Psy to throw ‘overnight’ concerts in Seoul, Busan

K-pop sensation Psy will throw overnight concerts in Busan and Seoul, in turn, which are bound to make for the wildest year-end parties around.Each show of the two-weekend concert series, tiled “All Night Stand,” will begin at around midnight and continue into early the next day.Through his signature “All Night Stand” concert series, which has been held every year since 2003, Psy has established a reputation for his ability to get the crowd dancing all night.The first weekend of the shows will t

Nov. 7, 2017

Rain to release EP next month

K-pop star Rain will break his three-year hiatus from music with the release of a new EP on Dec. 1, his agency said Tuesday.According to Rain Company, the singer is putting the finishing touches to the record. “I think it’ll be a little hard for us to release it in November, so it’s probably going to be a Dec.1 release. For Rain, it marks the first time since 2014 that he is releasing a record, so he’s putting all his effort into it (EP),” said an official from the agency. Rain (Rain Company)Rai

Nov. 7, 2017

BTS works with American musician Steve Aoki for 'Mic Drop' remix

K-pop boy group BTS has worked with American musician and producer Steve Aoki in making the remix of a song from its latest album, its agency said Tuesday.Bit Hit Entertainment said the seven-member act will unveil worldwide on Nov. 17 the remix of "Mic Drop" that it put together in collaboration with Aoki, an electro house musician, DJ and record producer.The hip-hop number is one of the 11 tracks from "Love Yourself: Her" released on Sept. 18.The collaboration with the global artist, the agenc

Nov. 7, 2017

Seventeen’s new single ‘clap’ deserves round of applause

Leading the group into a new direction, Seventeen’s new single “clap,” a lead track off its second full-length album “Teen, Age,” was an announcement to the world that gone are the good old days of boyishness of the 13-piece group. Two years into its career, K-pop rookie Seventeen returned Monday with its second full-length album, where all 13 tracks were composed and written by the members. The group released its first full-length album “Love & Letter” in April last year. “Teen, Age,” which was

Nov. 6, 2017

Twice becomes fastest K-pop girl group to top 40m YouTube views

Twice’s music video for its song “Likey” on Monday topped 40 million views on YouTube, reaching the milestone faster than any other Korean girl group. The feat was accomplished around 11 a.m., a little over six days and 17 hours after the song was released. Twice (JYP Entertainment)“Likey” is part of Twice’s first full-length studio album “Twicetagram.”Since its debut in 2015, the K-pop act has been a powerhouse on YouTube. The music video for its debut song “Like Ohh-Ahh” became the first song

Nov. 6, 2017

Tablo vows to reveal Epik High’s English song

Tablo promised to unveil an English song by Epik High if the group hits 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. On Monday, the singer posted on Instagram Stories a screenshot of the group’s page on the music streaming website, highlighting its number of monthly listeners: 490,093. “When we hit 1M monthly listeners on Spotify, we’ll leak an unreleased English song on our soundcloud,” read his comment on the image.  A screengrab of Tablo’s post on Instagram StoriesThe hip-hop trio released their n

Nov. 6, 2017

Super Junior returns stronger -- despite Choi’s absence

After weathering countless hardships and heartaches together over the last 12 years, Super Junior came out stronger and more united than ever despite the absence of Choi Si-won. Six men of Super Junior, one of a handful of K-pop acts to have surpassed the 10-year mark, returned with the group’s eighth full-length album “Play” on Monday, celebrating the group’s 12th anniversary as well. The album came two years after Super Junior‘s last release as a group, the 10th anniversary album “Devil” and i

Nov. 6, 2017

[Herald Interview] Heyne and Minsoo complete each other beyond music

Joining forces with a musical trainer may be an unusual collaboration for some, but for Heyne, it was about more than just having a musical partner. Expanding beyond music, it was an opportunity to finally overcome her longtime insecurity. The collaboration between Heyne and her vocal director Minsoo budded when soloist Heyne moved from Crescendo Music agency to Wellmade Yedang last year and started working on her vocals with him. Under her previous agency, the songstress released a handful of s

Nov. 6, 2017

Seohyun shares thoughts on leaving S.M. Entertainment

Seohyun of Girls’ Generation took to social media to share her candid thoughts about having left her longtime agency S.M. Entertainment last month. The singer-turned-actress wrote a lengthy letter Friday night on Instagram, where she revealed the reason for parting with the group and her future plans.  (Yonhap)“I’ve finally made the difficult decision to leave the group after countless contemplations and worrying. My heart is filled with gratitude to (S.M. Entertainment CEO) Lee Soo-man, who all

Nov. 5, 2017

S. Korean boy band BTS to perform at American Music Awards

South Korean boy band BTS will perform at the upcoming music awards show in the United States later this month, its Seoul-based agency said Saturday. BigHit Entertainment said BTS has been invited to perform at the American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 19. South Korean singer PSY previously showcased his music with MC Hammer at the show in 2012, but the agency said BTS is the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards.  In this file photo taken on Sept.

Nov. 4, 2017

2017 MAMA takes countermeasures amid ballot-rigging allegations

The Mnet Asian Music Awards, an annual K-pop awards ceremony, conducted a system check to eliminate fake ballots for its upcoming awards, the organization announced Friday. “We have detected fraudulent votes for 2017 MAMA between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1,” the announcement read. The website undertook a four-hour system check early Friday morning during which time voting was temporarily suspended. “If the ballot rigging continues, the rigging votes will be deleted, their user IPs will be blocked and th

Nov. 3, 2017

Jo Kwon to leave JYP Ent. for Cube Ent.

Singer Jo Kwon, 28, of 2AM unveiled his decision to leave JYP Entertainment and join Cube Entertainment, home to singer HyunA and boy band B2B. According to music industry insiders on Friday, Jo and Cube Entertainment CEO Hong Seung-sung had kept their long ties intact in producing music together ever since Jo was preparing for 2AM’s debut at JYP.  (Jo Kwon`s Instagram)Hong had worked under JYP Entertainment CEO Park Jin-young as a music producer, but left in 2008 to launch Cube Entertainment. F

Nov. 3, 2017

[PyeongChang 2018] K-pop stars celebrate arrival of Olympic flame in Korea

Marking 100 days until the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, biggest stars of K-pop took to stage in Seoul on Wednesday in a bid to celebrate the beginning of the Olympic torch relay in Korea. The Olympic torch, which last burned in Korea 30 years ago when Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games, arrived at Incheon on Wednesday after a handover ceremony in Athens on Tuesday. K-pop at EXO performs at a K-pop concert celebrating the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Gwanghwamun Square in cen

Nov. 2, 2017

Intimate sound of string quartets to close year

Fans of that more intimate form of music, string quartets, are in for a treat, as renowned string quartets are set to perform in Korea this fall and winter.The Michelangelo String Quartet will perform Thursday at Kumho Art Hall as part of the International Masters Series organized by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation.Violinists Mihaela Martin and Daniel Austrich, violist Nobuko Imai and cellist Frans Helmerson are established soloists, chamber musicians and teachers who came together as a str

Nov. 1, 2017

BTS partners with UNICEF’s anti-violence campaign

Several weeks have passed since the worldwide craze over “Love Yourself Seung Her,” the latest project from K-pop global stars BTS, reached its fever pitch. But the act is set to resonate the slogan “Love Yourself” all over the world once again, this time by embarking on a global anti-violence project in collaboration with the United Nations Children‘s Fund. On Wednesday, the Korean Committee for UNICEF said that it will partner with the K-pop act to launch a global campaign dubbed “Love Myself,

Nov. 1, 2017

Actor-singer Lee Seung-gi discharged from military

South Korean actor-singer Lee Seung-gi finished his mandatory military conscription Tuesday. Meeting with media and fans in front of the special operations command in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, he thanked his fans and his comrades for helping him finish his duty successfully.“For the past one year and nine months, I‘ve received so much support that I’ve been able to leave the military well and healthy,” Lee, 30, said. “I will use the positive energy I‘ve got from the command to foc

Oct. 31, 2017

Choi Si-won not to be part of Super Junior’s comeback

Choi Si-won, member of K-pop group Super Junior, will not be participating in the promotional activities for its eighth studio album “Play,” his agency Label SJ announced on Tuesday. The announcement came as Choi and his family are under fire for a recent fatal accident in which a restaurateur died of sepsis on Oct. 6 after being attacked by Choi‘s family pet dog. Choi’s agency apologized for disappointing many fans who held high expectations for Super Junior‘s comeback. Choi is said to have par

Oct. 31, 2017

K-pop darlings Twice return with Instagram-inspired ‘Twicetagram’

Fresh from its impressive success in Japan with its first Japanese album, the nine-piece K-pop darlings Twice returned with their first full-length album “Twicetagram” Monday. Having celebrated its second anniversary recently, Twice members expressed excitement over the first full-length album, for which many of them wrote lyrics. “My biggest goal for this year was to release our first full-length album, and I’m really grateful that we finally made it,” said band leader Jihyo during a press show

Oct. 30, 2017

BTS' 'Blood Sweat & Tears' tops 200 mln YouTube views

K-pop group BTS' "Blood Sweat & Tears" music video has garnered over 200 million views on YouTube, its management agency said Monday.The video for the lead song on "Wings," the group's second full-length album released in October 2016, reached 200 million views on the global video site Sunday evening, according to Big Hit Entertainment. BTS has two other songs -- "Dope" and "Fire" -- that have reached the same milestone on YouTube. (Big Hit Entertainment)BTS last month released its latest EP alb

Oct. 30, 2017

Seventeen to showcase new subunit

The upcoming album from Seventeen, “Teen, Age,” will feature not only the boy band’s songs performed as a whole, but also in various subunits.Prior to its Nov. 6 release, Seventeen revealed the album’s track list Saturday, showing that that some of the tracks will be by smaller groups within the band.  Seventeen (Pledis Entertainment)“Hoshi” and “Woozi” will team up for the fifth track “Shoot Me Before You Go,” while Joshua and Vernon will feature in “Rocket.” “Hello” will be by Jun, Mingyu and

Oct. 29, 2017