NXT

NXT was a three-member boy group from Spark Entertainment. They formed as a five-member group with members Jason, Lucas, Kai, Hyunjoon and Minjae on September 4, 2019 with their first digital single *Hello*. Lucas left the group in December 2029 after promotions ended for their first full-length album and Jason left the group in January 2030. The remaining three members continued as a trio until June 2031 after tensions between the company's CEO at the time and the founder.

## **History**

### **Pre-debut**

NXT began forming in late 2017 when Spark Entertainment first launched their social media accounts and began sharing videos of dance practices with their trainees on KTube. Among those trainees were Jason, Lucas and Kai, who would later make it into the final lineup in June 2019 when Spark Entertainment began sharing blurred profile photos of each member on Twitter and Instagram. They later announced they would be debuting their first boy group with a name to be finalized.

Hyunjoon did not join the company until December 2018, with Minjae shortly after in March 2019. After multiple lineup changes, the two would be the last members to join the group and Spark Entertainment would also announce the official name of the group as NXT, to symbolize the group achieving the final steps of the company's first trainee program and moving on to the next level as idols.

### **September 2019: Debut with *Hello* and first mini album**

On September 4, 2019, NXT made their debut with their first digital single *Hello*, a dance heavy, fast-based electro-pop song that was catchy but gained little attention and sales, which to date has not surpassed 300K. Shortly after they would debut their self-titled mini album, which also achieved little success in sales, but the group gained a fanbase that continued to grow steadily over the next few years.

### **2020-2024: Continuous digital singles**

Over the years, NXT would be releasing a string of digital singles periodically, which frustrated many of their fans. To this date, they have over 20 digital singles, which fans felt was more than enough to provide the group an album or two, or even a few mini albums. However, despite the requests and pleas to the company to give the group proper comebacks, they continued with numerous digital singles. In 2022 when Spark Entertainment announced they would be debuting a girl group, fans sent multiple trucks and launched petitions in response to provide the group better treatment, which were respectively ignored. Those singles would help the group continue their growth, but it would not be enough to break the group out. In 2023 when no additional details were revealed about the girl group, fans speculated the company was going through financial troubles with the possibility of NXT's contracts being terminated early. It was later denied by the company.

On August 29, 2024, Jason debuted under the stage name Jay with his first digital single, *Namanana*.

### **2025 - 2026: *Say My Name* single, new management and second mini album**

In early 2025, Spark Entertainment began releasing teasers for *Say My Name*, which fans thought would be NXT's first full album after nearly five years of continuous digital singles. Much to their dismay and frustration, it was later revealed to be a single instead, which released on July 26, 2025. The release of the single was a huge success compared to their previous releases and had a higher quality. In November 2025, the founder announced the company would be transitioning to new management, under new CEO Raina Kim. Fans believe Kim may have had a hand in the quality of the comeback as she wanted the group to succeed, especially after Astrolight's successful debut in May, and why the members renewed their contract for three years.

Shortly after the release of *Say My Name*, the company, under transition to new management, revealed the group would be releasing a second mini album in 2026 titled *Darkness* with the title track *Villain*. The concept would be the darkest of their entire discography, and fans theorize the name may have been alluding to the mistreatment of the group before the management transition. The tracks would be a mix of mediocre and high quality, but it was even more successful than *Say My Name*. This would be the release that would firmly establish NXT as a group to watch out for in the industry as they would begin winning awards for their songs and would be their first songs to reach 1 million sales.

During this time, Jason continued releasing periodic digital singles and solo promotions while juggling group promotions, establishing himself as a solo artist.

### **2027: Hiatus, solo activities**

After a busy and widely successful two years, the group went on a hiatus and focused primarily on solo activities as Spark Entertainment focused on the sudden success of rookie group Astrolight as they began to breakout both in Korea and overseas. They released a digital single on August 27, 2027 as a surprise to fans, and Jason released his first mini album titled *Wings* on May 6, 2027 after a collaboration with Astrolight member Sophia in her digital single *Winter Flower* in January 2027 and a series of digital single releases over the years. Kai, Hyunjoon and Minjae would be participating in variety shows independently.

### **March - November 2029: First full-length album, tenth anniversary, Kai dating scandal**

In March 2029, Jason would jokingly tweet at Spark Entertainment asking, "Hey, what do we need to do to get a full-length album. It's almost a decade, boss." to which the company would reply, "See you in two hours." No further details were revealed, but in June 2029, Jason cryptically tweeted, "Doing exciting things that are long overdue," which fans theorized the company would finally give the group their first full-length album. This was confirmed in late July 2029, when the company began to release MV and album concept teasers that would continue throughout August. On September 4, 2029 to celebrate their tenth anniversary, the group released their long anticipated album, *Shout It Loud.*

With the release of their album, NXT's contracts were up for renewal, which worried fans as promotions would be underway. Spark Entertainment later confirmed on social media they were under discussion with the group to renew their contracts, but the group had agreed to continue promotions. On November 5, 2029, Twitter account SparkInsider revealed a photo of Kai with an unknown female. A few days later on November 12, 2029, allkpop(story) revealed Kai was spotted leaving a restaurant with the same unknown female that was revealed on the SparkInsider account a week ago. This left many fans wondering if the group would be disbanding when *Shout It Loud* promotions end as Spark Entertainment only confirmed the scandal would not effect contract renewals for the members.

### **December 2029: Contract renewals, Lucas and Jason departure**

On December 2, 2029, two days after *Shout It Loud* promotions ended, Spark Entertainment announced Lucas would be departing the group first, and Jason would be departing in January 2030. The remaining members (Kai, Hyunjoon and Minjae) would continue as a trio and would take a hiatus.

### **October 2030 - June 2031: Comeback and first mini album as a trio, tensions and disbandment**

On October 10, 2030, NXT released their digital single *Timeless* as a trio, which was later confirmed to be a pre-release to their upcoming mini album anticipated for January 2031. The group released teasers for the album throughout December 2030 and officially released their third mini album as a group and first mini album as a trio on January 10, 2031 titled *Promise* with a title track of the same name. The release was highly successful, totaling nearly 13 million album sales which double the number of sales compared to their previous mini albums combined and went on to win NXT awards for the first time in over two years.

But this success would be short-lived for the group as Spark Entertainment experienced a series of text message leaking, where founder Serenity Park requested for NXT to be disbanded due to their "lack of popularity" to which many fans, including the now former CEO Raina Kim and Astrolight's Chloe disagreed with due to the success of their latest release. This ultimately led to Raina Kim's removal from the company, and Kai's contract termination in April 2031. Hyunjoon's contract was terminated shortly after, however, it is not confirmed if this was in April or late May. With Minjae as the remaining member and the sudden shift in management, the group would officially disband on June 3, 2031 as former member Lucas confirmed on his official social media accounts the remainder of Minjae's contract would be managed by Sunrise Entertainment when they opened its doors officially on June 7, 2031 with co-management from Spark Entertainment.

## **Members**

 Lucas
 Kai
 Hyunjoon
 Minjae

## **Discography**

### **Mini Albums**

* *NXT: The First Mini Album* (September 2020)
* *Darkness* (June 2026)
* *Promise* (January 2031)

### **Digital Singles**

* *Hello* (September 2019)
* *Silence* (October 2019)
* *Shadow of the Shark* (December 2019)
* *New* (January 2020)
* *Bet Bet* (January 2020)
* *Loveshot* (February 2020)
* *Summer Days* (June 2020)
* *Shadows* (June 2020)
* *Sorry* (October 2020)
* *EOEO* (November 2020)
* *They Never Know* (January 2021)
* *Spring* (April 2021)
* *Tempo* (July 2021)
* *For You* (September 2021)
* *Holla Holla* (June 2022)
* *I Can't Stand the Rain* (March 2023)
* *Jopping* (June 2023)
* *No Limit* (March 2024)
* *Wait a Minute* (March 2025)
* *Call Me* (January 2026)
* *Ring Ding Dong* (November 2026)
* *Oh Yeah Yeah* (August 2027)
* *Obsession* (October 2028)
* *Shootout* (April 2029)
* *Losing You* ft. Ruby (June 2029)
* *Timeless* (October 2030)

## **Aftermath**

### **Jason**

Jason departed the group and company after promotions ended for their first full-length and 10th anniversary album *Shout It Loud*. Since leaving the company in January 2030, Jason has been working independently as a songwriter and producer for numerous other groups. While he is still working independently, he is now an in-house songwriter and producer for Sunrise Entertainment with fellow former member Lucas. He is also part of their board of directors.

### **Lucas**

Lucas departed the group and company in December 2029 after promotions for *Shout It Loud* ended. He was thought to have left the industry despite receiving numerous offers from other companies, but decided to reject them and spend time with his family instead before deciding if he would pursue a solo career. In 2031, he and Raina Kim founded Sunrise Entertainment.

### **Kai**

Kai was kicked out of the group by Serenity Park in April 2031 for his refusal to break off from his relationship. He later signed with Sunrise Entertainment and debuted with 9ANGLES in March 2032. In March 2034, he parted ways with the company and is currently rumored to be working as an individual artist, but remains as a member of the group.

### **Hyunjoon**

Hyunjoon terminated his contract after tensions between Kai and Serenity Park. Like Kai, he also signed with Sunrise Entertainment and debuted with 9ANGLES in March 2032.

### **Minjae**

Being the remaining member, Minjae attempted to terminate his contract after Kai and Hyunjoon departed the group and company to no avail. It was later revealed he and Lucas came to an agreement with Serenity Park his contract would be co-managed with Spark Entertainment until its expiration in September 2037, when it would be up for renewal discussions with Sunrise Entertainment. He has since debuted with 9ANGLES in March 2032 with fellow members Kai and Hyunjoon.