In 2015, Lucas was scouted by SM Entertainment, a South Koreanentertainment agency, after passing a Global Audition that was held in Hong Kong. Lucas was accepted after only one modeling audition. As an SM trainee, Lucas received training in singing, rapping, and dancing. On 5 April 2017, he was introduced as a member of SM Rookies, a pre-debut training team composed of young trainees who would potentially debut as idol group members. On 7 April 2017, Lucas made an appearance in NCT member Ten's "Dream In A Dream" music video. Lucas, whose mother tongue is Cantonese, studied Korean and Mandarin in preparation for his debut.
2018–present: Debut with NCT, WayV and solo activities
In January 2018, SM Entertainment unveiled NCT 2018, a project group for the expansive boy group NCT. Lucas, together with Kun and Jungwoo, were the group's newest members. The trio were introduced in SM's NCT 2018 Yearbook #1 on 30 January 2018. Lucas officially made his debut with NCT on 14 March, with their debut studio albumNCT 2018 Empathy. Lucas recorded three songs in the album as part of the sub-unit NCT U, including title tracks "Boss," "Yestoday", and "Black on Black". To promote the album, Lucas appeared on Korean variety shows Real Man 300 and Law of the Jungle in Last Indian Ocean as regular cast members. Lucas was featured on Taeyeon's song "All Night Long," a track recorded in her EPSomething New, released in June 2018. The song peaked at number 72 on the Gaon Digital Chart. In November 2018, Lucas released the digital single "Coffee Break," with Jonah Nilsson and featuring Richard Bona, for SM Station 3. In December 2018, Lucas was announced to be a part of NCT's China-based unit WayV, managed by Label V. The seven-member unit officially debuted on 17 January 2019 with their debut EP The Vision. Its lead single "Regular" was the Mandarin remake of "Regular" by NCT 127. The following month, Lucas joined the cast of Chinese variety showKeep Running as a fixed cast member for the seventh season. On 7 August 2019, Lucas was announced as a member of SuperM, a K-pop "supergroup" created by SM Entertainment in collaboration with Capitol Records. The group's promotions began in October and are aimed at the American market. SuperM's self-titled debut EP was released on 4 October 2019 with lead single "Jopping". On 5 October, Lucas had his first concert with SuperM at the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles, preceding a world tour with stops in North America and planned stops in Europe and Asia.
