Block B (Hangul: 블락비) is a South Korean boy group created by Cho PD under his label Brand New Stardom. On April 15, 2011, they made their debut on KBSMusic Bank with their promotional single, "Freeze!" ("그대로 멈춰라!"). The group consists of seven members: Zico (Woo Jiho), Lee Taeil, B-Bomb (Lee Minhyuk), Ahn Jaehyo, U-Kwon (Kim Yukwon), Park Kyung, and P.O (Pyo Jihoon). The members of Block B have dancing, rapping, composing, and singing experience. Their debut single, titled "Do You Wanna B?" consists of three tracks. Block B is short for the term Blockbuster, with the group having high hopes of making it big in the music industry. The group has its roots in hip hop, but have interest in branching out into different genres.
History
2011: Debut
In February 2011, Cho PD announced that he would be spending $1.4 million USD to create a seven-member hip hop group under his "Creating Korea's Eminem Project".[1] He added that this septet have been mentored by other hip hop artists, including Verbal Jint, Skull, and Rhymer, and announced their debut to be in April 2011. The group garnered interest both domestically and internationally prior to their debut.
On April 13, 2011, their debut music video for "Freeze!" was released. Freeze was banned by the Commission of Youth Protection because the organization felt that their lyrics expressed unwholesome dating methods.[2] This meant it couldn't be sold to minors under the age of 19, and also couldn't be aired before 10 PM. On April 15, 2011, the group made their live debut on KBS Music Bank.[3][4] The group followed up with another track off their single, "Wanna B."[5]
Block B has made several appearances on both radio and variety shows, including "Younha's Starry Night"[6] and 100 Points Out of 100.[7]
Their first mini album New Kids on the Block was released on June 23, 2011.[8]
On June 22, 2011, the first episode of MTV's Match Up! was aired featuring Block B and B1A4.[9] The first episode revealed Block B's music video for their first mini album's title track, "Tell Them". The show will allow both groups to show off their musical talents and personalities through weekly missions and behind-the-scenes footage. The program will have eight episodes. On October 16, 2011 MTV started airing a series of specials for the Match Up series that followed Block.B while they promoted in Japan.
Education: Hanlim Entertainment Arts High School [attending]
Specialty: Composing, Rapping
Experiences:
Participated as a guest at Vibe Concert 2010/06
Other:
P.O. was eliminated during the group’s first official audition. He tried out again a year later after losing 10kg and training intensively to improve his vocals and dance skills.
