The Korean pop boy band X1 disbanded a few years ago, and fans are curious to know why they did so. The group was formed by CJ ENM. The members came together on the Mnet reality TV series called Produce X 101. There were 11 members in the boy band as they debuted their first song together back in 2019 called Flash.
They were previously signed by Swing Entertainment and were managed by Stone Music Entertainment. The group was called in with a contract of 5 years initially in 2019, which meant they were to stay together till 2024. Although the Mnet vota manipulation investigation started at the time and it put a halt to their career, which was neither profitable nor going well.
It was reported that there were a series of negotiations going on with the same about the future of the group as well as the agencies of each of the members, which resulted in a new outcome.
Back in the beginning, when the group was not even formed, they all came to perform on Produce X 101. There were 101 trainees taking part in the show who were all competing against each other to make it in a boy band. These individuals were sent by different agencies all across South Korea.
As the season was about to conclude, 11 members from all these trainees were selected to make a band. All of these took place through a series of live votes by the audience watching from their homes as well as the scores that judges gave to the members during their performances.
Why Did X1 Disband?
Now coming over to X1 and the real reason why they disbanded in the first place, all of it happened in detail with a long scandal. The group broke off and called it quits in January 2020. It was all because of a vote-rigging scandal that the producers of the series were involved in.
This scandal was first reported in November 2019. At that time, certain reports claimed that Ahn Joon Young, who was the producer of the series, was manipulating the votes on the show. This meant he was favoring certain contestants over others. The claims were a huge deal in South Korea because nobody wanted to see an unfair result on the reality TV series. The outrage even resulted in various people calling out X1 and asking them to disband.
Given the fact that this situation had started to go out of control, the agencies and representatives of each of the 11 members of the boy band called in for a private discussion. They wanted to move forward and reach an agreement about X1 and what they should do with the same.
It was a common decision that the group should disband. Well, this only cemented the view that there was probably something wrong with the show, which further cast a huge shadow on the reputation of the Produce franchise.
Did IZONE Disband Too?
There also have been other claims towards the bands that were formed on Produce previously before X1 such as IZONE. At the time of the scandal, this one had been active for over a year. As for X1, there was another factor contributing to the disbandment.
Each of the members belonged to a different range of agencies which made it even more difficult to reach a common ground and agree on the future of the same. As for IZONE, the members belonged to the same agency, which made them easier to manage and avoid any unnecessary conflict.
Despite the fact that X1 had a short-lived career in the Korean pop industry, they were indeed loved by the fans who were anticipating their formation for a year.
They made a significant impact on the business with their debut song Flash. The song was also well received among the listeners and critics and earned them the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best New Male Artist.
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