WakeOne
The group ZeroBaseOne has announced news of a renewed contract. However, it is a ‘half-measure’ contract that will satisfy no one.
Agency WakeOne stated on the 1st, “All nine members have swiftly agreed to extend activities by two months.” It added, “They plan to continue promoting as a complete group through March. Plans include the 2025 world tour ‘HERE&NOW’ encore concert and the release of a new record.”
Whether ZeroBaseOne would renew had long drawn the attention of the K-pop fandom. ZeroBaseOne is a project group that debuted in 2023 through Mnet ‘Boys Planet’ season 1, and, including the first full-length album ‘Never Say Never’ released in September, all six of their albums have become million-sellers and they have entered the U.S. Billboard and Japan Oricon charts, enjoying hot popularity at home and abroad.
Accordingly, with the contract set to expire in January next year, expectations mounted over whether all nine members would continue global activities together. As each member has an original agency and there are members from the Greater China region, various speculations followed; at the ‘Never Say Never’ release showcase, members made remarks such as “We think we will make the choice that fans and the public want” and “We want to continue building our narrative as ZeroBaseOne and become artists who will be remembered in history,” which were taken as positive signs.
In the end, while the team will be maintained for two more months, it is disappointing that this is an extension rather than the renewal fans had hoped for. In effect, it can only feel like extra time granted to wrap up the ongoing world tour and release the new record, rather than a true extension of activities.
Furthermore, rather than either no renewal at all or a renewal on a yearly basis, extending a contract by only two months is unusual, and it appears more like time to cap off the end as ZeroBaseOne than to look ahead to a future as ZeroBaseOne.
Whether the ZeroBaseOne name, extended by even two months, can comfort fans, attention is now on the final roughly four months of activity that will crown their dazzling journey.
