Stray Kids will release its first EP in Japan on Sept. 6, announced label JYP Entertainment on Thursday.

The mini album will be fronted by two main tracks -- “Social Path” featuring Japanese singer and songwriter LiSA, who sang “Homura” for animated film “Demon Slayer,” as well as the Japanese-language version of “Super Bowl,” a B-side track from its third LP “5-Star.”

Both songs are written by 3Racha, the songwriting trio within the band that consists of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han.

The EP will consist of five tracks in total and comes about seven months since its first studio album in Japan “The Sound.” The album topped Oricon’s daily, weekly, weekly combined and monthly album rankings.

Before the release of the EP, the eight members will meet fans in four cities in Japan, starting in Fukuoka on Aug. 16, through eight concerts.

NewJeans’ 2nd EP sells 1.65m in 1 week

The second EP from NewJeans logged 1.65 million units in its first week of sales, the second highest for a K-pop female musician, according to agency Ador and a local tally on Friday.

All three albums from the rookie group have become million-sellers. Its namesake debut EP from August last year sold 310,000 copies in the first week, a record for a girl group’s debut album in K-pop history.

The second EP “Get Up” consists of six tracks including three title tracks: “Super Shy,” “ETA” and “Cool With You.” All songs from the mini album made Spotify’s daily top songs chart in the US and the quintet is the first K-pop girl group to place all songs from an album among top 50 on the chart.

Meanwhile, “Super Shy” debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 64 and on UK’s Official singles top 100 chart at No. 59, both the highest spots for the group.

Ive to publish 1st photo book

Ive will publish its first photo book “A Dream Day” on Aug. 31, said agency Starship Entertainment on Friday.

It will be full of summer vibes showing the six members enjoying the season in their own ways.

The group debuted in December 2021 with the single “Eleven” and all of its albums -- three singles and a studio album -- have been hits. LP “I’ve Ive” from April sold 1.1 million copies in the first week and earned the members 11 trophies in total in television music chart shows.

They recently returned from their first Asia tour and are gearing up for return in the first week of October, approximately six months since the LP, the lead track of which has stayed on Billboard’s global charts for 15 consecutive weeks.

Drippin’s Alex quits

Alex of boy band Drippin will leave the team and the band will reorganize as a six-member act, said agency Woollim Entertainment on Friday.

He has been taking a break since January as he has been feeling unfit to carry on activities as a member of the band. After a long discussion with the agency, he decided to quit and terminate his contract with the firm as well.

He debuted in 2020 as a member of the band with EP “Boyager.” Drippin celebrated its 1,000-day anniversary this week and marked the occasion with a special video of them singing “When I’m With You,” a fan song from its first full-length album “Villain: The End.” It also held its first fan meet event on July 2.

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