[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink expands tour yet again

Blackpink added another city and more dates to its ongoing tour, according to label YG Entertainment on Wednesday.

The quartet’s ever-expanding international tour will now include a concert in Mexico City slated for April 26 and two concerts each in Melbourne and Sydney, due on June 10-11 and 16-17.

Separately, Lisa logged 900 million streams on Spotify with her solo album “Lalisa.” This is the first time a K-pop solo musician achieved the feat on the platform.

“Lalisa” is a two-track album that came out in September 2021 and both tracks generated 200 million streams on the platform as did “SG,” her collaboration with DJ Snake, Ozuna and Megan Thee Stallion. Lisa is the only K-pop solo female artist to have three songs to do so.

2PM to hold concert this summer: report

2PM will hold a full-group concert as early as August, according to a local media report on Wednesday.

The six bandmates have adjusted their schedule to prepare for the event, it added. Label JYP Entertainment acknowledged that the band is planning for one but only said that it will make an announcement when more details is confirmed.

Ock Taecyeon and Hwang Chanseong signed with new agencies in 2018 and in 2022, respectively, after their contract with JYP Entertainment expired.

2PM released “Must,” its first full-group album in five years, in June 2021 and greeted its fans through an online fan meeting in about three months. Its last concert with all members present was “6Nights” in 2017.

BTS’ ‘Mic Drop’ music video surpasses 1.3b views

The music video for BTS’ “Mic Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)” amassed 1.3 billion views on YouTube as of Tuesday.

The video is the band’s fourth to reach the milestone on the platform, after those of “DNA,” “Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey)” and “Dynamite.”

The song is part of its 2017 album “Love Yourself: ‘Her’” rearranged into an electro trap tune by DJ Steve Aoki. It debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 28 and stayed on the chart for ten weeks in a row.

Meanwhile, the septet maintained a spot on Billboard 200 for 33rd week as its anthology album “Proof” ranked No. 118 on the chart dated Feb. 4.

It also was nominated for Favorite Music Group at Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2023. It has been the winner of the award for the last three years.

Stray Kids to headline Lollapalooza Paris

Stray Kids will headline Lollapalooza Paris as the first K-pop act to do so, according to label JYP Entertainment on Wednesday.

The band will kick off the music festival that will be held in the French capital July 21-23. Spread over three days, the event will have a string of musicians such as Rosalia, Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X. The eight-member act will be the first K-pop musician to be invited by the festival as a headliner.

In the meantime, Stray Kids will continue its second world tour “Maniac” in Bangkok this week. On Feb. 22, it will roll out first studio album in Japan “The Sound.”

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