K-Pop Journalist. Online Editor.
Little Monsters and Blinks fandom are in for a musical treat. BlackPink is officially featured in Lady Gaga’s upcoming ‘Chromatica’ album. After YG Entertainment neither confirmed nor denied the collaboration rumours last month, the Grammy-award winner musician revealed the exciting news when she shared the …
UP10TION’s Jinhoo will not be joining his bandmates in the preparation for their upcoming album to focus on his health. His label TOP Media announced that the K-Pop band will move forward as a seven-member group after much discussion with the singer himself and the …
At unprecedented times like these, it’s necessary to keep active and moving while indoors. K-Pop artists have been keeping busy: From working on new music to initiating dance challenges of their songs on TikTok and social media. So far, these names have put up dance challenges that you can try while social distancing:
The prolific musician started off the year with not only a brand-new digital single but also a dance craze that took over social media. Ahead of its official release, he first posted the fun choreography of the track’s opening sections with Mamamoo’s Hwasa and singer Chung Ha separately on TikTok and Instagram before it took off and saw multiple other big names in Korea to participate in the #AnySongChallenge. The popularity of ‘Any Song’ was quite a hit in his homeland that it dominated the music charts.
The popular boy group’s #KickItChallenge was reportedly inspired by a fan-made challenge by three Chicago-based fans. NCT 127 took notice and followed suit, making them the first K-pop group to do so.
Just a month after releasing their second album, SM Entertainment revealed that its act is preparing for a repackaged album set to drop in May.
Debuted with a cyberpunk concept, the rookie soloist recently started her own dance challenge for her fierce, electropop track ‘Kitty Run’ off of her EP, ‘Do or Die’. The former ‘Produce 48’ contestant invite fans online to participate as well.
Before their third full-length album ‘Remember’ was made available, Winner dropped a pre-release single, ‘Hold’, and a video tutorial of their #DDeumChallenge seen in the music video. Though it was reportedly created for fans to upload their own covers on TikTok for a chance to win signed albums, you can still take it on or simply try the finger dance challenge the quartet demonstrated ahead of the official video’s release.
The K-Pop group is said to go on a hiatus as a group after the end of their promotional activities for the new music release.
Last month, Jackson Wang released his new English single ‘100 Ways’ – of which pays homage to his culture – that has also turned into a challenge. The GOT7 member uploaded his take on the #100WaysChallenge, which predominantly involves a lot upper body movement, online.
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The region’s newest K-pop crossover showcased their Arabic singing skills once again by releasing a 35-sec upbeat release, titled ‘Corona Song’, that delivers a message of positivity and hope for those struggling with the pandemic. In addition to B.I.G, GH Entertainment’s other artists participated in …
Woo Ji-yoon has decided to part ways from indie duo BOL4 after four years. Last week, the duo’s agency Shofar Music confirmed the departure of the guitarist and backup vocalist in a statement, citing Woo’s personal concerns about the direction of her future career as …
Exo’s Suho painted a personal self-portrait with his new sentimental music and managed to make a chart-topping solo debut with flying colours in the UAE last week.
The leader of the prominent K-Pop boy band released his first ever solo mini-album ‘Self-Portrait’, showcasing his own musical style and identity and adding his own personal stories as Kim Jun-myeon (his given name) — not heard in any of the group’s releases.
The multifaceted entertainer lyrically contributed to the toned-down musical numbers. Fronted by modern-rock ‘Let’s Love’ that was titled after the K-Pop band’s team slogan, the six-track, self-reflective album contains tracks: ‘O2’, ‘Starry Night’, ‘For You Now’ ft. Younha, ‘Self-Portrait’ and ‘Made In You’.
The concept of the album was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s famous ‘Self-Portrait’, which is visually seen on the album’s illustrative cover. And it was definitely a painted success and a favourite among local and global fans as well as in his homeland.
‘Let’s Love’ and ‘Self-Portrait’ topped the iTunes Top Songs chart and Top Albums chart in the UAE, respectively. The mini-album was a hit in 49 other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Bahrain, France, the Philippines, India, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Oman.
Adding to this, the official music video achieved an impressive feat on YouTube when it debuted as the second trending video in the country on the day of its release.
Suho is widely known as a member and leader of sensational K-Pop group Exo since 2012. ‘Self-Portrait’ marks the artist’s first time debuting as a soloist and he is the fourth Exo member — after Baekhyun, Chen and Lay — to release solo music outside his group activities. He has also been active in other sides of the South Korean entertainment industry, from acting on TV dramas and films to performing on the musical stage.
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The prolonged coronavirus pandemic has been looming over the K-Pop industry, bringing it to a standstill for an uncertain amount of time. Many homeland and overseas (offline) events and concerts have either been cancelled or suspended while weekly TV shows have continued to air without …
There’s more to South Korea’s entertainment industry than the country’s global phenomenon, K-Pop. K-Dramas, short for Korean dramas, have been booming since the early 2000s. If you’re looking to find a series to get lost in while social distancing, here’s a list to choose from: …
As we wrap up the year and welcome 2020, here’s a quick guide to what happened in the world of K-Pop in 2019:
The first official idol couple for the year was Exo’s Kai and BlackPink’s Jennie but the pair decided to call it quits less than a month after their romance was publicised in January.
Former Wanna One member Kang Daniel and Twice’s Jihyo made headlines when their secret relationship was revealed back in August. Both couples were met with mixed responses from fans and the media, given the squeaky clean industry’s norms about dating and the fear it could tarnish idols’ wholesome image.
Making global headlines throughout the first half of 2019, Seoul’s Burning Sun nightclub was hit with a litany of crimes that allegedly involved the club’s co-owner, Seungri — now former Big Bang member and YG Entertainment artist.
Investigations revealed a KakaoTalk group chat room that featured many individuals including K-Pop stars, where illicit activities were discussed and non-consensual sex videos were distributed. A bulk of evidence led to disgraced singer-songwriter and TV personality Jung Joon-young being sentenced to six years in prison and former FT Island member Choi Jong-hoon to five years on criminal charges of gang raping unconscious, intoxicated women.
Things spiralled for YG Entertainment, forcing the agency’s chief producer and founder Yang Hyun-suk to step down.
The loss of two talented and outspoken women and close friends — Sulli and Goo Hara — to suicide sent shock waves throughout the industry and country. Both singers were victims of cyberbullying and struggled with mental health. Hara was also in a public battle with her ex-boyfriend who reportedly assaulted her and made revenge porn threats against her. Budding actor Cha In-ha also died, though the circumstances of his death in December are unknown.
The global phenomenon that is BTS took over 2019, literally. From selling out stadiums and being the first K-Pop group to present at the 61st Grammy Awards, to setting unprecedented records, the septet’s world dominance paved the way for more Korean artists to have growing US crossover success. BlackPink, Monsta X and NCT 127 are among groups gaining traction globally.
As the K-Pop wave continues to grow, more global musicians have collaborated with Korea’s prominent acts. Groups like AB6IX, Monsta X and NCT Dream have teamed up with Lizzo, Sebastian Yatra and HRVY, respectively. In 2019, BTS — and its members — had the most collaborations on record with artists from Charlie XCX and Lauv to Halsey, Lil Nas X and Becky G.
Numerous soloists and groups debut every year in hopes of making it big in the competitive industry, while others make multiple comebacks with Korean and Japanese discographies. Though SM Entertainment’s new notable supergroup SuperM, got our attention, it was the year of the rookies. Itzy, AB6IX, Ateez and Tomorrow X Together are some new groups slowly making it big on their own terms.
Korean men are required to serve the country’s mandatory military service and K-Pop stars aren’t exempt from this rule. This year, Exo’s D.O. and Xiumin, SHINee’s Key and Minho and Highlight’s Lee Gikwang enlisted while artists such as G-Dragon returned to public life. The Big Bang rapper and singer was welcomed by around 3,000 fans outside the army headquarters in Yongin when he was discharged.
Unlike in previous years, Korean agencies are now releasing statements openly disclosing the well-being of their artists rather than providing vague explanations. Pushing past the stigma of mental health, idols like Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, HyunA, Seventeen’s S.Coups, Kang Daniel, WJSN’s Dawon and Twice’s Mina have become more vocal about their battle with anxiety and depression.
While group members are taking hiatuses and becoming more candid about their health in an industry reluctant to address these topics, some idols such as ONF’s Laun and Stray Kids’ Woojin have unexpectedly left the group for “personal reasons” or other undisclosed explanations. iKON’s B.I. and Wonho left his group Monsta X amid drug purchase and pre-debut behaviour allegations, respectively.
While bandmates have seen departing, groups like Pristin, Boyfriend, B.A.P., MYTEEN, Nine Muses and HelloVenus have unexpectedly announced their disbandment this year.
It was reportedly confirmed that the results of all four seasons of Mnet’s viewer-voted K-Pop audition show — that produced temporary popular acts I.O.I, Wanna One, IZ*ONE and X1 — were rigged. The final contenders were predetermined before public voting and debuting in the series’ groups. The show’s chief producer Kim Yong-beom and main producer Ahn Joon-young were indicted on bribery and fraud charges. Active groups IZ*ONE and X1 have halted promotions and activities in light of the scandal.
In addition to the vote-rigging scandal, music chart manipulation came to light when Block B member Park Kyung accused several artists of buying songs in bulk to rank higher, also known as sajaegi.
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A slew of scandals has hit YG Entertainment, one of Korea’s biggest entertainment agencies, since the start of 2019. It all began with the highly-publicised ‘Burning Sun’ scandal that involved former YG star and Big Bang member Seungri. Last Wednesday, the K-Pop industry and fans …