MBLAQ

Name	MBLAQ
Background	group_or_band
Alias	Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality
Origin	South Korea
Genre	Pop, Dance, R'n'B
Years active	–present
Label	J.Tune Camp (South Korea)Sony Music Entertainment Japan (Japan)
Associated acts	Rain
Url	Official Korean WebsiteOfficial Japanese Website
Current members	Seung HoG.OJoonCheonDoongMir
Former members	Kim Sang Bae

MBLAQ, (, an acronym for Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality) is a South Korean quintet boy band created by Korean pop R&B; singer, producer and actor Rain under a branch of his label J.Tune Entertainment called J.Tune Camp. The five members include Seung Ho (Yang Seung Ho : Leader), G.O (Jung Byung Hee : Main Vocalist), Joon (Lee Chang Sun : Vocalist), Thunder/Cheon Doong (Park Sang Hyun : Vocalist/Rapper), and Mir (Bang Cheol Yong : Rapper). The group debuted on October 9, 2009 at Rain's Legend of Rainism concert.

On October 14, 2009 the group released their debut single album, "Just BLAQ", which topped various on-line and off-line music charts in South Korea. The group then released their second single album Y on May 19, 2010, and on January 10, 2011, MBLAQ released their first studio album, BLAQ Style. MBLAQ's fanclub is called A+.

History

2009 (Debut): Just BLAQ

Having trained for two years, The group appeared alongside Rain, in his Legend of Rainism concert. They performed various songs from their produced EP, Just BLAQ and were met with praise, with many spectators at the concert and fans considering them as the next DBSK. The group released teasers for their debut song, "Oh Yeah" on October 12, with the music video being released two days later. Coinciding with the music video, MBLAQ's debut single album Just BLAQ, was released on the same day, topping various charts in South Korea. Later that month, the group commenced promotions for their follow up track, "G.O.O.D Luv", with two music videos released, an 'unofficial' MV released prior to the 'official' MV which was released on December 10, 2009.

In May 2011, Thunder revealed that former member Sang Bae left the group due to his poor health. Thunder also stated that he only joined MBLAQ 15 days prior to their debut, and that while he sang/rapped live for their performances, his voice is not actually featured on any of the recorded tracks for Just BLAQ due to time constraints. with teasers being released from May 6. MBLAQ claimed first place on the 3rd of June 2010 on the music show M! Countdown, and were voted the best Rookie Group for the first half of 2010 through a poll conducted by Korean music site Bugs, obtaining 46% of the votes

On December 29, 2010, MBLAQ released a teaser MV for their upcoming full-length album. Their first full-length album is set for release on January 10, 2011.

On December 30, 2010, J.Tune Entertainment merged with JYP Entertainment. However, as MBLAQ is part of J.Tune Camp, they are not considered as part of JYP Entertainment.

2011: First full length album, BLAQ Style and Japanese debut

MBLAQ were initially scheduled for a November 2010 return, however in December J.Tune Camp revealed that MBLAQ would be returning to the music scene in January 2011 instead. MBLAQ displayed advertisements on buses and bus stops in Seoul prior to the release of their album, and it was also revealed that MBLAQ participated in the production of the album, personally choosing all songs present on the album. Seungho stated: "As a form of independence [from Rain], we personally chose all of the songs and participated in the production", with Seungho composing and playing the piano for the introductory track Sad Memories and Mir writing the rap lyrics for You're my +.

On January 3, 2011, J.Tune Camp released MBLAQ's MV for Cry on Youtube, an R&B; track produced by E-Tribe. The video gained more than 500,000 views within a week. A teaser MV was released on December 29, 2010, prior to the full MV release in January. In between the release of the Cry MV and their album, MBLAQ revealed album jacket photos for BLAQ Style. Prior to the album's release on the 10th of January, MBLAQ held a fan-meet for 1500 fans on the 9th of January 2011, where the fans were able to watch the first performance of Cry and also the then yet-to-be revealed title track Stay. followed by comeback performances on the 14th, 15th and 16th at KBS 2TV's Music Bank, MBC's Music Core, and SBS's Inkigayo respectively.

On January 9, J.Tune Camp announced that MBLAQ would be debuting in Japan in May, signing with Sony Music Japan. J.Tune Camp helda press conference towards the end of January with Japanese press regarding their official plans. Upon arrival, 800 reporters and fans were gathered at the airport. and released a repackaged album, titled BLAQ Style - 3D Edition on the 22nd of February, 2011. The album consists of the 13 tracks from BLAQ Style, as well as 3 new tracks. Two of the three new tracks included MBLAQ's participation in its production. The track 돌아올 수 없는/ Can't Come Back was composed by G.O and the lyrics were written by both G.O and Mir, while the song titled You was written and composed by Cheon Doong. When it was released, BLAQ Style 3D reached No. 1 on the Hanteo charts

On the 11th of April, the MV for Your Luv was released on MTV Japan, and Your Luv ringtones were released on the ringtone downloading site, Recochoku. After the release of Your Luv on April 19, it was ranked first for 4 consecutive days on Recochoku. MBLAQ were also placed first on the 'Cellphone Message Music Video' chart. Furthermore, pre-orders of MBLAQ's single for the regular and limited A and B editions have ranked first, second and third. Your Luv reached second position on the 'Oricon Daily Charts' for May 3, which is before their official debut and release date. On May 4, their official debut date, Your Luv reached first position on the 'Oricon Daily Charts', selling more than 11,000 CDs. A week after debut, MBLAQ reached second position on the 'Oricon Weekly Charts', selling more than 40,000 copies of 'Your Luv'. It was announced in June that MBLAQ's Your Luv would be used in the Japanese anime adaption of Marvel Comics' "Blade".

Music, dance, and influence

Initially debuting as a group more focussed on dance and pop music, MBLAQ have since experimented with different genres. Oh Yeah and Y were dance/pop tracks, My Dream, Last Luv and Rust are ballad tracks, Bang Bang Bang is rock/pop, Cry is an R&B; track, and Stay is a track infused with hip-hop, electronic and rock.

With Rain being their mentor and major influence, he either wrote, composed, produced and/or choreographed a few tracks for MBLAQ, including Oh Yeah, G.O.O.D Luv, Y, Cry and Stay. For the release of Just BLAQ and Y, MBLAQ focused heavily on their performance with strong choreography. With BLAQ Style, MBLAQ decided to focus more on the music and melody rather than the choreography.

Other Activities

Television

2009

In late 2009, MBLAQ's first aired program was M.Net's MBLAQ - The Art of Seduction, which received record ratings for the cable TV's program.

With their trip to Japan for Rain's fanmeet, music channel M.Net Japan decided to film a documentary of their stay, selecting them as the first stars of their show '2010 KPOP Star' series. MBLAQ filmed a total of 16 episodes.

2010

From February 18, 2010, MBLAQ members G.O and Joon took on the role of co-hosts (MCD Guys) for the music show M! Countdown.

In March, Cheon Doong participated in M.Net's M.Net Scandal. Cheon Doong, having lived in the Philippines, participated in the cable TV show, Mom, I've gone crazy for English with fellow singer Nicole of Kara, where he was an English mentor to young children. He was also a host of The M-Wave with fellow artist Krystal of f(x)^,.

To coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, MTV Korea created a program where members of male idol groups formed a soccer team to compete against other soccer teams. The 14-member team consisted of members from U-KISS, , F.Cuz, and D-NA (Dae Guk Nam Ah), with MBLAQ members being Seung Ho, Joon and Mir.

In addition to his MC role in M! Countdown, Joon also took on the role of MC for QTV's Ranking Women, however he has since left the program to focus on his music activities. He was a permanent member of the TV show Star Golden Bell, which had been replaced by Oh! My School.

At the end of May, MBLAQ participated in GOMTV's Making the Artist, a small documentary on their life as artists. MBLAQ filmed a total of four episodes documenting their promotions for Y.

Following their promotions for Y, MBLAQ were cast in the final series of M.Net's 'Celebrities Go to School'. Their mentor for the show is actor Kim Soo-Ro. The show started airing in August 2010.

MBLAQ have filmed a cameo in Rain's 2010 drama Fugitive (), where filming took place at the Saitama JEFF Hall. The members of MBLAQ have also made an appearance in Joon's drama Housewife Kim Kwan Ja's third Activity.

2011

In 2011, Cheon Doong was made a permanent cast member of the KBS2TV show Imagination Arcade. Fellow member Joon was a permanent cast member of Oh! My School, the show ended on May 29th 2011.

In March, MBLAQ took part in MNet Wide's new corner, Refreshing Interview, with their own show called Sesame Player.

In June, it was announced that G.O would replace B2ST's Yoseob in Immortal Song 2, staying as a cast member for at least a month with new cast members including F.T Island's Hongki, 2PM's Junsu and Secret's Ji Eun.

Campaigns and Endorsements

In 2009, Cheon Doong featured in a CF with the Wonder Girls for Mori Stylish Coffee

The year 2010 resulted in a few endorsement deals for MBLAQ which included TB Jeans (TBJ), Cacao Black CF which featured MBLAQ's song Oh Yeah, Pink Wings Charity Campaign, and an endorsement deal with Chapstick. MBLAQ released two songs, titled 사랑해도 참는다 Part.1 and 사랑해도 참는다 Part.2. Two MVs and a music drama, which also featured ex-T-ara member Yang Ji Won, for Chapstick were also released.

Individual endorsements include Joon for HITE Beer and Miero Fibre with figure skater Kwak Min-Jung. Cheon Doong was featured in a CF for Tropicana Sparkling which, in addition to being a parody of MBLAQ's Y MV, also incorporated MBLAQ's song Y and MV into the CF. Cheon Doong also appeared in two CFs for Alba Heaven, which featured MBLAQ's song Oh Yeah.

In 2011, MBLAQ participated in MBC's Give Life to a Child Campaign, where they raised awareness about bone-marrow transplants on the streets of Youngdeungpo’s Time Square.

Solo activities

On May 31, 2011, J.Tune Camp announced that G.O would soon be releasing a digital single composed of songs he had written and composed. His solo release will be an R'n'B ballad track.

Members

Music Program Awards

M! Countdown

References

External links

Official Website

Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:K-pop music groups Category:Korean-language singers Category:Musical groups established in 2009 Category:South Korean boy bands Category:South Korean dance music groups Category:South Korean pop music groups