[Today’s K-pop] Monsta X returns with 9th EP

The bandmates of Monsta X talked about their ninth EP “One of A Kind” on Tuesday.

“This album is a handiwork that shows the pure essence of Monsta X,” said Jooheon. He produced the title track “Gambler,” a first for the musician since he debuted six years ago. He wanted to make a song that would clearly show off the group, he added.

Calling himself a “witness” to how Jooheon poured himself into the song, Kihyun proudly declared it “perfect,” as it brings out each member’s tone and blends them harmoniously at the same time.

Jooheon and I.M participated in writing all seven tracks while Hyungwon co-wrote the lyrics of “Secrets” and “Bebe.”

The band recently celebrated the sixth anniversary of their debut and the bandmates thanked Monbebe, their official fandom, for staying with them for so long.

“I still need to get used to the idea that we’re (starting) our seventh year,” said Hyungwon. The musicians added that they want to make their fans proud and prove themselves that there is no limit to their growth.

TXT tops iTunes chart in 45 regions

Tomorrow X Together landed at the top of iTunes top album chart in 45 regions, according to label Big Hit Music on Tuesday.

Its second studio album “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze” came out Monday and ranked No. 1 on the chart around the world including in the UK and Japan. It broke its own record from last year when the third EP “minisode 1: Blue Hour” topped the chart in 30 regions.

Title track “0X1=Lovesong(I Know I Love You)feat. Seori” was No. 1 on iTunes’ top song chart in 31 regions, surpassing the record set by “Blue Hour,” the focus track from the third EP, that hit the same spot in 15 regions.

The boy band’s new album hit over 700,000 units in pre-order sales, according to data released on Monday. Last October, “minisode 1” had 300,000 units in pre-orders.

Twice floats teaser photos for “Taste of Love” 

Twice released individual photographs of each member on Tuesday stirring up expectations for its upcoming album, “Taste of Love.”

In each of the photographs, the nine members were all sunshine and smiles, some posing with glasses of cocktails. The cocktails bring to mind the title track -- named “Alcohol-Free” -- which was written by head producer Park Jin-young.

As for the rest of the songs, the bandmates also participated in lyric writing for several songs -- Dahyun wrote for “Scandal” and “SOS” while Jihyo, Sana and Nayeon each wrote the words for “First Time,” “Conversation” and “Baby Blue Love.”

The band is coming out with the EP on June 11 and will drop the title track on June 9 in advance. Twice will perform “Alcohol-Free” for the first time on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on June 9, its first appearance on the talk show.

BTS’ “Butter” video logs 200m views in 97 hours

The music video of BTS’ “Butter” drew 200 million views in 97 hours, setting yet another world record.

This replaces the record set by the band’s “Dynamite” shortening the time by close to 10 hours.

The video of the “Hotter” remix version, which came out May 28, also gathered over 36 million views on YouTube as of Tuesday.

The digital single, the band’s second English song, ranked No. 3 on UK’s Official single chart top 100 upon release. It has topped iTunes’ top song chart in 101 regions and is expected to set a new tally on the Billboard chart when it launches on June 1, local time.

Meanwhile, the septet’s first English song “Dynamite” also recorded 1.1 billion views as of Tuesday, becoming the band’s third video to surpass the milestone following “DNA” and “Boy With Luv.”

BTS now has 33 videos with over 100 million views.

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