K-Pop
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Who knew Usher was a Blink? The R&B veteran opened up about his love for BLACKPINK in a new interview published on Wednesday (Feb. 22).
Speaking to GQ, the “Confessions, Part 2” crooner recalled being introduced to the magic and magnetism of Rosé, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo’s live show by his two teen boys, Usher “Cinco” Raymond V and Naviyd Ely Raymond. “I literally went to a BLACKPINK concert in Atlanta, and I was like, man!” he said with a laugh. “I’m goofy! I’m looking like, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’ They were putting on a show. Wardrobe, great sequencing, with the lighting and everything working in sync—there’s no detail spared. I loved that.”
The spectacle of the K-pop quartet’s Born Pink World Tour also influenced Usher’s detail-oriented approach to his own Las Vegas residency — Usher: My Way — currently happening at the Dolby Live inside the Park MGM.
“I really wanted to give women something to look forward to, something to come here to Las Vegas with their friends for,” he stated. “They come out and really enjoy themselves for the entire weekend. They want to be able to really get away and have an experience.”
While Usher’s latest jaunt in Sin City is slated to continue through this coming July, BLACKPINK announced earlier this month that the Born Pink World tour will head to Australia and Mexico. This April, the girl group will make its epic return to the Coachella Valley to headline Coachella 2023, four years after making its debut at the festival in 2019.
Read Usher’s full GQ profile here.
After two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the last 10 months, Stray Kids have delivered another new project focused on the Japanese market.
Released the morning of Feb. 21 (Feb. 22 local time in Japan), The Sound marks Stray Kids’ first original Japanese full-length album. The 10-track record follows up two previous EPs that the boy band packaged for Japan with Circus from 2022 and All In from 2020. While those earlier EPs consisted of half or more remakes of their K-pop material, The Sound is a majority of original music.
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Ahead of the full album today, several singles previewed the LP including “Scars” and “Thunderous (Japanese Version),” which were both originally released in 2021, “Case 143 (Japanese Version)” from 2022, and the rip-roaring title track “The Sound” from January, and rhythmic ballad “There” from Feb. 15, ahead of the full album today.
Demonstrating fan anticipation for the LP, the Kids took over the top 5 of Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart, powered by Twitter, dated Jan. 28, with the title track at No. 1, and the cuts “DLMLU,” “Novel,” “Battle Ground” and “Lost Me” at Nos. 2-5, respectively.
Two tracks from The Sound are on the Japan Hot 100 chart dated Feb. 18, 2023. After peaking at No. 14 last year, “Case 143” is at No. 78 for its 19th week on the chart. Meanwhile, “The Sound” is at No. 96 after debuting at No. 34 last week. So far, SKZ peaked at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 with “Scars” in 2021.
While Stray Kids’ most recent Korean albums have been able to top the Billboard 200 thanks to their wide availability in retail stores after signing with Republic Records, there’s no current indication that The Sound or any of the band’s other J-pop material will be made available in retail stores or via physical albums like other Korean bands (such as BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER) have previously done.
Looking ahead, Stray Kids will return stateside next month to make up the previously-postponed dates in Atlanta and Fort Worth as part of their Maniac World Tour, and hold their first-ever arena concerts in the U.S. for a pair of shows at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium on March 31 and April 2.
Stream Stray Kids’ The Sound here.
After 2022 marked KCON’s in-person return following two years online, the world’s biggest K-pop festival has set 2023 dates for events in the U.S., Japan and Thailand in the coming months.
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Once again, KCON will hold its flagship event in California with KCON 2023 Los Angeles between Aug. 18-20 at the Crypto.com Arena and LA Convention Center. Barring 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, the West Coast iteration of the festival has been held throughout the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as the Staples Center) and LA Convention Center since 2015, with 2023 marking its 10th time in the city’s famous L.A. Live campus.
Last year, KCON LA reported 90,000 fans attending across its three days of convention, panels, workshops meet-and-greets and concert activities headlined by artists like Stray Kids, ATEEZ, ITZY, The Boyz, Kep1er, TO1 and more.
After visiting Tokyo in October, KCON also revealed that it will return with its KCON 2023 Japan between May 18-20 at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba. The fest last visited the city for its two-day KCON Premiere Chiba event last year where K-pop boy band TO1 performed alongside J-pop acts like JO1 and INI. KCON 2022 Japan was held at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena with TO1, ATEEZ, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, fromis_9, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, Monsta X‘s Kihyun and more K-pop and J-pop acts performing.
KCON Los Angeles and Japan join the preciously announced KCON Thailand, taking place next month at the IMPACT Arena and IMPACT Exhibition Center throughout March 18-19 in Bangkok’s northern suburb of Muang Thong Thani. The festival has TO1, ATEEZ, Kep1er, JO1, BamBam, iKON,(G)I-DLE and more K-pop and J-pop acts scheduled to visit.
KCON followed up in a press release that each location would have “signature programming as well as content tailored for each region” and that KCON will be live streamed globally without regional limitations.
Despite increasing competition from new K-pop festival startups like last year’s KAMP and the upcoming We Bridge Music Festival & Expo, as well as more Korean artists appearing on long-running U.S. music fests like Coachella, Lollapalooza and Governor’s Ball, KCON has managed to keep its attendance and audience engagement strong for more than a decade now.
“KCON, which started out with an audience of 10,000 in 2012, has now grown into the world’s biggest K-culture festival,” said Kim Hyun-soo, Head of Live Entertainment Business at CJ ENM, in a statement. “This year, KCON will meet global fans in Thailand, Japan and the U.S., advancing the spread of K-pop and K-culture around the world.”
TWICE is hitting the road again. As announced Tuesday (Feb. 21), the K-pop girl group will embark on its highly anticipated READY TO BE world tour this spring, the group’s fifth total world tour and its largest so far.
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The tour will see the ladies of TWICE — Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu — playing 17 shows across 14 cities, beginning April 15 with stops in South Korea, Australia and Japan. The group will then head overseas to North America, where it’ll make stops at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium and MetLife Stadium, concerts that will make them the first female K-pop girl group to play either venue. More North American dates are forthcoming, according to a release.
The tour news follows Billboard‘s announcement that TWICE will be honored at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards with the Breakthrough Artist Award on the first of March. The honor comes after TWICE’s “Moonlight Sunrise,” a single off the group’s March-slated EP Ready to Be, became their second ever entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 84. The track also earned TWICE a career high placement on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart, peaking at No. 3.
Tickets for shows in the U.S. will be available through a Ticketmaster Verified Fan sale, now open for registration. If any additional tickets remain after the Verified Fan sale concludes, a general onsale will be announced at a later date. Information for tickets to shows in Korea, Australia and Japan can be found on local event pages.
See the list of confirmed Ready to Be Tour dates below:
Saturday, April 15th – Korea / Seoul / KSPO Dome
Sunday, April 16th – Korea / Seoul / KSPO Dome
Wednesday, May 3rd – Australia / Sydney / Qudos Bank Arena
Saturday, May 6th – Australia / Melbourne / Rod Laver Arena
Saturday, May 13th – Osaka / Japan / Yanmar Stadium Nagai
Sunday, May 14th – Osaka / Japan / Yanmar Stadium Nagai
Saturday, May 20th – Tokyo / Japan / Ajinomoto Stadium
Sunday, May 21st – Tokyo / Japan / Ajinomoto Stadium
Saturday, June 10th – United States / Los Angeles / SoFi Stadium
Tuesday, June 13th – United States / Oakland / Oakland Arena
Friday, June 16th – United States / Seattle / Tacoma Dome
Wednesday, June 21st – United States / Dallas / Globe Life Field
Saturday, June 24th – United States / Houston / Toyota Center
Wednesday, June 28th – United States / Chicago / United Center
Sunday, July 2nd – Canada / Toronto / Scotiabank Arena
Thursday, July 6th – United States / New York / MetLife Stadium
Sunday, July 9th – United States / Atlanta / Truist Park
BTS‘ Jimin announced details about his upcoming first solo album, FACE, on Tuesday (Feb. 21). The news about the collection, due out on March 24, was accompanied by a 35-second video featuring ambient music and a series of water droplets spinning out ripples on the surface of water that eventually form the album’s title.
In a Weverse post featuring additional details, the solo effort is described as being about “Jimin facing himself head-on as he gets ready for his next step as a solo artist.” The pre-order date for the collection begins at 9 p.m. ET. on Wednesday (Feb. 22). At press time no tracklist or initial single had been announced.
Jimin’s first full-length solo album will follow on the heels of his hit single with fellow K-pop singer TAEYANG of BIG BANG, “Vibe,” which recently gave both stars their first visit to the Billboard Hot 100. To date, Jimin has released the solo songs “Lie” and “Serendipity,” as well as the song “With You’” from the soundtrack to the TvN drama Our Blues.
The announcement was the latest from the K-pop superstars in the midst of their hiatus, during which each member has embarked on their own solo ventures. So far, J-Hope has released the album/documentary Jack in the Box, Suga has announced the dates for his first solo tour, RM dropped his debut album, Indigo, Jin collaborated on “The Astronaut” single with Coldplay, Jung Kook teamed with Charlie Puth on the song “Left and Right” and V starred in the reality show In the Soop: Friendcation.
Check out the album prevew below.
It’s a great day to be a ONCE! On Thursday (Feb. 16), TWICE revealed the names of the tracks set to appear on its forthcoming mini album, Ready to Be.
The K-pop girl group shared the list via social media with a poster that featured the song credits and track names. Ready to Be consists of seven tunes total. The group’s previously released second English single “Moonlight Sunrise” is included in the set, in addition to new songs “Got the Thrills,” “Blame It on Me,” “Wallflower,” “Crazy Stupid Love” and “Set Me Free.” “Set Me Free” is the only track on the record that will receive a version in both English and Korean.
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Earlier this month, TWICE announced that Ready to Be will be released on March 10. Fans looking for special editions of the album are in luck, as the project will arrive in three different colorways — black, pink and white, or tan and brown. Every version of the album will include a folded poster, a postcard, message card and photocard. A second poster and a photocard set will also be included, but correlates with the album colorway ordered.
Ready to Be marks TWICE’S 12th mini album. The K-pop group’s last mini-album, Between 1&2, was on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks and peaked at No. 3.
Before TWICE releases Ready to Be, the K-pop stars will be honored at Billboard‘s Women in Music event on March 1 with the Breakthrough Award.
See the tracklist for Ready to Be below.
A sweet treat. Jin surprised ARMY with a Valentine’s Day message posted to the official BTS YouTube channel on Tuesday (Feb. 14).
“Hello everyone, it’s Jin. It’s February now and I came here to see you….In February, there’s Valentine’s Day. Right? I’m pretty sure. Which is why I prepared these desserts here,” the K-pop idol says in the clip, showing off the tray of colorful macarons in front of him.
Pointing out that he’s rounded up seven of the French confections because of the seven members in BTS, Jin proceeds to write a message in his native Korean on the macarons, spelled out entirely in chocolate sauce. “Since only ARMY are gonna be watching this video, I’m gonna write stuff related to ARMY,” he says before struggling to spell out the name of the BTS fandom in chocolate on the first two pastries.
From there, “The Astronaut” singer decides to add more to the message, writing, “I love you lots” with a heart on the last macaron. (“It’s harder than I thought, this requires a lot of skills,” he mentions before declaring, “This is perfect.”)
The video message comes at the perfect time for ARMY whom are missing Jin while he’s in basic training as part of his required enlistment in the South Korean military. But don’t worry, the vocalist finished up the clip by promising he’d “come back with something else next month” on the BTS YouTube channel before signing off with a cheery “Bye!”
In other BTS news, Suga unveiled the dates for his very first solo tour earlier this week, which will begin April 26 at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York.
Watch Jin’s thoughtful Valentine’s Day message to ARMY below.
BTS‘ Suga announced the dates for his first-ever solo world tour on Tuesday morning (Feb. 14). According to a posting on Weverse, the unnamed tour is slated to kick off on April 26 at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York before dates at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (April 29), Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL (May 3, 5 & 6), the Kia Forum in Los Angeles (May 10, 11, & 14) and Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA (May 16, 17).
The outing will then head overseas for dates in Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore, as well as a two-night stand in BTS’ home country of South Korea at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seioul on June 24 and 25 and as-yet-unannounced gigs in Japan.
A release announcing the tour noted that the Weverse post mentioned Agust D, Suga’s other stage name, which caused a lot of ARMY chatter about what fans might expect from the dates; click here for ticketing and Verified Fan information. The rapper and dancer posted a video in December in which he showed off his smooth moves in a hip-hop dance 101 class with the help of a private instructor.
“Hello everyone. At age 30, I’ve come to take dance lessons. Basic hip-hop moves. It’s been about 12 years since I last did this in high school. I’ll give it a try,” he said in the video, telling fans that he felt like he’d taken a trip back in time to his pre-BTS trainee days. “I’m a mess. This is so hard. It’s so hard to do this [basic moves] after a long time. I feel kind of dumb doing this. When I first joined as a trainee I’d never danced before.”
He also updated ARMY on what he’s been up to since the group announced their hiatus in June. “I’ve learned some basic hip-hop moves. I’ve suddenly got an interest in learning at the age of 30,” he said. ”I’m taking all kinds of lessons now. I’ve started playing the keyboard again. I’m also taking guitar and dance and Japanese and English.”
While J-Hope headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago last July and Jin performed his single “The Astronaut” with Coldplay in Argentina in October, Suga’s outing is the first full-fledged solo tour by a member of BTS. The rapper previously released two mixtapes under his solo alter ego, Agust D (2016) and D-2 (2020).
Check out Suga’s tour poster and 2023 solo tour dates:
Courtesy Photo
April 26 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
April 27 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
April 29 — Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center
May 3 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 5 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 6 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 10 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 11 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 14 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 16 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
May 17 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
May 26 — Jakarta, ID @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
May 27 — Jakarta, Indonesia @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
May 28 — Jakarta, Indonesia @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
June 10 — Bangkok, Thailand @ Impact Arena
June 11 — Bangkok, Thailand @ Impact Arena
June 17 — Singapore, SG @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
June 18 — Singapore, SG @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
June 24– Seoul, KR @ Jamsil Indoor Stadium
June 25 — Seoul, KR @ Jamsil Indoor Stadium
Japan dates TBA
After KEY opened up to Billboard about the film and family references that made Gasoline his most personal and empowering album yet, the K-pop star returns with its deluxe version, Killer, that showcases another side of the SHINee member.
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The title track single “Killer” sees KEY throwing it back to the ’80s with a workout-ready, synth-pop production soundtracking the guilt and self-conviction he needs to justify a harsh breakup. The accompanying video keeps somewhat in line with the throwback sound with KEY embracing similar elements to classic sci-fi action flicks like Tron and Blade Runner for cinematic scenes of the star riding through a city on a futuristic motorcycle. Meanwhile, the dance numbers in the visual feel classically KEY as he powers through interpretive dance moves to tell his story.
KEY also showed how the vintage inspirations come to life in Killer‘s album packaging, sharing on Instagram the video game and VHS–esque graphics that will instantly strike nostalgia in any ’80s or ’90s kid.
Alongside “Killer,” KEY’s repackaged record includes two other new songs including anthemic thumper “Heartless” and “Easy,” produced by KEY’s past collaborators LDN Noise who have been behind tracks like “Guilty Pleasure,” and SHINee singles “View” and “Married to the Music.”
Watch “Killer” below:
Jay Park had a busy day after delivering his new singles and twerking skills for Kehlani.
On the evening of Feb. 13 local time in South Korea, the rapper-singer-CEO dropped two new songs, “Yesterday” and “Love Is Ugly” featuring Hwa Sa of K-pop girl group MAMAMOO. While Park is most known for his rap skills, the two new tracks see the Korean-American star embracing his R&B sensibilities and showcasing a tender vocal approach.
“Yesterday” is an English acoustic track that comes with a stripped-down music video where Park sings heartfelt lyrics (“Your smile is all I need, without you these lungs can’t breathe/ I’d fall from the sky for you, want to do better and thrive for you”) in a white T-shirt and jeans. Soon enough, the love interest Jay’s singing to joins him, played by actress Lee You-mi who’s best known as the Emmy Award–winning Squid Game actress who was the first Korean named Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
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Park’s second new song, “Love Is Ugly,” stays in a similarly laid-back, R&B sound with Jay and Hwa Sa trading off expressive, emotive verses. The two performed the track live for Hwa Sa’s cable television show on Korean TV station tVn (below), with the latest episode also including a cover of Park’s excellent pop-R&B single “Ganadara” and Hwa Sa covering “Stay” by 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner Rihanna.
After dropping the new music, Jay Park made his way to Seoul’s YES 24 Live Hall where Kehlani was performing as part of the Asia leg of her Blue Water Road Trip tour that night. Not only was Jay spotted watching the show, but he eventually joined Kehlani on stage for what appeared to be an impromptu dance lesson of how to twerk to Park’s 2015 single “MOMMAE.” Fans in attendance shared footage throughout the night, including the moment when Jay pulled his shirt off prompting a hyped-up reaction from the crowd and Kehlani herself.
“Yesterday” and “Love Is Ugly” are the latest releases from Jay Park under his newly created More Vision record label that launched nearly a year ago. Like these two new tracks, More Vision has seen Park serving more in the pop and R&B lane with singles like “Ganadara” and “Need to Know.” The former track earned Park his first Top 10 entry on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart since 2016, perhaps indicating that U.S. fans are especially loving his latest venture.
Watch Jay Park’s “Yesterday” video with Lee You-mi and “Love Is Ugly” live performance with Hwa Sa below: