Thursday marks KARD’s first anniversary since its official debut on July 19, 2017.

At midnight, the group’s agency, DSP Media, was the first to congratulate the K-pop group on its achievement, via Twitter. The tweet consisted of a picture of the co-ed four-piece group, comprising J.seph, BM, Somin and Jiwoo, with the message “Happy KARD Day.”

The four members came together to form the group after pursuing different paths prior to KARD.

J.Seph and BM were trainees for a combined total of nine years with their current company and were originally set to debut as a hip-hop duo, while Somin was a former member of two other girl groups under DSP. Jiwoo was the last member to round out the group and had four years of training between two companies before debuting.

Despite their varying backgrounds, the artists have been performing together since 2016 and have seen great success since their official debut with the track “Hola Hola.”






The group’s choice to perform songs before officially debuting was surprising. However, their pre-debut singles “Oh Na Na,” “Don’t Recall,” and “Rumor” received a lot of praise and attracted fans.

Each of these pre-debut tracks also boasted the “hidden card” concept, which meant that KARD would release a special version of the song as a tactic to entice even more fans.

For “Oh Na Na,” former member of girl group Kara and current solo artist Heo Young-ji was featured as a third vocalist. An English version of “Don’t Recall and a dance version with KARD’s choreographer, Z. Sun, in “Rumor” were released during their pre-debut promotions as well.

Their unique concept paired with their electronic dance music and tropical house twist on classic K-pop sounds has made them a name to remember on an international level.

This past year, KARD has gone on a worldwide “Wild KARD Tour,” won rookie awards at the Asia Artist Awards and CJ E&M America Awards, and released its second EP “You & Me.”

The group is set to release its third EP, “Ride On the Wind,” on Wednesday.

By Serena Soh, Intern reporter (sjsoh@heraldcorp.com)