[Today’s K-pop] Ive to return next month with 1st LP

Ive will make a comeback on April 10 with its first full album, announced agency Starship Entertainment on Friday.

According to a local media report, the album will consist of 12 tracks and star lyricist Kim Eana will write words for the lead track.

It has been about seven months since its third single, “After Like,” which sold over 1 million copies in the first week of sales and topped all major charts at home. The group picked up 14 trophies in total last year with the titular track, the most among all K-pop groups for 2022.

Since its debut in December 2021, the six-member act has sold close to 3 million copies in combined sales of its three single albums.

Meanwhile, the group will host its first fan concert in Yokohama, Japan, this weekend, and in Kobe next week.

Nmixx to host 1st global showcase

Girl group Nmixx will tour North America and Asia from May for its first overseas showcases, said label JYP Entertainment on Friday.

It will visit eight cities in the US from May 2-14 and five regions in Asia from June 4-30 for the tour titled “Nice To Mixx You.”

Before the tour, the group will bring out its first EP “expergo” on March 20. A showcase to mark the release will be held later in the day and the event will be livestreamed on YouTube.

On Monday, the six members surprised fans by dropping “Young, Dumb, Stupid,” a pre-release from the six-track EP.

They debuted in February last year with the single “Ad Mare” and put out its second single, “Entwurf,” in September.

Le Sserafim logs 200m Spotify streams with ‘Antifragile’

Le Sserafim amassed 200 million streams on Spotify with “Antifragile,” the titular track from its second EP, according to the platform on Friday.

The single stayed on its global daily top songs chart for 136 days and on its global weekly top songs chart for 20 weeks. As of March, the group has generated 600 million streams combined on Spotify.

The EP, meanwhile, hit Billboard 200 at No. 14 when it came out in November 2022, the first entry in record time for a K-pop girl group. The mini album was its first million-seller as well.

There have been media reports that it will return with new album in May, in time for its first anniversary. Agency Source Music only said that it will make an official announcement when specific dates are set.

4 Loona members find new agency

Four members of disbanded girl group Loona signed with a new agency on Friday.

Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry have joined agency Triple S, the management company said, and asked fans to continue support them. The four members had requested its former agency, Blockberry Creative, to suspend their exclusive contracts and succeeded in getting an injunction for the termination in January.

Nine bandmates of the 12-piece act have been mired in a lawsuit against the agency surrounding their contracts shortly after Chuu was expelled from the group.

Meanwhile, Loona held its first standalone concert in Japan earlier this month. All members except Chuu took to the stage under their contract with Universal Japan, which is overseeing their activities in the country, regardless of the lawsuit outcomes.

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