K-Pop Stars ZEROBASEONE Brought ‘SexyBack’ To 2026 KCON LA

ZEROBASEONE 2026 KCON LA DAY 2

CJ ENM

ZEROBASEONE (ZB1) has become a fixture within the KCON scene, performing nine times at the popular Korean culture convention (one in Hong Kong, four in Japan, and four in Los Angeles, including last night at the Crypto.com Arena).

This was the first year that the now-five-member group – Hanbin, Jiwoong, Matthew, Taerae, and Gunwook – headlined KCON’s M Countdown concert both at KCON Japan (back in May) and Night 2 of the LA concert last night. The group was given an hour-long set, which they filled with popular songs like “Doctor! Doctor” and “SLAM DUNK,” along with tracks from their latest album, Ascend, including “Top 5,” “V for Vision,” and “Zero to Hundred.” Jiwoong performed his solo song, “CLOSER.”

Before the show, the group did some press to prepare for their showcase, constantly dropping hints about their plans. As now veterans of KCON, the members quietly gasped at the idea they’re no longer the rookies of the popular convention, recalling their experience performing at KCON Japan in May 2023 even before their debut in July of that year.

“Before our debut, we were able to perform on stage, which was a meaningful start for us,” Hanbin says through an interpreter the day before their M Countdown performance. “Being able to showcase our different sides as a group is honestly a very attractive point for us performing at KCON.”

Hanbin wasn’t kidding regarding the group showcasing different sides to themselves. The members (both current and former) have had opportunities to MC the shows, perform solo sets, create units, and collaborate with other artists. Hanbin has been a regular MC at KCON LA, Japan, and Hong Kong since 2024, making history as the first person to host all three days of 2025 KCON Japan’s festival. At this year’s KCON Japan, ZB1’s Gunwook and Matthew performed aespa’s “Dirty Work” with JO1’s Junki and Ren. Taerae collaborated with Kim Jaehwan to perform CNBLUE’s “I’m Sorry.”

On Friday night for Night 1 of M Countdown, Gunwook teamed up with TREASURE’s Junghwan and KICKFLIP’s Kyehoon to form their KCON unit, “Oisobagi” (named after the popular Korean stuffed cucumber kimchi side dish). The trio performed K-rapper Crush’s “Rush Hour (featuring j-hope of BTS).”

“This group [TREASURE, KICKFLIP, and ZEROBASEONE] is super fresh because we’re [like] cucumbers,” Gunwook explains. “Each member [in this trio] is really the ace of each group. We’re professionals. Each of our group colors and identities can be pretty different, but we harmonize really well and come together.”

The members have collaborated with other artists for KCON, but have expressed interest in doing even more in the future. Matthew says the group has never done a team-up with another full group, and would like to try that.

“I’d want to try to [work with] &TEAM,” Matthew shares. “Let’s mix it up with P1Harmony! Yeah, those three.”

When pressed for what name he’d give the trio group unit, he is taken aback for a moment, wondering what name would fit the three K-powerhouses. He exclaimed, “Oh my goodness. Oh man, we’re so wack!”

He then realizes that’s the perfect name, laughing, “We’d call ourselves ‘The Wack!’ Roll with that!”

As the main vocalist for ZB1, Taerae dreams of doing more vocal collaborations with the other main and lead singers of other groups – possibly more ballads. He says, “I personally don’t think I’ve seen a lot of vocal stages [that have] collaborations among different groups. [We] can do a good song together.”

Jiwoong expressed interest in working with Hanbin for a unit set. He couldn’t come up with a unit name, but shared that together, they would “really eat that stage up.”

Despite ZB1’s active participation in multiple KCONs, they explained that every stage “feels new” to them, and they’re ready to prove themselves on every stage constantly. Gunwook elaborates, “Obviously, KCON is a big stage. So whether I’m alone or performing in different units and groups, [it] feels new to us and is a great opportunity to prove ourselves – and it’s a big accomplishment for us. We’re able to grow every time we’re on those different stages. It gives us the confidence that we can really do anything for any other stages.”

Hanbin recalls advice he received as a rookie performing at KCON that stayed with him: “Be cautious about becoming too familiar with either stages or performances.”

“So, in other words, that means to really treat every stage with a lot of value and meaning,” he simplifies it. “Considering [the stages] as a new opportunity every time is something that we always had in mind, and it’s really meaningful for us to perform again here.”

Now three years in – and considered the seniors to the rookie groups, ZB1 has some advice for them. Matthew recalls being nervous for his very first KCON because it was the biggest stage that they’d done at that time. He advises, “Don’t be nervous. Enjoy it. KCON is once a year (sometimes twice). It’s such a special event where you get to meet a bunch of other artists too and see their stages. You can see [how they perform on stage] and have lots of chances to learn. Take your chance to learn what you can and enjoy as much as you can.”

The group now takes KCON as an opportunity for them to have fun and do more covers – because the fans really like them. They’ve previously done covers of Wanna One’s “Energetic,” Red Velvet’s Psycho, BLACKPINK’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” KAI’s “Rover,” and SHINee’s “Sherlock (Clue + Note),” to name a few. This year, the group performed two covers – Taerae sang IU’s “Love Wins All,” while Hanbin, Matthew, and Gunwook performed Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack.”

“Whenever we do a cover, [fans] have such high expectations now,” says Matthew. “There’s five of us now, [so] we gotta fill up the hour. So we have a lot of covers prepared. They’re very special. One of them isn’t K-pop, so it’s gonna be very interesting, and we cannot wait for their reactions.”

ZB1 also did a live debut of their new song, “Exotic,” unveiling their intense (and sexy) dance routine. Matthew says the choreography “slays,” and that fans are gonna be “bamboozled.” He laughs, “I don’t even know how to say it. I can’t wait for them to see it. [They’re] gonna have a lot of fun.”

It’s fair to say the group has done a lot over the past three years since their debut, and went through changes earlier this year, going from nine members to five. Despite these adjustments in the group dynamics, ZB1 are ready to look ahead and keep pushing forward as a quintet.

“Ascend was released in May,” Gunwook comments. “I think that our album and promotions with that one showcased our group’s chemistry and really set our teamwork to really define us as ZEROBASEONE right now. I want to keep pushing forward and challenging ourselves with new attempts where we can make more cool and sophisticated music.”

Hanbin, ZEROBASEONE’s leader, acknowledges that their previous “refreshing concepts” suited them well, but the group still has much more to try in the future. He says confidently, “Going forward, we can really challenge ourselves and find out our charm and what suits us best in this next era with our fans. That would be a goal.”