KCON Saudi Arabia 2023 attracts 23,000 K-pop fans

KCON, the world’s largest Korean culture and music celebration, attracted 23,000 people in Saudi Arabia on Friday and Saturday, according to organizer CJ ENM on Sunday. Around 3.5 million more from around 171 countries enjoyed a live stream of the concert. Under the theme “Be A KCONer,” KCON offered diverse Korean cultural content such as talk shows with K-pop artists and K-pop performances. Many Korean brands from the food and beverage, cosmetic and lifestyle sectors opened up

K-popOct. 8, 2023

'We overcame together': NCT127 returns on more solid ground

NCT127 seems to have safely survived K-pop's notorious "seven-year curse," although not things didn't go as smoothly as expected. "Reaching our seventh anniversary, it's been a tough year for all of us. Different thoughts and concerns have crossed our minds and we faced many temptations. We even felt lost at times," Taeyong, the group's leader, said during the band's press conference in Seoul on Friday. "It hit me then that NCT127 exists because

K-popOct. 6, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] ZeroBaseOne to return next month with EP No. 2

Rookie boy band ZeroBaseOne will bring out its second EP on Nov. 6, announced agency WakeOne Entertainment on Friday. The agency uploaded a poster for EP “Melting Point” that showed the nine members as well as the snow field that was featured in the teaser video that was dropped along with its performance at KCON LA 2023 in August. They also appeared in a video clip uploaded the same day, opening up a door onto a snowy field while the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star&rd

K-popOct. 6, 2023

Stray Kids to release new album 'Rock-Star' on Nov. 10

K-pop's powerhouse band Stray Kids are set to return with a new album next month, JYP Entertainment said Friday. The eight-piece boy group will drop its new album, "樂-Star (Rock-Star)," on Nov. 10, the band's agency announced Friday. The agency also released a prologue video on the group's official social media platforms. "樂," pronounced "rock" in Korean, is a Chinese letter that could mean both joy and music. The new album will mark the group's

K-popOct. 6, 2023

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

Enhypen is gearing up for a return in November, according to a local media report on Thursday. Agency Belift Lab confirmed the news following the report adding that specific dates will be announced later. It will be about six months since its fourth EP “Dark Blood” that entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4. The album stayed on the main albums chart for 10 weeks in a row, a record for the band. It topped the iTunes top albums chart in 30 regions as well as Oricon’s weekly and wee

K-popOct. 5, 2023

ONF hopes to open new chapter upon return from military service

ONF, the first K-pop boy group whose members enlisted in the military at the same time, has returned to the music scene after a 1 1/2-year hiatus. “We really missed being on stage and our fans during the time we were serving in the Army," said E-Tion of ONF during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. "We put all the emotions that we felt during the past months into our new album that revolves around a single theme, love.” The six-member group dropped its seventh mini

K-popOct. 5, 2023

TVXQ to release 9th LP on Dec. 26, marking 20th anniversary

Legendary K-pop boy group TVXQ will be celebrating its 20th debut anniversary with its fans by releasing a new album, holding a concert and opening an exhibition in December. TVXQ debuted in December 2003 with its debut single, “Hug,” and will mark its 20th debut anniversary on Dec. 26. On the day, the group will be releasing its ninth full-length album, marking its first release in five years since the special album, “New Chapter No. 2: The Truth of Love,” in December 20

K-popOct. 5, 2023

Fan meeting offers 'Break Time' for 'Dream Academy' trainees on their way to debut

The 18 trainees vying to be part of the group who debuts with Hybe and Geffen's joint girl group project held their first gathering with fans in Seoul on Wednesday. Hybe and Geffen's joint girl group project, "The Debut: Dream Academy," held its first fan gathering in Seoul on Wednesday and came face-to-face with their fans for the first time. The 18 trainees of the project, "Dream Academy" in short, took the stage at the event held at a local theater in Gangnam, Se

K-popOct. 4, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids’ 1st Japan EP sells 1m copies

Stray Kids logged 1 million shipments in Japan with its first EP in the country, according to label JYP Entertainment on Wednesday. The EP “Social Path (feat. LiSA) / Super Bowl -Japanese ver.-” rolled out on Sept. 6 and reached the milestone last week. It notched first place on Oricon’s weekly album ranking after staying atop its daily album ranking for six days in a row. The five-track mini album was No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s main albums chart as well as the iTunes to

K-popOct. 4, 2023

Sunmi to return with new digital single ‘Stranger’

K-pop soloist Sunmi is unveiling her new digital single “Stranger” on Oct. 17. The single carries a total of three tracks—the title track “Stranger,” and two side tracks “Calm myself” and “Call my name.” Sunmi took part in producing and writing the lyrics to all of the tracks in her single album, according to Abyss Company. The teaser image of the upcoming single album shows Sunmi in a red outfit staring forward with a mysterious man standing

K-popOct. 4, 2023

Fifty Fifty’s agency, Attrakt, files W1b compensation claim against The Givers

K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty’s agency, Attrakt, filed a compensation claim for 1 billion won ($736,000) against its subcontractor, The Givers, as well as The Givers' head, Siahn, and senior director, Baek Jin-sil, late last month, according to Attrakt on Wednesday. “The head producer of The Givers, Siahn, and its senior director, Baek Jin-sil, not only violated its business service contract obligations to Attrakt but also impeded our business and caused asset damage by deceiving

K-popOct. 4, 2023

Blackpink's Jennie to drop new solo single on Oct. 6

Blackpink's Jennie is making a solo comeback. YG Entertainment, the quartet's agency, on Wednesday announced the singer was dropping a new solo single, "You & Me," on Oct. 6. The song will be only the second solo outing for the singer with the first release being 2018 single "Solo." According to YG, "You & Me" will come out at 1 p.m. on Oct. 6. It will be a long-awaited official release of the song which Jennie had performed onstage during the group's recent

K-popOct. 4, 2023

BTS' Jungkook to extend solo parade with 1st album 'Golden'

Jungkook of K-pop sensation BTS will release his first solo album, "Golden," next month, the next step in his journey as a solo artist. BTS' agency Big Hit Music on Wednesday announced that the album will drop at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3. "'Golden' is an album inspired from solo artist Jungkook's golden moment," the firm said in its statement, adding, "Jungkook will manifest his identity and colors candidly through the album." The upcoming album will be an 11-track collecti

K-popOct. 4, 2023

Where is Blackpink headed?

Will Blackpink continue or will the group disband? Are the members moving to a different label or will they go independent? Rumors have been swirling as K-pop's biggest girl group and its agency, YG Entertainment, remain silent on the future, despite their seven-year contract having apparently reached the end of its term in August. On Tuesday, it was reported Jennie and Jisoo had established their own independent labels, though YG Entertainment denied to confirm the reports. "Nothing has be

K-popOct. 1, 2023

Music festivals and concerts for the fall season

A diverse lineup of music festivals and concerts are set to welcome the fall season. The Jarasum Jazz Festival, the country’s biggest jazz festival which marks its 20th anniversary this year, kicks off on Oct. 6 and runs for four days on Jara Island, Gyeonggi Province. The event invites 19 foreign artists and 22 Korean artists including Birell Lagrene and Ulf Wakenlus, Julian Lage, Shai Maestro Quartet, Youn Sun-nah, Ju Hyun-mi Jazz Project and the Pasquale Grasso Trio. The venue for the f

TravelSept. 30, 2023

Jungkook of BTS sweeps iTunes’ Top Songs charts in 100 different regions

Jungkook of BTS topped iTunes’ Top Songs charts in 100 different regions with his second solo single “3D,” according to Big Hit Music. The single “3D” featuring Jack Harlow swept iTunes charts in numerous countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, and Italy, immediately upon its release on Friday. The instrumental and alternate versions of “3D” also reached No. 2 and No. 3 on iTunes’ Top Songs charts in various countries. The music video f

K-popSept. 30, 2023

NCT Dream to perform on 2023 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour

NCT Dream will be featured in the annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour which kicks off on Nov. 26. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour is a holiday concert presented by Capital One, with the year’s top artists performing their No. 1 hits. NCT Dream will take the stage in Boston on Dec. 10, Washington D.C., on Dec. 11 and Atlanta on Dec. 14. Other artists joining the star-studded lineup for the event include SZA, Nicki Minaj, OneRepublic, Flo Rida, and Sabrina Carpenter. NCT Dream has been expa

K-popSept. 30, 2023

NewJeans hits 1 bln streams mark on Spotify with debut album

South Korean girl group NewJeans has hit the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify with its namesake debut album, the group's management agency said Friday. The accumulated streams generated by the album, "New Jeans," reached 1,000,760,129 on the streaming platform as of Thursday, 422 days after its release on Aug. 1, 2022, ADOR said. The agency said NewJeans is the first K-pop girl band that has achieved the feat with its debut album. It is particularly meaningful given the album has

K-popSept. 29, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink tops 1.5b views with ‘How You Like That’ dance video

The performance video for Blackpink’s “How You Like That” has reached 1.5 billion views on YouTube, label YG Entertainment announced Wednesday. It is the group’s fourth video to hit the milestone, following the music videos for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” “Kill This Love” and “Boombayah,” and the first dance video from a K-pop act to do so. The music video for “How You Like That” has 1.2 billion views. “How You Like That”

K-popSept. 27, 2023

XG storms back with 'New DNA'

Japanese K-pop band XG returned to the music scene on Wednesday with its first EP "New DNA." The latest release by the seven-piece girl group comes nine months after the launch of the third single "Shooting Star" in January. "New DNA" is a six-track package expanding on XG's sonic scape, weaving through multiple new genres the likes of UK Drill and Jersey Club to the group's essential hip-hop and R&B sound. The album is led by the title song "Puppet Show&qu

K-popSept. 27, 2023