XUM Officially Disbands Less Than 1 Year After Re-Debuting
Less than one year after rookie girl group XUM re-debuted together, A100 Entertainment has announced that the group has officially disbanded.
XUM’s three members—Dayeon, Baekah, and Iaan—were originally part of NeonPunch along with two other costars, May and Dohee. From their debut in 2018 onward, NeonPunch released two albums which peaked at no.37 and no.45 on Gaon. Sadly, in August 2020, A100 Entertainment announced that NeonPunch would be disbanding due to financial issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, fans remained hopeful when the agency revealed that Dayeon, Baekah, and Iaan would be re-debuting as XUM later that month. While their debut was soon delayed after a staff member tested positive for novel coronavirus, XUM eventually released their first single—”DDALALA”—on September 24, 2020. The group’s single album went on to reach no.66 on Gaon, selling 1,800 copies.
Unfortunately for fans, the group’s first release would also be their last. On June 1, A100 Entertainment issued XUM’s disbandment statement in English via the agency’s official YouTube channel.
We appreciate your support and heartily thank you
But we announce to the public
XUM is disbanded— A100 Entertainment
A100 Entertainment is yet to announce XUM’s disbandment on any other platform or give any details on why XUM disbanded so soon. Since none of the members have posted on XUM’s official social media channels since December 2020, many are speculating that the group silently disbanded some time ago.
Since announcing XUM’s disbandment, A100 Entertainment (which appears to be rebranding as K-Pop Live Entertainment) has made all of the videos on XUM’s YouTube channel private, including their “DDALALA” music video, which recorded 10 million views in its first week. The company has also rebranded XUM’s channel under the name Hi-L.
Hi-L is a new six-member girl group scheduled to debut under K-Pop Live Entertainment in July 2021. However, it appears that none of the XUM members will be part of Hi-L. Unsurprisingly, fans of XUM are angry and disappointed at how A100 Entertainment handled their disbandment and career over the past several months.
A100 is trash.
They rebranded themselves to “Kpop Live Entertainment and now They’re literally using XUMs YouTube channel to promote the new group… they even went as far as to edit their community post regarding XUM & this group being in the same agency. pic.twitter.com/jZhslmhTvu
— CLOSED (@xumnews) June 1, 2021