Monsta X (Korean: 몬스타엑스; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program No.Mercy by Starship Entertainment. As of November 2019, the group is composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney and I.M.
The group debuted on May 14, 2015 with their first EP, Trespass. In March 2017, Monsta X released their first studio album and final part of The Clan series, The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter. In April 2018, Monsta X's Japanese single "Spotlight" received an official gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. In February 2020, Monsta X's first English album, All About Luv, ranked number 5 on the US Billboard 200.

The group was formed as the result of a survival program called No.Mercy, which was launched by Starship Entertainment and Mnet[2] in December 2014. It consisted of 10 episodes and aired Wednesdays 11PM on Mnet. The premise of the show is that 12 trainees (13 after I.M joins the competition in episode 8) compete against each other through various performances and are ranked from 1-12 (1 being the best and 12 being the worst). They also have to wear a nametag with their ranking that changed every time a new ranking is announced. For the show the participants worked directly with the artists of Starship Entertainment including Rhymer, San E, Giriboy and Genius Nochang. They also served as judges, alongside Hyolyn, K.Will, and Soyou.[3] For the concluding mission, nine of the remaining members had to form three groups of three and the final seven members of the group, Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, and I.M, were determined on the last episode of the show.
2020: All About Luv and Fantasia X
On January 11, Joohoney announced that he would be taking a break from the group to focus on his mental health.[75] On Valentine's Day, Monsta X released their sixth studio album and first all-English album, All About Luv.[76] It debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200.[77] In March, the group donated 100 million won to the Good Neighbors, a charity organization helping low-income families in South Korea, and were later included in "The Neighbors Club" for their contributions, listing themselves alongside their fanbase, Monbebes.[78] On March 30, the group released their seventh Japanese single, "Wish on the Same Sky." Upon debut, it ranked no. 1 on Tower Records weekly chart and no. 2 on Billboard Japan.[79] It ranked no. 1 overall for the first half of 2020 on Tower Records chart.[80] On May 26, the group had their first Korean comeback of the year, with the debut of their eigth EP Fantasia X, with lead single "Fantasia". Prior to this comeback, Joohoney had rejoined promotions with the group, and thus they were a six member group for the promotion of "Fantasia". The group performed at the Time 100 Talks, where they also voiced suport for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as drawing attention to the work of medical professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
As the group had to delay their US tour because of COVID-19, they announced they would hold a live-streamed concert, "Live From Seoul With Luv."[82] The concert was initially scheduled for July 25, but was rescheduled to August 8, to allow Shownu to recover from an unexpected surgery he had undergone.[83] They held the event through the streaming platform LiveXLive, and performed several from their English-lanuguage album, All About Luv, as well as several from their most recent Korean EP, Fantasia, and several older title tracks.