[Today’s K-pop] Kang Daniel hails surprise release

Kang Daniel signaled an upcoming music release with a surprise teaser on Thursday.

He floated a “Coming Soon” poster and said he would come out with new music April 13.

2021 will be a turning point for the singer, he promised, saying he was putting his plan into action on the heels of the success of his previous single, “Paranoia.”

“Paranoia” came out last month, and within only two weeks it swept charts and television music programs. The video set a record for the musician, amassing 10 million views in two days and doubling that number in another two days. But “Paranoia” was only a preview, Kang said at the time.

His color series from last year -- “Cyan” and “Magenta” -- sold over 1 million units and solidified his position as a solo artist.

He is also considering appearing in a romance drama set at a police academy.

Blackpink’s Rose starts YouTube channel 

Rose of Blackpink started her own YouTube channel, “Rose,” Thursday, taking her fans by surprise.

She uploaded a five-minute video in which she gave viewers a glimpse of her childhood, with footage of her dancing and playing the piano.

“I played the piano the moment I woke up. It was so much fun. That may be when my love for music grew,” she recalled. She talked about how she picked her English name and how she liked to take naps, reminiscing about the house she lived in when she was little.

“When I was young, I wanted to be like Beyonce or Michael Jackson. These days, I want to be a happy musician who doesn’t get disconcerted whenever or wherever,” said the performer. She’d tried to enjoy preparing for her solo debut every step of the way, she added.

Her channel gained close to 500,000 subscribers in about three hours, and some are wondering how soon she will earn her gold button for 1 million subscribers.

WJSN unveils list of songs on upcoming EP

WJSN shared the track list for its forthcoming EP, “Unnatural,” late Wednesday via its official social media channels, signaling its first music release in nine months.

In addition to the title track, there will be five more: “Last Dance,” “Super Moon,” “New Me,” “Yalla” and “Don’t Forget (My Universe).”

The EP, the band’s ninth, highlights the maturity of the bandmates. They sing about women who are passionate but keep their cool on the outside, having grown out of songs about mysterious and willowy girls.

In “Unnatural,” they sing about how everything turns upside down in front of a person they like. They get seductive in “Yalla.”

Exy and SeolA participated in writing the lyrics and melodies for most of the tracks, as they had for the previous EP, “Neverland.” That EP made it to No. 2 on Billboard’s 10 best K-pop albums of 2020.

The new EP will roll out March 31. 

Treasure tops Japanese music chart 

Treasure ranked No. 1 on Japan’s leading music chart with the prerelease drop “Boy.”

The song landed at the top of Line Music’s real-time chart, the biggest music chart in Japan, stayed at the top of its daily chart through the week and also claimed the No. 1 spot on its weekly chart.

The 12-piece act dropped four songs -- “Boy,” “I Love You,” “Mmm” and “My Treasure” -- in Japanese in advance of its official debut there.

Every one of the lead tracks from its four-part “The First Step” series, all sung in Korean, topped major Japanese music charts. The band’s “Beautiful,” a theme song for a Japanese animation, also rose to the top.

“Thanks to the support from our Japanese fans, we cannot wait for our debut in Japan,” the bandmates told Japanese media, adding that their dream was to tour the world together.

The band’s first studio album in Japan will hit the stores March 31.

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