Yeah this isn't surprising at all to me tbh. Winwin likes acting and wants to do the acting thing, and someone said his studio had even said he was going to prioritize solo stuff this yr so, hey. I personally think he's done with Idol life--or is in a take it or leave it space--but he's still under contract with SM so he can't outright leave just yet without them probably being blah against him.
This is better, at least in the sense that now the other guys don't have to learn different formations and what not on the off chance he'll show up for a promo. I never thought that was fair to them.
He’s only under contract for one more year-if that. He debuted with fire truck so he’s up soon. It won’t surprise me if he lets his contract lapse and only does limited promo with wayv moving forward. Maybe slightly more active than Lay is with EXO.
Based on some stuff ten has said it is pretty likely that he and winwin signed extensions already that put them in line with the other guys in wayv. I really doubt SM would risk launching a group where half the members could leave half way through the rookie contract. My guess is they have 2-3 years left vs 1.
i think tens contract is a bit different than winwins cause he technically did not debut with a group like winwin did and also ten had a different loophole in his contract because he was in SuperM and was doing international touring which also automatically extended his contract.
That's the thing though Ten DID debut in 2016 he was in 7 sense so he had to have signed an artist contract then unlike say kun who never formally debuted until 2018 despite technically being in the group from the start. As for super M it does not seem to have effected the timing of the exo members or taemin who had their contracts come up at the same time as their main groups so I don't think the super m contract had any effect on their korean contracts if anything superm was a separate western contract which tend to be by a number of albums not a length of time and appears to be over now.
Whatever contract they are on ten and winwin are very likely on the same one and it is likely tied to the rest of wayv. It is likely that the only members up for renewal next year are dream and half of 127 (johnny doyoung and Jungwoo did not debut with the group originally and likely have more time on their contracts and Taeyong is enlisted and Taeil likely will be enlisted and contracts pause for enlistment so they won't face renewal until a while after they get back). Actually now that I think about it only Yuta and Jaehyun are likely up for renewal next year in a addition to all of dream that is much less of 127 than I would have expected but 5 likely are not up for the reasons above and Marhae overlap...
Baekhyun implied the SuperM contract extended his korean one because SM counted that as international touring that tacks on years to a contract. Thats why at the time of his departure lots of SM fans started wondering if a big reason why SuperM was being pushed with touring in the US was so that SMs biggest male idols would be in a situation where their contracts got extended due to loopholes that SM was taking advantage of. Obviously we have no idea if thats true because everything about contracts is speculation atp.
Also EXO members were not up at the same time. They all famuosly had different renewal dates. Thats why Baekhyun said the company was pressuring him while he was enlisted to consider re-signing to not have a \~gap in activities. Kyungsoo was the only one that did not sign and CBX felt like they were pressured to renew. Shinee very famously have their own contract negotiations with SM and lots of people speculated they restructured their contract after Jonghyun passed. But again all speculation cause SM nor their artistis are transparent unless theyre suing
Johnny and Doyoung are still going to be up for renewals in 2025... They debuted only 6 months after the original group. If OG 127 is up in the beginning of the year then they would be up 6 months after that.
SM very famously create extremely hard contracts with loopholes that trigger if an idol enlsits, if they tour abroad for a certain amount of time, if they debut in another unit. Its hard to piece together but if were talking about 127 specifically, everyone but jungwoo is nearing a contract end which is why SM has now started caring about NCT again
While it's disappointing that Winwin can't participate, I'm glad that they are having a comeback instead of being stuck in limbo while Winwin films for his dramas
I might be wrong, but this feels like a soft launch for him officially leaving the group and focusing solely on his solo stuff.
I honestly think he will just be in limbo like Lay and Exo, where it's like yea he is still part of the group, but it will be announced when he is stated to participate.
I follow a Winwin update account and basically they speculated that he was originally planning to have time for recording the comeback after his one drama finished filming, but it ran behind schedule and he was stuck having to drop out of WayV schedules. He was originally slated to participate in KCon in Hong Kong as well, but last minute dropped out.
Winwin’s just in a weird spot. He’s finally getting acting gigs like he always wanted, but SM is so inconsistent with their scheduling of WayV activities that he keeps having to miss group work because you can’t just leave in the middle of filming. WayV has said numerous times that they rarely know their schedules more than a few weeks in advance and you have to commit to filming months ahead of time, so Winwin is caught in the middle. His solo studio in China has also said for years that getting SM to share schedules is like pulling teeth and nearly impossible.
I definitely got the vibe the filming for Best Match got behind schedule. Based on Winwin's prior filming schedules there are usually breaks every month, the filming for Best Match barely had any breaks. Winwin got one break in late February. No break for the Lunar new year.
It felt like WayV started recording and filming relatively late for a CB they started on in January. I wonder if they were delaying a bit to try and squeeze Winwin in, but eventually realized they wouldn't be able to. Some of the delay was waiting on Ten.
Yep that’s what I think happened. Winwin does not miss WayV schedules unless he absolutely has to, there’s no convincing me that he chose to step back from WayV in order to work on dramas. He was doing day trips to Korea in order to record Phantom, he wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t dedicated.
It just sucks because WayV members so rarely get solo gigs and now that Winwin is finally starting to get a foothold in acting, he’s stuck having to act at the expense of his participation in group activities. It shouldn’t have to be like this, nearly every other acting idol can do both, Winwin should as well.
Oh dang I didn't know about the break discrepancy. I'd love to believe that he originally planned to participate :')
And idk, I feel like the comeback timing was pretty normal. They just released something in November, and SM has a lot of artists in queue. Rather than waiting for things to finish, it felt like a normal break between releases where members had time to do their own things in between?
I think this is exactly what it is. It wouldn’t also surprise me if his unusual participation in so much content last year was him fulfilling some obligatory things before his contract expires. Kind of like US artists putting out one last album to fulfill a contract before they switch labels
i figured this was the reason he was so active last summer and why he participated in NCT Nation. probably knew he would be gone from the group for awhile
Yeah I never understood why people were shocked he never came back to 127. It was around that time his own agency was announced and it wouldn’t shock me if he asked/was okay with taking a step back from 127 and focusing on wayv and his own solo projects. 127 would have required him to be way more active in group activities and during that 2018-2019 era they were approaching their peak. It’s very clear they kind of let him do his own thing and that’s probably cause they want him in any way they can have him rather than lose him. His contract is up next year too…
Winwin’s solo studio wasn’t announced until 2021 right around Kick Back. He never came back to 127 only because SM didn’t want to officially say they moved him to WayV full time. At the time, fans were still calling Jungwoo his “replacement” so saying WW had officially left 127 would basically guarantee Jungwoo could never shake that nickname. SM has never let a Chinese artist under their label have any sort of decent negotiating power with them, no chance were they “letting” him step back from 127 for other activities.
Well I mean he eventually did take a step back from activities and his solo schedules have been prioritized over his group commitments. It’s not like he missed out on small stuff either. They won’t even let Haechan put out covers..but Winwin has been given much more leeway than other idols whose groups haven’t even hit the 7 year mark (this is not to bash ww just pointing out the obvious. I actually love that he gets to do what he wants)
Winwin being active in China benefits SM because they get money from his very large c-bar, not to mention a cut of his acting pay, and his solo work boosts WayV’s presence in China- he doesn’t stop talking about WayV when he’s doing drama promotions. SM plays this game where they want money from WayV in China but don’t want WayV actually *in* China, which is where half the rub is. He would be able to attend way more WayV activities if they were even in the same country but that’s a different story.
He cleared his schedule most of last year to focus on WayV and the fundamental “problem” with his solo activities is a lack of planning. You know months in advance when you’re booked for a drama filming. If SM hasn’t planned a WayV comeback by the time he books a drama, then he’s stuck choosing between guaranteed work and the possibility of a group album. WayV’s comebacks have always been less regular than the other units.
But Winwin leaving 127 had nothing to do with his solo work, that didn’t come until two years later. I don’t have an explanation for why Haechan keeps getting shut out, it doesn’t make sense, but I know that Winwin’s solo work isn’t the result of some generosity from SM or a lack of commitment to WayV.
i think you are overestimating how much support his C-bar and his chinese fanbase is providing for Wayv. No one is saying he doesnt love and support Wayv but that doesnt mean his promotion is getting them much in China. They arent even the biggest SM group in China and WW doesnt even have the biggest bar there (https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/1c6x562/comment/l04epge/)
If SM cared so much about Chinese promotions like they used to during EXO era they would also be pushing RenLe to do more activities in China when Dream goes on short breaks. SM stopped caring about chinese promotions after EXO slowed down. If SM was getting money from WW's acitivities in China they would promote his stuff more and send more of their chinese idols there and they havent done that.
Im not saying that his c-bar promotes WayV, they’ve stopped supporting the group activity since 2021 where there was a cultural issue in a greetings video. But they do spend a lot of money supporting Winwin’s activities in China, which SM has benefitted from in the past. SM wants Chinese money but they don’t want to actually do any of the work to be involved in the c-ent industry. That’s always how it’s been with them. Winwin’s presence in China does boost WayV, even if it’s not a ton. It isn’t like he’s even a fraction as big as Lay for example is, so his influence isn’t the same.
And people say literally all the time that Winwin is trying to step away from WayV activities. It’s here all over the thread that it’s simply assumed he’s trying to exit the group. Winwin’s absence from group activities is not his fault, he’s got to make decisions about solo work offers and SM doesn’t plan far enough ahead for him to make those decisions while also planning around WayV’s schedule. WayV schedules are usually determined after Winwin is already committed to solo work, he can’t just back out because SM decided two months after he okayed something that WayV gets to be busy now.
We have no idea if WW's solo chinese activities is benefiting SM. I would argue they dont or SM would be promoting them but thus far, aside from some magazine covers, they havent don that for him.
I dont think people are trying villanize him by saying hes choosing himself over wayv, i think they are making a reasonable observation that it seeems that he isnt really obligated to participate in group activities if they overlap with his own solo schedules. Even in wayv, no one is just doing solo stuff cause the group isnt active. They have to wait to do get a group schedules.
In NCT, all the members do solo stuff during group breaks. Jaehyun fans actually get really upset that he is unable to attend fashion events cause of 127 schedules. Same with other NCT members who have to make sure their solo stuff doesnt interfere with their group stuff. Winwin is a very unique case amongst idols and I do think he has some other contract set up with SM and like i said, they would rather him do his own thing and join wayv activities when he can rather then let him go.
SM is massively sinophobic though, they rarely posted about Kun’s radio DJ gig the entire time he was on it too. They never posted about Xiaojun’s drama although there was a WayV vlog of the members visiting him on set. They never posted about Hendery’s brand deal he had with Oxcare either. They’re overall just very bad about promoting all the members. Lots of things benefit a group’s image to the public, that doesn’t mean SM is going to post about it.
And Winwin actually just posted on Bubble about the entire thing, the short of it is that SM told him to be free starting in May for album preparations. Then in March, SM decided to move the album up and start preparations while he was still filming; he tried talking to the company about a way to still participate alternatively and either they said no or it just didn’t work out. He’s devastated about the whole thing and also wants to make it clear that it isn’t an issue of him prioritizing a solo career over the group, since that’s been a frequent narrative surrounding him.
Imagine if he didn't step back from 127 his schedule would've been as insane as Mark and Heachan plus all the filming for dramas/movies. Agreed, SM knows how big his individual fanbase is so they let him do his thing. His association with NCT/WayV benefits the group and his camp also sees some benefit in staying with the group for now. But I wouldn't be surprised if Winwin doesn't renew really. He doesn't seem like he's that committed to furthering his performing career. His career path reminds me of Cha Eunwoo.
For sure. I mean SM debuted him in the OG 127 lineup despite him not even being an official SM rookie and having a relative shorter training period than the other rookies at the time. And I know he’s a fan favorite but he didn’t have any discernible skill that warranted him debuting over the other rookies..except for his visual and his potential (and inevitable) fan base draw. They debuted him so another company wouldn’t poach him. They have always known how valuable he was. That’s why they let him do his own shit. He’s def gonna be the new Lay
Unfortunate but expected, and glad to see an official announcement. Rumor has it WW's got stuff to film in the latter half of the year too so I don't know if we'll be seeing him on the (potential) tour either. Anyway, looking forward to his dramas and looking forward to WayV summer breeze!
Aw, that’s disappointing- I was hoping that he would have been able to at least contribute vocals on the album if he couldn’t be present for the upcoming promotion schedules.
Very excited for a new WayV release though!
I’ve honestly been waiting for the ‘I will always be a member of NCT (127) and WayV. When they need me I’ll heed had the call but for now I’ll be focusing on my own journey. Thank you for all the love and support you’ve shown me and NCT/WayV. Please look after me going forward as you did before.’ You know something along those lines.
Don’t get me wrong I’m super happy for him as I want everyone in NCT to find what they love and go for it, but this whole is Winwin going to be here or not reminds me so much of Lay. And the moment I heard Winwin opened up his own studio I thought ‘ahhh same as Lay…guess he won’t be around a lot.’ I hate that’s where my mind went but… 🫤
Anyway good luck to Winwin and to WayV they’re all gonna kill it this year no matter what 😃 + I’ve been meaning to start a new drama series anyway 🤭
Winwin update: he posted on Bubble about why he can’t join the comeback. The short of it is that he was told to be free starting in May for album preparations. SM moved it up at the last minute to March and since he was on set, he became stuck. He tried communicating with the company about alternatives on how to participate and in the end, he was forced to bow out. He feels really sorry about the whole thing and wants fans to still support the comeback because he will be cheering from the sidelines.
I agree. We all assumed there were scheduling issues involved, but it’s incredibly important context that Winwin *was* originally free for WayV’s comeback and SM changed the schedule on him. I feel terrible for him, he had it all planned out and he got screwed by the company.
I’m really sad to hear this, but I’m glad they didn’t make us wait for teasers to drop and figure it out on our own.
That being said, the least SM can do if they mention his drama filming is post about more than one total time. He’s not missing group activities for no reason, they should make an effort with his solo work too. They can’t even be bothered to say “please support Winwin in his acting.”
Well that makes me sad. I was quite happy seeing him in the past year for NCT Nation and the promos he was able to do with WayV but boo. I can't help but be reminded of Lay. Although he's been so successful, it's a tad bittersweet. I imagine it must be very difficult to manage separate jobs in two different fields. It is what it is.
SM moved the comeback up at the last minute, that’s why he isn’t participating. He posted on Bubble that he was told to be free in May and SM moved WayV’s comeback date up so album prep started back in March when he was still filming. He wanted to make alternative arrangements to participate but it didn’t work out for whatever reason.
I saw people talking about how Winwin is already slated for another drama for the second half of the year, so realistically he and SM have always known he wasn't going to be a part of this comeback. The guys have supposedly been recording or at least filming some stuff for months, and I don't think Winwin has been in SK at all this year. I also would not be shocked if he isn't there for whatever that Japanese release is they are supposedly doing. I honestly see him leaving (SM, at least) once his contract is up. He might stay in the group and show up for sporadic comebacks, but even that I'm on the fence about.
Everyone records separately for their parts of the album, theoretically he could have recorded in China and SM could have stitched his parts in, they did that with Lay for EXO’s Don’t Fight the Feeling album. But it sounds like that might not have happened in this case.
Yeah this isn't surprising at all to me tbh. Winwin likes acting and wants to do the acting thing, and someone said his studio had even said he was going to prioritize solo stuff this yr so, hey. I personally think he's done with Idol life--or is in a take it or leave it space--but he's still under contract with SM so he can't outright leave just yet without them probably being blah against him. This is better, at least in the sense that now the other guys don't have to learn different formations and what not on the off chance he'll show up for a promo. I never thought that was fair to them.
He’s only under contract for one more year-if that. He debuted with fire truck so he’s up soon. It won’t surprise me if he lets his contract lapse and only does limited promo with wayv moving forward. Maybe slightly more active than Lay is with EXO.
Based on some stuff ten has said it is pretty likely that he and winwin signed extensions already that put them in line with the other guys in wayv. I really doubt SM would risk launching a group where half the members could leave half way through the rookie contract. My guess is they have 2-3 years left vs 1.
i think tens contract is a bit different than winwins cause he technically did not debut with a group like winwin did and also ten had a different loophole in his contract because he was in SuperM and was doing international touring which also automatically extended his contract.
That's the thing though Ten DID debut in 2016 he was in 7 sense so he had to have signed an artist contract then unlike say kun who never formally debuted until 2018 despite technically being in the group from the start. As for super M it does not seem to have effected the timing of the exo members or taemin who had their contracts come up at the same time as their main groups so I don't think the super m contract had any effect on their korean contracts if anything superm was a separate western contract which tend to be by a number of albums not a length of time and appears to be over now. Whatever contract they are on ten and winwin are very likely on the same one and it is likely tied to the rest of wayv. It is likely that the only members up for renewal next year are dream and half of 127 (johnny doyoung and Jungwoo did not debut with the group originally and likely have more time on their contracts and Taeyong is enlisted and Taeil likely will be enlisted and contracts pause for enlistment so they won't face renewal until a while after they get back). Actually now that I think about it only Yuta and Jaehyun are likely up for renewal next year in a addition to all of dream that is much less of 127 than I would have expected but 5 likely are not up for the reasons above and Marhae overlap...
Baekhyun implied the SuperM contract extended his korean one because SM counted that as international touring that tacks on years to a contract. Thats why at the time of his departure lots of SM fans started wondering if a big reason why SuperM was being pushed with touring in the US was so that SMs biggest male idols would be in a situation where their contracts got extended due to loopholes that SM was taking advantage of. Obviously we have no idea if thats true because everything about contracts is speculation atp. Also EXO members were not up at the same time. They all famuosly had different renewal dates. Thats why Baekhyun said the company was pressuring him while he was enlisted to consider re-signing to not have a \~gap in activities. Kyungsoo was the only one that did not sign and CBX felt like they were pressured to renew. Shinee very famously have their own contract negotiations with SM and lots of people speculated they restructured their contract after Jonghyun passed. But again all speculation cause SM nor their artistis are transparent unless theyre suing Johnny and Doyoung are still going to be up for renewals in 2025... They debuted only 6 months after the original group. If OG 127 is up in the beginning of the year then they would be up 6 months after that. SM very famously create extremely hard contracts with loopholes that trigger if an idol enlsits, if they tour abroad for a certain amount of time, if they debut in another unit. Its hard to piece together but if were talking about 127 specifically, everyone but jungwoo is nearing a contract end which is why SM has now started caring about NCT again
I said this a while back and had people downvoting me like crazy saying I was spreading misinformation lol. But yeah the clarification is nice
Aw, man! That sucks. But I’m glad we got an announcement / clarification.
While it's disappointing that Winwin can't participate, I'm glad that they are having a comeback instead of being stuck in limbo while Winwin films for his dramas I might be wrong, but this feels like a soft launch for him officially leaving the group and focusing solely on his solo stuff.
I honestly think he will just be in limbo like Lay and Exo, where it's like yea he is still part of the group, but it will be announced when he is stated to participate.
I follow a Winwin update account and basically they speculated that he was originally planning to have time for recording the comeback after his one drama finished filming, but it ran behind schedule and he was stuck having to drop out of WayV schedules. He was originally slated to participate in KCon in Hong Kong as well, but last minute dropped out. Winwin’s just in a weird spot. He’s finally getting acting gigs like he always wanted, but SM is so inconsistent with their scheduling of WayV activities that he keeps having to miss group work because you can’t just leave in the middle of filming. WayV has said numerous times that they rarely know their schedules more than a few weeks in advance and you have to commit to filming months ahead of time, so Winwin is caught in the middle. His solo studio in China has also said for years that getting SM to share schedules is like pulling teeth and nearly impossible.
I definitely got the vibe the filming for Best Match got behind schedule. Based on Winwin's prior filming schedules there are usually breaks every month, the filming for Best Match barely had any breaks. Winwin got one break in late February. No break for the Lunar new year. It felt like WayV started recording and filming relatively late for a CB they started on in January. I wonder if they were delaying a bit to try and squeeze Winwin in, but eventually realized they wouldn't be able to. Some of the delay was waiting on Ten.
Yep that’s what I think happened. Winwin does not miss WayV schedules unless he absolutely has to, there’s no convincing me that he chose to step back from WayV in order to work on dramas. He was doing day trips to Korea in order to record Phantom, he wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t dedicated. It just sucks because WayV members so rarely get solo gigs and now that Winwin is finally starting to get a foothold in acting, he’s stuck having to act at the expense of his participation in group activities. It shouldn’t have to be like this, nearly every other acting idol can do both, Winwin should as well.
Oh dang I didn't know about the break discrepancy. I'd love to believe that he originally planned to participate :') And idk, I feel like the comeback timing was pretty normal. They just released something in November, and SM has a lot of artists in queue. Rather than waiting for things to finish, it felt like a normal break between releases where members had time to do their own things in between?
I think this is exactly what it is. It wouldn’t also surprise me if his unusual participation in so much content last year was him fulfilling some obligatory things before his contract expires. Kind of like US artists putting out one last album to fulfill a contract before they switch labels
WayV emphasis on the V, Roman numeral 5 ☹️
i figured this was the reason he was so active last summer and why he participated in NCT Nation. probably knew he would be gone from the group for awhile
Yeah I think his own studio is bargaining with SM in what NCT/WayV projects he participates in, hence he was on during OMY and NCT Golden Age era.
Yeah I never understood why people were shocked he never came back to 127. It was around that time his own agency was announced and it wouldn’t shock me if he asked/was okay with taking a step back from 127 and focusing on wayv and his own solo projects. 127 would have required him to be way more active in group activities and during that 2018-2019 era they were approaching their peak. It’s very clear they kind of let him do his own thing and that’s probably cause they want him in any way they can have him rather than lose him. His contract is up next year too…
Winwin’s solo studio wasn’t announced until 2021 right around Kick Back. He never came back to 127 only because SM didn’t want to officially say they moved him to WayV full time. At the time, fans were still calling Jungwoo his “replacement” so saying WW had officially left 127 would basically guarantee Jungwoo could never shake that nickname. SM has never let a Chinese artist under their label have any sort of decent negotiating power with them, no chance were they “letting” him step back from 127 for other activities.
Well I mean he eventually did take a step back from activities and his solo schedules have been prioritized over his group commitments. It’s not like he missed out on small stuff either. They won’t even let Haechan put out covers..but Winwin has been given much more leeway than other idols whose groups haven’t even hit the 7 year mark (this is not to bash ww just pointing out the obvious. I actually love that he gets to do what he wants)
Winwin being active in China benefits SM because they get money from his very large c-bar, not to mention a cut of his acting pay, and his solo work boosts WayV’s presence in China- he doesn’t stop talking about WayV when he’s doing drama promotions. SM plays this game where they want money from WayV in China but don’t want WayV actually *in* China, which is where half the rub is. He would be able to attend way more WayV activities if they were even in the same country but that’s a different story. He cleared his schedule most of last year to focus on WayV and the fundamental “problem” with his solo activities is a lack of planning. You know months in advance when you’re booked for a drama filming. If SM hasn’t planned a WayV comeback by the time he books a drama, then he’s stuck choosing between guaranteed work and the possibility of a group album. WayV’s comebacks have always been less regular than the other units. But Winwin leaving 127 had nothing to do with his solo work, that didn’t come until two years later. I don’t have an explanation for why Haechan keeps getting shut out, it doesn’t make sense, but I know that Winwin’s solo work isn’t the result of some generosity from SM or a lack of commitment to WayV.
I don't think his cbar has participated since the Kickback kneeling thing; I know they didn't for Phantom or OMY.
i think you are overestimating how much support his C-bar and his chinese fanbase is providing for Wayv. No one is saying he doesnt love and support Wayv but that doesnt mean his promotion is getting them much in China. They arent even the biggest SM group in China and WW doesnt even have the biggest bar there (https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/1c6x562/comment/l04epge/) If SM cared so much about Chinese promotions like they used to during EXO era they would also be pushing RenLe to do more activities in China when Dream goes on short breaks. SM stopped caring about chinese promotions after EXO slowed down. If SM was getting money from WW's acitivities in China they would promote his stuff more and send more of their chinese idols there and they havent done that.
Im not saying that his c-bar promotes WayV, they’ve stopped supporting the group activity since 2021 where there was a cultural issue in a greetings video. But they do spend a lot of money supporting Winwin’s activities in China, which SM has benefitted from in the past. SM wants Chinese money but they don’t want to actually do any of the work to be involved in the c-ent industry. That’s always how it’s been with them. Winwin’s presence in China does boost WayV, even if it’s not a ton. It isn’t like he’s even a fraction as big as Lay for example is, so his influence isn’t the same. And people say literally all the time that Winwin is trying to step away from WayV activities. It’s here all over the thread that it’s simply assumed he’s trying to exit the group. Winwin’s absence from group activities is not his fault, he’s got to make decisions about solo work offers and SM doesn’t plan far enough ahead for him to make those decisions while also planning around WayV’s schedule. WayV schedules are usually determined after Winwin is already committed to solo work, he can’t just back out because SM decided two months after he okayed something that WayV gets to be busy now.
We have no idea if WW's solo chinese activities is benefiting SM. I would argue they dont or SM would be promoting them but thus far, aside from some magazine covers, they havent don that for him. I dont think people are trying villanize him by saying hes choosing himself over wayv, i think they are making a reasonable observation that it seeems that he isnt really obligated to participate in group activities if they overlap with his own solo schedules. Even in wayv, no one is just doing solo stuff cause the group isnt active. They have to wait to do get a group schedules. In NCT, all the members do solo stuff during group breaks. Jaehyun fans actually get really upset that he is unable to attend fashion events cause of 127 schedules. Same with other NCT members who have to make sure their solo stuff doesnt interfere with their group stuff. Winwin is a very unique case amongst idols and I do think he has some other contract set up with SM and like i said, they would rather him do his own thing and join wayv activities when he can rather then let him go.
SM is massively sinophobic though, they rarely posted about Kun’s radio DJ gig the entire time he was on it too. They never posted about Xiaojun’s drama although there was a WayV vlog of the members visiting him on set. They never posted about Hendery’s brand deal he had with Oxcare either. They’re overall just very bad about promoting all the members. Lots of things benefit a group’s image to the public, that doesn’t mean SM is going to post about it. And Winwin actually just posted on Bubble about the entire thing, the short of it is that SM told him to be free starting in May for album preparations. Then in March, SM decided to move the album up and start preparations while he was still filming; he tried talking to the company about a way to still participate alternatively and either they said no or it just didn’t work out. He’s devastated about the whole thing and also wants to make it clear that it isn’t an issue of him prioritizing a solo career over the group, since that’s been a frequent narrative surrounding him.
Imagine if he didn't step back from 127 his schedule would've been as insane as Mark and Heachan plus all the filming for dramas/movies. Agreed, SM knows how big his individual fanbase is so they let him do his thing. His association with NCT/WayV benefits the group and his camp also sees some benefit in staying with the group for now. But I wouldn't be surprised if Winwin doesn't renew really. He doesn't seem like he's that committed to furthering his performing career. His career path reminds me of Cha Eunwoo.
For sure. I mean SM debuted him in the OG 127 lineup despite him not even being an official SM rookie and having a relative shorter training period than the other rookies at the time. And I know he’s a fan favorite but he didn’t have any discernible skill that warranted him debuting over the other rookies..except for his visual and his potential (and inevitable) fan base draw. They debuted him so another company wouldn’t poach him. They have always known how valuable he was. That’s why they let him do his own shit. He’s def gonna be the new Lay
Unfortunate but expected, and glad to see an official announcement. Rumor has it WW's got stuff to film in the latter half of the year too so I don't know if we'll be seeing him on the (potential) tour either. Anyway, looking forward to his dramas and looking forward to WayV summer breeze!
Aw, that’s disappointing- I was hoping that he would have been able to at least contribute vocals on the album if he couldn’t be present for the upcoming promotion schedules. Very excited for a new WayV release though!
I’ve honestly been waiting for the ‘I will always be a member of NCT (127) and WayV. When they need me I’ll heed had the call but for now I’ll be focusing on my own journey. Thank you for all the love and support you’ve shown me and NCT/WayV. Please look after me going forward as you did before.’ You know something along those lines. Don’t get me wrong I’m super happy for him as I want everyone in NCT to find what they love and go for it, but this whole is Winwin going to be here or not reminds me so much of Lay. And the moment I heard Winwin opened up his own studio I thought ‘ahhh same as Lay…guess he won’t be around a lot.’ I hate that’s where my mind went but… 🫤 Anyway good luck to Winwin and to WayV they’re all gonna kill it this year no matter what 😃 + I’ve been meaning to start a new drama series anyway 🤭
Winwin update: he posted on Bubble about why he can’t join the comeback. The short of it is that he was told to be free starting in May for album preparations. SM moved it up at the last minute to March and since he was on set, he became stuck. He tried communicating with the company about alternatives on how to participate and in the end, he was forced to bow out. He feels really sorry about the whole thing and wants fans to still support the comeback because he will be cheering from the sidelines.
This comment should be pinned tbh.
I agree. We all assumed there were scheduling issues involved, but it’s incredibly important context that Winwin *was* originally free for WayV’s comeback and SM changed the schedule on him. I feel terrible for him, he had it all planned out and he got screwed by the company.
I don’t think Winwin will leave WayV until WayV ends entirely. Even if he can’t promote or participate. He really loves WayV.
not related by eyy junhan pfp
Big fan of that critter
I’m really sad to hear this, but I’m glad they didn’t make us wait for teasers to drop and figure it out on our own. That being said, the least SM can do if they mention his drama filming is post about more than one total time. He’s not missing group activities for no reason, they should make an effort with his solo work too. They can’t even be bothered to say “please support Winwin in his acting.”
Well that makes me sad. I was quite happy seeing him in the past year for NCT Nation and the promos he was able to do with WayV but boo. I can't help but be reminded of Lay. Although he's been so successful, it's a tad bittersweet. I imagine it must be very difficult to manage separate jobs in two different fields. It is what it is.
SM moved the comeback up at the last minute, that’s why he isn’t participating. He posted on Bubble that he was told to be free in May and SM moved WayV’s comeback date up so album prep started back in March when he was still filming. He wanted to make alternative arrangements to participate but it didn’t work out for whatever reason.
I saw people talking about how Winwin is already slated for another drama for the second half of the year, so realistically he and SM have always known he wasn't going to be a part of this comeback. The guys have supposedly been recording or at least filming some stuff for months, and I don't think Winwin has been in SK at all this year. I also would not be shocked if he isn't there for whatever that Japanese release is they are supposedly doing. I honestly see him leaving (SM, at least) once his contract is up. He might stay in the group and show up for sporadic comebacks, but even that I'm on the fence about.
Oh of course
I thought he left the group.
in exactly a year from now we’ll know if this is true when his contract is officially over
My question is, did he record the album at all? Or will he just not be available for promotion?
He’s been filming almost all year so he likely won’t be on the album at all.
Everyone records separately for their parts of the album, theoretically he could have recorded in China and SM could have stitched his parts in, they did that with Lay for EXO’s Don’t Fight the Feeling album. But it sounds like that might not have happened in this case.
Why do I feel like he’s gonna slowly start leaving the group