good luck
Baby good luck to you
꼭 행복해야 해 [You better be happy]
And a song "Good Luck", while it wasn't a viral hit did really well and proved BEAST's quality as a group.
Yo-seob's vocals can save anyone man.
I'm still
Still lovin' you
"12:30" was next, and was another taste of BEAST's ballad side in 2014.
Then, the party anthem "YeY" was released in 2015.
It seems like business as usual for the boys.
Until the shock of one of their most popular members Hyun-Seung would be leaving the group.
In 2016, Cube Entertainment made a statement announcing it, and explained that the differences in music led to this decision.
Still, BEAST was able to reorganize as five and release the new album "Highlight".
However, this would prove to be their last song and comeback.
But only under Cube.
BEAST, as a group, arranged to move after the end of their contracts to create their own agency, Around Us Entertainment.
Having total control of their own promotions, and leaving Cube behind.
But there was a little hurdle, like a lot of companies, Cube Entertainment trademarked the group's name "BEAST".
Meaning no one can use it, except Cube.
You still see this practice today.
With YG entertainment trademarking G-Dragon or Lisa Manobal's name to protect the rights of their artists.
But, it's also a tool to leverage to keep their artists with the company.
But BEAST had a simple answer to this.
"Let's just change our name."
And so, "BEAST" became "Highlight".
With a completely whole new look, the first comeback for the brand new Highlight was "Plz Don't Be Sad".
Oh woah
그래 그렇게 날 보며 웃어줘 [Yes, smile like that looking at me]
Which almost felt like a celebration, a party of a new beginning.
It may seem like a worrying time for them, not knowing what would happen as a new group.
But, they still won their second triple crown.
And quickly became the hottest trend on Naver, the Korean search engine.
A little antidote here. Is that even- is that a word?
I saw Highlight at KCON 2017
I wasn't that into Highlight, but when they came out to close the whole two-day concert, they shined.
They were perfect, and had me in awe.
Falling a little bit more in love with them, and a little thing called K-Pop.
Highlight had another come back in them, with the single "Can Be Better".
Coming out just in time to celebrate their eighth anniversary since debut.
And in 2018, Doo-joon enlisted into the military, and is set to return in only a couple months.
Highlight, as four had promoted a new release in their third EP "Outro"
Before letting Yo-seob take his turn entering into the military, early 2019.
But, it wouldn't be a smooth ascending off for the members to go to the military one by one..
As the whole Burning Sun scandal exploded.
The biggest story to come out of it was the singer Jung Joon Young's golden phone was found to have videos of women he had been with, which, was filmed in secret.
Without the women knowing.
With Kakao chat talks between him, and other notable celebrities in Korea, sharing and talking about those videos.
One of those was found out to be Jun-Hyung.
He personally announced that he would be stepping down from the group after he admitted seeing those videos, and knowing what was going on.
Now in 2020, with Highlight kinda broken up, with Gi-Kwang now also in the military, and the maknae Dong-woon promoting solo.
Will we see Highlight back together?
Well, with everything they have been through.
Losing members, being responsible for hundreds if not thousands of people around the world becoming K-Pop fans..
Starting a new agency, and having huge response from fans.
If anyone's gonna come back..
It has to be the comeback kings themselves.
That's it for me guys, hope you enjoyed, if you did, please get this video a like.
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And, let me know what you think about BEAST.
I was kind of ambiguous about them, and then seeing them at KCON, and then listening to more their songs going back in the past a little bit.
Highlight and BEAST..
They were great.
They were a really great group.
Maybe they were subject to the time of K-Pop they were in.
Like, if they promote it now, would they be big internationally?
Let me know what you think about BEAST, your bias, what song got you into them, anything, down in the comments below.
Let's have a discussion about BEAST, and celebrate a really phenomenal group.
Also, I want to give a quick shout out to my patrons making these videos possible. If you want to help out, head over to Patreon, consider supporting.
I am gonna try some new videos.
Let's see if people are gonna watch them, and enjoy them.
Maybe become new series, we'll see, and maybe K-Pop news.
I keep- I keep teasing that but it's gonna happen. Ok, one day.
But that's it for me, hope you enjoyed and have a fantastic weekend.
I love you Wave, and I'll catch you guys in the next one.
안녕 [Goodbye]