B.A.P (South Korean band)

2011: Pre-debut

Group leader Yongguk was the first member to be introduced in 2011, featuring on labelmate Song Jieun's song "Going Crazy". He also made a solo debut on August 11 with the single "I Remember", featuring B2ST's Yang Yo-seob. Himchan was the second member to be introduced to the public, as an MC for MTV Korea television program The Show. On November 23, Zelo was introduced as the third member of the group through a collaboration with Yongguk as the group Bang&Zelo. The duo released the single "Never Give Up".

2012: Warrior, Power, No Mercy, Crash, and Stop It

In January 2012, the group starred in the reality program Ta-Dah, It's B.A.P, which aired on SBS MTV. The show focused on how the six members play the role of aliens from a different planet who worked together to debut as B.A.P and invade Earth to help save their dying planet, Planet Mato. On January 25, the group's debut single "Warrior" was released, with MTV Korea describing it as "powerful and charismatic". Nancy Lee of Enews World noted that the group had set out to differentiate themselves from the "pretty-boy" male idol archetype prevalent in the K-pop music industry with their "tough, bad boy image". On February 3, 2012, the corresponding EP Warrior entered Billboard's World Albums Chart at #10. In South Korea, Warrior sold over 10,000 copies within just two days of release.

In March, the group released a follow-up single, "Secret Love", and in April they made a comeback with the single "Power" and EP of the same name. Upon its release, Power sold out its initial batch of 30,000 copies and entered at #10 on the Billboard World Albums Charts.

B.A.P's third EP, No Mercy, was released digitally on July 19 and physically on July 24. On August 30 the repackaged version of the EP, renamed Crash, was released.

On October 23, B.A.P released their fourth single and EP, titled "Stop It".

2013: One Shot and Japanese debut

In February 2013, the group began releasing material from their fifth EP, One Shot. On February 21, 2013, the EP ranked No.1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart.

In May, King Records, the Japanese record label that once signed Rain, signed B.A.P. They released their first Japanese music video for "Warrior" on YouTube on September 13, 2013, and their album and single were officially released on October 9, 2013.

On July 28, 2013, TS Entertainment announced that the group will be releasing their sixth EP Badman on August 6, 2013, with the promotional singles "Coffee Shop", "Hurricane" and "Badman".

2014: First Sensibility, world tour, B.A.P Unplugged 2014, and lawsuit

On February 3, 2014, B.A.P released their first full-length studio album First Sensibility, containing a total of thirteen tracks including the title track "1004 (Angel)". Upon its release, the album topped the Billboard World Albums Chart, proving the group's international popularity. In Korea, First Sensibility also topped the Hanteo and Gaon monthly charts for February. The group took their first music show win on Show Champion with "1004 (Angel)" and went on to take two more wins for the single.

On April 3, B.A.P released their third Japanese single, "No Mercy", and ranked at #2 on Oricon's daily and weekly singles charts.

Following promotions of "1004 (Angel)", the group commenced the B.A.P Live On Earth 2014 Continent Tour with a two-day concert in Seoul, with an estimated audience of 20,000 attendees. This was their second solo concert in Korea. The group went on to hold a total of 23 concerts in cities throughout the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe during the tour. Through the tour, they released the EP B.A.P Unplugged 2014.

On August 11, they released their fourth Japanese single, "Excuse Me". On October 27, TS Entertainment announced that they had cancelled the South American portion of the concert tour, in order to give the group members time to rest.

On November 27, it was reported that the group had filed a lawsuit against their label to nullify their contract, claiming unfair working conditions and profit distribution. However, the following day, TS Entertainment issued a press release refuting the claims made, stating that there were "neither such maltreatment to the artists nor unfair clauses in the contract.” Their statements were challenged when B.A.P released another statement claiming lack of accountability and saying that they were considering filing for defamation of character.

2015: Settlement with TS and Matrix

On August 1, 2015, B.A.P. returned to TS Entertainment after both parties reached a settlement. They made their comeback with their eighth EP, Matrix, and the title track "Young, Wild & Free". The free showcase "BAP 151115" was held on November 15 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza and the music video for "Young, Wild & Free" was released the following day. On November 27, 2015, exactly one year after the lawsuit they received a music show win for the single on Music Bank.

2016-present: Carnival, Put 'Em Up, Noir and Fly High

In February, they released their fifth extended play, Carnival, that contains six songs. In March, they released their first Japanese studio album, Best. Absolute. Perfect. The album contains thirteen songs, in which three ("New World", "Kingdom", and "Back in Time") are original Japanese songs. Between April–July, B.A.P performed on their Live On Earth 2016 tour, including dates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Finland, Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Russia.

In August, they released the fifth single "Put 'Em Up". In November, B.A.P returned with their second studio album, Noir along with the music video for title song "Skydive". On November 18, the music video for their 6th Japanese single, Fly High was published on YouTube, while a physical release on December 7 included the song "Fire Flame" and a Japanese version of "With You".

Artistry and influences

During the group's debut, all of the members dyed their hair blonde. The group's members have played a role in their image and musical direction, and commentators have noted a distinction between their "tough, bad-boy" image and other K-pop boy groups.

The group's leader Yongguk has previously made comments on the influence that African-American musicians have had on him, citing 50 Cent, P. Diddy, Pharrell and other rappers as musical influences. He played a role in the production of all the tracks on B.A.P's debut EP Warrior. In addition, group member Himchan is a multi-instrumentalist influenced by Korean traditional music. He plays a number of traditional instruments including daegeum, janggu, kkwaenggwari and jing. All of the group's members are influenced by R&B musicians; Jongup has cited hip hop and dance music as influences and said that Chris Brown is one of his idols, while Zelo has said he looks up to will.i.am and Kanye West. Daehyun cites Shin Yong-jae among his musical influences while Youngjae cites neo soul musicians as well as Musiq Soulchild and Jay Park.

B.A.P has been named a "versatile group" by MTV Korea, with Yun Seong-yeol of Star News Korea lauding their charisma and on-stage performances, as well as Yongguk and Zelo's rapping and Daehyun and Youngjae's vocal abilities.

Concerts and tours

Studio Albums

Single Albums

Extended Plays (EP)

Studio albums

Single Albums