[Today’s K-pop] NCT127 poised to show another side with 3rd LP

NCT127 held a showcase on Friday to roll out its third full album “Sticker.”

“It has been almost 1 1/2 years and I am nervous and excited at the same time,” said Doyoung, asking fans to enjoy the moment as well.

Since its previous song “Kick It” was a huge hit, it put pressure on the band, members said.

“Preparing for this album, we were worried and anxious if we could do better, if we would be able to put on a cooler performance,” Taeyong said.

“It wouldn’t have been fun if we repeated what we’ve done before, right?” chimed in Doyoung. They said they had to rack their brains to find a different take on their music and performance, and are satisfied with the result.

This being the first album made amid the pandemic pushed the band farther, Mark said. Their separation from fans and yearning to meet them spurred them on.

“The songs are different. The time and effort we invested in it, the quality itself,” he added.

Although they are nowhere near able to host a concert in person in front of fans, the bandmates said they will waste no time on kick-starting the process once the pandemic situation gets better.

Blackpink’s Lisa tops band’s sales record

Lisa of Blackpink broke the record with her solo debut album, according to a local tally released Friday.

Her first solo album “LaLisa” sold more than 736,000 copies in the first week of sales, a record for a K-pop female musician. It even surpasses that of Blackpink’s first full album “The Album” that logged 690,000 in sales in the first week and later became the first K-pop girl group’s album to sell over a million copies.

The song topped iTunes’ top songs chart in 72 regions and the music video garnered 73.6 million views on YouTube in 24 hours, a world record for a solo artist. It also generated 100 million views in two days, replacing a record by a K-pop solo musician and has been the most-viewed video on YouTube for seven consecutive days since its release.

Enhypen confirms Oct. 12 return 

Enhypen announced Friday that it will return on Oct. 12 with its first studio album.

It floated a clip that visually expressed the lyrics of the first track, “Intro: Whiteout,” of the LP “Dimension: Dilemma.” The video starts with an underwater scene, then switching to a series of objects dangling from a chandelier, then over to a spinning coin, intriguing viewers. The teaser video ends with a rugby ball on the sand accompanied with a narration: “Whatever we choose, we’ve got to run. What do you think?”

The LP comes about six months after its second EP “Border: Carnival,” which entered Billboard 200 as No. 18.

On Thursday, the bandmates reassured fans that they are all well with a photo showing all seven of them posing at a studio. Six members of the septet tested positive for COVID-19 during self-quarantine last month and they have since been released.

GOT7’s Youngjae to debut as solo next month

Youngjae of GOT7 announced on Friday that he will come out with his first solo album on Oct. 5.

He uploaded a short teaser trailer that gave a glimpse of him working on his music, writing and erasing notes on a sheet of paper, before showing the title of upcoming album -- “Colors from Ars.” Ars is the name he uses as a songwriter, and comes from a Latin saying “Ars longa, vita brevis,” which means “Art is long, life is short.”

Youngjae revealed that he is working on an album slated to be released within this year in an interview with Forbes earlier this month. He still misses working as a group, he admitted in another interview with a fashion magazine.

“When I miss them, I often look up clips from our past activities, and definitely it is cool and splendid when it’s seven of us,” he said.  

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