On March 23, 2016, Pledis Entertainment announced they were to debut a new girl group, temporarily called Pledis Girlz. 7 of the 10 members, Eunwoo, Kyulkyung, Nayoung, Rena, Roa, Xiyeon and Yuha, previously competed during the first season of Mnet's survival show Produce 101, where Kyulkyung and Nayoung became finalists and debuted as part of the group I.O.I.[2] Meanwhile, the remaining members held weekly concerts to promote the upcoming group.[3][4]
The last concert as Pledis Girlz was held on January 6, 2017, where they revealed the official name of the group to be Pristin.[5] After I.O.I disbanded, on January 29, the 10 members were finally reunited.[6]
Release
On March 2, the first teaser image was revealed, confirming their first mini album to be released on March 21.[7] The schedule for their debut was unveiled on March 7,[8] while the tracklist for the album came out on March 13.[9] The next day, on March 14, a highlight medley was also released on the group's official YouTube channel, featuring a preview from each song of the album.[10]
The EP was finally released on March 21 through several digital retailers, including Melon in South Korea,[1] and iTunes for the global market.[11] Physically, the album received two versions, Prismatic and Elastin, the words that originated the name Pristin.[12][13]
Singles
The first single "Wee Woo" was used as the title track to promote the album. It was released on March 21, along with a music video.[14]
"Black Widow" was released as the second and final single on May 19. For promotion purposes, the song received a remixed version, which was used by the group to perform on music shows.[15][16]
Promotional singles
"We" was released as a promotional digital single on June 27, 2016, when the group was still called Pledis Girlz. Due to Kyulkyung and Nayoung promoting with I.O.I, the single version of the song doesn't feature them. An accompanying music video was also released on the same day.[17]
Promotion
Pristin performed their debut song "Wee Woo" for the first time on March 21 during Mnet Present's live broadcast, becoming the first rookie girl group to do so.[18] The next day, a showcase was held, where they interacted with fans and performed songs from the released album.[19] On March 23, they held their debut stage on Mnet's M Countdown.[20] The promotions continued through KBS's Music Bank on March 24,[21]MBC's Show! Music Core on March 25,[22]SBS's Inkigayo on March 26,[23]MBC Music's Show Champion on March 29,[24] and SBS MTV's The Show on April 4.[25] The last stage for the single was held on Inkigayo on May 7.[26] The song was also performed during the KCON festival in Japan on May 19,[27] and on the 2017 Dream Concert at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on June 6.[28]
To wrap up the promotions for the album, the group performed a remixed version of "Black Widow" on music shows during a whole week.[15]
Commercial performance
Hi! Pristin entered the Gaon Album Chart at number 4 on the issue dated between March 19 and March 25, 2017.[29] It also appeared at number 10 on the Billboard's World Albums Chart on the week of April 8, 2017.[30] For the month of March, 23,519 physical copies of the album were sold, appearing at number 10 on the monthly edition of the Gaon Album Chart.[31] As of June 2017, the album had sold 42,299 copies.[32]
^"'프로듀스 101' 출연 플레디스 걸즈, 공연 티켓 3분만 전석 매진" [Pledis Girlz from 'Produce 101', concert tickets sold out in 3 minutes]. enews24 (in Korean). May 12, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"플레디스 걸즈, 마지막 토요 콘서트 펼친다" [Pledis Girlz reveal their last Saturday concert]. Busan Ilbo (in Korean). September 10, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"플레디스걸즈, 새 팀명은 '프리스틴'…콘서트서 최초 발표" [Pledis Girlz, new team name 'Pristin' first revealed at concert]. Xportsnews (in Korean). January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"임나영·주결경 등 10人, 플레디스 걸즈→프리스틴으로 데뷔 (공식입장)" [Im Nayoung-Zhou Jieqiong 10-member group Pledis Girlz, to debut as Pristin]. Heraldpop (in Korean). January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"[팝's신곡]"파워 & 프리티" 프리스틴, 신인상 예약한 특급 기대주" [[Pop's new song] "Powerful & Pretty" Pristin, the new up and coming rookie aiming for the rookie award]. Heraldpop (in Korean). March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
^ ab"'활동 마무리' 프리스틴, 뱀파이어→깜찍 소녀 반전 매력" ['Ending activities' Pristin's reversal charms, from cute girl to vampire]. Heraldpop (in Korean). May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
^"프리스틴, '누구하나 빠지지않는 미모'" [Pristin, 'the ones who don't sleep on their beauty']. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
^"'인기가요' 아이유 2주 연속 1위…러블리즈 컴백 (종합)" ['Inkigayo': IU is number 1 for two consecutive weeks... Plus Lovelyz's comeback] (in Korean). 2017-05-07. Retrieved 2017-09-10.