K-Pop
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As a soloist and part of the superstar boy band BIGBANG, Taeyang has been a pioneer in K-pop’s international expansion. His collection of collaborations has been a critical part of his barrier-breaking longevity, as well as his ongoing artistic development for around two decades in the industry.
Even before Taeyang made his official debut on the K-pop scene with his boy band in 2006, the young star sang and rapped on records with his labelmates under YG Entertainment, which helped him find his voice as an artist. Once BIGBANG secured their place as certified chart-toppers, all the members began experimenting with solo albums. Since his first EP in 2008, Taeyang honored his love of soulful music that spotlighted vocals and showmanship akin to his idol Michael Jackson, even leading to his 2014 album Rise becoming the highest-charting solo album by a K-pop artist at the time on the Billboard 200.
Fast-forward to 2023: Taeyang is unleashing a new collaboration to return to music and reintroduce himself to the world. Teaming up with Jimin of BTS, “Vibe” marks the superstar’s long-awaited return to the music industry after he took time off to marry longtime partner Min Hyorin in 2018, handle his mandatory military in 2019, and welcome his first child in 2021. Last year marked the return of BIGBANG with their poignant and moving comeback single “Still Life” (one of the best K-pop releases of 2022, according to Billboard), and set the groundwork for Taeyang to reach for new musical goals in his career this year.
From working with his bandmates on special songs to tracks that span genres with a range of guests, revisit the best of Taeyang’s collaborations to date.
Suga had quite the night when he attended the Los Angeles Lakers game at Crytpo.com Arena on Thursday (Jan. 12).
Not only did the BTS rapper get a courtside seat to watch the Lakers face off against the Dallas Mavericks, he was also gifted a custom Lakers jersey from the team with his name inscribed above the number three. “Jump up to the top, LeBron,” the official NBA Instagram account captioned a snap of the K-pop idol holding his jersey, quoting the line Jung Kook croons in the first verse of the band’s No. 1 hit “Dynamite.”
Ahead of the game, which the Lakers ultimately lost 119 to 115 in overtime, Suga also posed on the court for a photo with Mavericks point guard Luka Dončić. For the occasion, the boy band member wore an oversized black blazer, matching wide-leg trousers and silver hoops in his ears, with his long hair slicked back.
Naturally, ARMY couldn’t get enough of Suga’s night out at the game, with several commenting on the photo posted by the NBA. “Thanks yoongi for creating basketball,” one fan wrote. Another chimed in, “He would be a better player than all of em starters lmaoo.”
In other BTS-related news, Suga’s bandmate Jimin just dropped “Vibe,” his new collaboration with BIGBANG’s Taeyang. Prior to its Friday (Jan. 13) release, the track had already topped Billboard‘s Hot Trending Songs chart — which is powered by Twitter — thanks to the chatter and anticipation surrounding its premiere.
Check out Suga’s photo op with Dončić as well as his brand-new Lakers jersey below.
Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks poses with Suga of BTS before the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena on January 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevork Djansezian/GI
Taeyang and Jimin joined forces to release their new collaborative single “Vibe” on Friday (Jan. 13).
On the track, the two boy band veterans trade verses, singing and rapping, “You know we got that vibe baby/Look at you, look at you/You got the vibe, I can feel it, It’s a vibe.”
Accompanying the song is a suitably vibey visual, which captures the pair’s slick dance moves and charisma.
“Vibe” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Trending Songs Powered by Twitter chart (dated Jan. 14) before it was even released, largely thanks to the collab’s announcement and its accompanying swoon-worthy teaser posters featuring the two idols.
The track marks Taeyang’s first solo track since he was discharged from his mandatory service in the South Korea military in Nov. 2019. Last year, the BIGBANG member inked a new deal with YG Entertainment subsidiary The Black Label, and the boy band also returned from their four-year-long hiatus with their single “Still Life.”
Meanwhile, Jimin’s 2022 collaboration with Ha Sung-woon already holds the record for the second-longest reign at No. 1 on the Hot Trending Songs chart, tied with SB19’s “Bazinga.” The BTS member rang in his 27th birthday — which was celebrated by ARMY worldwide — last fall, just weeks after releasing the first preview images of his solo photo folio Me, Myself, and Jimin: ‘ID : Chaos.’
BIGBANG may have their years in the military behind them, but the members of BTS are just starting to begin the enlistment process required by their home country. In Dec., Jimin and his band mates sent Jin and his freshly buzzed locks off to basic training at the army base in Yeoncheon in a heartwarming video shared to the group’s official YouTube channel.
Watch Taeyang and Jimin’s “Vibe” below.
South Korea-based media company Kakao Entertainment, which owns Monsta X‘s K-pop record label Starship Entertainment, said on Thursday (Jan. 12) it raised 1.2 trillion won ($966 million USD) from a group of investors led by sovereign wealth funds.
The move signals strong investor interest in Korean music and media. Kakao Entertainment owns three other record labels in addition to Starship: Antenna, Edam Entertainment and IST Entertainment, the latter of which lists The Boyz on its roster. Kakao Entertainment also owns the leading South Korean music streaming app Melon, the North America-based webtoon company Tapas Entertainment and several media production companies and is a subsidiary of the tech conglomerate Kakao Corp.
The company plans to use the investment to “spearhead growth in K-culture worldwide,” including expanding its record labels’ reach through distribution partners and its artists’ fanbases through touring, according to a company statement.
“It’s significant that we were able to secure funds of this scale at a time when both the Korean and global markets face a lot of uncertainty and investment sentiment is weaker,” said Kakao Corp.’s chief investment officer and executive vp Bae Jae-hyun in the statement. “This is [a] testament to the global competitiveness and future growth potential of Kakao Entertainment’s unique IP value chain, which spans multiple categories in the entertainment industry.”
Singapore’s GIC and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) each invested 600 billion won ($484 million USD) as part of the deal, the Korea Economic Daily reported earlier on Thursday. GIC and PIF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kakao Entertainment will issue new shares through a third-party allotment, it said.
SEVENTEEN sub-unit BSS unveiled the teaser for “Second Wind,” their first single in five years, on Sunday (Jan. 8).
The visual, which features the words “Ladies and gentlemen they call us BSS” emblazoned over a red dirt running track, promises that the trio of Seungkwan, DK and Hoshi will release the track on Feb. 6. (The unit takes its acronym of a name from “BooSeokSoon,” the three letters from the idols’ Korean names.)
The phrase on the poster also served as the opening line of BSS’ debut single, “Just do it,” back in 2018. Since then, the trio have remained busy with their 10 other bandmates, releasing albums like 2019’s An Ode and 2022’s Face the Sun as well as the latter’s deluxe repackaging as Sector 17.
BSS aren’t the only SEVENTEEN members branching off in the wake of the boy band’s successful 2022, either. Vernon closed out the year by dropping his third solo project in the form of mixtape Black Eye as well as the pop-punk-infused title track’s brash music video.
SEVENTEEN also has a high-profile evangelist in Wednesday star Emma Myers, who spent the beginning of her debut late-night appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week excitedly explaining the math behind the boy band’s name (“There’s thirteen of them…And there are three different groups…And then there’s one team. So thirteen plus three plus one is SEVENTEEN,”) to host Jimmy Fallon and the audience.
Meanwhile, Joshua, Dino and Mingyu hinted that “fresh music” will be coming from the whole of SEVENTEEN sometime in 2023 exclusively to Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly while attending LA3C in December.
Check out the teaser for BSS’ new single “Second Wind” below.
Since debuting in 2016, BLACKPINK has been busy not only making music, but collecting accolades. Besides climbing up the charts with their well-received releases and catchy tunes, the quartet of Lisa, Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo has been raking in numerous firsts as an all-female K-pop group.
Billboard charts records? Check! First K-pop girl group to not only perform at Coachella, but first Asian act to headline the festival? Done! New Guinness World Records? Yep! Surpassing Justin Bieber in YouTube subscribers? You know it! And that’s just several of the notable accomplishments the four ladies of BLACKPINK have notched on their belts in just a few short years. Even more impressive? Many of those achievements came about even before their debut studio album — titled The Album — arrived in October 2020.
“It’s very surprising to us. All the records are the results of our fans, BLINKs, and their unconditional support,” Jennie told Grammy.com of their success in September 2020. “Every day we try to acknowledge how grateful we are, but more than the pressure, we are ready to give them back as much as they gave us. It just gives us more motivation to go further than we ever dreamed of.”
With sophomore studio album Born Pink now out and a world tour to support the set, BLACKPINK is primed to knock down even more records. Read on to see what the global K-pop superstar group has managed to accomplish in North America thus far.
Taeyang’s upcoming Jimin-featuring single “Vibe” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart dated Jan. 14.
Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by Twitter, track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across Twitter, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running Dec. 30-Jan. 5.
“Vibe” marks Taeyang’s first solo single since 2018’s “Louder,” recorded for the Winter Olympics. It’s his first release under THEBLACKLABEL.
BTS’ Jimin last appeared solo via the collaborative track “With You” with Ha Sung Woon, which topped Hot Trending Songs for seven weeks beginning in May 2022.
Though it’s scheduled for release Jan. 13, the announcement of the single on Jan. 4 via social media spurred enough online chatter to launch the song to No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs.
“Vibe” is followed by another song that hasn’t yet seen the light of day: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” also scheduled for a Jan. 13 release. Cyrus announced the new single on Dec. 31 amid her hosting gig for Miley’s New Year’s Party on NBC.
“Flowers” precedes the release of Endless Summer Vacation, Cyrus’ eighth studio album, due March 10.
Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.
As the release of TOMORROW X TOGETHER‘s highly anticipated forthcoming EP, The Name Chapter: Temptation, draws nigh, a new concept teaser and multiple photos for the project were shared on Tuesday (Jan. 10).
The new teaser, titled “Daydream,” features the TXT boys in a glowing ethereal setting. Filmed in a saturated soft focus, the K-pop stars flit around a forest, interact with the trees, read books in the grass and wade through a shallow pond before the dream comes to an end.
The concept photos show the boy band’s duality. In the “Nightmare” theme, members Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai all get a chance to shine. The idols all pose in the midst of a glowing blue set filled with clues such as an hourglass, a chiming bell and stuffed animals decorating the nebulous space.
The photos for the “Daydream” theme — like the teaser video — are in fairytale-like setting, and were shared by BigHit on social media Sunday (Jan. 8).
The Name Chapter: Temptation will be released on Jan. 27. The mini album’s tracklist and official poster are set to drop on Jan. 19, while the album preview will arrive on Jan. 22. Two additional teasers for the project’s lead single will be shared on Jan. 24 and 25. Following the EP’s release, the K-pop group will perform a special showcase on Jan. 28.
The Name Chapter: Temptation will be the group’s first music release since the arrival of its fourth mini EP, minisode 2: Thursday’s Child. That project was a hit for the K-pop stars. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at No. 4. Thursday’s Child achieved even more success on the Top Current Album Sales chart, where it spent 20 weeks on the tally and hit No. 1.
See TXT’s new “Nightmare” concept teaser in the video above, and the concept images below.
MONSTA X unveiled the music video for their new single “Beautiful Liar” as well as their 12th mini-album, REASON, on Monday (Jan. 9) via Starship Entertainment.
Describing the song as a “power funk rock track” in a video shared to their social channels, the K-pop idols spend the associated visual dressed in matching leather suits of blood red as they perform in a burning warehouse surrounded by a bevy of masked backup dancers. (“Just like how your cold eyes play with me/ I get attracted to that irrejectable beautiful lie,” Minhyuk laments on the chorus.)
Elsewhere in the boy band’s message to fans, Joohoney said the new project includes “tracks of various genres that are produced by our members” before asking, “So what more reason do you need?”
“MONSTA X is nothing without our signature performance,” I.M added. “We prepared a lot for you guys, MONBEBE, so please look forward to it.”
This past November, Kihyun sat down with Billboard to answer 20 questions about his debut solo EP Youth, collaborating with his bandmates and celebrating seven years as a group. Meanwhile, leader Shownu is continuing to fulfill his mandatory service in the South Korean military, which he began in July 2021.
Watch the music video for “Beautiful Liar” and stream MONSTA X’s REASON in full below.
BTS‘ Jin was the first member of the septet to begin their mandatory service in the South Korean army last month. But before he left for basic, the 30-year-old singer recorded a special message for the group’s ultra-dedicated non-military ARMY fan group.
“Hello everyone, this is Jin of BTS. I won’t be a civilian by the time the video is out. But I am here in front of the camera, because I wanted to leave you something, even if it is just leaving a message,” said Jin in the minute-long clip filmed in what looks like an alleyway that dropped on Monday (Jan. 9).
He noted that the video was shot during a break from appearing on an episode of the SBS-produced South Korean variety show Running Man, which he appeared on in November; Jin began his enlistment on Dec. 13. “Whenever I am available I wish to leave these videos and records once every few months to share with you as much as possible, even if it’s just checking in briefly,” he continued. “I may not be by your side at this very moment, but I’ll go looking for you soon, so if you just wait a little bit. I’ll be back soon. That’s all for today. Next time when I have the chance, I’ll be back with another video.”
Just before leaving for bootcamp last month, Jin uploaded a photo which showed off that his signature locks — most recently on display in his “Astronaut” music video — were shorn in favor of what’s known as the “induction cut.”
Per national law, all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the armed forces for at least 18 months with varying lengths of service time. While the draft begins once they turn 18, men may postpone it until age 28. In December 2020, the Korean National Assembly passed a motion (nicknamed the “BTS law”) to allow top K-pop stars to postpone service until age 30 with a recommendation from the culture minister.
Jin is the first of the seven BTS members to fulfill his mandatory obligations.
Watch Jin’s video below.