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In a debut that has set new records for the K-pop industry, ILLIT emerged as a new pop titan upon its March start this year, earning its place as an undeniable new artist to watch — and as Billboard‘s first-ever K-Pop Rookie of the Month, for June 2024. The five-member act of Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha formed through HYBE’s reality show R U Next? has rewritten K-pop’s global expectations with an explosive, addictive entrance into the international music scene.
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ILLIT’s debut single “Magnetic” made chart history by entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 91, a feat unprecedented for a K-pop group’s first song. Their Super Real Me EP also impacted the Billboard 200, with a No. 93 debut, and hasn’t left the World Albums chart since it first entered the listing, notching 13 weeks so far. The group’s international appeal was further cemented as “Magnetic” secured spots in the top 10 of the Global 200 and Global 200 Excl US charts, and still remains on both tallies as of the chart dated June 29.
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“We couldn’t believe our eyes,” Wonhee says. “We’ve never dreamt of seeing ‘Magnetic’ on the Billboard chart.”
Moving from reality show contestants to chart-topping artists has been a whirlwind. While ILLIT’s road to debut wasn’t without some minor challenges (a last-minute lineup change saw the departure of Youngseo, originally slated to be the sixth member), the quintet dove into dance rehearsals, vocal training, language lessons and fitness routines, with Yunah mentioning that a pre-debut appearance at Paris Fashion Week in February for Acne Studios also required practice to ensure their chicest walks and poses. Initially announced to the world with the name I’ll-It, changing to ILLIT was not only more visually pleasing and accessible, but was designed to better “emphasize the meaning behind the name of ‘I Will ( ) It,’ to represent the potential for infinite possibilities,” its management home HYBE shared.
While partially attributed to its association with an industry powerhouse like HYBE, their label BELIFT LAB (which also houses ENHYPEN) and the visibility from R U Next?, ILLIT’s breakthrough goes beyond mere circumstance. An addictive blend of sugary-sweet vocals, ready-to-go-viral choreography, and, well, magnetic personalities that viewers fell in love with during their show all struck a chord with a global audience, one hungry for the next K-pop breakout.
With an all-star team including HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk, longtime BTS and TXT producer Slow Rabbit and singer-songwriter Salem Ilese all assisting on Super Real Me, the set’s four tracks point to ILLIT’s promising range, demonstrating where the five members could take their future pop stylings.
Get to know Billboard‘s K-Pop Rookie of the Month better below, with the ILLIT members sharing most of their personal and group stories, and previewing what’s to come next.
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Congratulations on your debut, ILLIT! You’ve started so strong with both your debut single and EP entering high on Korea’s charts, as well as on Billboard‘s U.S. and global charts. How did it feel to earn such a strong reaction?
MOKA: It was mind-blowing how so many people loved “Magnetic.” We are very happy that it’s enjoyed and loved by numerous listeners. We’ll try our best to show a better version of ourselves. Thank you!
WONHEE: We couldn’t believe our eyes! We’ve never dreamt of seeing “Magnetic” on the Billboard chart. We’re super happy that so many people are loving “Magnetic.”
While R U Next? and coming from a beloved company can help, do you have any theories as to why your debut resonated so strongly with fans worldwide?
YUNAH: I think the cute, bubbly and hip vibe of our songs represents the charms of K-pop and pop combined well, capturing the audience’s ears and hearts.
MINJU: I can’t believe all the love our global fans are showing us and I’m very grateful. I think they recognize and appreciate the efforts we put into the performances.
Can you explain the meaning of ILLIT to you, and your first reactions to the unique group name?
IROHA: When I first heard the name, I thought the meaning behind it was wonderful. It means “we can be anything,” and that we have infinite potential to become whatever we want to be as a team.
WONHEE: What I loved was how it has such a beautiful meaning to the name. I was so happy to know that we’ve got a name that’s solely ours.
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What were the months between the finale of R U Next? and debut like?
IROHA: After R U Next? we moved into the dormitory together and took dance, vocal and language lessons.
YUNAH: Yes! We are dorming together right now. Immediately after the show, I spent time taking lessons and exercising, preparing for the debut. As for the fashion week, we focused on practicing walking and posing in front of the press wall.
When did you find out that “Magnetic” was your debut single and what was your reaction?
MOKA: I think we found out sometime in the winter!! I remember how everyone was excited about the song, and I personally thought the song would be perfect for ILLIT.
WONHEE: I vividly remember how all of us were in awe and shouted “Woah!” Because it was that good!
What other songs are your favorites on the album?
WONHEE: I love “Midnight Fiction” the most, because it has its own aura of warmth that’s delivered with cute and whimsical lyrics.
IROHA: I love all of our tracks, but I have to say it’s “Lucky Girl Syndrome” because my heart gets filled with happiness and I truly feel like a lucky girl whenever I perform for it.
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Are any or all of you interested in songwriting, composing or production?
MOKA: We actually haven’t tried [those] yet, but our imagined dreams were reflected in “Midnight Fiction.” It was very interesting to see our stories turn into the lyrics. I’d love to work on lyric writing whenever I have the chance.
Can U.S. fans expect to see you anytime soon?
IROHA: I’ve never been to the U.S. before, but I can’t wait to visit and meet our fans there!
There is inevitable pressure and scrutiny that comes being a public figure. How are you remaining mentally and emotionally strong? Do you have advice or tips for those who might also be going through challenging times?
MOKA: I picture myself achieving my goal, which I find very comforting and nurturing. So I’d recommend this method.
WONHEE: I still sometimes have some difficulties controlling my nervousness, but my tip is to take a deep breath right before I say something. This helps me relax a bit.
Looking ahead, what’s next for ILLIT? Any chance you’re already planning your first comeback?
YUNAH: We are all working hard for what’s to come — which I want to spoil so badly, but I shouldn’t! [Laughs.]
IROHA: Like YUNAH said, we’re working very hard on it, so please stay tuned!
Anything else you’d like to add at this time?
MINJU: I’m forever grateful for all the love we received for our debut track “Magnetic.” We’re working hard to come back with better music and performances, so please stay tuned!
YUNAH: I can’t begin to express how thankful I am for the love our fans have been showing us. And thank you Billboard for letting us share our stories!
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With June coming to an end, this week’s music releases are getting us ready for the hottest months of the year. Megan Thee Stallion dropped her 18-track, third studio album Megan. She calls on Victoria Monét, GloRilla and UGK for assists throughout the 18-track project. The effort is filled with three previously released singles in the No. 1 hit “Hiss,” “Boa” and […]
It’s been four years since Lady Gaga unveiled her last solo studio album Chromatica — but according to a recent interview, the superstar says that the drought is set to end soon. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Speaking to Drag Race star Sasha Velour in an […]
As a group, BLACKPINK is a force to be reckoned with. But individually, bandmates ROSÉ, JENNIE, JISOO and LISA are powerful singers, songwriters and performers in their own right, something they’ve each proven at different points by nurturing their solo careers in addition to fulfilling their girl group duties. It may come as a surprise […]
When Will Brill got home after winning his first Tony award, he was a little, well….spooked. “I was in bed and somebody texted me like, ‘How are you feeling?’” Brill recalls. “And I was suddenly hit with like, There’s a Tony in this house. It can’t be seen. It is lurking! So weird.”
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A week after winning best featured actor in a play for his performance in Stereophonic, Brill admits it still “feels a little weird.” His portrayal of Reg – the hilarious, endearing, and often frighteningly coke-and-booze-addled bass player in Stereophonic’s fictional 1970s rock band on the verge of mega stardom – made Brill the only cast member from the most-Tony-nominated-ever play to bring home hardware. But on Tony night, Brill made sure to give his full cast its due: in his delightfully off-the-cuff acceptance speech, he asked all his castmates to stand up for an ovation (he also, memorably, thanked his therapist).
Like his fellow Stereophonic cast members, Brill wasn’t an experienced, trained musician before joining the ensemble. But acquiring the skill to convincingly play one onstage (and perform the play’s Tony-nominated score by Will Butler there) was the kind of deep-dive experience Brill has long relished as an actor: His wide-ranging roles have included Dr. Astrov, in the hyper-intimate off-Broadway production of Uncle Vanya that took place in a private New York loft last year, as well as Roy Cohn in Showtime’s miniseries Fellow Travelers, and the peddler Ali Hakim in the 2019 Broadway reimagining of Oklahoma!.
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As Stereophonic continues its run on Broadway through Jan. 5, 2025, Brill spoke to Billboard about adding Reg to that list, as well as about his action-packed Tony night.
Have you started to come to terms with cohabitating with your Tony?Sort of… I mean, people keep like asking, “Where are you going to put it?” I don’t know…. wherever it…looks good? Wherever it fits? Like, I had to put my bike in this one corner because that’s where it fit. I don’t have a lot of art in my house, and now I have this thing I’m like, obligated to display.
You have to put it somewhere unexpected, like the bathroom.
Totally. My idea, which I believe is a step too far, was to put it in the toilet. So it’s really a surprise to anybody who is using the bathroom. I have a buddy who keeps his in the fridge. And I heard that Ian McKellen keeps his many awards on his roof so that they can “rest.” I don’t know what that means, but that’s allegedly what he does.
Before we discuss anything else, I need the story of your ensemble for Tonys night: the pleats, the jewelry… it was a look!
I was working with a stylist, Savannah White, and we had bounced around a lot of ideas of stores and designers and we were largely on the same page: Vivienne Westwood, Thom Browne, Commes des Garcons, and Issey Miyake, who I didn’t really know of until he passed. I just saw an article about him and started Googling him and was really moved by his aesthetic.
So then Savannah came back with the two looks [of Miyake’s] that I wound up wearing. I was like, “Oh my God, this is so unlike anything I’ve seen, and I have to imagine it’s going to be totally unlike what anybody else is going to be wearing.” I wanted to be wearing something that wasn’t following a gender binary, and I feel like Issey’s stuff hangs on any human body beautifully. I felt really lucky that we sort of nailed it. Everything was sort of flowy and weird and off-kilter — and few straight lines except for the pleats themselves. It was really a fun fit.
Will Brill accepts the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play award for Stereophonic onstage during The 77th Annual Tony Awards at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on June 16, 2024 in New York City.
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Your speech was iconic, to say the least. When you thanked your therapist, it became one of the most-memed moments of the night. How did you hear about that?
My PR person came up to me and was like, “The internet loved your speech.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s so nice. I just assumed that it was like, either the internet loves your speech or hates your speech — I had no idea that me shouting out my therapist was going to be any kind of a big deal or that shouting out the rest of my cast, for that matter, was going to be a big deal too. But they both sort of showed up everywhere. I got a really sweet text from my therapist that at first was all caps, “HOLY S–T, YOU WON! F–K YEAH!” And then, two minutes later, “Oh my God Will, this is so sweet,” which really made me happy.
You also gave a shoutout to your bass teacher. What was the process of learning the instrument like for you? You really get the physicality and personality of a bass player down, as well as the technical aspects, which seems uniquely challenging.
It was really important for me to look authentic. I had experience learning an instrument for a [project] before — I learned to play 12 songs on the guitar for this David Chase film Not Fade Away, and that’s actually where I met Robbie Mangano, who was in The Grandmothers of Invention and is an astonishing guitar and bass player. He taught me and Jack Huston how to play guitar for the movie.
But it was a different thing; we really just needed to look like we were playing the songs, which were pre-recorded by essentially the E Street Band. We didn’t actually have to play for sound, we just had to look like we knew what we were doing, and there were all sorts of ways to cut around the fact that we didn’t know what we were doing.
So for this show, I called Robbie to help me learn the bass. But Robbie was also weirdly at the intersection of my life where I started to think about sobriety, which is like another huge part of Reg. I got really drunk at a show of Robbie’s, and he wrote me this two-page letter, where he was like, “I’ve seen too many talented people not have the life that they should because they got caught up with drugs and alcohol, and I really believe in you and I count you as a friend and I hope that that would not be something that happened to you.”
At the time I couldn’t hear it, and I actually wound up not talking to him for several years because I was so embarrassed. Years and years later, I got a divorce and then I got sober and then [Stereophonic] came back around. So by the time I called Robbie to start learning the bass again, I was two years sober and got to tell him that he was a big part of that. And he wound up saying to me, “Wow, that’s crazy. I am recently sober too.” It was really crazy and moving. So he’s been a very special touchstone in my life.
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Great bass players especially seem to have this innate comfort in your own skin. Was that natural for you to achieve or more of a journey?
It was a journey, for sure. But what was cool was, when I was a little kid, I thought I was going to be a magician. I would practice card tricks alone in my room for literally 12 hours a day. I didn’t pursue magic because it was too scary to perform in front of people these things that required incredible dexterity. But when I started learning the bass, it triggered this long dormant part of my brain, which was like the joy of doing something dexterous 1000 times alone in your bedroom and losing sleep over it and trying to perfect this one thing and getting closer and closer. So I really felt like I was practicing magic again.
You and your castmates opened for Will Butler at his own actual album release show just a few weeks after previews for Stereophonic started. What was that like?
It was insane. A lot of people took videos with their phones and sent them to me afterward, and I was so embarrassed at how stiff and terrible I was that I was like, “Okay, you don’t have to just get good at the bass, you have to look amazing, you have to be able to dance and play the bass at the same time.” It still never feels like it’s easy, but it’s cool to have audiences come now and say that it looks like it’s easy, because that’s sort of the goal.
From left: Tom Pecinka, Will Brill and Sarah Pidgeon in Stereophonic.
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Were there particular bass players who were models for your portrayal of Reg?
I definitely watched videos of John McVie playing. Will Butler is the only frontman I can think of off the top of my head who also plays bass, and he is so dance-y in his shows — he’s so free, he’s a true wild man on stage, and he was really a big source of inspiration.
I went to see Muna recently, and the band that opened for them [Nova Twins], it was these two British girls playing kind of hardcore music and dressed up sort of like punk-style Raggedy Ann. The bassist would jump around and run around the stage, and I remember thinking like, “I want to get close to that and I want to have that freedom of movement.” Other than that, learning the instrument was so hard and learning the play was so hard that there was not really a lot of room outside your imagination to do extra research.
This seems like such a lightning in a bottle kind of experience for all of you. Has it in any fundamental ways changed what you want from the work you do going forward?
Yeah, for sure — but I think every role I play, to a certain extent, is a reassessment of what I want to do going forward. The ultimate thing that I love about performing and exploring characters is exploring the different the levels of myself that I don’t know completely or understand and by extrapolation exploring the human condition more and more deeply.
I was just talking about this in therapy today, actually. Like, I’m constantly straddling a line: Am I doing justice to myself and the role that I’m playing by putting in an amount of effort that actually does meaningful excavation for myself and for the people coming? Or should I be resting a little bit more, and can the process be easier and more joyful?
I would say the peddler in Oklahoma! was a more joyful than difficult experience for me; probably A Case For The Existence of God was too and probably Fellow Travelers was a little more joyful than it was difficult. And then Uncle Vanya and this have both really ridden on the cusp of joy and difficulty. They have been the most challenging experiences of my life, but also deeply, deeply gratifying.
With a boistrous new singe under her belt, LISA of BLACKPINK is proudly stepping out on her own — and she’s bringing a few Thai influencers with her. Eagle-eyed fans noticed three transgender influencers — Chinnawat Promsri, Bruze Kachi-sarah and Aëffy — featured throughout the clip. Alongside shots of LISA dancing her way through Bangkok, […]
Gracie Abrams is living out every Swiftie’s wildest dreams, having gone from childhood fan to Eras Tour opener to close friends with Taylor Swift herself. With that in mind, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter can say from firsthand experience that the pop superstar is just as great a pal as she is an idol. “She’s extraordinary, which […]
Months into writing a new song with Chappell Roan in 2023, Dan Nigro hit a wall. The Grammy-winner songwriter-producer had tried just about everything he could think of with the bubbling under pop phenomenon — boosting the production, cleaning up the lyrics, adjusting the key — and yet the song still didn’t have that special X factor they were looking for.
“We kept on getting so frustrated,” Nigro tells Billboard. “We knew that something about it was really special, but we could not figure it out. Was it the key? Was it the verses that needed to feel more spunky?”
But once the duo found what they were looking for in the stratospheric chorus, the song transformed into Roan’s runaway hit, “Good Luck, Babe!” Since the song’s release in April, Roan (born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) has become one of the most talked-about voices in mainstream pop music. The single marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 77, and has risen to No. 16 on the June 29-dated chart, with three of her other songs — “Red Wine Supernova,” “Hot to Go!” and “Pink Pony Club” — populating the lower half of the list. Meanwhile, her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, reaches a career-high at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.
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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a track co-penned by Nigro is finding such breakaway success. Over the last several years, the songwriter has cemented himself as one of the most sought-after writers in the business, helping write hits for pop artists including Olivia Rodrigo, Caroline Polachek, Conan Gray and others. But in working with Roan, Nigro says he’s found something especially exciting.
“When we made [her May 2020 single] ‘California,’ which was the second song we wrote together, I had this feeling like I was a part of something deeply special,” Nigro says. “It felt magical and deeply relatable … and really important, [because] she was making it so that it felt important.”
Nigro breaks down the “intense” process of writing “Good Luck, Babe!,” its runaway success over the last two months and why he knew early on that Chappell Roan was destined to be “a superstar.”
Tell me about the beginning of the process with “Good Luck, Babe!” — where did the original idea for the track come from, and when did you begin working on this?
Kayleigh, Justin [Tranter] and I actually started the idea in November of 2022. We wrote a scratch idea — it was just a verse and a chorus. The idea was originally called “Good Luck, Jane” — Kayleigh was really set on having it be a name.
It’s a song we wrestled with for a while. We laid down a demo, and the two of us felt like it wasn’t right. We knew something was special about the song, but we couldn’t tell what it was that we were getting wrong. So, we worked on it for a day, we put it away, and then a few months later, she came in for something else, and she was like, “What about that one song we wrote? I feel like there’s something there.”
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Kayleigh’s voice is crazy across all of her songs, but it feels like she is in rare form on “Good Luck, Babe!,” where she’s almost expressing the entirety of her vocal range on one song.
Absolutely. When we opened it back up, we really narrowed in on the chorus and decided that some of the words needed to be in full voice. And then all of a sudden, we listened back and went, “Okay! I think we’ve figured it out!” Once we finally got it, it was such a relief. That song was so intense, and it was definitely one of the hardest songs to get right.
Kayleigh and I are not the people who go in the studio and write a song in one day. We take our time with it, comb over the lyrics and then forget about it for a month and come back to listen with fresh ears. A lot of times when you’re working on a song, in the midst of working on it, you tend to get really excited about it, and then you look back later and go, “Oh, that wasn’t as good as we thought it was.” Luckily, Kayleigh is so good at having that insight and knowing [when] to take a step back and reflect on it. She’s so incredible at having that self-awareness. She’s also such an incredible singer — which is a great thing, but because she often sounds really good singing any song, figuring out the difference between something being really good and being amazing can be tricky.
I know Kayleigh has said this song was “a b-tch to write,” and that very much tracks with what you’re describing here.
For sure. Though, it’s funny: To me, it wasn’t actually that much of a b-tch to write. I feel like it was the production and the process that was really tough. Actually writing the song was quite fluid. I remember she came over one day, and I was like, “Well, now we need a bridge.” She wrote the bridge all on her own in like two minutes. She said, “Put the pre-chorus chords on,” I looped it, and she just got on the mic and went for it. I was trying to keep looping the chords more because she just kept singing, and I was like, “No, we have to go further!” It was amazing.
You mentioned that the original version of the song you wrote with Justin had really different verses lyrically — what would you say fundamentally changed between that first draft and the final version?
I don’t exactly remember what the verses were to begin with, just because it’s been so long since we wrote them. But I do remember that we wanted the words to feel more effortless. We wanted to make sure it had that casual, cool, laid-back feeling to it. The lyrics were a little bit more pointed, a little more cutting. We chilled it out, and then she was sitting on the couch at one point, and she said, “I just want to have a line in there about my arms reaching out of a sunroof.” It was so funny.
At what point in this process, if at all, did you think that “Good Luck, Babe!” was going to be a hit?
When a song is difficult to get right, especially from the production side of things, I become so self-conscious of it that I can never see it super clearly. Also, “Good Luck, Babe!” is so dramatic — I tend to keep my productions pretty minimal for the most part. But “Good Luck, Babe!” is such an epic production — there are like 100 string parts! When I’m adding that much production, I tend to feel like I’m doing too many things. So, I don’t think there was any point in that process where I was like, “Oh, this one’s going to be a hit.”
I remember she texted me the day the song came out, just being excited about the song. Then her manager texted me and said, “This one feels special, this feels different right now.” That is, to me, the crazy thing about being able to see the numbers in real time: You have absolutely no way of knowing, and then within 12 hours, people can tell you, “Oh yeah, audiences are really liking this one.”
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It seems clear that “Good Luck, Babe!” really cemented this cultural moment for Kayleigh: The song has climbed into the top 20 of the Hot 100, “Red Wine Supernova,” “Hot to Go!” and “Pink Pony Club” have all entered the Hot 100, and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess continues to climb on the Billboard 200, reaching the top 10.
It is crazy to watch. This feels like … I don’t want to say “destiny,” that’s the wrong word to use. It all happened for a reason. This song was made during the making for Rise and Fall, and to me, it felt like it could have easily been on the record. I’d like to think that because it came out at a different time, it held a different meaning and it was a different vessel for the album. Whereas, if it came out with the album, then the record would not be what it’s doing right now.
Why do you think this moment is happening right now, rather than with the album’s release last September?
All I can say is, three or four days into meeting her, I was convinced she was a superstar. I was so enamored by the way she thought about music, and I could not believe I was a part of it, because it felt magical and also deeply relatable. When we made “Pink Pony Club,” that was the record where it felt like we were making something actively powerful. It was that sort of feeling where you get the sense that you’re making a song that people need. I’ve always felt that something like this was going to happen for her; the question was just when it would happen.
The fact that she’s so phenomenal live means people are finally able to see in real time how good she is. That then becomes this word-of-mouth thing, and it’s wonderful to see her have such old school success. I’ve told so many people, “This is the way things used to be — you would have to see the artist live, and you see them be good at what they do and then spread the word.” She’s so good at what she does that the system is working again! It really is that simple.
That’s an important point — while a lot has happened in the last two months, this wasn’t “overnight” success. Chappell had been steadily growing before “Good Luck, Babe!” blew up.
I totally agree, it’s not “overnight” success in any way — even since the record came out nine months ago, every single day, the numbers were steadily going up by like a percentage each week. It just took so long to get to the point where enough people were talking about it every day for it to become exponential.
You’ve had a lot of success working with pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray and Caroline Polacheck — is there anything about working with Chappell that feels different than your other collaborators? Or what things feel similar in the way you work with all of those artists?
If I’m being honest, I always feel weird when asked to compare people. I think the important thing is that she’s incredibly articulate about what she wants out of a song, and we have a great relationship when it comes to creating music. We’re writing songs together, but we’re also producing them together, and she’s in the room for a bunch of it. There’s a really good language between us when it comes to making music. I can understand what she’s looking for, and if I’m not getting something right when I’m producing, she can step in. She’s so good at explaining exactly what she wants, and it makes for a really good flow in our working relationship.
A version of this story originally appeared in the June 22, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Jimin, a member of the global phenomenon BTS, has just released his highly anticipated pre-release single “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” featuring Loco.
The track offers fans an exciting preview of his upcoming second solo album, MUSE, set to drop on July 19.
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Inspired by The Beatles‘ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” masterfully blends hip-hop beats with the lively, brassy sound of a marching band. Jimin collaborated once again with renowned producers Pdogg, GHSTLOOP, and EVAN, who previously worked on his debut solo album, FACE.
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The impressive production team also includes Tommy Brown, known for his work with Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Mr. Franks.
The song’s title references the fictional flower “Smeraldo,” which symbolizes “the truth untold.”
The lyrics delve into themes of longing and unspoken love, connecting to the “Smeraldo” legend previously mentioned in BTS’ “The Truth Untold” featuring Steve Aoki from their LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear’ album.
The accompanying music video, out now via HYBE LABELS’ YouTube channel, opens with a serene landscape before zooming in on Jimin, who performs as the lead vocalist with producers Pdogg, GHSTLOOP, and EVAN playing as the band’s musicians, and a special appearance by Loco. The video’s nostalgic, vintage feel is amplified by cinematic opening credits and a faded, grainy texture while showcasing Jimin’s smooth dance moves and versatile voice.
MUSE, Jimin’s highly anticipated second solo album seven will feature interconnected tracks, all revolving around the theme of love.
The album’s tracklist includes “Rebirth,” “Interlude: Showtime,” “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” featuring Loco, “Slow Dance” featuring Sofia Carson, “Be Mine,” “Who,” and “Closer Than This,” which was released in December.
Jimin has wowed audiences across the globe with his distinctive vocals and impressive range, as demonstrated in solo tracks like “Lie,” “Serendipity,” and “Promise,” as well as collaborations such as “With you” from the Our Blues OST and “VIBE” with Taeyang.
His debut solo album, FACE, made history when he became the first South Korean solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100.
BTS, consisting of RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, have enjoyed a meteoric rise since their debut in June 2013.
The group is celebrated worldwide for their self-produced music, packed performances, and deep connection with their fans, known as ARMY. They have achieved numerous accolades, including six No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles and multiple sold-out stadium shows worldwide.
“Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” featuring Loco is out now, while MUSE drops July 19.
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Megan Thee Stallion has proven her dedication to both her music and her love for anime with a last-minute twist just days before the release of her third studio album, Megan.
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The Houston rapper took to Instagram Live on Jun. 26 to share some behind-the-scenes drama with her fans, the Hotties, about having to re-record the track “Otaku Hot Girl” due to unexpected clearance issues with a major anime studio.
During her Instagram Live session, Megan explained how she initially recorded “Otaku Hot Girl” without securing the proper clearance for an anime sample she used in the song.
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The Grammy Award-winning artist didn’t reveal which anime series or studio was involved, but she assured fans that the sample would be instantly recognizable.
“Y’all will never believe what the motherf**k just happened to me!” Megan exclaimed to her followers.
“Y’all know how I told y’all I got an anime sample on my album. I recorded the song before I asked for clearance, so when I sent the people the song, they was like…” Megan paused dramatically, then detailed the studio’s stipulations: she had to change some of the lyrics and was not allowed to cosplay any characters in the music video.
The demands didn’t stop there.
Megan shared that the studio later requested the removal of all character names from the song, which presented a significant challenge since the names were crucial to the lyrics.
Despite the frustration, Megan re-recorded the track in a makeshift studio just hours before her June 11 Dallas show.
“The music is what’s really important to me, but the names really tied it all together,” she explained.
Megan’s determination paid off, and she expressed her gratitude towards the studio for eventually granting the clearance. “I really hope y’all think this s**t sound fire, ’cause I had to jump through eight million hoops to get this s**t,” she added.
“Otaku Hot Girl” is one of 18 tracks on Megan’s upcoming album, which includes the singles “Cobra,” “Hiss,” and “Boa,” as well as collaborations with artists like Kyle Richh, GloRilla, UGK, and Victoria Monét.
The album follows nearly two years after her sophomore release, Traumazine.
Megan Thee Stallion’s new album, Megan, dropped on June 28.