A Guide to ENHYPEN: What You Need to Know About the Group, New Album, and Their Vampire Universe

The six-member K-pop group has spent six years inside one vampire universe—a world that spans its albums, a webtoon read more than 200 million times, and now an anime.

The members are JUNGWON, JAY, JAKE, SUNGHOON, SUNOO, and NI-KI. And their newest chapter, the six song EP THE SIN : BLISS, arrives on August 21.

We were able to speak to the members of ENHYPEN before their EP drops. Here's everything to know about the group and their rise to stardom.

They debuted on November 30, 2020, as the first artists under BELIFT LAB, a label founded as a HYBE–CJ ENM joint venture in 2018 and wholly owned by HYBE since 2023.

The name comes from the hyphen: just as a hyphen connects two words, ENHYPEN's members—with different nationalities, languages, and training backgrounds—connect to make something new. The label describes it as "Connection, Discovery & Growth." Fans are called "ENGENE," a name the group unveiled shortly before debut: fans are the engine that lets ENHYPEN grow, and they share the group's "gene," the same DNA to discover and rise together.

“I-LAND was really just the first step toward the dream. My future wasn’t certain—all I could do was work hard,” SUNOO told Complex. “Now there’s a lot I’ve achieved with my own strength, and I have the fans: this steady, dependable support behind me. I draw strength from that when I perform with them.”

The world they’ve built now runs well past music. The group has been Prada global ambassadors since June 2023, a relationship JAKE brought up unprompted: “We’ve been with Prada for a long time—a few years now. We went to most of their fashion shows, we’ve done a lot of collabs.”

Born Park Jongseong in Seattle in 2002 and raised in Seoul, JAY is the group's eldest and one of its two fluent English speakers. He's also a registered writer and composer on "Sweet Venom" and "Helium." His bandmate SUNGHOON once described him as "carefree, and unpretentious."

JAKE

Jake Sim, born in Seoul in 2002 and raised in Queensland, Australia, got here fast: he passed the label's global audition at odds of roughly 500 to 1, entered I-LAND after just nine months as a trainee (he sang Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself"), and made the final lineup. He now has the deepest hand in the music of any current member, a registered writer and composer since 2022's "Shout Out," with credits on two THE SIN : VANISH tracks: "Sleep Tight" and the narration piece "The Beginning."

SUNGHOON

Before he was an idol, Park Sunghoon (b. 2002) spent a decade as a competitive figure skater, medaling internationally and representing South Korea on the ISU junior circuit. Big Hit came calling while he was still competing, and for two years he did both: skating in the morning and idol training afterward. Only when he was selected for I-LAND did he leave the ice for good.

SUNOO

Kim Sunoo (b. 2003, Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province) is the group’s warmest presence on camera, and usually the first one laughing. His debut-era motto still holds: “The stage is my happy place.”

JUNGWON

Yang Jungwon (b. 2004, Seoul) leads the group despite being its second-youngest—a onetime competitive Taekwondo athlete whose mother enrolled him in the sport to coax a painfully shy kid out of his shell. "I believe idols should be good at everything," he said at debut, and he's followed through inside the music, too: he's a registered writer and composer on 2024's "Hundred Broken Hearts," including the song's topline.

NI-KI

The youngest, born Nishimura Riki in Okayama, Japan, in 2005, NI-KI is ENHYPEN’s main dancer. He has been performing since early childhood, including turns as a kid backup dancer for SHINee.

What happened to HEESEUNG?

ENHYPEN's debut EP BORDER : DAY ONE arrived in November 2020, and the group scaled fast: they passed 5 billion Spotify streams quicker than any K-pop boy group before them, and as of this spring the catalog has crossed 7 billion—with the United States as their single largest streaming market. Early singles "Given-Taken" and "Drunk-Dazed" set the theatrical, rock-streaked sound of the first era. Meanwhile, a hushed 2021 B-side called "Fever" became a signature anyway. The fans decided that, not the label: its video has pulled more than 139 million views without ever being a single.

The breakout came in May 2023 with "Bite Me": slinky and bass-heavy, claps up front. The song pulled the group's two sides—the vampire theater and the "Fever" hush—into one track. Its video now sits at over 206 million views, and the era propelled ENHYPEN to their US stadium debut on that year's FATE world tour.

Since then, the milestones have stacked American. The 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A 2025 Coachella set that made them the fastest K-pop boy band to reach that stage. The numbers kept pace, too. In June 2025, DESIRE : UNLEASH moved 2.14 million copies worldwide in its first week and hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200. This January's THE SIN : VANISH sold more than two million copies worldwide in its first week, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200—tying the group's chart peak—and gave ENHYPEN its first No. 1 on Billboard's Artist 100.

Through it all, the members kept changing what ENHYPEN sounded like. "We've done so many different genres of music," JAKE said. "I feel like K-pop nowadays is a very open thing… and I think we are one of the few groups that can really do a lot of different genres. So I think I could say that I'm very proud of that."

They've also kept a hand in making it: every member is a registered writer and composer on at least one ENHYPEN track, and the involvement is ongoing. "We try to be involved as much as possible, when we have the time," JUNGWON said through an interpreter. "When we're on a tour, we can't do that. But whenever we're in Korea, we try to make time to be more involved in the production, and hopefully we'll be able to release some more exciting stuff moving forward."

The vampires were there from day one.

"Given-Taken," the 2020 debut single, was already about blood and crowns, and every era since has kept the fangs. In 2022, the story jumped formats: Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, a webtoon about seven vampire boys hiding their identities at an ordinary high school, ran for 71 episodes and has been read more than 200 million times.

The franchise didn't stop: Dark Moon: Two Moons, starring the ENHYPEN-inspired characters, is still running today. "It is our animation in a way, but the characters each take on traits of their own, so it's fascinating," SUNGHOON said of watching the show. "Fans say there are parts that resemble us—and sometimes I think, 'Do they?' And it's thanks to the animation that we got to go to Comic-Con, so we're having a lot of great experiences."

In July, the universe reached a stage few K-pop groups have stood on: a San Diego Comic-Con panel. "We did a lot of things at Comic-Con—it was next to our first show in San Diego, so I think we met a lot of fans there. A lot of fans from Dark Moon," JAY said. "I think it was the moment that we really didn't expect when we debuted."

Most K-pop groups reinvent their concept with every comeback. ENHYPEN made the opposite bet: one identity, held for six years, while the music underneath it changes constantly—rock, retro pop, hip-hop, and now Brazilian funk. Ask them about it, and they'll tell you the design was deliberate.

"We built this vampire storyline from the beginning as a core, and we can really try and explore different music genres with that storyline," JAKE said. "I think it helps build character. It helps the audience be more interactive with our music, with our art… Having this core of vampire in the middle helps us explore so many different things, and I think it's one of our strongest points. We're very happy that we did that since the beginning."

The commitment runs all the way into the recording booth. Preparing for "Bite Me," a teenage NI-KI approached the vampire like an actor approaches a role: "I researched a lot about vampires," he said in an interview from the behind-the-scenes video sessions. "I wanted to have a cold, dark, and calm voice, so I watched a lot of movies."

Ask them where home is, though, and they'll refuse the question. "We can't really point to one music genre and say this song is ENHYPEN," JAKE said. "ENHYPEN is a performance group. We are very strong in our performance as well as our music… I would say a song that has a lot of energy is a song that we enjoy doing the most."

BLISS picks up mid-chase. "The title track, 'Bloody Paradise,' holds the feeling that even in the middle of the chase, this is a blessing: a blood-colored paradise," he continued. "With you, even this blood-soaked situation feels like paradise."

Like VANISH, the album threads narration interludes through its songs to carry the storyline—"we placed each song and each narration in between the songs accordingly," as JAKE put it. The credits reach well outside K-pop: Sean Cook, who co-wrote and co-produced Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," contributes to opener "Two Fools," and lead single "Bloody Paradise" comes from JULiA LEWiS, a producer and co-writer on Bad Bunny's "DtMF"—winner of the Latin Grammy for best urban song—and a producer on "El Clúb."

That single is where the album swerves: a Brazilian baile funk track, a first for the group and still rare in K-pop. "The moment I heard it, on a purely instinctive level, I just thought: this is so good," JUNGWON said. "I remember listening to it on the speaker in my room—JAY was with me, and I can still vividly see the look on his face when the intro hit."

The baile funk arrives with good timing: when the BLOOD SAGA tour left Seoul in June, its first stop was São Paulo—ENHYPEN's first show in Brazil. "We were just blown away by how many ENGENEs there were, and they really knew how to enjoy the show," SUNGHOON said. "I think this tour might create even more synergy with our title track."

“I think ‘Bite Me’ is the song where you can hear our universe—the sound that symbolizes the vampire. This is just my opinion, but I think it’s still our signature song. I don’t know what the other members think, but I loved it from the track itself. When you put vampires and ENHYPEN together, ‘Bite Me’ is the first thing that comes to mind.”

SUNOO: “Bloody Paradise” (2026)

“‘Bite Me’ is a great song too, but I’d most recommend our new title track. I’m really looking forward to this album, and when I first heard this song, the impact was so strong. I think if people listen to it, they’ll immediately get it: ah, so this is ENHYPEN.”

JAKE: “Highlight” (2026)

“My favorite song changes every day. But as of today, I’d say ‘Highlight’—it’s the last song [on THE SIN : BLISS ], and I think it really highlights us.”

JUNGWON: “Stuck” (2026)

“I think our albums have a color that only ENHYPEN can do—every album has one, like ‘Moonstruck’ or ‘No Way Back,’ songs with something dreamlike about them that’s hard to put into words. This time, I think that song is ‘Stuck.’ And personally, the synth in it hits your ears in this striking way. I really love that sound.”

SUNGHOON: “Drunk-Dazed” (2021)

“The others picked the songs that are about to come out, so I’ll go with something from when we were younger—the vampire story actually started back then. It’s conceptual, and that excited energy is something that’s still finding its way into our music, even now.”

JAY: “Given-Taken” (2020)

Answering last left JAY cornered: “I had no options,” he joked, before making the case for the debut single. “When you’re starting to love some series, I still believe that you need to start from the very beginning. I think it was our very beginnings—I hope you start from that point.”

The album arrives mid-tour. BLOOD SAGA opened in Seoul in May, then went straight to Latin America for the first time in the group's career: São Paulo on June 4, followed by Peru and Mexico. A U.S. leg ran July 17 through August 1: Dallas, San Diego, Tacoma, Oakland, and Las Vegas. A European leg follows in early 2027, running from Milan on February 24 to London's O2 Arena on March 9.

For a group built on an immortality story, ENHYPEN talks a lot about beginnings—where a new listener should start, what the first era still carries. But they left one wish on the table before we hung up: “We would love to be at ComplexCon one day,” JAKE said.