''First Impact'' is the debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) by South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Kep1er Kep1er (; Korean language, Korean: 케플러; Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Kepeulleo''; Japanese language, Japanese: ケプラー, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Kepurā'') is a South Korean girl group formed by CJ E&M, CJ ENM throug ...

, a project group formed through the 2021

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

reality competition show ''

Girls Planet 999 ''Girls Planet 999'' () is a 2021 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It premiered on August 6, 2021, and was originally broadcast every Friday at 8:20 PM KST for the first eleven episodes until its finale on October 22, w ...

''. The album was released on January 3, 2022, by WakeOne. It is available in three versions: "Connect 0", "Connect -" and "Connect 1", and contains six tracks with " Wa Da Da" as its lead single.

Background and release

Kep1er was formed through the

reality survival show ''

'', which aired from August 6 to October 22, 2021. The show brought 99 contestants from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

to compete to debut in a multinational girl group. Out of initially 99 contestants, only the top nine would be in the final debut lineup. Kep1er was originally scheduled to debut on December 14, 2021, with their first EP ''First Impact'', with pre-orders beginning on November 29. However, it was announced that the group's scheduled debut had been delayed to January 3, 2022, due to one of their staff members having tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. On December 14, it was revealed that group members Mashiro and Xiaoting tested positive for COVID-19. On December 26, Kep1er's agency announced that Xiaoting and Mashiro have fully recovered from COVID-19. On January 3, 2022, Kep1er released their debut EP ''First Impact'' with "Wa Da Da" serving as the lead single.

Critical reception

Gladys Yeo from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' gave the extended play three out of five stars, calling the EP an energetic six-track project record that makes for an enjoyable listen but falls short in fleshing out Kep1er's identity as an act. She commented how individually, the songs on the EP can be enjoyable and how this allows the group members to show off their vocal abilities, but falters when it comes to cohesion and establishing the group's identity.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:First Impact Kep1er EPs 2022 debut EPs Korean-language EPs Genie Music EPs WakeOne EPs