K-Pop
Page: 75
Right in time for the kickoff of the 2022 World Cup, the new FIFA soundtrack song “Dreamers” comes via BTS‘ Jung Kook and Qatari singer and producer Fahad Al Kubaisi.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The uplifting anthem features vocals from Jung Kook, the third solo track from the youngest BTS member this year following February’s “Stay Alive” (produced by his bandmate Suga) and “Left & Right” (his Hot 100 summer hit with Charlie Puth). Qatari singer and producer Fahad Al Kubaisi also features on the track. The 41-year-old also dropped two singles earlier this year, with both Arab-pop tracks earning millions of streams on YouTube: “Aghnni” has more than 9.5 million views while “Yousfi Al Halla” has over three million.
“Dreamers” features production from RedOne, the pop-dance producer who joined FIFA in late 2021 as Creative Entertainment Executive and has helped helm signature hits for superstars like Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, and Enrique Iglesias.
Jung Kook will perform the new song at the opening ceremony for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 202. The star filmed a video teasing the performance revealed after the song’s release.
As previously reported, “Dreamers” is part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 soundtrack that includes contributions from artists like Nicki Minaj, Maluma, Davido, Myriam Fares and more. The music video for “Dreamers” will release on Nov. 23.
After the festivities begin with the opening ceremony and “Dreamers” performance, World Cup host nation Qatar will play against Ecuador. A total of 32 teams are participating in the World Cup and one will be crowned champion on Dec. 18.
Listen to “Dreamers” below:
BTS‘ Jung Kook will release a new single as part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup soundtrack.
Revealed alongside official artwork featuring the K-pop star, “Dreamers” will be released this weekend to coincide with the Opening Ceremony at the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
BTS’ Korean label BIGHIT MUSIC also shared that Jung Kook will perform the new song at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The music video to “Dreamers” will be released on Nov. 22 on FIFA’s official YouTube channel.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The upcoming track joins other official songs for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 soundtrack, including “Tukoh Taka” by Nicki Minaj, Maluma and Myriam Fares, as well as “Hayya Hayya (Better Together)” by Davido, Trinidad Cardona and Aisha.
“Dreamers” drops on Nov. 20, the same day as the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off with an opening ceremony and host nation Qatar’s match against Ecuador. A total of 32 teams will participate in the World Cup before one is crowned champion on Dec. 18.
See the announcement and single artwork below.
Get ready for a very NCT Christmas! On Thursday, NCT Dream announced they will spread cheer to their fans during the most wonderful time of year with the release of a special holiday album titled Candy.
“NCT DREAM Winter Special Mini Album Candy 2022.12.19 (KST),” the group tweeted, along with a festive illustrated visual of an NCT Dream house decked out in Christmas-themed regalia with bows, mini Christmas trees, candy canes, peppermints, bows, twinkling lights and more. Candy will mark the group’s first-ever holiday album.
The holiday album will also serve as a comeback for the group — which consists of members Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin and Jisung — since the release of Beatbox, the repackaged deluxe version of their second studio album Glitch Mode that contained four additional tracks on the album.
Glitch Mode served as the K-pop group’s last official album release. The project debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard 200 but spent a total of five weeks on the Top Current Album Sales chart following its April release, and reached a peak of No. 5 on the chart.
Up next for NCT Dream is bringing THE DREAM SHOW 2 : In a Dream world tour to Japan. The trek kicks off in Aichi at the Nippon Gaishi Hall on Nov. 23 and will play three nights in Kanagawa at the Nov. 26-28. The Japanese leg of the tour will conclude in Fukuoka for a show at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A on Dec. 1.
See NCT Dream’s Candy announcement below.
While some of history’s greatest artists have a distinct look for fans to recall instantly, many musical greats are shape-shifting chameleons, finding different looks, styles and eras throughout their careers.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
TEN falls strictly in the latter category, with the Thailand-born K-pop star using his songs and music videos to express the different creative concepts, characters, and, at times, confusion inside his mind.
After trying out shouty punk-pop with “Paint Me Naked,” festival-ready EDM on “New Heroes,” and the hypnotic “Dream in a Dream” with fusions of traditional East-Asian instruments, TEN has paired sultry R&B sound with vigorous group choreography. His new single “Birthday” dropped as part of the NCT LAB project under K-pop super-label SM Entertainment to spotlight the different members in its ever-expanding NCT boy-band project that currently boasts 23 members.
While TEN has already proven his superstar status as a part of groups like WayV and NCT U, as well as one of seven members in SM’s K-pop supergroup SuperM that hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, TEN refuses to sit comfortably as an artist.
“I get bored easily and the audience will get bored of me doing the same thing,” the singer says during a Zoom call from Seoul. “So I keep finding what kind of stuff I haven’t done yet.”
Wrapped in a flannel shirt for this giggly Billboard interview, TEN’s bubbly warmness strays far from the seductive, slithering soloist rocking chains and veils throughout the “Birthday” video. Even as TEN speaks with a lightness, there is compelling duality in his seriousness in accepting who he is while simultaneously wanting to level up in his work. Even when the star admits he’s lost inspiration, there’s still a guiding force pushing TEN into new, creative areas.
Read more from TEN on all the vocal, thematic and dance elements behind “Birthday” and what else is on the way.
Billboard: Congratulations on the new song. “Birthday” is your fourth solo single, what’s the difference this time compared to past releases?
TEN: This song has no connection with my past singles or whatever you see in “Paint Me Naked” or “New Hero.” They’re different in genre, style, makeup, and choreography. Even the use of my vocals changed. I’m not really interested in doing the same thing over again, like this deep and strong vocal that’s at the same time very soft. If you listen to the verses, I’m using a lower register and then a high falsetto on the chorus. I want to show the contrast between strong and soft.
I’m glad you brought that up because it was a great vocal performance and something we haven’t heard from you before. Was it a challenge or did you know how to approach it?
I did find recording the vocals very challenging because R&B is different, you know? “Paint Me Naked” is a pop song so you just hit the melody, which is simpler than R&B because when you sing R&B you need to have that delay and draw things out. At first, I was singing it similar to “Birthday,” but I thought, “This is not how I want it to sound.” So, we re-recorded after I listened to more R&B songs to see how they ride the rhythm. And I was trying too hard at first, but the next session was just chill; I just felt the lyrics, listened, and laid back.
There are many NCT members and a lot of SM Entertainment artists, but it seems like we can always look forward to a TEN single each year. Do these opportunities come because you always try to show something new?
I keep finding new concepts by watching movies, looking at tattoo pictures from Instagram, other artists’ photoshoots, fashion shows. If you see luxury brands’ fashion shows, they have their own concept and each year it changes. I’m into that. I’ll say, “Okay, I like this kind of stuff so let me keep it to myself, look at other stuff and mix it together.”
Do you save a lot of things on Instagram?
I take a lot of screenshots on my phone! I was even watching an animation recently and was like, “Okay, I like this concept, let me do it like this guy here, then let me use this color as an outfit…”
How much of your inspirations came out in “Birthday”?
I was very lucky at this time with all the people that help me make “Birthday.” They really asked for my opinions, “What kind of stuff do you want to represent? How do you want to express yourself?” I chose all four outfits. There’s the suit because I want to show a mature side of me. Another one had the chain on my chest, an essential look; I need one look that is very sexy. The other one is an outfit where I wear a hat and there’s a black sheet covering my face. It’s a traditional, flowy kind of outfit because I don’t want to only show mature sides.
I wanted to show the fluid side of me too. It was very hard to find a lot of references at that time, it took me a week to find everything that I wanted, but I sent it to my stylist and video directing team. They just say, “Okay, let us figure everything out for you.” We had a lot of talking going on during the making.
Tell me about the choreography.
This one is mainly by my friends Bada Lee and Jrick [Baek]. They really helped make my vision come to life. I told them how there are a lot of K-pop groups out there with choreography that has a signature move. But for this one, I didn’t want it to be like that, I wanted it to be like artwork. I want fans to see little sparkles in the choreography and say, “Oh, I like that moment.”
Do you have a favorite moment throughout the whole video?
Well, the first verse is very challenging for me. You can see the full choreography in the dance video and in the first verse there are so many B-boy-like moves. I got bruises all over my body, it’s very hard. But what was best about that is that I was working with my dancer friends on moves I can’t do alone. We’re all in contact as they pull me up, I kick out, there’s like a wave—it’s not just me doing the work but we are all connected as a team.
Like “Birthday” or “Paint Me Naked,” your songs are confident in their elements of sexuality. It’s not raunchy but very free and open. How do you prepare your mindset in these kinds of performances?
Wow, well, I don’t really think about that much. It’s like, “Okay, I want to wear these clothes.” It’s just me. This is my body and this is how I want to express it. Wearing too many clothes sometimes in dancing can block your body line. I don’t want to feel like I’m not confident with my body so I was like, “Let’s just do it.” That’s why I don’t really do fitness or try to build muscle for certain clothes. I’m skinny so that’s just me. I don’t need to build it up to impress someone else.
You want to show your natural self.
Yes, but maybe a little exercise for my belly fat. [Laughs] Just a little!
Oh, come on! Don’t worry about that. It sounds that you’ve found confidence in your own body which is great because many struggle with that.
It’s like, everyone has a charm, but I’m still trying to learn how to use mine. I also think about being seductive, right? In music videos, you can try everything—you can’t really do that in real life but there’s no right and wrong in the music video. It’s just, “Let’s try.”
It’s your opportunity to try things because everyone knows TEN’s personality as very bubbly. But on stage, you become very different.
Thank you. It just speaks to a different character of myself and the right time for me to express myself. I can’t do it at any time.
You mentioned you don’t want to be too covered up when dancing. I was wondering about the hat and veil look. Was it difficult to master that look?
The veil was not the problem, but the hat kept falling off while dancing. I had to fix my hat all the time, but it’s fun to dance with a hat like that. I felt like I’m a mystery guy and no one knows me.
Outfits can help people to feel more confident. A different outfit helps you represent yourself and your personality differently. It helped me become that character. Every outfit has its own reason that I choose it, and I like every outfit, but this time the hat outfit is what I really enjoyed wearing. It really helped me embrace the concept. “Birthday” has a very strong drum and bass sound, but that outfit kind of helped to soften it down and become a bit more mysterious.
After “Birthday,” fans were saying they want a full album from you. Would that be something you’d be interested in?
Yes, I would. I love working as a team, but I also want to do my solo stuff because you can put in your thoughts and personality. Even though I sometimes didn’t write my song, I can check out the demos and say, “Okay. I want to try this or try that.” And when you read the lyrics, it’s like acting. You’re trying to change yourself for that song as you work on it. It’s like, a song can be very groovy or hip-hop or—can I say swag?—swag.
I can simply work on the song process and it’s going to be a lot of fun. As a group it’s also fun, but it’s different. As a team, you put in the element of yourself but you’re still trying to be in motion with your team. Both are fun for me to work so I have to do both.
Speaking of your teams, do you have any teasers about what’s coming with WayV and NCT?
Right now, WayV is preparing for their new comeback. And I can’t spoil anything about NCT yet. If I spoiled it, Mark will send me a text, “Hyung! Bro. What did you just say?!”
We can’t have Mark upset with us. But as we look to the end of the year, are there any ways you want people to remember you in 2022?
Right now, I’m just focusing on myself. To be honest, I don’t know what happened to me but I need more motivation right now. I need to inspire myself. After I filmed “Birthday,” I lost track of something that I don’t even know so I’m kind of figuring that out. I want to improve myself in singing and dancing so I can get to do more unique concepts and better songs in terms of a different genre.
If I don’t practice for that, it’s going to be harder for me to do different kinds of stuff. So, that’s my goal for this year to improve myself and figure out stuff that I’d been thinking about lately. The process for “Birthday” helped me to focus again and be more creative with my work. It was like a fuel that helped keep my engine moving.
That’s very honest. Many struggled with motivation during the pandemic, for example. Do you know what happened? Or do you have advice on how to get over the hump?
I think everyone has that moment in life. So, I don’t really think about it that much, I just need to figure it out. I don’t know what it is and I don’t know if I’d be able to give helpful advice to those who might be feeling down because realistically everyone has their own problems or confusion that only they can relate to.
But for me, I sit down, breathe slowly and talk to myself by asking myself questions in order to break down the situation into small fractions and better understand. That does help me figure things out most of the time! Sometimes I have these moments but it’s happening to me, like, now. So, let me figure it out and then I can tell you next time.
TOKYO — This summer, the Japanese entertainment company Avex launched the seven-member girl group XG on a weekly music TV show — in South Korea, instead of Japan. The move was strategic. Rather than promote the group, which was five years in the making, at home, Avex leveraged Korea’s K-pop-rich media market to make an international splash.
It’s a prime example of the newest chapter in K-pop’s globalization: non-Korean acts tapping into the training, promotion, styles and strategies that made the genre an international success.
Korean networks’ many music programs showcase dozens of bands and live performances, which are readily available on YouTube — a key factor in K-pop’s international expansion, according to industry experts. In stark contrast, Japanese TV networks have been slow to embrace YouTube because sharing original content there often leads to unauthorized reuse. “Japanese TV shows are really inside — we can’t really reach to the global fans,” says Reina Aiguchi, a manager in Avex’s digital marketing group who works with XG. “In order to gain the global fans, we had to go on Korean TV shows.”
XG — like JO1 from Japan and boy band SB19 from the Philippines — followed the K-pop star incubation model, drawing their members from thousands of auditioning hopefuls and undergoing yearslong training regimens. Thanks to instruction from K-pop vocal coaches and choreographers, they appear to be gaining traction, accumulating millions of audio streams and YouTube views. What remains unclear, though, is whether they will lure non-Korean listeners away from Korean bands or grow the genre’s fan base by having lesser-known artists attract more listeners.
Either way, experts say the development could help boost K-pop’s long-term viability worldwide. Non-Korean K-pop bands may displease some existing fans, but this expansion evolves the genre beyond Korean pop. “If globalizing Korean acts was the model in the past, now the mindset is to create global-level groups around the world,” says Kim Young-dae, a Seoul-based music critic. “It didn’t happen overnight. This has been the goal that [the industry] has been working on for the last two decades.”
K-pop acts with members from outside Korea aren’t a new phenomenon. Starting in the 1990s, agencies recruited from the Korean diaspora and later expanded the talent pool to such key target markets as Japan and China. From Super Junior to TWICE to Aespa, bands have benefited from members who communicate with fans and media in relevant markets in their own languages.
But this latest wave of K-pop groups has no Korean members. Instead, they are working within Korea to take advantage of the know-how, distribution channels and global attention K-pop has established. They were often exposed to K-pop from childhood and see Korea as a platform for international stardom.
XG
Courtesy of XGALX
XG, for example, is produced by an agency led by Simon Jakops, a former K-pop idol who was born in the United States to Korean and Japanese parents. Avex selected XG’s members from a pool of 15,000 Japanese girls in 2017 and put them through five years of training — starting when they were ages 10 to 15 — to master hip-hop and R&B music, as well as English and Korean. They lived together in a dormitory in Tokyo and moved to Seoul during the pandemic. Singing and rapping in English — with the occasional Japanese word thrown in — the group made 14 appearances on six different Korean TV shows in June and July to promote its first two singles, “Tippy Toes” and “Mascara,” Aiguchi says. The group is marketed by XGALX, an agency overseen in Tokyo by Avex, which, in recent years, has struggled to repeat its J-pop idol successes from the 1990s and 2000s.
“We wanted to refer to K-pop and have those methods for XG,” says Yudai Hasegawa, manager for XGALX, speaking through Aiguchi’s translation. “Second is, we wanted to shoot those music videos in Korea, where they have good music video directors.” Such strategies appear to be making a difference: XG has about 700,000 subscribers on YouTube and around 600,000 on TikTok, while “Mascara” reached No. 14 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, spending 11 weeks on the chart. In addition, the group won the Rising Star award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan in November. Comments below the group’s videoclips contain English, Bahasa (Indonesia) and Spanish, alongside Japanese.
JO1, a Japanese boy band formed from the 11 winners of the 2019 reality TV contest Produce 101 Japan, also received training in South Korea. Their music, often a collaboration between Japanese and Korean producers, is sung in Japanese with English words peppered into the mix, a K-pop formula for upping the songs’ global appeal. The members have appeared on Korean variety shows and K-pop-focused YouTube channels. (Their latest single, “SuperCali,” borrows the famous compound word from Mary Poppins.) JO1 has racked up several No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, including “Bokura no Kisetsu” (“Our Season”), which topped the chart last December and has nearly 420 million combined views on YouTube.
Korean agencies in recent years have also launched non-Korean bands that perform K-pop-like music — notably SM Entertainment’s China-geared boy band WayV, as well as NiziU, an all-Japanese girl group from JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
After an open call for auditions beginning in 2014 involving hundreds of Filipino boys, SB19 was formed by ShowBT Philippines, a subsidiary of Korean agency ShowBT Group. The five-member boy band, which sings in English and Tagalog, trained in South Korea for three years before signing with Sony Music Philippines in December of 2019. They recently have begun cracking the Billboard charts and touring overseas, including a show at Los Angeles’ Avalon nightclub this past Saturday (Nov. 12). “They’ve really raised the bar, the Koreans,” Roslyn Pineda, general manager, Sony Music Entertainment Philippines, said in September. “Number one is the discipline” SB19 members learned in Korea, which led to a “sharpness of [dance] movements…that doesn’t lie,” she says.
“We can’t deny the K-pop influence [on JO1],” says Choi Shin-hwa, CEO of Lapone Entertainment, a joint venture between entertainment conglomerates CJ ENM of South Korea and Yoshimoto Kogyo of Japan that produces JO1. He doesn’t describe Lapone artists as K-pop, but rather envisions “a new genre that is a hybrid of K-pop and Japanese culture.”
In an interview in Tokyo, some members of JO1 told Billboard they grew up listening to K-pop CDs from boy band TVXQ and pop rock band CNBLUE, which their respective mothers, as fans, had played around the house. The members nervously denied they were already stars. “We keep on working with the hopes of catching up with all the awesome K-pop artists who are active today,” says member Issei Mamehara.
Additional reporting by Alexei Barrionuevo
Even though ENHYPEN prepared heartfelt remarks to share with fans at their Radio City Music Hall concert, a stream of tears and a group hug were not part of their plan. But the unexpected and, according to the boy band, uncharacteristic wave of emotion led to a collective epiphany.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
While it’s standard for each member of a K-pop group to individually address the crowd throughout a concert, the final moments during an encore usually the most sentimental, ENHYPEN member Sunoo couldn’t hold back tears as he spoke to the group’s teamwork “as seven” and “the amount of love I received from my members as well as the love from the thousands of ENGENEs,” shouting out the group’s fandom name.
After group leader Jungwon quickly ran over to wrap Sunoo in a hug, ENHYPEN members Jay, Heeseung, Jake, Sunghoon and Ni-ki all huddled together, linking arms and patting one another on the back, as their band mate finished his speech.
With the sold-out crowd chanting their names, Jake told them, “Through our Seoul concert to the American tour, I feel like the seven of us have really grown stronger together because of all the incredible love and support you guys gave us.”
As ENHYPEN was showering one another with hugs and compliments while lending an occasional sleeve to wipe tears away, the K-pop act says they rarely open up to one another as they did in front of thousands on stage in NYC.
“It’s kind of cringey,” laughs the group’s eldest member Heeseung, who celebrated his “happiest” 21st birthday at their NY live debut that doubled as the final date in the U.S. leg of the group’s Manifesto tour. “I think it’s cringey when you compliment each other a lot.”
“We’re just 20-year-old boys so it’s a bit awkward for us,” adds Jake, 20, the group’s affable Australian native who took the lead in conversations with audiences on tour and in this Billboard interview, partly from being the most comfortable member with English but also from a puppy-like energy of excitement. “We don’t really compliment; we just sort of give each other feedback…but I feel like the times that we do show our love for each other is why it’s so genuine.”
After wrapping seven concerts in six states for the U.S. leg of their Manifesto world tour, the group notes their first time performing in multiple cities on the road together, highlighted the importance of all seven individuals that make up ENHYPEN.
“That’s really important for me because we started together as seven members and it has an absolute value for me,” Heeseung says of the multinational act with members representing Korea, America, Australia and Japan. “We spent a lot of time together and, each and every member, I hold them dearest to my heart. So, I think that after this tour I realized that it’s our golden time together. So, yeah, I really love my members” before, naturally, laughing as he adds a “cringe” to round out his thoughts.
ENHYPEN’s understated, soft-speaking leader Jungwon says private moments pointed out their compatibility to him. “The little things that I did with my members really cheered me up,” he explains. “We’d rehearse a lot, and saying things like, ‘Let’s go, together’ before we go on stage; those little things really lifted me up.”
Jake adds that the close quarters for concerts also created a natural camaraderie. “Between stages, we have like a little booth thing where we had to get changed really quickly but it’s really crowded and we can’t really move around,” he says. “But I can really sort of see our chemistry showing because we have to look out for each other—it’s always really messy in there.”
ENHYPEN was born out of the singing competition I-Land where 23 K-pop hopefuls fought for a spot in a new boy band with HYBE founder Bang Si-Hyuk overseeing the competition as Rain, BTS, Zico, SEVENTEEN and Tomorrow X Together guest mentored. Despite the high stakes of making the band, ENHYPEN never saw one another as rivals.
“I-Land was sort of a competition, but I don’t think any of us really felt like it was,” Jake explains. “I feel like to the viewers that watched the show, it might seem like that but we had this feeling that we all had to do well and make good performances.”
Jay adds that some members already had an established brotherhood from their early days in the K-pop system. “I had trained with Heeseung for about four years, it already feels like he’s family.”
After I-Land wrapped in September 2020, the septet told an unfolding story as growing superstars through albums. From their debut EP Border: Day One discussing their start in the industry (and peaking at No. 14 on Billboard‘s World Albums chart in early 2021) to this past July’s Manifesto: Day 1 soaring to No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and earning the group their first No. 1 on Top Album Sales with 69,000 album copies sold in its first three weeks, global fans are growing with the band. Earlier this year, ENHYPEN scored their first No. 1 single on the Japan Hot 100 as well with their electro-pop/rock hybrid “Tamed-Dashed,” no doubt with help from Japan-born member Ni-ki, who’s loudest when making his band mates laugh throughout the interview as much as they do him.
“I feel like every album and every song we put out sort of portrays what we’re feeling in that moment and what we’re going through,” Jake says. “Our first album was about moving on from I-Land, becoming an idol, and debuting as an idol. Our second one [Border: Carnival] was sort of saying what we felt while performing as an artist. Now, it’s been two years since we became an idol and now we’re sharing our story to the whole world. Every album has its own meaning and I think that’s one of our strongest points.” Jay calls it ENHYPEN’s “history.”
When it came to Sunoo, one of the younger members known by fans for his cute and sunny disposition that radiates even during an early Monday morning interview, his concerns about completing the career milestone in ENHYPEN’s first U.S. tour were daunting. He says the tearful chat at the concert was more of a release of relief.
“Personally, I had a lot of concerns during the tour,” the 19-year-old says. “The main concern being, ‘Would I be able to successfully round up this concert?’ I think it would have been impossible to actually successfully wrap up this concert and tour without ENGENEs, members, and our staff members who always support me. So, I got teary-eyed because I was really touched by the fact that we really successfully ended this tour but I also want to mention that I also got a lot of energy from this tour.”
Jake adds their the tour experience played a big part in naturally rushing to Sunoo’s side: “We knew what he was going through. Before the last show, he would talk about being sort of tired and just not feeling 100 percent. We could all agree and sort of empathize.”
While Jay’s warm side comes through in concert and during this interview despite his deadpan delivery (he’s the first to say “never” when asked if the group opens up to each other), the Seattle-born star had his own worries about coming Stateside as well.
“I’ve been nervous because it was the first time I came back to States as an artist,” he says. “I already went to almost every city we performed, but it really feels different since I was a little boy. I think I was just proud of all of us doing performances in my home country; it really touched me a lot.” Jay told his members “all of us did incredible, all of us awesome” on stage at the concert’s end.
Looking ahead, the septet thinks and speaks excitedly about future directions after this first extensive tour.
The quieter but undeniably well-spoken Sunghoon, who’s gained fame in K-pop for his hosting abilities, says the tour experience opened his eyes to a new way of creating music. “Up till now, we’ve focused more on our music itself and the album itself,” he explains. “But after the U.S. tour, I thought that it would be good if we can actually envision our concert and performance while we make the album and that would improve our delivery.”
Heeseung is curious about adding city pop into the group’s sound. At the same time, Jungwon wonders how the group could fare if they opted for songs that mix fewer genres after blending punk-rock and electronic production on “Drunk-Dazed” or swirling influences of Chicago drill with dance-pop buildups on “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC).”
Either way, ENGENEs are sure to enjoy wherever the group’s story heads next which comforts the group and inspires them to look excitedly forward together.
“If we focus on our albums, concerts, and tours, the results will naturally follow,” Sunghoon believes. Jungwon says, “Charts and rankings are not something we can control, but what we can control is the focus on our performance and give a lot of happiness and entertainment.” Notably, no one has a funny comment or adds a “cringe” to their leader’s final words, perhaps because it’s an undeniable sentiment that they all feel comfortable and confident sharing with one another.
Since ONEUS‘ 2018 debut on the K-pop scene, the boy band has consistently toured across countries like Japan and the U.S., but 2023 will see them meeting more of their fans in their first proper world tour.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Following the conclusion of their ‘USA Blood Moon’ tour earlier this year, ONEUS revealed the 2023 Reach for Us World Tour with stops announced in Asia, North America, and South America so far. The group will kick the new year off by opening the U.S. leg on January 12, 2023, at New York’s Apollo Theater, before visiting countries like Mexico, Chile, and Brazil in February.
Since wrapping their last U.S. tour in March, ONEUS released two new EPs—Trickster in May and Malus in September—which led to the group’s best album sales yet in Korea. The group’s record label RBW says their return to the States will deliver a mix of ONEUS hits and other pop culture–inspired performances.
“ONEUS is so excited and honored to be coming back to the U.S.,” RBW shares in a statement to Billboard. “The boys have been working hard on giving America the ultimate mix of music, dance, and fashion, including an electrifying Top Gun-inspired dance number and a BLACKPINK cover. The band can’t wait to meet all their American friends and show them they have many musical surprises and even more new moves.”
Take a first look at ONEUS’ rehearsals for Trickster lead single “Bring It On” and 2020 hit “Come Back Home” in the exclusive video below, and then peep the dates and locations for the Reach for Us World Tour below.
ONEUS 1st World Tour Reach for Us dates:
January 12 – New York (Apollo Theater)January 14 – Washington, DC (The Theater at MGM National Harbor)January 16 – Atlanta (Coca-Cola Roxy)January 18 – Orlando (House of Blues Orlando)January 21 – Madison (Orpheum Theater)January 24 – St. Louis (The Factory)January 27 – Dallas Fort Worth (Will Rogers Auditorium)January 29 – Houston (713 Music Hall)February 2 – Phoenix (Marquee Theatre)February 4 – Los Angeles (The Pasadena Civic)February 7 – Puerto Rico (Coca-Cola Music Hall)February 10 – Mexico City (Pepsi Center WTC)February 12 – Santiago (Teatro Coliseo)February 15 – São Paulo (Audio Club)
ONEUS
RBW
From a profane, punk-rock single to a modernized opera aria inspired by Marilyn Monroe — not to mention, a world tour in between — (G)I-DLE has made 2022 their year to show the ways they are shaking up norms in the K-pop scene with the perspective to refresh everything they previously knew.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
While more than a year without new music in the fast-moving K-pop scene is risky for a younger group like (G)I-DLE, the outfit spent most of 2021 focusing on their individual careers with solo albums, acting, TV work, overseas trips and more. When they returned in March this year, the group could have opted for something safe—this comeback made all the more complicated following member Soojin’s departure in August 2021—and rehashed an easy return to the top of the charts. Their electro-pop collab with Madison Beer “Pop/Stars” was (G)I-DLE’s first No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales, plus all five of their past EPs have charted on World Albums since their first appearance in 2018—they knew what worked.
Instead, (G)I-DLE looked in a new direction with bolder messages and sounds and, as they say, begin “starting from scratch” again.
Full-length album I Never Die from March was centered around songs meant to inspire confidence to break prejudices. (G)I-DLE leader Soyeon spoke to the heart of the LP’s message like the the hard-hitting rock-pop single “Tomboy” (with its “Yeah I’m f—ing tomboy” hook) alongside tracks like “Never Stop Me.” At the same time, members Yuqi and Minnie contributed in production and songwriting across other tracks. “Tomboy” resulted in the group’s biggest hit in Korea to date, helped them reconnect with fans across the world during their Just Me ( )I-dle World Tour that ran from June to October, and attempt to break records again with their next step.
For the newly released I Love EP, Soyeon, Minnie and Yuqi are once again all over the album credits that explore the concept of love by being, literally, stripped down to one’s most genuine self, and incorporating inspiration from Kurt Cobain’s famous quote, “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.”
Ahead of the release of I Love, (G)I-DLE opened up more the honesty that comes from such punk inspirations. “‘Nxde’ uses the word ‘nude’ metaphorically to explain the genuine and confident side,” Soyeon explained. “The word ‘nude’ can be perceived as a provocative word, and people may think, ‘Why is it ‘nude’? Isn’t it too explicit?’ But when I thought of the word ‘nude,’ I thought of my true self, not an undressed version of me…your true self isn’t you with makeup on but your bare face is. You don’t call it ‘makeup-less face.’ It’s just a face. I think that’s how I saw ‘nude,’ wearing the real version of yourself.”
Miyeon added, “Just like the name itself, this album is an album that only talks about love. And the one who receives love can be our family, friends, or one of the many kinds of love out there. So we left the object blank [in I Love] on purpose because we respect all those kinds of love.”
(G)I-DLE also pointed to starlets like Marilyn Monroe as another point of inspiration. “When Marilyn Monroe was active as a star, she was the blonde beauty, being consumed as a sex symbol,” Soyeon says of the Hollywood icon. “I heard that she was actually very intelligent and into books, especially philosophical ones. The standards change with time. Nowadays, if you carry designer-brand bags, then people would judge you by your looks. Each era has a different stereotype.” While Miyeon added, “Regardless of positive or negative stereotypes, you can’t judge a book by the cover.”
The group’s messages are connecting more than ever: I Love became (G)I-DLE’s first album to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 71, after nearly four-and-a-half years into their careers. The six-song also starts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales (dated Nov. 5) with 10,000 copies sold, according to Luminate.
Read on for more reflections from Soyeon, Minnie, Yuqi, Miyeon and Shuhua on their rebuilding process, reuniting with worldwide fans, and continuously pushing each other to the next big step.
First, I want to congratulate you on how successful things have been since the I Never Die album. Have you had a moment to think about why you’re connecting so well with the audiences?
Soyeon: I think what we presented with this album was very bold and audacious for a K-pop group, which is why a lot of people loved it. It was very honest too.
Minnie: I Never Die was the first full album—many fans were waiting for this album for so long because we hadn’t made a comeback in a year and a few months.
Do you feel a sense of relief about the fact that it did well? You’ve shared that it was a tumultuous journey to get here. What’s your mindset these days?
Soyeon: I’d have to say “no” right away. Because now that we’ve brought ourselves back to this position, we want to make sure what we present next is also just as amazing, just as fresh and surprising to the audience.
Yuqi: No one knew how pressured we were at the time because (G)I-DLE always looks like we are strong and really stable in our team, but we were apart for about a year. We separated to our countries to do personal activities. So when we came back to Korea, we got together and just said, “Wow.” We didn’t realize how strained we were at the time. We came back thinking this was our last time together—that’s how strained we were at that time.
Minnie: We put everything into it.
Yuqi: No one knew it because we always look so strong and like nothing happened, but it actually wasn’t like that. And life is like that! [Laughs] Life is about challenges, life has ups and downs, but if you give up, everything will just end. Actually, our fans were our kind of energy at that time too because everyone was waiting for us and we couldn’t just give up. So, we just put everything into it and just didn’t want to let down the people loving and supporting us.
What does that look like when you say you put everything into it? Lots of rehearsing? Late nights in the studio?
Yuqi: It’s not only about the physical practicing, but a collective feeling. We were apart for a long time, but when we just gathered up again, I could feel the vibe and strength everyone gave. That’s teamwork. That’s just called teamwork because everyone has the same goal, they have the same dream they are trying to achieve, so I just feel “That’s (G)I-DLE.” It’s our teamwork, right? It’s mental, not physical. I think the mental had to be super different.
Minnie: But even the choreography, we’re always brainstorming, like, “Oh, should we do this or that?” We want to pick best version of everything.
Soyeon: And “Tomboy” has the censored beep, right? But there were many different versions of the beep. And also, aside from “Tomboy,” there were a lot of other candidates, many other candidates for the lead single. I had a lot of thoughts on how should we approach this single and what kind of song do we do for this type of track? I worked on the songs with the mindset, “Oh, maybe I should try this genre for the type of music. Maybe I should talk about this or try this kind of concept.” We also did additional recordings a thousand times; we were very careful when making a decision.
The sound of “Tomboy” was striking. This harder, punk sound wasn’t expected and I’m curious how you decided to go that way to make such a long-awaited comeback?
Soyeon: I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock, I liked Avril Lavigne a lot too. I had always thought that I want to try pop-punk, or like teen rock, kind of music at some point. With this group comeback, I wanted to do something that no one else has done so I thought this was the time to give that genre and that kind of sound a try.
Yuqi: I’m a super fan of rockers and in my solo album, I did a rock too so I was super excited about the track the first time.
Minnie: I think we all love “Tomboy” and its style. It’s very challenging for us to try a new style too, but we enjoyed preparing for it.
How was the U.S. leg of your Just Me ( )I-dle tour?
Soyeon: Since this is our first U.S. tour, we’re really happy and grateful to meet our Neverland, our fans, in the U.S. for the first time. Although this is our first time touring the U.S., we’re amazed by how the fans will sing along to everything and enjoy everything. It’s been just great for us to feel all our fans’ excitement and passion.
Minnie: We went to cities like Dallas, Houston, Chicago and, except for New York and San Francisco, it was the first time we visited these cities so it was all very new.
Miyeon: I like to capture my own moments in each of the cities because all the cities are so different and I want to enjoy all the different vibes. That’s why fans saw so many of my updates through social media every day.
You describe the “Tomboy” single as taking on a new persona. Do you embrace different personas on tour?
Yuqi: Before, we just attended KCON or joined another concert with the other artists, but this is the first time for us to have a full concert. So, we can show the title track [singles], b-side tracks, and other genres. We’re doing rock, ballads or hip-hop for the first time and I think our fans will feel, “Oh, it’s so fresh for seeing idols in this kind of music genre.” We all do the raps in “My Bag,” you know? It’s the first time we’re doing something like that and it’s very fresh. But we can also have an emotional mood like when we sing a lot of ballads whenever we hold a concert in Seoul. I think it’s a good to show a lot of different sides to our fans.
Soyeon: I think rather than seeing it as a new persona of us, I think that the lyric “just me I-DLE” [from “Tomboy”] is real. We had never shown people this side of (G)I-DLE before, but it’s our true selves, and we’re just being honest with what we’re doing.
I also liked how you spoke about how you want to be “I-DLE,” with not as much focus on the “G.” There’s your lyric, too: “It’s neither man nor woman, just me I-DLE.” I’d like to hear more about the inspiration behind that.
Soyeon: As you know, the “G” represents yeoja, or “girl” [in Korean], right? We came from a mindset that we do not want to conform to any kind of social boundary or prejudice. It doesn’t just have to do with gender but that was one of the easiest ways of showing that mindset, especially since we have the “G” in our names. That’s just one of our ways of showing that we don’t want to be stuck in any boundaries, regardless of gender—and not just gender but prejudices in general.
Artists are opening up when they’re more comfortable using gender-neutral pronouns for themselves and in their lyrics. When there can be certain expectations of girl groups, is this a related idea?
Soyeon: We’re very aware of gender-neutral terminology, but what we’re doing now isn’t primarily because we want to find a gender-neutral term but it’s more of trying to make a genre of our own. We want (G)I-DLE to be a genre of our own, regardless of gender, age, anything.
Minnie: And we respect everything.
Does being on tour help you find more of the (G)I-DLE genre?
Soyeon: We are fascinated by how we can still interact and communicate with their audience when we’re singing in Korean so we’ve felt that music does not have any language boundaries.
Yuqi: When I do the concerts, I receive a lot of different responses from our fans. Different countries have different cultures, as we know, so maybe when I do it in Korea, the Korean fans have certain kinds of responses for us. But when we do this in America, I can get to a part like, “Oh, they are more excited about this part.” So I can get inspiration actually to make my music more fun and have more of those “killing” parts.
Miyeon: The hotel that we were staying in New York is right in front of where we did our flash mob a few years ago. So, we looked back at that moment and thought a lot. That was a big motivation for us to come back to New York, see that spot, and think back to our rookie days.
Minnie: Because at that time, we were a very new group with only one single and one mini album. But now we are having a world tour, which is like, “This is crazy.” It’s a big dream come true.
We met for Billboard then. Can you think back to that time and remember your mindset?
Minnie: We were such rookies and so young.
Yuqi: Yeah, we were such rookies but super excited to be here for the first time in New York City. We had our very first flash mob, I think we did a cover “Fake Love”? We had the BTS cover and we didn’t perform “Hann,” right? Because we were preparing for our “Hann” comeback.
Minnie: But we’re happy to be back.
This tour is about old material, new material, everything, including “Hann.” How was it been preparing specifically all these songs as five now?
Soyeon: We had to practice our blocking—all the movements, transitions, and everything—from scratch. So our mindset was, “Okay, we’re starting from scratch…again.” That’s how hard we worked for it and we wanted to show a new side of (G)I-DLE by preparing this way.
Shuhua, I’ve seen you taking up many more lines now too, specifically. How has your experience been?
Shuhua: Aside from all the group practices, I also dedicated a lot of my time doing individual practice. I would have private lessons with our teachers and share ideas to think, like, “How can I put my style into this? What kind of gesture should I do to make this my style?” I practiced a lot with that mindset for this tour.
You’ve all worked on your own in 2021. How does that contribute to your group work as (G)I-DLE this year?
Minnie: I went to Thailand where I had some time promoting solo and I started to realize again how important and how precious that I have my members by my side. When I have to do everything on my own, it’s hard and tiring. I think it was a good experience to try things on my own, but when I came back to Korea and I met them, I was like, “Oh yeah. I feel like I’m home.”
Soyeon: There is no time where we are not working on new music so we’re always thinking about the next album and the new music. We want to present a new kind of fun and new message with I Love and “Nxde.”
Anything else to add right now?
Yuqi: (G)I-DLE never die.
Minnie: We’re back! We’re all back. We were so happy to have a world tour finally and very touched and happy to meet our fans in the States in person. Thank you for always waiting and supporting us. We will never let you down, and we’re back again with a new album, so please continue to stay tuned.
Rosé opens up in a new cover story with Mastermind magazine about BLACKPINK‘s world tour, her decision to audition for the K-pop girl group and more.
“For such a crazy time like right now, it has been working during the day, rehearsing in the evening, recording during the night, going home, sleeping and then repeating,” the singer told Mastermind ahead of launching the BORN PINK World Tour, in interview excerpts exclusive to Billboard.
“It has definitely been a handful,” she continued, “but we’re grateful and excited that we’re able to work on our album while preparing to meet and perform these new songs for our BLINKS. Since the pandemic, it has been an awfully long and brutal time for everyone, so we cannot wait to be back performing for so many of our BLINKS, who have been waiting so patiently. I’m excited to finally see the familiar faces.”
During the interview, Rosé also shared how her dad was actually the one to first suggest she attend the YG audition that would ultimately alter the course of her entire life. “My dad always watched me print out lyrics and chords off of his laptop and reach at the top of my lungs over the piano in an attempt to sing Beyoncé’s most heartbreaking, sad songs till midnight,” she reminisced. “So, I guess it wasn’t too bizarre for him to ask me if I wanted to try auditioning at the YG audition that was being held in Australia.
“When I was growing up, there weren’t many opportunities for me to officially dive into music,” the idol added. “So when YG – a company that was home to some of my favorite musicians – was coming to audition near my city, there couldn’t have been a better opportunity for me to reach out and grab on to my dreams. I would like to say that I was lucky – lucky to have a supportive dad who encouraged me to challenge myself and take my chance.”
Rosé and her band mates are currently on the North American leg of their world tour in support of 2022’s Born Pink, which will run through Nov. 19 before heading to Europe and Asia.
See photos from Rosé’s chic, flower-strewn spread in Mastermind below.
Rosé on cover of Mastermind Magazine
Tess Ayano for Mastermind Magazine
Rosé in Mastermind Magazine
Tess Ayano for Mastermind Magazine
Jin might be known to the world as “Mr. Worldwide Handsome,” but BTS‘ ARMY know him also as a focused, equally tender and powerful vocalist whose knack for ballad and rock songs have been displayed throughout the K-pop star’s career.
Starting by sharing his covers of popular Korean rock songs from the past through BTS’ SoundCloud account early in the group’s career, Jin grew his vocal prowess through the years and showed the music styles that spoke most to him. Later, the star got opportunities to share his ability to tell stories through songs in soundtrack singles for popular Korean dramas like Hwarang and Jirisan. In 2019, Jin released his first entirely original solo song, and he’s only continued to show further displays of his musical perspective. Even the super-silly, super-viral “Super Tuna” single that he dropped in 2021 speaks to Jin’s larger personality as someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously and how music can allow one to truly let loose.
Jin’s latest solo accomplishment comes via his new single “The Astronaut,” which features Jin and Coldplay as writers and composers on the track. The heartfelt rock track debuts at No. 51 on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 12, 2022, marking his first-ever credited solo entry while also acting as the top-selling song of the week (taking No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales and World Digital Song Sales charts). The remarkable chart feat is the latest step in Jin’s ongoing solo efforts that have been purposeful and pointed in their execution, slowly revealing the multifaceted artist that Jin is in his own right.
From covers to OSTs to special collaborations with his BTS band mates, read on for Jin’s best solo moments.