NCT Dream (Korean: 엔시티 드림; RR: Ensiti Deurim) is the third sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They were initially intended to be the teenaged unit of NCT with an admission-and-graduation system, in which members would leave after reaching age of majority (20 in Korean age reckoning, 19 internationally), prior to re-branding in 2020. The sub-unit debuted on August 25, 2016, with the single "Chewing Gum" and a lineup of seven members—Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung—whose average age was 15.6 years old. In late 2018, the group's leader, Mark, graduated from NCT Dream but returned in 2020 when the group began promoting as a fixed seven-member group.
Commercial success of their 2019 extended play (EP) We Boom made NCT Dream into one of the year's top 10 physical sellers domestically and earned them Bonsang awards at the 34th Golden Disc Awards and 2020 Seoul Music Awards. Their second and last record released as a sextet was their fourth Korean-language EP, Reload (2020), which accumulated over half a million pre-orders. NCT Dream achieved major commercial success with the release of their first studio album, Hot Sauce (2021), whose pre-orders surpassed 1.71 million copies. It became the best-selling album on the Gaon Chart in the first half of 2021 and was named Best Album at the 31st Seoul Music Awards.Since their debut, NCT Dream have released four EPs, six singles and two studio albums and headlined one tour in Asia. Known for music reflecting youth and adolescence, growth, and the transition from innocence to rebellion, the sub-unit has been recognized internationally as one of the most notable teenaged artists of their time. They are the first and only Asian artist to appear three consecutive times on Billboard's "21 Under 21" list for their industry impact on sales, streaming and social media, placing at numbers 20, 13 and 19 from 2018 to 2020. NCT Dream were also included on Time's list of the "25 Most Influential Teens" of 2018.
