D-CRUNCH

D-CRUNCH (디크런치), short for Diamond Crunch, was a South Korean hip-hop idol group formed by All-S Company and led by producer Lee Jong-seok, best known for building girl group Girl’s Day. Debuting on August 6, 2018 with the single album 0806 and its lead track “Palace,” D-CRUNCH launched as a nine-member team built around a bold promise: every song, every rap verse, and every dance move would come from the members themselves.

That self-producing identity set D-CRUNCH apart in a crowded rookie class. The group’s internal songwriting unit, G.I.G (Good Thing Is Good Thing), made up of Hyunwook, O.V, and Hyunoh, shaped the team’s musical direction across releases like “Stealer,” “Are You Ready?,” and “Across the Universe.” Critics such as Dong-a Ilbo’s Lee Jeong-yeon dubbed them the “singer-songwriter idol group,” a rare label in an industry where idols usually perform songs written entirely by outside producers.

D-CRUNCH’s four years of activity were marked by rapid international expansion. The group toured Malaysia, Myanmar, the UAE, and Kuwait, won the Grand Prix at Japan’s 2019 K-pop Dream Star Audition, and made its Japanese debut in October 2019. Domestically, the group earned the Focus Award at the 2018 Asia Artist Awards just months after debut and the Rising Star Award at the 2019 Asia Model Awards.

Behind the achievements, however, D-CRUNCH weathered a difficult run of lineup changes. Vocalist Hyunwoo departed in 2020 following a back injury, rapper Minhyuk left in 2021, and maknae Dylan exited in 2022 after a public and honest struggle with anxiety. Ai Grand Korea, the agency that took over management from All-S Company in 2020, announced D-CRUNCH’s disbandment on November 9, 2022, following the release of their final single “Addiction” earlier that year.

Though the group is no longer active, its six core members — Hyunwook, O.V, Hyunho, Hyunoh, Chanyoung, and Jungseung — have carried the D-CRUNCH ethos into acting, music production, and solo careers, while fans known as DIANA continue to celebrate a discography built entirely on the members’ own songwriting and choreography.