Shownu and Hyungwon of Monsta X will form a subunit, a first from the six-member band, this summer, according to a local media report on Wednesday.

Agency Starship Entertainment confirmed the news following the report. No specific timetable, though, has been set yet, it added.

It will be Shownu’s first official activity since he was discharged from the mandatory military service last month.

The band debuted in 2015 with EP “Trespass” and bandmates will pursue individual careers for the time being as Minhyuk enlisted in April. Jooheon will release his first solo album, “Lights,” on May 22 while I.M hinted at solo activities with a teaser last month. I.M is the only member that did not renew his contract with his agency and signed with Sony Music Entertainment instead.

Le Sserafim sells record 1.02m copies of 1st LP

Le Sserafim’s first full-length album sold more than 1.02 million units on the first day, a record for a K-pop female musician, according to a local chart that tallies album sales.

This surpasses the record Blackpink set with its second LP, “Born Pink,” which sold about 1.01 million upon its release in September last year.

LP “Unforgiven” easily became the rookie girl group’s second million-seller, following second EP “Antifragile” that sold about 410,000 copies on its day of release.

The album was rolled out on May 1 and topped the iTunes top albums chart in 12 regions. The titular track was No. 1 on its top songs chart in three regions and hit Spotify’s global daily top songs chart at No. 71. The music video for the main track amassed 20 million views in about 27 hours.

NewJeans tops 300m Spotify streams with ‘Hype Boy’

It is the group’s third song to reach the milestone.

“Hype Boy” is one of the three title tracks from its namesake debut album. It made The 100 Best Songs of 2022 listed by Rolling Stone magazine and The 50 Best Songs of 2022 by NME, ranking No. 24 and No. 26, respectively. It also stayed on Billboard’s Global 200 chart for 37 weeks in a row, a record streak for a K-pop female artist, peaking at No. 52.

Meanwhile, its “Ditto” surpassed 100 million streams on Oricon’s weekly streaming ranking published on Wednesday. It took the single 19 weeks to achieve the feat, the shortest time for an international female musician, said its agency. “Ditto” is the pre-release from its single album, “OMG,” and was the group’s first entry on Billboard’s Hot 100.

TXT extends stay on Billboard 200 with 5th EP

Tomorrow X Together maintained a spot on the Billboard 200 for the 13th week as its fifth EP ranked No. 165 on the chart for May 6.

EP “The Name Chapter: Temptation” hit the chart at No. 1 in February and has been on it for 13 weeks, closing in on its longest streak of 14 weeks set by previous EP “minisode 2: Thursday’s Child.”

In the meantime, the five members will continue its second international tour in the US this weekend. They will visit six cities in the country for 10 concerts.

In July, they will head to Japan where they will host the group's first dome concert in the country in Osaka. They are expected to unveil one of the songs from their upcoming second studio album in Japan, “Sweet,” in advance of the full release, slated for July 5.

By Hwang You-mee
(glamazon@heraldcorp.com)