K-Pop's Next Wave: izna & ALPHA DRIVE ONE Ink Major Global Deal with REPUBLIC Collective

A significant development is unfolding in the K-pop landscape: two of the genre's most watched acts, izna and ALPHA DRIVE ONE, are joining forces with a major U.S. partner.

Billboard can exclusively report that South Korean label WAKEONE has entered a strategic partnership with REPUBLIC Collective. This division of Universal Music Group has consistently dominated Billboard's year-end label charts for the past five years, including Top Labels, Billboard 200 Labels, and Hot 100 Labels.

Officially announced Tuesday (June 9), the deal will see REPUBLIC support WAKEONE's girl group izna and the recently debuted boy band ALPHA DRIVE ONE in their global expansion efforts, encompassing album promotion and distribution.

Both izna and ALPHA DRIVE ONE owe their formation to the passionate engagement of international K-pop fans. izna emerged from the 2024 survival singing competition show I-Land 2, where fans across an impressive 217 countries and regions cast their votes for the final girl group lineup. Similarly, ALPHA DRIVE ONE (also known as ALD1) was assembled on Boys II Planet, a show that reportedly garnered over 26 million votes from 223 countries and regions to decide its eight-member roster last fall.

This partnership connects these buzzy K-pop acts with a heavyweight Western distributor, one that has been instrumental in several recent crossover successes. REPUBLIC boasts nearly a dozen No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, including chart-toppers from TWICE, Tomorrow X Together, and a remarkable eight from Stray Kids. The label also served as home to the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, the juggernaut LP whose single “Golden” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and earned both a Grammy and an Academy Award this year.

The Demon Hunter magic could very well continue with izna. Their music is produced by Teddy, the legendary hitmaker known for his work with BLACKPINK and PSY, and the very individual who snagged a Grammy and an Oscar for his contributions to “Golden.” Teddy and his trusted creative collaborators like IDO and Kush — the same minds behind several KPop Demon Hunters tracks — are integral to izna’s sound, including their EP Set the Tempo and their new single “METRONOME,” released Monday (June 8) as the inaugural offering under the REPUBLIC/WAKEONE alliance.

ALPHA DRIVE ONE

ALPHA DRIVE ONE made an explosive debut in early 2026. Their debut album, EUPHORIA, reportedly sold 1.1 million physical copies globally on its January 12 release day. The ALD1 members followed up with their new single “OMG!” at the end of last month, and its accompanying video has already amassed over 61 million views on YouTube in less than two weeks.

Both groups are represented by WAKEONE, a label operating under CJ ENM. This entertainment and media arm of the conglomerate CJ Group is a titan behind major K-pop events like KCON, the highly anticipated MAMA Awards, and the popular Korean cable channel Mnet, which produced both groups’ respective competition series. While CJ and WAKEONE have been relatively methodical in formalizing larger Western label partnerships, their boy band ZEROBASEONE — formed on the original season of Boys Planet in 2023 — eventually secured distribution through Virgin Music Group and has since achieved two Top 30 entries on the Billboard 200, with a new EP, Ascend-, slated for a physical U.S. release on June 26.

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