[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink is ‘Entertainer of the Year’: Time

Blackpink was chosen by Time magazine as Entertainer of the Year.

Its highly anticipated second studio album “Born Pink” came out in September and sold over 2 million units, a record as the bestselling album by a Korean girl group. The LP became the first to debut atop Billboard 200 and UK’s Official Chart, a first for an Asian musician.

The quartet “has managed to become the biggest girl group in the world,” the magazine wrote, and the key lies in “allowing its members to be solo stars in their own right.”

And the foursome succeeded not only in music, but also in fashion and on screen, it emphasized, quoting John Janick, CEO and chairman of Interscope, YG Entertainment’s partner in managing the group’s business outside Asia. “They’re all four stars in their own way,” Janick is quoted as saying.

Big Bang’s T.O.P to join 1st civilian trip to moon: report

T.O.P of Big Bang will join Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa’s first civilian trip to the moon, according to a local media report on Tuesday.

The idol was chosen as one of the eight artists to join the Japanese billionaire’s #dearMoon project that is slated for next year. Maezawa purchased all seats abord the rocket in 2018 and said that he will fund the trip around the moon on a SpaceX, in the hopes that the trip will inspire artists to “create amazing works of art for humankind.”

Other likely passengers for the weeklong space trip include DJ Steve Aoki and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Essdras Suarez.

T.O.P debuted as a member of Big Bang in 2006 and his contract with YG Entertainment expired in February. He left the team after it dropped single “Still Life” in April and launched a wine business in June.

SHINee’s Minho rolls out 1st solo album

Minho of SHINee put out his first solo album “Chase” on Tuesday.

The EP consists of six tracks and “in a word, is ‘the collection of Minho’s sensibilities,’” said the veteran idol at an online media conference held on the day. His preference for R＆B genre made him choose “Chase” as the lead track blending R＆B and hip-hop.

He is the last member of the band to bring out a solo album.

“Taemin did a good job as the first to go solo, and Jonghyun carried it well until Onew and Key widened the perspective. I’m just putting in the last piece of puzzle. And I’m so grateful to the members,” he said.

The musician admitted that he was under pressure to put together an album fit for one who debuted 14 years ago. He had to consider where it stands in relation to those of other members while expressing his own color.

“Since everyone has done so well so far, I had to be confident myself, or this album could not have been completed,” he mused.

(G)I-dle to meet fans next month

(G)I-dle will hold fan meet events in Seoul on Jan. 28-29, 2023, announced agency Cube Entertainment on Tuesday.

The five members shared the news with a poster that read “Dear Neverland” and showed them with props with analogue props – handwritten letter, parcel and vintage telephone. Neverland is the name of its official fandom community.

The group put out fifth EP “I Love” in October and main track “Nxde” swept all major charts at home and topped the iTunes top albums chart in 40 regions. The EP sold more than 678,000 units, almost three times its previous record.

(G)Idle returned to Seoul on Sunday after performing at 2022 MAMA Awards in Osaka.

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