Latest Release
- 28 AUG 2023
- 10 Songs
- Hello Future - The 1st Album Repackage - EP · 2021
- Reload - EP · 2020
- Beatbox - The 2nd Album Repackage · 2022
- NCT#127 LIMITLESS - The 2nd Mini Album - EP · 2017
- Glitch Mode - The 2nd Album · 2022
- We Boom - The 3rd Mini Album - EP · 2019
- NCT #127 CHERRY BOMB – The 3rd Mini Album · 2017
- Beatbox - The 2nd Album Repackage · 2022
- NCT #127 Regular-Irregular - The 1st Album · 2018
- Glitch Mode - The 2nd Album · 2022
Essential Albums
- NCT are one of K-pop’s more interesting inventions: a global music collective with multiple “units” who reside in different cities, release separate albums and periodically come together for joint efforts. The brainchild of SM Entertainment, the collective boasts a dizzying array of subgroups, including NCT 127 (based in Seoul; 127 is the city’s longitude), NCT U and NCT Dream, which comprises the band’s underage members. The group’s 2018 debut, NCT 2018 EMPATHY, saw the 18 members joining forces for their first collective full-length release. And like the band itself, the album is a bit of a hodgepodge: at least five of its 13 songs had already debuted—some as far back as two years before. It’s a lot to take in, but once the music starts, you’ll find a startling singularity of purpose. Their hair may be in various pastel shades, but this is not feathery pop music—NCT are making some of the most convincing trap-pop coming out of South Korea. The mood is set from the intro, “Neo Got My Back”. The gloomy, moving-through-syrup opener oozes effortlessly into the authoritative single “BOSS”, whose stabbing synth might give Iggy Azalea déjà vu. It’s fun and swaggering stuff, with a clean-cut edge that keeps the vibe light even as the singers flirt with menace. Perhaps most compelling is “Baby Don’t Stop”, with its drifting analog synths and steamy atmosphere, while “TOUCH” breaks ranks and forges throwback ’90s-style pop. Not every member does (or could) get equal time on the mic, but Empathy proves that teamwork, not ego, provides the most dazzling results.
- 2022
- 2022
- 2022
Artist Playlists
- A global academy of charismatic voices maps the future of K-pop.
- Hypermodern clips with a social-media-inspired aesthetic.
More To Hear
- Members of NCT talk 'NCT RESONANCE PT. 2 - The 2nd Album.'
About NCT
Much like fans of movies and comic books have the Marvel universe to explore, K-pop’s global army have their own array of heroes in the musical phenom known as NCT. Launched by K-pop producer and impresario Lee Soo-man in 2016, NCT (Neo Culture Technology) re-imagined the boy-band model of superstar acts like BTS and EXO by expanding it to include an unlimited number of members spread across a variety of sometimes overlapping configurations. Apple Music Up Next artists NCT 127 (the number indicates the longitude of their Seoul hometown) were the first of these sub-units to make their debut in 2016, with the six-strong NCT U, their teenaged counterparts in NCT DREAM and the China-based offshoot WayV soon following. While the NCT groups share high standards when it comes to good looks and slickly choreographed dance moves, there’s also some room for musical individuality. Listeners eager for some bass-heavy hip-hop swagger turn to NCT 127 hits like 2017’s “Cherry Bomb” while NCT DREAM combine pop hooks with spaced-out EDM in 2020’s “Ridin’”. The second album to combine members from the sub-units, NCT RESONANCE Pt. 1 - The 2nd Album is the action-packed, Avengers-style matchup it promised to be; this explains why it racked up over a million in pre-sales before hitting No. 1 in South Korea and No. 2 in Japan in the fall of 2020.
- GENRE
- K-Pop