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 h

K-pop Oct. 1, 2023

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 "Pupp

K-pop Sept. 27, 2023

Every Oneus album is a well-made package of music, story, artistry and performance. With its latest EP, "La Dolce Vita" released on Tuesday, the group once again takes listeners on an adventure of new wonders. In "La Dolce Vita," the quintet plunges into the depths of the ocean, like mermaids dancing with loved ones at night. The Latin pop texture of the album's title song "Baila Conmigo" was the first inspiration to the mermaid story, according to the members

K-pop Sept. 26, 2023

Halfway through its 2 1/2-year stint, project girl group Kep1er voiced hopes it can keep on going through its new album "Magic Hour." Formed through Mnet's audition program "Girls Planet 999" in 2021, the nonet officially debuted in January 2022 as a project team set to terminate in July 2024. The nine-piece girl group on Monday released the album, its fifth EP, five months since putting out "Lovestruck!" in April. Since then, the girls held their first arena t

K-pop Sept. 26, 2023

SM Entertainment, home to some of the biggest K-pop names like aespa, Red Velvet and NCT, covered Jakarta in pink -- the company's iconic color -- on Saturday with its label concert, "SMTown Live 2023." The star-studded event, officially titled "SMTown Live 2023 SMCU Palace @Jakarta with KB Bank," took place on Saturday evening at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The one-day gig is the latest edition of the company's joint label

K-pop Sept. 25, 2023

Rookie K-pop bands rarely remain off the radar for even a month after debuting, but Mimiirose stayed out of the limelight for over a year after it debuted in September 2022. After a yearlong break, the five-piece girl group said it felt more than ready to reintroduce itself as a brand new group. "There was a time when we felt anxious after having our comeback postponed several times, although we had just debuted. But every time, the members stayed together and encouraged each other," Y

K-pop Sept. 25, 2023

BTS' Jungkook will be back with a new song, "3D," on Friday, his agency said Sunday. Big Hit Music announced the singer will unveil his second solo single at 1 p.m. on Friday. The new song will feature American rapper-singer Jack Harlow. The upcoming single is the latest release from Jungkook since he first came out solo in July with "Seven (feat. Latto)." The 26-year-old singer had a successful start then, with "Seven" nabbing the top place on Billboard's

K-pop Sept. 24, 2023

Boy band Seventeen is set for a grand finale to a busy year with its 11th EP "Seventeenth Heaven," its agency announced Wednesday. Pledis Entertainment said the group's next release would be "Seventeenth Heaven" on Oct. 23. The agency unveiled a poster that showed a red festival wristband with Seventeen's name and the new album title written around it. "Seventeenth Heaven" will be the group's first release since its record-setting album "FML"

K-pop Sept. 20, 2023

A member of once-famed girl group GFriend, singer-songwriter Yuju says one of her most liberating moments is when she strolls down the bustling streets of Gangnam, going unnoticed by anyone. With a cap over her head and mask covering the face, Yuju says she often goes on such night strolls in the glitzy neighborhood to get closer to the people and feel the energy. It was on one of those nights that her new song, "Dalala," was born, the singer recalled during an interview with local med

K-pop Sept. 20, 2023

For singer-songwriter Sole, the last year has been a transformative period, opening up new challenges that she wouldn't have taken on before. One big challenge was creating her album, "A Love Supreme," which consists of remakes of original songs by other artists. The album was released Monday. A self-made musician who built her career up from the bottom, Sole has always tried to keep moving forward since her debut in 2017. Last year, just when she felt she had achieved stability i

K-pop Sept. 19, 2023

Hyundai Card's Da Vinci Motel culture fest on Sunday kicked into high gear with pop diva Lee Hyori gracing the stage. Lee was the final performer of the three-day music and culture event hosted by Korea's No. 1 card company at its cultural complex located in Itaewon of Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Celebrating the singer's long-awaited return to the stage, hundreds of fans gathered to Hyundai Card's Understage building, the part of the multipurpose culture spaces where music gigs took p

K-pop Sept. 18, 2023

The world's biggest Korean culture festival KCON is set to take place in Saudi Arabia next month, CJ ENM said Friday. KCON will take place on Oct. 6-7 in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, the second KCON to happen in the Middle Eastern country, organizer CJ ENM said in a statement. K-pop stars set to perform at the two-day concert are Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Riize, Super Junior D&E (Donghae and Eunhyuk) and 8Turn on Oct. 6 and Dreamcatcher, El7z Up, Evnne, Oh My Girl, Supe

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

Seven-piece boy Enhypen has made its mark in K-pop history with its Tokyo Dome concerts that ended Thursday. Marking the grand finale of the band's "Fate" world tour in Japan, Enhypen held concerts over Wednesday and Thursday at Tokyo Dome, located in the country's capital city. Enhypen's Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-Ki performed a total of 26 songs over the 200-minute run on both nights, according to their agency Belift Lab on Friday. Blasting ou

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

V's "Layover" is the bestselling solo album in South Korea. Hanteo Chart, one of the biggest music sales trackers here, on Friday announced the BTS member's solo record tallied sales of 2,101,974 copies as of Thursday, marking the highest first-week album sales by a K-pop solo album and the 10th highest among all Korean albums. This is the first time that any solo artist's album has racked up over 2 million in sales in its first week. The latest feat extends the singer&#

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

Boy band Stray Kids is headed to Gocheok Sky Dome, one of the nation's biggest and most coveted concert venues to perform in. The band's agency JYP Entertainment on Thursday announced Stray Kids will hold a two-day concert at Gocheok Sky Dome Oct. 21-22. It has taken Stray Kids five years to make it to performing at Gocheok Sky Dome, where many top singers from Korea and overseas have performed. The gig, titled "Stray Kids 5-Star Dome Tour 2023 Seoul Special Unveil 13," comes

K-pop Sept. 14, 2023