NCT 127 Explains Why They Can't Imagine SM Entertainment Without Lee Soo Man
Amid reports stating that Lee Soo Man will possibly terminate his production contract with SM at the end of the year, NCT 127 expressed their honest thoughts about this matter.
NCT 127 Mentions Lee Soo Man's Importance in SM Entertainment
On September 16, NCT 127 mentioned SM Executive Producer Lee Soo Man at a press conference to mark the release of their fourth full-length album "2 Baddies" held at the Sofitel Ambassador Seoul Hotel in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
In particular, the team expressed their thoughts on the early termination reports of Lee Soo Man's production contract with SM Entertainment. NCT 127 said:
"We can't imagine SM Entertainment without Lee Soo Man."
Taeyong, the leader of the unit, explained:
"First of all, we have been with Lee Soo Man since we first entered SM Entertainment, since we were trainees until now. In fact, we can't imagine us either without Lee Soo Man (teacher-nim) in SM. We can't really imagine it."
The male idol further expressed his desire to continue working with the company's founder and executive producer, saying:
"We hope that the '2 Baddies' album will not be Lee Soo Man's last production album with NCT 127."
Earlier on September 15, SM Entertainment announced in an official press release that Like Planning, Lee Soo Man's personal company, is considering early termination of his production contract with the company.
SM explained:
"We have been reviewing and discussing the production contract with executive producer Lee Soo Man, and the producer has told us that he wants to terminate the production contract early at the end of this year."
"We plan to discuss with major stakeholders the impact of the early termination of the production contract with the executive producer on our business and announce it later.
We will discuss the early termination of the production contract with stakeholders to find the best direction and continue to grow as a leading company in the K-pop culture and industry."
Meanwhile, Like Planning is a private company of Executive Producer Lee Soo Man. SM Entertainment has entrusted production outsourcing to Like Planning and has paid tens of billions of won in royalties every year.
NCT 127 Unveils Fourth Studio Album '2 Baddies'
Meanwhile, NCT 127, who held a press conference on this day, released their fourth full-length album "2 Baddies" on various music sites at 1 p.m. KST.
The album, contains a total of 12 songs from various genres, including the title song with the same name, "Faster," "Time Lapse," "Crash Landing," "Designer," "Gold Dust," "Black Clouds," "Playback," "Tasty," "Vitamin," "LOL (Laugh-Out-Loud" and "1,2,7 (Time Stops)."
The expectation is particularly high since this is NCT 127's first album released a year after its third full-length album "Sticker" released in September last year.
The title song "2 Baddies" is an intense hip-hop dance song that combines addictive signature synth sounds and powerful vocals of the members. It contains a message that only those who run while looking at precious things without caring about the eyes of others can grow and achieve success.
As of 4 p.m. KST, its pre-release music video for "2 Baddies" achieved 29 million views, 22 hours after it was released.
READ MORE: NCT 127's '2 Baddies' Teaser Changes Release Date— Afraid of THIS Group's Comeback?
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Written by Eunice Dawson
