RIIZE (라이즈)

RIIZE arrived on September 4, 2023, as one of SM Entertainment's most anticipated launches in years — a seven-member group built around the premise that pop craftsmanship and genuine personality could coexist in the same package. Within the first year of their career, cumulative album sales had crossed 1.8 million copies, a figure their members' own families were still processing on television. The group's fandom, BRIIZE, grew quickly enough that a solo Seoul concert followed in early 2026, drawing a guest appearance from veteran comedian Park Myung-soo simply to experience what the enthusiasm felt like from the inside.

Debut and formation

RIIZE debuted on September 4, 2023, under SM Entertainment. The seven-member lineup — Anton, Eunseok, Shotaro, Sohee, Sungchan, Wonbin, and XngHan — brought together a range of backgrounds and nationalities, consistent with the multinational casting approach SM had refined across earlier groups. Sungchan and Shotaro had previously been part of NCT before transitioning to RIIZE, giving the group a core with existing idol experience alongside newer faces.

The name itself telegraphed the group's central concept: the idea of rising and realizing potential together, themes that would recur across their early releases.

Music and discography

RIIZE's musical identity in their debut period leaned into accessible, polished pop with room for both melodic vocal work and performance-driven choreography. The group's second mini-album, released in 2026, carried the title track "Do Your Dance" — notable in part for its lyricist: Haru Lee, the daughter of Epik High's Tablo, who served as the track's sole lyricist. Haru had previously collaborated with her father on songwriting, and the RIIZE commission marked a meaningful step in her own independent creative career, drawing attention to the track before it had even been released.

The group also extended their reach into drama soundtracks. In April 2026, RIIZE contributed "Behind The Shine" to the MBC drama *21st Century Grand Princess*, marking their first foray into the OST format as a group — roughly three years into their debut run. Described as a dreamy pop track with soft group vocals, it represented a deliberate tonal shift from their performance-oriented releases. Member Anton separately contributed a solo OST, "Close to Me", to the TVING original *Yumi's Cells Season 3*, his first solo soundtrack credit since the group's debut.

Achievements

By 2026, cumulative album sales attributed to RIIZE had reached approximately 1.8 million copies — a number referenced publicly when Anton's father, singer Yoon Sang, appeared on the Korean variety program *Problem Child in House* and was asked directly about his son's commercial performance. The figure positions RIIZE among the stronger-selling fourth-generation SM acts in their debut window.

Members

RIIZE is a seven-member group. The current lineup is:

• Anton — son of Korean singer-songwriter Yoon Sang; has expanded into solo OST work
• Eunseok
• Shotaro — a former NCT member; sustained an ankle ligament rupture in May 2026 ahead of the group's comeback, participating in scheduled performances while refraining from full choreography on medical advice
• Sohee
• Sungchan — also a former NCT member
• Wonbin
• XngHan

Activities

Beyond recording and performance, RIIZE maintained a visible presence across Korean media and digital platforms through 2025 and into 2026. The group appeared on the YouTube channel *HaWaSu* in a segment framed around the long-running variety show *Muhan Dojeon*, taking on the roles of new company interns opposite comedians Park Myung-soo and Jung Jun-ha. Sohee appeared separately on the YouTube channel *Umjirella*, where a doppelganger segment placed him alongside Um Ji-yoon's comedic alter ego Um Ji-hoon in a case of genuinely striking physical resemblance.

Anton's off-stage story generated its own coverage: after gifting his watch-enthusiast father a luxury watch from his first earnings — a moment Yoon Sang recounted on *Fairy Jaehyung* — the story circulated widely enough to be revisited on *Problem Child in House*, where Yoon Sang also mentioned receiving a luxury bag from his son. The repeated surfacing of these anecdotes in variety contexts reflects the degree to which RIIZE, and Anton in particular, had embedded themselves in the broader Korean entertainment conversation beyond music alone.

The group held a Seoul concert in early 2026, documented in part through Park Myung-soo's visit via his *Halmyungsoo* channel, in which he spent a day as a BRIIZE fan and attended the venue — arriving, by his own account, directly after filming in Africa.