Ghost9 held an online showcase to introduce its fourth EP “NOW: When we are in love” on Thursday. 　 “We’ve returned after three months,” said Son Junhyeong, admitting that he was nervous and excited at the same time. The band has gone for a strong and charismatic image since its debut but is taking a fresher and more boyish turn, he explained. 　 It was not easy going making such a dramatic change, they admitted. They tried to tune their voices to clearer sounds an

K-pop June 3, 2021

Mamamoo talked about the group’s new EP “WAW,” which came out Wednesday. 　 This is the first time the band is releasing an album that consists exclusively of ballads in its seven-year career. 　 “Since it is an all-ballad album, we paid extra attention to the vocals. So that each of the voices would complement each other, harmonize better,” they said. They are excited that the album would better show how they have grown, into better harmony and stronger chemistry,

K-pop June 2, 2021

The bandmates of Monsta X talked about their ninth EP “One of A Kind” on Tuesday. 　 “This album is a handiwork that shows the pure essence of Monsta X,” said Jooheon. He produced the title track “Gambler,” a first for the musician since he debuted six years ago. He wanted to make a song that would clearly show off the group, he added. 　 Calling himself a “witness” to how Jooheon poured himself into the song, Kihyun proudly declared it “per

K-pop June 1, 2021

Tomorrow X Together hosted an online media showcase to promote its second full-length album, “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze,” Monday. 　 The eight-track album is about “a boy who just freezes up when he encounters an experience that shakes up his peaceful existence,” explained Yeonjun. 　 “The emotions got deeper,” added Soobin. 　 The track “0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You) feat. Seori” is a trendy hybrid pop rock number, and Beomgyu confessed that he&r

K-pop May 31, 2021

BTS received two awards from the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards held in Los Angeles on Thursday, local time. 　 The artists’ digital single “Dynamite” was given the best music video award and their fandom Army was named as the best fan army. This is the second time they won best music video after last year’s “Boy With Luv” and the fourth time since 2018 they won best fan army. 　 Big Hit Music’s performance director Son Sung-deuk won the favorite music vid

K-pop May 28, 2021

BTS made a 13-second guest appearance in the special episode of “Friends: The Reunion,” as the much-anticipated sitcom returned on Thursday, local time. 　 The bandmates appeared sitting on and around a sofa with subtitles that introduced them as “BTS: Biggest Boy Band on the Planet” complete with a Korean national flag. 　 “My mom bought me the DVDs of the whole series when I was in elementary school. ‘Friends’ really had a big hand in teaching me Englis

K-pop May 27, 2021

The first studio album of NCT Dream sold over 2 million units, according to label SM Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 The album, titled “Hot Sauce,” surpassed the 1 million-sales mark in a week since it came out on May 10 and reached 2 million in 16 days, and about 300,000 units more than the pre-orders. 　 The LP hit the No. 1 spot on the iTunes top albums chart in 37 regions, Oricon’s weekly album chart and Billboard Japan’s top sales album chart a well. With the same-tit

K-pop May 26, 2021

RM of BTS participated in writing the lyrics for a song on Tomorrow X Together’s upcoming album, according to a song list that Bit Hit Music shared Tuesday. 　 TXT’s second studio album, “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze,” goes on sale May 31. RM co-authored the words for lead track “0X1=Lovesong,” about a boy who firmly believes in his love despite the chaos he has tumbled into. 　 It is a collaborative effort by a score of songwriters, including Hybe Chairman Bang

K-pop May 25, 2021

EXO shared teaser photos of Xiumin and Dio for its forthcoming special album on Monday. 　 The band is rolling out “Don’t Fight the Feeling” on June 7 and its label, S.M. Entertainment, dropped the first batch of photographs of the two since they returned to the music scene after serving their military duty. It is the first album the two performers have taken part in since 2018.  　 Although Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Suho and Chen would not be able to join the promotional

K-pop May 24, 2021

The video for BTS’ newest single, “Butter,” drew 10 million views on YouTube within 13 minutes of its release on Friday. 　 This tops the record set by the band’s megahit from last summer, “Dynamite,” which reached that number in 20 minutes. “Dynamite” also garnered 101.1 million views in 24 hours, the highest figure in YouTube’s history. 　 The septet rolled out the digital single with a showcase in southern Seoul on Friday and will put out

K-pop May 21, 2021

The four bandmates of 2AM are considering reuniting after seven years, media reports said Thursday. 　 The quartet debuted in 2008 with “This Song” and gained a huge fandom with a series of hits including “Never Let You Go,” “One Spring Day,” “You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls,” “What Should I Do?” and “I Was Wrong.” 　 The band released its third studio album, “Let’s Talk,” in 2014, but three of its member

K-pop May 20, 2021

Taemin of Shinee and SuperM said he hoped his third solo EP, “Advice,” would console his fans during his absence for military service. 　 The new EP reflects how he tackled new challenges, such as singing rap for the title track. 　 “I’ve tried many things I haven’t done before,” said the veteran idol, adding that the title track would show a different side of him. He also collaborated with Taeyeon, a senior colleague from S.M. Entertainment, on a duet called

K-pop May 18, 2021

NCT Dream’s first studio album, “Hot Sauce,” sold over 1 million copies, a first for the boy band, according to label S.M. Entertainment on Monday. 　 The LP went on sale May 10 and reached the milestone in a week. It was the highest first-week sales figure among all the albums released this year. 　 This is the septet’s first million-selling album and the third for the NCT family, after NCT 127’s second LP, “Neo Zone,” and NCT’s second full-length

K-pop May 17, 2021

BTS made cover of Rolling Stone’s June issue, becoming the first all-Asian band to appear on the front of the magazine. 　 The 54-year-old magazine declared it “iconic,” dramatically announcing: “Attention ARMY: after years of asking for it, BTS have finally landed on the cover of Rolling Stone.” 　 The media will roll out a collector’s edition box set that will feature eight collectible BTS covers, the newsstand cover with all seven members as well as seven

K-pop May 14, 2021

Miyawaki Sakura of the now-disbanded girl group IZ*ONE is leaving her original group in Japan, according to reports on Thursday. 　 In an interview with Japanese fashion magazine ViVi, Miyawaki announced that she has “graduated.” 　 Her activities as a member of IZ*ONE came to an end recently and she returned to her original group HKT48, but she recently said that she will leave the girl group, according to the article. 　 There has been speculation that she will join HYBE, formerly B

K-pop May 13, 2021