So I’ve seen a lot of people express interest in Just B the past couple of days after Bain came out (I’m so fucking proud and happy for him) and as a resident Just B yapper, I figured this would be a great time for me to talk their music and background, about why I love them so much, etc., in hopes that it will be useful to people and hopefully convince you that they’re great.
The Basic Facts
Just B debuted on June 30, 2021, with the song Damage – which was produced by Bang Yongguk from B.A.P – and the mini-album Just Burn. They’ve become increasingly self-composed and self-managed in the past year or two, and recently came back with their hyperpop album Just Odd with title track Chest. They just finished the US/Canada leg of their world tour but have a final concert in Mexico soon to cap it off!
The Music
Their first three songs – Damage, Tick Tock and Re=Load – form a trilogy so I’ll combine them here – they’re all strong, hard-hitting tracks with some EDM elements and a loosely connected plot throughout the music videos. Damage is a particular highlight of the trilogy! The group famously hates Tick Tock. which has become a recurring joke among the fanbase.
Me= took the group in a bit of a brighter direction but continues the pop-rock sort of sound. It’s the first of their title tracks that DY helped compose but far from the last. The music video was filmed in California and is really bright and lovely.
MBTI is a collaboration with AlexA! She remains a big supporter of the boys and likes to comment on their SNS posts sometimes. The song is a chill R&B song, which is not their usual sound but a fun addition to the discography.
Medusa is a really addictive pop-punk/pop-rock track with some clear influences from 2nd gen Kpop. (It is also the song that got me into the group so I’m a big big fan). It’s the first of theirs to incorporate some of the pop-punk elements that make their more recent work stand out. They also performed it at MAMA in 2023 after winning Road To Mama, which is one of my favorite performances of theirs. (Not for the obvious shallow reasons I swear)
Daddy’s Girl is the first fully English song, continues their pop-rock/pop-punk sound and has frequently been compared to 5SOS (who Just B covered on their recent tour). There’s an uncensored version with a metric ton of cursing which Sangwoo always accidentally sings when they’re doing the clean version. Highly recommend shouting ‘Fuck your boyfriend’ with the entire crowd at a Just B concert, 10/10 experience.
After this, they joined up with ATBO to form The CrewOne for Road To Kingdom 2 – their one original song as a group was their finale performance Hit The Floor. They ended up making the finale and there were plans for the combined group to continue, but ended up falling through. (ATBO’s company blamed Just B’s company but we don’t know the details of what happened. The members have all said how much they like the ATBO members but also want to show the world themselves as Just B.)
Still I Luv You is another entry in their pop-punk sound and while it was just a digital release with no MV, it’s one of my favorite tracks of theirs. You can watch an interview with the writer and DY/Geonu (who participated in making the song) that talks a lot about the track!
Their pair of digital singles, Hoodie and Han Geol Eum Man, are ballads – Hoodie in particular is a fairly heartbreaking song about the struggles of being in a largely unknown group and continuing anyways and has been called ‘Just B’s story’ by the members. Highly recommend checking out the lyrics.
Chest, as mentioned above, is their most recent comeback and is an extremely addictive 2hollis-inspired hyperpop song, with a strong electronic sound, a fast BPM, great synth sounds and lyrics that are a little silly but it adds to the fun. It also reminds me of 2000s anime openings in some ways, which I am always down for.
And B-sides! They have a bunch of worth of B-sides worth mentioning! All the B-sides from Just Odd have the same hyperpop influence that Chest does and have been on non-stop repeat for me. My Way is from their first mini album and embraces their electronic and rock sounds. Bain helped compose it! Don’t Go Back is from their second minialbum and all the B-sides from Medusa’s minialbum Nanugi are also worth calling out IMO.
The Members
- Lim Jimin – leader of the group, 2001-liner, was a finalist on survival show The Fan (see his performance of Taemin’s Goodbye) and had a solo debut with songs Loveholic and Who, You? prior to joining the group. Known for his muscles. Once casually sent TXT’s Beongmyu 1 million won.
- Geonu – oldest member of the group, 2001-liner, composed and choregraphed large parts of their Just Odd minialbum. Known for making it far on I-Land (Butterfly) and Build Up. English king (his mom’s an English teacher) and acts as the group’s translator during concerts
because Bluedot has no money. Been leaning into his pop-punk side recently. - Bain – 2001 liner, killer vocalist, iconic king, competed on Under Nineteen and Build Up (particularly known for his performance of River). Known for his love of pop music – a major Charli XCX fan and has covered Judas, Born This Way, Bad Romance, Survivor, Toxic and Buttons ] on their most recent tour. Has been telling everyone to ‘stay fierce, stay bold and always, always be your true selves’ before coming out as gay at the last tour stop a couple of days ago. Chaotic energy; once dyed his eyebrows on weverse live for fun.
- Siwoo – Yet another 2001 liner. Also competed on I-land but was eliminated at the halfway point. Used to go by the stagename JM and real name Jimin until he changed both to Siwoo in 2024. Starred in a Thai/Korean BL, Love Is Like A Cat, with Mew Suppasit (Geonu also played a supporting role). Definitely the most mischievous member tbh.
- DY – 2002 liner, the most frequent composer/lyricist for the group, previously placed P01 on Under Nineteen and debuted with temporary group 1THE9. Known for his cat like qualities. One of the best dancers in the group but has said he’s more interested in composing these days. Played the guitar live for his solo stage during their tour, which was a lot of fun!
- Sangwoo – maknae, 2002-liner. Been dipping his toe into composing with his 2hollis-inspired hyperpop tracks ilub/gaia from his world tour. A little weird (/pos), most likely to be caught staring off into space. Originally from Jeju; highly recommend this video where the group meets his family on a visit there.
What makes them stand out
As a fan, what I always look for in a group is the quality of the music more than anything else. Especially with their more recent songs, they’re not afraid to do their own thing instead of following the popular trends – how many other groups have embraced the pop-punk sound or hyperpop recently – and produced absolute bangers as a result.
This has become more apparent as they’ve dived deeper into self-composition and self-management in the past year, with members doing their own A&R for Just Odd, finding their own videographer for their tour, etc. They’ve really taken on responsibilities for doing a ton of the work for the group because Bluedot has no money. It’s rare for a group in kpop to have as much autonomy as they have, and I think highlights their dedication to the each other and the group.
Plus they have a little something for everyone – you want amazing live performances? Their concerts have gotten rave reviews from everyone, including me. (Plus concert tickets were as cheap as $10 in an era where concerts cost way too much!) You want sexiness? Jimin’s tank tops and Geonu’s crop tops will make you happy. A little unhinged on social media? Absolutely. A group with a strong bond? Just look at how supportive all of them have been of Bain coming out.
What content to watch?
So you’ve listened to their music and want to watch some variety or blogs – where should you start? Just B’s Baam Escape is a pre-debut show where they go out and have fun in the middle of the night – it’s very chill and fun and not super scripted. Their show Right! Just THAT! and blog series Just B.ucket List has them try out various activities and challenges. Day-in-the-life content is mostly in JUST B-LOG and behind the scenes content is in Just B.hind.
I’m particularly fond of Baam Escape as a good introduction to the group and members, and Just B.hind, especially their B-LOGs about the 2024 tour, which are both fun tour stuff (like Siwoo shopping for Peeps) but also cover more serious discussions where they discuss their image and what kind of future they want as a group.
They also have various appearances on other shows – I’ll specifically link here some recent appearances: as a group on Arirang Radio, Geonu and Bain’s appearance on Loudi’s podcast and the group appearance on the Ultimate Bias K-popcast.
How you can support them
Okay, so you’ve somehow made it through all my rambling (this went on for much longer than I expected, sorry) and you want to support them – how can you do it?
- Check out their music and stream! Their 2025 releases include the aforementioned digital singles Still I Luv You, Hoodie and Han Geol Eum Man and mini album Just Odd – these give you a good sense of their story, their different sounds and direction they’ve been going in recently.
- Follow on socials! They have official Instagram, TikTok and twitter accounts (JustB_Official for official news and JustB_twt for members tweeting). They all also have individual Instagram accounts (Jimin, Geonu, Bain, Siwoo, DY, Sangwoo) and Bain, Siwoo and Jimin recently opened TikTok accounts.
- Buy physical albums! They haven’t had a standard album release in a while, with their last two (Daddy’s Girl and Just Odd) being tour exclusives but their others are still available – I’m particularly fond of Nanugi.
- Subscribe to their Weverse/Fromm – they use both frequently and their Weverse is worth joining at the free tier if you don’t want to pay with all the not-paywalled content they provide.
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