K-Pop Journalist. Online Editor.
SHINEE’s leader returned to public life on July 20 after serving almost one year and seven months of his mandatory service in South Korea’s military. Due to COVID-19 precautionary measures, Onew reportedly went on final leave on July 8 prior to his official discharge without …
Lee Hi signed with label AOMG after leaving YG Entertainment, home to high-profile acts like BlackPink and BigBang, last December. Founded in 2013, the hip-hop label run by rapper Jay Park officially announced its newest member on its social media. “We are proud to announce …
K-Pop singer Somi made her musical comeback with ebullient single ‘What You Waiting For’ on July 22.
The R&B genre dance-pop track is about a girl falling in love and is produced by Teddy Park, who is the founder of her label, and co-written by the Canadian-Dutch-Korean soloist.
The music video has also surpassed 11 million views, as of this writing, and was among those trending in the UAE on YouTube.
The former I.O.I member returned to the music stage more than a year since her debut song ‘Birthday’ under The Black Label — a subsidiary label of YG Entertainment
Prior to the single’s release, the 19-year-old took her career to greater heights when she signed with American record label Interscope Records, a sub-label of Universal Music Group, home to acts like Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Billie Eilish, as well as K-Pop band BlackPink.
While other acts such as Monsta X, Twice and (G)I-DLE, and BTS signed deals with American partners, she is seemingly among the first K-Pop soloist to do so.
Considered one of the scene’s fastest-rising young star, Somi rose to stardom when she claimed first place on Mnet’s popular audition programme ‘Produce 101’. She debuted in temporary 11-member girl group I.O.I — made up of the show’s contestants – until its disbandment in December 2017.
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YG Entertainment’s newest boy group Treasure is nearing its launch date to the K-Pop stage. The all-male group will make an expected grand debut on August 7, the Korean label announced on social media last Monday. In the lead up to their formal launch, YG …
SF9’s Ro Woon will temporarily take a break from the group’s comeback promotions due to back and knee pain. FNC Entertainment released a statement on their website, revealing its artist felt pain during a group schedule on July 15. “After visiting the hospital on the …
EXO-SC reigned the UAE iTunes albums chart with ‘1 Billion Views’, fronted by a retro disco hip hop track of the same name.
EXO’s sub-unit, featuring Chanyeol and Sehun, hyped up fans by dropping tracks and music videos for solos ‘Nothin’ and ‘On Me’, as well as ‘Telephone’ (ft. 10cm) in the lead up to the album’s release last week.
According to record label SM Entertainment, the nine-track hip-hop oriented album topped the iTunes albums chart in 50 countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Jordan, Oman, among others.
Popular in their homeland, their new musical offering topped the Korean music charts including Hanteo Chart, Synnara Record and Hot Tracks.
It also became the fastest-selling Korean album of this year and was given the Platinum Album certification on Chinese music streaming service QQ Music, for recording over 1 million yuan (Dhs 525,239) in sales in just 1 hour and 25 minutes after its release.
Accompanied by a colorful, cyber-themed music video, the eponymous title track features singer-songwriter MOON as they sing over disco rhythm and funky guitar sound about wanting to see someone so much as streaming a video to one billion views.
Chanyeol and Sehun showcased their musical prowess, versatility and songwriting skills and brought in other artists such as prominent Korean hip-hop artists Penomeco and Dynamic Duo’s Gaeko for tracks ‘Say It’ and ‘Fly Away’, respectively.
EXO’s second sub-unit made their debut last year with hip hop-themed EP ‘What a Life’, which also charted high on the local iTunes Top Albums chart.
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Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon is gearing up to release new single ‘Dessert’ this week under the persona DJ HYO. The K-Pop star has recruited rapper Loopy and (G)-IDLE’s Soyeon, who both participated in the rap, for her fourth single slated to drop July 22, record label …
K-Pop boy group Spectrum has parted ways after only two years for reasons including COVID-19 concerns as the result of their disbandment. WYNN Entertainment announced the news on its official website, stating the label’s worsening situation can no longer support Spectrum. Therefore, the band’s six …
BTS’s record-breaking streak shows no signs of stopping, claiming a new record within the region this time, for becoming the first K-Pop band to achieve 100 million streams on Anghami.
MENA’s largest music streaming service tweeted the news and confirmed with Gulf News via email, revealing that it took three years to achieve this feat by their fans, collectively known as ARMY.
Though haven’t disclosed the countries with the most listenership, Anghami, which has been expanding its K-Pop library, shared BTS’s fanbase predominately originates from the GCC, followed by North Africa and Levant.
Member Jimin has also achieved his own record on Anghami for being the first Korean act to have four songs each surpassing 500,000 plays.
Though having been largely quiet while working on a new album, BTS recently beat Adele’s iTunes record with ‘Black Swan’, off their latest chart-topping album ‘Map of the Soul: 7’, which recently revealed to be the top-selling album in the US in the first half of 2020, selling 552,000 units, according to global music sales measurement company Nielsen Music’s US Mid-Year Report for 2020.
BTS is undeniably one of the most popular K-Pop groups locally and regionally. Proving their star power and massive fanbase in the UAE, Big Hit Entertainment’s artist has not only secured a star on Dubai’s Walk of Fame but also is the most streamed K-Pop artist in the UAE on Spotify from Jan 2014 to Jan 2020, the streaming platform revealed earlier this year.
Some of their songs have been also reappearing on the UAE iTunes chart thanks to their fans’ efforts.
Their 2019 Riyadh concert was remarkably the biggest live music event in the region’s history, having the strongest demand in ticket sales, Turki Al-Sheikh, Chairman of Saudi General Authority for Entertainment, revealed via tweet.
The Korean Business Research Institute revealed that the record-breaking septet is still strongly leading the brand reputation rankings among male idol acts for the 26th consecutive month with an impressive brand reputation index of 9,596,339.
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Kang Daniel excited fans with the release of a teaser clip — revealing colours transforming from cyan to magenta — announcing his comeback with second mini-album titled ‘Magenta’ last week. The K-Pop soloist confirmed the official release of the forthcoming second installment of his colour-themed …