Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program No.Mercy under Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, and I.M, while former member Wonho left the group in October 2019. They debuted with their first EP Trespass on May 14, 2015.
In March 2017, Monsta X released their first studio album and final part of The Clan series The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter. Since 2018, the group had four Japanese singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, while since 2019, ten of their Korean albums and extended plays had been certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association. In 2020, the group's first English album All About Luv placed number five on the US Billboard 200 and number seven on the US Rolling Stone Top 200.
Since debut, they had been known for their aggressive style, combining elements of hip hop, EDM and pop. This aggressive style with "tracks centred around loud, clattering, electronic instrumentals, vicious rap verses, and striking vocals" had also been influential across the fourth generation of K-pop, and being credited in breaking gender norms before it was a trend. Since then, Monsta X had been called the "Next Generation Beast Idol".
History
2014–2015: No.Mercy and debut
The group was formed, as the result of the survival program called No.Mercy, which was launched by Starship Entertainment and Mnet in December 2014. Through the course of ten episodes, twelve trainees; thirteen after I.M joined in episode eight, competed against each other through various performances and were ranked from one to twelve, with one being the highest and twelve being the lowest. They also have to wear a nametag with their ranking, which changed following the challenges and performances set by the judges. For the show, the participants worked directly with artists from Starship Entertainment, including Hyolyn, K.Will, Mad Clown, and Soyou, as well as other artists such as Rhymer, San E, Giriboy, and Genius Nochang, who also served as judges in ranking the contestants. For the concluding mission, the nine remaining trainees formed into three groups of three to compete, while the members of Monsta X were selected from these nine in the final episode as the seven members of the group: Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, and I.M.
No.Mercy also led to the 2014 spin-off web series Deokspatch, which also began airing in December, which was meant to showcase a more casual and lighthearted side to the competition in order for people to get to know the trainees better. It also continued as Deokspatch X in May 2015 and as Deokspatch X² in October. These seasons focused on their participation in variety show activities.
The group's name "Monsta X" contains the double meaning of "Monsters conquering the K-pop scene" and "My star" (Mon means "My" in French), then X symbolizes an unknown existence. Their fandom name "Monbebe" is also French for "My baby". Jooheon, Hyungwon, and I.M also released their song "Interstellar", which was produced for the final mission by Yella Diamond on February 12, 2015.
Monsta X made their debut with the release of their first extended play Trespass on May 14, 2015. "Trespass" is produced by Rhymer and described as a "strong and edgy track that reflects Monsta X's unique character". Trespass includes seven different tracks. Jooheon was the most involved member in the production of the mini-album and composed several songs, including "One Love", "Steal Your Heart", and "Blue Moon". I.M was also involved in the rap making of several songs. Kihyun and Wonho contributed song lyrics for the EP.
On September 1, the group returned with their second extended play titled Rush. The title track of the same name is described as a song that represents their signature style, that produced by Giriboy. Keone Madrid choreographed the dance and Joo Hee-sun directed the music video. The mini-album contains six tracks produced by Mad Clown, Crybaby and Rhymer. Jooheon also took part in making the rap for five out of the six tracks, while fellow member I.M was involved in four songs, including the title track "Rush". In 2015, they made their first U.S. appearance performing at KCON 2015 in Los Angeles. Monsta X received the "Next Generation Asian Artist" award at 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards and the "1theK Performance Award" at 2015 Melon Music Awards.
2016: Chinese ventures and first solo concert
In January, the group released a new variety program Monsta X Right Now!. The same month, they also appeared in a Chinese web drama Good Evening, Teacher, receiving positive responses from local viewers.
On May 9, Monsta X pre-released their single "Ex Girl", featuring Wheein of Mamamoo. On May 18, their third extended play The Clan Pt. 1 Lost, with the lead single "All In" was released. Its music video was directed by filmmaker Shin Dong-keul, a former winner at the Canada International Film Festival and is known for his dreamy and euphoric style in producing music videos. The EP debuted at number five on Billboard World Albums chart and stayed for two consecutive weeks on it. It is also the first part of The Clan series.
In June, the group participated on a Chinese survival program Heroes of Remix, which was aired on Jiangsu Television. The show holds a remix competition in the program and each one of the participants received a lesson from its assigned mentor and perform its stage by remixing representative Chinese music.
In July, they held their first solo concert The First Live "X-Clan Origins" from July 16 to July 17, which sold out in five minutes.
In August, Starship Entertainment formed a project group with Monsta X and their labelmate WJSN as part of a promotional project with KT. As part of its promotion, they released the single "Do Better", with an accompanying music video.
On October 4, Monsta X released their fourth extended play and second part of The Clan series The Clan Pt. 2 Guilty, alongside the title track "Fighter".
In December, the group received the "Best of Next Male Artist" award at 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
2017: First studio album, Japanese debut and first world tour In January, they launched their own variety show Monsta X-Ray through JTBC2.
On March 21, Monsta X released their first studio album and the final part of The Clan series The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter, with the title track "Beautiful". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard World Albums chart and at number ten on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, while the title track "Beautiful" debuted and peaked at number four on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.
On May 17, the group made their debut in Japan with a Japanese single, under Universal Music's new label Mercury Records Tokyo, which included Japanese versions of "Hero" and "Stuck". "Hero" reached number two on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart, number one on the Tower Records chart, and number three on the weekly Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, making an impressive debut from a foreign artist.
On June 19, they released a repackaged version of The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter called Shine Forever, which features the original songs from the album and two extra tracks "Shine Forever" and "Gravity", as well as the music video for "Shine Forever". The title track "Shine Forever" combines future bass and hip-hop styles and includes rap lyrics written by members Jooheon and I.M. Monsta X also began their first world tour Beautiful in June.
The group aired the second season of Monsta X-Ray in July. They also released a promotional single "Newton" on July 27. The music video for the single was produced by Yoo Sung-kyun of SunnyVisual.
On August 23, their second Japanese single was released. It contains the Japanese versions of "Beautiful" and "Ready or Not". It reached number one on Oricon's daily chart.
On November 7, Monsta X released their fifth extended play The Code, with title track "Dramarama". On the same day, the group held a comeback show at Jangchung Arena. On November 14, they won their first music broadcast award through SBS MTV's The Show with "Dramarama".
On December 18, Monsta X released a special single "Lonely Christmas" as a surprise holiday release for their fans. It was written, produced, and co-composed by Jooheon.
2018: Second world tour, Japanese album and Take.1 Are You There?
On January 13, the group served as torchbearers for the Olympic torch relay in Seoul at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. On January 31, they released their third Japanese single, which included their first original Japanese track "Spotlight" and Japanese version of their previously released Korean track "Shine Forever", in which were previously performed for Monsta X Christmas Party 2017. From January 19 to February 18, Monsta X opened a collaboration cafe for a limited time at Shinjuku Box.
In February, the group announced their second world tour The Connect, with the first shows on May 26 and 27, held at Jangchung Arena in Seoul.
On March 26, they officially released their sixth EP The Connect: Dejavu, which contains seven tracks including the title track "Jealousy", produced by Hayden Bell, Shane Simmons, and Harry Sommerdahland, with the tracks "If Only", co-written by Wonho and "Special", co-written by Jooheon. In this comeback, Monsta X won another music broadcast award through SBS MTV's The Show.
On April 25, the group released their first Japanese studio album Piece with the lead title track "Puzzle", including the songs from their previous Japanese single albums and another four additional songs. Piece reached number one on Tower Records chart all store, number three on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart and Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. On April 27, they started their first Japan tour in Nagoya.
On August 1, Monsta X released a music video for their Japanese comeback "Livin' It Up", while the single was officially released on September 12.
On October 22, the group released the first part of their second studio album Take.1 Are You There?, with the title track "Shoot Out". The English version of the song was released on November 9.
2019: Take.2 We Are Here, international expansion and Wonho's departure On January 20, they released the second part of their second studio album Take.2 We Are Here, along with its lead single "Alligator".
In February, Jooheon announced that he changed his stage name for English activities to Joohoney.
In March, Monsta X collaborated with music producer Steve Aoki for the track "Play It Cool" and its English version.
In April, their agency Starship Entertainment, announced their third world tour We Are Here, with twelve countries and eighteen cities, making it their largest to date.
On May 28, the group signed with Epic Records for their English language recordings and distribution outside South Korea. On June 14, they released a new English single titled "Who Do U Love?" featuring French Montana. On September 20, Monsta X released another English single titled "Love U" and "Who Do U Love?" remix version by will.i.am.