Twice tops Billboard 200 with 13th EP ‘With YOU-th’

K-pop girl group Twice topped Billboard’s main album chart, the Billboard 200, with its 13th EP, “With YOU-th,” released Feb. 23. This is the group’s first time landing at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the best-performing albums in the US based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums and streaming equivalent albums. The K-pop act competed a

K-popMarch 4, 2024

V of BTS to release English digital single, ‘Fri(end)s’

V of BTS will release a new English digital single, “Fri(end)s,” at 1 p.m. on March 15. Big Hit Music announced the upcoming release on the global fan community platform Weverse on Monday. The upcoming single is a pop-soul R&B love song with English lyrics, according to the agency. In the run-up to the single’s release, the label released a teaser clip Sunday showing parts of V’s daily life. V’s latest single will be the artist's first release in six months

K-popMarch 4, 2024

Lucy to kick off first world tour in March

Lucy will meet global fans on the band's first world tour. Agency Mystic Story announced the upcoming world tour with a poster, dubbing it "Written by Flower," via Lucy's official social media channels. The poster features colorful flowers surrounding a globe, evoking memories of the band's debut song, "Flowering." A puppy and the smiley face symbolize the Lucy's fans and the bandmates, respectively. Lucy will kick off its world tour at the Olympic Handbal

PerformanceMarch 4, 2024

[Exclusive] Singaporean businessman David Yong to establish K-pop label in S. Korea this year

David Yong, CEO of the Singapore-based Evergreen Group Holdings and a K-pop artist and producer, plans to establish a K-pop label in Seoul this year. “I’m applying for some licenses this year to establish a full-fledged label in Korea. We are working on getting a management team (and are) looking for the right candidates to join us," Yong said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Feb. 28. "From then, we are definitely (going to get) new talents in, signing established a

K-popMarch 3, 2024

NewJeans, Silica Gel win 3 prizes at KMAs; Beenzino nets album of the year

The winners of the 21st Korean Music Awards have been revealed, with K-pop girl group NewJeans and rock band Silica Gel tying for the most prizes with three categories each. Rapper Beenzino clinched album of the year with "Nowitzki." The 21st KMA Awards ceremony was held Thursday at Prism Studio in southern Seoul. NewJeans won song of the year and best K-pop song for "Ditto," and also won the best K-pop album prize for "Get Up." The group had also won three awards a

PerformanceMarch 1, 2024

S.Coups of Seventeen gets military exemption due to knee injury

S.Coups, leader of boy group Seventeen, has been exempted from military service due to his knee injury, local media said Friday. S.Coups suffered a knee injury in August 2023 and underwent surgery. The artist’s agency, Pledis Entertainment, announced that S.Coups injured his left knee while filming with Seventeen members and was diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Following his surgery, S.Coups was unable to participate in activities related to Seventeen's 11th mini

K-popMarch 1, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] The Boyz to return next month

The Boyz will make a comeback March 18 with the third installment of the group's second studio album, announced agency IST Entertainment on Thursday. The album “Love Letter” is the final part of the LP “Phantasy” and comes about four months after the release of the second installment, “Sixth Sense,” which sold over 600,000 copies in the first week, a career-high for the band. The upcoming album will feature all 11 members as Joo Haknyeon has rejoined afte

K-popFeb. 29, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Le Sserafim’s 3rd EP becomes million-seller

Le Sserafim sold more than 1 million copies of its third EP, according to a local tally on Wednesday. The EP “Easy” is the group’s third million-selling album, following its second EP “Antifragile” and first studio album “Unforgiven.” The new mini album logged close to 990,000 in first-week sales, failing to surpass that of the first LP, but topped Oricon’s daily and weekly album rankings as well as the iTunes Top Albums chart in 18 regions. The

K-popFeb. 28, 2024

Rush of male singers' concerts, fan meetings marks spring

This spring will see a rush of male singers, both members of groups and solo artists, holding concerts and fan meetings. Singer-actor Hwang Min-hyun, who is also a member of the boy band NU'EST and Wanna One, will hold three days of fan meetings March 8-10 at the Shinhan Card Artium in COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Hwang will perform his new single, to be released in March, at the fan meeting, Pledis Entertainment, Hwang's agency, said. Daesung of Big Bang will hold his first-ever solo fa

PerformanceFeb. 28, 2024

Seventeen’s ‘FML’ wins IFPI Global Album Award for 2023

K-pop boy group Seventeen’s 10th EP “FML” was named the winner of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Global Album Award for being the biggest-selling album worldwide last year. This is the first IFPI Global Charts Award for Seventeen. A nonprofit organization based in London that represents the global recording industry, IFPI presents the award to the artist whose album finishes at No. 1 on the IFPI Global Album Chart. The chart calculates an album’

K-popFeb. 28, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Karina of aespa is dating actor Lee Jae-wook: report

Karina of aespa and actor Lee Jae-wook are confirmed as dating, according to Lee's agency CJeS Studios on Tuesday. The announcement follows a local media report that said the two have been dating since they both attended the fashion show in Milan for Prada’s fall/winter collection in January. It was love at first sight, the article said, citing an anonymous source. Karina's label SM Entertainment is yet to comment on the news report. Karina, as part of the quartet, will start t

K-popFeb. 27, 2024

[Indie spirit] Singer-songwriter Ahn Ye-eun creates new identity with genre-defying music

Singer-songwriter Ahn Ye-eun is a genre unto herself. Boldly using Korean myth and unusual motifs to create music, she is a musician who enriches the Korean music scene, captivating audiences with her unique blend of tradition and modernity. "It is hard to decide which genre to register with whenever I release a song. Now I have come to think of that as my strength – doing music that cannot be determined by traditional genre definitions," said Ahn. With the strong color of her mu

PerformanceFeb. 27, 2024

Jungkook, Gaeko, Yoon Mi-rae take part in J-Hope’s upcoming album

J-Hope, the main dancer of BTS, has collaborated with Gaeko of the hip-hop duo Dynamic Duo, and legendary hip-hop and R&B singer Yoon Mi-rae for his upcoming street dance-inspired special album. The there worked together on “Neuron,” from the album “Hope on the Street Vol. 1,” according to Big Hit Music. The album will be released March 29. The title of the track, “Neuron,” refers to the scientific team and the dance crew J-Hope belonged to before joining

K-popFeb. 27, 2024

Karina of aespa and actor Lee Jae-wook confirmed to be dating

Karina of aespa and actor Lee Jae-wook are confirmed to be in a relationship. SM Entertainment, which houses aespa told The Korea Herald on Tuesday that “the two are getting to know each other.” Lee Jae-wook’s agency CJes Studios also confirmed the relationship, saying, “The two are getting to know each other. As the actor is currently filming a drama and the matter involves his privacy, so please respect (the couple's) privacy.” Earlier on Tuesday, a local rep

K-popFeb. 27, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] EXO to host fan meet in April

EXO is planning to greet fans in person at a meetup on April 14 at Incheon's Inspire Arena, announced label SM Entertainment on Monday. Fan meet “One” will let fans gather with the band for the first time in about a year. All members except Kai and Sehoon, who are serving their military duty, will be present. The veteran idol band put out its seventh studio album “Exist” in July last year, its first full-group effort in almost five years. The LP sold over 1.56 mill

K-popFeb. 26, 2024

[Herald Review] Taeyong shines as soloist at his first stand-alone concert

Taeyong, the leader of NCT 127, proved his ability as a solo artist through his first solo concert, "TY Track," held at Olympic Hall, Songpa-gu, Seoul on Saturday and Sunday. After debuting as a member of NCT 127 in 2016, Taeyong released his first mini album "Shalala" in June last year, marking the start of his career as a soloist. Taeyong appeared on the stage with a large T-shaped structure – T is his initial. About 3,000 audience members cheered enthusiastically as

K-popFeb. 26, 2024

Lucas prepares for solo comeback 2 years after quitting NCT amid controversies

Lucas, a former member of the K-pop boy group NCT, on Saturday uploaded to his official YouTube channel a documentary entitled “Lucas Documentary Part 1 Freeze,” hinting at a possible comeback as a solo artist. “I’m always home. I watch TV, eat and sometimes visit my agency (SM Entertainment). There is nothing special,” he said in the documentary, giving an update on his life after leaving the group in August 2021. “I used to have a strong character back then.

K-popFeb. 26, 2024

K-pop hitmaker Shinsadong Tiger dies at 41

Lee Ho-yang, better known as K-pop hitmaker Shinsadong Tiger, died Friday at the age of 41. His agency, AB Entertainment, confirmed Shinsadong Tiger’s demise Friday night and said they are currently gathering information before a formal announcement. The renowned music producer was found dead at his recording studio earlier the same day. According to industry sources, he was found dead by an acquaintance at the studio after he could not be reached by phone. Shinsadong Tiger is known for se

K-popFeb. 23, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] BTS hits 1.8b views with ‘Dynamite’ music video

BTS has notched 1.8 billion views on YouTube for the first time with the music video for “Dynamite,” according to Big Hit Music on Friday. The disco pop tune was released in August 2020 as a digital single. It is the septet’s first English-language song and debuted atop Billboard’s Hot 100, a first for a K-pop act. The single topped the main songs chart three weeks and stayed on the chart for 32 weeks in total. It also earned the band a Grammy nomination, another first

K-popFeb. 23, 2024

‘Youth,’ ‘Love’ and ‘Friendship,’ keywords of Twice’s new EP

Twice conveyed their beautiful memories as a K-pop group and the future they hope to make with fans on their new EP, “With YOU-th,” released Friday. The group’s full-unit comeback with a new album release in Korea comes for the first time in a year. “We worked hard on this album as we know many Once (fans) have waited for our new release for a very long time. We hope to have a great time with them to leave no regrets,” Chaeyoung said in a press release issued on the

K-popFeb. 23, 2024