[Today’s K-pop] The Boyz to return next month: report

  The Boyz is set to bring out a new album on Aug. 7, according to a local media report on Thursday. Agency IST Entertainment confirmed the news following the report, adding that it will be the band’s second studio album. Its last album was the eighth EP “Be Awake,” which came out in February and topped the iTunes top albums chart in 11 regions. Main track “Roar” was No. 1 on its top songs chart in four and won first place four times in television music chart s

K-popJuly 20, 2023

BTS book takes US bookstores by storm

The English version of a book about K-pop sensation BTS released earlier this month by the band's agency to mark the septet's 10 year anniversary is taking US bookstores by storm. The book, titled “Beyond the Story: 10-year Record of BTS,” by BTS and Myeongseok Kang, translated by Anton Hur and Claire Richards, topped the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction on Wednesday. Rankings on the newspaper’s weekly list reflect sales including pre-orders for the week

K-popJuly 20, 2023

Brave Girls rebranded as BB Girls, to drop new album early next month

BB Girls, formerly known as Brave Girls, are returning with a new album on Aug. 3. The group’s agency Warner Music Korea released a poster announcing the group’s comeback on its official social media accounts on Wednesday. In the photos, the BB Girls members exuded charisma, radiating confidence and intensity. This was in stark contrast to the refreshing mood of the band's last mini-album “Summer Queen.” This is the first time the group is releasing an album under a

K-popJuly 20, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ Jungkook sweeps charts with ‘Seven’

Jungkook of BTS headed straight to the top of Oricon’s weekly digital ranking with his solo single “Seven,” Wednesday. The clean version of “Seven (feat. Latto)” topped its daily digital single ranking for two days in a row last week and raised expectations for notching the top place on the weekly chart. The English-language single has stayed atop Spotify’s daily top song global chart for four days in a row after hitting the top spot upon release. He is the f

K-popJuly 19, 2023

Ichillin’ ready for summer takeover with new album

K-pop girl group Ichillin’ is back with a new album, ready to take the music scene by storm this summer. Ichillin’ dropped its second mini album “I’m on It!” on Wednesday, which comes two months after the group’s fifth digital single “Siren.” Ichillin’ made its debut on Sept. 8, 2021, with the digital single “Got’ya.” The group consists of seven members — Chowon, Yeju, Chaerin, Joonie, Jackie, E.Ji and Jiyoon. The ener

K-popJuly 19, 2023

NewJeans hits new highs with 'Super Shy'

The single "Super Shy" is taking NewJeans to new career highs on global music charts. Released July 7, the song entered Billboard's Hot 100 at No. 66 in the latest chart release, marking the quintet's highest spot on the list. This marks the third Hot 100 song from NewJeans, following "OMG" and "Ditto," which peaked at No. 74 and No. 82, respectively, on the US singles chart. The song, a prerelease from the act's upcoming second EP "Get Up," also came in a

K-popJuly 19, 2023

Tomorrow X Together, Jonas Brothers tune into Jersey Club with remix

K-pop band Tomorrow X Together and American pop trio Jonas Brothers released a remix of their collaborative single "Do It Like That" on Wednesday. The remix, which the the Korean band's agency Big Hit Music of  described as a Jersey Club genre infused with UK drill beats, came out at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 days following the joint single's release. The new edition, peppered with the UK garage-style electronic piano sounds, offers a different pleasure to the ear from the upbeat an

K-popJuly 19, 2023

Trendz expands global activities

K-pop boy group Trendz is expanding its reach into the overseas music market. Trendz, a seven-member group, is visiting Kazakhstan this Saturday as they’ve been invited to perform at an event to celebrate a year of mutual cultural exchange between Korea and Kazakhstan. As this will be their first time visiting Kazakhstan, the group will present diverse performances including the performance of its debut single “TNT,” and other hit tracks “Who,” “Vagabond,&rdqu

K-popJuly 19, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ J-Hope floats teaser for solo physical album

J-Hope of BTS uploaded teaser photographs for the physical album edition of his first solo studio album “Jack In The Box” on Tuesday. He is donned up in black and white suits complete with head gear, posing inside a big teal blue box for the album dubbed “Hope Edition.” The original album was released online in July last year and the upcoming album will include three live performances he put on at Lollapalooza festival in Chicago last year as well as two instrumental son

K-popJuly 18, 2023

Music bodies sides with agency in Fifty Fifty scandal

The Korea Entertainment Management Association publicly sided with K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty’s agency Attrakt on the allegations and controversy surrounding the group in a press statement on Tuesday. “We urge Fifty Fifty and Attrakt to resolve their dispute revolving around the exclusive contract between them so that they do not continue to create a stir in the industry,” said KEMA. Attrakt is alleging that there has been a buyout attempt of Fifty Fifty after its rise to sta

K-popJuly 18, 2023

Rapper B.I to launch first Europe tour in September

South Korean musician B.I is embarking on his first European concert tour, "Love or Die," in September, 131 Label said Tuesday. Between September and October, the rapper-producer will hustle through 16 European cities with his gigs. Kicking off in Utrecht in Netherlands on Sept. 19, B.I will take the series next to Luxembourg City, France's Paris, Spain's Barcelona, Switzerland's Zurich and Poland's Warsaw through September. In the next month, he will perform in Estonia's Tallinn, Finl

K-popJuly 18, 2023

K-pop album exports hit record high in H1

K-pop album exports for the first half of the year came to a record high, buoyed by sales in Japan and the US, the world's largest music market. South Korea’s album exports were tallied at $132.93 million, as of June — a 17.1 percent jump on-year, according to the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday. Japan holds the throne as Korea’s largest K-pop importer, posting $48.5 million in imports in the first half of this year. The US logged the second-highest demand for K-pop album

K-popJuly 18, 2023

NCT Dream rides MBTI wave with 3rd LP ‘ISTJ’

NCT Dream has returned with the concept of using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as the main concept of its third studio album, "ISTJ," which was released Monday. The K-pop boy band jumped on the current MBTI craze in South Korea by naming its album and its title track “ISTJ,” one of MBTI’s 16 personality types. “Producer Kenzie made this song for us. We loved the concept as MBTI is trending in Korea and we wanted to introduce the trend to people around the worl

K-popJuly 17, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s YouTube channel logs record 90m subscribers

Blackpink amassed 90 million subscribers through its YouTube channel, an all-time world record for an artist, according to label YG Entertainment on Monday. The channel launched in June 2016 and reached among the top five in terms of subscribers three years ago before becoming No. 1 among artists in September 2021, dethroning Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, the music video for “As If It’s Your Last” received 1.3 billion views on the platform as of Friday. It is the group’s fif

K-popJuly 17, 2023

Enhypen joins star-studded lineup for Heart Dream Awards

Boy band Enhypen will join the nation's biggest singers and bands at the 2023 K Global Heart Dream Awards next month, organizers said Monday. In addition to Enhypen, rookie band Boynextdoor and co-ed quartet Kard will also join the lineup for the event on Aug. 10 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena -- also known as KSPO Dome -- located inside the Olympic Park in Seoul. Solo singers Kim Jae-hwan, Paul Kim and Lee Seung-yoon were also on the latest list of performers that was released. Heart Drea

K-popJuly 17, 2023

BTS' J-Hope to drop physical edition of 'Jack In The Box'

BTS' J-Hope continues to unveil new solo projects even as he serves the military, heralding a new edition of his solo album next month. The group's agency Big Hit Music on Monday announced that J-Hope will drop "Jack In The Box (Hope Edition)" on Aug. 18. The forthcoming album is a renewed and physical version of the rapper's first solo album "Jack In The Box," which had only been released digitally in the form of "Weverse Album" in July 2022. The LP

K-popJuly 17, 2023

Line up for SM pre-debut reality show ‘NCT Universe: LASTART’ unveiled

SM Entertainment unveiled all 10 trainees who will take part in its pre-debut reality show, “NCT Universe: LASTART.” The trainees go by the names: Riku, Ryo, Haruta, Kassho, Jungmin, Anderson, Minjae, Ryu, Heitetsu, and Sakuya. These trainees are candidates who will debut as NCT’s new subgroup, one of the three new groups that the K-pop powerhouse plans to launch this year. Through the pre-debut reality show, SM will show the process of evaluating the 10 candidates to select th

K-popJuly 17, 2023

BTS' Jungkook tops US, Japan charts with 'Seven'

BTS' Jungkook has topped US and Japanese music charts with his new solo song "Seven." Following its release on Friday, "Seven (feat. Latto)" soared straight to Spotify's Daily Top Song Global Chart, becoming the first K-pop solo song to enter the chart at No. 1. Spotify, the world's biggest streaming music platform, said the song took the top place with 15,995,378 streams in just a day, an all-time high set by a new release. Along with "Seven," the tune's instrument

K-popJuly 16, 2023

BTS' Jungkook tops iTunes charts of 106 countries with first solo single 'Seven'

BTS member Jungkook's first solo single, "Seven," topped iTunes Top Song charts of 106 countries around the world Saturday, one day after its release, its agency, BigHit Music, said. Jungkook unveiled the digital single Friday, becoming the sixth member of the septet to debut as a soloist, after J-Hope, Jin, RM, Jimin and Suga. The summer song, described as having an addictive and energizing melody, debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes charts in 106 countries, including the United State

K-popJuly 15, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] 3 members of Super Junior leave SM Entertainment

Three members of Super Junior will leave SM Entertainment but stay with the group, according to the management firm on Friday. Eunhyuk, Donghae and Kyuhyun decided not to renew their contract with the label, while the remaining six will re-sign, it added. The three will, however, continue their activities as part of the band. The band debuted in 2005 with “Super Junior 05,” and put out 11th studio album “The Road” last year. Kyuhyun is said to be in talks to sign with An

K-popJuly 14, 2023