Itzy will put out its first full-length album in Japan on Oct. 18, announced label JYP Entertainment on Wednesday.

LP “Ringo” will consist of 11 tracks including the titular track and three more new songs as well as Japanese-language versions of “Sneakers” and “Cheshire.” The former is the main track from its fifth EP, “Checkmate,” and the latter from sixth EP of the same title, both from last year. The fifth EP hit the Billboard 200 at No. 8 and the sixth mini album hit it at No. 25.

The quintet officially debuted in Japan in December 2021 with best-of album “It’z Itzy,” and dropped its first single, “Voltage,” there in April 2022.

Meanwhile, the group toured 16 cities across the world in April for its first international tour and released seventh EP “Kill My Doubt” last week. The EP topped the iTunes top albums chart in 18 regions.

Blackpink nominated for 4 MTV awards

Blackpink is nominated in four categories of the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, according to the list of nominees unveiled on its website on Tuesday in the US.

The quartet was chosen for Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best K-Pop categories with mega hit “Pink Venom,” a prerelease track from its second full album, “Born Pink.” The group performed the song at last year’s MTV VMAs, for its award show debut in the US. It also picked up two trophies last year: Best Metaverse Performance for in-game concert “The Virtual” and Best K-Pop Song for Lisa’s solo album, “Lalisa.”

This year’s award show will be held in New Jersey on Sept. 12.

Separately, the bandmates expressed their gratitude and love for their fans through a video clip marking their seventh anniversary on Tuesday.

BTS’ Jungkook sets record on Billboard’s global chart

Jungkook of BTS stayed atop both of Billboard’s global charts for the third consecutive week with his solo single, “Seven (feat. Latto),” according to the latest chart published on Tuesday in the US.

He is the first K-pop solo artist to achieve the feat.

“Seven” maintained a spot on its Hot 100 chart at No. 30, after hitting the main songs chart at No. 1 two weeks ago. It landed atop the iTunes top songs chart in 106 regions as well as Oricon’s weekly singles ranking and Spotify’s daily top songs chart global. The single is also reigning atop Spotify’s weekly top songs chart for three weeks in a row.

In the meantime, he surprised fans Friday appearing as a guest at Suga’s solo concert in Seoul. Dressed head to toe in black Balenciaga, he took to the stage and sang a duet with the bandmate and on his own.

Le Sserafim adds date to 1st tour

Le Sserafim will perform one more time in Hong Kong on Oct. 1, said agency Source Music on Wednesday.

Tickets sold out instantly for the Hong Kong gig, slated for Sept. 30, and the company decided to add another, expanding its first international tour, “Flame Rises,” to 13 concerts in total.

It will kick off with two concerts in Seoul this weekend and will bring the five members to Nagoya, Tokyo and Osaka in Japan as well as Jakarta, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand up until Oct. 8.

On the day it begins touring Japan, the group will release second single “Unforgiven,” fronted by the main track of the same title. It is the Japanese-language version of “Unforgiven (feat. Nile Rodgers)” that was the title track on its first studio album from May. The lead single hit 100 million streams on Spotify as of last week.

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