NME’s latest stars of The Cover, BOYNEXTDOOR, have created an exclusive playlist to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.
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The K-pop boyband are on this week’s (October 27) edition of The Cover, a manifestation of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read BOYNEXTDOOR’s profile here, written by Tássia Assis and featuring photography by Yookeun Lim.
BOYNEXTDOOR have curated an exclusive playlist, titled ‘Ready, Camera, Action’, to accompany their appearance on The Cover. The varied selection includes K-pop icons, such as BTS and G-Dragon, North American superstars like The Weeknd and Frank Ocean, and rappers from the Korean hip-hop scene, including CRUCiAL STAR and Loco. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
BOYNEXTDOOR were the first group to debut on KOZ Entertainment, the HYBE sublabel helmed by rapper-turned-producer Zico. The six-piece group stepped onto the scene as relatable, lovesick boys with May 2023’s mini-album ‘Who!’, and set out to express universal emotions in the most honest way possible. “We make sure that it’s our own experiences and our own emotions that are infused in our music,” says singer Leehan. “That frankness is what anchors our group. Our style can change over time, but being honest to the things that you go through, that is something that [will always be] a constant in our work.”
So far, their largely self-made music is making a strong impression – since their debut, they’ve racked up five EPs (including million-sellers ‘19.99’ and ‘No Genre’), an Asia tour, and appearances at global festivals, including KCON Los Angeles 2024, Music Bank in Madrid, and a much-talked-about set at Chicago’s Lollapalooza this August.
Now returning with their fifth EP ‘The Action’, the boyband are continuing to evolve. The record offers a departure from their “good boy” tropes, as youngest member Woonhak shares: “If you listen to our past releases, we are usually the ones who get dumped. We have always been the type of guys who get hurt easily. This time around, we wanted to turn it the other way and be the cool bad guys.”
Read BOYNEXTDOOR’s full Cover story here and find out who else has been on The Cover here.