| The Boss | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Dae Guk Nam Ah/DGNA (대국남아) Daikoku Danji (大国男児) |
| Origin | Seoul, South Korea |
| Genres | Acapella, Pop, Ballad |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Open World Entertainment (South Korea) Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Digital Adventure, Inc. (Japan) |
| Associated acts | Popsicle (Sub-Unit) |
| Website | Official Website Official Japanese Website |
| Members | |
| Mika Karam Hyunmin Injun Jay |
|
| The Boss (band) | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 대국남아 |
| Hanja | 大國男兒 |
| Revised Romanization | Daeguk Nama |
| McCune–Reischauer | Taeguk Nama |
The Boss (대국남아, often referred to as DGNA or, incorrectly, D-NA[1]), is a South Korean boy band with five members, formed under Open World Entertainment in 2010.Their official fancolor is Pearl Terracotta,as it was revealed on February 2011 by their official website. In South Korea they are known as Dae Guk Nam Ah, literally meaning 'The Boys of Super Space', which is how their English name of 'The Boss' was formed, which is mainly used outside of Korea. In Japan, they are known as Daikoku Danji (大国男児).
All five members of The Boss were formerly members of Xing Entertainment and members of the generation band Xing (band) with different stage names.
After being officially announced on January 28, 2010, The Boss debuted on March 4, 2010 with their song 'Admiring Boy' on Mnet M!Countdown. On June 18, 2010, they performed a comeback on KBS2's Music Bank with 'Biteul, Biteul' ('비틀비틀'), also known as 'Stumble Stumble', after releasing the respective music video. They also went onto promote another song, 'Nobody...Anybody' ('아무도...그누구도') in August 2010, but without a music video release this time.
Since September 2010, The Boss spend a year promoting their Japanese singles, 'Love Power', 'Love Bingo', and 'Love Parade' on April 2011, June 2011 and September 2011 respectively as part of their 'Love Series' before returning to Korean to promote 'Lady' on late October of 2011.They have been commonly known as 'K-Pop re-exported from Japan' as they used ‘Japan-First Korea-Later’ strategy in their performance.[2]
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The original Xing was formed in 2006 with none of the members of The Boss. Famous members of the original Xing include Yong Jun Hyung who is now part of Cube Entertainment boyband Beast, as well as Kevin Woo and Kim Kibum, who are both now members of NHMedia boyband, U-KISS.Hyunmin replaced one of the original Xing members, Choi Sungsoo. In early 2008, the three remaining members of Xing were joined by the other three members of Xing Entertainment's other band, Singing In The Rain (including The Boss member Mika) as well as a new special dance member, Jeon Jihwan (The Boss member Jay). After the only original remaining Xing member, Kevin, left the band, he was replaced by two new members, Park Hyunchul and Lee Injoon (both now The Boss members). All of the members of 4th generation Xing were replaced to create a 5th generation, and from there, The Boss members went to sign under Open World Entertainment to create a new boyband.
Originally, The Boss was meant to consist of seven members, including the other two members of 4th generation Xing (Kim Jisang and Shin Gwangchul), however, both chose not to go with the band for personal reasons.
On March 4, 2010, The Boss made their debut performance on M! Countdown with their first song "Admiring Boy" (Korean: 동경소년).
Their first dance/ballad mini-album Awake was released on 17 June 2010 and included the hit singles "Admiring Boy" and 눈부신 세계 (Shining World), as well as the more recent release of their next promotion, 'Stumble Stumble' ('비틀비틀').
The Boss appears in a live Japanese variety show called Made in BS Japan as Monday special MCs. Made in BS Japan is a television show that introduces various food, fashion, and history from all over Asia. The Boss started appearing on October 4, 2010. Starting January 2011, The Boss is now in charge of the Wednesday show which talks about the Korean entertainment because U-KISS who is in charge as Wednesday special MCs have graduated from the show due to busy schedules.
In January 2011, they returned to the music scene with a 3-member unit group named Popsicle with members Mika, Karam, and Jay.[3]On 12 January,they release their music video,titled “I’ll Love You Until It Snows in the Middle of a Summer Day”[4] and made debut performances on Music Bank on 14 January 2011.[5] On 20 January 2011,The BOSS won the Newcomer Award at 20th Seoul Music Awards.
On March 30, 2011, The Boss released their first Japanese singles' PV: "Love Power." Their Japanese debut was on April 13, 2011. This debut makes them popular in Japan placing 6th place on Oricon Daily Chart.[6] This was their first large effort to make into Japanese music market.
On June 15, 2011, The Boss released their second Japanese single, titled "Love Bingo."
On September 21, 2011, The Boss released their third Japanese single, titled "Love Parade," originally intended as the last of their "Love Series."The song peaks at number 8 on its first week on Oricon Weekly Charts and also the one of their best singles with 20 000 copies sold on their first week.[7]
On September 2011, after almost one year in Japan, The Boss came back to Korea to promote their new second single album, Lady.On 30 October 2011,they release Lady Live version video on Youtube.[8] They spent only one month in Korea, and went back to Japan in December 2011.
On December 7, 2011, The Boss released a new single in their Japanese "Love Series" titled "Love Days."It is their fourth Japanese single since Love Power and continuing their 'Love Series' trend.
On January 18, 2011, The Boss released 1st Japanese Album titled "Love Letters".
Lee Suhoon (이수훈), stage name Mika is the oldest member of The Boss. Mika is the leader and the main vocalist. Mika was originally a third- and fourth- generation member of Xing, under the stage name "White." He was also part of another of Xing Entertainment's groups, Singing In The Rain, before being part of Xing. He was also featured in SOOLj's "A Man Cries" as well as Lee Ah Si's "Hello". He is the second-cousin of 2PM's main vocalist Junsu.
Park Hyunchul, (박현철) stage name Karam is the second main dancer and vocalist of the group. Karam was a fourth-generation member of Xing, using the stage name "Rising."
Woo Hyunmin, (우현민) usually known as just Hyunmin, is the second main vocalist of the group along with Mika. Hyunmin was also part of Xing, but was added to the band before Mika and was part of the second through fourth generations of Xing under the stage name "Husky" due to his unique singing voice. Like Mika, he was also part of Singing In The Rain.
Lee Injun, (이인준) commonly known as Injoon is one of the vocalists of the group. He also knows how to beatbox. Injoon was a fourth-generation member of Xing under the stage name of "Soul."
Jeon Jihwan (전지환), stage name Jay, is the youngest member of the band, and is the main dancer and rapper of the group. Jay was a third- and fourth-generation member of Xing under the stage name "Kipalang." Before debuting in The Boss, Jay was featured on Star King for his popping skills, named by the show as the "Poppin' Prodigy."[9] He was also cast in a small part in the film Coin Boy. He also starred in the film "Themselves" (often referred to as 바다 (Bada), Ocean, or Sea), released in September 2011.
| Stage Name | Birth Name | Birthday | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mika (Hangul: 미카) | Lee Suhoon (Hangul: 이수훈) | June 28, 1990 | Leader, Main Vocalist |
| Karam (Hangul: 가람) | Park Hyunchul (Hangul: 박현철) | June 28, 1991 | Lead Vocalist, Second Main Dancer |
| Hyunmin (Hangul: 현민) | Woo Hyunmin (Hangul: 우현민) | July 22, 1991 | Second Main Vocalist |
| Injun (Hangul: 인준) | Lee Injun (Hangul: 이인준) | March 9, 1992 | Vocalist |
| Jay | Jeon Jihwan (Hangul: 전지환) | March 31, 1994 | Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Maknae |
| Year | Information | Channel | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |
Movie: "Short! Short! Short!" segment "Coin Boy" ("동전 모으는 소년") (Jay)[10] |
Korean | |
| 2010 | Idol League (Mika, Hyunmin, Injun, Jay) | KBS Joy | Korean |
| Idol United (Karam, Hyunmin, Injun) | MTV Korea | Korean | |
| BokBulBok Show (Karam) | MBC Every'1 Korea | Korean | |
| 2011 | Made in BS Japan | TV Tokyo BS Japan | Japanese |
| 100% 대국남아 | DATV Japan | Japanese | |
| テバッ！大国男児 (Daebak! Daikoku Danji) | TBS Japan | Japanese | |
| Movie: "Themselves" ("바다") (Jay)[11] | Korean |
| Date | Title | Track listing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2010 | The Admirer |
|
Debut album |
| June 2010 | AWAKE |
|
First mini-album |
| October 2011 | Lady |
|
Second single album |
| Date | Title | Track listing |
|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Love Power |
|
| June 2011 | Love Bingo |
|
| September 2011 | Love Parade |
|
| December 2011 | Love Days |
|
| Date | Title | Track listing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2011 | Popsicle |
|
Debut single |
| Year | Music video | Length | Type | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Admiring Boy | 3:39 | Korean | The Admirer |
| Stumble Stumble | 3:52 | Korean | AWAKE | |
| 2011 | I will love you until it snows in Summer | 4:14 | Korean | Popsicle |
| Love Power | 3:53 | Japanese | Love Power | |
| Love Bingo! | 4:23 | Japanese | Love Bingo! | |
| Love Parade | 4:16 | Japanese | Love Parade | |
| Lady | 2:38 | Korean | Lady |
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 20th Seoul Music Award: Best Newcomer Award[13] |
| Hong Kong Asian Pop Music Festival (HKAMF): Best Stage Performance Award[14] |