[Today’s K-pop] TXT stays among top 10 on Billboard 200

Tomorrow X Together maintained a spot on the Billboard 200 for the third week, according to a preview article from the publication.

The group's fifth EP “The Name Chapter: Temptation” ranked No. 10 on the chart dated Feb. 25, making them the third K-pop act to sit among the top 10 on the chart for three weeks in a row, following BTS and Blackpink.

The EP debuted on the chart at No. 1 and was No. 3 the following week. The album sold more than 2.18 million copies in its first week.

Separately, the band will kick off its second world tour on March 25. After two concerts in Seoul, it will fly over to Singapore and then Taipei, Taiwan. Two concerts each in four cities in Japan will follow before the quintet tours six cities in the US.

aespa floats teaser for battling ‘Black Mamba’

Girl group aespa unveiled a teaser trailer for the third episode of its alternative universe series on Monday.

“Girls (Don’t You Know I’m a Savage)” is the last episode of the first season of its ongoing SM Culture Universe series. The foursome faces archenemy Black Mamba for their final battle.

In the meantime, aespa will host its first standalone concerts in Seoul, “Synk: Hyper Line,” on Saturday and Sunday. A dance video for “Salty ＆ Sweet” was uploaded last week, giving fans a taste of its upcoming live performance that has not been shown to the public yet.

It is planning to hold 10 concerts in Japan this year and roll out a studio album in the latter half of the year, according to SM Entertainment on Monday at a corporate briefing.

NCT Dream meets 120,000 fans in Osaka

NCT Dream drew a total of 120,000 concertgoers over three days at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan, according to SM Entertainment.

The band’s first dome concert was the grand finale of its Japan tour that brought the seven members to four cities for eight concerts. They put on “Best Friends Ever,” the main track from its Japanese debut single of the same title that came out on Feb. 8, for the first time during the tour. They also gave the audience a Japanese-language version of its hit song “Buffering.”

The last day’s show was broadcast live to 140 cinemas across Japan, as well as online.

From March, the septet will resume its international tour starting in Jakarta, Indonesia. After hitting three cities in Asia, the group goes to Europe and then the US, before returning to Asia for four more concerts.

Sublime parts ways with Rain Co.

Management firms Rain Co. and Sublime Artist Agency ended their partnership, according to the latter on Monday.

After careful discussion, the two companies terminated a memorandum of understanding they had signed in April 2020. Sublime thanked Rain and his company and asked fans to keep on supporting him and artists managed by the agency.

The singer and actor started his namesake company in 2020 and launched boy band Ciipher the following year. Reports late last year indicated that Rain will step down as the head of his company and concede his rights to oversee the band, remaining only as a producer. Rain Co. immediately refuted the notion.

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