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K-pop group Hot Issue disbands days before 1st anniversary, fans say: 'Industry needs you'

Hot Issue's founder had worked with the likes of JYPE and Cube and had mentored BEAST, Hyuna, BTOB and CLC

With 100s of K-pop acts debuting every year, it truly is difficult even for talented groups to stand out and make a mark in the industry. Along with talent, financially big company, luck, timing, and insider connections play a big part in helping many K-pop groups become successful. Small groups like DKZ (Dongkiz), and Brave Girls, who were on the verge of disbandment, suddenly shot to fame, thanks to a lucky chart reversal. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for Hot Issue.

Hot Issue was a seven-member girl group that debuted in April 2021 under the label S2 Entertainment. They released their first EP ‘Issue Maker’ which did well digitally as it was in the top 20 of Gaon Album Chart. The girl group was even nominated for the Asia Artist Awards and Brand of the Year Awards. They had their first comeback in September with the single album 'Icons'. While fans were waiting for their next comeback, it was announced that Hot Issue had disbanded.

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Hot Issue disbands days before 1st debut anniversary

On April 22, S2 Entertainment shared a statement announcing that Hot Issue had disbanded before its first debut anniversary which would have been on April 28. The label apologized for the sudden news and explained that they had a long discussion with Hot Issue before making the decision. The girls had first turned heads as they were Hong Seung-sung’s first K-pop group. The chairman had worked with the likes of JYPE and Cube and had mentored BEAST, Hyuna, BTOB, and CLC.

‘Feels like a sick joke’

Fans were disappointed as one tweeted, “I’m so upset why did they have to disband hot issue can another company come get them please.” Another fan posted, “Please don't disband hot issue, the industry needs you.” One fan said, “Why tf did hot issue disband everything was going ok for them s2 ent. truly deserves nothing but the worst.” Another fan added, “Come on S2... what's with all the "we want to debut one rookie every year" talk if it's just to disband the first you debuted not even after 1 year? I really wanted to support Hot Issue in the long run.”

Even non-fans were upset, “It feels like they barely begun their career i’m not even a fan but this feels like a sick joke …” One fan shared, “I'm shaking, literally. Can't cry, can't talk. Just shake. This is awful, why them!? They were the best. Not a single of them remained. It's just... I can't.” Another was confused, “Hot issue having the best debut last year and now disbanding.... What.” One pointed out, “HOT ISSUE disbanding is one of the biggest shocks! The group wasn't even a year old yet had generated a lot of interest for a new company - over 1 million streams on Spotify, 10M on YouTube, reaching #101 on Gaon's Download chart..I guess we may never find out the real reason!”