[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids to return with 7th EP

The songwriting trio within the band, 3Racha – which consists of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han -- will continue to be the main force in making music that builds up the eight-member act’s identity, the company added.

The EP “Maxident” comes about seven months since its previous EP “Oddinary” that landed atop the Billboard 200, which made the band the third K-pop artist ever to achieve the feat following BTS and Super M.

The EP was a million-seller, a second for the band. It also topped the iTunes top albums chart in 53 regions and the main track “Maniac” was No. 1 on its top songs chart in 35 regions.

In the meantime, the band wrapped up its second international tour in July and will hold encore concerts in Seoul on Sept. 17-18.

SHINee’s Key to hold solo concert

Key of SHINee will go live in Seoul on his own next month, announced label SM Entertainment on Tuesday.

He will hold a solo concert called “G.O.A.T In The Keyland” in central Seoul on Oct. 22-23. It has been over 3 1/2 years since his offline gig “The Agit Key Land” and about a year since online concert “Groks In The Keyland.”

The veteran idol put out his second solo studio album “Gasoline” last week. The 11-track LP ranked No. 1 on the iTunes top albums chart in 23 regions.

Late last month, he took to the stage in Tokyo with bandmate Minho for the label’s all-star concert that drew an audience of 150,000 in three days.

Red Velvet’ Seulgi to put out solo work next month: report

Seulgi of Red Velvet will come out with her first solo album in October, according to local media reports on Tuesday.

Label SM Entertainment confirmed the news following the reports.

She will be the third member of the quintet to put one out, after Wendy and Joy. She sang on her own for the original soundtrack on the drama “The Crowned Clown” in 2019.

She debuted as a member of Red Velvet in 2014. In March, the group released the EP “The ReVe Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm,” which sold the second-most copies in the first week of sales for a K-pop girl group at the time.

Itzy’s “Loco” music video reaches 200m views

Izty’s music video for “Loco” surpassed 200 million views on YouTube, said label JYP Entertainment on Tuesday.

“Loco” is the lead track from its first full album “Crazy In Love” that came out in September last year. It is the quintet’s fifth music video to reach the milestone following those of “Dalla Dalla,” “Wannabe,” “ICY” and “In The Morning.” The first LP was No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on its albums sales chart.

Separately, the group’s most recent album, fifth EP “Checkmate,” hit the Billboard 200 at No. 8 in July, a career-high. Next month, it will drop its second single in Japan, “Blah Blah Blah” before touring eight cities in the US.

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