[Herald Interview] Moonbyul says 'love is a movie' with new EP ‘6equence’

The process of falling in love and coming out of it is not all pink, but every moment of it remains in the memory like scenes from the movies, and Moonbyul takes her listeners through the emotional ride with her third EP “6equence.” Ahead of dropping the seven-track EP on Wednesday, Moonbyul conducted a joint interview with local media in Seoul to talk about the album and her career. “It’s my first solo album in almost two years, and it was a long time of deliberation,

K-popJan. 19, 2022

[Today's K-pop] GFriend’s Yuju debuts as solo musician

Yuju of GFriend held an online media conference Tuesday to introduce herself as a solo musician. 　 She is the first to strike out on her own from the group, which disbanded in May last year. 　 “I’ve gone through a lot of new experiences preparing for this album, and I’m excited and nervous at the same time,” she said. The album contains the pang of tension she feels from watching the light go red whenever an audio recording or video shooting starts, explained the singer

K-popJan. 18, 2022

Enhypen's repackage album sold 510,000 copies in first week

K-pop boy group Enhypen's latest repackage album sold more than 500,000 copies in the first week of its release, the group's management agency said Tuesday. "Dimension: Answer," a repackaged version of the group's first full-length album "Dimension: Dilemma" released in October, has sold 514,291 copies for a week from last Monday when the album dropped, Belift Lab said, citing data from Hanteo Chart, a local album sales tracker. It was the second straight success for the ro

K-popJan. 18, 2022

Fromis_9 makes a bold confession of love with ‘DM’

K-pop girl group Fromis_9 is back more daring yet mature with “DM,” the title song of their fourth EP “Midnight Guest,” on Monday. Ahead of dropping their new album, the nine members conducted a media showcase in Seoul on Monday afternoon, with the event livestreamed online via YouTube due to concerns of the novel coronavirus spread. Returning in four months with new music, the members greeted their fans, Flover, first. “We received huge love with our previous al

K-popJan. 17, 2022

President Moon, first lady attend K-pop concert at Dubai Expo

President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting the United Arab Emirates, attended a concert of South Korean pop artists at Jubilee Park of the World Exposition in Dubai on Sunday with first lady Kim Jung-sook. Co-hosted by the Korean Cultural Center in the UAE and the Korea Creative Content Agency, the 2 1/2-hour “KITE: K-pop in the Emirates” concert took place to celebrate Korea National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai. It was held in a hybrid form that combines on-site and online performances due

K-popJan. 17, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] SHINee’s Taemin transfers to social service

Taemin of SHINee will serve the rest of his military duty as a social service agent beginning Friday, announced label SM Entertainment. 　 He enlisted as a member of Army band in May, but his depression and anxiety disorders, for which he has long been treated, have worsened recently. It has become impossible to pursue proper treatment while serving his duty, the army decided, and from now on he will try and focus on improving his mental health. 　  In October last year, the Military Manpow

K-popJan. 14, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Ateez logs 100m views of “Wonderland” music video, first for band

　 The music video for Ateez‘s “Wonderland” surpassed 100 million views on YouTube, according to agency KQ Entertainment on Thursday. 　 This is the band’s first video to reach the milestone. 　 The song is the main track from its first studio album “Treasure Epi.Fin: All to Action,” from October 2019. The LP topped iTunes K-pop chart in six regions and its top albums chart in eight regions at the time. 　 The tune that reminded fans of the group’s spirited

K-popJan. 13, 2022

Max Changmin portrays fear and stress derived from surroundings through ‘Devil’

Max Changmin of boy band TVXQ became the first artist from S.M. Entertainment to hop onto the January music chart craze with his second mini-album, “Devil.” The album, which dropped Monday evening, touches on the different colors of music. In a press conference on Thursday, the singer said he embarked on a journey of tunes and melodies while preparing for his new solo while he had been away from music for nearly two years. The musician added that he wanted to musically show that a

K-popJan. 13, 2022

[Herald Interview] As a soloist and a band, Ha Hyunsang calibrates music through self-made stories

Music is a universal language, and a powerful instrumental tool that can be a great healer. At a time when many are dogged by the coronavirus blues, people turn to songs for comfort. And for Ha Hyunsang, it was time to reset. Talking about his 3rd EP, “Calibrate,” released Dec. 21, the singer said he went back to basics to express his thoughts. “The name of my album means the reset button on the instrument. It’s like a button configuring an instrument’s origina

K-popJan. 13, 2022

[Today's K-pop] Mirae is back, more marvelous than ever

 Boy band Mirae held an online showcase to roll out the group’s third EP “Marvelous” on Wednesday.   　  If the band has been hot, highlighting strong performances before, this time it is more about being dreamy and refreshing, as if the bandmates are relishing the party, explained Junhyuk.   　 Title track “Marvelous” is a dance-pop tune with powerful beats that expresses the band’s ambition to open a new era. It also is catchy, especially

K-popJan. 12, 2022

Hybe to premiere webtoon series featuring BTS this week

Hybe, the agency behind the global K-pop sensation BTS, will premiere its original webtoon and web-novel series starring the seven-member band and other artists of the firm’s labels this week. The agency on Wednesday said “7Fates: Chakho,” a web-comic and web-novel series based an on original story featuring BTS, will be unveiled on Saturday via Naver’s web comic platform, Naver Webtoon. Two other episodes, “Dark Moon” and “The Star Seekers,” ea

K-popJan. 12, 2022

BTS-inspired webtoon to be released this week

A new fantasy webtoon and web novel inspired by K-pop superstars BTS will be released later this week, the group's management agency said Wednesday. Hybe said its original story of "7Fates: Chakho" will be available on Naver Webtoon, an online platform for web-based comics run by South Korea's top portal operator, on Saturday. "7Fates" is based on tales of a tiger-hunting corps during the Joseon Dynasty called chakhogapsa. It tells the story of seven boys, based on each mem

K-popJan. 12, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Taeyeon to put out 3rd LP next month

Taeyeon will return as a solo musician with her third studio album in February, her label SM Entertainment announced on Tuesday. 　 She dropped a summer song, titled “Weekend,” last July, but it has been two years and four months since the release of her previous LP “Purpose” and the songstress will give fans a sample of the upcoming LP with a pre-release single “Can’t Control Myself,” due out on Jan. 17. 　 Taeyeon debuted as a member of Girls’ Ge

K-popJan. 11, 2022

Kim Yo-han says love is sweet through ‘Dessert’

Kim Yo-han of boy band WEi welcomed the second week of the new year by hopping onto the September music chart craze with his mini-album “Illusion.” The album, which dropped Monday evening, touches on the different colors and melodies of music. In a press conference on Monday, the singer said that as the name of his album suggests, the term “illusion” translates into a fantasy – a reverie that everyone dreams of. The musician added that he wanted the album to have

K-popJan. 10, 2022

[Today's K-pop] Wanna One to release new song: report

Wanna One will officially drop a new song on Jan. 27, according to local media reports on Monday. 　 The song named “Beautiful Part 3” was unveiled at the 2021 Mnet Asia Music Awards last month. The 11-member act, except for Lai Kuanlin who is in China, reunited for the first time in about three years and presented the song at the awards ceremony. 　 It has been about three years and two months since the band put out a new song, and the date coincides with the day it announced that

K-popJan. 10, 2022

Million-seller rookie Enhypen return powerful with ‘Dimension: Answer’

K-pop boy band Enhypen on Monday returned with their new album “Dimension: Answer,” a repackage of the act’s million-selling first studio album “Dimension: Dilemma.” The seven-member band conducted a media showcase in Seoul on Monday afternoon ahead of the album’s release at 6 p.m. that day. “With the first studio album, we felt we had grown much as a team, and with the new repackage, we hope to show that we’ve advanced even more,” Sunoo sa

K-popJan. 10, 2022

[Today's K-pop] Stray Kids to host 2nd fan meeting next month

　 Stray Kids will meet fans at in-person events on Feb. 12 and 13, announced label JYP Entertainment on Friday.   　 The band announced its plan for 2022 and the fan meetings will be the first to be realized. It will be the second official fan meetings for the eight-member act and will be held in southern Seoul under the title “SKZ’s Chocolate Factory.” In the poster that came with the news, the bandmates went for candy-colored sweetness.   　 The band hit a career hi

K-popJan. 7, 2022

BTS tops digital song sales for 2nd consecutive year in US

K-pop superstar BTS has grabbed the honor of having the most sold digital song of the year in the United States for the second time. "Butter" was the most sold digital song of the year in the country with 1.89 million downloads sold, according to an annual year-end report released jointly by MRC Data and Billboard on Thursday (US time). In 2020, the group's "Dynamite" was the top seller with 1.26 million sold. The summery disco-pop song was released in May as the group's se

K-popJan. 7, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] BTS cancels US trip as Grammy Awards postponed

BTS will not be travelling to the US as the Grammy Awards were officially postponed, said label Big Hit Music Thursday. 　 The awards ceremony was originally to be held on Jan. 31 in the US in Los Angeles, but the Recording Academy and CBS decided to postpone the event out of concern for the omicron variant, said a joint statement released on Wednesday in the US. A future date will be announced soon, it added. 　 The seven-member band was to fly to participate in the show as one of the candidates

K-popJan. 6, 2022

In their third year, Enhypen is ready to make 2022 big with repacked album

Earlier last month, rumors floated that boy band Enhypen is putting out a new album in January, only three months after they released their first full-length album, “Dimension: Dilemma,” sending fans abuzz with excitement. The seven-member band finally responded to the buzz by teasing a snippet of their upcoming album on Dec. 27. Although not much has been revealed about their upcoming song and album, Enhypen triggered fans’ curiosity by releasing concept pictures and a pre

K-popJan. 6, 2022