[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ Jimin to release solo album: report

Jimin of BTS is set to drop his first solo album in February, according to a local media report Monday.

Big Hit Music said that it would announce the specific date as soon as it is confirmed, following the report.

Jimin will become the fourth member of the septet to put out solo work, following J-Hope, Jin and RM.

The artist collaborated with Ha Sungwoon for the drama theme song “With You,” putting it atop iTunes top songs chart in 100 regions in record time. Along with Jin, V and Jungkook, he sang “Bad Decision,” a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Benny Blanco.

He also made headlines as a featured artist for Taeyang’s digital single “Vibe,” which came out last week and soon landed atop iTunes top songs chart in 86 regions.

TXT to launch 2nd world tour

Tomorrow X Together will launch its second international tour in March, Big Hit Music announced Monday.

The band will begin the “Act: Sweet Mirage” tour with two concerts in Seoul before flying to Singapore the following month.

The five bandmates will go live in Taipei, Taiwan before hopping across to Japan, and in May they will visit six cities in the US. The tour includes 21 concerts in total, slightly larger than its first tour, “Act: Love Sick,” of 19 concerts in 13 cities.

In the meantime, the boy band returns on Jan. 27 with fifth EP “The Name Chapter: Temptation.” It has been floating a series of teaser photographs for four different themes -- Daydream, Nightmare, Farewell and Lullaby -- capturing how the young falter when faced with temptation.

Stray Kids to put out 1st Japan LP next month

Stray Kids will put out the group's first studio album in Japan on Feb. 22, label JYP Entertainment announced Monday.

The company uploaded a jacket image for LP “The Sound” showing the eight bandmates posing with musical equipment as well as speakers and microphones. The album will consist of 10 tracks, including the title track and Japanese-language versions of its hit songs “Thunderous” and “Case 143,” which fronted second EP “Noeasy” and seventh EP “Maxident,” respectively.

Its seventh EP sold more than 3.17 million copies, making it the second bestselling K-pop album in 2022. The EP hit the Billboard 200 at No. 1, as did previous EP “Oddinary.”

Meanwhile, the band will hold encore concerts in Japan next month, in Saitama on Feb. 11 and 12 and two weeks later in Osaka on Feb. 25 and 26.

Blackpink’s ‘Playing With Fire’ tops 800m views

The music video for Blackpink’s “Playing With Fire” surpassed 800 million views on YouTube, label YG Entertainment said Monday.

The group now has 10 videos to have achieved the feat on the platform.

“Playing With Fire” is one of the double lead tracks from its second digital single, “Square Two,” which came out in November 2016. The tropical house tune comes with powerful choreography and the dance video amassed 200 million views as of July, becoming the quartet’s 11th dance video to reach the milestone.

Blackpink is touring Asia and Oceania, continuing its world tour that started last year. In April, it will headline Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a first for a K-pop act. It performed in Hong Kong over the weekend and will return to Paris next week to join a charity concert hosted by French first lady Brigitte Macron.

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