Girl group aespa sold more than 1.69 million units of its third EP, breaking the first week sales record for a K-pop girl group, according to label SM Entertainment on Monday.

This dethrones Blackpink, whose second full-length album “Born Pink” logged 1.54 million copies in September last year.

The EP “My World” sold more than 1.8 million albums in pre-orders and over 1.37 million on the day of release, another record for a K-pop girl group.

The quartet has been touring Japan since mid-March, and wrapped up early this month. However, Winter was absent from the concerts in Aichi for health reasons. The group will return to Tokyo in August for its tour Synk: Hyperline in Japan Special Edition that will be held at Tokyo Dome.

Le Sserafim hits Billboard 200 at No. 6 with 1st LP

Le Sserafim’s first studio album “Unforgiven” debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 6, according to the publication’s article on Monday.

It is the highest spot for the group, whose second EP made the chart at No. 14 last year and its first entry among the top 10 on the main albums chart. The quintet achieved the feat in about a year since its debut, the shortest ever time for a K-pop girl group to do so.

The LP landed atop Oricon’s weekly, weekly combined and weekly digital album rankings. Le Sserafim is the first international female musician to do so this year.

Meanwhile at home, the group swept all six television music charts programs with the titular track. The single also entered Spotify’s weekly top songs global chart at No. 77.

NCT’s Taeyong to drop solo music on June 5

Taeyong of NCT will release his first solo album on June 5, announced label SM Entertainment on Monday.

His EP “Shalala” will consist of seven tracks, all of which Taeyong participated in writing lyrics and melodies. He has not only been a distinctive performer as a member of the band and SuperM, but also demonstrated songwriting capabilities through a series of songs including NCT’s “Sticker” and “Cherry Bomb” as well as solo singles “Moonlight,” “Long Flight” and “Love Theory.”

He is the leader of the subunit NCT127 and is the first member of NCT to drop an album on his own.

NCT Dream adds date to Seoul concert

NCT Dream will go live one more time in Seoul on June 1, said label SM Entertainment on Monday.

It was set to hold two encore concerts in Seoul on June 2-3, as part of its second international tour “The Dream Show 2: In Your Dream,” but decided to add one after all tickets sold out fast.

The seven-piece act is in the middle of the tour that brought them across North America, Europe and Asia since September last year. It held a live show in Macau on May 14-15 and will hold a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 20. After the Seoul gig, the band will start touring Latin America from July.

It is expected to bring out a new album in the third quarter.

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