The ‘RIIZE’ of a New Boy Group
On July 30, SM Entertainment announced and opened the official Instagram account for their new seven-member boy group, RIIZE. The members consist of Shortaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee and Anton. Shotaro and Sungchan were former members of NCT, while Eunseok and Seunghan were a part of SMR22B.
Design by Laura Gomez
RIIZE comes from the two words “rise” and “realize,” which means they are “a team that grows together and realizes dreams.” The group is unique from the other artists under SM as they are the first artists that will not be under the KWANGYA universe.
In short, KWANGYA is a fictional, metaverse world that’s connected with the artists under the company. The universe is mentioned in some songs by RIIZE’s seniors, such as EXO’s “Don’t Fight the Feeling,” NCT U’s “90s Love,” and aespa’s “Next Level.”
Before their debut, RIIZE performed at KCON LA DAY 3 with their pre-released songs, “Siren” and “Memories,” showcasing their intense choreography and strong vocals. As their first performance in front of a crowd and internationally, they received positive feedback and had fans anticipating their debut.
The group officially debuted on September 4 with their first single album and title track, “Get a Guitar,” which has an emotional-pop vibe, featuring “Memories” as the b-side. The group debuted successfully, peaking high on the Korean, Japanese, and Chinese music charts. On September 6, it was announced that they had changed the original fandom name from SUNZ to BRIIZE.
Fans enthusiastically embraced the sudden change, seeing it as the ideal choice for the group, a decision that the fans themselves had advocated. RIIZE also made history as they’re the first group that didn’t come from a survival show to sell over one million copies of their debut album in their first week.
RIIZE is the perfect group when talking about activity on social media and interacting with fans on TikTok. With “Siren” having intense choreography, it instantly became a popular dance challenge. NCT’s TAEYONG participated with Shotaro, which can be found on their account.
“Get a Guitar” followed as a challenge as well due to its complex but unique footwork with other K-Pop idols such as Red Velvet’s Seulgi, NMIXX’s Sullyoon, BOYNEXTDOOR’s Jaehyun, and ZEROBASEONE’s Hanbin. Aside from K-Pop idols, they collaborated with TikTok content creators when they were in Los Angeles, such as Logan, a Canadian content creator who makes content surrounding Korean food.
Aside from TikTok challenges, they often interact with their fans on that platform. They are actively commenting and liking posts from fans, whether it’s a dance cover or a silly meme about them, including TikTok creators that are posting under the song “Get a Guitar.” They’re diverse in their content and interactions, allowing people outside of K-Pop to discover them. The boys even made a TikTok on how they like and comment on every post they come across, proving that they lurk on the app.
Within a month of debuting, they received their first award show win. On October 10, RIIZE attended The Fact Music Awards (TMAs) and was awarded the ‘Next Leader’ award. When the group went live on Instagram to thank BRIIZE for the win, Sungchan and Anton spoiled and confirmed that the rumors about their first comeback are approaching shortly, which we’re all looking forward to.