Kiss of Life (group)

Kiss of Life (stylized in all caps), also known as KIOF, is a South Korean girl group formed by S2 Entertainment in 2023. The group consists of four members: Julie, Natty, Belle, and Haneul. They debuted on July 5, 2023, with the extended play (EP) Kiss of Life.

Name
According to S2 Entertainment, the name signifies their ambition to "breathe a new life into the music industry with their music and charm." Reflecting on their name, the group's concepts revolve around the different stages of life, particularly adolescence and young adulthood.

2015–2022: Pre-debut and formation
Belle is known as the daughter of the veteran Korean singer Shim Shin. She used to work for SM Entertainment as a songwriter. Natty was a contestant on the South Korean reality survival shows Sixteen and Idol School, that led to the formation of Twice and Fromis 9, respectively. In both shows, she made it to the final episode, but was ultimately not chosen for the final line-up of the groups. In 2020, she debuted as a soloist with the single album, Nineteen. Julie was a trainee under The Black Label, a sub-label of YG Entertainment from 2017 to 2020.

On July 12, 2022, Natty signed an exclusive contract with S2 Entertainment. In December 2022, Natty was featured in a British documentary about K-pop trainees along with Julie, Belle, and two other unknown trainees. It was speculated that they were the alleged members of the company's upcoming girl group. On December 27, 2022, S2 Entertainment announced they were preparing to launch a new girl group in 2023. Later in February 2023, it was discovered that the agency had applied to trademark Kiss of Life and that they had opened SNS accounts of the same name for the group.

2023–present: Debut with Kiss of Life and Born to Be XX
On May 12, 2023, S2 Entertainment released the first teaser of the group in their SNS accounts. This revealed that the group was hoped to be debuting on July of the same year. Natty was the first member to be revealed on May 15. This was followed with Belle, Julie, and Haneul in the next consecutive days. On May 26, Lee Hae-in was confirmed to be the creative director of the group. On June 12, another teaser was released, announcing the group's debut on July 5, with their self-titled EP.

Beginning with "Sugarcoat" by Natty on June 18, 2023, solo music videos of "Countdown" by Belle, "Kitty Cat" by Julie, and "Play Love Games" by Haneul were officially released in the following days. On June 27, the music video of a B-side of the EP "Bye My Neverland" was released, along with the music video teaser for the official debut single "Shhh" on July 3. On July 5, they officially debuted with the release of their EP and music video for "Shhh". They also held a press showcase at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the same day.

On September 28, S2 Entertainment released a teaser announcing the release of the group's second EP, Born to Be XX on November. On October 13, another teaser was issued revealing the official date of release, which was November 8. The EP was released on the planned date, along with the music video for "Bad News", one of the lead singles. A week later, on November 15, the music video for the other lead single, "Nobody Knows", was released.

On March 15, 2024, S2 Entertainment released a poster announcing the release of their single album titled Midas Touch, which was released on April 3. On June 21, it was announced that the group would be making a summer comeback with the digital single album Sticky on July 1.

Influences
Julie stated in an interview that the group has been greatly influenced by the music of Blackpink, 2NE1, and BigBang. The members additionally mentioned that they listen to a lot of R&B and hip-hop music, being strongly influenced by artists such as Ariana Grande, SZA, Rihanna, and Rosalía as well. Individually, Julie cited Blackpink and 2NE1 as her role models, Natty cited BoA and Yerin Baek as her role models, Belle cited Sabrina Carpenter as a musical inspiration, and Haneul cited Olivia Rodrigo as her role model.

Endorsements
On February 19, 2024, Maybelline New York announced that it selected Kiss of Life as its new brand ambassador.

Members

 * Julie (쥴리)
 * Natty (나띠)
 * Belle (벨)
 * Haneul (하늘)