ZEROBASEONE

Meet the Members

Sung Han-bin

Leader · Center · Dancer

Kim Ji-woong

Vocalist · Actor

Seok Matthew

Vocalist · Dancer

Kim Tae-rae

Main Vocalist

Park Gun-wook

Rapper · Dancer · Vocalist

The Ascend- era

Ascend- is not just ZEROBASEONE’s sixth mini album. It is the first release by the current five-member lineup: Han-bin, Ji-woong, Matthew, Tae-rae, and Gun-wook. The seven-track record moves into a more restrained mix of contemporary R&B, groovy hip-hop, dance-pop, and pop-rock. Its title track “TOP 5” lists a lover’s five best qualities while very obviously winking at the group standing in front of us.

The album also includes “V for Vision,” “Customize,” “Exotic,” “Changes,” and “Zero to Hundred,” plus an intro. Gun-wook co-wrote, composed, and arranged “Customize,” making it the first ZEROBASEONE group song with that level of his creative involvement. The record does not try to imitate the exact chemistry of nine members. It sounds calmer, slightly older, and more comfortable leaving space between the beats.

Song Reviews

History: from Boys Planet to the five-member era

Formation and debut

ZEROBASEONE was formed through Mnet’s 2023 survival show Boys Planet. The original nine-member lineup was Zhang Hao, Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew, Ricky, Park Gun-wook, Kim Tae-rae, Kim Gyu-vin, Kim Ji-woong, and Han Yu-jin. They debuted July 10, 2023 with Youth in the Shade and “In Bloom.” The group’s flower-and-youth imagery worked because the ending was built into the premise: this was beauty on a clock.

The nine-member run

They followed with Melting Point, You Had Me at Hello, Cinema Paradise, Blue Paradise, Never Say Never, and the 2026 special release Re-Flow. Their releases repeatedly passed the million-sales mark, and the group became one of the clearest commercial leaders of K-pop’s fifth generation. “In Bloom,” “CRUSH,” “Feel the POP,” “GOOD SO BAD,” “BLUE,” and “ICONIK” each pushed a different part of the group’s identity.

The split and continuation

After the original project term and final nine-member concerts, WAKEONE announced that ZEROBASEONE would continue as five. Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyu-vin, and Han Yu-jin moved into AND2BLE with Yoo Seungeon. The separation was not a rumor or a member “on hiatus” puzzle: it was a structural end followed by two new beginnings. Han-bin spoke honestly about the final concert’s sadness. The current group then returned with Ascend-, treating the pressure as a reason to reintroduce themselves properly.

Discography map

• Youth in the Shade (2023): “In Bloom,” “New Kidz on the Block,” “And I.”
• Melting Point (2023): “CRUSH,” “Take My Hand,” “Kidz Zone.”
• You Had Me at Hello (2024): “SWEAT,” “Feel the POP,” “Dear ECLIPSE.”
• Cinema Paradise (2024): “GOOD SO BAD,” “KILL THE ROMEO,” “Insomnia.”
• Blue Paradise (2025): “Doctor! Doctor!,” “BLUE,” “Devil Game.”
• Never Say Never (2025): the final Korean studio-album era of the original lineup.
• Re-Flow (2026): special release led by “LOVEPOCALYPSE.”
• Ascend- (2026): first five-member mini album, led by “TOP 5.”

Fandom file

ZEROSE combines ZEROBASEONE with “rose,” tying the fandom to the group’s flower imagery. Fans were never casual observers of the project-group countdown; contract speculation, extension hopes, solo schedules, and agency politics were part of the experience long before the split became official. The current fandom now covers three overlapping histories: the original nine, the five continuing as ZEROBASEONE, and the former members’ next chapter in AND2BLE.

The tea, with dates and receipts

February 2026: The five-member continuation was officially confirmed. Four members did not disappear mysteriously; they moved toward AND2BLE. That distinction matters because fandom pages have a bad habit of leaving stale “current member” boxes online for months.

May 2026: “TOP 5” made the new number impossible to ignore. Fans praised the mature 2000s R&B direction and how clearly all five members register in the MV. The repeating complaint was equally clear: why is the song only about 2:27?

Creative-credit watch: Gun-wook’s “Customize” credit is the important story under the title-track noise. A lineup change is easier to believe as a new artistic era when the members are not only changing positions but gaining authorship.