NCT 127 reign as the kings of quirky hip-hop bangers on new album 'Blingy'

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Set us as preferred It’s late summer in Los Angeles and pop stars NCT 127 are booked and busy.Two of the group’s members, Doyoung and Jungwoo, are serving in the Korean military, so as of now there are only five members meeting with The Times for a recent interview.

The group is used to being flexible both in the literal sense — they are all amazing dancers — and in the practical as they have adjusted to accommodate change over the years, including the departure of two members.Inside a hotel conference room downtown, rapper/vocalists Johnny and Taeyong and singers Jaehyun, Haechan and Yuta are dutifully seated at a table with iced coffees, pens and notepads.Taeyong has used the occasion to sketch a large, detailed star and skull on his.They are here to discuss their seventh studio album, “Blingy,” released Monday, that sees the five members continuing their reputation for experimental hip-hop.NCT 127 is one of the Avengers-like subunits of the sprawling NCT concept (Neo Culture Technology) from the Korean company SM Entertainment — one in a large family of groups targeted to different regions, cultures or styles of music that have on occasion performed together as a supergroup.It is a lot to digest, but for many fans of the concept called “NCTzens” (pronounced “net-izens”) it’s also a lot of fun.The last time we met with the group in 2018, they were only two years into their career.

A lot has happened since then, with millions of albums sold, world tours and, yes, they did lead the next generation with their harder-edged sound paving the way for acts like Ateez and Stray Kids.The group spoke to the Times about celebrating 10 years together, their legacy, thoughts on the music industry and more.This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and some portions of the interview were translated f...