It’s time: the most anticipated boy group debut of the year is officially upon us! ZEROBASEONE already stole our hearts a few months back thanks to their rise on the survival show BOYS PLANET – seriously, if your timeline wasn’t covered in BP content, are you even on K-Pop Twitter? – and we’ve been eagerly waiting to see not only the lineup but what these boys will do as a group. After several weeks of performances and challenges, we officially got to meet the lineup of ZB1: SUNG HAN BIN, KIM JI WOONG, ZHANG HAO, SEOK MATTHEW, KIM TAE RAE, RICKY, KIM GYU VIN, PARK GUN WOOK, and HAN YU JIN.
Now, just in time to steal the crown for our favorite song of the summer, ZB1 have released their debut mini-album, YOUTH IN THE SHADE! And yes, it’s just as cool and exhilarating as the name suggests. The sunny title track, ‘In Bloom,’ is everything we could’ve wanted and more. It’s a delivery of a refreshing pop anthem that we’ll definitely have on repeat. It’s an upbeat love song all about enjoying the moment, and you could even argue that it’s dedicated to the group’s ZEROSE – lyrics like, “taking my first step wasn’t easy, but even if it becomes staggering, can’t stop for you and me,” feel like the boys’ promise to fans worldwide to offer a unique musical experience they’ll never forget.
When we hear a group’s debut song, we have pretty high hopes. It sets the tone for their entire career and can be the track that brings in millions of fans worldwide. But we can confidently say that ‘In Bloom’ absolutely shattered our already-high expectations! And this era is definitely gaining ZB1 a ton of fans – the mini-album racked up 1.08 million (yes, million) pre-orders within 13 days.
Speaking of the mini-album, let’s dive into some of our other favorite moments of the project! One of our favorite b-sides is ‘New Kidz On The Block,’ which is just as fun as the title suggests. It predicts their journey “straight to the top” while paying homage to one of the biggest boy bands of all time, giving us playful nostalgic vibes and placing ZB1 among icons already. We know they’ll be seen as all-time legends like NKOTB one day! It’s only a matter of time!
We also have to give a shout-out to the final song on the album! ‘Always’ is a beautiful solo track by ZHANG HAO, who came in first place on BOYS PLANET and has been stealing our hearts ever since. The lyrics are an ode to ZEROSE, talking about never giving up on someone as ZHANG pledges to always be there and work to become the best artist he can be. Of course, there’s a ton of potential for ZB1 to improve even more over the years. However, they’re definitely at a great starting point already!
We can’t wait to see ZEROBASEONE bloom into K-Pop legends! Which track on YOUTH IN THE SHADE is your favorite? Have you chosen your ZB1 bias yet? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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