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YG’s Winner debuts at No. 1

Aug. 12, 2014 - 20:51 By Ock Hyun-ju
Winner (YG Entertainment)
Rookie K-pop group Winner topped major music charts with its debut album Tuesday.

As the YG Entertainment boy band dropped its debut EP “2014 S/S” at midnight on Aug. 12, one of the two main tracks, “Empty,” instantly appeared at the top of the nine major Korean music charts, including Mnet, Olleh Music and Naver Music.

The other tunes on the album, including the other main track “Color Ring,” made the top five on the charts.

The group’s five members ― Kang Seung-yoon, Lee Seung-hoon, Song Min-ho, Nam Tae-hyun and Kim Jin-woo ― helped write and produce the songs on their album.

Winner was first introduced through the reality survival show “Who Is Next: WIN,” as part of YG CEO Yang Hyun-suk’s latest project to pick members for his newest boy band.

During the program, Team A and Team B, all composed of trainees under the label, vied for a chance to debut in the winner-takes-all competition. The victory went to Team A, which is now the group Winner.

Winner is set to launch their official debut with an onstage performance at the “AIA Real Life: Now Festival 2014,” on Aug. 15. It will be joined by label mates including Big Bang, Psy and 2NE1.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)