Golden Child

Ten-piece K-pop boy band Golden Child presents a bass-heavy, EDM-influenced style with light R&B and hip-hop influences, the occasional ballad, and the usual extremely tight, complex choreography. Debuting in 2017, they issued their first EP, Gol-Cha!, which soared into the South Korean Top Three. Additional EPs and singles primed audiences for their first full-length, 2019's Re-boot. They continued to rise on the charts, peaking with 2021's EP Yes. and their sophomore LP, Game Changer. In 2022, the group broke onto the Japanese singles chart with the number one hit "A Woo!!" and the Top Ten track "Rata-Tat-Tat."

Golden Child was a creation of Woollim Entertainment, most famous for their groups Infinite and Lovelyz. They launched in August 2017 with the mini-album Gol-Cha!, which entered the Korean chart at number three, led by the funky single "DamDaDi." The original lineup consisted of Seungmin, Y, Jaehyun, Jibeom, and Bomin, alongside six others who had originally debuted earlier that year as part of the company's trainee showcase W Project: Joochan, Jangjun, Tag, Daeyeol, Donghyun, and Jaeseok. Less than six months after their launch, Jaeseok left the group, citing health issues. Golden Child continued apace, releasing two more mini-albums in the space of a year -- Miracle and Wish, both of which went to number three and also charted in Japan -- and the single album Goldenness, which gave its name to the group's fan club.

Golden Child's debut album, Re-Boot, arrived in late 2019 and went to number eight in South Korea; a few months later, a repackaged version called Without You reached number four. Their fourth mini-album, Take a Leap, was released in June 2020 and went to number six. In 2021, the group's long climb to the top of the charts paid off with the Yes. EP, which hit number two. Their sophomore album, Game Changer, fared just as well, while also landing the group on the U.S. charts for the first time with the single "Ra Pam Pam." The following year, they did the same in Japan, scoring hits with "A Woo!!" and "Rata-Tat-Tat." ~ John D. Buchanan