State Champ Radio K-Pop
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2023 has been a packed year for the boys of ATEEZ. The K-pop group — which consists of members Hong Joong, Seong Hwa, Yun Ho, Yeo Sang, San, Min Gi, Woo Young and Jong Ho — recently went No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart with its Outlaw EP, hit up this year’s KCON LA for a headlining performance and are about to embark on a series of tour dates in Latin America. In between the group’s stacked schedule, the K-pop stars stopped by Billboard News to discuss their latest career highlights.
Host Tetris Kelly kicked off the interview congratulating the group for the Outlaw EP’s success (the set also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200), and asked the members their thoughts on why it had such positive reception.
“I think this era is a whole different ATEEZ, so that why many ATINY [the group’s fan name] and many audience wanna get some new piece of our album,” Hong Joon mused. “After we got a high number on the chart, we had pressure also, but we try to enjoy these days. We try to have a good mindset to make new songs. After debut, we try to put something deeper into it, like a new genre of music.”
K-pop has become one of the most popular genres of music in the last few years, and as a result, ATEEZ’s rise comes at the right time. Min Gi reflected on this shift and noted “there’s a growing change as K-pop is becoming more widely accepted by the general public despite the language differences.”
The shift has also led to the expansion of ATINY. The group recently mobilized across the world to perform flash mobs of the group’s single “Bouncy” in public spaces, with many of the videos going viral across social media.
“I think the only people that can really capture the ATEEZ energy are our ATINY, so seeing them follow along with our dance was really fascinating,” Yun Ho said of the dance videos. “It made me want to set more cool choreographies that we can do together in the future.”
Up next for the group is the continuation of its The Fellowship: Break The Wall tour. The trek continues on Aug. 30 with a stop in Santiago, Chile, and will visit Bogota, Singapore and Manila next month.
Watch ATEEZ’s Billboard News interview above.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER is already ready for a new chapter. On Tuesday (Aug. 29), the five-piece boyband announced that its next album, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL is set to arrive this fall — just three months after the K-pop sensations dropped their last album, Sweet.
The news comes via social media posts on both the band and BigHit Music’s accounts, simply sharing the upcoming album’s title and a mysterious video teaser. In the 24-second clip, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s signature “X” symbol fittingly freefalls through an abyss of animated streaks of color, ending with a sprinkling of eery piano notes.
According to a Weverse statement from BigHit, the record will drop Oct. 13. Pre-orders will be available starting Wednesday (Aug. 30), with more details about the album still to come in a separate notice on TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Weverse.
The Name Chapter: FREEFALL will mark Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai’s fifth studio album, following 2019’s The Dream Chapter: Magic, 2021’s Still Dreaming and The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE and this year’s Sweet, their most recent full-length project. Both Still Dreaming and Sweet are Japanese-language albums, with the latter debuting at No. 3 on the World Albums chart earlier this summer.
The guys of TXT are also fresh off their headlining performance at this year’s Lollapalooza, as well as the release of their joint single with the Jonas Brothers, “Do It Like That,” which dropped July 7 and charted for one week on the Billboard Global 200. The South Korean stars opened up about the collaboration in an interview with Billboard last month, during which Taehyun noted that the JoBros “were even cooler in person.”
“Their friendliness helped us work together in a chill environment,” he continued, with Beomgyu adding, “Jonas Brothers were incredibly welcoming from the moment we met. They were just as enthusiastic as we were about shooting content, which we really appreciated.”
See the announcement for The Name Chapter: Freefall below:
NMIXX traveled stateside once more to perform at this year’s KCON LA, which took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Aug. 18-20. Backstage at the festivities, the girl group — which consists of members Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo and Kyujin — caught up with Billboard News to talk about the event, as well […]
Class is finally in session for The Debut: Dream Academy.
HYBE and Geffen Records revealed Monday evening (Aug. 28) the 20 talented contestants from around the world who will be competing for a spot in the first-ever HYBE x Geffen Records global girl group.
The diverse group of young women were selected from more than 120,000 submissions after HYBE and Geffen announced the joint venture — HYBE x Geffen Global Girl Group Audition — in November 2021. The lengthy process of creating the group will be documented in an upcoming Nadia Hallgren-directed Netflix series, which will delve into the journey to global stardom while including insight into the extensive training and development program from HYBE and Geffen Records. The currently untitled series is set to premiere in 2024.
In the meantime, the 20 contestants will participate in The Debut: Dream Academy audition program, which fans can follow along with on YouTube and Japan’s ABEMA beginning Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT. After 12 weeks, the final members of the group will be selected and the name of the group will be revealed at the live finale on Nov. 17. Fans will play a crucial role throughout the entire competition via fan voting on Weverse and TikTok.
“I have wanted to form an international group based on K-pop methodology for a while,” HYBE Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk shared at a press event in Los Angeles on Monday night. “To do this, I believed we needed a capable partner. When I met [Interscope Geffen A&M Records CEO] John [Janick], from the first moment, we both felt instantly that we had a connection, musically and creatively. I am very proud of the rich history we have made and the tremendous talent we have found. I am proud of the opportunities we have created within the K-pop universe.”
For his part, Janick added: “Since we began our partnership two years ago, Bang and I have often spoken about our shared beliefs in artist development, music and creativity. To develop a global group with Bang, with the best of K-pop methodology, and our Geffen team, is truly special and will bring to life a first-of-its kind experience in music. Each candidate is incredibly talented, dedicated, and driven, making this an exciting moment for music fans around the world.”
Geffen President Tom March added: “Watching these incredible candidates work so hard to fulfill their potential creatively has been hugely inspiring to me and everyone at Geffen. People are going to be blown away when they see what each of these candidates has been able to achieve so far.”
Below, in alphabetical order, find the names, ages and home countries of the 20 gifted contestants competing to be in the international girl group.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of HYBE x Geffen Records
NCT’s new album is a family affair. On Monday (Aug. 28), the K-pop group — which consists of subdivisions NCT 127, NCT DREAM, NCT U, NCT DoJaeJung and WayV — released its fourth studio album, Golden Age, on streaming services.
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The album contains 10 tracks, all of which feature different combinations of the members across group subunits. For “Baggy Jeans,” members Taeyong, Ten, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Mark step up to the plate for a high-energy hip-hop song that sees each of them flexing their unique flow, and of course, their stylish clothing. (A music video for the track also arrived with the album’s release on Monday.)
The other songs on the album are “PADO” (Johnny, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark, Xiaojun, Hendery and Haechan), “Interlude: Oasis” (Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Jaemin and Chenle), “The BAT” (Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Jungwoo, Hendery, Jeno and Jisung), “Alley Oop” (Yuta, Winwin, Jaemin, Jeno, Hendery, Yangyang and Jisung), “That’s Not Fair” (Johnny, Taeyong, Ten, Mark, Jeno and Yangyang), “Kangaroo (Taeil, Kun, Renjun, Yangyang, Chenle and Jisung), “Not Your Fault” (Taeil, Kun, Doyoung, Ten, Jungwoo, Xiaojun, Renjun), “Call D” (Ten and Taeyong) and the title track, which includes all 20 members.
Golden Age marks the first album NCT has released since 2021’s Universe – The 3rd Album. That set crowned Billboard‘s World Albums chart, and peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200.
Stream Golden Age below, and watch the visual for “Baggy Jeans” in the video above.
V‘s solo album, Layover, is almost here! And to celebrate, three of the BTS member’s previous tracks — “Scenery,” “Winter Bear” and “Snow Flower” — were released to streaming on Monday (Aug. 28). BTS’ management company, Big Hit Music, tweeted the announcement along with links to YouTube. “Taehyung’s comfort songs finally on Spotify,” one fan […]
After Troye Sivan declared that he was feeling the “Rush,” it looks like PinkPantheress might just be feeling it as well.
In a series of TikToks posted on Sunday (Aug. 27), Sivan and PinkPantheress teased a new remix of the Australian pop star’s single “Rush,” which appears to feature a verse from the viral singer-songwriter. It started with a clip posted on Sivan’s TikTok, in which he dances to a recent song snippet PinkPantheress shared on her socials, writing, “Wow love this lady’s voice. Would love to sing w her one day.”
Shortly after Sivan posted his hint, PinkPantheress took it a step further in her own TikTok clip. Sharing a screengrab of a July 14 tweet in which she said that Sivan’s “Rush” was “toooooo tooooo good,” the singer-songwriter shared a snippet of what sounded like her own verse on a remixed version of the track. “Another successful manifestation,” she wrote under the original tweet, while her caption seemed to officially confirm the news: “So excited for you guys to hear the rush remix.”
Some eagle-eyed fans on the app immediately linked another potential artist to the upcoming remix — Hyunjin of Stray Kids. Shortly after sharing his teaser with PinkPantheress, Sivan shared a nearly identical clip featuring the K-pop star, including a message that was strikingly similar. “Wow love this guy’s voice,” he wrote. “Would love to sing w him one day.” Meanwhile, over on PinkPantheress’ teaser, fans claimed that they could hear Hyunjin’s voice in the background just before the clip ended. Hyunjin has not teased any participation in the project on his social media.
It wouldn’t be the first time Sivan expressed his love for Hyunjin on the app. In the lead-up to the release of “Rush,” Sivan posted a TikTok asking how to get in touch with the K-pop star next to a thirst trap edit of the Stray Kids singer. But in a later interview, Sivan said that he was “pulling the brakes” on trying to get in touch with Hyunjin after receiving a few scary responses to his lighthearted plea.
Speaking about “Rush” shortly after its release, Sivan told Billboard that the song felt like a first step forward in a very new chapter of his career. “I think I’m just used to putting stuff out to my very safe, immediate audience that I know have my back because they’ve been there for so long and everything,” he said. “This time feels very different for some reason.”
Billboard has reached out to reps for Sivan, PinkPantheress and Stray Kids.
Check out Sivan and PinkPantheress’ TikTok teasers below:
It’s been an exciting year for Sabrina Carpenter, who is fresh off her Emails I Can’t Send Tour and just kicked off her stint opening for Taylor Swift on the Latin America leg of the Eras tour. She also just launched her second fragrance, Caramel Dream, and to celebrate, she chatted with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos […]
BTS is currently the biggest boy band in the world, but to ascend such heights, the septet needed to have a series of firsts before making their mark in the United States — something that led to member Suga experiencing serious nerves and doubts about the group’s future, he revealed in the Friday (Aug. 25) episode of his Suchwita show.
Suga was joined by South Korean soccer player Lee Kang-in, and discussed his life in recent weeks, particularly how he deals with pregame jitters before large stadium games. When the athlete said that he often feels sleepy before big matches, Suga reflected on a moment of nervousness ahead of BTS’ first performance in the United States.
“I’m the type that doesn’t get nervous much, but in 2017, we did our U.S. debut performance, and I experienced my hands shaking for the first time,” the K-pop star explained. “The pressure that I needed to do well here made me not be able to sleep at night.”
Lee then spoke about feeling the pressure of proving himself to be a good soccer player in light of switching to the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. team, to which Suga likened it to his own experiences with BTS getting international success and recognition for the first time.
“An athlete has to prove himself through his performance, while a singer does that on stage. For example, we received an award at this award show. We went to Billboard,” he recalled of the May 2017 show, before reflecting on their American Music Awards performance, which came in November that year. “When we first went up on the stage at the AMAs in 2017, since it was so big it wasn’t even a dream of mine. I never even thought of whether it’s possible or not.”
He continued, “After [the AMAs], I was really scared because I knew it was just the start. Since I knew this wasn’t a one-time thing, the pressure of what we need to do in order to create what results [we wanted] slowly crept up on me. So after the AMAs, I cried a lot. [I wondered,] ‘Where do we go from here?’ Because no one could tell us what to do now … we worked like crazy. Even people around us worried that this might be a one-time thing. There was a lot of talk that there would be nothing afterwards.”
The hard work ended up paying off. BTS earned its first chart entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2017. The following year, the septet had three more entries with tracks “Fake Love,” (No. 10) “IDOL” (No. 11) and “Waste It On Me” (No. 89). BTS further cemented its status as the world’s biggest boyband after hitting No. 1 on the charts with “Permission to Dance,” “Dynamite” and “My Universe,” earning multiple Grammy nominations and more.
Watch Suga’s full Suchwita episode in the video above.
Jung Kook is showing ARMY what devotion is. The BTS member added another layer of collaboration to his new hit song “Seven” by dropping a dance-heavy remix with Swedish DJ and producer Alesso on Friday (Aug. 25). The latest version of the song that features Latto adds waves of synth bass and rhythmic variation that […]
