Blackpink continues record-breaking success with ‘Pink Venom’

K-pop girl group Blackpink is continuing a winning streak with its latest single “Pink Venom,” setting multiple records upon returning to the music scene after a 22-month hiatus. The quartet made a comeback on Friday with the first release from its upcoming second full-length album “Born Pink,” set to be released on Sept. 16. It marked the band‘s first full-group release since its first studio album titled “The Album” in October 2020. Upon release, th

K-popAug. 22, 2022

NMixx to drop new single ‘Entwurf’ on Sept. 19

Rookie girl group, NMixx of JYP Entertainment, is making is set to return next month. JYP Entertainment on Monday said through a statement that NMixx will return for the first time in seven months with its second single, “Entwurf,” on Sept. 19. Official promotion for the return kicked off earlier that day when the group tweeted the name of the track. A few minutes after the release of the poster, the band retweeted a post from a suspicious-seeming account, warning fans not to follo

K-popAug. 22, 2022

BLACKPINK's 'Pink Venom' tops iTunes top songs charts in 69 countries

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's new single "Pink Venom" debuted atop iTunes charts in 69 countries around the world, the group's agency said Saturday. YG Entertainment said the song, released the previous day, ranked No. 1 on iTunes Top Songs charts in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania as of Saturday. The song also started on top of domestic music streaming services such as Melon, Bugs, Vibe and Genie. Its music video surpassed 70 million views in just 15 hours af

K-popAug. 20, 2022

[Today's K-pop] NCT 127 gears up for return with 4th LP

   NCT 127 returns with its fourth studio album next month, SM Entertainment said Friday. 　 The LP will be titled “2 Baddies” and is to consist of 12 songs. It comes about 11 months since “Favorite,” a repackaged version of the third LP, “Sticker.” 　 The third LP debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 3, a best for the band, and stayed on the chart for 17 consecutive weeks. It sold over 2 million units in the first week of sales and in total recorded

K-popAug. 19, 2022

‘Pink Venom’ shows contradictory sides of Blackpink

After a 22-month hiatus, K-pop girl group Blackpink returned to the music scene on Friday with “Pink Venom,” a prerelease single of the highly-anticipated second full-length album “Born Pink” out next month. Ahead of the release of “Pink Venom” and the accompanying music video, the group held an online press conference to talk about new music and the long-awaited comeback. “Pink Venom” best expresses the group’s identity, said the singers.

K-popAug. 19, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink sells 1.5m in preorders

Blackpink’s second studio album has already sold more than 1.5 million in preorders, according to YG Entertainment on Thursday. 　 Expectations are high for the album to break sales records, especially since the LP “Born Pink” became available for preorders just a week ago and will be released on Sept. 16. First LP “The Album” sold 800,000 copies in six days in preorders and was the first million-selling album from a K-pop girl group. 　 The quartet will drop &ldqu

K-popAug. 18, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] BTS to launch photo project, starting with Jungkook

　 BTS will release a series of photo books one by one from Sept. 1. 　 The series will consist of eight books in total, seven dedicated to each of the septet and one for the whole group. Jungkook uploaded a teaser trailer for the project dubbed “Special 9 Photo-Folio” on Wednesday showing himself as a vampire. 　 Each of the 80-page books will be linked by their final photographs, which will hint at the next bandmate to be featured. 　 Meanwhile, the band’s anthology album &ldq

K-popAug. 17, 2022

[Herald Interview] BAE173 aims to strengthen its presence in K-pop scene with ‘Odyssey: Dash’

With a slew of big-name K-pop artists splashing onto the scene with summer bops, rookie boy group BAE173 has also joined the flock with a new release. Having dropped its fourth EP titled “Odyssey: Dash” on Wednesday, the nine-piece act held an interview with a group of reporters at its label Pocketdol Studio’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, a day ahead of the new album’s online release. The act -- comprised of members J-Min, Hangyul, Yoojun, Muzin, J

K-popAug. 17, 2022

The Boyz says 7th EP ‘Be Aware’ is a gift for fans

Less than two weeks have passed since the Boyz ended their first world tour, “The B-Zone,” in Seoul with three days of encore concerts, and the act is already back with fresh new sounds and performances to fill fans’ summer. Ahead of dropping its seventh EP, “Be Aware,” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the bandmates shared their feelings and thoughts through an official press statement released that morning. “It’s exciting to be making this comeback after almos

K-popAug. 16, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] BTS collab hits Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 10

BTS’ collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Benny Blanco debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100, according to the tally dated Aug. 20. 　 The single “Bad Decisions” featuring Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook of BTS will be the first track from the Brazilian producer’s upcoming third album, due out later this year. 　 Last month, the septet shared a teaser clip of Blanco calling and asking for a spot via a video call. 　 “Look, I know we haven’t known each other

K-popAug. 16, 2022

Blackpink to perform ‘Pink Venom’ at 2022 MTV VMAs

Blackpink is set to make its US award show debut at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards this month. The K-pop quartet has been named among the lineup of performers of the VMAs this year, the band’s agency YG Entertainment said Tuesday. “Blackpink is preparing for a special stage to light up the ceremony,” YG said in a statement. “All the members and the staff of the company are doing their best to present a meaningful moment for the global fans.” The MTV VMAs -- one

K-popAug. 16, 2022

[Herald Review] Lee Jun-ho presents romantic summer night at ‘Before Midnight’

From when the blue sky turned rosy pink then into an inky black, singer and actor Lee Jun-ho, who is also from the K-pop boy group 2PM, presented a romantic summer night to the audience at his fan concert titled, “Before Midnight.” The Sunday concert, which was the last day of the singer-actor’s three-day show held at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul’s Olympic Park, attracted nearly 5,000 fans to the venue. Since it was a concert and fan meeting combined, Lee p

K-popAug. 15, 2022

K-pop invasion: From a local trend to a global phenomenon, and beyond

In 2012, K-pop took a leap forward in the global music industry. In the summer, Psy set several unprecedented records on music charts and gained international stardom with his megahit “Gangnam Style.” Later on, the word “K-pop” was listed on the Oxford English Dictionary’s vocabulary list as “Korean pop music.” A decade has passed, and K-pop is no longer considered just a regional music genre that temporarily caught the eyes of a global audience. It ha

K-popAug. 14, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Astro’s Cha Eunwoo to host 1st solo fan meet event in Seoul

    Cha Eunwoo of Astro will greet fans on his own for the first time in Seoul on Sept. 3, according to agency Fantagio on Friday. 　 It will be the finale of his solo fan meet tour “Starry Caravan” that started in Indonesia last month. The meet and greet event also were held in Thailand and Philippines. 　 Cha debuted in 2016 as a member of Astro and branched into acting in 2017 with drama “Hit The Top.” His first acting gig was a role in 2014 drama “

K-popAug. 12, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink unveils teaser for upcoming pre-release

Blackpink floated two sets of teaser photographs for “Pink Venom,” a pre-release single from its second studio album, on Thursday. 　 The four members each struck a pose for the camera in the second batch of photographs, a darker version of the chic first set. 　 “Pink Venom” will drop on Aug. 19 in advance to the full release of LP “Born Pink” slated for Sept. 16. 　 From October, the quartet will tour the world starting from Seoul hopping over to North Americ

K-popAug. 11, 2022

[Herald Interview] Babylon sings eternal beauty of classics, originals in ‘Ego 90’s’

The value of classics lies in its everlastingness, and such a trait shines even brighter at a time when the world seems to evolve too fast while our heart still lingers on the past. But the past is where our present lies, and South Korean musician Babylon, whose real name is Lee Jong-min, takes listeners on a ride back to the 1990s and 2000s Korean pop music with his latest album “Ego 90’s.” “Making music, I held onto the one immutable law, that no matter how fast trend

K-popAug. 11, 2022

Former Le Ssserafim member Kim Ga-ram breaks silence, denies bullying

Kim Ga-ram, a former member of rookie girl group Le Ssserafim, spoke out about the bullying rumors against her that eventually led to her departure from the band. Kim on Wednesday posted a letter on her friend’s Instagram account, explaining her side of the unsolved bullying controversy. The statement begins with an apology for coming forward so late. Kim continued, claiming that she has “never” used violence or bullying against others. She broke her silence 21 days after her

K-popAug. 11, 2022

[Video] From K-pop to Boys’ Love drama: meet this idol changing the K-drama scene

DKZ’s Jaechan dropped out of high school to become a K-pop idol, but not everything went as he imagined. Then “Semantic Error,” Korean streaming platform Watcha’s first original “BL” (Boys’ Love) series, changed his life. Playing the lead role, he won the popularity award at the very first Blue Dragon Series Award. Learn more about the sensational series that topped the platform for 8 weeks straight and how this K-pop idol made a big step forward for LG

K-popAug. 11, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] NCT Dream reschedules concert for September

NCT Dream will host a standalone concert in Seoul on Sept. 8-9, announced label SM Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 The seven-piece act was slated to perform in Seoul for three days last month, but the concerts were canceled at the last minute as two members – Mark and Renjun – tested positive for COVID-19. 　 Some fans were not happy that the band’s second concert was canceled, not postponed, but the fact that the new venue is Olympic Stadium, the largest concert venue in Seoul

K-popAug. 10, 2022

Blackpink to drop 2nd LP ‘Born Pink’ next month, begin world tour

Global K-pop sensation Blackpink is returning with its 2nd LP titled “Born Pink” on Sept. 16, marking its return to the music scene after nearly two years away. On Wednesday, the band’s agency YG Entertainment dropped a teaser image with the date “2022.09.16,” the date of its second album release. “As the title suggests, ‘Born Pink’ shows the confidence and splendor Blackpink is known for. The album will be brimming with Blackpink’s uniq

K-popAug. 10, 2022