Inside Santos Bravos, HYBE’s First Latin Male Pop Group Built on the ‘Desire to Offer Something Different and Disruptive’

On Oct. 21, Santos Bravos will deliver its debut performance at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional, playing to a packed audience at the 10,000-capacity venue — even though its members have yet to be revealed. The concert will not only serve to unveil the Latin boy band’s five members but also mark the culmination of their monthslong rigorous journey to become HYBE’s first all-male Latin group.

HYBE has a long history of forming successful groups, including K-pop giants like BTS, Seventeen and most recently girl pop group KATSEYE. Yet Santos Bravos is HYBE’S first artist development venture focused entirely on Latin talent, expanding the company’s global footprint.

Launching under the South Korean label’s subsidiary, HYBE Latin America — which formed in 2023 with the acquisition of Exile Music, the music division of Spanish-language studio Exile Content — the creation of Santos Bravos began in May. And while Latin boy or mixed girl-boy bands like Menudo, Timbiriche and RBD have been a major part of the fabric of Latin music, more contemporary boy bands have struggled to reach phenomenon status.

“A lot of the newer boy bands like CNCO came out of a traditional format … fans are craving something bigger that transcends borders,” HYBE Latin America COO Juan Sebastián Arenas says, citing the act that scored a few hits on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart over the past decade but never cracked the Billboard Hot 100. “What we’re doing is a combination of cultures. It’s a Korean company, in Mexico, with kids from eight different cultures, management from Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela — it’s a representation of how big and diverse Latin music has gotten. It’s a statement.”

The group’s formation has been documented in a YouTube reality series (also titled Santos Bravos) that launched in August. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the training camp, revealing the participants’ ups and downs and evaluations that will eventually determine the five members who will make up the band. There’s also a Spotify podcast that expands on the participants’ stories, live sessions with hundreds of fans in attendance that feature the boys singing covers or original songs, consistent Instagram and TikTok content and engagement on HYBE’s social/commerce platform, Weverse.

Arenas is sure Santos Bravos will succeed because of HYBE’s proven concept of creating and expanding intellectual property. “We are content producers,” Arenas says. “There’s depth to what we’re doing, and Santos Bravos is built on that desire to offer something that is different and disruptive.”

For showrunner Jaime Escallón (The X Factor, Survivor), who helms the series alongside Lucas Jaramillo (in addition to working as the group’s GM), fans are top of mind. “I’ve worked on projects with very specific formats. I did not want to do that here,” Escallón says. “You have to know who your audience is, and we need to be where they are. The audience we want to talk to is on YouTube, Spotify, social media, and that is how they consume content, how they are interested in hearing stories and getting to know characters.”

Headquartered in Mexico City’s Parque Bicentenario, the custom-built training and creative hub — which includes recording and dance studios and space for live performances and community events — houses 16 participants out of thousands of applicants who auditioned from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and other Latin American countries, as well as the United States and Spain. The boys, ages ranging from 15 to 25, immediately immerse themselves in a rigorous K-pop-esque training and development methodology as they compete for a spot in the group.

That means the boot camp — led by vocal coaches, renowned producers, fitness trainers and star choreographers — will go beyond the fundamental basics of singing and dancing by including mental health care, physical wellness, media training and global studies.

“It’s a lot for young people to handle,” says Jessica Kwon, who worked on KATSEYE’s team as head of business development before transitioning to Santos Bravos to spearhead training and development. “Are they physically and mentally able to sustain what they’ll go through once they debut? I can probably say that 70% of our program is based on singing and dancing and 30% is mandatory therapist sessions every week, yoga, sound baths and other mental wellness classes that all the boys are required to attend.”

While the operations may be Korean-inspired, “the heart and soul of Santos Bravos is Latin,” Arenas adds. “The [project’s] ties to K-pop are probably what’s bringing in the fan base, but what’s going to keep them here is that the fans can relate on a more personal level. There is a rawness and authenticity that you can’t remove.”

This story appears in the Oct. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.