“B.A.P” (비에이피) acronym for
“Best Absolute Perfect” is a 6 membered Korean hip-hop group under TS Entertainment, home of groups such as SECRET and Untouchable. The members of the group were promoted using various meanings (digital single, sub-unit activities and even MCing) and did so during many months prior to debut, getting them a lot of attention from the media. On January 8th, 2012, the first episode of their pre-debut reality show
MTV “Ta-Dah! It’s B.A.P” aired, revealing the remaining three members to the public. Their first single
“WARRIOR” was released on January 26th and they
officially debuted on January 27th on KBS Music Bank, followed on the 28th by a huge showcase held at the Jangchung Gymnasium, where more than 3,000 fans attended. They secured their spot as rookies who brightly shined the 2012 music industry by sweeping the rookie awards for various end-of-the-year award ceremonies. On February 12th, 2014, B.A.P won their first public broadcast win, two years after debuting, at MBC Show Champion with their title song
'1004'.
B.A.P. was formed and began promoting in late 2011, starting with
Yong Guk, who takes the role of leader in the group. He signed to TS Entertainment and was featured on labelmate Song Jieun's song "Going Crazy". He made a solo debut on August 11, 2011, with the single "I Remember", featuring B2ST's Yang Yo-seob. A second member,
Him Chan, an ulzzang multi-instrumentalist, was the second member of BAP to be introduced to the public as an
MC for a music show program on MTV Korea, called "The Show". And lastly, on November 23, 2011,
Zelo, the third member from BAP to be publicly introduced, collaborated with fellow member
Bang Yong Guk, under the moniker
Bang &
Zelo.
They released a song, titled "Never Give Up".
In January 2012, the group starred in a reality show,
Ta-Dah, It's B.A.P, which aired on SBS MTV. The show focused on how the six members play the role of aliens from a different planet who worked together to debut as B.A.P and invade Earth to help save their dying planet, Planet Mato.
On January 25, 2012, the group's debut single, "Warrior", was released, with
MTV Korea describing it as "powerful and charismatic". Additionally, Nancy Lee of
Enews World wrote "It appears B.A.P has set out to differentiate itself among the pretty-boy male idol groups currently dominating the K-Pop world with a tough, bad boy image, smashing car windows, kicking up dirt and, you know, doing as boys do." Promotion for the single began on the Korean TV show
Music Bank,
followed by other Music TV appearances such as
M! Countdown,
Music Core,
Inkigayo and
The Show. On February 3, 2012,
Warrior debuted on Billboard's World Albums Chart at #10. In South Korea,
Warrior sold over 10,000 copies in just two days upon its release.
In March 2012, B.A.P released a follow-up song, "Secret Love". On April 16, 2012, TS Entertainment announced that B.A.P would have a comeback with a new album on April 27, 2012. "Power" was released in April, as a single-album of the same name,
Power. Upon the release of the album, Power has sold out its initial batch of 30,000 copies. The album was well received and like its predecessor, Power also debuted at number 10 on the Billboard World Albums Charts.
On July 12, 2012 the title of B.A.P's first mini album, No Mercy, was revealed. No Mercy was released digitally on July 19, 2012 under the label of TS Entertainment. The physical release was originally scheduled to be on July 19, 2012 as well but was delayed to July 24, 2012 because of the problems with the finished product. On August 30, 2012, the repackaged version of the EP, renamed Crash, was released.
In early October, 2012, TS Entertainment stated that B.A.P were preparing for their new album. On October 23, B.A.P released their third single album, titled "Stop It", together with a music video on TS Entertainment's YouTube channel.
In February they began releasing material from the second EP,
One Shot. On February 21, 2013, the EP was ranked No.1 on Billboard’s ‘World Albums’ chart.
On July 28, 2013, TS Entertainment announced that the group will be releasing their third EP
Badman on August 6, 2013. The agency had also stated before that there were going to be three promotional singles from the upcoming third EP, namely "Coffee Shop", "Hurricane" and "Badman".
In May, King Records, the Japanese record label that once signed Rain, signed up the group. They released their first Japanese music video,
Warrior, on YouTube on September 13, 2013, and their album and single were officially released on October 9, 2013.
Recently, the boys have released the MV for their second Japanese single "One Shot" and they have released much praise for their ability to both sing and rap in a foreign language so well.
In mid-January, TS Entertainment confirmed plans that B.A.P was set to make a comeback with their first full-length studio album, entitled
First Sensibility. Revealed to contain a total of 13 tracks, it was also confirmed that the title track would be "1004 (Angel)", and that the group's comeback was set for February 3.
