The Rookie List: K-Pop’s Rookies of 2012

AKPF

by Niki | on June 27th, 2012 | 69 comments

Hello everyone! My name is Niki, and I will be your guide through this wonderful world we call “Rookie Land!” where we do everything in our powers to introduce you to every single K-pop rookie group of 2012!

And here it is folks, the current list of Rookie K-Pop bands for the year 2012, and boy, is it a doozy. So instead of leaving you in the dust wondering “Who the heck ARE all these new kids?!”, we’re going to go through and give a quick run down of each group! Mind you, there are a total of 63, thats right 63, groups debuting ((UPDATED: As of late September, there are a total of 80 named rookie groups this year, plus around 3 or 4 rumored groups with no name, and 47 have actually debuted already!)), so to make it easier on you, and us, we’re going to do these a few at a time and update this page with links for your convenience. Of course, some of these groups have yet to debut, but as soon as they do, we’ll let you know! For now, take a break from your normal fangirl(or boy)ing, and get to know some of these up and coming new artists!

As a key, I’m going to put all of the artists who I know have already debuted this year, as in released a MV, performed live, or released a CD, in bold. If you see someone on the list who SHOULD be marked as debuted, let me know. There are a lot and the list just keeps growing!

100%
15&
24K
2BiC
4Heaven
7.9.4.2
84LY
A-JAX
A-Prince
A’cian
AOA
B.A.P
BBde Girl (new)
BigStar
BIKINY
Black Queen (new)
BOB4
BT-swing
BTOB
C-CLOWN (originally called Yedang Boys)
ChAOS
Cherry Bomb (new)
Crayon Pop
CROSS GENE
Cutie-L
Double Yoon
D-Unit
E-7
EVOL
Excite
EXID
EXO (EXO-K & EXO-M)
F.I.X
FIESTAR
Gangkiz
Girls’ Generation Subgroup-TTS
GLAM
Goddess
Hello Venus
I-Cutie
I’MU (set to debut with a new name with new members)
Invadas
Jevice
JJ Project
K-BOYS (new)
Lay.T
LunaFly
LXIA
M.E.N
MaskOT
Ne.P
NewUs
NU’EST
ObolJangeo
OffRoad
OK! PUNK
PAMELA
Pandora
Prizmoliq
PURETTY (Debuted in Japan in August)
Rainbow’s Subgroup- Rainbow Pixie
Ruby
S the ONE
SKARF
She’z
Six Bomb
SPEED
SPICA
Sunny Days
SuPearls
TAHITI
Tasty
Tiny-G
Topp Dogg
TOXIC
Troy (new)
The Cheers (new)
Two X
ViViD
VIXX
Wonder Boyz (new)
Y.A.F. (new)

Notice a missing group? Maybe someone had the nerve to change their names? Or a group has gone the way of the dodo bird and become extinct before we got the chance to meet them? Let us know so we can keep this as up to date as possible!

Amy

Guys you forgot F.I.X they debuted at the very beginning of the year. LoL I’m hardcore Polaris so if you aren’t familiar with them I can give you info!
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Okay, that is totally my bad. I had them listed as having come out last year since they were on an OST or something, but now I see that they officially debuted this year. I will fix that right now, thanks Amy!
Amy

lol it’s okay and you’re welcome Niki. A lot of people never even knew about them doing a OST so thumbs up to you and you are one of my new best friends lol.
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KristyHearts

WOW! Those are a lot of groups though it’s not as much as last year I believe. It makes sense because the Big 3 (SM, JYP, and YG) have/are debuting their own rookie groups. Plus, many big name groups have been coming back. I’m not complaining too much because we get enough rookie groups debuting as it is. I’m definitely excited for SuPearls (though I have a strong feeling YG will push their comeback date back). My favorite rookies thus far are B.A.P., Spica, She’z and 2BiC! Chaos, I remember were pretty good. I still listen to their debut song. By the way, isn’t Ulala session a new group? And also Ailee and Juniel? Gotta love the solo artists!
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Oh lord, I completely forgot about Solo artists! I think I’m going to leave them off the list for now. But when I’m done with these groups, if I still have the strength, er, will power, er, time (lol), I will work on them too!
  
  As for Ulala session, I wasn’t counting them since they technically “came out” last year (sort of like F.I.X) when they won Superstar K3. But I’ll add them to the list ^_^
  - KristyHearts
    
    Haha It’s alright! There’s so many groups that solo artists tend to get overlooked. I can’t wait for Lee Hyori to come back (heard that she was) and Younha! Yay! And yeah, I was wondering if Ulala Session was exactly a 2012 rookie because they’ve been on Superstar K3 so that’s understandable.
@seisatou14

B.A.P BTOB EXO NUEST JJ Project – these boy groups stood out of the bunch
She’z , Spica – for the girl groups

others like GG-TTS and double yoon are subgroups of already famous groups so i dont take them as rookies..
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  I agree with you as to the boy groups, but I haven’t paid much attention to the girl groups (until now, lol).
  
  TaeTiSeo (Girls Generation), Double Yoon (4Minute), Rainbow Pixie (Rainbow), SPEED (Co-Ed School), and ObolJangeo (After School) are all sub-groups, but I consider them to be “rookie groups” since the “group” is new, even if the artists aren’t rookies themselves. I will most likely be leaving these groups for the end, unless you all tell me you want to hear about them sooner rather than later ^_^
http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki

First Rookie group up: Exo-K! I have an idea for the next I’m going to do, but if you have one you’d like me to feature, just leave a comment and let me know!
Jessica

so many groups! i would like to know which companies all these groups come from. goodness gracious. i was truly prepared to give all the rookies groups a try, not just the popular ones, but after seeing this list… i’ll just have to see. : \
Ashley

Cupids and 2THE.O. are supposed to debut this year too. Cupids is YG’s new girls group but the name will most likely change because it’s the project name. 2THE.O. is JYP’s new boy group, but I’m not sure if their still gonna do that group because JB and Jr. from the JJ Project were supposed to be in it. YG has also said their doing a YG boy group this year too but all anyone knows about it is Kang Seung Yoon is supposed to be in it.
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  I’m going to be waiting on Cupids and 2THE.O until things are a little more finalized/ we get more word on them, just in case. But I’ve put them on my radar so I’ll keep an ear to the ground for information ^_^
Mia

63 rookies debuting this year?! That is a ridiculously large amount of rookies, good luck to all of them, the competition will be fierce though. Honestly speaking I only heard of a quarter of the groups on the list.
nana

dayum.. huge debut list o.o
I think its to much, because with so much groups, and competition, many other groups may be over shadowed, or ignored. Especially for the groups that have already debuted, like Exo, B.a.p, or nu’est.
http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki

Alright, so far I have covered 4 boy groups (Exo-K, Exo-M, NU’EST, and B.A.P) and 1 girl group (SPICA) and I have to say, I’m impressed by all of them! Who should be next?
Mi Sun

Led Apple also debuted with all new members!!
Mi Sun

And i think MIB debuted this year too!!
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  MIB actually debuted last October (but I just heard them recently and… SOOOO good!) and LED Apple technically is already a group, so they don’t count as a rookie group. Sorry Mi Sun >.< Are there any particular groups from this list that you are interested in though? I'm always up for suggestions on who to cover next ^_^
Maknae

You missed C-Clown~
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Oh C-Clown… until just recently I had them as a “no name” group, and I didn’t want to include all of those (there were a LOT!). I’m planning on updating the list with the new groups as well as links to the groups I’ve done so far once I get this next group up, which should be… today or tomorrow I hope!
MiSun

There is a girl group debuting soon called AOA from FNC Entertainment home of FT Island CN BLUE Juniel
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  They’ll be added to the list in the next day or two ^_^ Another of the “no name” groups from before. I’ll get to reviewing them once they’ve debuted!
MiSun

There is a girl group debuting soon called AOA
Faye

Uh, you kind of need to update this xDD
–
These are some groups that already have debuted:
AOA
Crayon Pop
She’z
–
And these are some groups that aren’t even on the list:
Tasty (who have debuted)
Skarf
- http://twitter.com/vipnikiki NiKiKi
  
  Thanks! Yeah, I’ve been on hiatus for a few days and completely forgot to take care of this before that >.< I'll be updating with another group's profile very, VERY soon and I"ll get that fixed then.
  
  Sorry about that, but thanks for reminding me! ^_^
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http://twitter.com/mida_loveskpop Tae-Mida

Phantom debuted last year!!
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Heh, oops. Sorry about that! I looked into them a tiny bit but didn’t see anything about them “officially” debuting last year. But you are right. They released an album last year. Oh well. Sorry Phantom! You’re off my list :/
  
  Thanks Tae-Mida!
LoveLoveLove05

Jevice debuted recently
- Niki
  
  Oh! Thanks for the heads up!
Ultimateninjaqueen

Tiny g has debuted too~
K-ha

BOB4, M-Tiful,Cross Gene,Fiestar,Phantom,Double A,C-Real,24K.
- Niki
  
  Hey K-ha! Thanks for the tips. We added Fiestar and 24K as having been debuted >.< But M-Tiful, Phantom, Double A, and C-Real actually all debuted near the end of last year. Phantom debuted at the very end of 2011 and is said not to have "officially" debuted until the beginning of this year, but they won an award for "Rookie of the Month" for December '11 so… I just feel like I can't include them. However, if I ever have time (ha!), I'll try and do an intro to them as well!
Anon

TASTY!
jai pablo

i love nu’est!!they are amazingly cool.,
Kya

Goddess will debut in 8 days ^^
- Niki
  
  Thanks for the heads up! Added them to the list and going to try and keep an eye out for them!
http://www.facebook.com/meribethscm Meribeth Carlos

100% debuted already
- Niki
  
  I’m trying to deny that 100% exists right now >.< My friends are trying to get me to watch their MV, certain that I'll enjoy them, but I just have sooo many rookie feels right now. I'm terrified of getting more, lol. But I went and updated them to debuted!
Niki

Alright guys, I think the list is updated so far! I’m in the process of reviewing some more groups, so my apologies for taking so long >.<
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http://twitter.com/xXBlueRabbitXx ♥~вℓυє яαввιт~♥

um.. Shouldn’t EXO be one? EXO is a group…
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Since EXO is technically EXO-K and EXO-M with both groups producing their own CDs and promoting (mostly) separately, I did them as two groups.
- http://twitter.com/charmchaster ★Fulya Demirci
  
  EXO M promotes in China when K prommotes in Korea
  - http://twitter.com/fran_bbc Francella ^O^
    
    Yes but they’re one group, those are just sub-units. Their original name is EXO (short of EXO Planet). They’re a group.
http://www.facebook.com/meribethscm Meribeth Carlos

Lunafly debuted 4 day ago OMG I fell in love with them. Sam voice is great
- http://vipnikiki.tumblr.com/ Niki
  
  Fixed it ^_^ I haven’t heard them yet, but I’ll add them to the ones I need to review, lol
http://twitter.com/teffa96 teffa96

busker busker?
- Niki
  
  Busker Busker actually debuted last year
babypanda

15&, Goddess, Lay T, Ne.P, Offroad, Six bomb and Sunny Days already debut. ^^
- Niki
  
  I get back after a three week vaca and wow… Can’t believe I missed all of those >.< Thanks!
berit

Mr.Mr, ATTACK
azn boi

forgot a.cian and TOXIC
- Niki
  
  Oh, good catch! I actually had a hard time confirming that a.cian was a group (not that I didn’t trust you, but I like to do my research, lol), and TOXIC just debuted right? They’re a rock band I’m excited! Thanks for catching those for me
Zen

EXO. That is all.
- Niki
  
  Lol. Since so many people have said it, I’ve gone ahead and made EXO into one group, with each subgroup having a page. ^_^
http://www.facebook.com/BenISaFATASScow Ben Cao

Radiance. New group. Under Woollim Ent.
http://www.facebook.com/von.deadlock Azree Izuddin

how can exo k and exo m is separated?
http://twitter.com/Toolazytwins Toolazy

Wonder boyz has debuted.

TimeZ is a new group that debuted around 4 days ago if you want to add it to the list…
Rin

BtoB has debuted. They are amazing, especially their comeback “WOW”.
Rin

In my opinion, BAP should get they rookie award for 2012. They have worked so hard this year. They have done 2 shows and are doing their third currently. They also guest star in almost every Friday show, and have made 5 MVs in 6 months. That’s very tiring for even a older experienced band like Suju or Shinee.
anon123

forgot E2RE
- anon123
  
  oh as well as younique unit
nam

forgot geeks
http://twitter.com/fran_bbc Francella ^O^

Forgot Timez
- sandeul
  
  eww.
mavis

forgot Mr.Mr, Crazyno, Phantom, Roh Ji Hoon, Ailee, Juniel, Flashe, Natthew, The SeeYa and Baek Seung Heon.
Amethyst Love

Nu’est has the nicest music for me..