NCT 127 rose to the top of Oricon monthly chart with its second Japanese EP, said its management company SM Entertainment Thursday.

The band’s “Loveholic” was rolled out in February and was given a “Gold Disc” endorsement that is awarded to albums that sold more than 100,000 units. 

The EP landed at the top of Oricon’s daily albums chart and topped its weekly album charts as well as Billboard Japan’s weekly top album sales chart, LINE Music’s daily ranking and Rakuten Music’s real-time ranking. It also ranked first on iTunes’ top albums chart in 11 regions. 

There are six tracks in the EP including title track “gimme gimme” and four more Japanese original songs as well as “Kick It,” title track from second Korean studio album “NCT #127 NeoZone” that came out last year. NCT 127 performed the title track at a TBS live show on Feb. 15 for the first time.

It has been two years since the band put out its first Japanese album “Awaken,” which also recorded No. 1 on Oricon’s daily chart.

Astro to come out with 2nd LP in April 

Astro finalized its date of return as a whole. 

It will come out with its second studio album on April 5, having pushed back the date from the end of March to better prepare the album, said its agency Fantasio Music on Thursday. 

It will be the first full-length album in two years and three months. The boy band released its seventh EP “Gateway” in May 2020 and Moonbin and Sanha formed a unit and made an EP called “IN-OUT.” 

The six-piece act already finished shooting the music video for the title track and will connect with its fans beforehand via an online fan meet named “2021 Astro Aroha Festival [Be Mine]” on March 28. A special performance that has not been shown before will be put on, said the company.

Baekhyun gives more info on upcoming EP 

Baekhyun of EXO will unveil his third EP, titled “Bambi,” on March 30, announced his label SM Entertainment Thursday.

It will consist of six tracks and the pre-order for the album starts today.
His previous EP “Delight” from May 2020 not only was a million seller but also was the most-sold solo album for two consecutive years according to Gaon Chart. It also topped iTunes top albums chart in 69 regions. 

The veteran idol delighted fans with the news that he will team up with NCT’s Doyoung and cover “Doll.” A teaser trailer was uploaded Wednesday and confirmed the two idols’ duet collaboration for the song written by Kang Ta and originally sung by Lee Jihoon and Shin Hyesung in 2001.

Kim Wooseok to host 1st solo fan meet 

Kim Wooseok will meet fans from around the world at an online fan meet event slated for March 28. 

The event, dubbed “Kim Woo Seok 1st Ontact Fan Meeting: N423,” will be the first time he meets fans on his own. N423 is inspired by B612, the asteroid from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince and the numbers refer to the date, April 23, the name of his official fandom, Nia, was announced. 

The event will be broadcast live via four different channels including one based in Japan. 

Kim struck out on his own with his solo debut album “1st Desire ‘Greed’” in May last year. He then turned to acting and played a lead role in drama “Twenty Twenty” while appearing in a number of variety shows. His second album “2nd Desire ‘Tasty’” came out last month and put him at the top of weekly album sales chart and brought him two trophies from television music shows.

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