Who are &TEAM exactly? The 9-member boy group was formed by HYBE, a.k.a. BTS‘ music company, under their Japanese label. Consisting of members from around the world, the band is based in Japan and South Korea.
Keep reading to learn more about &TEAM.
Who Are &TEAM?
The group is composed of nine members: K, Fuma, Nicholas, EJ, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, and Maki. They were formed through the 2022 reality-survival program &Audition – The Howling as their label’s first group. They officially debuted with mini album First Howling : ME in December 2022.
ICYMI, several members of &TEAM, including K, Nicholas, EJ and Taki, participated in another reality competition show titled I-LAND in 2020, vying for a spot in the band that went on to become the boy group ENHYPEN.
Following the show, it was announced that the members would debut as part of a Japanese group — however, they’d first have to participate in that group’s competition show, &AUDITION: – The Howling.
As for the band’s concept, it’s a bit … supernatural. They introduced themselves with a werewolf concept two years before debuting. In ENHYPEN’s “Drunk-Dazed” music video, future &TEAM members K and EJ appeared as werewolves tailing the vampiric ENHYPEN boys.
Who Are the Members of &TEAM?
The oldest member is K, who was the closest to debut with ENHYPEN, being the last member to be eliminated from the final lineup. Next is Fuma, who was previously a trainee under n.CH entertainment and also appeared in Produce 101 Japan season 2.
Nicholas, who is from Taiwan, already spoke two languages (English, Mandarin) before learning Korean to appear on I-LAND and Japanese in preparation for &AUDITION. He was eliminated in episode 3 of I-LAND. Then there’s Yuma, who was an AVEX trainee and part of the Osaka junior group VividRookies from 2015 and α–X’s from 2017-2018. As for J0, he participated on the Junon Superboy Contest in 2020 and was a basketball player prior to K-pop.
Harua trained under Stardust Promotion, and pretty much skated under the radar while competing for much of &AUDITION, until pulling public interest towards the end with his charming and cheery performances. Taki is also a former contestant of I-Land, and was eliminated in episode 10.
Then there’s the youngest member, Maki, who is German and Japanese, and speaks three languages: English, Japanese and German. And last but not least is &TEAM’s leader, EJ, who was eliminated in episode 7 of I-LAND.
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