Why You Should Stan NCT

SM Entertainment's youngest (and unconventionally conceptualized) boy group NCT is probably the most ambitious thing SM has done in quite some time. As someone who started off thinking that I wouldn't like groups larger than seven members (BTS), it was very surprising that I found myself really loving this eighteen-member (and growing) group. Here are some reasons why you should stan NCT:

1. They're incredibly diverse.
With members hailing from all parts of the globe (members come from China, Canada, USA, Thailand, and Japan), NCT truly has a global concept in mind. Members Ten (from Thailand) and Yuta (from Japan) hold the distinction for being the first SM idols of their nationality to debut in an SM group. You can imagine the number of languages the group speaks fluently. There's Korean, English, Mandarin, Japanese, and Thai. Truly the most multilingual group in K-pop right now.

2. Taeyong and Mark single-handedly saved SM's infamous reputation for having terrible rappers.
SM, while known for debuting incredibly well-trained groups with strong dancers and vocalists, lacks quite a lot in having decent rappers in their groups. Then came Taeyong and Mark, who have been SM's saving grace in executing NCT's aggressive hip-hop image in their NCT U and NCT 127 songs. Taeyong and Mark are SM's best rappers by a long-shot. Both have a very natural flow to their delivery, and they have incredible presence as rappers.

Mark (left) and Taeyong (right)

3. They are involved in writing lyrics.
Taeyong and Mark are currently the only two members who write frequently for the group (member Jaehyun once contributed to NCT 127's debut song "Fire Truck") and have been since their debut. I find that impressive, considering SM is not known for taking advantage in-house talent to churn out great songs in general, and especially considering the fact that I've never seen an SM group be involved in self-producing as such a young group.

4. Their dancers are no joke.
Members Ten, Taeyong, and Jisung are given "main dancer" roles in the NCT units they partake in, and the title is well-deserved. Ten is acknowledged by both fans and professional dancers alike to be one of the best active K-pop dancers in general. But pretty much everyone in the group can dance incredibly well. NCT dances are more often than not incredibly challenging. The fact that they can pull it off so well is satisfying to watch and makes you want to blink in shock.

5. Their music appeals to a wide-range of tastes.
Because of their unit system, in which members are split into largely-independent sub-units within the larger NCT umbrella and focus on certain concepts, NCT discography as a whole pretty much satisfies every music taste. Like experimental, hard hip-hop influences in your music? Look no further than NCT 127. Like a more polished, equally-experimental track? How about NCT U's "The 7th Sense", or "Boss"? Like some straightforward, bubblegum pop? NCT Dream in a nutshell. Looking for vocal-emphasized tracks? Check out NCT songs such as "Timeless", "Without You", "Sun & Moon", or any other song that features NCT 127's vocalists. Personally, I find NCT U to have the most consistently-great catalog. With only a handful of tracks ("The 7th Sense", "Without You", "Timeless", "Boss", "Baby Don't Stop", and "Yestoday") to their name, NCT U has some of the most diverse tracks of any unit (their whole concept, by the way, is to release tracks that explore various genres and themes), and they're all really, really good.

6. They have great personalities.
Partly due to their more junior role in the K-pop industry, and partly due to the fact that they are just nice people, NCT members are all emerging idols in the industry that deserve more attention for their fun and respectful personalities as opposed to their looks.

7. Their vocalists are underappreciated.
With their concept focusing so much on experimental hip-hop sounds, it's no surprise (but disappointing nonetheless) that NCT vocalists have to take a backseat on their main tracks. Even knowing that SM has been consistent on giving us great vocalists throughout their history of being involved in the idol-making process, I was still surprised by how talented NCT's vocalists are. There's powerhouse (and incredibly stable) vocalists Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Haechan, and Chenle, but there's also Ten (whose vocals in "Baby Don't Stop" are a god-send), Johnny, Yuta, and Renjun. Even rappers Taeyong and Mark are surprisingly good singers.

Vocalists Doyoung (left), Jaehyun (middle), and Taeil (right)

8. Their concept is not that confusing, so stop lying to yourself.
Basically every time a person says they don't like NCT, the reason they give is because their unit system is "confusing", which is a bunch of BS. Yeah, they're going to add members, and there are multiple groups within NCT, but once you accept that they're trying to be different from any other K-pop idol group, then it's not hard to learn about how NCT works. Even with so many members, I find learning about the NCT members incredibly easy, considering that members are usually split up into their different units. Plus, it's not like learning about each unit requires learning a new set of faces and names: there are a handful of members in more than one unit, so there is overlap to the NCT system that makes it even less confusing.

9. They have some truly great songs.
I'm talking about legendary, constant-replay value type of songs. There's NCT U's entire discography (standouts are "The 7th Sense", "Without You", "Boss", "Baby Don't Stop", and "Yestoday"); "Limitless", "Touch", "Back 2 U", "Summer 127", and "0 Mile" from NCT 127; and "My First and Last", "We Young", "My Page", and "Go" from NCT Dream. They're also not all about love, something quite refreshing in K-pop. "The 7th Sense" is incredibly ambiguous and open to interpretation (lyrics discuss feeling trapped in dreams and feeling lost); "Yestoday" is an incredibly personal song for members Taeyong and Mark (who both contributed lyrics to the song) that touch on past regrets and the pains of being an idol, "My Page" touches on the NCT Dream's members' worries and fears as young idols, and NCT Dream's "Go" is a sharp critique of the complicity of society while also being an anthem for teenage rebelliousness. Quite a lot of NCT songs touch on dreams in some way, and it really brings into perspective that even with their ambitious concept, NCT are really just regular people with big dreams that are slowly starting to see those dreams become reality.