The 1990's K-pop sensation, H.O.T.

Overview

H.O.T. (Highfive Of Teenagers) was a South Korean boy group formed in 1996 by S.M. entertainment. H.O.T. was considered the first Korean "idol group" with five members. The group was formed by Lee Soo-Man (S.M.) when he asked high schools students what their ideal K-pop group would look like. This information was used to form H.O.T. The first member to join was Kangta, who was scouted at an amusement park. Friends and singing partners, Moon Hee-joon and Lee Jae-won were the next to join the group. Fourth to join was Jang Woo-hyuk, who was mainly noticed for his dancing skills. Tony An was the last to join after auditioning in Las Angeles. H.O.T quickly grew in popularity, especially with teenage girls, because of their youthful stages and experiments with different concepts.

H.O.T. Debut

H.O.T debuted in 1996 with the album, ''We Hate All Kinds of Violence. ''The album did extremely well, selling over 1.5 million copies. That same year they portrayed themes of non bullying with their single "Descendants of Warriors," while also coming out with a completely different theme of music with the song "Candy," which was bubblegum K-pop. H.O.T. became extremely popular among the youth and won Best New Artist at the Golden Disk Awards that year. In 1997, they released their second album Wolf and Sheep, which sold over 1 million copies in 10 days. At this time H.O.T. was doing extremely well, winning the grand prize at both the Golden Disk Awards and the Seoul Music Awards. As their success grew, so did their fan culture. H.O.T. became the first K-pop boy group with a fanbase established by S.M. entertainment.

Disbandment

H.O.T. announced their disbandment to the public in 2001 at a press conference. They stated they were disbanding because they could not come to an agreement with S.M. entertainment on a new contract. In the days following the news on H.O.T., thousands of fans gathered and protested outside of the S.M. headquarters. It was later discovered that the concerns between H.O.T. and S.M. were in regards to the members low pay. Since the disbandment of H.O.T. all of the members have pursued solo careers and made music outside of the group.

This is a video of H.O.T. "Candy," which is one of their most popular concepts and songs. By: Olivia Dardis