Boy band Luminous held an online showcase to put out its second EP “Self n Ego” on Wednesday. 　 There are many artists coming out with new music this month, but they would rather not follow the trend that tends to be fancy or catchy, and base their music on solid ambience, said Woobin. This EP goes deeper than their debut EP, making listeners think, he added. 　 “When you are down, someone’s consolation or sympathy can give you great strength. Such feel

K-pop Jan. 19, 2022

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-pop Jan. 18, 2022

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-pop Jan. 14, 2022

　 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-pop Jan. 13, 2022

 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-pop Jan. 12, 2022

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-pop Jan. 11, 2022

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-pop Jan. 10, 2022

　 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-pop Jan. 7, 2022

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-pop Jan. 6, 2022

Enhypen gave fans a sneak peek of its repackaged first studio album, “Dimension: Answer,” with a preview clip Wednesday. 　 The trailer starts with “Polaroid Love,” which was unveiled in advance at a fan meet event in November. It transitions to a snippet from the last track “Outro: Day 2,” before ending with a line from the main track “Blessed-Cursed” -- which translates to “Wake up now open your eyes.” 　 The repackaged album consists o

K-pop Jan. 5, 2022

Blackpink Lisa’s solo song “Money” placed at No. 35 on Billboard’s pop airplay chart, the highest record for a K-pop solo female musician. 　 The song came out in September as a track from her solo debut album “Lalisa,” and joined the top 40 list that was announced on Monday in the US. The song entered the chart three weeks ago as the first entry by a solo female K-pop musician. Lisa is the first K-pop female artist to have a track on the chart for three weeks

K-pop Jan. 4, 2022

Girl group Kep1er hosted an online showcase to signal its debut Monday.   　 The nine members of the band were chosen through a competition that started with 99 candidates from China, Japan and Korea. The program wrapped up in October and the band was originally set to debut last month, but that was postponed as two members tested positive for COVID-19 while preparing.   　 “I’m so excited and happy that I am making a debut that I’ve been only dreaming about,” gu

K-pop Jan. 3, 2022

   New of The Boyz put out his first self-written song “0329 from.24,” said agency IST Entertainment Friday. 　 Through the song the idol singer expressed his gratitude for the love he has received from fans and wrote a letter before the release of the song to elaborate. 　 “There have been many times I was lonely and sad but thanks to you I could be a happy 24-year-old. I made this song hoping that The B could get what little consolation whenever you are overwhelmed b

K-pop Dec. 31, 2021

Lisa of Blackpink generated 300 million streams on Spotify with her solo song, “Money,” in 112 days, the shortest time for a K-pop solo musician, according to label YG Entertainment.   　 The song, which ranked No. 93 on Billboard’s Hot 100 when it came out, is from her solo debut album, “Lalisa.” It also topped iTunes’ top songs chart in 72 regions.   　 Last month, the performance video for “Money” surpassed 300 million views on YouTube

K-pop Dec. 30, 2021

SM Entertainment floated teaser photographs for its supergroup project Girls on Top, Wednesday.   　 The first unit -- GOT the beat -- focuses on dance and performance, and the photographs that came out on the day featured three from the seven leading female artists: Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, Wendy of Red Velvet and Karina of aespa. Also on board are BoA, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Seulgi of Red Velvet and Winter of aespa.   　 On Tuesday, BoA shared photos

K-pop Dec. 29, 2021