simplified Chinese: 时代少年团; pinyin: Shídài shàonián tuán

TNT/Teens in Times

TNT is the third boy group formed by Time Fengjun Entertainment in China after TFBOYS and Typhoon Teens(now disbanded). TNT has become one of the most popular Chinese groups. TNT consists of seven members: Ma Jiaqi, Ding Chengxin, Song Yaxuan, Liu Yaowen, Zhang Zhenyuan, Yan Haoxiang, and He Junlin. Teens in Times means that the teens are full of unstoppable firepower future in the future, representing the optimism and courage of the group’s seven members to fight against adversity. On August 25, 2019, the seven members were announced as a group, the group name was officially released on October 11, 2019. They participated in the 2019 Tmall Double Eleven Global Carnival Night on November 10th and formally debuted on November 23, 2019.

On December 6, 2019, they won the title of 2019 iQIYI Scream Night Annual Potential Combination of the Year. On December 8, 2019, they won the title of Annual New Sound Generation Group Award at TMEA Tencent Music Entertainment Festival. On December 31, 2019, they attended the 2020 Hunan Satellite TV New Year Concert. On July 19, 2020, they attended the 27th Oriental Billboard and won the Best New Group Award. On December 10, 2020, the theme song of the same name sung for the film “Qing Ya Ji” was launched. On December 6, 2020, they attended the QQ Music BOOM BOOM AWARD 2020 and won the Popular Idol Group of the Year Award. On December 20, 2020, they won the title of Trend Group of the Year for Tencent Starlight Awards 2020. On December 28, 2020, the single “2035 Is the Young” was released digitally. On December 31, 2020, they attended the New Year celebration of Oriental satellite TV. On February 11, 2021, they boarded the stage of the Spring Festival Gala of CCTV 2021 and performed the song “Running Youth.” On February 28, 2021, they won the Popular Group of the Year Award for Weibo Night Award 2020.

The members of TNT have attracted attention since they were trainees because they are the next generation of TFBOYS. In Time Fengjun Entertainment, as everyone knows, since the TFBOYS period, the company films documentaries of trainees’ practice and posts them online. Because the members have been exposed to the public before their debut, each member gains many fans during these times. It also laid a foundation for their status in the current mainland entertainment area.
Teen idols are always a hot topic in China because of their education level, behaviors, also fans’ behaviors. Different from others, Time Fengju’s artists are all keeping up with their studies, even though it is difficult to take care of their studies with their busy schedules. But they must do well in their school work because their “older brother” TFBOYS did good jobs before. The net citizens always compare TNT members with TFBOYS, especially some TFBOYS fans. They always complain about the company taking all the time to take care of TNT rather than TFBOYS. I think these sights and pressures are also the reason why they perform better among the existing Chinese mainland idols.

Citations:

“TNT’s “My Move” performance at 2020 Weibo Night.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ris8RO3wFc.