1VERSE

1VERSE started as an idea inside the mind of Michelle Cho, a Korean-American music executive who spent years at SM Entertainment nurturing some of K-pop’s biggest names. When she founded Singing Beetle Entertainment in 2019, her goal wasn’t just to create another idol group – it was to build something real, with artists who had something genuine to say.

The first person she found was Yu Hyuk, a young man from North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, who had crossed through three countries to reach South Korea. Growing up in poverty – eating just one meal a day, doing odd jobs, and sometimes stealing food to survive – Hyuk discovered rap through South Korean television and never looked back. Michelle Cho spotted his talent after hearing rap lyrics he’d written for a school talent show, and by 2021 he was training full-time under the Singing Beetle label, becoming the very first member of what would eventually become 1VERSE (then called SB Boyz).

About a year and a half later, Kim Seok joined the group – another North Korean defector, born in Ryanggang Province, who had secretly listened to smuggled K-pop songs back home and dreamed of one day creating music that could move people. A former professional soccer player, Seok brought a quiet intensity to the team that balanced Hyuk’s energy perfectly.

In 2023, two more members were brought in from very different parts of the world. Kenny (Hao Ruiran), a Chinese-American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California, had dropped out of college and moved to South Korea to chase his dream of becoming a K-pop idol – after first appearing as a contestant on the Hong Kong survival show Asia Super Young. And from Chiba, Japan, came Aito (Murata Aito), a trained dancer and former SM Entertainment trainee who had nearly given up on the idol dream entirely before Kenny and Michelle Cho convinced him to give it one more shot.

The final piece of the puzzle arrived at the end of 2024: Nathan Kousol, a Lao-Thai American from Bentonville, Arkansas, who had been sending audition videos to K-pop companies for seven straight years. It was actually Kenny who discovered Nathan’s YouTube channel and sent it to Singing Beetle. Things moved fast after that, and Nathan was officially announced as the fifth and youngest member on Christmas Day, December 25, 2024.

Before officially debuting, the group released a pre-debut single, “Multiverse”, on July 4, 2025 – co-produced by Hyuk himself. Then, on July 18, 2025, 1VERSE officially launched with their debut single album, “The 1st Verse”, and the title track “Shattered”. The debut made headlines around the world, not just in the K-pop community, as major outlets like the Wall Street Journal covered the extraordinary backstories of Hyuk and Seok.

In September 2025, Hyuk announced a temporary hiatus for personal and health reasons. The remaining four members continued promoting, and in January 2026, 1VERSE released their second release – the digital single “WABIF (Wide Awake Before I Fall)”, co-written by Kenny and Nathan. The same month, they kicked off their first-ever tour, the “Shattered” Tour, across North America. In May 2026, Seok also went on a health hiatus with plans to return when ready.