K-Pop
KEY Shares the Family Stories & ‘Little Freaks’ That Inspired His ‘Gasoline’ Album: Exclusive
From the monster under the bed to clowns and bugs, most childhood fears become irrelevant — and laughable —a s we mature. For KEY‘s latest album, the boy band member revisits some of the freakiest parts of his adolescence with a playfulness and curiosity that inspired his latest collection of K-pop creations. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Released on Aug. 30, Gasoline is KEY’s second full-length album and the SHINee member’s first new body of work after his retro-tinged Bad Love EP from last fall. While Bad Love saw him taking creative lead by spotlighting his interest in sci-fi movies, the new LP also highlights a love of film but with his personal childhood stories and reflections mixed within. Born in 1991, the core kids movies of KEY’s ch...
The Ledger: Buying Into the K-Pop Craze Just Got Less Risky for US Investors
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, focused on Korean music started trading on the NYSE Arca exchange on Thursday, giving American investors a means to buy shares of companies that trade on exchanges in South Korea. But the ETF stands out for another reason: a bundle of K-pop stocks will carry less risk than standalone companies that rely on dozens of labels, each with a handful of top artists as well as deep catalogs. Trading under the aptly named ticker KPOP, the ETF includes the stocks of 30 corporations, including several music companies: HYBE, the home of K-pop megastars BTS and up-and-coming acts Tomorrow X Together ...
Fan Chant: Spiraling Into SEVENTEEN and a Q&A with an Industry Expert About Spotify’s K-POP ON! Campaign
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! Readers of Fan Chant, you are going to be among the first to hear of a new journey I’ve somehow found myself on. The rumors are true — I’m tiptoeing into my CARAT era. I’m not sure if any other K-pop fans feel this way, but I try very hard to be a casual listener a lot of the time. When it comes to groups I really and truly take the time to dive into — learning names, choosing a bias, etc. — I’m just not sure I have the time for more wonderful people to add to the mix. I’m busy! Advertisement …...
BTS’ RM Joins Korean Musical Collective Balming Tiger for ‘Sexy Nukim’
While BTS continue upon the “Chapter 2” in their careers, group leader RM makes his latest move by teaming up with the award-winning Korean musical collective Balming Tiger. The self-described “multinational alternative K-pop band,” Balming Tiger is made up of nearly a dozen different creatives — including musicians, producers, directors, visual artists and writers — working together since 2018 to represent the younger generation and popularize Asian culture on a global level. While the members simultaneously balance their own projects and careers, Balming Tiger releases feature various members coming together with new single “Sexy Nukim” marking their first in a year-and-a-half. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news For their new hip-hop track...
Five Burning Questions: Blackpink Debut in Hot 100’s Top 25 & Atop Global Charts With ‘Pink Venom’
While most pop vocal groups of any nationality are finding it hard to make a consistent Billboard Hot 100 impact this decade, BLACKPINK is one of the lone exceptions to the rule. The all-female Korean quartet scores their eighth hit on the chart this week (dated Sept. 3) with the No. 22 debut of “Pink Venom.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The bow is BLACKPINK’s highest on the chart for an unaccompanied single — bested only by the No. 13 debut of their Selena Gomez collab “Ice Cream” in 2020. It’s also their first single to land atop the Global 200 chart, and their second No. 1 on the Global 200 Excl. US listing, following “Lovesick Girls” in 2020. How resounding is the debut for the group’s first official single release in nearly two ...
Lizzo Geeks Out Over Meeting BLACKPINK’s Lisa & Jisoo at 2022 VMAs: ‘THEY ARE SO SWEET’
Lizzo took to social media on Monday (Aug. 29) to show off her run-in with one-half of BLACKPINK at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. In a TikTok, the Special singer approached Lisa and Jisoo for a cute video on behalf of a follower, who requested, “TAKE A SELFIE WITH BLACKPINK FOR ME!!!! PLEASE.” While fans can’t hear what the K-pop idols and Lizzo are saying to each other due to the latter’s new single “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” playing over top of the clip, the singer assured her followers, “THEY ARE SO SWEET” in the caption. Both Lizzo and BLACKPINK were among the performers to hit the stage during the awards show on Sunday night, with the former playing a medley of her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “About Damn Time” and “2 Be Loved” and the girl group making their U.S. awards show debut w...
NCT 127 Set 2 U.S. Dates in World Tour: Is Your City One of the Lucky Stops?
After months of speculation, NCT 127 is finally making their post-pandemic return to the U.S. this year for two dates in their ongoing world tour. The K-pop boy band announced plans to play shows on both coasts in the U.S. this year. First up, hitting Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 6, followed by an Oct. 13 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The two dates come as part of NCT 127’s “The Link” world tour, first announced in November 2021 and officially kicking off with a three-date run in the Seoul Sky Dome. The trek has also visited Tokyo, Singapore and Manila with a press release sharing that Latin American dates will be announced soon. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The timing of the shows comes just aft...
Mark Tuan Gets Introspective, Returns to Rapping on Long-Awaited ‘The Other Side’ Album
After first entering the music scene in 2014 with his K-pop boy band GOT7, Mark Tuan has finally released his first full solo project with his introspective album The Other Side. While Mark was one of the designated rappers in GOT7, the Los Angeles native gets the chance to showcase his true range across the 20-song project. Tuan boasts songwriting and composition credits across every track with most songs spotlighting Mark’s singing abilities front and center. While five vocal-focused singles previewed the album through the past nine months — “last breath,” “my life,” “lonely,” “save me,” and “imysm” — The Other Side also sees Mark return to the rap tracks fans first heard during his time with GOT7 on braggadocio-heavy cuts like “my name” and L...
TWICE’s ‘Between 1&2 Album’ Has Arrived: Stream It Now
Are you ready, ONCE? TWICE‘s new album, Between 1&2, arrived on Friday (Aug. 26), and is now available for fans to stream. The group — which consists of members Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu — released the seven track album early on Friday morning. The LP is led by single “Talk That Talk,” which received a corresponding music video that also arrived on the album’s release date. On the album, Chaeyoung has a solo writing credit on “Basics,” and Jihyo is credited for writing “Trouble.” Dahyun also has solo writing credits on tracks “Gone” and “When We Were Kids.” Other tracks on the K-pop record include “Queen of Hearts,” “Brave,” and “Gone.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The set arrives ju...
K-Pop Breakouts IVE Sample a ’70s Disco Classic on New Single ‘After Like’
As the Korean music industry continuously finds new ways to connect to larger musical conversations, a girl group leading the next generation of K-pop is throwing it back to a ’70s disco anthem for their latest single. After entering the scene in December last year, IVE have already sent their first two singles, “Eleven” and “Love Dive,” to multiple Billboard charts: at Nos. 2 and 1, respectively, on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100, top 10 of World Digital Song Sales, and entries on the Billboard Global 200. The quickly rising group’s latest single “After Like” not only seems primed to land them another hit but expand to even more fans with a clever sample use. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “After Like” is IVE’s new single that incorporates...
Fan Chant: It’s Time to Get On CIX’s Wave
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! This week, I really wanted to talk about CIX. The quintet out of C9 Entertainment, made up of Jinyoung, BX, Seunghun, Hyunsuk and Yonghee, is an absolute treasure of a K-pop group. The act debuted back in 2019 and has amassed a jewel box of a discography in the years since. CIX’s breakout track is considered to be “Cinema,” a glittering, dreamy pop offering with the most addictive earworm of a chorus. Almost exactly a year ago, in August of 2021, CIX released their debut album, OK Prologue: Be ...
KCON 2022 Wraps With 90,000 Attendees at Los Angeles K-Pop Festival
Finally, Los Angeles again felt the full power of K-pop fandom as the scene’s premiere festival KCON made its grand return this weekend after two years away during the pandemic. Across three days of a convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center and two days of concerts in the Crypto.com Arena, KCON 2022 Los Angeles reported more than 90,000 fans in attendance in its first in-person event since 2019. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Plus, with a new, post-COVID emphasis on live streaming, the festival garnered a total viewership of 7.17 million viewers in more than 176 regions. KCON’s live comeback is a slight dip from its last in-person event (103,000 fans were reported attending in L.A. in 2019), but what 2022 can claim is some of its most ...
