[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids rocks stage on “Kingdom: Legendary War”

Stray Kids rocked out during the first episode of the Mnet boy band competition program “Kingdom: Legendary War” on Thursday.

The band was one of six groups -- along with iKON, BTOB, SF9, Ateez and first season winner The Boyz – competing in the second edition of the show.

In the first episode, each group was given 100 seconds of “face-to-face time” and a chance to perform their chart-toppers. Stray Kids chose a rearranged version of “Miroh,” its first No. 1 song, and incorporated props that symbolized wolves on top of the song’s intense choreography to showcase that they are ready to fight till the end.

“We want to leave a strong impact,” said the bandmates, “We don’t want to cut any corners, no matter which stage we’re on. We’ll always pour out all we’ve got and show off our ultimate energy.”

A clip of the band’s performance recorded close to 2.5 million views on YouTube as of Friday afternoon, drawing the most among the participants.

The results from the first episode, with votes from fans around the world, were partially revealed: BTOB ranked No. 3, followed by SF9 and Ateez. The rest will be disclosed in the next episode.

Mamamoo’s Wheein to release 1st solo EP

Wheein of Mamamoo is returning to the solo stage with her first EP, her agency RBW Entertainment said on Friday.

It has been about 1 1/2 years since her second solo single “Soar.”

The EP is titled “Redd” as the singer conveys the message to tidy herself up, getting rid of the fake taste and style that has clung to her mind and body and to express herself as she truly wishes.

She participated in all aspects of the EP, said her company.

Wheein debuted as a member of four-member girl group Mamamoo in 2014 and also been carving out a spot on her own with a string of solo stints, including “Anymore” and “Goodbye,” since 2018.

The EP will be released on April 13.

Meanwhile, the group’s three other members renewed their contracts with the agency in March and the company assured fans that Wheein is deep in talks about a renewal as well and that the band will not be disbanding.

TXT floats surprise teaser 

Tomorrow X Together took fans by surprise sharing a photo on Friday that hinted at upcoming events.

With an image of a page out of a diary, reading “Mood Diary,” a series of time slots from Friday evening throughout the weekend were written out. Along with it, they wrote: “Shall we hang out together listening to the music from a list of tracks we’ve put together ourselves?” Fans are excited that each of the five members will share their playlist and show off their tastes in music.

The band is preparing for its next album after successfully wrapping up promotional activities for the third EP “minisode 1: Blue Hour” last year. The EP peaked at No. 25 on Billboard’s Billboard 200 and sold over 300,000 units in the first week of sales.

For the time being, Taehyun and Huening Kai are hosting a radio program together, while Soobin is emceeing for a television music chart show. The band also hosted an online fan meet event last month.

Seventeen’s Hoshi talks about upcoming mixtape

Hoshi of Seventeen discussed his first solo mixtape on the day of its release.

“I poured myself into it so that I could show the performance befitting [the role of] Seventeen’s performance team leader,” he said, adding confidently that the choreography is so dynamic that it is impossible to say which is the best part. The performance that seamlessly blends into the ambience and energy of the song is the key to enjoy his music, said the singer.

He had his hands in parts of the entire project, from writing lyrics to devising the performance, as it is the first time he is coming out with his own music since he debuted as a member of the idol group six years ago.

He started asking himself what he was supposed to do as it became hard to meet fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I thought I should work on my own songs that will tell my story,” he said.

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