On April 20, 2024, Korea’s Day of People with Disabilities, Korean boy group Big Ocean made their debut under Parastar Entertainment. Their debut song is a remake of the popular song ‘Hope’ by H.O.T. which they have retitled ‘Glow.’ The 3-member boy group is composed of Park Hyunjin, Lee Chanyeon, and Kim Jiseok. They all have varying levels of hearing loss and have worked hard to overcome the challenges this may present in order to share their love for performing with the world. Their debut is a big step in a positive direction, transcending the barriers of what is typically seen in the K-pop industry.
What makes Big Ocean stand out among others is how they portray their music to the world. Along with singing and dancing, they include the use of sign language throughout their performances. They incorporate a mix of Korean, American, and international sign language into their choreographies. This allows them to include more people in enjoying their music. They released 2 sign language covers pre-debut: ‘Candy’ by NCT Dream and ‘Dynamite’ by BTS. Both of these covers can be found on their official YouTube channel, along with their music videos.
The members face a lot of hardships that a hearing idol does not, but they adapt and persevere. They cannot always hear themselves or the music well, so they must put extra work into practicing to make sure it’s right. For the vocal ranges they are unable to reach due to their hearing, they use a form of AI which has been programmed to match their voices. They also have a harder time keeping track of the beat while they dance, so they use two alternative methods. The first one is a screen that flashes numbers. The second is a metronome bracelet, which allows them to feel the beat as they dance, keeping them on track.
Big Ocean makes strong efforts to reach out to fans through frequent TikTok lives. They go live for hours at a time in order to spend time with fans, despite how busy their schedules can be. This helped them amass quite the TikTok following, with over 500k followers. Overall, they have proven themselves to be a dedicated, hardworking group, determined to show their talent to the world.