NCT #127 Neo Zone is the second studio album by NCT 127. It was released on March 6, 2020.
The physical album comes in four versions: N, C and T, along with a Kihno version.
Official Description[]
Global Trend, NCT 127, is Back! Releasing 2nd Regular Album, ‘NCT #127 Neo Zone’, on March 6th
Title Song, ‘Kick It’, Energy Booster Presented by Pop World’s New Hero!
Delivering 13 Songs in Various Genres, Expecting Unique Character in Music!
Expected to Rule the Pop World through Worldwide Promotion!
The global trend, NCT 127 (SM Entertainment), is making a splendid comeback with the second regular album, ‘NCT #127 Neo Zone’, on March 6th.
This album comprises a total of thirteen tracks reflecting NCT 127’s unique character in music including the title song, ‘Kick It.’ Like the title of the album, ‘Neo Zone’, the album drew out distinguishing characteristics of NCT 127 further to present their unique world of music to their fans. Immense responses are expected from the fans globally.
Especially, the title song, ‘Kick It’, is a hip-hop dance song that features powerful tempo and the mixture of addictive signature vocoder sound, base source with dynamic gliding effect, and energetic vocals by NCT 127. The lyrics cleverly send out a bold and confident message, ‘Overcome trauma’ to maximize the powerful energy of the song.
A number of hit song makers inside and outside Korea including the famous American producer, Dem Jointz, the world-renowned producing teams, The Underdogs and The Stereotypes, the British producing team, LDN Noise, Yoo Young-jin, Kenzie, Hitchhiker, and DEEZ participated in this album, and NCT 127’s members, TAEYONG, MARK, and JOHNNY also partially wrote the lyrics to increase the quality of the song further.
NCT 127 has enjoyed global popularity by demonstrating distinct style and unparalleled performance with every song they released since their debut with ‘Fire Truck’ in 2016 and created the K-POP sensation by going up the chart up to the 11th place on ‘Billboard 200’, which is Billboard’s main chart, and the 6th place on ‘Artist 100’, with ‘NCT #127 WE ARE SUPERHUMAN’, the mini album they released in May 2019. Based on such notable records they have set in the past, NCT 127’s comeback is expected to draw eyes and ears once again.
Title song with tremendous energy and swag, ‘Kick It’, powerful transformation of NCT 127!
The title song, ‘Kick It’, is a hip-hop dance song that features the energetic vocals by NCT 127 and intense tempo. The lyrics smoothly and cleverly send out a bold and confident message, ‘Overcome trauma’ to maximize the powerful energy of the song to transmit powerful energy.
Also, a R&B pop dance song, ‘Elevator (127F)’, expresses the wish to continue the relationship with an important person as the elevator ride to a high floor, and ‘Boom’, which is a drop-based R&B pop song accompanied by a mixture of acoustic guitar and addictive pluck sound and the intro that captures ears with MARK’s charming narration rap.
‘Pandora’s Box’ is a medium-tempo R&B song where the sweet sound of the Rhodes piano is impressive and it expresses the thrill that is felt while spending a happy afternoon with a lover. ’Day Dream’ is a medium-tempo R&B song that creates a mysterious mood similar to a dream from the intro part of the song with dynamic dream beat and the sound that feels the space.
‘Interlude: Neo Zone’, which expresses overall mood of this album, features a drastic change of sound from the string ensemble in classical and dreamy mood into powerful beat, and ‘MAD DOG’ which is an ethnic trap hip-hop song led by deep bass line and unique lead sound and ‘Sit Down!’, which is an R&B hip-hop with dynamic charms, also mesmerize ears.
‘Love Me Now’ depicts the sad feeling we have when we talk to ourselves in the memory of happy moments in the past but end up hearing the echo of ourselves like in a dream, ‘Love Song’ expresses the happy moments we share with our lovers even on a rainy day we usually hate, in the form of a story, and ‘White Night’ is a slow-tempo R&B ballad song that expressed the yearning for unforgettable old lover that strikes after the break-up, through the diversity of NCT 127’s vocals.
Also included in the album are ‘Not Alone’, which sends out an honest message that we are all lonely but we should understand and heal each other and be there for each other, and ‘Dreams Come True’ which is a bright song with a message of hope that tells listeners to encourage themselves and take pride in themselves. All thirteen songs will let you have the full experience of NCT 127’s great sensibilities of music.Tracklist[]
- Elevator (127F)
- 영웅; 英雄 (Kick It)
- 꿈 (Boom)
- 낮잠 (Pandora's Box)
- 白日夢 (Day Dream)
- Interlude: Neo Zone
- 뿔 (MAD DOG)
- Sit Down!
- 메아리 (Love Me Now)
- 우산 (Love Song)
- 백야 (White Night)
- Not Alone
- Dreams Come True
Background[]
After wrapping up promotion activities in the United States by the end of November 2019, SM Entertainment uploaded a music video for "Dreams Come True" onto the group's official channel, along with the release announcement for NCT #127Neo Zone on January 27, 2020. The label further confirmed that member JUNGWOO would re-join and participate in the group's promotion activities following his initial hiatus from August 2019. This marked Neo Zone their first release since Neo City: Seoul - The Origin in October 2019, their first original release since NCT #127 WE ARE SUPERHUMAN in May 2019 and their second full-length album, following Regular-Irregular and its repackage in late 2018.
On February 12, the group released a 90's-influenced "timeline" video for the album on all social media platforms of the group, including a release schedule and announcing "영웅 / 英雄 (Kick It)" as the lead single. It was then followed by several track videos previewing other songs from the album. before the music video teaser for "Kick It" was uploaded on the official SMTOWN channel on March 3, 2020. The album was eventually released both physically and digitally on March 6, 2020, with two different versions N, C, and different album covers. The T version was released later on March 20, 2020, while the Kihno version was released on March 27, 2020. With the exception of the album's interlude, the remaining album tracks of Neo Zone were uploaded fully onto the group's official channel, thus making it the group's first release to do so.
Promotion[]
Promotion for the album started with the group's first performance for the then-unreleased "序曲; Prelude" and "Kick It" as NCT 127 The Stage through their official channel on March 5, 2020. A day later, NCT 127 had their first music show performance for the lead single on Music Bank, followed by their promotion on Show! Music Core and Inkigayo. During the second promotion week on Music Bank and SBS Radio, the group performed the eleventh track "White Night". NCT 127 eventually earned their first Music Bank trophy for "Kick It" on March 27, 2020.
Charts[]
Weekly charts[]
| Chart (2020) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Neo Zone | The Final Round | |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 100 | – |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 141 | – |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 26 | – |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 15 | 15 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 3 | 4 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) | 14 | 21 |
| Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) | 82 | – |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 10 | – |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 47 | – |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon) | 1 | 1 |
| UK Digital Albums (OCC) | 34 | – |
| US Billboard 200 | 5 | 14 |
| US Top Album Sales | 1 | 1 |
| US Independent Albums | 2 | 2 |
| US Tastemaker Albums | 1 | 1 |
| US World Albums (Billboard) | 1 | 1 |
Monthly charts[]
| Chart (2020) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Neo Zone | The Final Round | |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 13 | 12 |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon) | 1 | 2 |
Year-end charts[]
| Chart (2020) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Neo Zone | The Final Round | |
| Hungarian Albums - Rank (MAHASZ) | 74 | — |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 69 | — |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon) | 8 | 14 |
| US Billboard 200 | 200 | — |
Certifications[]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea (KMCA) | 3x Platinum | 750,000^ |
| ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Accolades[]
| Song | Program | Date |
|---|---|---|
| "Kick It" | Music Bank | March 27, 2020 |
| "Punch" | M Countdown | May 28, 2020 |
| June 4, 2020 | ||
| Music Bank | May 29, 2020 | |
| Show! Music Core | May 30, 2020 |
| Critic/Publication | List | Work | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| MTV News | The Best K-Pop B-Sides of 2020 | "Love Me Now" | 17 |
| Metro | The Best K-Pop Comebacks of 2020 | "Kick It" | 1 |
| Billboard | The 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2020: Critics' Picks | Neo Zone | 5 |
| Young Post | The Top 15 K-pop Albums of 2020 | Neo Zone: The Final Round | 11 |
| South China Morning Post | N/A |
Audio[]
Video Gallery[]
