Block B

Formed in 2011 under Stardom Entertainment by Cho PD, the seven-member Block B emerged as a hip-hop-driven K-pop act whose lineup consisted of Taeil Lee, B-Bomb (Lee Min-hyuk), Jaehyo Ahn, U-Kwon (Kim Yu-Kwon), Park Kyung, Zico (Woo Ji-ho), and P.O (Pyo Ji-hoon). Cho envisioned the group as an Eminem-inspired rap/pop hybrid, so their initial offerings—“Freeze!” and “Wanna B”—preceded the June 2011 debut EP New Kids on the Block, whose promotion included MTV’s Match Up! series. The following year brought Welcome to the Block, their second EP, which incorporated additional dance textures into the rap-focused style, and by year’s end the full-length Blockbuster appeared, reaching number ten on the Billboard World Albums chart. Legal disputes with Stardom occupied much of 2013 and ultimately ended the group’s association with the label, prompting a move to Seven Seasons management and the immediate release of the single “Be the Light.” Months afterward, the Very Good EP topped Korean charts and climbed to number six on Billboard’s World Albums ranking. In 2014 the members launched the reality series Five Minutes Before Chaos, issued the single “Jackpot,” and performed across Asia and the United States, while the H.E.R. EP arrived that summer. Their 2015 expansion into Japan began with a re-recording of “Very Good,” accompanied by tours of Japan, Europe, and North America; solo singles came from Taeil and Park Kyung, and P.O, U-Kwon, and B-Bomb debuted the subunit Bastarz with the Conduct Zero EP. Block B’s fifth EP, Blooming Period, led Korean charts in 2016 and reached number four on Billboard—its strongest American showing to date—while the band’s first Japanese album, My Zone, featured reworked tracks alongside a new single; Bastarz also delivered their second project, Welcome 2 Bastarz.