A History of Verivery

Last updated July 12, 2023

Verivery are a k-pop boy group under Jellyfish Entertainment, the same label who manage VIXX and formerly Gugudan, among others. Verivery has seven members: Dongheon, Hoyoung, Minchan, Gyehyeon, Yeonho, Yongseung and Kangmin. On September 21, 2018, they released their predebut track Super Special, a 90s-inspired new jack swing dance track which served as the OST for their show Now Verivery. On January 9, 2019, Verivery debuted, releasing their first mini-album, Veri-Us, the first installment in their three-part Veri series, along with its title track Ring Ring Ring, a cheerful and colourful song continuing with the '90s new jack swing dance sound, in which they ask a girl to call them. The mini-album also included an acoustic ballad version of Super Special. The bright concept was not expected since VIXX, Jellyfish's prior boygroup, had mainly done dark concepts, but nonetheless it did respectably for a small-company debut.

Teasers were released starting on March 7 for Verivery's first comeback, their second mini-album titled 'Veri-Able', which they released on April 24, 2019, along with the music video for its title track From Now, another dance track with a similar new jack swing sound to Ring Ring Ring and Super Special, but with a different look for the music video, leaning into blues and purples. Compared to Ring Ring Ring, which eventually garnered over four million views on YouTube, From Now ended up with less than a million, sadly ending up as Verivery's lowest-performing title track in this regard. Also, on March 26, Verivery's fandom were officially named Verrers, meant to sound like the word "better" because Verivery and Verrers are better together. In May and July, they performed From Now in a special dance break version at KCON New York and KCON Japan, respectively.

On July 21, 2019, they released Veri-Chill, their first single album, along with its title track Tag Tag Tag. This era had a somewhat darker, creepy concept compared to the lighter, more colourful concepts they had done before. The new jack swing sound was kept during this era, but the '90s influences were toned down somewhat due to the aforementioned concept change. During this era, they performed Tag Tag Tag for South Korea's president at the time, Moon Jae-In. In August and September, they performed a dance break version of Tag Tag Tag at KCON LA and KCON Thailand, respectively. Tag Tag Tag ended up doing better than From Now on YouTube, but Veri-Chill ended up being Verivery's lowest-selling album to date, as they began growing in popularity starting with the Face It series. On October 9, 2019, My Beauty, a song performed by Minchan, Gyehyeon and Yeonho, was released as an OST song for the k-drama Extraordinary You.

On January 7, 2020, Verivery released their third mini-album Face Me as well as its title track Lay Back, which kept the darker concept and leaned into a more hip-hop musical direction. For the music video, which featured the members in a dance battle against mirror versions of themselves, they even learned the mirrored version of the choreography, showing their dedication! Face Me started the FACE IT trilogy of albums, which continued with the shift to a darker concept that Tag Tag Tag started, introducing lore to Verivery's music videos. On February 29, 2020, Verivery released their second OST track, With Us, for the very popular k-drama Itaewon Class.

In March, it was confirmed that the boys would be part of the MNET survival series Road To Kingdom, the winner of which would get a spot on MNET's show kingdom. Verivery made it to the final, ultimately and released a new song, Beautiful-X, as part of the competition for their finale stage, in which they set themselves apart by performing a bright song unlike other groups' dark stages. Shortly afterward, they returned to KCON, performing on June 23rd as a part of the convention, which was moved on-line and titled "KCON:TACT" due to the coronavirus. On July 1, 2020, Verivery released their fourth mini-album and the second installment in the Face It series, Face You, which included the title track Thunder as well as Beautiful-X and continued with the lore-heavy music video and more heavy-hitting sound. Also in July, Verivery went viral for being ranked as the second most synchronized out of all k-pop boygroups by a computer algorithm, behind only Seventeen, You can find the video ranking them here.

On October 13, 2020, Verivery released the third and final installment in the Face It series, Face Us, which featured the title track GBTB, perhaps the epitome of their "heavy-hitting" title tracks due to its shouting chorus and noise-filled intrumental, which was Verivery's first track to top the Billboard Digital Song Sales Chart! This was a new height for Verivery, and they would continue to grow from here, especially through their next series. However, on October 26, 2020, Minchan announced that he was on a temporary hiatus from promoting with Verivery due to health problems, as well as suffering from anxiety. He used this hiatus to rest and recover, including being treated for his anxiety issues.

On December 23, 2020, Verivery released their first Christmas song Love At First Sight, as well as its DIY music video. It's now available on their Soundcloud! Then, on December 29, Verivery released their self-produced music video for So Gravity, featuring Minchan! Additionally, in January, Verivery started their variety series Chaotic Verivery Land, in which they do different activities and games, though Minchan wasn't featured for the first few episodes. The series included many funny moments (including one of Yongseung getting hit in the family jewels by a soccer ball, which was popular on-line) and was renowned for its creative editing and special effects.

On February 14, 2021, Verivery posted the first teaser image for their 2nd single album Series 'O' (Round 1: Hall) on social media, and posted more teasers in the following days. The album and its title track Get Away were released on March 2, 2021. This album is the beginning of Verivery's third trilogy of albums, the "O" series, which touches on our inner darkness and builds heavily on the lore and storylines than began with Verivery's previous albums. It also shows off a more mature side of Verivery compared to the FACE IT series, with a melodic, dark sound and a still greater emphasis on story, depicting the members dealing with the darkness inside them. Sadly, Minchan wasn't able to return for this comeback. However, on May 31, 2021, it was announced that starting the next day, June 1, 2021, Minchan would participate in activities again, and Verivery would once again perform with all seven members! Their first big event with seven members again was their third appearance "at" KCON (which was still on-line) as part of the lineup for the second on-line KCON:TACT event.

Their sixth mini album, Series 'O' (Round 2: Hole), had its first teasers posted on July 31, 2021. The album, and its lead single "Trigger", an electronic dance track, were both released on August 23, 2021. In early October, Verivery announced their first tour, which would take them through nine stops in the US, including LA, New York City, Houston, and St Louis, amongst others, and was planned to take place in December 2021 from the 5th through the 20th. However, on December 17, just hours before they were due to perform their third-to-last concert of the tour, in Cleveland, Ohio, they had to cancel that tour date, as well as the final two dates in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and New York City, New York, due to Yongseung testing positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, he soon made a full recovery.

Also, in December, Verivery released Verrer Days, their first-ever Season's Greetings, which included a desk calendar, posters, photocards, and more. Additionally, on December 30, the first season of Chaotic Verivery Land came to an end after 40 episodes, including special episodes. The first season concluded with a special episode with all seven members looking back on the best moments of the first season. On Janurary 6, 2022, Yeonho released a solo OST, Rum Pum, for the k-drama Girls' World, making him the first Verivery member to record a solo song. In March 2022, Verivery released a documentary about their US tour, split into four episodes, which is available on Verivery's Weverse, which opened in early 2022.

On March 10th, 2022, they announced their next comeback: a digital single, called Series 'O' (Round 0: Who), which was released on March 23rd, with the promoted track "O", a mellow yet upbeat dance song about mental health struggles. It wasn't announced until after the promotional period, but this was the lead single for Verivery's upcoming first album. Shortly before the comeback with "O", Hoyoung, Minchan, Gyehyeon, Yeonho and Kangmin were all diagnosed with COVID-19. Dongheon was diagnosed with COVID-19 a few days later. Thankfully, they all recovered soon. Additionally, on the 29th of March, it was announced that Verivery will be making their Japanese debut in June! The second season of Chaotic Verivery Land was announced on the same day, and it started airing in April. It ran for ten episodes.

Finally, to top off a series of big announcements, on April 6th, they announced their first full album, Series 'O' (Round 3: Whole), and subsequently released the album's second single "Undercover", which were both released on April 25th. This album had a great variety of sounds, with darker, heavier-hitting songs, fresh, lighter songs, and ballads, even including Velocity, which had started its life as a self-written, self-produced track on their Soundcloud and was now remastered for this album. Additionally, it was announced that Verivery's Japanese debut would be a Japanese version of Undercover, with Japanese versions of O, Get Away and Trigger as b-sides depending on the album version. The Japanese version of Undercover was released on June 22, 2022.

On July 2, 2022, Verivery performed at a k-pop festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and met a Saudi prince afterwards. On July 14, 2022, it was announced that Verivery would have their first fan concert, Page O, (their first solo concert outside of their US tour!) on the 20th and 21st of August in Seoul! They also announced later dates in the US and Latin America in September and October. Around the same time, they also announced the third version of their official lightstick, seemingly higher-budget than the previous flat versions, which looks like this! The light in the globe even changes colours!

At the Seoul concerts on the 20th and 21st of August, they debuted a new self-produced song call Crack It. The song is a new jack swing song, that's highly reminiscent of Verivery's 2019 releases! Also, at both concerts, Dongheon and Yongseung took their shirts off, which caused mass chaos throughout the fandom. They kicked off their second US tour, the Page O Tour, on September 14 in Boston, Massachusetts. They finished the US leg of their 2022 tour in San Fransisco, California, on October 10. They then performed in Santiago, Chile, on the 14th of October, and finished the tour in Mexico City on the 16th.

Soon after, they released the member teasers for their second Season's Greetings, "Dear Our Youth", set to be released soon. Additionally, on October 25, they released two teasers before announcing "Tap Tap", the single off Liminality EP:Love, their third single album, which appears to be much brighter in concept than their previous music, a big departure from the precedent set by the Face It and O series, and appears to have some obsessive undertones. On October 26, 2022, after two and a half years, Kangmin, along with his co-hosts Moonbin and Sanha of Astro (together known as Ddangkongmin), hosted their final episode of Show Champion.

The Liminality - EP.LOVE single album and its title track "Tap Tap" were released on November 14, 2022, with a brighter and happier concept and a fun, pop rock-influenced sound, with a 90s-influenced music video. This comeback has marked new heights for Verivery, with well over 100,000 sales in the first two days, already beating out their prior comebacks' entire first-week sales! And finally, on November 23, 2022, 3 years and 11 months or exactly 1415 days since their debut, Verivery finally got their first win on Show Champion with "Tap Tap"!! (Verivery receiving their first win pictured below.) And days later, they got their second win on Music Bank. And with this, Verrers were crazy with joy for a little bit. :D

Sadly, Minchan's anxiety soon had a recurrence, and he went back on hiatus on December 7, 2022. Let's hope he recovers and resumes activities soon! Shortly after, on December 13, Verivery performed Undercover at the 2022 Asian Artist Awards, where Verivery and AleXa won the Best Icon Award! Then, on December 21, Verivery announced their first DIY single, the self-produced Christmas single "SERENATA: Slow And Steady", which was released through Soundcloud, along with the DIY music video for the title track "Christmas Day", a fun, upbeat Christmas song, on Christmas day at 3:26 PM KST, after Verrer's fandom birthday. Also, on their fourth anniversary, January 9, 2023, they released the music video for "It's You", the b-side to "Christmas Day".

Then, on January 12, it was announced that Verivery would have their first Japanese comeback with the Japanese version of "Tap Tap" on March 22, with Japanese versions of "Love Line" and "So Gravity" as b-sides. On February 10, they won the Focus Star Award at the Hanteo Music Awards and announced that they were working on a new album. On March 15, Verivery released the video for the Japanese version of Tap Tap, and shortly thereafter it was announced that they would be featured in the idol-centric manga "Soko De Hoshikuzu Miagetero"! Throughout April 2023, buzz began of a new comeback, to be released in late May.

On April 27, it was announced that Dongheon would be enlisting in the military in active service by the end of the year, as soon as he received an enlistment date. This caused speculation amongst Verrers that this decision to seemingly enlist as soon as possible may have something to do with the recent scandal of Ravi, member of Verivery's senior group in Jellyfish VIXX, who left the group permanently after a scandal where it was revealed that he was shady with his own enlistment and got civil service instead. Shortly after, on the 29th, the first teasers were posted for Liminality EP:DREAM, their 7th EP, and its title track "Crazy Like That", to be released on May 16th. The new EP included two songs (Raincoat and Smile With You) out of four that were self-written, and the title track "Crazy Like That" had a much more relaxed, dreamy sound. Sadly, Yongseung had to sit out activities for the week of the 7th of June due to back pain, but he was soon back in the game.

Around the same time, they also announced their second concert, Dream Shop, which took place in Seoul on the 24th and 25th of June, with a Tokyo date on the 2nd of July and a Taipei date on the 22nd of July! The concert included more chaos due to shirtless Dongheon, as well as a performance of their song "Summer Land", which had been one of the first songs on their Soundcloud, and a touching tribute from the younger members to Dongheon in light of his upcoming military service. The July 22nd Taiwan concert, which Yeonho had to sit out from due to a sudden diagnosis of tonsillitis, was Dongheon's last group activity with Verivery before the start of his hiatus for his upcoming military service. It was also announced that they would perform (sans Dongheon and Minchan, due to Minchan's ongoing hiatus and Dongheon's hiatus) at the Anime Matsuri convention in Texas! They were also announced to return once more to KCON, and performed at the "Nice to Meet U" showcase concert at KCON LA. On August 13, it was announced that Yeonho was cast in the Korean version of the Queen jukebox musical "We Will Rock You"! Dongheon enlisted on August 28, and a few days before published a handwritten emotional letter to Verrers asking them to always support him.

And that brings us up to now! Let's hope for even more great times with Verivery!