‘NCT 127 Is Back’: K-Pop’s Mavericks Talk Contract Renewals & Being Uncompromising in Their ‘Neo’ Sound
Categoria: Musica
The Seoul-based NCT subgroup just hit the 10-year mark. But despite enlistments and an evolving lineup, some things never change.
Por Billboard | 04/09/2026
Someone has given NCT 127 notepads. The five bandmates are parked along one side of a wide conference room table, each with hotel stationery and a pen sitting in front of them. It immediately feels like a mistake. When not reflecting on what’s changed for the group in the decade since debut — or heckling each other for misspeaking like they’re still bratty kids living on top of each other in dorms — they’re hunched over, doodling. Just over 10 years ago, the world was introduced to NCT ’s first fixed subgroup (NCT DREAM, WayV and NCT WISH would soon follow) as teenagers getting aggro in science class. In real life, that rowdy energy has dispersed into a mellower campus crush vibe — if you squint, the drawing could almost be confused for diligent note-taking — but the septet’s seventh studio album, Blingy , is just as loud as ever. “I wanted to make a statement,” Chicago native Johnny says: “NCT 127 is back.” K-pop’s noisiest mavericks have had a relatively quiet couple of years. In 2024, group leader Taeyong enlisted in the South Korean military for compulsory service; deep-voiced, dimpled Jaehyun was next to go. By the end of 2025, they were almost done, while two more — Doyoung and Jungwoo — cycled in, leaving five members (a head count rounded out by Johnny, Yuta and Haechan) to shoulder the weight of this comeback. When they sit down with Billboard , the rollout is still in progress. Across the table, Taeyong is making scribbles that look plucked straight out of the mind of Bart Simpson: a disembodied robot head; messy stars; a stick-figure animal being beamed up by a UFO; a bird-man with abs and pecs — and, in a nod to Blingy ’s raucous lead single, “Piñata,” live debuted at KCON LA the previous Friday (Aug. 14), a donkey with stumpy little legs. A few days later, the headlining set is still on their minds. There’s good reason for it to be: “It’s one of the hardest performances we’d ever had to get ready for,” Johnny says. To offset lineup changes, the guys ultimately had to redistribute lines for nearly every song on the setlist. This is to say nothing of all the work that went into Blingy ’s title track, which was only briefly teased at KCON. Taeyong, who co-created its choreo, recalls the first “full power” run-through: “I wasn’t even dripping sweat. I was just soaked ,” he says. “Like some exercise…” “CrossFit,” Johnny says, then spells out: “H-I-I-T.” “A bit like CrossFit,” Taeyong laughs. “Maybe even harder.” While the leader had proposed a few cuts, his teammates rejected them outright. “I felt it then,” Taeyong says. “The members really don’t change when it comes to ambition about performance and being uncompromising with what we show. We all have this desire.” He chuckles to himself: “I have it a bit less. But with everyone’s help, I was able to do it, too.” Now in his thirties, Taeyong acts like his stamina has fa