K-Pop
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Agust D aka Suga‘s D-Day has topped this week’s new music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 21) on Billboard, choosing the BTS member’s latest project as their favorite new music release of the past week.
D-Day brought in more than 49% of the vote, beating out new music from Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny, The Weeknd and Future and more.
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The 10-track album released via Big Hit Music is Suga’s first solo full-length, which was led by the single “People Pt.2” featuring IU.
Upon dropping the lead single earlier this month, Sugar told Billboard he was “actually a little bit worried” about the return to his solo moniker. “‘People Pt.2’ was made thinking about how people will receive Agust D’s music, which is why we also featured [his former collaborator] IU. It’s kind of a trial to release this music under the name Agust D,” he said.
Trailing behind D-Day on the poll is Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny’s “un x100to,” with 21% of the vote, and The Weeknd and Future’s “Double Fantasy,” with 17%.
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
Suga of BTS unveiled his debut solo album D-DAY on Friday (April 21), and no one was more excited for the studio set’s arrival than Halsey.
The If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power singer used their social media to shout out the BTS rapper’s full-length debut, sharing single “Haegeum” in an Instagram Story and writing, “Lessss goooooo @agustd ALBUM IS OUT!!!”
The song is a popular choice from Suga’s first full album under his Agust D moniker — in fact, it hit the top spot on the Hot Trending Songs chart earlier this month by dethroning Tyler, the Creator’s two-week reign with Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale deluxe lead-off “Dogtooth.” In the very same tally dated April 22, Suga commanded the No. 3 slot with “AMYGDALA,” as well as three more spots lower down the chart after the reveal of the album’s 10-song track list.
Meanwhile, Halsey has been both a longtime pal and ardent fan of Suga and the rest of his BTS bandmates. Back in 2019, she became one of the first American pop stars to collaborate with the K-pop boy band, being featured on their Map of the Soul: Persona single “Boy With Luv.”
At the time, the team-up earned the septet their highest entry on the Billboard Hot 100 up to that point by rocketing to No. 8. Of course, since then, they’ve racked up five No. 1 hits with “Dynamite,” “Life Goes On,” “Butter,” “Permission to Dance” and Coldplay collab “My Universe.”
Check out Halsey’s sweet support of Suga here before the Story expires.
Suga of BTS released D-DAY, his debut solo album, under his Agust D moniker on Friday (April 21) via Big Hit Music.
The 10-track studio set was preceded by IU collaboration “People Pt.2” as its lead single and also contains the title track, Hot Trending Songs No. 1 “Haegeum,” “HUH?!” (co-written by J-Hope), “Amygdala,” “Interlude: Dawn,” “Snooze” featuring the late Academy Award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and Kim Woosung of The Rose)” and more.
Upon dropping the lead single earlier this month, the rapper told Billboard he was “actually a little bit worried” about returning to his solo moniker, saying, “‘People Pt.2’ was made thinking about how people will receive Agust D’s music, which is why we also featured [his former collaborator] IU. It’s kind of a trial to release this music under the name Agust D.”
Along with D-DAY, Suga will be releasing Road to D-DAY, a companion documentary that follows the K-pop idol through the process of creating and recording the studio set. The special is scheduled to premiere on Disney+, which also hosts J-Hope’s J-Hope IN THE BOX and BTS’ Permission to Dance On Stage – LA concert special, on the same day as the album’s arrival.
The newly appointed NBA ambassador is also taking over Apple Music with his very own radio show, Agust D Radio. The first episode aired this week with the rest of the five episodes slated for the next four weeks at 7PM PT Mondays / 11AM KST Tuesdays.
Stream D-Day by Suga as Agust D below.
Billlie has announced a pause on all their scheduled activities following the death of K-pop star Moon Bin, who was found dead in his Seoul apartment on April 19. The seven-member K-pop girl group includes Moon Sua, the younger sister of Moon Bin. She’s the eldest member of the septet which includes band mates Suhyeon, Tsuki, Haram, Siyoon and Haruna.
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An announcement from Billlie’s record label and management agency, Mystic Story, was posted on the group’s official fan cafe. Mystic Story shared the canceling or postponement of all of Billlie’s scheduled activities for the rest of the week, which included rescheduling a fan-singing event to a later date, as well as notice that the group would likely be sharing future announcements pulling out of TV and broadcast appearances. Mystic Story closed the statement by asking fans for their “generous understanding.”
With a five-year gap between Moon Bin and Sua’s K-pop debuts, despite being less than 20 months apart, the Moon siblings became known by K-pop fans and TV viewers.
The two sang and shared the stage (performing a cover of the classic K-pop song, “Candy in My Ears” as the duo called Brother and Sister on the popular music-chart show Music Bank) and made joint TV appearances together (an episode of sibling-focused show DNA Mate had them take part in a “brother and sister bungee jump”).
Moon Sua has expressed her admiration for her brother. During a 2022 appearance on the popular variety show Knowing Bros, the starlet shared that Moon Bin also acted as a mentor in her music career. “Since he’s my senior, he gives me a lot of strict advice about the stage,” Moon Sua shared. “I’m thankful for that.” The Knowing Bros cast of celebrities and comedians praised Moon Bin, calling him “The world’s best man,” “The best shoulders among all idols,” and recalling his physique as he showcased his wrestling skills in a previous episode of Bros.
While ASTRO and Moonbin&Sanha had established themselves in the K-pop industry with chart-topping albums and No. 1 songs, Billlie has just begun rising since entering the scene in 2021, earning the No. 1 spot on the Korean music-chart program The Show just last month with the new single “Eunoia.”
Following reports of Moon Bin’s passing, music label Fantagio confirmed the news with a statement and shared that his family wished for a quiet funeral with other family members, friends and company colleagues.
J-Hope entered South Korean military boot camp on Tuesday (April 18) in order to fulfill the country’s mandatory 18-month service requirement, but before heading off, the members of BTS gave him an emotional send off as captured in a video shared to the K-pop group’s BANGTANTV.
Suga, RM, Jung Kook, Jimin and V all arrived at the drop-off location to send off the rapper and lift his spirits. While the military service hung heavy among the members, the Bangtan Boys tried keeping the mood light by making several comments on J-Hope’s newly buzzed hair.
“It really suits you,” several of the members remarked throughout the video, with V cheekily telling the rapper to “think of me when you wash your hair.” J-Hope couldn’t help but be delighted by the praise, and frequently ran his hands and fingers though his shortened hair. “The rain just bounces off,” he joked.
Once Jimin arrived, he told the camera, “Our J-Hope … they’re leaving one by one,” before embracing the rapper in a long hug. “You’ve come a long way. How do you feel? Did you get some sleep?” J-Hope replied that he only got three hours and drank a cup of coffee before heading out.
Jung Kook added a few jokes of his own. “I was fine when Jin left, but with J-Hope leaving, I’m pretty sad. I’m kidding!” he said. Meanwhile, V made sure to keep the tears at bay, telling the group, “If someone cries here, won’t it be too different than it was with Jin?”
Jin — who took a day off from service — showed up later in the video, but due to restrictions, was not shown.
After taking several pictures with his fellow BTS members, J-Hope gave BTS ARMY one final message: “Yes, ARMY, I’m off now. I’m fulfilling my duty as an able-bodied Korean man. I’ll be sure to make a safe return and be better than ever and greet you then. Fighting! I love you.”
J-Hope’s entrance into the military makes him the second BTS member to fulfill the requirement after Jin, who started his mandatory military service last year. The remaining BTS members will also be required to complete their mandatory military service over the next couple of years.
Watch J-Hope’s send off in the video above.
In addition to Ryu Su Jeong establishing her independent label and releasing her debut full-length album, the singer-songwriter and former Lovelyz girl-group member is revealing her first-ever English song to reach even more listeners with her music.
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Billboard premieres Ryu Su Jeong’s new song and music video for “How Can I Get Your Love,” a cut off her soon-to-be-released LP, Archive of Emotions.
In a similar soundscape to previously revealed singles “Love or Hate” and “Daydreaming,” which will both appear on the album, “How Can I Get Your Love” offers a lo-fi, bedroom-pop atmosphere elevated by the honeyed melodies Ryu was famous for as a lead vocalist in Lovelyz’s string of hits from 2014-2021.
Over refreshingly unfiltered drums and guitars, Su Jeong expresses mixed emotions that are equally relatable and heartbreaking. In a sweet, melancholy delivery, she sings, “You say, ‘I love you’/ I could not answer anything…/ I’m afraid to imagine that you’re not there/ What if that happens? There’s no such thing that lasts forever.”
The accompanying music video sees the K-pop star in a tangle of situations to represent the spectrum of sentiments expressed in the song. At one moment, Su Jeong is hiding under a couch from the people walking around her, and the next moment she’s lying on the sofa with her hair stroked by a gentle hand. There’s also the juxtaposing image of Su Jeong surrounded by a pile of fuzzy teddy bears that seem adorable until she finds a pair of scissors and rips them all into stuffing.
But the most striking image in the video comes when a pull cord like those of a wind-up doll snakes out of Ryu Su Jeong’s back. Is it a metaphor for a toxic friendship? Infatuation? The K-pop industry? Expect several fan theories to arise from this visual.
In preparation for Archive of Emotions, the 25-year-old tells Billboard she wants songs like “How Can I Get Your Love” to have a universal appeal to soothe and comfort listeners through any difficulties they may be facing.
“I hope the people that listen to my music will heal and be able to confront all sorts of things that are just inevitable and tend to just come in life,” she says. “I also hope it becomes a long-lasting and remembered album for everyone that listens to it.”
Archive of Emotions drops on April 20 at 5 a.m. ET (6 p.m. local time in South Korea). For now, listen to and watch “How Can I Get Your Love” exclusively on Billboard:
BLACKPINK wasted no time bringing the pop straight to your dome on Tuesday night’s (April 18) “Carpool Karaoke” ride on The Late Late Show. In what might be the series’ last commuter sing-along before host James Corden signs off next week, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé dove straight into “Pink Venom,” bouncing in their seats after getting assurances that Corden is a decent driver, and, as it turns out, a superfan who impressed Lisa by grabbing a bit of the song’s rap break.
They also described the rigorous band training camp they survived as teens before blowing up, including lessons in popping and Krumping, with Jisoo displaying the “big hands” and “angry face” gestures needed to pull off the latter dance move. In a testament to their sweet natures, though, all four broke into smiles and laughs as they tried to prove their tough Krump face bona fides.
When Corden showed off his Krump moves, ending his arm flourish with a pair of middle fingers, a giggly Rosé said that was “too much!” They quickly slipped into another fan favorite, “DDU DU DDU DU,” with Rosé crooning into an imaginary microphone as they bounced down the road. As trainees, the quartet said the adored TLC for their singing/rapping style, which, naturally, led to a smooth-as-silk cover of the beloved hip-hop-soul trio’s 1999 hit “No Scrubs.”
Corden ticked off a long list of world records the group has lodged, including most-streamed girl group on Spotify, most-subscribed YouTube artist channel globally and first K-pop group to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts. So, of course, James challenged them to set some new Guinness world records, including the fastest time to assemble a Mr. Potato Head, the most hand claps in a minute and the most Jenga blocks removed in a minute.
Spoiler: they failed every one.
The failure didn’t last long as they busted into “How You Like That,” featuring Lisa’s swaggering rap and some backseat choreo from Jenny and Jisoo. The ride ended with the quartet fangirling over another generation’s No. 1 girl group: The Spice Girls, with Lisa saying she was obsessed with the British “Wannabe” singers as a kid and Jenny adding that she loved how they each had their own unique characters.
Corden couldn’t resist asking the women to come up with their own Spicy nicknames, with Rosé quickly dubbed “Aussie Pink,” Lisa named “Boss Pink,” Jenny taking “Shy Pink” and Jisoo rounding out with “Nail Pink.” They ended with a fun run through “Wannabe,” with Rosé throwing up hand hearts and all four going hard on the chorus.
On Saturday (April 15), BLACKPINK became the first Korean act to headline Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, after making history as the first K-pop girl group to perform at the legendary fest in 2019. . “So… let me start off with, four years ago we were invited to perform here for you at Coachella at the Sahara tent and that made a mark in all of our hearts,” Rosé told the crowd last weekend. ”I must say, this is a dream come true … the reason all four of us are here is because of you.”
Corden’s final Late Late Show will air on April 27.
Watch BLACKPINK’s “Carpool” ride below.
Taste that pink venom! Jisoo finally offered her thoughts on Taylor Swift dancing along to BLACKPINK‘s performance of “Pink Venom” at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in a new interview on Tuesday (April 18).
“Seeing Taylor Swift, someone I listened to a lot growing up, dancing along to our music… I was like, ‘Is this real life?’” the K-pop idol told Teen Vogue while promoting her new solo release ME. “That kind of feeling. For us it was inspiring and a great experience.”
The performance of the lead single from 2022’s Born Pink was the girl group’s grand debut at a U.S. awards show. Jisoo’s bandmate Lisa also took home the best K-pop award for her solo single “Lalisa” during the ceremony, beating out the likes of BTS, Itzy, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids and TWICE. (“We were so proud,” Jisoo says of Lisa’s win.)
Meanwhile, Swift has continued to show love for “Pink Venom” by including the bombastic, swaggering single on the pre-show playlist ahead of each sold-out stop on The Eras Tour.
During the sit-down, Jisoo also revealed she hasn’t quite “fully accepted” some elements of her global stardom. “Even now, I don’t get recognized that much,” she said in her native Korean. “When I walk around, people aren’t like, ‘Are you BLACKPINK’s Jisoo?’ That rarely happens.”
Last weekend, Jisoo, Rosé, Lisa and Jennie headlined day 2 of Coachella, making history as the first South Korean artists to serve as topliners at the Indio, Calif., festival just four years after they first performed at its 2019 edition.
Check out Jisoo dishing on Taylor Swift and more to Teen Vogue here.
South Korean singer-songwriter IU (real name: Lee Ji-eun) re-enters Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart (dated April 22) at No. 1, becoming the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time, thanks to her new hit with Agust D (BTS member Suga‘s musical alter ego), “People Pt.2.”
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The song, released April 7, sold 18,000 downloads in the U.S. in its opening week, according to Luminate. It launches at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales, Rap Digital Song Sales and World Digital Song Sales charts. It also starts at No. 16 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 24 on the Billboard Global 200.su
IU has appeared on Billboard’s charts for over a decade. She first appeared on a listing in December 2011, when her single “You & I” debuted and peaked at No. 3 on World Digital Song Sales. “People Pt.2.” is her 11th top 10 on the chart and second No. 1, after “Eight,” featuring Suga, in May 2020.
“People Pt.2” also earns IU her 21st career entry on World Digital Song Sales, extending her record for the most among female soloists. Among all solo acts, she ties Burna Boy and another BTS member, RM, for the fifth-most, after Wizkid (28), Jay Park (25), Davido and TAEYEON (24 each). BTS leads all acts with a record 146.
The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.
For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
HYBE announced Monday (Sept. 17) that a dozen solo artists and music groups on the SM Entertainment roster will join its global fan community platform, Weverse, in September. Those artists, who have not yet been named, will move to Weverse from SM’s own fan community platform, Kwangya Club.
In addition to connecting with fans via services including Weverse Live, the 12 SM artists will also be featured on the e-commerce platform Weverse Shop, where fans can buy albums and official merchandise.
The Weverse deal derives from a platform partnership struck between HYBE, SM and Kakao Entertainment in March after HYBE fell short of its mission to purchase a controlling stake in SM. HYBE, home to K-pop superstars BTS, was blocked in its efforts by rival bidder Kakao, a South Korean tech company that owns Monsta X‘s label Starship Entertainment and Korean music streaming platform Melon. The battle ended when HYBE agreed to sell its entire SM stake to Kakao; days later, it sold 1.66 million SM shares to Kakao for 248.8 billion won ($191.8 million), amounting to 44% of its total shares in the company and increasing the stake of Kakao Corp. and its subsidiary, Kakao Entertainment, to nearly 40%. HYBE retains an 8.8% stake in SM.
Later in March, SM appointed Jang Cheol-hyuk as the company’s new CEO, succeeding outgoing CEO Lee Sung-soo, and named a new board as the company vowed to improve corporate governance and its production system, which had fallen behind rivals like HYBE in recent years and led to investor scrutiny.
Weverse claims approximately 65 million subscribers across 245 countries and regions globally.