New K-pop group, 8Turn makes their debut. PHOTO CREDIT: twitter.com/8TURN_official
8Turn is a new K-Pop boy group that made their debut on Jan. 30 with their debut title track “Tic-Tac” and debut album “8TURNRISE.” Their music video got about one million views in 24 hours which is huge for a debut song and group.
Before their debut, which in K-Pop is pre-debut, the group’s entertainment label, MNH, opened an Instagram account on March 4, 2022, according to KPopFandom.com. The name for them at the time was BOM, which stands for Boys of MNH. On Oct. 11, 2022, all eight members were revealed through their first YouTube vlog in Japan.
The final members that were chosen to form the group were Myungho, Jaeyun, Minho, Yoonsung, Haemin, Kyungmin, Yungyu and Seungheon. On Dec. 20 of 2022, MNH announced that the group would make their debut in early 2023, and on Jan. 2, the group’s official name was released and social media accounts were opened as well under the name 8Turn.
The leader of the group, Jaeyun, who is Korean-New Zealander and speaks both Korean and English fluently, explained the meaning of the group’s name on a radio show called “Idol Radio;” which is hosted by Honjoong and Yunho, who are members of the very popular K-Pop Group Ateez.
The name is a mixture of the number eight and the word “Turn.” Eight represents the eight of the members and “Turn,” meaning how it is their turn to showcase what they have in store for their career and what they are capable of.
The group was very popular pre-debut, mainly because of their vlogs and TikToks, but also because one of the members, Kyungmin, was a participant on Big Hit Entertainment and CJ ENM’s (CJ Entertainment and Merchandising) survival show “I-Land” in 2020. This show is a very popular Korean survival show which formed a lot of popular groups. However, Kyungmin left in May of 2021 after talking with the company and discovering there were differences in the directions both parties sought out.
A lot of fans from the show recognized him when 8Turn was making it onto TikTok’s “For You” pages and immediately supported the group. That’s not the sole reason why the group did so well in their debut, but it helped a good amount to where fans became fond of all eight members.
I loved this entire album and listening to it was really fun because I’ve never stanned a group at debut or even pre-debut before, so it was exciting. I do a lot of my music listening at home and in the car, which in the car is dangerous cause I tend to go a little extreme with the singing and dancing.
“Wonder” was my favorite song on the album because it was really fun and had a good tempo and bounce to it. It was a hip-hop song I almost ran a red light while listening to it because I was whipping my head around in a circle. I should probably make a playlist of slow and sad songs while driving so as to not dance because instead of dancing I’ll be screeching and crying to the sad songs.
“Tic-Tac” was my other favorite off the album because I was just so impressed with how good this song was for a debut song. Yungyu and Seungheon’s rap verses were so clean and catchy, and the vocals from the other members really made it flow smoothly.
A lot of groups have debut songs that aren’t big hits, but this one was really good and well-produced. I tried learning the dance and fell on my side and nearly dislocated my shoulder; so that was delightful.
“Heartache” was the somber heartfelt song on this album that I really enjoyed listening to. This song displayed all eight of the members’ vocal abilities which really impressed me seeing as though they’re really young; their birth years range from 2001-2007.
“We” and “Say My Name” both have a really upbeat pop-punk sound I loved a lot. It kind of sounds like a song that was made in the 2000s and belonged in a Disney Channel Original movie. I say this as a good thing because I thought the song was really cool and something I would’ve also enjoyed listening to when I was younger.
8Turn is just starting and they have already made a great first impression on the K-Pop industry. They are so cool and you should definitely check out this album and look out for new work by them.