Generations: The Best Gen 5 Boy Groups

CORTIS are the newest group on this list and, by our all-time score, the highest, which tells you how much weight the fifth generation puts on momentum. The five-member act is BigHit Music's first boy group since TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and they arrived as a self-producing creator crew with no fixed positions: the members write, produce, choreograph, and even film much of their own work. The result is a lean trap-and-synth sound that sounds nothing like a typical major-label debut. Their score leads on streaming and video. Read their place here as a snapshot of right now, because a group this young is still building its case.

TWS coined their own genre to describe themselves: boyhood pop, bright and youthful songs about the small dramas of growing up, strung together as a loose school narrative. Pledis Entertainment's first boy group since SEVENTEEN, they turned that easy charm into one of the strongest rookie runs of their year and won Best New Male Artist at the 2024 MAMA Awards. Their score leans on sales and video. Few groups of their generation made likability feel this effortless.

RIIZE were SM Entertainment's first new boy group in seven years, and they marked a deliberate turn for the label. In place of SM's signature heavy electronic sound they built an accessible, feeling-forward pop they call emotional pop, anchored by warm hits like "Get a Guitar" and "Love 119." Their score draws on streaming, video, and recognition. They are proof that the company behind the genre's most maximalist concepts could also win by stripping things back.

BOYNEXTDOOR were the first group from KOZ Entertainment, the label founded by rapper-producer Zico, and they wear that origin in their writing. They trade fantasy lore for honest, down-to-earth stories of young love and everyday life, set to a genre-flexible sound that moves between hip-hop, rock, and teen pop. Their score is strongest in sales and video. The relatability is the whole point, and it has built them one of the most devoted young fandoms of the era.

ZEROBASEONE were the project group assembled from the winners of Mnet's Boys Planet, built like the survival groups before them to run for a fixed term. They debuted as outright monster rookies, becoming the first boy group to move a million copies of a debut release, and stacked up the major year-end rookie awards. Their score is anchored by sales and recognition. They are the clearest sign that the survival-show machine still mints stars in the fifth generation.

NCT WISH are the newest unit of SM's sprawling NCT project, a Tokyo-based, six-member lineup formed through the reality show NCT Universe: LASTART. Built around a Japan-centered, globally minded concept, they extend the NCT system into a market the franchise had not anchored a group in before. Their score draws on sales and video. Like NCT's other units, they show how one company keeps running distinct groups under a single umbrella.

PLAVE are the outlier that says the most about this generation. The five-member group is virtual: the members appear as webtoon-style avatars performed in real time through motion capture by real people, not by AI. That format used to be a novelty, but PLAVE made it mainstream, becoming the first virtual idol group to win a televised music show and to perform at the MAMA Awards, and they write and produce much of their own music. Their score leans on streaming and a famously dedicated fandom.

NEXZ came out of Nizi Project Season 2, JYP Entertainment's joint audition with Sony Music, and they were built from the start as a two-market act with a bilingual Korean and Japanese launch. Their sound leans on hip-hop rhythms layered with electronic and dance elements. Their score is steadiest in video and streaming. They are JYP's bet that the cross-border audition model that built NiziU can work for a boy group too.