21 K-Pop Groups to Know (and Love)

16. Beast

Beast is also known by the name “B2ST”, which will be the first example of groups with a number in the name that you don’t really read as the number in question. Sorry, Got7 doesn’t constitute the rule.

Beast burst onto the scene in 2009 for Cube Entertainment. At the start, they had six members, though one, Hyunseung, left the group earlier this year to focus on solo activities. However, they’ve continued as a five-man band and released Highlight, a full album, this summer. The lead track, “Ribbon”, is above.

Generally, Beast’s tracks fall roughly into dance or R&B, with tracks like “Ribbon” showing off the latter category. With this group, though, you’ll notice the seriously smooth choreography, which is quite strong even for K-pop.

Beast also exemplifies the proliferation of mini-albums / EPs in the industry: they have seven of them, not including a digital-only release. On top of that, the group has two Japanese albums and three Korean albums.

Other songs to check out from Beast include “Fiction,” one of their earlier songs, whose signature step I still can’t figure out even after five years; “Beautiful Night“, with a music video shot in New York; and “Good Luck“, another more R&B-influenced track.