Taeyong of NCT will bring out his first solo album early next month, according to label SM Entertainment Thursday.

He is shooting a music video for the album, added a source.

He will be the first member of the mega band to release an album on his own although many, including Mark, Taeil, Jaehyun and Doyoung, dropped solo singles before. Taeyong also put out “Long Flight” as the label’s singles project in 2019.

The musician debuted in 2016 as a member of the band and has participated in writing songs for subunit NCT 127.

Separately, NCT 127 published “Sunny Road” online on Monday. It was released in Japan and was used as an ending theme song for drama “Play It Cool, Guys” in which bandmate Yuta is starring as the male lead.

EXO’s Kai to enlist next week

Kai of EXO will start serving his mandatory military service as a social service agent from May 11, announced label SM Entertainment on Thursday.

He was preparing for the band’s full-group comeback slated for later this year but will enlist next week due to a recent change in the Military Manpower Administration's rules, it said. There will be no event on the day, said the company, adding that it will soon make an announcement regarding the band’s plans.

The administration, however, stressed that there has been no change.

Kai chatted with fans on the previous day via livestream and acknowledged that he feels sad as he has prepared a lot, tearing up. But he assured fans that time will fly. He will be the seventh member of the band to serve.

The veteran K-pop boy band celebrated the 11th anniversary of its debut with fan meeting events in Seoul and Japan last month and was set to drop an album.

Itzy logs 500m views with ‘Wannabe’ music video

Itzy amassed 500 million views on YouTube with the music video for “Wannabe,” said label JYP Entertainment on Thursday.

It is the most-viewed among the group’s music videos, all eight of which surpassed 100 million views on the platform. The dance performance video for the song also achieved the feat in November last year.

“Wannabe” is the main track from its second EP, “IT’z Me,” which came out in March 2020.

In the meantime, the five-member group wrapped up its first international tour in Bangkok, Thailand last month. The tour started in Seoul August last year and resumed in October in the US. After hitting eight cities in the country, the bandmates went live ten times in seven cities in Asia.

On May 20, they will headline music festival “Head In The Clouds New York.”

Monsta X’s I.M to return solo in June: report

I.M of Monsta X is gearing up to resume his solo career with an album due out next month, according to a local media report on Thursday.

He is preparing his album but no date for the release has been set yet, said agency Sony Music Entertainment Korea following the report.

It will be his first album since he found a new agency in November last year, after the contract with Starship Entertainment expired three months before. He debuted as a member of the band in 2015 and will continue being part of the team nonetheless.

He was the first member of the six-member act to launch a solo career, bringing out digital EP “Duality” in 2021 after a series of mixtapes. The mini album topped the iTunes top albums chart in 18 regions.

By Hwang You-mee
(glamazon@heraldcorp.com)