[Today’s K-pop] Twice lands at No. 3 on Billboard 200 with 11th EP

Twice hit the Billboard 200 at No. 3 with its 11th EP “Between 1＆2,” said label JYP Entertainment on Monday.

This ties with the record of third studio album “Formula of Love: O+T=〈3” from November last year.

The nonet made its first entry into the chart in June 2020 with ninth EP “More ＆ More” and has put a total of five albums on the chart so far, a record for a K-pop girl group. Nayeon’s first solo EP “Im Nayeon” from June ranked No. 7 on the chart as well.

The EP, released on Aug. 26, also is likely to become the group’s first million-selling album, having sold 1 million copies in pre-orders. This will make Twice the third K-pop girl group to have achieved the feat, following Blackpink and aespa.

Blackpink amasses record 80m YouTube subscribers

The number of subscribers to Blackpink’s YouTube channel reached 80 million on Monday, according to label YG Entertainment.

This is a record among artists all over the world, it underlined. The group has had the most subscribers among artists worldwide since it bumped Justin Bieber out of first place in September last year.

The quartet logged a cumulative 26 billion views on the platform with its videos, led by the music video for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” which has over 1.9 billion views.

Meanwhile, it will drop its second full-length album “Born Pink” on Sept. 16. “Pink Venom,” a pre-release from the album, landed atop Spotify’s Global Top 50 upon release and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 22 last week. The music video for the single generated 100 million views on YouTube in 29 hours and surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify as of Monday.

Highlight to hold fan concert to mark 13th debut anniversary

Highlight will celebrate its 13th anniversary with fans next month with concerts in Seoul.

The four-piece act will host fan concerts themed after sports day on Oct. 15-16. The band hinted that it wants fans to participate in a variety of games.

It has been only five months since its standalone concert “Intro.” Its most recent album was first studio album “Daydream” from March.

The bandmates originally debuted as members of six-member team Beast in 2009 and reorganized into Highlight in 2017 after their contracts with Cube Entertainment expired.

Separately, leader Yoon Dujun is set to appear in sequel for movie “Honest Candidate” that will premiere on Sept. 28. He also was in drama “Never Give Up,” his first since he was discharged, that wrapped up in June.

Cravity to put out 4th EP later this month

Boy band Cravity will release fourth EP “New Wave” on Sept. 27, said agency Starship Entertainment on Monday.

It has been six months since its second full album “Part 2. Liberty: In Our Cosmos.” Its most recent work was digital single “Boogie Woogie,” the band’s first English-language song, from last month.

The nine-member group was chosen as one of the rookie bands for KCON, one of the largest K-pop festivals, and toured six cities in the US until last week. It performed “Boogie Woogie” for the first time during the tour.

In August, it joined the lineup for The Star Nextage in Japan along with next-generation artists from Korea and Japan.

Cravity debuted in April 2020 with EP “Season 1. Hideout: Remember Who We Are.”

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