South Korean boy band H.O.T.—an acronym for Highfive Of Teenagers—were formed by SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man in 1996 and are widely considered to be one of the country's first idol groups, laying the foundations for the K-pop explosion. The five-member group—originally comprising Moon Hee-jun, Jang Woo-hyuk, Tony Ahn, Kangta and Lee Jae-won—released their debut album We Hate All Kinds of Violence... in 1996 and achieved instant success, propelled by the singles "Descendants of Warriors"—on which they railed against school bullying—and bubblegum pop confection "Candy," through which they captivated a teenage fanbase. especially among teenage girls. That same year, H.O.T. won Best New Artist at the Golden Disc Awards. Their second album Wolf and Sheep arrived in 1997 and was another big-hitter in South Korea, where it won several awards including Album Daesang at the annual Golden Disc Awards and the Grand Prize (daesang) at the Seoul Music Awards as well as being nominated for an International Viewer's Choice award at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, while the group were riding high on the burgeoning K-pop wave. They diversified their sound for their third album Resurrection, which was released in September 1998 and dipped into hardcore hip-hop among other styles. The LP was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1998 Seoul Music Awards, which it shared with Special Album by Sechs Kies. A live greatest hits album consolidated some of H.O.T.'s best moments to date in 1999 while that same year they reached a wider audience when they performed alongside Michael Jackson and South Korean girl group S.E.S. at a benefit concert. That same month, they became the first K-pop group to perform at the Seoul Olympic Stadium. The group released their fourth album I Yah! in September 1999 and fifth album Outside Castle in September 2000. In May 2001, H.O.T. announced their decision to part ways at a press conference in Seoul, which was brought on by contractual disagreements with SM Entertainment. All five members went on to forge solo careers before reuniting in October 2018 for a reunion concert Forever [Highfive Of Teenagers] at the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium. In December 2022, South Korean boy band NCT Dream put a fresh spin on H.O.T.'s early hit "Candy," which was recorded for their winter special mini album of the same name.
