[Herald Interview] CSR embarks on a journey to find true selves

K-pop girl group CSR took off on a journey to find their true selves with their second mini album, “Delight,” which dropped on Wednesday. CSR, consisting of seven 18-year-olds, faced a “light” at the end of the tunnel before turning 18, and wanted to share their journey of discovering what that light is in this new album. The mini album comprises a total of four tracks led by the titular track, “Shining Bright,” and three sidetracks including “Signal,&rd

K-popMarch 29, 2023

From feather to wing, BamBam follows his growth in 'Sour & Sweet'

K-pop musician BamBam said he felt like a small feather when he first moved to South Korea from Thailand over 10 years ago. Taking listeners back to that moment, the singer starts his first full-length album "Sour & Sweet" with the song "Feather." "It conveys the emotions that I'd felt when I first came to Korea. I still remember the feelings I got when I arrived at Incheon International Airport. I didn't know anything and felt like a small feather. 'F

K-popMarch 28, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Jisoo sells 1.24m copies of solo album in pre-orders

Jisoo of Blackpink sold 1.24 million units of her upcoming solo debut album, announced label YG Entertainment on Tuesday. It is a record for a female solo musician in K-pop history, it added. The album “Me” consists of two tracks – the main track “Flower” and “All Eyes On Me” – and will be released on March 31 and is likely to be become first million-selling album from a K-pop solo female artist. In the meantime, a local newspaper reported that th

K-popMarch 28, 2023

BTS' Jimin tops Spotify, enters Hot 100 with solo album

K-pop sensation BTS' member Jimin has made a good start on the global music charts with his first solo album "Face." BTS' agency Big Hit Music on Tuesday announced the album's title track "Like Crazy" topped the world's biggest music streaming platform Spotify's daily top song global chart on Sunday. Following the album's release on Friday, the titular track had entered the Spotify chart at No. 2 with 6,634,838 streams on its first day. Three day

K-popMarch 28, 2023

NewJeans' agency to debut a boy band

Ador, the label behind the sensational rookie girl group NewJeans, said it is now creating a boy band. The label on Tuesday announced it is launching a global audition process called, "2023 Ador Global Audition - The Real Hype Boys," in search of members for the upcoming boy band. According to the announcement, men born from the years 2004 to 2012 can apply either individually or as a team. While most other K-pop label auditions have evaluated applicants largely according to their asse

K-popMarch 28, 2023

[Herald Review] TXT unfolds a sweet mirage of youth with world tour

The shimmer of youth fades ever so fast that, even when standing at its center, we often feel overwhelmed by the fear that it might slip through our fingers in no time. Perhaps now is that shining moment for the five members of boy band Tomorrow X Together, also called TXT for short. “Our spring began and our youth bloomed on March 4, when Tomorrow X Together met Moa,” Soobin, the leader of the quintet, said on Sunday during the act‘s concert. Moa is the collective name for TXT

K-popMarch 27, 2023

Dojaejung, new unit from NCT to debut in April

K-pop sensation NCT is launching a new unit with three of its members Doyoung, Jaehyun and Jungwoo. The trio will make their debut as Dojaejung with their first mini album “Perfume" on April 17, according to SM Entertainment on Monday. The mini album carries a total of six tracks led by the titular track “Perfume,” and five side tracks of diverse genres. Members of Dojaejung are renowned for their outstanding vocal and performance talents as well as for their good looks. T

K-popMarch 27, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ Jimin sells 1m copies of solo album in 1 day

Jimin of BTS sold more than 1.02 million copies of his first solo album, “Face,” on the day of its release. It is an unprecedented record for a solo musician in K-pop history. The album also topped Oricon’s daily album ranking and the iTunes top albums chart in 63 regions while main track “Like Crazy” landed atop the iTunes top songs chart in 111 regions. “Like Crazy” debuted on Spotify’s daily top songs global chart at No. 2, and the pre-release

K-popMarch 27, 2023

Everglow meets with local fans in Thailand at Sound Check Festival

K-pop girl group Everglow met with its Thai fans on Saturday by participating in the Sound Check Festival 2023. The Sound Check Festival, a six-hour K-pop music festival held at Bangkok’s Thunder Dome Stadium, was pumped up with some of the biggest K-pop groups and popular artists from Thailand. Everglow kicked off their performance with their latest tracks “Dun Dun” and “La Di Da.” “The first time we were in Bangkok, we had just made our debut. Back then, we

K-popMarch 27, 2023

Dojaejung, new unit from NCT to debut in April

K-pop sensation NCT is launching a new unit with three of its members Doyoung, Jaehyun and Jungwoo. The trio will make its debut as Dojaejung with its first mini album “Perfume" on April 17, according to SM Entertainment on Monday. The mini album carries a total of six tracks led by the titular track “Perfume,” and five side tracks of diverse genres. Members of Dojaejung are renowned for their outstanding vocal and performance talents as well as for their good looks. They

K-popMarch 27, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink to hold encore concert in Paris

Blackpink will perform one more time in Paris on July 15, announced the group's label, YG Entertainment, on Friday. The group will return to the French capital where they performed live in December last year. This time though, they will take to the stage at Stade de France, the largest concert venue in the country. It will be the first time a K-pop female act holds a concert in a stadium in Europe that accommodates more than 80,000 spectators, stressed the label. The bandmates returned from Tai

K-popMarch 24, 2023

Jimin of BTS faces his genuine self in first solo album

BTS’ Jimin finally made his official solo debut on Friday with his first solo album “Face.” This solo debut comes almost a decade after Jimin made his debut in the music scene as a member of the K-pop sensation BTS back in 2013. “Because this is my first-ever solo album, I am really nervous. I am excited to see how people will feel about this album as I worked really hard on it. I tried to express different kinds of emotions that I’ve felt in my life with my voice,&

K-popMarch 24, 2023

[Herald Interview] 14-month world tour gifts Ateez with confidence, teamwork

Returning to their home ground after more than a year of touring the world, the members of Ateez seemed to be glowing with energy. The eight members -- Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho -- sat down with local journalists at a cafe in Seoul on Wednesday to speak about their two consecutive series of concerts around the globe and share their anticipation for the remaining year. From January to July 2022, Ateez conducted its first world tour after the start of the

K-popMarch 23, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Jisoo floats another teaser for solo album

Jisoo of Blackpink uploaded another teaser poster for her forthcoming solo album on Thursday. She gazes serenely at the camera while her eyes are highlighted with smokey makeup, showing yet another side of her. In the teaser photograph released on the previous day, she went for aesthetics inspired by traditional Korean beauty. The artist is set to bring out her first solo album, “Me,” on March 31. The album has sold more than 950,000 copies in the two weeks since it started taking p

K-popMarch 23, 2023

Kep1er to return with 4th EP 'Lovestruck!' in April

Just in time for spring, when flowers bloom to awaken the hearts of many, K-pop girl group Kep1er is launching its fourth mini album “Lovestruck!” on April 10. The return comes just six months after the group released its third mini album, “Troubleshooter.” Kep1er’s fourth mini album comprises five tracks, led by “Giddy,” alongside “LVLY,” “Back to the City,” “Why” and “Happy Ending.” Swing Entertainment dr

K-popMarch 23, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Solo song from BTS’ Jimin found ‘unsuitable’ for TV

A song from the upcoming solo debut album of BTS’ Jimin was deemed “ineligible” for television broadcasting, according to a review by KBS released Wednesday. The review cited profanity, slang and indecent expressions in the lyrics as reasons. “Face-Off” is the first track from the album “Face,” and the artist, along with bandmate RM, co-wrote the lyrics. Other tracks from the album – focus track “Like Crazy” and “Alone” &nd

K-popMarch 22, 2023

Lineup of K-pop rookies to make their debut this year

K-pop rookies stole the K-pop scene last year, as many fourth-generation idol groups launched successful debuts. This year awaits yet more rookies ready to debut, and eyes are on who among them will be painting the town red. First in the lineup is the long-awaited debut of YG Entertainment’s new girl group Baby Monster. With the aim of launching the group in the first quarter of this year, YG unveiled seven of its trainees as candidates to debut as Baby Monster. But the agency surprised ma

K-popMarch 22, 2023

Tomorrow X Together to headline at Lollapalooza

Tomorrow X Together (TXT) will be among the lead acts at at one of the America's largest music festivals this year. Lollapalooza announced Wednesday the lineup of performers to take part in the festival in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 3 to 6. This will be the second year in a row TXT has performed at the festival and they are the only K-pop group to do so. Also, they are the second Korean musician to take the main stage at the Lollapalooza after J-Hope of BTS. TXT made its US festival

K-popMarch 22, 2023

Twice's Chaeyoung apologizes for wearing T-shirt with swastika

Twice's Chaeyoung on Wednesday apologized for wearing a T-shirt with a swastika logo. In a statement posted on her Instagram, Chaeyoung apologized and explained she was not aware of the logo. "I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn't correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the T-shirt I wore," Chaeyoung said in the post written in both Korean and English. She continued: "I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing con

K-popMarch 22, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Jennie sets record with solo music video

Jennie of Blackpink generated 900 million views on YouTube with the music video for her solo song “Solo,” according to label YG Entertainment on Tuesday. She is the first K-pop female artist to reach the milestone. It is the seventh video from the group to achieve the feat. “Solo” fronted her solo album of the same title that came out in November 2018. It topped the iTunes top songs chart in 40 regions as well as all major charts in Korea. The song also was the first fro

K-popMarch 21, 2023