Born to Beat!note
BTOB (비투비; acronym for Born to Beat) is a South Korean Boyband under Cube Entertainment. They debuted on March 12, 2012, with the song "Insane".Unlike any other group of their time, BTOB were introduced through JTBC Sitcom, "I Live in Cheongdam-dong", as an aspiring boyband working towards their debut. The members that were introduced at that time were Eunkwang, Minhyuk, Hyunsik, Ilhoon, and Minwoo. However, Minwoo were dropped from the list of debut line-up due to his health problem at that time. Other members such as Changsub, Peniel, and Sungjae joined afterward.
Originally a seven-piece member group, member Ilhoon departed from the group in December 2020.
On November 6, 2023, the group departed from Cube Entertainment after their contracts expired.
Members
Current Members:
- Eunkwang (Seo Eun-kwang, born November 22, 1990) - Leader, Main Vocalist.
- Minhyuk (Lee Min-hyuk, born November 29, 1990) - Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer, Vocalist, Visual.
- Changsub (Lee Chang-sub, born February 26, 1991) - Lead Vocalist.
- Hyunsik (Im Hyun-sik, born March 7, 1992) - Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist.
- Peniel (Peniel Shinnote , born March 10, 1993) - Lead Rapper, Vocalist.
- Sungjae (Yook Sung-jae, born May 4, 1995) - Vocalist, Face of the Group, Maknae.
Former Members:
- Ilhoon (Jung Il-hoon, born October 4, 1994) - Main Rapper, Vocalist.
Sub-Units
- BTOB Blue: BTOB's first sub-unit consists of the group's vocalists: Eunkwang, Changsub, Hyunsik, and Sungjae. They debuted on September 19, 2016, with the digital single "Stand By Me".
- BTOB 4U: BTOB's sub-unit that consists of members that have finished their military service (Eunkwang, Minhyuk, Changsub) and Peniel note . This sub-unit debuted on November 16, 2020, with the song "Show Your Love" from their EP 'Inside'.
Discography
Korean Discography
Studio Albums- 2015 - Complete
- 2017 - Brother Act.
- 2012 - Born to Beat
- 2012 - Press Play
- 2013 - Thriller
- 2014 - Beep Beep
- 2014 - Move
- 2014 - The Winter's Tale
- 2015 - I Mean
- 2016 - Remember That
- 2016 - New Men
- 2017 - Feel'eM
- 2018 - This Is Us
- 2018 - Hour Moment
- 2021 - 4U: Outside
Japanese Discography
Studio Albums- 2016 - 24/7
- 2018 - BTOB Japan Best Album 2014-2017 ～1096 Days～
- 2021 - Outside
BTOB provides examples of the following tropes:
Band and Members Tropes
- Affectionate Nickname:
- The Baby of the Bunch: Sungjae.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: They are noted by fans and the general public alike as a group with one of the best vocals in K-Pop. This is backed up by them winning the 2016 Golden Disc Awards for Best Vocal Group. They even have a sub-unit, BTOB Blue, which consists of the vocalists of the group (Eunkwang, Changsub, Hyunsik, & Sungjae).
- Big Little Brother: The youngest member, Sungjae, is the tallest.
- But Not Too Foreign: Peniel was born and raised in Chicago, but is a pure Korean.
- Gratuitous English: Eunkwang had moments of this, Played for Laughs.
- In Mnet's Kingdom: Legendary War, when he talked to Bang Chan of Stray Kids in English.
Eunkwang: "Hey, Mr. Chan."Bang Chan: "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you."Eunkwang: (misheard) "Place to meet you?"Bang Chan: "It's a really big pleasure."Eunkwang: "It's pleasure?"Minhyuk: (in Korean) "He's really happy to meet you."Eukwang: "Ah! Big pleasure. Wow, so amazing. How are you?"Bang Chan: "I'm good. How are you?"Eunkwang: (in Korean, confused) "Oh? Most people say 'I'm fine, thank you, and you?' That's all I know."- In one of his Instagram Live, instead of saying "Don't give up!" to cheer up a fan, Eunkwang said, "Give up!"
- Idol Singer: However, not only that, they are dubbed as "beagle-dol" by the media due to their unpredictable activeness and goofiness.
- It Runs in the Family:
- Eunkwang's mother, Hwang Soon-ok, can also sing. She and her son won “Immortal Song: Family Chuseok Special” with their cover of Sunflower’s “With Love”.
- Hyunsik's father, Im Ji-hoon, is a singer as well.
- Large Ham: Eunkwang, Changsub, & Sungjae are the main men. Other members usually follow, though.
- Not So Above It All: Despite looking like the Only Sane Man in the group, Minhyuk & Hyunsik are not prone to the other members' Large Ham antics.
- The Leader: Eunkwang. However, when he went on mandatory military service, the position was given to Minhyuk temporarily. When Minhyuk also went to the military, it was given to Sungjae. This position has since returned to Eunkwang.
- Pronouncing My Name for You: Eunkwang did this to Peniel for 10 years. He pronounced Peniel's name as "PEA-niel", instead of "PUH-niel". Even though he reminded Eunkwang of this in a show, he repeated the same mistake again two weeks later in his live on Instagram. However, many fans admitted they have been pronouncing Peniel's name the same way Eunkwang did.
- Singer-Songwriter: All members have participated at least once in writing their songs. Minhyuk, Hyunsik, & Ilhoon get bonus points since they are also in charge of composing the songs.
- Stage Names: While all of them are using their real names as stage names, Minhyuk has Huta as his stage name when he went solo.
- Eunkwang almost had 'Silver Light' as his stage name, which is the translation of his real name. Fans still call him this from time to time.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Changsub & Sungjae. To the point that fans dubbed them as 'Tom & Jerry' of the group.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Changsub has a fear of height. In 'We Got Married', when they rode a roller coaster with Red Velvet, he screamed with Yeri who was seated next to him.
Music & Music Video Tropes
- Album Intro Track:
- "Born to Beat" for Born to Beat
- "Press Play" for Press Play
- "When I Was Your Man" for Thriller, an Album Single as well.
- "Beep Beep" for Beep Beep, which is also an Album Single and Title Track.
- "You're So Fly" for Move, same case as the above.
- "You Can Cry" for The Winter's Tale.
- "Complete" for Complete
- "Last Day" for I Mean
- "Killing Me" for Remember That
- "NEW MEN" for New Men
- "Just Say It" for Feel'eM
- "Prelude: A Day" for Brother Act.
- "Call Me" for This Is Us
- "Friend" for Hour Moment
- "Dreamer" for 4U: Outside
- Break Up Song:
- Their 2017 hit, "Missing You". It tells about someone who tries to move on from their ex-lover but ended up reminiscing their past together and missing said ex.
- Their first song without Eunkwangnote , "Beautiful Pain". The song tells about the memories of their past love that is beautiful, but actually a Destructive Romance.
- Morality Ballad: "It's Okay", their 2015 Album Single. Exactly What It Says on the Tin, the song tells about the hardships that we feel every day and is comforting that everything will be alright.
- Multilingual Song: "Movie" is this since Peniel had his verse fully in English.
- Parental Love Song: Their 2012 digital single, "Father" tells about the sacrifice of a father, their regret of neglecting his sacrifice, and their wish to repay it.
- Shout-Out: In "Movie" MV, every member portrayed characters from famous films.
- Eunkwang is Danny Zuko from Grease.
- Minhyuk is James Bond from the James Bond franchise.
- Changsub is The Bride from Kill Bill.
- Hyunsik is Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction.
- Peniel is Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. from 8 Mile.
- Ilhoon is The Joker from Suicide Squad.
- Sungjae is Benji Dunn from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
- Solo Side Project: Each and all of the members have made their debut as a solo artist.
- Changsub is the first on March 21, 2018, with mini-album "bpm 82.5" in Japan. Later, he debuted as a solo artist in Korea on December 11, 2018, with an EP titled "Mark".
- Ilhoon debuted on March 8, 2018, with EP titled "Big Wave".
- Minhyuk debuted on January 15, 2019, with a studio album titled "Hutazone".
- Peniel debuted on May 13, 2019, with the digital single "B.O.D".
- Hyunsik debuted on October 14, 2019, with EP "Rendez-vouz".
- Sungjae debuted on March 2, 2020, with EP "Yook O'Clock"note .
- Eunkwang debuted on June 6, 2020, with EP "Forest: Entrance"note .
- Incredibly Long Note: Pulled off by Eukwang and Changsub in Weekly Idol when they did a cover of "Tears" by So Chan-whee. See their performance here
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