After almost two years of inactivity, K-pop boy group VARSITY has surprised fans with a bittersweet gift: a farewell song entitled “We’ll Meet Again”.
The song was originally meant for their 2018 comeback that was funded through a successful Makestar project. However, despite surpassing the intended goal, it was indefinitely postponed.
“We’ll Meet Again” is a hybrid pop ballad with a beautiful piano melody that plays the main theme, plus lo-fi drum sounds and dreamy, electric guitar sounds. The grand, yet calm, arrangement, which overwhelms the entire song, brings out the individuality of each member of VARSITY and serves as a good reminder of the immense talents within the group.
As mentioned within the song description on Korean streaming sites, all of the members prepared the track as a gift and worked on it with all their hearts to repay the love they received from their fans.
VARSITY debuted with 12 members in January 2017 under Korea’s Global K Center as a multicultural group to represent the K-pop industry’s global attractions. Consisting of seven Korean members and five Chinese members, the global group spoke Korean, Chinese, English, Arabic, and French. The group gained some attention when it was revealed early on that the youngest member Manny was Muslim, making him the first Muslim K-pop idol.
The group’s debut single album, entitled ROUND ONE, featured the title track “U R My Only One. A few months later, the follow up single “Hole In One” was released. Later that year, the group signed with company Jungle Entertainment and released “Can You Come Out Now?” off their first mini-album, U & I, Date.
The group’s last official comeback was in 2018 with the spectacular “Flower” from the single album Flos Clarissimus.
In September 2018, it was announced by the agency that VARSITY would be split into two separate groups, with Korean members Kid, Junwoo, XiWeol, Seungbo, Dawon, Riho and Yunho promoting in Korea. The Chinese members Anthony, Jaebin, Xin, Damo, and Manny to form a new group VARSITY-V that would promote exclusively in China, under a different company Hi Media.
The news was met with disappointment and uncertainty from fans about the group’s future. As there was no detailed explanation given, many fans suspected financial issues were the cause of this decision. Unfortunately, VARSITY had no activities after that announcement.
In December 2018, it was revealed the members of VARSITY-V would be contestants on season two of “Idol Producer,” China’s version of Produce 101.
Member Riho joined the boy group group N.TIC in June 2019 as new member Dowon. He stated on Instagram that he was very sorry to fans he waited on VARSITY, but as there were no group activities with VARSITY, he therefore decided to join N.TIC.
As a result, many fans suspected VARSITY had quietly disbanded due to this news, and they even noticed members changing their Instagram usernames and removing “VARSITY” from their bios.
Riho promoted with N.TIC for seven months before he was removed from the group in February 2020 due to contract conflicts, as he was still signed under Jungle Entertainment. He has now reportedly joined a new agency and is planning to re-debut.
Member Dawon is now a YG K+ model. Seungbo is in the upcoming GF Entertainment boy group KINGDOM as Dann, and the trio is set to debut in October 2020.
VARSITY hasn’t been active as a group since 2018 until now with the surprise release of “We’ll Meet Again” on April 23rd. With the track being labelled a “goodbye,” hopefully fans will finally have some closure on the group’s status.
We wish the twelve boys of VARSITY all the best in their future endeavours.
‘We’ll Meet Again” is available on all streaming and download sites. Listen to the group’s farewell song below!
Justin is an avid K-pop fanboy and a lifelong lover of music who has a passion for sharing his love of underrated and lesser known groups. When he’s not obsessing over SHINee or waiting for a HOTSHOT comeback, you’ll find him binge watching his favorite TV shows and soap operas, playing video games, and spending time with his loved ones.
Media: Jungle Entertainment