The groups NCT 127 and NCT Dream (NCT DREAM) have strengthened their unity by consecutively signing renewals with SM Entertainment. The two teams that led NCT's first 10 years are generating anticipation for the next 10 years.
NCT 127 and NCT Dream recently signed renewals with SM Entertainment (hereafter SM). First, NCT 127 completed its renewal on the 15th of last month. SM said "NCT 127 members Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo and Haechan signed renewals based on the strong teamwork they have built and the deep trust with our company," the company said in an official statement.
Then NCT Dream also completed renewals for all members with SM on the 20th. SM said "including Haechan, who had already completed his renewal, members Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung signed renewals based on their deep trust in one another and unchanging affection for the team, and will continue their partnership with our company going forward," the company said.
With NCT 127 and NCT Dream each completing renewals with SM, the NCT brand's strong cohesion has continued. Based on different musical directions and growth narratives, they have served as the two pillars of NCT and led the first 10 years together. At the same time, by completing renewals they have reinforced their steadfast unity.
Since NCT launched in 2016, it has built a distinctive spectrum by operating under a single brand with teams that have different colors and identities. At the center of that, NCT 127 and NCT Dream established their own identities over the past 10 years and grew into the core of the NCT brand.
In particular, the NCT brand has expanded its range more colorfully and richly through the different music and growth narratives of NCT 127 and NCT Dream. NCT 127 built its own domain through experimental neo music and overwhelming performances and earned such powerful stage competitiveness that it is called the "gods of performance," while NCT Dream started as a youth coalition team singing about dreams and hope and became a group that sings about the worries of youth, comfort and empathy. As the two teams completed their growth narratives together, they succeeded in raising the brand's value and competitiveness.
It is notable that the two teams that led NCT's 10 years with different colors have consecutively completed renewals with SM, signaling the expansion of the NCT brand and another coming decade. This can be seen as a symbolic move that simultaneously shows the members' trust and affection for their teams and their long-term intent to continue with SM.
Having completed renewals and reestablished a solid foundation, NCT 127 and NCT Dream are starting full-fledged activities to carry on into the next 10 years. First, NCT 127 will release its seventh full-length album BLINGY on the 24th and will make its comeback for the first time since renewing their contracts. Five members participated, excluding Doyoung and Jungwoo who are serving in the military, and it is expected to show faith in the plan to continue as a seven-member full group next year.
NCT Dream will hold a 10th anniversary fan meeting on the 22nd–23rd to meet fans, and is preparing a new album aiming for a comeback in the fourth quarter of this year.
[Photo] Provided by SM Entertainment.
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