[Today’s K-pop] NCT to launch last team through reality show

A reality show that will follow the launch of a new team under NCT will start airing on July 27, according to label SM Entertainment Friday.

As the title “NCT Universe: Lastart” -- a combination of last and start -- suggests, it will be the last expansion of the boy band and also will hail the beginning of a new team. Trainees from the label will participate in the program to be judged by senior artists including BoA and Eunhyuk of Super Junior.

The show will portray the entire process of forming the new team, from the selection of members and practices, to the final launch of the band, giving K-pop fans a glimpse of the inside workings of the label.

Meanwhile, NCT will hold its first offline full-group concerts, “NCT Nation: To The World,” in Korea in August and in Japan in September.

Itzy floats teaser for 7th EP

The quintet is set to release its seventh EP, “Kill My Doubt,” on July 31 and will drop the lead track in advance on July 3. Head producer Park Jinyoung wrote the lyrics for the song, which will be one of the three songs from the six-track mini album that are to be accompanied by music videos.

The EP comes about eight months after its previous EP, “Cheshire,” which hit the Billboard 200 at No. 25. The album sold more than 630,000 copies in its first week and became its second million-selling album after the group's fifth EP, “Checkmate.”

The group wrapped up its first international tour in Bangkok, Thailand in April after visiting eight cities in the US and seven in Asia, including Seoul.

Big Bang’s Daesung to host solo tour in Japan

It will be the first time in six years he is touring the country as a solo musician. Under the title “D-Lite Show Vol. 2,” he will hop around four cities – Fukuoka, Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya -- Aug. 18-30 for six concerts.

He officially marked his solo debut in Japan in 2014 with album “D’scover,” which ranked No. 2 on Oricon’s weekly albums chart, a record for a K-pop solo artist from a band. In 2017, Daesung drew an audience of over 200,000 with four days of dome concerts.

The musician will also participate in Waterbomb Japan 2023, the music festival’s debut in the country, next month.

Separately, he left label YG Entertainment in December and established agency R＆D Company in April.

Enhypen joins Pokemon music project

Enhypen joined forces with Pokemon for its campaign, “Pokemon Music Collective,” tweeted the character’s creator Friday.

The boy band is the second artist to be featured in the project, which builds up on the game sounds of the Pokemon series in collaboration with different musicians.

The septet’s single, dubbed “One and Only,” will be dropped on July 12, one week after the teaser video is unveiled.

In the meantime, its fourth EP, “Dark Blood,” has been on the Billboard 200 for three weeks in a row, ranking No. 56 on the chart dated July 1. The EP debuted on the main albums chart at No. 4, a record for the band. The million-selling album topped the iTunes top albums chart in 30 regions as well as Oricon’s weekly Albums and weekly Combined Albums rankings.

On July 29-30, the band will kick off its second international tour with a two-day live show in Seoul.

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