genre kpop
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J-Hope‘s “Mona Lisa” tops this week’s new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (March 21) on Billboard, choosing the BTS superstar’s latest solo song as their favorite new music release of the past week. “Mona Lisa” brought in nearly 90% of the vote, far surpassing other recent music releases. Among the […]
K-Pop supergroup NJZ, formerly known as NewJeans, announced during a show at ComplexCon Hong Kong on Sunday (March 23) night that “this might be our last performance for a little while.”
It was the first time NJZ appeared together since Friday (March 21), when a Seoul Court granted the band’s former management company Ador — whom they’ve been in a dispute with since mid-2024 — a preliminary injunction prohibiting the girl group from “organizing their own appearances and [conducting] any independent activities — from making music to signing advertising deals,” according to BBC.
After debuting a new song, “Pit Stop,” the five members (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein), visibly nervous, gathered onstage, stopped the music and took turns reading from a letter, addressing “their bunnies” in English and Korean.
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“This stage means so much to us and every single one of you who gives us strength just by being here,” Hanni and Dani read. “It is really hard for us to say this, but this might be our last performance for a little while. Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.
The speech (read in full below) came at the end of an hour-long headlining set in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 11,000 fans at the AsiaWorld Expo Arena, Hong Kong’s largest live music venue.
The performance that preceded the remarks focused on “solo stages” from the five group members as they covered R&B songs. It left many in the audience — who showed up to hear new music from their favorite artists — scratching their heads, as it was a departure from NJZ’s high-energy productions, polished choreography and vibrant stage presence. The covers ranged from TLC’s “No Scrubs” from Danielle; UPSAHL’s “Smile For The Camera” from Minji; “Dontcha” from Haerin; SWV’s “Use Your Heart” from Hyein; and Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo” from Hanni.
In February, NewJeans announced they were changing their name to NJZ as they were added to the ComplexCon bill. BBC reports that the dispute over the group arises from Hybe, the parent company of Ador, allegedly forcing out NewJeans’ mentor, Min Hee-Jin. At a press conference in November, NewJeans announced their departure, saying Hybe and Ador had lost the right to represent them as artists. NJZ says they will challenge Friday’s decision.
This is the second year of ComplexCon, the global streetwear and pop culture festival, in China. In 2024, the event attracted more than 30,000 international attendees. The U.S. edition moved to Las Vegas in 2024 after eight years in Los Angeles. In 2025, over three days, the festival hosted 150 brands, 40 musicians and groups, and 400 creators across music, design, movies and sports.
NJZ had a merch booth inside the ComplexCon marketplace, which commanded a line of more than 2,000 people on Sunday alone. However, the booth was shuttered after it sold out of all new NJZ merchandise.
This year’s Complex LIVE! Concerts, which brought together South Korean, Japanese, Chinese and American hip-hop artists and DJs, featured the Hong Kong debuts of Quavo and Metro Boomin, who headlined the opening night.
Read Hanni and Dani’s full statement below.
“This stage means so much to us and every single one of you who gives us strength just by being here. It is really hard for us to say this, but this might be our last performance for a little while. Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.
Honestly, we’ve known from the start that this journey wasn’t going to be easy and even though we accept the court’s ruling and this whole process, we had to speak up to protect the values that we believe in, and that was a choice that we don’t regret at all. We surely believe that standing up for our dignity, our rights and everything we deeply care about is something we had to do, and that belief will not change.
We understand and know that today’s news might be disappointing or upsetting but it was not an easy decision for us to make either. But at the moment for us, it’s about protecting ourselves so that we can come back even stronger.
There was a lot that we had to go through … things that really we only know about. But even [through] all that, there are so many things that we wanted to share with you guys and so many fun plans that we are excited to announce. But right now, though, it feels too hard to keep going at this pace, and as strong as we are trying to stay, it has honestly taken a bit of mental and emotional toll on us. However, this doesn’t mean that we are going to give up. We will keep pushing forward no matter what, and coming to Hong Kong and receiving all this love and support from you guys at ComplexCon gave us so much strength.
Right now, our hearts are a little bit worn out, and it feels a bit too hard to keep going at this pace. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to give up; we’re going to keep going. With this decision we’ve made, we’re respecting the court’s decision, and for now, it’s just us taking a step back to pause, take a breath and gather our hearts and ourselves before moving forward.
To everybody who has been believing in us and supporting us through everything from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and we love you so, so, so, so much, and we can’t express how grateful we are, and we promise, no matter what the circumstances we will meet again soon.”
When Jennie posted the long-awaited trailer announcing her debut solo album, Ruby, she was on a plane heading to London. “It’s hard for me to stay longer than a week in one city,” she confesses — while in the car en route to yet another flight (this time from Los Angeles back home to Seoul).
Jennie chose the commanding “Zen” to soundtrack the album’s January trailer, particularly highlighting the lyric “In the dark I grew,” a sentiment that echoes throughout Ruby. “To me, that song is the core of this album,” she says. “So it only felt right to begin this journey with it.”
The album, which is entirely in English and arrived March 7, was preceded by singles “Mantra”; “Love Hangover,” with Dominic Fike; and “ExtraL,” with Doechii; and its other features — including genre-spanning artists such as Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis — further illustrate Jennie’s wide-ranging taste and global appeal. As a jet-setting artist with a devoted worldwide fan base firmly in place thanks to her role in history-making K-pop act Blackpink, Jennie is determined to build upon that on her own. (She released Ruby on her independent label, OddAtelier, in partnership with Columbia.) “It feels like my power as a superhero,” Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Global Force says. “It drives me to put more great things out there and work hard.”
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Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
You already have a global fan base thanks to Blackpink. How did that benefit you on your solo journey?
If anything, I’m reintroducing myself to the world with this album. I’m throwing myself out there as if this was the very first time — that’s the commitment that I told myself. So I don’t think it changes so much for me.
You’ve adopted the middle name of Ruby Jane. How did that inspire the album title?
I was contemplating until the very end. I didn’t name [the album] Ruby because it’s a part of my name. To me, Ruby speaks to me as the curtain call of a play, where I’m opening this new chapter of… I don’t want to say new life; life is life, but a different stage in my life and I’m welcoming everyone in. I don’t necessarily see Jennie, Ruby, Jane as three different alter egos of mine. That’s just who I am, all in one.
Annakiki dress.
Songyi Yoon
You released a lyric breakdown of “Love Hangover” in Korean. Why was that important for you to do?
I love the fact that I’m Korean, so I’m just showing my appreciation and giving back the love that [my Korean fans] give me, and I wanted them to understand my music and myself better since this is an all-English album. And I know that they want to be more interactive with me in both languages.
What lyrics on Ruby best sum up how this journey has felt for you?
There’s a song that speaks to me in that sense called “Starlight,” and I think it’s a beautifully written song about how I felt for all this time. It’s a personal song.
Dua Lipa is featured on “Handlebars.” Tell me about that friendship.
I’ve known Dua for a very long time now. I went to her first show in Korea. We’re already good friends, [but] it was our first time doing a song together. That itself was a new experience for us to see each other in a different way, and we just had a great time.
Jacquemus top, David Koma pants, AREA hat.
Songyi Yoon
Between you two, who do you think travels more?
Honestly, we both work hard.
Behind the scenes, you have a strong team of women helping run your label. Why was that important to you?
I consider it to be important to work with people that you share good energy with, and I naturally started to gravitate toward empowering women. I’m still working hard to become one of those women that I look up to myself.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
J-Hope has delivered his latest piece of art. The BTS superstar unveiled his newest single, “Mona Lisa,” on Friday (March 21). In a statement, the singer’s label, BIG HIT, described the new song as exuding his “smooth, laid-back charm… expand[ing] his musical spectrum, solidifying his status as one of the most dynamic and sought-after global […]
Hours into their Billboard Women in Music photo shoot, the members of aespa are goofing off. High-pitched giggles reverberate through the studio as Winter, Karina, Ningning and Giselle tickle one another’s sides, talk in silly voices and play with the straps on their leathery stage outfits.
It’s mesmerizing to watch the four early-20-somethings be so, well, real, not just because they’re one of K-pop’s most polished acts — which they demonstrate by immediately snapping back into place once the photographer is ready again — but also because aespa has a particular penchant for the surreal. The SM Entertainment group debuted in 2020 with K-pop’s first lineup to feature both human and virtual members, pairing each girl with an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar as part of a cyberpunk musical metaverse marked by dark, 808-laced hyperpop and edgy-chic outfits.
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
Ever since, the act has leveraged its niche into unprecedented crossover success — in November, mini-album Whiplash made it the first K-pop girl group to have six projects reach the Billboard 200 top 50, and it just wrapped its second global arena tour — and a reputation for being one of the genre’s “most adventurous and contemporary” groups, as its “Over You” collaborator Jacob Collier put it to Billboard in January.
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But going forward, 2025’s Billboard Women in Music Group of the Year also wants to focus on something potentially even more subversive: showing that beneath the personas, its members are just those real-life girls blowing off steam between camera flashes. “We’re not actual AI; we do have days where we don’t feel the best,” Giselle says once the foursome has squeezed together on a couch. “Our storyline can be fun to keep up with, but I want fans to look up to aespa for our human traits, too.”
Karina
Abi Polinsky
Why do you think aespa has made a name as trendsetters?
Giselle: There’s always going to be trends, but we don’t follow them because we can’t. We have our own story to tell that was set from the start.
Winter: We usually talk about ourselves more than love [in our lyrics]. We’re the main characters of our stories.
Karina: We’re honest. Of course, you have to be professional and present your best self, but we also try to show the not-perfect side. We’re not trying to filter everything or over-mask ourselves.
Giselle
Abi Polinsky
What’s next in aespa’s evolution?
Ningning: We did start out with our avatar concept, but now we’re also trying really hard to explore different concepts and themes. In the future, there may be moments where the fans don’t see the avatars.
Karina: We want aespa to be a really stylish group, not only in fashion and music, but also in terms of versatility and excelling in every genre. I also want all our members to shine individually when we’re together and even when we’re not together.
From left: Ningning, Karina, Giselle, and Winter of aespa photographed on February 10, 2025 in New York.
Abi Polinsky
Who are your favorite artists/dream collaborators at the moment?
Ningning: Doechii. I’d just really like to meet her.
Winter: Billie Eilish. She’s so good at expressing her honest feelings through her music.
Karina: Olivia Dean. Whenever I need to find composure, I listen to her.
Giselle: SZA. Her music is so hard to get sick of — and very relatable.
Winter
Abi Polinsky
As a girl group, how do you support one another?
Ningning: We’re all from different countries and environments, but we’ve been doing this for five years. They’re always there for me. Working with this mindset that we’re in this together makes it easier to handle challenging situations and emotions.
Winter: I don’t think we could’ve made it through this alone. We’ve had to overcome certain obstacles, but with each other’s support, we were able to move forward. (Karina giggles as Giselle starts poking her affectionately.) These girls are all very precious to me.
Ningning
Abi Polinsky
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Hours into their Billboard Women in Music photo shoot, the members of aespa are goofing off. High-pitched giggles reverberate through the studio as Winter, Karina, Ningning and Giselle tickle one another’s sides, talk in silly voices and play with the straps on their leathery stage outfits. It’s mesmerizing to watch the four early-20-somethings be so, […]
BLACKPINK‘s LISA dropped a high-energy YouTube Music Nights Special Stage Performance video for her solo single “FUTW” on Tuesday night (March 18). The visual is a static shot of the singer and six backup dancers on a stage framed by blood red columns, with all seven women wearing variations on black leather bikinis. Explore See […]
KQ Entertainment, the South Korean music company behind ATEEZ, signed a multi-year agreement with AEG Presents to oversee the production of all global tours for the K-pop supergroup. The partnership, the terms of which were not disclosed, will enable “both companies to leverage their core strengths to further promote K-pop on a global scale,” according […]
BTS‘ j-hope is setting ARMY up for his latest masterpiece with a second tease of the upcoming solo single, “Mona Lisa.” The official 30-second teaser of the song due out on Friday (March 21) continues the fine art-theme of the previous sneak, which peeled back a nine-second taste of the tune’s smoothed-out R&B vibe.
In the new look, Hobi sits on a long white bench in a mostly blank-walled gallery space in bedazzled acid-washed jeans, black boots, a black leather jacket and backwards baseball hat, elbows on his knees as he contemplates the silence. The only action comes when he turns around to look at the series of five photos of a woman in various states of profile, each of which is being blown around by a fan behind the singer.
There is no music in the teaser, and the only action comes with j-hope stands up and an unseen hand smears his face with white paint as the song’s title pops up on screen.
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Last week, j-hope shared a brief preview of the song, containing a buzzy, glitched-out beat and wavering bass line with inaudible vocals. In a statement, the singer’s label, BIG HIT, described the hip-hop/R&B song as exuding his “smooth, laid-back charm… expand[ing] his musical spectrum, solidifying his status as one of the most dynamic and sought-after global artists.”
It continues, “‘MONA LISA’ is a love song that pays tribute to celebrating one’s unique beauty. It explores an infatuation towards a person whose beauty is one of a kind.” It was, of course, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic masterpiece of the same name with the legendary sly smile, with the track likening “the praise for the alluring person to the timeless masterpiece. It conveys that what truly moves someone is not external beauty, but rather the distinctive characteristics that make each person special.”
BIG HIT promises that the bouncy tune “seamlessly blends a groovy rhythm with a funky chord progression, creating an irresistibly refreshing sound,” noting that “as the song builds, the chorus toward the end invites an infectious sing-along, amplifying the uplifting, feel-good atmosphere.”
“Mona Lisa” is the follow-up to Hobi’s recently released digital single featuring Miguel, “Sweet Dreams,” which will debut at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated March 22.
Check out the official “Mona Lisa” teaser below.
Billboard Korea has published the second issue of Billboard Artist, and this time, the spotlight is on the multi-talented artist and member of BLACKPINK, JISOO. JISOO continues to make a powerful impact both as a solo artist and as an actress. Her solo album AMORTAGE, released on Feb. 14, explores love with a cinematic touch. This special issue captures JISOO’s charm in a visual story, blending soft, delicate aesthetics with bold and independent imagery. Shot in unique settings like a terrarium and an aquarium, these visuals symbolize comfort and familiarity—contrasted by striking, avant-garde designs that push her artistry into new territory.
Unlike regular magazines, Billboard Artist is a large-format, unbound conceptual edition where each page feels like a collectible poster. This timeless collectible is an artistic deep dive into musicians’ creative worlds, featuring photography, essays, interviews and art for fans to enjoy. Available in English and Korean.
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Why did you choose JISOO for the second issue?
Billboard Korea: The Billboard Artist aims to showcase musicians from fresh, unexpected angles going beyond their usual image to create something truly special. This process naturally leads to a process in which the musicians themselves have a moment of wanting to communicate through a new appearance and have a clear synergy with us. JISOO’s AMORTAGE project was the perfect fit, offering a cinematic and emotional take on love, far from completeness and perfection. Her vision aligned perfectly with our goal of reinterpreting artists in new ways, making her an ideal choice for this issue.
What aspects of JISOO did you focus on?
Billboard Korea: While JISOO is known for being BLACKPINK’s steady presence and for the massive success of her solo hit “Flower,” we wanted to explore the many sides of her personality, not just her elegance and grace, but also her passionate, vulnerable and even provocative moments. Through this issue’s photography and visual storytelling, we highlight her evolution as an artist and actress. She herself is the source and inspiration for Billboard Artists.
Lucian Bor
Why were the terrarium and aquarium sets used?
Billboard Korea: These small, enclosed ecosystems represent comfort zones, safe, self-sustaining spaces where everything is perfectly balanced. But stepping outside of them means facing the unknown, new challenges, unfamiliar environments and personal growth. We felt this concept beautifully symbolized JISOO’s artistic journey, as she steps beyond her comfort zone into new creative territories.
What did JISOO express through Billboard Artist?
Billboard Korea: We’d like to share some of our conversation about love from Billboard Artist.
Lucian Bor
Billboard Korea: Flowers often symbolize love in Korean literature. Your first solo album was released on Valentine’s Day, which is all about love. How do you define love?
JISOO: Flowers don’t just bloom and end, but they change themselves as they bloom and fall according to the seasons. Isn’t love like that? The thrill and intense emotions when love begins, the happiness felt as it deepens, the pain of separation and even liberation. I think love is more of a ‘journey’ than a single emotion. Through that journey, we grow and become more ourselves. That’s why love to me is ‘learning.’ It’s an emotion that I learn from my relationships with people, through music and through my fans. That’s why I want to say that love to me is not a simple emotion, but a process of maturation that I continue to experience and fill.
Billboard Korea: There are many types of love. What is the most precious type of love to JISOO?
JISOO: I don’t think it has to be defined in a specific way, but to me, the most precious love is ‘respectful love.’ It’s the heart that accepts and respects the other person as they are. I learned a lot about that kind of love while doing music. The warm gaze of fans on stage, the trust of colleagues who make music together and the process of accepting myself as I am. I think love is ultimately the power that helps each other grow.
Billboard Korea: Are there any scenes from JISOO’s all-time favorite movies that you would like to put together as a montage?
JISOO: Like AMORTAGE, which tells the story of a journey of love, I want to connect scenes that contain changes in emotion. For excitement, I would like the scene in Before Sunrise where the two people who first met have a conversation on the train. The unfamiliar but strongly attracted feeling resembles the beginning of love. For the moment of deepening, I would express it with the scene in La La Land where the two people dance under the night sky. I think it captures the moment when love shines the most. For the pain of separation, I would choose the scene in Eternal Sunshine where they look at each other on the beach right before their memories disappear. I was impressed by the movie because it expressed the emotions of separation so delicately. Finally, I want to connect the liberation and growth scene in (500) Days of Summer where Tom finally welcomes a new season. Tom experiences a breakup, gets hurt and wanders, but eventually grows as time passes and meets a new relationship called Autumn, not Summer. I thought of this scene because it captures the process of overcoming a breakup, finding oneself and moving forward again.
What’s inside Billboard Artist, JISOO edition?
Billboard Korea: The magazine opens with an extensive 30-plus page visual story of JISOO, photographed by Lucian Bor. It also features stunning artworks by Fabian Oefner, who captures essence by trapped objects in resin, and the “Bubble Flower” series by Azuma Makoto, a pioneer in plant sculpture. Additionally, it includes AMORTAGE, an essay exploring the complex and elusive nature of love, along with an exclusive interview with JISOO. The issue is available with four unique covers, each showcasing a different side of her.