NOWZ: Shining Growth in 2025 and Billboard Pick, Gaining Global Attention with IGNITION
2025년 12월 31일
Cube Entertainment's rookie boy group NOWZ has firmly established themselves as a global rookie in 2025. After rebranding the group name to NOWZ in June, they strengthened their steps and proved through music and activities the group's unwavering ambition: 'in this moment, drawing infinite possibilities.' The year's full-scale activities began with the mini album IGNITION released in July. The title track EVERGLOW drew public attention with a bold fusion of metal-infused sounds into an alternative rock genre for a rookie group. The album entered the charts and logged first-week sales of around 150,000 copies, a career high. Additionally, the Chinese version of the pre-release single 'Fly Free (Feat. Woo-Gi)' topped QQ Music's new songs chart. The performance video for the track 'Problem Child (문제아)' featuring a megacrew lineup of many dancers drew eyes and showed NOWZ's musical world maturing and growing more intense. Amid these achievements, NOWZ was named a K-POP rookie of the month by Billboard in October, spotlighting them as a noteworthy newcomer. Commentary and member interviews were released together, suggesting IGNITION holds the key to future growth. Also, EVERGLOW ranked 15th on Billboard's official website's 'Best K-Pop of 2025: Staff Picks,' adding weight to NOWZ's future potential. The next challenge became more concrete with the November release of the third single 'Play Ball.' Through a baseball concept, it captured passion and resolve for the stage, completing a passionate youth narrative following IGNITION, and the title track 'HomeRUN' further solidified NOWZ's identity. This year NOWZ connected with the public through two albums, and all members were noted to have been refined further amid the growth. According to insiders, this growth momentum is expected to continue into next year, with bigger activity in each member's field. The achievements at year-end reflect NOWZ's commitment to not staying in a single genre and to continuing diverse musical experiments. Put simply, NOWZ's 2025 is only the start, and the future possibilities arising from the growth of all members are already widening steadily.