KARD is a co-ed group formed by DSP Media. They are composed of members J.Seph, BM, Somin, and Jiwoo. They officially debuted on July 19, 2017, with their extended play ‘Hola Hola’. Let’s see their journey from being a rookie group to one of the successful co-ed groups in the industry.
KARD’s brand of K-pop has been described as undeniably trendy, with their discography focusing on contemporary house and dancehall vibes. he group's musical style diverges from electropop, hip hop, EDM, and alt-R&B that was known to have been trending in the American music market by the time of their pre-debut. The group was also noted for their reggaetón and moombahton styling that resonated with international K-pop fans, which was stated by Billboard to be one of the primary reasons why they were able to tour throughout North and South America even prior to releasing their first mini-album. While they are largely inspired by Latin dance music trends, KARD has stated that they are continuously studying other genres in order to keep showing new sides to their music style.
Somin was previously a member of DSP Media's Japan-based girl group Puretty, which disbanded two years after its debut in 2012. She later joined ‘Kara Project’, where she competed to become a new member of KARA and finished in second place. On August 24, 2015, she debuted as leader of DSP Media's girl group April, but she decided to depart from the group on November 9.
AdvertisementMale members J.Seph trained for five years, while BM trained for four and a half years under DSP Media. The label originally planned to debut them in a hip-hop duo, but this was changed later on. The last member of the group was Jiwoo, who had trained under FNC Entertainment for two years and moved to DSP Media in 2016, where she only trained for two months before debuting with KARD.
DSP Media first announced the formation of KARD on December 1, 2016 after opening several social media accounts under the group's name. After being revealed in a sequential order, all the members of the group were revealed by December 5, with the label elaborating more on their card-game concept. The group's name is an abbreviation of different ‘cards’ that are assigned to each member: BM is assigned as the ‘King’ card, J.Seph is known as the ‘Ace’ card, Somin is given the ‘Black JokeR’ card, while member Jiwoo is referred to as the ‘Color JokeR’ card.
‘Oh NaNa’ was released on December 13. The music video for the song accumulated over 1.25 million views in three days. Following the release of the song, Billboard magazine included Kard in its list of ‘10 Best New K-pop Groups in 2016’ ranking at number 8, with the group making it into the list just eight days after starting their pre-debut project. ‘Oh NaNa’ then became the group's first entry into the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, with the song peaking at number 5 in its issue dated January 7, 2017 and remaining on the said chart for 8 weeks.
Here are some songs in KARD’s discography :-
KARD marked their official debut on July 19, 2017, through the release of their first EP ‘Hola Hola’. The six-track EP contained their previous project singles, as well as the title track ‘Hola Hola’. The song is written by Nassun and members BM and J.seph. It is described as a Latin-inspired dance music to create a groovy summery tune littered with shimmering synths and callbacks to their previous songs, adding that the new track is driven by Somin’s melodic vocals, with propulsive raps courtesy of J.Seph, B.M, and Jiwoo propelling the song to the soaring refrain of the chorus.
AdvertisementOn March 27, 2019, they made their comeback with their first digital single ‘Bomb Bomb’. ‘Bomb Bomb’ became the group's fifth top five entry on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, debuting and peaking at number three. A notable shift in Kard's sonic style was first seen through the release of their single ‘Dumb Litty’, which incorporated dancehall alongside synth, trap, and EDM.
In the video, the four members portray two gods each: BM is Thor and Zeus, J.Seph is Ares and Dionysus, Jiwoo is Hera and Athena while Somin is Aphrodite and Chloris. Each of the members are dressed to correspond with their respective roles, for example as the goddess of war Athena, Jiwoo carries a sword, while J.Seph as Dionysus, the god of wine and music, holds a glass of wine as he lies draped over an opulent throne. The video alternates between solo clips of each of the members in their godly avatars before swapping to group shots of KARD, dressed in casual grunge/goth apparel, engaging in fast-paced choreography over the chorus.
‘Red Moon’ debuted and peaked at number 10 on the Gaon Album Chart for the week ending February 15, after reporting 1,453 copies sold, before reporting a total of 1,752 copies sold in its first two weeks. Additionally, its eponymous title track reached a peak position of number 8 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart.
Later, KARD released their first single album ‘Way with Words’ and their title track ‘Gunshot’. BM wrote, composed, and arranged the title track, with the other members contributing to the album as well. In the video, the strong and heavy sound of ‘Gunshot’ and the charm of the members are melted. In particular, the sensational cuts symbolize the message of a gunshot, as well as the powerful performance of KARD.
In 2022, it was confirmed that J. Seph had been discharged from his military service. However, due to the spread of COVID-19, J. Seph's last vacation was in mid-February, where he did not return to military service and was discharged early. On May 28, DSP Media announced that KARD will release a new album in June and resume all activities, marking their first full group release in 22 months. Their fifth EP, ‘Re:’, was released on June 22 with the title track ‘Ring The Alarm’. 'Re' is a prefix meaning 'again,' so we thought it was the best title for our new release, which came out after more than a year off," leader BM said during a media event . "Since 'Re:' is an EP showing our new mindset, we poured a lot of passion into producing it," he added. Member Jiwoo elaborated, "We wanted to restart everything and showcase something decent to people."
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