AHOF At 2025 MyK Festa: What They Gained And Risked By Performing Before Debut

Pre-debut K-Pop boy group AHOF was among the performers at the recently held 2025 MyK Festa. What makes this interesting is that the group hasn’t even officially debuted—yet they were already allowed to perform on stage.

Letting new artists take the stage before their official debut is slowly becoming a trend in the K-Pop industry. But here’s the question: what do singers gain from it, and what are they risking by doing so? Let’s take a closer look at AHOF’s case.

Who Is AHOF in K-Pop?

AHOF is an upcoming nine-member K-Pop boy group. They will debut under F&F Entertainment, the current company of rookie girl group UNIS. The group name stands for All-Time Hall of Famer and sounds like ahop (아홉), the Korean word for “nine.” It’s a fun wordplay that reflects both their big dreams and the number of members in the group.

AHOF Official Instagram

The band was formed through the SBS survival show “Universe League,” which ran from November 2024 to January 2025. The members include Steven, JeongWoo, Shuaibo, JL, JuWon, Chih En, Daisuke, Cha WoongKi, and Park Han. Steven is a former member of K-Pop group LUMINOUS, while WoongKi was previously part of TO1 (initially known as TOO). JL is a member of the P-Pop group PLUUS. Shuaibo is known as a former participant in "Youth With You 3."

AHOF is scheduled to debut on July 1, 2025, with the mini album “Who We Are.”

AHOF Performs at 2025 MyK Festa Before Official July Debut

The 2025 MyK Festa took place from June 19 to 22 at the KSPO DOME in Olympic Park. The event showcased a variety of Hallyu offerings, like tours of Seoul, experiences with K-Culture, and K-Food. The festival's main draw was the series of performances by K-Pop artists.

AHOF Official X

Prominent artists like aespa, Hearts2Hearts, WayV, ILLIT, and Lee YoungJi performed their hit songs. Even AHOF took the stage for the first time as a group on Day 1, having been formed through the “Universe League.”

AHOF performed a total of three songs: ‘Ignition,’ ‘Butterfly,’ and ‘Mamma Mia (Who We Are).’ These tracks were featured in “Universe League” as part of the contestants’ missions. The group’s upcoming debut album “Who We Are” will include these three as B-sides.

K-Pop Artists Who Performed at Events Before Their Official Debut

In K-Pop, performing at events before an official debut is unusual. But it has already happened in the past.

For example, several trainees who are now members of SEVENTEEN appeared at the 2013 SBS Music Awards. S.Coups, DK, WonWoo, HoShi, Vernon, and former SEVENTEEN trainee-turned-actor Jang DoYoon treated the audience to a special stage alongside Hello Venus.

Similarly, during the 2015 SBS Awards Festival, the five-member KNK delivered multiple tracks from their debut single three months before its release. One of the recent cases involves the boy group DXMON (Daimon). The quintet performed at the 2023 Genie Music Festival held at KINTEX a month before their official debut.

Then, there's rookie girl group izna, who took the 2024 MAMA Awards stage to showcase a medley of ‘Final Love Song,’ ‘DRIP,’ ‘IWALY,’ and ‘Fake It.’ The band even sang their debut songs ‘izna’ and ‘Time Bomb.’

AHOF at 2025 MyK Festa: The Pros and Cons of Performing Before Debut

If anything, landing one already feels like a big achievement for an artist. This also got me thinking—what's the real impact of this on the idols? Let's take a closer look at AHOF's situation.