[V-Daily Reporter Kim Ji-ha] "Superstars" at the forefront of the K-pop Hallyu wave will appear at the "K GLOBAL HEART DREAM AWARDS," which prays for the successful bid of the "2030 Busan World Expo (Busan Expo)."

The "K GLOBAL HEART DREAM AWARDS" organizing committee announced the lineup on the 4th, which includes groups Stray Kids, NCT's Taeyong, EPEX, ATBO, and xikers.

Stray Kids, who debuted in March 2018, is a group equipped with outstanding musical talent, with all members participating in songwriting and composition, centered around the team's producing group, 3RACHA. They have boasted a unique musical color while traversing various genres such as hip-hop, EDM, and rock.

Starting with being named one of Billboard's "K-Pop Artists to Watch" upon their debut, they have shown consistent activity in both domestic and international markets. After becoming the third K-pop group in history to reach No. 1 on the "Billboard 200" with "ODDINARY" in March of last year, they set a major record by topping the same chart three consecutive times with "MAXIDENT" in October of the same year and their 3rd full-length album "★★★★★ (5-STAR)" released last month. With "5-STAR," they also set the highest record in K-pop history with over 4.61 million copies sold in the first week of release based on the domestic Hanteo Chart.

Taeyong is a representative runner of NCT, who completed their universe through various unit and solo combinations. Since his debut in 2016, he has been active in NCT, NCT 127, NCT U, and SuperM, promoting the worldview of NCT, which has opened new horizons for K-pop.

On the 5th of last month, he released his first solo album "SHALALA" and showcased his skills as a "complete artist." Immediately after its release, "SHALALA" topped the iTunes Top Album charts in 31 regions worldwide and also reached the top of the album chart on QQ Music, China's largest music site. Domestically, it sold over 500,000 copies, making him a half-million-seller artist with his first solo album.

EPEX is a group that made their presence known by recording the highest ranking among idols who debuted in 2021 based on their debut album's first-week sales. They are showing steady growth, such as updating their own highest first-week sales record with their previous album "Prelude of Love Chapter 2," released in April.

They are also active in the global market. As of last month (June 5-11), they ranked high on the Japan Tower Records total album chart with "Growing Pains," which is notable as it was an achievement made before their official Japanese release. They held their first solo fan-con tour in four Asian cities, starting in Seoul last month on the 10th-11th, followed by Tokyo and Kobe in Japan, and Taipei, meeting with global fans.

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.