[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s YouTube channel logs record 90m subscribers

Blackpink amassed 90 million subscribers through its YouTube channel, an all-time world record for an artist, according to label YG Entertainment on Monday.

The channel launched in June 2016 and reached among the top five in terms of subscribers three years ago before becoming No. 1 among artists in September 2021, dethroning Justin Bieber.

Meanwhile, the music video for “As If It’s Your Last” received 1.3 billion views on the platform as of Friday. It is the group’s fifth to reach the milestone, after the music videos for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” “Kill This Love” and “Boombayah,” as well as the dance performance video for “How You Like That.”

The quartet held an encore concert in Paris Friday and will visit four cities in the US next month for its Born Pink tour.

NewJeans’ music video will feature global stars

NewJeans set fans abuzz with the news that it will put out a music video for “Cool With You” on Thursday featuring two stars that will surprise viewers.

“Cool With You” is one of the three focus tracks from its upcoming second EP, “Get Up,” and its music video will be made in two versions, said agency Ador.

The six-track EP is due out on Friday but the group dropped “Super Shy,” another focus track, earlier this month. The single swept all major charts at home and hit UK’s Official top 100 singles chart at No. 59 on Friday in the UK. It ranked No. 9 on Spotify’s daily top songs chart in the US, the highest spot for the rookie group.

Twice’s subunit sweeps charts with Japan debut song

Twice’s first subunit topped the iTunes top songs chart in 10 regions with the pre-release of its Japan debut EP, according to label JYP Entertainment on Monday.

Misamo -- the trio of Mina, Sana and Momo – dropped “Do Not Touch,” the main track from its first EP, “Masterpiece,” on Friday in advance and notched the top place in a series of real-time music charts in Japan as well.

The three will perform as a subunit for the first time on Friday on “Music Station,” one of the most popular television music shows in the country.

The EP will be fully unveiled on July 26 and the subunit will hold showcases in Osaka on July 22-23 and in Tokyo on July 25-27.

Separately, a pop-up store featuring Twice along with other artists under the label opened in Tokyo on Saturday and will run until Aug. 31.

StayC to return next month: report

Girl group StayC is set to return on Aug. 16 and is in the last stage of preparing an album, according to a local media report on Monday.

Agency HighUp Entertainment confirmed the news following the report.

It will be about six months since its fourth single, “Teddy Bear,” which sold more than 341,000 copies in its first week, a career high for the six-member act. The title track from the single album earned the group its first trophy from a television music chart show and also claimed the top spot on the real-time chart on Melon, the largest music site in Korea.

The group debuted in 2020 with EP “Stereotype.” Last week, it flew to Japan for its first fan meeting events in the country. The members greeted fans in Osaka on Thursday and in Yokohama on Saturday.

By Hwang You-mee
(glamazon@heraldcorp.com)