There’s a new boy band in town with the goal of becoming K-pop's next "super rookie" — and possibly the next Stray Kids. Boy band KickFlip made its much-anticipated debut on Monday with its first album “Kick it, Flip it!”

“We worked so hard for this moment,” leader Kyehoon told reporters at a showcase held on Monday in eastern Seoul for the band’s debut. Born in 2004, Kyehoon spent almost 10 years as a trainee at JYP Entertainment after joining the agency’s audition process as the No. 1 participant in 2016, according to the agency.


“All seven of us stuck together and practiced so hard for this moment,” he continued. “We’ll show you how much we’ve got. KickFlip will try really hard. Please look forward to what we’ll show everyone.”

KickFlip comes as JYP Entertainment’s first new boy band in two years since NEXZ and seven years since Stray Kids. Its members are leader Kyehyoon, Amaru, Donghwa, Juwang, Minje, Keiju and Donghyeon.

KickFlip is the name of a skateboarding technique where a rider kicks the board with the tip of the foot and flips it 360 degrees in the air. The band says it will take the idea of “turning 360 degrees” to show a rebellious and energetic vibe, according to the members.

News regarding the act from JYP Entertainment — famed for launching major boy bands such as 2PM, GOT7 and Stray Kids — had K-pop watchers excited. The band already surpassed 300,000 copies in preorders for its debut EP “Flip it, Kick it!” as of Jan. 15, according to the agency.

“We know that we come from an agency with a line of amazing groups,” Donghwa said. “We feel honored to be a part of it and we promise you to try hard to show you good performances.”

The EP contains six songs, with lead track “Mama Said,” followed by B-side tracks “Umm Great,” “Warriors,” “Knock Knock,” “Like A Monster” and “See You On Tomorrow.” Member Amaru took part in writing the lyrics of “Mama Said,” while Amaru and Donghwa took part in writing the lyrics for “Umm Great.” Members Kyehoon, Amaru and Minje took part in writing the lyrics for “Like A Monster.”

For the third track, “Warriors,” Young K of JYP’s rock band DAY6 wrote the lyrics for his rookie colleagues’ debut.

“Our role model is Stray Kids,” Donghwa said. “We took part in making the debut album in the ways we could, which we feel so grateful for. But we’ll try harder and put our names on the creative process more and share our thoughts and art to the audience, just like Stray Kids.”

JYP Entertainment will open a pop-up store for KickFlip starting on Jan. 25 and running until Feb. 2 at The Hyundai Seoul department store. The band is also set to take part in television music shows and meet with fans at meet and greets.

“Just as the senior groups wrote new history through television music shows, we hope to write our own history on various programs and show people just how much we have within us,” Amaru said.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]