NCT 127 members perform to their title track "Cherry Bomb" during the press conference at YES24 LiveHall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, last Friday. / Courtesy of S.M. Entertainment



By Kim Jae-heun



NCT 127, the Korean boy band NCT's Seoul-based sub-unit group, is receiving big global attention with its third mini-album "Cherry Bomb" released last Wednesday.

The latest album's title track of the of same name topped the popular Chinese music chart Xiami Music on Friday and Saturday while renowned Chinese media like People's Daily, China Youth and United Daily News reported NCT 127' comeback as their main entertainment news.

The band also became the No. 1 real-time search word on China's Internet portals, such as Tencent and Sohu TV.

American music cable channel FUSE TV introduced NCT 127's "Cherry Bomb" describing it as edgy and explosive. The cable TV channel further described their new title as the most sophisticated track by the group so far.

Early last week, NCT 127's third album topped iTunes Album Chart in 11 countries including Finland, Norway, Argentina and Russia. Cherry Bomb made it to the top 10 on the same music charts in 25 countries - gathering global attention of the sub-unit group.



S.M. Entertainment's youngest boy band was also successful on the local music scene when it swept local music charts such as YES24, Aladin and Hot Tracks.

NCT 127 returned five month after it released the second mini-album "NCT #127 LIMITLESS" in January. Their previous album also topped not only local major music charts, but also Billboard's World Chart as well as five iTunes Album Charts in five countries.

"Cherry Bomb" consists of seven tracks produced by world-class hip-hop producer Dem Jointz, who worked with Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and Dr. Dre.

"The word cherry waters your mouth with its sweetness and sour flavor when you hear it. Our song is like that with some sexiness added into it," said Mark during the press conference at YES24 LiveHall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, last Friday.

"It took a lot of time and effort to finish the song, which is why we picked it as our favorite song on our new album. We edited the song over and over until we were satisfied," added Mark.

Band member Taeyoung said the group did not find the choreography particularly strenuous, but releasing it could help them become a band with strong performance.

"We practiced an average of nine hours a day. We would start at 1 p.m. and finish at midnight, at the latest," said Taeyong.

Taeyong went on to say that this time, they photographed the whole process of their dance practice to pick out the errors in detail.

World-renowned dancer Tony Testa choreographed the dance sequence to NCT 127's new title track. NCT 127 said Testa pushed them to develop basic physical strength through push-ups while practicing their dance routines.

NCT 127 swept the Rookie Awards in a number of music ceremonies last year.