Quintet drops new album after touring globally

SM Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday to enhance its contribution to conserving urban biodiversity by expanding Kwangya Forest. Kwangya Forest was established on 400 square meters of land in Seoul Forest located at Seongdong-gu, Seoul in May 2023. This partnership involves SM’s financial support in expanding Kwangya Forest and its maintenance for the next five years, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s provision of

Stray Kids entered Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second time with “Lose My Breath,” a Charlie Puth collaboration, according to the publication on Monday. The band of eight teamed up with the American singer and songwriter who co-authored the song with the songwriting trio of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. The digital single was dropped on May 10 and tied the record the group set on the main singles chart with “Lalalala” last year. “Lalalala” was the focus tr

JYP Entertainment launched its first Japanese boy group, Nexz, Monday -- the agency's first boy group in six years. Nexz consists of six Japanese nationals and one South Korean national born and raised in Japan, selected through the K-pop agency’s “Nizi Project Season 2” audition program which aired on YouTube and Hulu Japan last year. The audition program is part of JYP Entertainment’s “Globalization by Localization” project aimed at localizing K-pop in

Junghan and Wonwoo of Seventeen will form a new subunit and roll out the single “This Man-The City” on June 17, agency Pledis Entertainment announced Monday. The news came through a video of nighttime in a city that goes black after lightning strikes. Expectations are high for the two, especially since they are an unlikely pair, Junghan from its “vocal team” and Wonwoo from “hip-hop team.” The latter sang with Mingyu for the digital single “Bittersweet (

NewJeans, the popular K-pop girl band of Hybe’s music subsidiary Ador, is turning out to be the biggest victim in the ongoing feud between Hybe and Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, sparked by Min's alleged breach of trust, an industry source said Monday. It was all about NewJeans from the start, when Min sent an email to the executives of Hybe on April 3 arguing that new girl group Illit, which debuted under Belift Lab, another Hybe subsidiary, had plagiarized NewJeans’ style and concept.

New releases by girl group Babymonster and boy group Treasure were among YG Entertainment's projects for the second half of the year announced by Yang Hyun-suk, YG founder and executive producer, in a three-minute video on YouTube Monday. Earlier this year, YG revealed that it had increased the number of music producers to 50 from 10 in an effort to introduce new projects more quickly. Babymonster will release its first regular studio album in October. “Ahead of the full album release

K-pop boy band Blitzers have reached the semifinal of the British audition program "Britain's Got Talent." Blitzers appeared on the British show Saturday, delivering a passionate performance that secured their spot in the semifinals. The first season of the show, which aims to discover top talent across various fields, including singers, dancers, and comedians, kicked off in 2007. Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli are appearing as judges for the current s

In a petition filed with the court Friday, Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk made public for the first time his stance on the ongoing feud over Ador CEO Min Hee-jin’s alleged breach of trust. The Seoul Central District Court on Friday convened a hearing on the preliminary injunction filed by Min against Hybe to prohibit the parent company from exercising voting rights in favor of a proposal to dismiss her at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting scheduled for May 31. “The only way

BTS' Jimin and actor Song Da-eun are embroiled in yet another romance scandal after Song on Thursday shared videos and photos on her social media that some have interpreted to mean the two are in a relationship. The actor posted a video of a man, covered by a big emoji, walking by the sea to her Instagram. Netizens argue that the seaside spot is the same location that Jimin visited in the “(Bangtan Bomb) A Boisterous Shooting of ‘3J -- BTS’" content released on BTS&rs

NewJeans logged 600 million plays on Spotify with “Ditto,” agency Ador said Friday, citing the platform’s data. It is the group’s second song to achieve the feat after “OMG.” “Ditto” is the pre-release song from the single “OMG” and the five-member group's first song to land on Billboard’s Hot 100. It debuted on the main songs chart at No. 96 about only six months after the group’s debut, setting a record for a K-pop ac

Veteran K-pop boy group Infinite is celebrating its 14th anniversary as a full unit with a fan meeting event on July 13 and 14. It will be the group's first meeting with fans in seven years. Infinite announced the event by posting its schedule for May, June and July on Friday. The band is also due to release a new digital single on June 9. The band will also hold a live-streaming event on the same day to celebrate its 14th anniversary with fans and talk about the latest release. Infinite es

K-pop boy group Stray Kids performed its new English digital single, “Lose My Breath,” on stage for the first time on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “We do have some good news. We are preparing a tour. It’s big news because it’s been so long since we’ve prepared for something so big,” group member Felix said during a talk session with local fans in the studio before the special performance. When asked by a fan about the creative process

Mark of the K-pop boy group NCT released his first solo single, “200,” on Thursday. The single “200” is a rock number with trendy, fast-tempo bass and drum sounds. Mark took part in writing the lyrics and composing the single, which is about a fateful meeting with someone that leads to a perfect relationship in which together the couple shines even brighter. Mark used cartoons and a vintage-style video filter to give the song's music video an early 2000s look. Mark a

Kep1er will begin a new chapter as a seven-member group, according to a local media report Thursday. The group debuted in January 2022 with survivors of the audition show “Girls Planet 999: Girls Saga” and was supposed to disband in July. Seven members, however, decided to renew their contracts to continue as Kep1er, a first for an idol group launched through such a program in Korea. Kang Yeseo and Mashiro will return to their original agency and join another girl group Limelight, ad