DMTN (; an initialism for Desire.Motivation.Timing.Now), formerly Dalmatian (), was a South Korean

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

created and managed by

MC Mong Shin Dong-hyun ( ko, 신동현; born September 4, 1979), better known by his stage name MC Mong ( ko, MC몽, links=no), is a South Korean hip hop recording artist, record producer, radio personality, actor and television personality who is kno ...

under Monkey Funch Entertainment. The original lineup consisted of Inati, Day Day, Donglim, Jeesu, Dari, and Daniel. Dalmatian released a 30-second music video teaser of their debut digital single "

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. ...

" on August 25, 2010. It was followed by the song and video's full release on September 1, 2010 and the group made their debut performance the following day on Mnet's music program ''

M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

''. On May 7, 2012, Dalmatian announced that Day Day left from the group for personal reasons, and member Simon later joined the group. Dari enlisted in the military immediately after promotion for "That Man Opposed" ended in 2011, which resulted in his hiatus from the group. Dalmatian compromised Inati, Jeesu, Daniel, Donglim, and Simon. The group then changed its name to DMTN, following its move to a new label. The group went on hiatus in 2013 following Daniel's marijuana scandal.

History

2005–2010: Formation and debut

In 1999, Inati was a member of hip-hop group People Crew. He suffered a rare

intracerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into Intraparenchymal hemorrhage, the tissues of the brain, into its Intraventricular hemor ...

in April 2004 and fell into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

. His groupmate

pleaded with Inati and promised to make an album for him if he regained consciousness; he remained comatose for two months before awaking. MC Mong conceived Dalmatian in late spring of 2005. Day Day and Dari joined the group that same year; Daniel was added later. With the inclusion of a final member, MC Mong formally announced a five-member unit in December 2009 with the intention of debuting them in February of the following year. A

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsdalmatian" and "musician", the name was chosen to signify the "fashionable and distinctive" group's unwavering loyalty to their fans. They made a guest appearance at MC Mong's year-end concert Variety Spirit in the third and final performance of the series at the

Olympic Gymnastics Arena The Olympic Gymnastics Arena (), also known as the KSPO Dome since 2018, is an indoor arena located within the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea. It has a capacity of 15,000 and can be extended upto 20,000. It was constructed between 31 Aug ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

on December 31, 2009. In March 2010, he established the music agency Monkey Funch, serving as the company's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and record producer. Prior to the group's debut, a member withdrew from the lineup to enlist in

mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. He was replaced by Donglim in July and Jeesu was added as the sixth member. In August, management company MacroShore filed an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

with the

Seoul Central District Court Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

against Monkey Funch to prohibit the distribution of Dalmatian's music and videos, claiming that the agency ignored Donglim's exclusive contract with the firm upon adding him to the group in violation of the agreement. The court rejected the complaint a month later. Formed as a

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

consisting of Inati, Day Day, Dari, Jeesu, Daniel, and Youngwon (Donglim), they signed with IS Entermedia Group; the members were trainees for an average of five years. A music video teaser for Dalmatian's forthcoming debut was released on August 25, 2010. A Monkey Funch representative stated, "The footprints left by the male in the teaser represent Dalmatian's footprints. It means that Dalmatian will enter the music world and leave their mark." Written by MC Mong and Jo Yeong-su, Dalmatian released their debut single "

" on September 1. The group was gifted a

dalmatian dog The Dalmatian is a breed of dog, which has a white coat marked with black or brown-colored spots. Originating as a hunting dog, it was also used as a carriage dog in its early days. The origins of this breed can be traced back to present-day C ...

named Ppanggu (), which became their mascot and was included in the song's music video. They made their first music show performance on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

's ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

'' the following day. The group also starred in their

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

''Dalmatian's Manager Goes on Strike'' on Mnet from September 7 to November 9. Shortly after the show's premiere, MC Mong was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

for allegedly evading his mandatory military service; it negatively impacted celebrities in his circle including Dalmatian and television series where he served as a cast member. Dalmatian carried out group promotions for two weeks before discreetly halting activities. On November 29, Daniel and Beast's

Yoseob Yang Yo-seob (born January 5, 1990), more commonly known as Yoseob, is a South Korean singer and musical actor. He is the main vocalist of the boy group Highlight. Biography Yang was born in Seoul, South Korea on January 5, 1990, in a small f ...

released the collaboration single "First Snow, First Kiss". In the final two months of the year, Dalmatian were guest performers at

SG Wannabe SG Wannabe () is a South Korean vocal group consisting of members Kim Yong-jun, Kim Jin-ho and Lee Seok-hoon. The group debuted in January 2004 with the single, "Timeless", from the album ''SG Wanna Be+'', and won Best New Artist at the Golden ...

's It's SG Wannabe national concert tour.

2011–2012: ''Dalmatian'' and ''State of Emergency''

On February 14, 2011, Dalmatian released their debut

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

mini-album with the two lead singles "Lover Cop" and "That Man Opposed". Comparing the songs to a dalmatian, the group felt that former demonstrated a "black feeling" about unrequited love, while the latter's comical lyrics and "gentle and cute" appearance illustrated a "white feeling". According to music distributor

Mnet Media Stone Music Entertainment (Hangul: 스톤 뮤직 엔터테인먼트), is a South Korean music distribution company under CJ ENM, along with music streaming store Genie Music. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The ...

, men accounted for approximately 70% of listeners of "That Man Opposed", largely in their 10s through 40s. The company contrasted their findings from other male

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

groups, noting that women were generally the "driving force" behind their popularity. Dalmatian released a remix of the track on April 4, which they promoted henceforth. Immediately after promotions ended, member Dari enlisted into the army on April 25, 2011. The group attempted to release a followup record, but was faced with various delays by the circumstances surrounding their company. Day Day left the group citing "personal reasons" and Simon was added to the lineup, and the quintet began working on new music. They prioritized their "image transformation" and maturity, opting for a more masculine impression. Released on March 2, 2012, Dalmatian provided an acoustic rendition of "The Romantic" for the original

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

's television series of the same name. The group released their second mini-album ''

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

'' and its lead single "E.R" on May 16. The song was produced by music duo

Duble Sidekick Duble Sidekick () is a South Korean music producer and songwriting duo consisting of lyricist Park Jang-geun and composer Mikey (also known as Chancellor and formerly a member of One Way). The duo was formed in 2010, and rose to fame after produc ...

, who oversaw production on all the tracks on the album along with the group. Dalmatian hosted the entertainment program ''Idol TV Dalmatian'' on SonbadakTV the following month. Upon the expiration of the group's contract with IS Entermedia, they left the company and signed with 2Works Entertainment.

2013: Name change, drug scandal, and dissolution

In 2013, Dalmatian changed their group name to DMTN (Desire. Motivation. Timing. Now), also derived as an abbreviation for their former group name. Their agency explained the decision of name change, commenting, "It is unheard of for a group who is promoting to change their name. However, it was a decision that was made after much thought to give off a different and more mature image than the original Dalmatian." Daniel is said to have come up with the words that DMTN stands for himself. Following the news of the group name change, Youngwon announced that he would no longer be using his stage name and opted for his birth name Donglim. DMTN released the song " Safety Zone" on January 29, 2013. Following the release of the single, DMTN began regular promotions on

's ''

'' on January 31, 2013. On March 8, an arrest warrant was filed against member Daniel by the

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA; Hangul: ko, 서울지방경찰청; Hanja: ) is the primary police force for the South Korean capital city of Seoul; it is not an independent police force in of itself, but is one of 16 provincial sub- ...

. Daniel was under suspicion of selling and using marijuana. No marijuana was found in his body when the police ran tests. However, after further hair tests were conducted, he tested positive. On the same day, Daniel admitted to aiding in the distribution of marijuana; however he and his agency both confirmed that Daniel did not physically use or sell marijuana. However, he "acted as the intermediary in the selling of marijuana 12 times and sold marijuana 4 times and was sentenced to 1 year in jail and fined 7,160,000 KRW. Later on, Judge Kim Joo-hyun of the Seoul High Court changed Daniel's one year jail sentence to three years probation. He said during the trial, "Because Daniel's sister has promised to supervise the defendant and Daniel cooperated with the investigation, I have judged in his favor." In addition to his probation, Daniel was required to complete 120 hours of community service and 80 hours of substance abuse rehab. Daniel was charged with using, distributing, and selling marijuana, along with other celebrities, back in March 2013. He admitted to all charges and received a one-year jail sentence in October. He made an appeal and began his seven trial appeal in December. During his appeal, Daniel had asked for forgiveness saying that, "If you show me mercy, I will become a young man that is an asset to this country. Please forgive me." His sister also promised to move to the United States to watch over him as he attends an American university. Daniel received a reduced sentence. Following his marijuana scandal, Daniel stepped down from his MC position on

Arirang TV Arirang International Broadcasting is a South Korean-based broadcasting company operated by the International Broadcasting Exchange Foundation. It began as a cable TV service in South Korea on February 3, 1997, and opened Korea's first overseas ...

's ''

Pops in Seoul ''Pops in Seoul'', airing from 1998 to 2021, has presented Korean pop music for the past eleven years on the network Arirang TV. The show's VJ presented current music, news about K-pop culture, and provided overseas viewers with the latest Korean ...

''. 2Works Entertainment put the group on a hiatus in 2013. The company commented that, "For the time being, it's hard to make any decisions until Daniel's trial is over. The members currently carrying out activities will continue with them.""
So will there or will there not be individual activities for DMTN? Confusion solved + TVReport asked to change article
allkpop.com, 14 March 2013 Furthermore, the company denied rumors of Daniel leaving the group, or the group continuing on without him by clarifying that "we have never thought about group activities without Danny." It ultimately culminated in the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

disbandment of DMTN. Prior to its demise, the group was scheduled to initiate overseas promotions in April and tentatively release an album in May.

2020: 10th anniversary single

Orchestrated by Daniel, DMTN reunited and recorded a song for the group's 10-year anniversary. With Jeesu serving

, he was unable to take part on the track. An R&B ballad, "Never Forget" was released on June 19, 2020, their first single in seven years.

Musical style

Dalmatian was formed as a hip hop and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

group. Making a "clear" distinction between the rappers and vocalists, the group seeks to showcase their "fierce and manly" side and a "tender charm" through sentimental music. They cited

g.o.d Groove Over Dose, known by the acronym g.o.d (), is a South Korean boy band formed by IHQ (company), SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to sol ...

as their aspiration. Writing for newspaper ''

Segye Ilbo ''Segye Ilbo'' (; ) is a Korean language newspaper. The newspaper is owned by News World Communications, which was established by the Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification C ...

'', Han Jun-ho took note of the

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

melodies in Dalmatian's debut single while commending the members' "exceptional" skills in rapping and dancing. Their debut mini-album showcased a range of hip hop tracks and sentimental ballads.

Former members

* Inati (이나티) – leader, rap * Day Day (데이데이) – rap * Dari (다리) – rap * Donglim (동림) – vocals * Jeesu (지수) – main vocals * Daniel (다니엘) – lead vocals * Simon (사이먼) – rap, vocals

Discography

Albums

Mini-albums

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dmtn K-pop music groups Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Musical groups reestablished in 2020 Musical groups from Seoul South Korean boy bands South Korean dance music groups South Korean hip hop groups