About B2ST/BEAST

Beast (비스트, stylized as BEAST or B2ST) is a boy group from South Korea that consists of six members, under Cube Entertainment. The group was originally known as B2ST, an acronym for boys to Search for Top. However, their name was changed to BEAST (Boys of the EAst Standing Tall) a few days before debut. They released their first mini-album Beast Is The B2ST on October 14, 2009.

History

2009: Debut

In late 2009, news articles started to surface online about Cube Entertainment's new group, B2ST (pronounced "BEAST") as explained by member, Dong Woon, in episode 8 of their MTV documentary MTV B2ST which showcased their journey leading up to their debut. On October 14, the group's first mini-album, Beast Is The B2ST, was released selling over 20,000 copies in October 2009 and has even further reached 40,000 copies sold in sales to date. A Cube Entertainment representative for BEAST revealed that they have sold all the albums they printed in the first batch and are tentatively planning to produce 5,000 more and also considering reissuing AJ's album due to strong demands. On October 16, they made their live debut on KBS Music Bank with their debut track, "Bad Girl". The group became very popular after debuting, following various commercial calls from companies around Asia. On December 2, 2009, BEAST won their first award, Rookie of the Month, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It was later announced by Cube Entertainment that Universal Records would be assisting BEAST and 4minute with international launches of their albums.


2010: Gaining Popularity

On January 23, 2010, BEAST commenced their international promotions in Taiwan. The group was awarded with the Best Newcomer Award at the 19th Seoul Music Awards on February 3, 2010.
The group's second mini-album, Shock Of The New Era, was scheduled for release on March 2, 2010, however it was put forward a day and was released on March 1 due to all of their songs being leaked on Youtube.com. Despite the leak of their songs, the album climbed various music charts and have already sold 20,000 copies to date. The new genre prepared by BEAST is 'Rocktronic.' With a powerful sound and BEAST's added color to Shock of the New Era, they sped up the overall completion of the album. Their title song "Shock" was reviewed as serving a powerful voice while having a strong sound with an abundance of melting sensibility, and will be performing a VTach dance with dynamic poses. On March 25 of 2010 BEAST transformed into Ballad Singers and sang an orchestra version of the sad ballad 'Despite Holding On' by Noel and were recognized as a boy group with singing ability.

On March 25, 2010, BEAST receive their very first win on Mnet’s ‘Mcountdown’ with their new song ‘SHOCK’. Without the help of any professionals, BEAST gave their fans a special Music Video of ‘Take Care of My Girlfriend’ (Say No) on the 14th of April, 2010. BEAST performed on the 8th Korean Music Festival held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California on May 1, 2010. In the third episode of the MTV show ‘B2ST Almighty’, BEAST members released a Music Video 'Mystery' as a response to the fans wishes. Girls' Generation and Kara also appeared in the Music Video as special guests. A digital single version of ‘Easy’ was officially released on April 29, 2010 and has the title ‘Easy (Sincere Ver.)’ which used strings and piano, enabling BEAST to showcase a new attraction which is totally different from the normal hip-hop and the electronic instruments feel. BEAST was featured in the teaser music video "Who's next" for 4minute.

On the 22nd of May 2010, BEAST performed for ‘2010 I love Korea DREAM CONCERT’ alongside other Korean artists such as Rain, Lee Hyori, Girls' Generation, 2PM, Super Junior, SS501, F(x) and many more. From June 16 to June 20, 2010, BEAST attended the ‘Helping the Single Mom’ concert in the Philippines. BEAST was in Singapore and Malaysia from the 22nd to the 29th of June 2010 and from the 30th to the 5th of July 2010, they held showcases back to back in Japan.BEAST appeared as special guests in Precious Land, Dance Show in Japan on the July 1st, 2010. BEAST`s album Shock Of The New Era Asia Version that was released in Singapore made it into the Gold Disk category, which the requirements include the sale of 100,000 copies. Even though this had been their first promotional activities in Singapore, their popularity had even won them a spot in the Gold Disk category. BEAST will be appearing at the BRAND NEW CONCERT - THE BURNING DAY on August 20, 2010 together with 2AM, Brown Eyed Girls, KARA and T-ara. BEAST and 4minute were invited to perform on Singapore Youth Olympic pre-opening stage as the first Korean artists on August 13, 2010. BEAST was awarded with the Smoothie King Cool Star Award on 2010 Mnet 20's Choice Awards on August 26, 2010. On August 26, 2010, Omarion made a surprise appearance as a guest when BEAST was receiving their award on Mnet 20’s Choice Awards and he also requested that he perform a special stage with BEAST.


On September 17, 2010, BEAST revealed one of their songs as a single from their 3rd mini album, Mastermind namely ‘Clenching My Fist Tight’ on various music sites. The song had gained anticipation and attention from the public and they gained more attention with emotional acting and their vocal ranges that matched up well with traditional ballad singers. As of 25 September 2010, BEAST was the first boyband to try the ‘radio teaser’ method and they revealed a part from the title song of their 3rd album titled, ‘Breath’ (SOOM). BEAST’s 3rd Mini Album ‘Mastermind’ was revealed on September 28, 2010. BEAST received the 'Asia Influential Artist' award on October 23, 2010, and this award is given to those who had the most attention in Asia for the year. BEAST will be entering Japan with a Japan Premium edition that is compiled of the two mini albums ‘BEAST Is The B2ST’ and ‘Shock Of The New Era’ which were both released in Korea with an addition 30 minute documentary video DVD of their first visit to Japan in July. On October 8, 2010, BEAST claimed first place on KBS Music Bank a week since their comeback with the song 'Breath' off of their mini album Mastermind. On October 14, 2010, BEAST had also won a Mutizen award on Mnet! Countdown. On October 12, 2010, KBS Broadcasting systems have collaborated with BEAST to make a cheer song for the National Korean Soccer Team.

BEAST will have their first solo concert opening on the December 12, 2010 with the title of ‘WELCOME TO BEAST AIRLINE’. Their ticket sales opened on October 26, 2010, however with the influx of 70,000 users coming on to the site at once, the server eventually ended up crashing. BEAST officially released their first album set in Japan called "BEAST-Japan Premium Edition" on November 24, 2010. It debuted at 6th place on the Oricon daily album charts. On the 27th of November, BEAST held their first Japanese showcase called the 'THE LEGEND OF BEAST VOL.1' at Tokyo Big Site in Ohdaiba, Tokyo. Although BEAST has yet to debut in Japan, they were able to attract 10,000 Japanese fans to their showcase, 4,800 of them coming in early to create a "human letter" of the word B2ST. The members were transported to the site of the showcase by helicopter. BEAST was able to see the "human letter" and thanked their fans sincerely for welcoming them. BEAST finished a successful showcase, performing 9 hit tracks from "Bad Girl," "Shock," and "Soom" and will officially debut in Japan sometime in February 2011.


On November 3, 2010, BEAST had opened up the preorder sales on different online sites for the upcoming 4th mini album named Lights go on again , and the track list showed a surprise with new type of songs which was later released on November 9,2010. BEAST managed to get all top 5 spots on November 8th, 2010 with 'Lights Go on Again' on the Mnet charts – their main track, “Beautiful”, debuted at 1st place, while the album’s remaining four tracks nabbed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. According to album sales site Hanteo, the group’s album sales showed great success, as their sales figures ranked first. On November 15, 2010, BEAST had released the first part of the relay music drama from the 4th album on their Official Youtube Channel that is garnering interest from fans as well as overseas promoters and media as attention turned to the concept and the style of the music video that BEAST will bring in. On December 1, 2010, BEAST was awarded as one of 2010 most photogenic figures, on the 11th Korean Visual Arts Festival hosted and organized by the 'Korea Broadcast Camera Directors Association', supported by the Ministry of Culture. On December 9, 2010 , BEAST is awarded with the Yepp Newcomer Award from the 25th Golden Disk Awards. On December 11, 2010, it was revealed that BEAST is the only rookie group out of all the boy/girl groups who have sold over 100,000 copies when they have debuted only a little past a year ago. With the success of album sales, they were ranked 5th on Hanteo Chart's '2010 Singer Award' along with popular singers Girls' Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, and JYJ.

It was recently revealed that on December 23, 2010, 'Thanks To', the hiphop track from Yoseob and Junhyung, Hyunseung and Kikwang’s R&B track ‘Let It Snow’, and Doojoon and Dongwoon’s ballad track ‘When this Door Closes’. Mnet ‘Mcountdown’ will be the first stage for the duet units of BEAST to officially debut. Each of these songs can be found in My Story as it will be released starting from December 21, 2010.