NCT 127 Just Released Their 10th Anniversary Album. Two of the Seven Members Aren't in a Single Promotional Photo.
NCT 127 released its seventh full-length album, "BLINGY," on Monday, marking a decade since the group's July 2016 debut. Only five members - Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun and Haechan - are promoting it. Doyoung and Jungwoo are serving mandatory military duty and sit out the rollout entirely, appearing only on record.
SM Entertainment confirmed the Aug. 24 release date on July 7, following a comeback announcement four months after Mark Lee's contract expired in April and roughly two years after Taeil was removed from the group over a 2024 sexual assault case. BLINGY is the first NCT 127 release with the group operating at five active members, down from an original nine.
The nine-track album's title cut, produced by Benjmn, blends dubstep and distortion synths into what SM's release materials describe as a "chant-led" hip-hop record built around the slogan "CALL 127" - a phrase the label frames as a call for members and fans to regroup as "One Team." The accompanying music video casts the group as fixers chasing a stolen gold pig sculpture across Seoul, with choreography co-created by Taeyong. Two tracks speak directly to the anniversary: "127 Million Miles," which brings all seven members - including Doyoung and Jungwoo - onto a single song for the first time on this record, and "I Mean, It's About Time," co-written by Taeyong and Johnny.
At a press conference Monday morning at SKY31 in Seoul's Lotte World Tower, Jaehyun downplayed chart expectations. "Better numbers and better outcomes would be great, of course," he said, but added that the anniversary framing mattered more than the results this time.
The album's lead single "Piñata" had already reached an American audience five days before the record's release, when NCT 127 performed a medley of "Kick It" and "Piñata" as a special guest act on the Aug. 19 live results show of "America's Got Talent."
NCT 127 opens its fifth world tour, "Neo City - The Redline," with three shows at Seoul's KSPO Dome from Sept. 18 to 20. The kickoff night will also stream live in movie theaters worldwide on Sept. 20 as part of a global cinema event tied to the tour.
