British magazine names ZeroBaseOne’s debut track as one of the best K-pop songs of the year

Album cover of ″Youth in the Shade,″ ZeroBaseOne’s debut EP [WAKEONE]

ZeroBaseOne’s debut track was selected as one of the best K-pop songs of the year by British magazine Vanity Teen, according to the boy band’s agency WakeOne Monday.

Vanity Teen is a London-based biannual fashion magazine that showcases young artists’ work around the world.

Vanity Teen released the Top 23 K-pop Singles of 2023 list on its website on Friday, which included ZeroBaseOne’s “In Bloom.”

“ZEROBASEONE has become one of the most prominent groups to debut in the current fifth-gen landscape, rightfully setting several records along the way,” Vanity Teen said.

“And with their enthusiastic debut track ‘In Bloom,’ the unstoppable group wastes no time spreading their expansive roots in this ’80s-coded masterpiece,” the magazine added.

“In Bloom” is the lead track of the band’s debut EP “Youth in the Shade,” which was released in July.

The song’s title, “In Bloom,” signifies the members’ intention to take a beautiful and meaningful first step toward its fans despite being imperfect and immature, according to the agency.

The track has surpassed 32 million cumulative streams on Spotify, one of the world’s largest music streaming platforms, as of Sunday.

ZeroBaseOne — also known as ZB1 — is a project group formed through cable network Mnet’s audition program “Boys Planet.” The group consists of nine members: Zhang Hao, Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew, Ricky, Park Gun-wook, Kim Tae-rae, Kim Gyu-vin, Kim Ji-woong and Han Yu-jin.

To find out more about ZeroBaseOne, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY LEE CHAE-MIN [lee.chaemin1@joongang.co.kr]