CRAVITY reaches for new heights in ‘EVERSHINE’

CRAVITY’s arrival into the K-pop scene was anything but conventional. They debuted in April 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when promotional activities like in-person performances and meet and greets had to be shut down. 

Though despite those obstacles, CRAVITY overcame them all. In their first year as a band, the group was quickly dubbed as “Monster Rookies”—a term coined by Korean outlets to describe new K-pop groups who have gained popularity and success extremely quickly. 

CRAVITY became the first rookie group in 2020 to debut on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100. Publications like Rolling Stone and Paper Magazine referenced them as an emerging new group to watch. And in their native South Korea, CRAVITY took home several best new artist accolades in the country’s biggest music awards shows, including Mnet Music Awards and Melon Music Awards. 

In a competitive and fast-paced industry that thrives on frequent comebacks and new K-pop groups debuting, it can be hard to stay on the top of your game. But CRAVITY—its name a combination of the words “creativity” and “gravity”—met the challenge in stride in the years that followed, growing their stage presence, expanding on more complex dance choreography, and experimenting with songwriting. Though perhaps what has helped the group stay on top is the bond they developed with their loyal fanbase known as LUVITY—a combination of “luv” and CRAVITY. 

When I connected with CRAVITY—comprised of members Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung and Seongmin—for an interview, the boys were still basking in their recent first place win on Music Bank, a weekly music competition show that airs weekly on South Korea’s national public broadcaster KBS. The competition determines the top K-pop releases of the week based on fan votes, social media reach and physical and digital album sales and votes. On March 8, CRAVITY took home the prize for their single “Love or Die— marking the first time ever they’ve won the accolade.

“We really couldn’t have done it if it weren’t for the ever-shining love and support we built together with LUVITY in the past four years, and so I feel like the years of hard work has really been paid off after receiving the trophy,” says Allen, who was raised in Los Angeles. 

Making EVERSHINE

CRAVITY often explores themes around growing up—with lyrics and songs often revolving around subjects like empowerment, self-confidence, and the importance of friendships. 

In fact, their last three projects revolved around the theme of youth: Master: Piece, released in March 2023, highlighted CRAVITY’s signature upbeat and energetic sound in songs like “Groovy,” which had the boys dressed in suits and working in a corporate office while singing about carving out your own path and writing your own story. SUN SEEKER, a mini-album released last September, followed a similar message, in which the core thesis was to encourage fans to chase the sun in order to achieve their dreams. 

Now with the release of February’s EVERSHINE, CRAVITY has reached the culmination of its “Youth” trilogy. This time, exploring what it means to look into the future, finding their place in their world as adults in their early 20s. The six-track mini album even has a core theme: “Even in darkness, there’s a promise of a brighter sunrise.” 

The album also explores emotions like love and heartbreak, something heard in the band’s lead single “Love or Die.” When asked why love is such an essential feeling, the band members agree the emotion is “the driving force of life”. “I think it’s the emotion that gives the most simple and certain feeling of happiness. Loving someone unconditionally is so precious,” says Woobin. 

“Love or Die” also marks a more mature and sexy turn for the group, who are more known for taking on brighter and more wholesome concepts in previous songs like “Ready or Not” and “Cheese”. Instead, “Love or Die” pictures the band literally running towards the darkness, dancing in the rain, and showing more skin in their performance outfits. 

“It was a new concept that we’ve never tried before so I thought a lot about what kind of attitude and gestures to show when recording and performing,” Woobin says about making “Love or Die.” 

Seongmin adds that one of the hardest parts of making the project was perfecting choreography and facial expressions needed to execute his performance in the music video as well as stage shows. 

Maturity is a theme that continues into the six tracks that make up EVERSHINE, including the psychedelic rock-inspired “Worst Thriller,” which Taeyoung describes as “more sexy and mysterious” than the group’s previous tracks. 

EVERSHINE also gave CRAVITY the opportunity to work with people they have looked up to in the K-pop industry, with members Allen and Serim co-writing the EDM party song “Mr.” with their labelmate Exy from the girl group WJSN.

The experience allowed Serim to learn more about crafting lyrics together so they flow better, and where to best emphasize his vocals. While Allen says the experience taught him how to write “more swaggy lyrics.”

But working together as band mates also proved to be a rewarding experience for Allen and Serim. The pair also have writing credits together on “Love or Die”. 

“We always have a good time sharing ideas and lyrics together, " Allen says. “It’s great to have a friend who is as passionate for music as myself to work with.”

CRAVITY over the years 

The release of EVERSHINE marks another chapter in CRAVITY’s young career thus far.

In 2023 alone, CRAVITY embarked on their first world tour with stops across the United States, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan, and performed at last year’s KCON LA. 

Though one of their most popular videos features members Hyeongjun and Taeyoung challenging themselves to a viral dance of Beyonce’s song “Rocket.” In it, Taeyoung grabs Hyeongjun by the waist and flips him over to dance on top of him. While many in the comments reacted with humor and surprise to the clip, its impressiveness also can’t be denied. Executing such a challenge requires flexibility, strength, and a lot of trust. The video has since received more than 3 million likes. 

“[Taeyoung] said I seemed flexible enough to successfully do it, so we tried it and were really able to pull it off!” Hyeongjun says about the now infamous TikTok.

“I think it’s fun because the videos we upload can reach not only K-pop idol fans, but many different people from all over,” Taeyoung adds. 

The future of CRAVITY 

But despite the accolades, tours, and viral success achieved, the members of CRAVITY say there’s still much more they want to achieve together in the future. 

Among their goals is releasing more music that will reach mainstream success across the globe, as well as meeting more of their international fans by holding more concerts. 

Having debuted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, CRAVITY were not able to perform in front of a crowd for months. The band owes their continued success to their fans—LUVITY—for helping them overcome the obstacles that came their way. 

And if one thing is for sure, the band says their best is still yet to come. 

“Overcoming the pandemic period and going through difficult times together with our fans was a time period when we learned a lot. Now all we have left to do is to go meet all our LUVITY around the world,” Woobin says. “I think the upcoming future is CRAVITY’s true highlight.”