[Today’s K-pop] Jessi parts ways with P Nation

Jessi has decided to leave her agency P Nation upon her contract’s expiration, according to the company on Wednesday. 　 She was the first artist represented by the firm established by Psy, signing with the company in 2019. She had released a series of hit songs including “Nunu Nana” and “What Type of X.” The music video for the former amassed 180 million views on YouTube. In April, she dropped the single “Zoom,” whose music video surpassed 97 million v

K-popJuly 6, 2022

Rookie girl group Irris ready to make it big with ‘Wanna Know’

In the cutthroat K-pop industry, making one‘s mark is no easy feat. But rookie girl group Irris believes they can achieve success. Produced by Justice Records, a subsidiary of film company Taewon Entertainment, and Mellow Entertainment, Irris threw their glitzy hats into the ring Wednesday evening with dreams to leave bold marks on the industry. The four bandmates -- I.L, Liv and Yun-seul from Korea, and Nina from Australia -- boldly stepped into the industry with their three-track rel

K-popJuly 6, 2022

aespa calls for action on sustainable development goal

Rising South Korean girl group aespa has called for future generations to pay attention to and take action for the sustainable development goals during a speech in a UN forum. The band addressed the 2022 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday (US time). "The metaverse reflects reality. If our own reality is not sustainable, it would become difficult to sustain the possibilities of the virtual world," member Giselle said

K-popJuly 6, 2022

Blackpink to drop new album in August

BLACKPINK, a top K-pop girl group, will make a long-awaited comeback in August, its management agency said Wednesday. "BLACKPINK is now at the final stage of recording its new album. They will embark on the filming of a music video within this month and release new songs in August," YG Entertainment said in a press release. It did not give details of the upcoming album but said the band has devoted itself for a long time to completing "multiple tracks featuring the band's sig

K-popJuly 6, 2022

‘Queendom 2’ winner WJSN ready to start off fresh with single ‘Sequence’

K-pop girl group WJSN has returned to the stage, hoping to embark on a new start of its journey with the special single album “Sequence,” after winning a crown on the second season of Mnet’s hit TV competition “Queendom” last month. The 10-member act’s new release, “Sequence” marks a full-group return over 15 months after it released “Unnatural” in March last year. It is also all the more special to WJSN since one of the tracks, &ldqu

K-popJuly 5, 2022

Winner kicks off its second chapter with best team chemistry so far

Nine years into its K-pop career, Winner declared it is embarking on a second chapter as a four-piece group with the fourth EP “Holiday.” “This is the starting point as Winner begins the second part of our journey. The members are all in their 30s now, and the album conveys the good energy of the more vigorous future laid out in front of us,” Winner’s leader Kang Seungyoon said in a press conference for the album on Tuesday. Ahead of dropping the new album in th

K-popJuly 5, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Zico to return later this month: report

　 Zico will make a comeback on July 27 with a new album, according to a local media report Tuesday. 　 He is gearing up for return and more details will be announced later, agency KOZ Entertainment said following the report.  　 It will be his first activities since he was discharged in April. 　 The musician debuted as a member of Block B, a seven-piece boy band, in 2011. He went solo in 2014 and has been releasing a series of hits songs, including the megahit “Any Song” in 202

K-popJuly 5, 2022

CIX unites fans in Saudi Arabia with ‘Jeddah K-Pop Festival 2022’

Boy band CIX met fans in Saudi Arabia through “Saranghae KSA - Jeddah K-Pop Festival 2022,” held at Jeddah Superdome on Friday. The three-day Korean music and culture event was Saudi Arabia’s first K-pop festival, introducing fans to a range of Korean favorites. The group closed the last day of the jam-packed live session with mega-hits “What You Wanted,” “Bad Dream,” “Lost,” “Change Me,” “Everything,” “Cine

K-popJuly 5, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Rose tops 200m views with solo music video

Rose of Blackpink amassed 200 million views with the music video for her solo song “Gone” as of Sunday, said label YG Entertainment on Monday. 　 The video generated 100 million views in half a day since its release, and had the most views in 24 hours on the platform. 　 The single is the second track from the two-track album “R,” her first solo work from March 2021. It reached 100 million streams on Spotify last month following the opener “On The Ground,” wh

K-popJuly 4, 2022

Past is tense, but future perfect, Enhyphen says through 3rd EP

With the ambition to canvass the summer music charts with its new album, boy band Enhypen dropped its third EP, “Manifesto: Day 1,” Monday evening. This marks the K-pop act’s return nearly six months after it released “Dimension: Answer” in January. “Manifesto: Day 1” tells the story of the seven bandmates with doubts about the meaning of “success.” The EP is aptly named -- Enhypen marches forward to find the word’s true definition

K-popJuly 4, 2022

TXT embarks on first world tour with ‘Act: Love Sick’ in Seoul

After three years and four months on the K-pop scene, global boy band Tomorrow X Together finally came together with fans with its first in-person concert “Tomorrow X Together World Tour ‘Act : Love Sick’ in Seoul” over the weekend. The concerts, marking the start to the quintet’s first world tour “Act : Love Sick,” took place at the Jamsil Arena of the Seoul Sports Complex in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The two-day event, which ran for three hours each day, fea

K-popJuly 4, 2022

Nayeon debuts at No. 7 on Billboard 200, becoming highest-charting K-pop solo artist

K-pop girl group TWICE's Nayeon ranked seventh on the Billboard's main albums chart with her solo debut EP, "Im Nayeon," the US chart operator has said in an article. She became the Billboard 200's highest-charting K-pop solo artist by earning 57,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending June 30, the magazine said Sunday (US time). Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the US, measured by equivalent album units, comprising ph

K-popJuly 4, 2022

Heize sings she’s not ready to ‘Undo’ her love with her 2nd LP

The breakup queen is back, and this time singer-songwriter Heize is dropping a whole package of lingering post-love feelings and yearning to turn back time. Returning with her second LP “Undo,” the first full-length album from the artist in three years, Heize said while the term “full-length album” itself weighs heavy on her shoulders, she was confident she could put together a whole studio set with that single theme. “I’ve released singles and EPs until no

K-popJuly 2, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Astro’s Cha Eunwoo may star in Hollywood film: report

Cha Eunwoo of Astro is considering taking a lead role in “K-Pop: Lost in America,” according to a local media report on Friday. 　 He is looking at the proposal favorably, but nothing has been confirmed yet, said agency Fantagio following the report. 　 Cha has appeared in a series of dramas including “True Beauty” and the movie “My Brilliant Life.” He recently finished shooting the drama “Island.” 　 The feature-length movie is set to premiere in

K-popJuly 1, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids’ 2nd EP sweeps charts in Japan

　 Stray Kids topped Billboard Japan‘s weekly top album sales chart with its second EP there. 　 “Circus” was also No. 1 on the Hot Albums chart and the Tower Records chart. 　 The six-track EP came out on June 22 and headed straight to the top of Oricon’s daily album chart. It topped the iTunes album chart in 17 regions, and the music video for the title track generated 10 million views on YouTube in four days. 　 Meanwhile, the eight-member act performed live in Kobe and

K-popJune 30, 2022

SM artists to hold joint concert in August

SM Entertainment, a K-pop powerhouse, said Thursday will hold the first in-person joint concert of its artists in about five years in August. The concert titled "SMTOWN Live 2022: SMCU EXPRESS @HUMAN CITY_SUWON" will take place at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 35 kilometers south of Seoul, on Aug. 20, SM said. The most recent in-person concert of SM-managed artists was held in Seoul in 2017. The agency also plans to hold live concerts of its artists at Japan's Tokyo Dome o

K-popJune 30, 2022

ITZY named top-selling rookie artist of first half on Japan's Oricon

Japan's Oricon on Thursday named South Korean girl group ITZY the top-selling rookie of the first half of the year based on sales in the country, the band's agency said. Oricon announced the K-pop quintet as the best-selling rookie artist in the market for the Dec. 17-June 20 period, JYP Entertainment said. The Japanese pop music chart operator has annually released sales rankings by artists since 2018 based on sales of physical and digital singles and albums as well as DVDs, Blu-ray d

K-popJune 30, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] TXT to drop 3rd Japanese single in August

　 Tomorrow X Together will release a third single in Japan on Aug. 31, said label Big Hit Music on Wednesday. 　 The single “Good Boy Gone Bad” consists of three songs: a Japanese version of the song of the same title that was the focus track from its fourth EP “minisode 2: Thursday’s Child” and two new songs. One is written by the band members. 　 The fourth EP topped Oricon’s weekly album chart when it came out in May, and the band became the first internati

K-popJune 29, 2022

Sunmi returns as lovesick girl with ‘Heart Burn’

Vying to create this year‘s summer anthem, singer Sunmi dropped a new digital single titled “Heart Burn” on Wednesday evening. This mark’s the songstress‘ first release since her 3rd EP, “1/6,” dropped last August. The singer’s digital single is a two-song release that includes the title track and the side track “Childhood.” Gushing about her new songs, the singer described “Heart Burn” as “a song about summer l

K-popJune 29, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Enhypen to host 1st world tour in September: report

Enhypen will kick off its international tour with a Seoul concert in mid-September, according to a local media report on Tuesday. The band will also have dates in US and Japan. 　 Agency Belift Lab confirmed the news. 　 It will be the band’s first international tour, having debuted in November 2020. The seven members formed the group through an audition reality show, “I-Land.” 　 On Monday, its agency released the tracklist for the third EP, “Manifesto: Day 1.” The

K-popJune 28, 2022