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Shinsadong Tiger, a chart-topping and award-winning K-pop producer and songwriter, has passed away, his entertainment label confirmed on Friday (Feb. 23). The cause of death is currently unknown. He was 40.
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Following local reports that Shinsadong Tiger (neé Lee Ho-yang, also known professionally as S.Tiger) was found collapsed in his Seoul workplace, his representative agency TR Entertainment confirmed the news that “Producer Shinsadong Tiger suddenly left our side on February 23, 2024.”
In the statement on social media, TR Entertainment requested refraining from “speculative reports for the bereaved families” and that funeral proceedings will be held quietly only by family, relatives and colleagues.
TR Entertainment also represents TRI.BE, Universal Music Korea’s first K-pop group crafted in collaboration with Shinsadong Tiger and signed with Republic Records in the U.S. On Tuesday (Feb. 20), TRI.BE released a new single “Diamond” and b-side track “Run,” both produced and co-written by the late producer. TR shared that TRI.BE is canceling and postponing its promotional schedule while promising to return for more television performances “since it is the last album that Shinsadong Tiger prepared and released with TRI.BE during his lifetime.”
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TRI.BE was Shinsadong Tiger’s latest act after previously crafting and producing girl group EXID, who unexpectedly exploded in popularity two years into its career with the S.Tiger-produced single “Up & Down” in 2014 after a fan-recorded live performance went viral. Shinsadong Tiger produced seven EXID songs that charted on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart until the group went on hiatus in 2020.
Lee Ho-yang began his work as a songwriter in 2005 and came to helm some defining tracks of the genre throughout his nearly two decades of work with artists. With a sound that could blend electro-pop and Korea’s traditional trot genre to singles that embraced everything from orchestral production to Afrobeat, his works are tough to pinpoint musically but point to K-pop’s evolution.
Between 2011-2013, Lee produced four No. 1s on the (now-discontinued) K-Pop Hot 100 in T-ara’s “Roly-Poly” and “Lovey Dovey,” Trouble Maker’s “Now” and Ailee’s “U&I.” Meanwhile, his work like “Fiction” by boy band Beast won Song of the Year at the 2011 KBS Song Festival awards, while several of his creations with EXID, T-ara, HyunA and WJSN all were named in Billboard‘s 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s.
Shinsadong Tiger’s productions also had a knack for reaching wider audiences beyond Korean-music fans. In addition to EXID’s aforementioned breakout hit, HyunA’s “Bubble Pop!” from 2011 was an early YouTube smash and made the star the first K-pop soloist to break 100 million views on a music video. Later, “Bboom Bboom” by MOMOLAND helped break the rising girl group to the top of the charts in 2018, while its 626 million YouTube views make it one of the platform’s most-viewed K-pop videos ever.
Dalsooobin, a member of the girl group Dal Shabet whose singles like “B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)” and “Fri. Sat. Sun.” were produced by Shinsadong Tiger, shared her condolences and the former single’s album cover on her YouTube channel. Damjun, a member and songwriter-composer for his boy band LIONESSES, wrote “Thank you for your masterpieces” on Threads.
U.K. producer duo LDN Noise (who have helmed tracks with the likes of EXO, Chris Brown, NCT and NMIXX), Los Angeles-based Softserveboy (SEVENTEEN, Gwen Stefani, ENHYPEN, P1Harmony) and Damuer H. Leffridge (whose clients have included T-ara and B2K) all shared their condolences on Instagram. At the same time, L.A.-born Jae Chong (Uhm Junghwa, BoA, JYJ, Jolin Tsai, BIBI) called it “truly sad news” on the platform.
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With February wrapping up, the music of 2024 keeps on giving. This week sees some major releases by SZA, Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake and more superstars. SZA searches for answers on “Saturn,” a new track that was first previewed in a commercial that aired during a Grammys ceremony where SZA took home three trophies. Timberlake […]
Flavor Flav and Miley Cyrus shared a heartwarming reunion at the 2024 Grammy Awards, but that wasn’t always the case.
Flav joined the Just B With Bethenny Frankel podcast on Thursday (Feb. 22), where he recalled a time he mixed up Miley with Gwen Stefani and when he went over to apologize, she playfully slapped him to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
“It came from a time that they looked alike,” the Public Enemy rapper said around the 28:30 mark. “There was a time a few years back when they both had the same exact haircut. That’s the thing that got me. When I ran across my Miley first time ever in my life I was like, ‘Oh my God, Gwen Stefani, Gwen Stefani!’ Miley didn’t say anything she just went along with it.”
It wasn’t until one of Flav’s friends alerted him of the mix-up that he realized had just met Miley Cyrus and not the “Hollaback Girl” artist.
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“I turned around and I ran back to her,” he explained. “‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Yo, Miley Cyrus, I know who you are now. Your dad Billy Ray Cyrus. I was like, ‘I’m so stupid.’ Smacked me in the face. She smacked me in the face. Miley Cyrus slapped Flavor Flav in the face and we laughed it off.”
Billboard has reached out to Miley Cyrus’ reps for comment.
Flav detailed how things went much better when they linked up at the 2024 Grammy Awards backstage. “That girl lit up like a Christmas tree,” Flav claimed. “Miley love herself some Flav.”
Footage of the unlikely interaction went viral on social media, as the “Flowers” singer was in shock Flavor Flav actually got her name right this time around.
“You know it’s me?! I made it,” Cyrus said to Flav. “You don’t think I’m Gwen Stefani anymore? You used to call me Gwen every time I saw you!”
“I know,” he admitted as the two went on to snap a few photos together. Miley added: “You know what time it is!”
Listen to Flavor Flav talk about Miley Cyrus on the Just B podcast below.
It’s been a minute since former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland released a full-length pop album. Way more than a minute, actually, more like over a decade. But on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday (Feb. 23) “Kisses Down Low” singer explained her long absence from the studio and why she’s gearing up to get back to it.
When Clarkson asked if there was any new music on the horizon, Rowland coyly answered, “coming… later,” as the host and audience broke out into applause about the tease of the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Talk a Good Game LP.
“I’m finally inspired,” Rowland explained. “I’m finally inspired, you can’t just be like writing about anything and I don’t want just another sexy song. I want to talk about so many different things and I’m really excited about the topic this album [unintelligible].”
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The singer was on the show to promote her co-starring role in the new Tyler Perry Netflix legal thriller Mea Culpa alongside Trevante Rhodes (Birdbox), and she agreed with Clarkson’s riff about the need to “break up the monotony” of the music industry grind to keep your inspiration and passion burning. That might explain why Rowland, 43, who also co-produced the film, has been off the music radar for a bit.
After releasing her debut solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002 and launching the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Dilemma” (feat. Nelly) and the singles “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody,” Rowland has been ping-ponging between music and film in the years since. She appeared in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, 2012’s Think Like a Man, 2020’s Bad Hair and 2022’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow, while also dabbling in reality TV mentoring on Clash of the Choirs, X Factor UK (and U.S.), The Voice Australia and a guest spot on ABC sitcom Grown-Ish as Edie last year.
She followed up her solo debut with 2007’s Ms. Kelly and 2011’s Here I Am and then Talk a Good Game, on which she co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks. Though her solo album output has slowed, Rowland has continued to drop one-off singles over the past decade, including “Conceited” (2016), “Crown” (2019), “Crazy” (2020) and “Black Magic” (2021).
Watch Rowland on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.
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Being a member of a nine-person K-pop group is hard work. In addition to the endless hours of vocal and dancing prep, touring, 12-hour press days and the rigors of staying healthy on the road, there is also the mental toll of being in the global spotlight 24/7.
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“It was our recognition that at the end of the day, this is our job,” TWICE‘s Jihyo told the Today Show during an interview on Friday (Feb. 23) that also included two in-studio performances. “It’s what we do for a living. But I know that I cannot live the rest of my life only as Jihyo from TWICE, so I had to learn how to take care of myself mentally and physically … and when to stop when I need to. I think my health and my good energy is shown very frankly to our fans. Our fans see that. So taking care of myself is part of my job, too.”
That is why member Mina took a mental health break in 2019, with Jeongyeon doing the same in 2020 and 2021, unafraid that the pause might create the kind of negative reaction from fans that an earlier generation of idols worried about. “We talked a lot amongst ourselves and we also talked with our management. All of that helped us individually and as a group to cope with whatever is going on,” Chaeyoung said.
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“It meant the world to me when the girls addressed why they were taking a break,” Tara, a devoted Korean American fan who was in high school at the time told the morning show. “My parents didn’t take my depression seriously and told me to eat something delicious and get more sleep. I felt very isolated and alone. But seeing idols like Mina telling us that they need rest, too, made me feel like I was seen.”
The band also featuring members Nayeon, Momo, Sana, Dahyun and Tzuyu, released their 13th mini-album, YOU-th, on Friday, fronted by their third English-language single, “I Got You.”
TWICE will play a one-off show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on March 16, which housed Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month. “It might seem like we started off really big, but we did a lot of small stage performances when we started out,” Momo said. “It was only last year that we did our first stadium concert. So all of this has been nerve-wracking for us.” Last year they became the first female K-pop group to headline NFL and MLB stadiums in the U.S. when they performed at SoFi Stadium in L.A. and MetLife Stadium in New York to sold-out crowds of 50,000 fans.
And because they know that not all their devoted fans, who are called Once, can get tickets to every show, the group tries to keep visiting new places. “With every tour, we really try to visit as many places as possible,” said Sana. “That’s why we went to Europe for the first time last year, and that’s why we are doing another concert in Las Vegas this year.” Mina noted that they will also be the first K-pop girl group to play Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan on July 27-28.
“We always try to visit more countries with each tour,” Sana added. “If there are places that we haven’t visited yet but you want us to come there, please let us know. We will talk to the management and we’ll (try to) make it happen!”
In their ninth year in the group, the members who range in age from 24-28 also talked with pride about representing diverse backgrounds, with three South Korean members (Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Nayeon), three Japanese performers (Mina, Momo, Sana) and one Taiwanese representative (Tzuyu).
“I’m so grateful for the diversity in our group,” Nayeon told Today. “If it wasn’t for TWICE, I don’t think I would’ve had the opportunity to observe other cultures so closely or have developed as much of an interest in them. Because of the exposure that we got to other cultures so early on, I think that enabled us to communicate with ONCE better when we meet global fans. The communication is deeper because of our understanding of other cultures.”
TWICE
Michelle Watt
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, SZA makes her return to “Saturn,” Selena Gomez is living her happily ever after, and Justin Timberlake has one ready for longtime fans. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
SZA, “Saturn”
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First previewed in a commercial that aired during a Grammys ceremony where SZA took home three trophies, new single “Saturn” exists in conversation with the blockbuster R&B formula of her 2022 album SOS while also peering ahead into a daring artist’s unwritten future. SZA spends the song searching for answers, creeping in front of the slower tempo and trying to get ahead of karma: “If there’s a point to being good / Then where’s my reward?” she wonders. Considering the fact that SOS arrived five-and-a-half years after SZA’s previous album, “Saturn” should be treated as a sumptuous gift from an artist who isn’t in the habit of tossing out any old single.
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Selena Gomez, “Love On”
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Selena Gomez has released love songs before, but she’s never sounded quite as giddy as she does on new single “Love On”: around its radio-friendly chorus, the pop star plays a clip of French dialogue, shrugs off steak tartare for a makeout session, and explains, “This doesn’t have to be some sort of mathematical equation / Slip off your jeans, slide in the sheets, screaming ‘yes’ in quotations.” Although listeners will undoubtedly connect the release of “Love On” to Gomez’s budding romance with super-producer Benny Blanco, the song harnesses Gomez’s veteran pop instincts and pushes them into a euphoric new direction.
Justin Timberlake, “Drown”
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There is no signature Justin Timberlake sound, considering all of the iterations of the pop star’s career — yet fans of the mid-‘00s rhythmic pop classics that kicked off his solo career should heartily embrace “Drown,” the latest offering from his upcoming album Everything I Thought It Was. Over blinking beats and streamlined synthesizer, Timberlake revels in his hurt and morphs his pain into chewable hooks; the switched-up outro, in which the a drums-heavy deconstruction captures JT’s emotional breakdown, acts as a final nod to those multi-part Futuresex/LoveSounds hits.
TWICE, With YOU-th
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It’s lucky number 13 for TWICE, as the best-selling K-pop group has now reached a baker’s dozen worth of mini-albums but has not stopped developing its winning approach. The six songs of With YOU-th roll through a handful of energetic synth-pop productions without ever sounding trite or tired; “One Spark” is an easy highlight, full of shuffling beats and vocal wonder, but don’t sleep on project finale “You Get Me,” with production that stacks higher as the TWICE members express fizzy enchantment.
MGK, “Don’t Let Me Go”
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During his rap ascent and exploration of pop-punk, Machine Gun Kelly always kept his personal trials and tribulations easily identifiable, but new single “Don’t Let Me Go” may be one of the most personal compositions of his career: following a somber piano intro, MGK (who has seemingly formalized his nickname as his official artist name) sings and raps about heartbreak, family abandonment and violence, identity crises and, most crushingly, the loss of a child. Regardless of where you stand with his various sounds and styles, “Don’t Let Me Go” makes for a deeply affecting check-in.
Editor’s Pick: Bleachers, “Me Before You”
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The strongest track yet released from Bleachers’ upcoming self-titled studio album, “Me Before You” whittles down the big-band excitement of Jack Antonoff’s outfit and creates a lush, intimate portrayal of an incomplete life before a partner was found. Multiple voices and instruments Antonoff’s open-hearted ode, with the saxophone blasts that have highlighted recent Bleachers singles turned into wandering thoughts and feelings; soon enough, the song collapses into a warm puddle of guitar, capturing a feeling of exhausted contentment.
Now that the NFL season is finally over, three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce finally had time in his schedule to attend another Eras Tour show to cheer on Taylor Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was one of more than 80,000 people Friday (Feb. 23) at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, where he […]
The surprises just kept coming at Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour show in Australia Friday (Feb. 23). During the pop star’s first night at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, she unveiled yet another version of her upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department titled “The Albatross” — complete with a limited bonus track of the same name — before […]
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