[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s music videos reach milestones

The music videos for Blackpink’s “Pink Venom” and “Shut Down” reached 400 million and 200 million views, respectively, on YouTube, according to label YG Entertainment on Wednesday.

The former is the prereleased single from its second studio album, “Born Pink,” which was fronted by the latter. The “Pink Venom” music video logged over 90 million views on the platform in 24 hours when it came out in August, and surpassed 100 million views in the shortest time for a K-pop girl group.

The quartet became the first Asian female artists to top both the Billboard 200 and UK’s Official Albums Chart with the LP. It has remained on the Billboard 200 for five weeks, and now claims the No. 68 spot.

The main track debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 25 and the prerelease at No. 22.

The group is currently touring the US as part of its international tour, its first in-person tour in four years.

Le Sserafim’s documentary to air in Japan

Le Sserafim will be featured in a documentary show from Japan’s NHK next month, according to agency Source Music on Wednesday.

The rookie group is the focus of the broadcaster’s “Songs + Plus,” an ongoing documentary series on the next generation of musicians. The five-member act’s episode will follow it preparing to put out second EP “Antifragile,” and give a behind-the-scenes look at its appearance in KCON 2022 Japan. The episode will air on Nov. 3.

The group rolled out the EP on Oct. 18, and the title track made both of Billboard’s global charts. The album sold more than 560,000 copies in the first week. In Japan, it debuted atop Oricon’s daily albums ranking and won the No. 1 spot in its weekly albums ranking as well.

Girl group Class:y brings out 2nd EP

Girl group Class:y held a media showcase in Seoul on Wednesday to introduce its second EP, “Day ＆ Night.”

“This is the day we’ve been all waiting for,” said Hyungseo, “and we’ve been telling each other how excited and happy we are rather than being anxious.”

The EP shows how each of the seven members in their own ways go from ordinary students to singers.

Their original perspective, declaring “We customize our own,” could have been not easy to carry on, admitted Boeun, and they wanted to make it easier for their fans to communicate through music. Their own stories are their views on the world, she added.

The EP consists of two tracks, both of which are main tracks, and comes with a music video that is almost nine minutes long, a rarity from a K-pop group.

“We wanted to show how we’ve become more sophisticated and mature,” said Hyejoo.

Monsta X’s Kihyun talks about 1st solo EP ‘Youth’

Kihyun of Monsta X discussed his first solo EP, “Youth,” which came out Tuesday.

The EP comes about seven months since his first solo work, the single “Voyager.” He admitted that he was really nervous, even though it was not even his first time putting out a solo work.

“But personally, I was satisfied with this album and that put me so much at ease,” he said. The EP carries on the concept of travel, but takes on the role of someone who asks himself questions and tries to find answers for them.

“I’m happy that my current feelings that I can only share now are contained well in the album,” said the musician. He thanked all his bandmates for their support but Hyungwon, in particular, for writing two songs -- “Bad Liar” and “Where Is This Love” -- for the five-track EP.

“He made such efforts … fine-tuning each sound to tailor both songs to my taste,” he recalled.

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