[Today’s K-pop] The Boyz to put out new EP in August

The Boyz are coming out with a sixth EP in August, said agency Cre.ker Entertainment on Monday.

More details will be announced soon, the company added, asking fans to keep their eyes open.

It has been 11 months since the band’s previous EP, “Chase.” That was the group’s bestselling EP so far, and all its tracks made it onto all the major local charts.

The 11-piece boy band recently participated in “Kingdom: Legendary War” and competed against five other groups. Its song “Kingdom Come,” from the final round, ranked No. 7 on Billboard’s K-pop 100 earlier this month. It was the first time The Boyz made the top 10 -- previously, “Checkmate” reached No. 90 and “The Stealer” hit No. 86. The music media are calling The Boyz “one of K-pop’s fastest-rising and most exciting groups.”

Seventeen’s new EP sells over 1 million

Seventeen’s eighth EP, “Your Choice,” had sold over 1.05 million units as of Monday, within three days of its release, according to a website that specializes in album sales.

This is the fourth time the band has produced a million-seller -- the others were “Heng:garae,” “;[Semicolon]” and “An Ode.”

The EP topped major charts around the world as well, including iTunes’ worldwide song chart, Oricon’s daily album ranking, LINE Music’s real-time and daily charts, and QQ Music’s album bestseller daily and weekly charts.

But the bandmates have put their promotional activities on hold until June 29. They had a photo shoot June 15 and two staff members who were present at the site subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus. All 13 band members took tests as a preemptive measure, and the results came out negative, but they are currently under self-quarantine.

Jung Yong-hwa to release 1st Chinese album

Jung Yong-hwa is dropping his first solo music in Chinese on Tuesday, in time for his birthday.

The EP, titled “Hwa.Chang Stay in Touch,” reflects the singer’s hopes of connecting people with music and melodies. Hwa, the last character in Jung’s name, means harmony in Chinese, and Chang stands for singing.

Before the official release of the EP, the singer had unveiled the singles one by one since April. There are four tracks in total: “Checkmate (R3HAB Remix),” made in collaboration with singer JJ Lin and DJ/producer R3HAB; “10,000 Hours (Global Chinese version),” a retake on American country music duo Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber’s hit from 2019; “Nonsense,” a duet with Jam Hsiao; and one more song that will be unveiled with the EP.

Jung recently starred in a television drama opposite Jang Nara and held an online fan meet Sunday, connecting with fans from around the world.

Golden Child to host offline concert 

Golden Child announced Monday that it would hold a standalone concert in Seoul next month.

The 10-member boy band shared a poster for the two-day concert, called “Summer Breeze,” showing the bandmates sitting casually at what looks like a campsite in matching blue clothes.

It has been nine months since their previous concert and about five months since they put out their fifth EP, “Yes.” The EP sold close to 114,000 units, setting a record for the band, and main track “Burn It” earned them two trophies from weekly music chart shows. During a livestream on Twitter before the release of the EP, Golden Child drew 1.22 million fans in total.

The concert will be held July 17-18 and will also be broadcast live online.

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