Treasure (band)

Junkyu, Ye-dam and Jung-hwan had stints in entertainment during their childhood days. Junkyu started as a child commercial model for prominent Korean brands.[2] Ye-dam recorded songs for commercials, animated shows and soundtracks with his parents. He further appeared on SBS' K-pop Star 2 in 2012, and finished as runner-up behind AKMU.[3][4] Jung-hwan took on minor roles as a child actor and joined one of the world's leading taekwondo demonstration teams, K-Tigers, where he won during a non-combat championship.[5] In January 2017, Mashiho acted in label-mate AKMU's musical short film, "Spring of Winter", as a barista.[6] That same year, from October 29 – January 26, 2018, Hyun-suk and Junkyu competed on JTBC's Mix Nine as trainees under the label, finishing in 5th and 35th place respectively.[7] Concurrently, on November 21, 2017, Jihoon, Ye-dam and Doyoung alongside others appeared on Mnet's Stray Kids as representative trainees under YG Entertainment.[8]

YG Entertainment documented their formation with an internet broadcast of which was simultaneously televised on the cable network, JTBC2.[9] The label unveiled twenty nine male trainees on YG Treasure Box in November 2018 where a series of elimination were carried out throughout its airing.[9] Its finale finalized the septet with Haruto, Ye-dam, Jung-hwan and Junkyu later followed Jeong-woo, Jae-hyuk and Hyun-suk under the name, Treasure.[10][11] However, without notice a second line-up composed of Yoon-bin, Mashiho, Doyoung, Yoshinori, Jihoon and Asahi under the name, Magnum was disclosed in January 2019.[12] The aforementioned teams were collectively to be called Treasure 13 before Yoon-bin's departure from the label in December 2019 to pursue a solo career.[13][14] Both teams were then permanently merged as Treasure and became the label's first boy band since 2015 after Big Bang, Winner and iKon.[15][16]

In January 2020, Treasure was re-introduced to the public as a group targeting the global market with weekly pictorials, performance videos which included the single "Going Crazy" (미쳐가네; michyeogane) from YG Treasure Box where label-mate senior Mino of Winner contributed in production, alongside multiple variety programs via YouTube like Treasure Map and T.M.I.[17][18] Ahead of their debut, Treasure was recorded as the fastest Korean act to chart on Billboard Social 50 and gradually peak at number 12 on August 4.[19][20] On June 5, Ye-dam became its first member to release content as a soloist through the digital single, "Wayo" (왜요; waeyo).[21] Broadcasting promotions for the single were not carried out due to his focus on preparations for debut with Treasure. Notably, label-mate seniors, Kang Seung-yoon of Winner and Lee Chan-hyuk of AKMU partook in production.[22] "Wayo" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart and entered the top 100 at number 98 on the Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100 chart.[23][24]

Treasure debuted on August 7 with the single album, The First Step: Chapter One, the first installment to The First Step series.[20] The group amassed over 170,000 pre-orders within several days ahead of its physical album release on August 13.[25] The lead single, "Boy", found success in Japan, topping music streaming platforms including Line Music, Rakuten and AWA rising chart.[26] Its music video surpassed 10 million views in 26 hours and 20 million views in 6 days on YouTube which eventually became their first to reach a milestone of 100 million views on the platform.[27][28][29] Treasure began promotions on August 9 through their first broadcasting appearance on SBS' Inkigayo.[27] The single album was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), giving the group their first certification since debut.[30] The second installment to their series was released on September 18.[31] Its titular single, "I Love You" (사랑해; saranghae) topped the monthly chart of Rakuten Music for the month of September with under two weeks of tracking.[32][33] The group also acquired the title, "Half a Million Seller", from the accumulated sales figure of their releases and earned their second platinum certification from the KMCA. The third installment, which was released on November 6, included the B-side single "Orange" (오렌지; olenji), the group's first self-produced song by their member, Asahi.[34][35] With this, they surpassed 710,000 copies within a span of 3 months since their debut.[32] On November 28, the group won their first "Rookie of the Year" award through the Asia Artist Awards.[36] Concluding The First Step series, Treasure released their first full-length album on January 11, 2021.[37] The album tallied their third number one on the Gaon Weekly Album Chart and peaked atop the Gaon Monthly Album Chart for the month of January.[38][39] The series' 5 month journey ended with a sales figure of over one million copies, becoming a "Million Seller".[40]

Treasure lent their voices for TV Tokyo Japanese anime, Black Clover's 13th ending theme song. It also served as the group's first original Japanese song and was first revealed on January 5, 2021, through the anime. The soundtrack was digitally released on music streaming platforms as multiple versions like Beautiful (Anime Edit) and Beautiful on January 22 and February 14 respectively.[41] The full version entered and peaked on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart at number 58 and the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart at number 23.[42] In commemoration of the final episode of the show, the full version of "Beautiful" was played at the request of the director of Black Clover's last episode, director Tanemura.[43] Treasure's Japanese debut album, entitled by the same name given to their Korean full-length album, was released on March 31 with an accompanied music video for their single, "Beautiful". It included the Japanese versions of all their releases to date alongside their newest single.[44] The album debuted and consecutively charted at number one for four days on the Oricon Daily Chart, and debuted atop the Oricon Weekly Album Chart with a recorded sales figure of 57,000 within its first week.[44][45] On April 2, their Japanese television debut was held on Nippon TV music program Buzz Rhythm, where they performed the Japanese version of "Boy".[45]

On October 2, Treasure held their first "private stage", a fan meeting brand created by their agency, titled Teu-day.[46] The event was held at the Olympic Hall located within Olympic Park.[46] Due to COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, venue tickets were limited with gaps maintained between seats. Cheering at the venue was prohibited and was replaced with the sound of body percussions which included stomping and clapping. Teu-day was also simultaneously shared online to those who purchased a ticket and was streamed across 100 different countries.[47]

In August 2020, the group collaborated with global creative studio, Line Friends through the participation of designing new character IPs (intellectual properties). The product, later revealed to be branded as Truz, was presented in various forms including messenger stickers, music sources, shots animation, character products and more.[48] 16 types of Truz stickers were available on Line Messenger throughout 7 countries including South Korea and Japan. Among various character activities, AR (augmented reality) filters were launched through Instagram. On April 29, 2021, Truz' newest doll collection were domestically sold out in one minute through their official smart store while abroad the items were sold out in under an hour throughout 18 countries including those in Asia, South America and North America.[49]

Treasure became models for the naturalist cosmetics brand, Manyo Factory in January 2021.[50] The brand achieved its highest sales through a mobile live broadcast on CJ Olive Young following the group's product recommendations to its viewers.[51] That same year, Treasure became brand ambassadors for Ruangguru, an Indonesian educational learning platform,[52] alongside models for I'mmune, an aloe immune health functional food by Univera, and its brand campaign "'Cultivating a Happy Immune Habit".[53]

Members of Treasure participated in label-mate senior Sean of Jinusean's charity marathon event Miracle 365 in July, August, October and November 2019. Awareness and funds were raised to build a rehabilitation hospital for children who require medical treatment caused by disability.[54][55]

On July 5, 2020, members of Treasure participated in a volunteering program organized by YG Entertainment through "Blue Angel Volunteers" at an animal shelter located within the Gyeonggi Province. A total of 33 YG Family staff members and label-mates contributed in the program including actress Han Seung-yeon. Volunteering acts included creating shelters, cleaning, restocking feed supply and more.[56] That same year, in September, Treasure became advocates for children diagnosed with cancer. The group encouraged individuals to help make a difference by donating through the Naver donation platform, Happy Bean, through a partnership with YG Entertainment and Muju YG Foundation.[57]

On March 19, 2021, YG Entertainment announced Treasure alongside Muju YG Foundation and Um Hong-gil Human Foundation participated in opening a human school support fund through Naver's Happy Bean in correlation to the construction of schools for children and adolescents within Nepal's underprivileged areas. In addition, Muju YG Foundation donated 100 million won to the fund.[58] In April, the group used their social media platform to advocate for the 51st Earth Day. They voiced their concerns on environmental problems society face including climate change and came up with three action words: interest, participation and consistency for a better concept on how to tackle on these issues.[59]

Through the group's debut press conference, while revealing the difficulty of choosing only one artist that the group has been influenced by, they stated their main role models are their label-mate seniors under YG Entertainment through their various music releases and videos.[25]

• YG Treasure Box (2018, V Live / YouTube / JTBC2)[15]
• T.M.I (Treasure Maker Interaction) (2020–present, YouTube / V Live)[91]
• Treasure Map (2020–present, YouTube / SBS MTV / SBS FiL)[92][93]
• Fact Check (2020, YouTube / V Live)[94]
• 3-Minute Treasure (2020, YouTube / V Live)[94]
• T-Talk (2020, YouTube / V Live)[94]
• Treasure Studio (2020–present, YouTube)[48][lower-alpha 5]
• Find Your Korea (2021, YouTube)

• It's Okay, That's Friendship (2021, YouTube)[95]
• The Mysterious Class (2021, YouTube)[96]