Many popular bands tell a story of how childhood friends from a same block or classmates who shared musical passion started out as an underground band. Onewe, a five-piece band under RBW Entertainment, also evolved from years of friendship, playing music together since middle school. After busking in streets and playing gigs on small stages countless times, the bandmates found a new musical nest...

Continuing to forge their own path, Stray Kids returned with “God’s Menu,” taking the group’s creative ethos to the next level. The new single was released Wednesday evening as the lead track of the band’s first full-length album “Go Live.” Produced by the band’s internal producing trio of Bang Chan, Han and Changbin, otherwise known as “3racha,” “God’s Menu” takes on a unique theme of cooking, ...

Bang Si-hyuk, head of BTS' management agency Big Hit Entertainment, was chosen by American music publication Billboard as one of the top leaders in the global independent record industry in 2020. Bang, 47, was included on Billboard's "2020 Indie Power Players" list published on Monday (local time), compiled by staff at the US music trade publication. "Multi-platinum albums, a global stadium tou...

Even for BTS, long accustomed to sold-out stadium tours, an online streaming concert using its own platform was a whole new level of experience. “Today, it’s even harder to perform than usual maybe because there’s no eye-to-eye contact, energy and screaming from you guys,” addressed band leader RM during Sunday’s “Bang Bang Con: The Live” concert livestreamed from a luxury hotel in Incheon. The...

“Everyone I worked with in the label is very mom-and-dad like. They have this ‘We’ll take care of you’ attitude,” Fontana said. They particularly praised Bang Si-hyuk, the label’s chairman and chief producer, as the lyrical and conceptual mastermind behind the bands’ albums. “He changed the way I think about music,” Lindgren said. “He has this ability to feed you information and his vision unti...

A concert streamed by K-pop giant BTS on Sunday became the world's biggest paid online music event in terms of number of viewers, the band's management company said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment announced that "Bang Bang Con: The Live," which was streamed over around 100 minutes remotely from a studio in Seoul on Sunday, drew some 756,000 viewers from across the world. Fans from 107 countries o...

How the largely apolitical scene came to attract fans who are very much political

A guide to the home of K-pop and what fans will find there

K-pop giant BTS on Friday released a music video for "We are Bulletproof: the Eternal," off of its most recent album "Map of the Soul: 7," as part of the group's annual fan celebration event. The animated music video shared on YouTube features adorable versions of individual BTS members walking and running through a variety of locations. The seven later join one another to be launched above the ...

K-pop superstar BTS will release "Stay Gold," the title track of its upcoming new Japanese full-length album, next week. The original Japanese song will be revealed to the public at 6 p.m. on June 19, according to an announcement posted on the website of the band's official Japanese fan club Thursday. "Stay Gold" is also a soundtrack of a Japanese TV series, "The Spiral Labyrinth-DNA Science In...

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK on Wednesday announced the release date of their first new song in 14 months. The band's label-management agency, YG Entertainment, said the quartet will put out a new track on June 26. Other details, such as the title of the track, have not been shared. The song will be a track from their upcoming first studio album, which will be fully unveiled in September. YG has...

Big Hit Entertainment, the management company of K-pop super stars BTS, said Tuesday it has inked a deal with US streaming service provider Kiswe Mobile to cooperate in areas of real-time online concerts. Big Hit said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the American video technology startup on Monday. The deal was signed between Big Hit Global CEO Lenzo Yoon, and Kiwse Chairman Jeong Ki...

Suga’s new single marks the continuing trend of century-crossing genre-mixing in K-pop

Natty is a super rookie in the K-pop world who debuted only a month ago with the single “Nineteen.” Among fans of the genre, however, her name is not unfamiliar. Having been an idol trainee for six years, Natty was a contestant on a JYP Entertainment and Mnet girl group competition in 2015 called “Sixteen” that created Twice. She was also on Mnet’s “Idol School” in 2017. While not able to make ...

We delve into BTS rapper’s Agust D persona, through which he relays his most candid, personal, raw stories