Block B (Hangul: 블락비) is a South Korean boy group created by Cho PD, active since 2011. The group consists of seven members: Zico (Woo Jiho), Lee Taeil, B-Bomb (Lee Minhyuk), Ahn Jaehyo, U-Kwon (Kim Yukwon), Park Kyung, and P.O (Pyo Jihoon).
History[edit]
2011: Debut[edit]
Block B at the Cyworld Dream Music Festival in 2011
In February 2011, Cho PD announced that he would be spending $1.4 million USD to create a seven-member hip hop group under his "Creating Korea's Eminem Project".[1] He added that this septet had been mentored by other hip hop artists, including Verbal Jint, Skull, and Rhymer, and announced their debut to be in April 2011. The group garnered interest both domestically and internationally prior to their debut single, titled Do You Wanna B? which consists of three tracks.
On April 13, 2011, their debut music video for "Freeze!" was released, but banned by the Commission of Youth Protection because they felt that it was too sexy for Korean television.[2] As a result, the song could not be sold to minors under the age of 19, and the video could not be aired before 10 PM. On April 15, 2011, Block B made their live debut on KBS Music Bank.[3][4] The group followed up with another track, "Wanna B."[5]
Block B made several appearances on both radio and variety shows, including Younha's Starry Night[6] and 100 Points Out of 100.[7] Their first mini album New Kids on the Block was released on June 23, 2011.[8]
On June 22, 2011, the first episode of MTV's eight-episode series Match Up! was aired featuring Block B and B1A4.[9] The first episode revealed Block B's music video for their mini album's title track, "Tell Them". The show was designed to allow both groups to show off their musical talents and personalities through weekly missions and behind-the-scenes footage. On October 16, 2011 MTV started airing a series of specials for the Match Up series that followed Block B as they promoted in Japan.
2012: Welcome to the Block, Controversy With Thailand and Block B Returns[edit]
It was announced in early January that Block B would make their return with a new mini album titled Welcome to the Block. On January 13 a trailer for the album was released and on January 27, a fifteen second preview of their new single "Nalina" ("Go Crazy") was revealed. A second teaser was also revealed three days later.
On February 1, "Nalina" was unveiled to the public and Welcome to the Block was deemed an "all kill" on various music sites, however, two songs from the album ("LOL" and "Did You or Did You Not") were banned as inappropriate for minors by The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) and KBS.
In February 2012 Block B came under fire for a mistranslation of a video from an interview that had taken place in Thailand a month earlier. In response, the members issued letters of apology and released a video on their record company's YouTube channel. As result of this incident, leader of Block B, Zico, also shaved his head to demonstrate his remorse.[10]
Block B returned in October 2012 with their first full length album, Blockbuster. For this album, the group moved away from their usual hip-hop sound to incorporate many different music styles. Most of the songs on the album were written or produced by the members. The title track "Nillili Mambo" was well received and ranked number 10 on the "Billboard World Albums Chart."[11]
