When the lights at the glittering venue went out, everyone held their breath, and the girls watched the stage with desperate expressions, waving placards engraved with the names of their favorite contestants and glow sticks shining like stars. As a spotlight shone on the place where their gazes had gathered and the five who had achieved their debut dreams were revealed, the venue erupted with deafening cheers. The moment of birth of Santos Bravos (SANTOS BRAVOS), the "HYBE Latin boy group."
On Aug. 22 (Korean time), Santos Bravos held their debut concert at the historic Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. The 10,000-seat tickets sold out quickly, and the venue heated up as the lively rhythms and grooves unique to Latin pop swept through. The concert, live-streamed on the HYBE Labels YouTube channel, was watched simultaneously by about 70,000 people online, and the accumulated video views have now exceeded 430,000. Considering it was an event introducing a rookie group taking its first steps, the scale was enormous.
Among the many applicants who challenged HYBE Latin America's large-scale audition project, 17 who passed the first round received about six months of training based on the K-pop system, and five of them were selected as the final members of Santos Bravos. The protagonists are Drew (United States/Mexico), Alejandro (Peru), Kauê (Brazil), Gabee (Puerto Rico), and Kenneth (Mexico). They received the highest scores across the board in musical talent including vocals and performance, expressiveness, and potential and promise as global artists.
The actual team leader, Drew (24), possesses charisma along with outstanding vocal and performance capabilities. Alejandro (21), who has the unique background of being a former tennis player who later entered the USC music school, draws fans with his emotional voice, and Gabee (20), born in Miami and raised in Puerto Rico, boasts striking visuals and performance. Kauê (20), whose vocals move between Brazilian funk and pop, is already being called an "all-rounder idol" among fans, and the youngest, Kenneth (16), is a "born musician" who has been with music since he was three.
The combination of five members with diverse backgrounds and personalities is expected to create rich synergy. The Santos Bravos debut concert proved this. It was based on delicate emotional delivery and solid live performance skills. The meticulous K-pop production system and the optimistic energy unique to Latin pop complete their distinctive and dynamic group color. Fans all rose and cheered when their debut song "0%" was performed, moving their bodies to the members' choreography and singing. Even though the song was unveiled for the first time that day, group singing erupted during the chorus.
Santos Bravos' stage presence stood out. The five members enjoyed the stage and connected with the audience to an extent that made it hard to believe they were rookies who had just finished competing and training. The youngest, Kenneth, showed tears, saying, "The past six months were a series of challenges, but we made it," and leader Drew thanked fans, saying, "All of you are part of our journey." Some fans also reddened their eyes and shared an emotional connection with them.
Santos Bravos' debut song "0%" is a track that combines a powerful bassline and rhythm, sophisticated electronic sounds, and a fast-tempo Latin pop melody. Like the lyrics, "The sun rises, my phone battery is 0% but it doesn't matter," it cheerfully sings that even if the battery is drained, live life at 100%. The song was produced by global hitmaker Johnny Goldstein, with Grammy-winning songwriter Dani Rondón, Vibarco, and Castle participating.
Santiago Duque, vice president of creative and A&R for HYBE Latin America, said, "Finding the balance between K-pop's energy and the rhythm of Latin music was our challenge," and explained, "It's a song that maintains K-pop energy in vocal harmony and choreography while combining the unique beats and sensibility of Latin music."
Santos Bravos is HYBE's second large-scale Latin project carried out under Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy. It is an attempt to transplant the "K-pop production system" to local cultures to discover global stars. After the Latin world's first band audition program Pase a la Fama wrapped up successfully in August, debuting groups such as Musa and Destino, Santos Bravos followed.
[Photo] HYBE Labels
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