Identity·AlphaDriveOne Spark 2026 Rookie Idol Boom...Winning Billboard Rookie Award and #1 on Fandom Chart

Huge new K-pop groups are making their presence felt on the global stage in 2026. Identity was named “January’s K-POP Rookie” by Billboard Korea, while AlphaDriveOne rose to the top of the fandom growth chart, further elevating the status of rookie idols.

Identity (idntt) is a 15-member mega boy band under Mode House. It received the rookie award after Billboard Korea praised its “identity built together with fans.” The group has been actively promoting its music with the title track “Pretty Boy Swag,” alongside their album “yesweare” featuring their first sub-unit unevermet and a new sub-unit yesweare. This album achieved a career-high initial sales figure of 431,377 copies, and its title track’s music video has garnered over 28 million views, reflecting strong enthusiasm from fans worldwide.

Billboard Korea highlighted Identity’s uniqueness and charm, its interaction platform “COSMO,” and its special voting system “Gravity.” The group recently held its first mini-concert “FIRST IMPRESSION” in Seoul to connect directly with fans, and it plans to hold a fan meeting “FIRST ACTION” in Tokyo, Japan, in February.

AlphaDriveOne is a global K-pop rookie group formed through Mnet’s survival audition program “Boys 2 Planet.” With their debut album’s title track “FREAK ALARM,” they took first place on the Weeekly Fandom Chart of “K-POP RADAR” from January 8 to 14. During that period, their music video reached 20.56 million views, and they saw a growth rate far exceeding K-pop averages: 32,000 additional Spotify followers (compared to the K-pop average of 1,900), 24,000 additional Instagram followers (compared to the K-pop average of 600), and 11,000 additional Twitter followers (compared to the K-pop average of 55).

The Weeekly Fandom Chart ranks groups based on weekly changes in fandom metrics such as YouTube music video views and follower growth on Spotify, Twitter, and Instagram. Following AlphaDriveOne, CORTIS’s “Fashion” came in second place, Identity’s yesweare’s “Pretty Boy Swag” ranked third, and Longshot, a rookie boy group produced by Jaebeom Park, entered the chart at fourth place with “Sosin,” showing notable progress among new groups.