Early Life

RIIZE was born inside one of K-pop’s most influential companies, but the group was not introduced as a blank slate. SM Entertainment had spent decades shaping idol pop through acts such as H.O.T., TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT and aespa. By the time RIIZE appeared, the company had a long history of building groups around sharp performance, elaborate concepts and vocal polish.

The first public pieces of RIIZE’s story came before the official debut. Shotaro and Sungchan were already familiar to many K-pop fans from their time with NCT. Eunseok and Seunghan had been introduced through SM Rookies in 2022, a pre-debut platform that historically allowed audiences to meet selected trainees before formal group activities. Wonbin, Sohee and Anton arrived as newer public faces, which gave the lineup an unusual balance: some members had existing fan recognition, while others carried the charge of discovery.

That mixture mattered. Rookie groups often spend their first year explaining who they are. RIIZE had to do that while also managing expectations attached to SM’s first new boy group in several years. The members’ backgrounds helped define the early chemistry. Shotaro brought an immediately recognizable dance reputation. Sungchan had experience in the high-pressure NCT system. Anton attracted attention not only for his music interests and soft-spoken image but also because he is the son of acclaimed Korean musician and producer Yoon Sang and actress Shim Hye-jin. Sohee quickly emerged as a distinctive vocalist. Wonbin became one of the group’s most discussed performers and visuals. Eunseok added a steadier, understated presence that suited the group’s less-is-more public tone.

Their pre-debut period also showed how modern idols are introduced now: not only through official teasers and press releases, but through photos, dance clips, airport footage, livestream moments and platform-native content. Before RIIZE had a full discography, they already existed as a social-media subject. That could have been overwhelming. Instead, it became part of their foundation.

Career

RIIZE’s official debut in September 2023 came with Get A Guitar, a song that announced the group with a clean pop-funk sound rather than a heavy conceptual mythology. That choice was important. Many K-pop debuts try to overwhelm the audience with world-building. RIIZE started with a groove, a guitar line and choreography that felt instantly repeatable without being disposable. The single album became a major commercial statement, selling more than one million copies in its first week according to Hanteo Chart data reported at the time, an extraordinary figure for a debut release.

The group’s early musical identity was described by SM as emotional pop, a term broad enough to stretch but specific enough to signal intent. RIIZE songs tend to build around feeling and motion. They are not simply dance tracks; they are songs designed to make youth feel cinematic. Memories, released ahead of the formal debut, carried a reflective coming-of-age mood. Get A Guitar brought charm and elasticity. Talk Saxy introduced a brassier, more playful side. Love 119, released in early 2024, softened the edges and became one of the tracks that widened the group’s reach beyond the debut curiosity phase.

Like many new acts, RIIZE also faced turbulence early. In November 2023, Seunghan went on hiatus after private pre-debut material circulated online. In October 2024, SM Entertainment announced that he would return, but the decision triggered intense reaction from parts of the fandom. Shortly afterward, it was announced that Seunghan would leave the group. For RIIZE, it was a painful public chapter in a career that was barely a year old. It also illustrated one of the hardest realities of contemporary idol culture: young performers are expected to be polished, available and emotionally resilient before they have had much time to become adults in private.

The remaining six-member lineup continued forward with Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Sohee and Anton. The group’s ability to maintain momentum after internal change became one of the defining tests of its early career. Rather than retreat, RIIZE expanded its musical range. Impossible, released in 2024, leaned into house music and the group’s dance vocabulary, showing a more physically demanding, club-influenced side. Boom Boom Bass, the title track from the first mini-album RIIZING, strengthened the idea that RIIZE could make instruments and rhythm feel like characters in the group’s music.

The RIIZING era mattered because it moved RIIZE from promising debut act to a group with a body of work. A debut can be fueled by curiosity. A follow-up requires identity. The mini-album showed that the guitar motif was not a gimmick and that the group could absorb different genres while keeping a bright, kinetic core. It also gave the members more opportunities to reveal who they were as performers: Shotaro’s precision, Wonbin’s stage magnetism, Sohee’s vocal color, Sungchan’s presence, Eunseok’s composure and Anton’s gentle charisma.

Fashion arrived quickly, too. In December 2023, Louis Vuitton named RIIZE house ambassadors, a rare level of luxury attention for a group only months into its official career. The appointment said something about K-pop’s changed place in global culture. New groups no longer need years of Western chart history before luxury houses see them as international tastemakers. RIIZE’s styling, visuals and youth appeal made them valuable in the fashion conversation almost immediately.

Japan has also been central to the group’s rise. Shotaro’s presence gave RIIZE a natural bridge to Japanese audiences, and the group made a formal Japanese debut with Lucky in 2024. For SM boy groups, Japan has often been a crucial market, but RIIZE entered at a time when K-pop consumption there was already deeply integrated with streaming, touring, fan events and social platforms. That meant the group could build recognition through both traditional promotions and fan-shared performance clips.

Their variety and reality content has helped complete the picture. BOSS RIIZE, released in 2024 through Studio X+U, gave fans a more casual view of the members away from tightly edited music stages. This sort of content can be easy to dismiss, but for K-pop groups it is often where long-term attachment forms. A three-minute performance may create interest; a reality episode can create loyalty.

The Do Your Dance challenge surpassing 100 million TikTok views now fits naturally into the RIIZE story. It is not an isolated viral accident. It reflects what the group has been building since debut: music with physical immediacy, choreography that invites participation, members who understand the camera, and a fanbase willing to translate promotion into global momentum. In earlier pop eras, a young group might have needed radio saturation to prove a single had broken through. RIIZE is growing in an era where proof can look like millions of user interactions, countless dance covers, and a chorus traveling across countries before casual listeners even learn all the members’ names.

The most interesting part is that RIIZE still feels unfinished in the best sense. The group is young enough that its signature can keep changing, but established enough that those changes now matter. They are no longer just SM’s next boy group. They are one of the clearest examples of how a fourth-to-fifth generation bridge act can operate: rooted in classic idol training, fluent in short-form culture, musically accessible and visibly ambitious.

Television

• M Countdown (2023-present) — Performers
• Music Bank (2023-present) — Performers
• Inkigayo (2023-present) — Performers
• BOSS RIIZE (2024) — Main cast
• RIIZE official digital content (2023-present) — Themselves

Awards & Honors

• 2023 — MAMA Awards (Favorite New Artist) — Won
• 2023 — Melon Music Awards (New Artist of the Year) — Won
• 2023 — The Fact Music Awards (Next Leader) — Won
• 2024 — Golden Disc Awards (Rookie Artist of the Year) — Won
• 2024 — Hanteo Music Awards (Rookie of the Year – Male Artist) — Won
• 2024 — Circle Chart Music Awards (New Icon of the Year) — Won

Business Ventures

• RIIZE is represented by SM Entertainment, one of South Korea’s major music and entertainment companies.
• The group was appointed Louis Vuitton house ambassadors in December 2023, placing them in the global luxury fashion conversation shortly after debut.
• RIIZE releases official albums, merchandise and fan products through SM Entertainment’s commercial and fan platforms.
• The group’s brand value is closely tied to performance clips, short-form campaigns and official social media channels, which have become central to modern K-pop promotion.

Current Projects

• Promotion of Do Your Dance through short-form video, choreography content and fan participation challenges.
• Ongoing music activities as a six-member group: Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Sohee and Anton.
• Continued international promotion following the group’s Korean debut, Japanese debut and expanding global fanbase.
• Fashion and brand activity connected to RIIZE’s role as Louis Vuitton house ambassadors.
• Official digital content across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other social platforms.

Interesting Facts

• RIIZE’s name combines the words Rise and Realize, reflecting the idea of growing together while achieving goals.
• The group’s fandom name is BRIIZE, pronounced like breeze, suggesting fans who help RIIZE move forward.
• Shotaro and Sungchan were both known to fans before RIIZE because they had previously been members of NCT.
• Eunseok was introduced through SM Rookies before debuting with RIIZE.
• Anton is the son of Yoon Sang, one of Korea’s respected musicians and producers.
• Get A Guitar gave RIIZE a debut identity built around groove and live-instrument imagery rather than a dense fictional universe.
• RIIZE’s debut single album became a million-seller in its first week, a major commercial achievement for a rookie act.
• The group’s music has frequently used instrument references in titles and concepts, including guitar and bass.
• Impossible showed a different side of RIIZE by drawing on house music and emphasizing intricate dance performance.
• RIIZE became Louis Vuitton house ambassadors only months after debut, an unusually fast luxury-fashion ascent.
• The group’s Japanese debut Lucky arrived in 2024, underlining Japan’s importance to its international strategy.
• BOSS RIIZE gave fans a reality-format look at the members’ personalities beyond music stages.
• The Do Your Dance challenge crossing 100 million TikTok views shows how RIIZE’s choreography travels as fan participation, not just official promotion.
• RIIZE’s early career has unfolded during a period when short-form platforms can shape a K-pop single’s global reach as powerfully as traditional broadcast appearances.

Why ShowBiz Selected This Entertainer

RIIZE is featured this week because the group’s Do Your Dance challenge has surpassed 100 million views on TikTok, turning a promotional dance campaign into a global social-media moment. The milestone matters because it connects directly to RIIZE’s larger career story. Since debut, the group has been built around movement, immediacy and emotional pop designed for both the stage and the screen. Get A Guitar introduced a rookie act with rhythm at its center; Impossible and Boom Boom Bass expanded that performance language; Do Your Dance now shows how effectively RIIZE can convert choreography into mass participation.

For a young K-pop group, viral attention can be fleeting. What makes RIIZE’s week significant is that the TikTok surge does not stand alone. It follows strong album sales, major rookie awards, international expansion, fashion recognition and a fast-growing fan culture. In other words, the dance challenge is not a gimmick pasted onto the group’s career. It is a visible expression of what RIIZE has been doing from the beginning: making pop that asks listeners not only to stream, but to move with them.

Watch Next

• Get A Guitar music video
• Memories performance video
• Love 119 music video
• Impossible performance video
• Boom Boom Bass music video
• Lucky Japanese debut content
• BOSS RIIZE
• RIIZE official dance practice videos
• Do Your Dance challenge clips on RIIZE’s official TikTok