State Champ Radio K-Pop
Page: 72
Fans wondering when a second video from RM‘s Indigo would be released did not have to wait long. On Tuesday (Dec. 6), the BTS rapper dropped a visual to accompany “Still Life (with Anderson .Paak),” which quite literally sees the K-pop idol suspended in time.
RM starts off the video sitting in a train, reading from a journal. But as soon as the song’s lyrics kicks in, the setting around him starts to freeze — first the outside landscape and people on the train, then an empty coffee cup, and then figures of himself as he moves through the train and raps the poppy track. The series of events appear to be a dream as a train attendant asks him if he requires assistance; the still landscape and people on the train begin moving again.
The Indigo album cycle has been a whirlwind so far for the BTS star. The video for the album’s lead single “Wild Flower” arrived with the 10-song set, and hours later, he appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series to perform tracks from the album.
Speaking about Indigo on Suchwita, Suga of BTS’ sit-down talk show, RM said, “It’s been 15 years [since we started pursuing music] and yet in a sense, this is my first album. So after 15 long years I finally have a chance to prove to myself in the form of a solo album. That’s what I felt.”
RM also added that he was happy to have the chance to make a statement about who he is as an artist now on Indigo, because “to be honest, in my Mono album, I had doubts and concerns for about half the songs in there, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for this album.”
Watch the video for “Still Life” above.
BTS‘ management company BigHit posted a friendly note to ARMY on Monday (Dec. 5) thanking the band’s hardcore fans for supporting the group while offering them an update on member Jin’s pending mandatory military service. The 30-year-old singer is slated to begin his stint on Dec. 13 as the first member of the seven-man group to enlist, and BigHit warned ARMY that there will be no “official event” to mark the day.
“Jin will fulfill his required time with the military by enlisting in the army. Please note that we will not be holding any kind of official event on the day of his recruitment,” read a note from BigHit posted on the fan community Weverse site about the upcoming big day for the group’s eldest member. “The entrance ceremony is a time to be observed by military personnel and their families only. In order to prevent any issues that might occur from crowding, we ask fans to please refrain from visiting the site. Instead, we ask you to keep your heartwarming words of support and farewell in your hearts.”
In addition, BigHit advised fans to not get “adversely affected” by buying unauthorized tour or product packages that illegally use BTS’ intellectual property in an attempt to capitalize on Jin’s military hitch. “Our company will take necessary action against any attempts at commercial activity making unauthorized use of such IP,” read the note, which ended with a kind thank you for ARMY’s unwavering devotion.
“We ask for your continued love and support for Jin until he finishes his military service and comes back,” it read. “Our company will also strive to provide every support he needs during this time.”
“Jin will initiate the process as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October,” read a previous statement from BigHit that month, which noted the group will reconvene around 2025 after all their respective military enlistments are concluded. “He will then follow the enlistment procedure of the Korean government. Other members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans.”
All able-bodied male South Korean citizens must serve in the armed forces for at least 18 months, though the length of service may vary. Draft begins in the year they turn 18, but men may postpone it until age 28. In December 2020, the South Korean National Assembly passed the so-called “BTS law” to allow K-pop entertainers to postpone the service until the age of 30, with a recommendation from the culture minister.
In the midst of BTS’ hiatus, Jin scored his first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in November when his single “The Astronaut” debuted at No. 51 in its first tracking week.
Following last week’s news of Chuu‘s removal from LOONA, the former girl group member is moving forward with a new seasonal duet.
As the latest installment in a series of singles produced by Korea’s Lotte Department Store, “Dear My Winter” dropped Monday (Dec. 5) as a new duet between Chuu, a current face for the retail brand, and rising R&B singer George. With a jazzy, old-timey production that brings the same nostalgia of classic Christmas songs, the harmonious collaboration highlights the duo’s softer vocals to sing of a “winter” lover that comes to them like a wrapped present or comforting holiday.
Chuu Removed From LOONA Amid Back-and-Forth Reports Between K-Pop Group & Label
12/05/2022
The accompanying video is also suited for the season with Chuu and George in cozy sweaters and blankets to duet inside an animated living room complete with a Christmas tree, fireplace and snow falling outside.
“Dear My Winter” is the latest solo release from Chuu this year, following her “Lullaby” duet with rapper-singer B.I from June, plus two covers of classic ’90s K-pop songs via “One and Half” in August and “Confession” in October. The star had been consistently building up solo work and appearances, in addition to performing with LOONA through the past years, until the confusing back-and-forth between the K-pop group and LOONA’s record label led to Chuu’s ousting. Billboard can confirm that this single was scheduled for release since at least mid-November, meaning that the current situation with Chuu and her label was not a factor in this song’s release.
There have been no further updates from either Chuu or her former record label BlockBerryCreative since the star posted a short message on her Instagram thanking fans for support. However, LOONA fans are still eager for answers and taking to social media asking for information.
Watch the “Dear My Winter” video from Chuu and George below:
Suga‘s show is off to a great start. The BTS rapper released the debut episode of Suchwita on Monday (Dec. 5), in which his fellow group mate RM discussed his debut solo album Indigo, shared his fears while making the project, and revealed which member of the group was the first to listen to the album when it was complete over drinks.
Speaking of what it’s like to release an album, RM said, “I feel a little strange. Basically what this is, you and I have been in this field for about the same time considering we started music around the same time. It’s been 15 years [since we started pursuing music] and yet in a sense, this is my first album. So after 15 long years I finally have a chance to prove to myself in the form of a solo album. That’s what I felt.”
Going into recording of the album, RM was happy to have the chance to make a statement about who he is as an artist now on Indigo, because “to be honest, in my Mono album, I had doubts and concerns for about half the songs in there, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for this album.”
Suga then revealed that “J-Hope was the only one who listened to all tracks before the release” — something that RM noted is actually a rare occurrence for the BTS boys.
“Usually we don’t ask each other to listen to our album. Before Jack in the Box was out, I think I was the first one to listen to it before its official release,” he added. “So I told him when my album was ready that I would want him to listen to it first. That’s how I got Hobi to listen to it. I usually don’t do that kind of thing, but I invited him to give back what I got from him.”
RM’s debut solo album Indigo was released on Friday, Dec. 2. To celebrate the release, the rapper performed tracks from the album for NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.
Watch RM and Suga’s chat on Suchwita above.
BLACKPINK‘s Born Pink era is still in full swing, but the group — which consists of members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé — is taking a walk down memory lane. The K-pop group previously teased “Born Pink Memories” on Thursday (Dec. 1), and followed up with an eight-minute short of behind-the-scenes footage from the “Pink Venom” video shoot on Friday (Dec. 2).
The video kicks off the the quartet preparing the “Pink Venom” teaser concept photos, with scenes of each girl posing solo and later convening inside the photo’s large — and artfully cracked — glass box. in between fierce poses, they have cute friendship moments dancing, playing together and making silly faces.
Each scene from the larger-than-life video got a few dedicated moments of attention, starting with Jennie’s car scene, which she shared that at one point on set, she drove the car through the wall; Rosé’s black water scene, which she revealed she conceptualized; Jennie and Lisa’s joint rap; Lisa’s “tomb raider dome” that was built with actual cracked mirror glass for the floor, and more.
While it’s unclear when the second “Born Pink Memories” episode will arrive, the video concluded with a note that read “to be continued,” meaning BLINKs have more memories to look forward to.
BLACKPINK is currently on the European leg of its Born Pink World Tour. The trek’s first stop was on Nov. 30 at the O2 in London, and will make stops in Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and more before heading back to Asia in 2023 for a series of dates in January, March and May.
Watch BLACKPINK’s first episode of “Born Pink Memories” above.
In November, HYBE CEO Jiwon Park announced during a company briefing that TOMORROW X TOGETHER — which consists of members Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai — would be back in January 2023 with brand new music. Now, fans are getting the first official taste. On Friday (Dec. 2), the K-pop group dropped a concept teaser for its upcoming album, The Name Chapter.
The Name Chapter concept trailer sees the idols experiencing a series of dreamy events. They first start off in an open-air setting, before introducing a devil-like creature and scenes of the boys being hoisted up on marionette strings. The story concludes with all the members in a house floating in the sky, which gets tilted on an axis and leaves the group with no choice put to jump out into the open air.
The Name Chapter follows TXT’s previous EP installments The Dream Chapter and The Chaos Chapter. It will be the first music release the quintet has dropped since the arrival of its fourth mini EP, minisode 2: Thursday’s Child in May. 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. The mini album achieved even more success on the Top Current Album Sales chart, where it spent 20 weeks on the chart and hit No. 1.
Speaking about Thursday’s Child in a May interview with Billboard, Soobin looked ahead to the future. “As we have more years and even more albums under our belts, we’re getting better outcomes and better numbers,” he said. “We have [also] tried many genres in music. As we work on more and more albums, [I feel like] we don’t have any limits. We’ve taken this musical journey step by step.”
Watch the The Name Chapter concept teaser in the video above.
Dedicated ARMY veterans will likely be dissecting the set of RM’s NPR Tiny Desk concert for the rest of the month. To celebrate the release of his solo album, Indigo, the BTS rapper born Kim Nam-joon recreated an amazingly detailed replica of the Washington, D.C.-based Tiny Desk office set in South Korea, complete with shelves packed with tasty Easter eggs.
But the focus, of course, was on the vocals, which the 29-year-old star delivered on with ease, beginning with the jazzy opening track of his three-song set, “seoul.” The chilled-out bilingual song from RM’s 2018 mono mixtape set a mellow mood for the 18-minute mini-show, complete with warm keyboards and restrained beats from drummer JK Kim.
After the opening track, RM said it was about his second home town in South Korea, before introducing his band and noting that the album version of the opening track from Indigo, “Yun,” features R&B legend Erykah Badu, who, unfortunately, could not make it to Seoul for the session. RM also explained that it was inspired by Korean painter Yun Hyong-keun, who, “was always saying that you should firstly be a human before you do some art or do something, so this song is inspired by his lifelong message,” he said, adding that one of the artist’s images is on the Indigo cover.
While the band played the slow-rolling soul rap tune, Badu’s recorded vocals floated above the chorus as RM dropped his mashed-up English/Korean bars over the loungey arrangement. “F–k the trendsetter/ I’mma turn back the time/ Back the time, far to when I was nine,” he rapped before seamlessly slipping into Korean for the rest of the first verse.
RM said that though he’s been doing music for 15 years — 10 of them with BTS — Indigo is his first official full-length solo album. “I went all the way just to release these 10 tracks and 10 colors out of my soul and out of my ego,” he said of the album that dropped on Friday (Dec. 2) in the midst of BTS’ open-ended group hiatus.
“This time I finally could show the world what’s really inside me and what I wanted to do,” he added of the collection he’s been working on since 2019 with the band, which also featured Jaeshin Park on bass and DOCSKIM on keyboards.
For the final track, RM slid into Indigo‘s funky second track, “Still Life,” which he said was inspired by a visit to a “random” museum where he saw lots of paintings from the 19th century with that title, giving him the idea to write a song about his life being like a canvas on which he exhibits himself to the whole world. The soul clap tune was the perfect excuse to bust out some of BTS’ signature coordinated dance moves, but given the setting, RM had to make do with dropping his emphatic verses from an office chair as the band swirled up some sinuous grooves behind him.
Watch RM’s Tiny Desk concert below.
RM finally unveiled his long-awaited debut solo album Indigo on Friday (Dec. 2) via Big Hit Music.
For his first full-length effort sans his BTS bandmates, the rapper enlisted a diverse slate of guests assists from the likes of Erykah Badu (opener “Yun”), Anderson .Paak (“Still Life”), Epik High leader Tablo (“All Day”), Paul Blanco and Mahalia (the Honne-produced “Closer”) and more.
“Indigo recounts the stories and experiences RM has gone through, like a diary,” a press release revealed ahead of the album, promising to “present a different charm” to the South Korean rapper.
With the release of Indigo, RM becomes the latest member of the best-selling K-pop boy band to deliver a solo LP, just months after J-Hope dropped the 10-track Jack in the Box. He previously released his self-titled EP in 2015 and follow-up Mono in 2018.
He’ll support the new album with an NPR Tiny Desk concert, dropping at 5am Friday (Dec. 2), and the release of an official music video for Indigo’s lead single “Wild Flower” — which features South Korean rock singer youjeen.
In other BTS-related news, Jin is set to be the first Bangtan Boy to begin his mandated service in the South Korean military this month in the wake of his new solo single “The Astronaut.”
Stream Indigo below.
One of K-pop’s most famous love stories ended after HyunA and Dawn shared that they had broken up after six years of dating but remain friendly.
On Nov. 30, HyunA shared a post on Instagram announcing the breakup. The starlet shared that the couple broke up but decided to remain good friends and colleagues moving forward. HyunA thanked fans for their support.
Dawn followed up with his own statement on Instagram to denounce a comment meant to look like it was written by the singer-rapper and former boy band member insinuating his ex was meeting other men and hiding other secrets about her past. The 28-year-old shared that he would be taking legal action against the original person who spread the rumor and those sharing the information. Dawn also doubled down on his affection for HyunA, saying she remains precious to him and an artist he loves despite the breakup.
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After beginning to secretly date when HyunA and Dawn were first recording as part of the K-pop trio Triple H (alongside Dawn’s former bandmate Hui) in 2016, the couple’s rumored relationship broke through local Korean media in August 2018. Both artists’ label management at the time, Cube Entertainment, denied the news. Still, HyunA and Dawn met with the Korean news agency Yonhap, without their label’s consent, to confirm their relationship of more than two years. In response, Cube canceled the surrounding promotion around a new Triple H album and terminated the artists’ contracts by September. The string of events garnered international news coverage, with many fans divided about the artists’ and label’s decisions in handling the news, alongside a sea of social-media support behind the K-pop stars standing up for their relationship.
By 2019, HyunA and Dawn both signed as new artists to PSY‘s recently launched P NATION label. PSY told Billboard that year how HyunA was vital in getting Dawn a deal with the label. The “Gangnam Style” singer also laughed when describing the “strange” couple, sharing how “they dance together, they write songs together, and they compete with each other… it’s very creative.”
Under P NATION, HyunA returned to the top of the charts with multiple EPs, along with the hit single “I’m Not Cool,” while Dawn released his first solo songs including “Money” and “Dawndididawn.” Under their new label, the two broke new ground in the K-pop industry in 2021 by releasing a joint EP under the name “HyunA&Dawn” with the single “Ping Pong”; its music video boasts more than 110 million views to date. The couple was said to be engaged when they showed off matching rings on an Instagram post in February this year, where Dawn commented, “MARRY ME.” HyunA wrote, “Of course, it’s a yes,” in a post now deleted from her account.
Dating is typically considered taboo in the K-pop industry, with some artists contractually required to refrain from dating. While relationships going public have rocked some K-pop careers, the attitude around these couples appears to be slowly changing from the fan, artist and management level. Industry leaders like HYBE and YG Entertainment have recently refused to comment on relationship rumors between their artists, citing the singer’s private lives. At the same time, HyunA and Dawn booked magazine covers and photo shoots together being openly affectionate with one another. Not to mention, the millions of social-media followers supporting the many updates and photos of HyunA and Dawn — including thousands of comments sending their good wishes on the couple’s breakup posts — point to a future where dating may not be so off-limits or controversial in K-pop.
One of the biggest girl groups in K-pop history has returned to celebrate their milestone 15th anniversary while also including a touching tribute to their late member.
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KARA made their comeback with a new, four-song EP titled Move Again with members Gyuri, Seungyeon, Nicole, Jiyoung and Youngji taking part. The release is centered on the new single “When I Move,” which sees the girl group step right back into their signature mix of modern and vintage dance sounds heard in some of their biggest singles like “Honey,” “Step” and “Pandora.”
While KARA went through some lineup changes during their time, the outfit’s return to music after seven-a-half-years marks the first release where newest member Youngji (who joined the group in 2014) is performing alongside Nicole and Jiyoung (who both exited the group that same year). Notably, it is also the first KARA release not to include Goo Hara, who was found dead in her Seoul home in 2019 at age 28.
But the memory of Hara lives on in KARA with the accompanying music video for “When I Move.” Tributes to the late singer appear throughout the visual, like the sixth table setting during a scene where the members celebrate the 15th anniversary with cake and champagne. At the end of the video credits, six microphone stands are shown onstage, symbolizing Hara as an eternal group member.
KARA returned to the stage this week at the 2022 MAMA Awards held in Japan, a suitable place for their comeback performance as the group was a pioneer in helping K-pop cross over into the lucrative Japanese market during the ’10s.
Gyuri, Seungyeon, Nicole, Jiyoung and Youngji performed a medley of classic KARA hits including “Lupin,” “Step” and “Mister” (that had K-pop stars in attendance like TREASURE, Kep1er and NMIXX singing and dancing along) before giving the live debut of “When I Move.” Montage videos detailing the group’s history from debut to today with personal photos, classic TV clips, and reflections from the group on their worries and excitement about returning to the stage introduced both performances.
While next week will determine where KARA return on the Billboard charts, the group’s chart legacy includes three hits on World Digital Song Sales (peaking with 2015’s “Cupid” that reached No. 12) and multiple entries on the K-Pop Hot 100 and Japan Hot 100 (including two No. 1s on the latter with 2012’s “Electric Boy” and 2013’s “Thank You Summer Love”).
