ZeroBaseOne’s debut EP “Youth in the Shade” had sold more than 2.03 million copies as of September, according to a local tally released Thursday.

It is the first debut album to log over 2 million in sales in K-pop history. The album also was the first million-seller from a debuting musician in Korea when it achieved the feat on the day of its release in July.

The rookie band is set to bring out its second EP “Melting Point” on Nov. 6.

Barely 3 months old, the nine-member act has already won two rookie awards and in August hosted its first fan concert in Seoul, drawing about 18,000 in attendance.

On Friday, the band left for Paris to join the lineup for a Korean television music chart show in the French capital.

Stray Kids’ 1st Japan EP tops Oricon chart

Stray Kids notched the No. 1 spot on Oricon’s monthly albums ranking with its first EP in Japan, according to JYP Entertainment on Friday.

“Social Path (Feat. Lisa) / Super Bowl – Japanese Ver.” also earned Gold Disc million-seller certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan for logging 1 million shipments. The mini album dominated Oricon’s daily and weekly albums rankings and topped Billboard Japan’s album rankings.

Meanwhile, the band uploaded the track list for its upcoming EP “Rock-Star,” to be released Nov. 10. It will consist of eight tracks, including lead single “Lalalala” and a Korean-language version of “Social Path (Feat. Lisa),” which fronted its Japan EP.

The eighth EP will come out about five months after third LP “5-Star” hit the Billboard 200 at No. 1, as did its two previous EPs, “Oddinary” and “Maxident.”

SM Entertainment announces remaining plans for 2023

SM Entertainment laid out plans for the remainder of the year on Friday.

Taemin of SHINee will release the EP “Guilty” on Oct. 30, picking up his solo career about 2 1/2 years since his third EP, “Advice.” He released a free-spirited collage of photographs for the six-track EP on Friday, ranging from a desert and a swimming pool to a cactus and himself throwing a basketball into the air.

Red Velvet and aespa are gearing up to return as well. The former will roll out a third studio album next month, while the latter has already set the release date for EP “Drama” as Nov. 10.

Taeyeon will strike again in November, after her third full-length solo album “INVU” that came out in February last year.

Finally in December, TVXQ will mark 20 years since its debut with a ninth full album.

No plans for Japanese- version of Fantasy Boys’ debut

There is no plan to drop a Japanese-language version of Fantasy Boys’ debut single, Pocket Doll Studio said Friday.

The management firm reiterated that no such release is planned, despite repeated requests from fans.

The band will perform debut song “New Tomorrow” and new track “One Shot” in Japanese at a fan concert in Tokyo on Oct. 21. The company is putting together a CD of Japanese-language versions for the concert audience.

The 11-piece group has garnered close to 500 million views on TikTok with its challenge for “New Tomorrow,” and even decided to tweak the choreography to include a move that is easy to copy.

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