Punk rock band Crying Nut bassist hares his music festival plan, faith in romanticism

Yoon Mi-rae“Gemini 2”Loen EntertainmentIn “Memories” from her second studio album “Gemini,” 20-year-old Yoon Mi-rae, or Tasha, was all about overcoming hardships that came from being biracial in Korea and surviving in the hip-hop scene. Some 16 years later, the working mom with a 9-year-old son, now in her late 30s, is back with a new autobiographical album, “Gemini 2.” And instead of a stormy description of life’s struggles, she filled the 12-track collection with tales of married life, family,

K-pop sensation BTS’ latest album has become one of the most sold records in the US so far this year.BTS’ third studio album “Love Yourself: Tear” has become the ninth most sold physical album in the US during the first half of 2018, becoming the only foreign language record to chart in the top 10, according to Nielsen Music’s Mid-Year Report for 2018.The group sold 132,000 physical copies of the Korean-language album between its release on May 18 and the week ending June 28.(Big Hit Entertainme

Super Junior’s Ryeowook finished his mandatory military service Tuesday.Thanking fans and friends for helping him finish his duty successfully at the special operations command in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, the artist said, “Hello, I’ve returned to Super Junior’s Kim Ryeo-wook from Sgt. Ryeo-wook. Thank you for coming, and please support our upcoming activities as a group.” The discharge ceremony was attended by a flock of fans, media and his bandmates Donghae, Eunhyuk, Siwon and L

A collection of music streaming and sales websites announced Monday the reform plans that they hope will prevent chart-rigging as in the recent scandals involving popular k-pop groups, effective Wednesday. The policy committee for Gaon charts, consisting of officials at Naver Music, Bugs, Melon, Soribada, Mnet, and Genie working to improve how local music charts are run, said that the aforementioned websites will begin to freeze rankings between the hours of 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. Momoland (MLD Entert

Following the closure of BTS’ fifth anniversary celebrations in June, the septet has announced another event this summer and follow-up details are now available. (Big Hit Entertainment)BTS is presenting an exclusive exhibition dubbed “2018 BTS Exhibition ‘24,7=Serendipity (Five, Always),’” which marks the group’s second exclusive exhibition after 2015’s “Butterfly Dream.” The “Five, Always” part is stylized as “O, neul” in Korean -- a play on words that also translates to “today.” This is elabor

SHINee’s Key has lent his voice for English synth pop band Years & Years’ remix version of “If You’re Over Me,” contributing to K-pop’s worldwide expansion. In the remix version of the song, released on Friday, the K-pop star sings both in Korean and English alongside the British trio. Key’s Korean verses reflect the English song’s original meaning, as Key asks his lover to stop pushing-and-pulling. He wrote the lyrics himself, according to his agency S.M. Entertainment. The single’s release coi

Matsui Jurina is quitting the survival reality TV show “Produce 48” due to health reasons, a decision that came after the Japanese idol star was embroiled in a controversy surrounding her attitude.The officials of the Mnet show confirmed Sunday that she is off the program, a day after her original group SKE48 announced that Matsui is putting her career on hold for her health. The group said this means ceasing any activity on social media or personal mail. Matsui Jurina (Mnet)The 21-year-old has

Jessie has unveiled a beach-themed music video for her latest single “Down,” featuring plenty of tight choreography. The 29-year-old singer’s new video for the upbeat song has been watched over 1.5 million times on YouTube since it was released on Friday, prompting some fans to call her the “Korean Nicki Minaj.”Jessie and backup dancers perform a choreographed dance. (Youtube)The song, which is packed with plenty of feel good vibes and irresistibly addictive beats, has been hailed as a surefire

Dating fellow idols is not a priority for Dreamcahter for now, the girl group said in a recent interview.In the recent interview with a local magazine bnt, members of the seven-piece band said they are putting work before love at the moment and ruled out dating fellow idols.When the magazine asked whether there had been advances made by male idol stars, the girls said compliments on looks for their strong makeup are all they get. (bnt)When it comes to ideal types of boyfriends, Siye said she doe

What’s your view? Stages of love depicted in 'Love Yourself' deserve multiple interpretations.

Lee Jung-shin of CNBLUE will leave the K-pop scene to begin his military service on July 31, confirmed the band’s agency FNC Entertainment on Thursday morning. The exact location of his enlistment will remain confidential, as per the artist’s wish. Lee Jung-shin (FNC Entertainment)This makes Lee the second member of the band to serve his military duties, following leader and vocalist Jung Yong-hwa’s enlistment in March.Lee, the group’s bassist, is scheduled to have a busy month before his absenc

GFriend is ready to join the highly-competitive summer record market. According to the group’s agency Source Music Thursday, the six-piece girl group will release a new summer EP on July 19. The upcoming album marks the act’s first release since its sixth EP “Time for the Moon Night,” which swept local music charts upon release. Teaser images released by the agency featured six pastel-toned ice creams and a red retro style cassette player and a skateboard.  GFriend (Source Music)The K-pop act de

BRUSSELS -- A K-pop Academy providing a chance to learn Korean pop music and dance techniques opened for a four-week run in Belgium earlier this week at the request of Belgian K-pop fans, the Korean culture center here said Wednesday. The academy, which operates from July 2-27, offers vocal and dance classes to 120 selected Belgian K-pop fans, the center said during a news conference.   (Yonhap) (Yonhap)Vocal trainers and choreographers from South Korea joined the academy for quality education,

Apink“One & Six”(Loen Entertainment)It may sound like harsh criticism of this group of K-pop sweethearts, but Apink’s new album is sick -- in a bad way. Although Apink has finally reached a point where it can play with musical concepts, the group has taken a step in the wrong direction with “One & Six.” The album is a hodgepodge of “something different,” a nice attempt to change the group’s 7-year-old girlish image, but it lacks impact and falls short of expectations. The album starts off on the