Boy group RIIZE have racked up over 1 million pre-orders for their debut single album Get A Guitar, ahead of its release at 6PM KST today. Around 1.03 million physical albums have been produced to meet the demand from fans of the group. This latest last-minute record shows the huge interest in RIIZE, which is SM Entertainment’s first K-pop boy group in seven years.
RIIZE’s 1.03 million pre-orders for their debut album is also the highest for an SM Entertainment group. The record was previously held by AESPA’s Savage, which had 730K pre-orders. This is also the second “1 million” achievement for RIIZE. Their official group Instagram account reached 1 million followers within its first 4 days.
High expectations and a scandal
Expectations have been high for RIIZE ever since they were announced. They have been one of the most actively marketed rookie groups this year. An eight-episode webnovel Rise & Realize was launched in August, chronicling their ongoing journey. RIIZE also made their international performance debut at this year’s KCON LA.
However, their impending debut was not without its controversies. The group had to weather a recent ‘kissing scandal’ involving photos featuring member Seunghan. SM Entertainment promised legal action against those spreading the photos online, leading to public apologies from netizens.
Fans looking forward to debut
Fans of RIIZE immediately took to social media to celebrate the group’s 1 million pre-orders. They shared clips of RIIZE’s final video call as a rookie group, wishing them success.
The excitement was also increased after the music video for RIIZE’s pre-release track Memories reached 10 million views on YouTube. The song is included in Get A Guitar, along with the title track.
Besides launching their album, RIIZE will also be holding a showcase RIIZING DAY: RIIZE Premiere today at 8PM KST to mark their debut. There are also reports that the group will release two comebacks in the final quarter of 2023.
We wish RIIZE all the best in their debut, and look forward to seeing them succeed!