MBLAQ (, ; an acronym for Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality) is a South Korean boy band created by South Korean singer Rain under J. Tune Camp. The group consists of Seungho, G.O, and Mir, and formerly Lee Joon and Thunder. The group debuted on October 15, 2009, at Rain's Legend of Rainism concert.
On October 14, 2009, the group released their debut single album, Just BLAQ, which topped various online and offline music charts in South Korea. The group then released their first extended play album Y on May 19, 2010, and on January 10, 2011, MBLAQ released their first studio album, BLAQ Style.
On December 16, 2014, it was announced Joon and Thunder had departed from the group and they will focus on individual activities for the time being.
History
2009: Just BLAQ
MBLAQ was first announced on September 21, 2009, with an appearance in Nylon magazine, after having trained for two years. The group appeared alongside Rain, in his Legend of Rainism concert. They performed various songs from their produced EP, Just BLAQ and were met with praise, with many spectators at the concert and fans considering them as the next DBSK. The group released teasers for their debut song, "Oh Yeah" on October 12, 2009 with the music video being released two days later. Coinciding with the music video, MBLAQ's debut single album "Just BLAQ", was released on the same day, topping various charts in South Korea. The next day, the group made their broadcast debut on M.net's M! Countdown with "Oh Yeah".
In early December, the group debuted in Japan, following their performance during Rain's fan meeting. Their performance resulted in a documentary being produced surrounding their stay in Japan. Later that month, the group commenced promotions for their follow up track, "G.O.O.D Luv". Two music videos were released: an 'unofficial' music video prior to the 'official' music video, which was released on December 10, 2009.
In May 2011, Thunder revealed that former member Sang Bae left the group due to his poor health. Thunder also stated that he only joined MBLAQ fifteen days prior to their debut, and that while he sang and rapped live for their performances, his voice is not actually featured on any of the recorded tracks for Just BLAQ due to time constraints.
2010: Y
On May 17, 2010, the group released their second single album, Y, a track that Rain wrote, composed, produced and choreographed. The music video for the title track, "Y", was released on the same day at midnight with teasers being released from May 6. MBLAQ claimed first place on June 3, 2010, on M! Countdown, and were voted the best Rookie Group for the first half of 2010 through a poll conducted by Korean music site Bugs, obtaining 46% of the votes.
On December 29, 2010, MBLAQ released a teaser music video, featuring their song "Cry", for their upcoming full-length album, BLAQ Style.
On December 30, 2010, J.Tune Entertainment merged with JYP Entertainment. However, as MBLAQ is part of J.Tune Camp, they are not considered as part of JYP Entertainment, or have any ties with the company.
2011: BLAQ Style, Japanese debut, and Mona Lisa
MBLAQ returned to the music scene in January 2011. MBLAQ participated in the production of BLAQ Style, with Seungho composing and playing the piano for the introductory track "Sad Memories" and Mir writing the rap lyrics for "You're my +".
On January 3, 2011, J.Tune Camp released MBLAQ's music video for "Cry" on YouTube, an R&B track produced by E-Tribe. The video gained more than 500,000 views within a week. J.Tune Camp announced that MBLAQ would be debuting in Japan in May, signing with Sony Music Japan.
On January 10, 2011, MBLAQ released their first studio album, BLAQ Style. After only one day of the album's release, MBLAQ recorded 25,000 orders for BLAQ Style. The next day J.Tune Camp released the full music video for Stay on YouTube, which gained more than 400,000 in a week. On January 13, MBLAQ performed on M! Countdown, followed by performances on the 14th, 15th and 16th at Music Bank, Music Core, and Inkigayo respectively.