HOT ISSUE seemed like a group with potential to rise from a nugu company back when they debuted on April 28, 2021, mainly due to being from Cube Entertainment founder Hong Seung Sung‘s company, S2 Entertainment.
But after four months of radio silence on social media, the group announced in a statement that they have disbanded a week short of their anniversary.
“First, we sincerely apologize for delivering this sudden news to the fans who loved and supported HOT ISSUE. After the end of a long discussion, the agency and the agency’s artist HOT ISSUE have decided to disband the team. We worked hard for a long time with the artists to achieve the direction and development the agency had aimed for, but we reluctantly came to this decision.”
Of course, hopes and dreams and promise don’t pay the bills.
Their album sales would seem to indicate that they at least they didn’t take the step forward they were looking for.
Or really it’s just possible that this is likely the worst time for groups from lesser known companies to debut due to issues with COVID-19 killing off performance fees, which have been a nugu staple in the industry.
Either way, it’s surprising for a company that seemed to have ambitions beyond even HOT ISSUE, as for them to give up on what was supposed to be their flagship group within a year isn’t the best of signs.