Feb 19, 2020

BTS to unveil teaser for its new song 'ON' ahead of official release

A sample of "ON," the lead track of K-pop super band BTS' upcoming album "Map of the Soul: 7," will hit the popular video-sharing service TikTok half a day ahead of the song's official release this week, TikTok said Wednesday. A 30-second video will be released on the social networking service at 6 a.m. Friday, 12 hours ahead of the official release set for 6 p.m. the same day, according to the service. It is the first time in its seven-year career that BTS will unveil a

Feb 18, 2020

BTS’ top 50 singles and album tracks, ranked

In celebration of this week’s comeback, we put together 50 tracks representing best of BTS

Feb 18, 2020

Pre-orders for BTS album top record 4 million

Pre-orders for K-pop super band BTS' upcoming album have topped the 4 million mark, the biggest pre-order volume ever for a South Korean album. Pre-orders for "Map of the Soul: 7," set for official release on Friday, reached 4.02 million copies as of Monday, BTS' management agency, Big Hit Entertainment said, citing data from record distributor Dreamus Company. It is the biggest pre-order volume for any South Korean album as well as for any BTS record. The album achieved 3.42 mil

Feb 18, 2020

IZ*ONE breaks first-week sales record for girl group albums

IZ*ONE has shattered a first-week sales record for albums by girl groups of all time with its new album, the band's management agency said Tuesday. The group's first full-length album "Bloom*Iz" sold some 184,000 copies within the first day of its release Monday at 6 p.m., Off the Record said, citing data from domestic album sales tracker Hanteo Chart. It took less than a day for the group to break the previous record set by TWICE when its eighth EP album "Feel Special" so

Feb 17, 2020

Zico's 'Any Song' rules S. Korean music charts backed by viral cover dance videos

Zico, a rapper and music producer, became the latest K-pop sensation as his latest hip-hop number, "Any Song," topped weekly domestic music charts for the fourth week in a row. The hypnotic song topped the Gaon weekly digital chart, operated by the Korea Music Content Association, for the week of Feb. 2-8, securing its fourth week atop the chart. Since its release on January, "Any Song" has stayed on top of daily digital song charts of major online music streaming service

Feb 17, 2020

BTS shares longest-ever tracklist for upcoming album

BTS shared a whopping 20-song tracklist on Monday for its new album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” just ahead of its release Feb. 21. The list is the longest ever for a BTS's full-length album and features 15 new tracks -- including “On,” which fronts the new album -- along with five songs previously released as part of last year’s “Map of the Soul: Persona” EP. The new songs include “Filter,” “Louder Than Bombs,” “Zero O&

Feb 14, 2020

K-pop moguls make new move with girl groups

Prominent figures from K-pop agencies have been working with girl groups managed by other companies. Lee Soo-man, founder and chief producer of S.M. Entertainment, participated in the production of girl group LOONA’s second EP, “#,” released Feb. 5. The 12-piece act, whose Korean name translates to “Girl of the Month,” is managed by Blockberry Creative, a small entertainment agency. The EP has topped the iTunes Albums chart in 47 countries including Poland, Spa

Feb 14, 2020

BTS to premiere new album's main track on Jimmy Fallon show

K-pop superband BTS will stage the debut performance of its upcoming album's main track on late night US TV show, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," this month, the show has announced. Appearing on a special episode of the show by broadcaster NBC on Feb. 24 (US time), the septet will premiere the lead track of "Map of the Soul: 7," slated for official release on Feb. 21, according to an SNS announcement by the TV show. The special show will feature BTS' interview w

Feb 12, 2020

Pentagon releases first full-length album 3 years after debut

Nearly 3 1/2 years since its debut, Pentagon is releasing its very first full-length album, “Universe: The Black Hall.” The album consists of 11 tracks representing different genres, and leader Hui says it captures the essence of the band’s work so far. “The new album is an aggregation of our previous nine EPs we’ve released so far,” he said during the press showcase in Seoul on Wednesday. While some might think 3 1/2 years is a long delay, Jinho said he wa

Feb 12, 2020

Samsung hints at partnership with BTS

SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL -- Speculation is growing about Samsung Electronics possibly teaming up with global sensation BTS for the tech giant’s latest Galaxy devices. At the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event held at the Palace Fine Arts in San Francisco Tuesday, V, a member of the seven-piece group, made a surprise appearance in a presentation video of the latest Galaxy phones, including the flagship Galaxy S20 and the foldable Galaxy Z Flip. The screen flashed a photo of V wearing Samsung

Feb 12, 2020

[Herald Interview] KARD returns with Moombahton, paying homage to their debut

Mixed-gender quartet KARD has returned to the local music scene after a five-month hiatus, the longest break they’ve had been since debuting in 2016, with fourth mini-album “Red Moon.” This five-track album might be the group’s last mini album for a while, as J.Seph has to enlist in the Korean Army by the end of the year to fulfill his military duty of about 18 months. Unlike the group’s latest single “Dumb Litty,” a song described as “very agg

Feb 12, 2020

Cherry Bullet returns with charismatic ‘Hands Up’

Cherry Bullet has changed tack this year with its charismatic new single “Hands Up.” The rookie’s first release in nine months, “Hands Up” marks a dramatic shift from the act’s past bubbly image, featuring the girls as fierce dancers taking over the stage. The high-energy trap dance track was inspired by “Fur Elise” by Ludwig van Beethoven, with the classic’s iconic main tune running throughout the song.   The song puts forth a mess

Feb 12, 2020

BTS extends record-breaking dominance of Billboard Social 50 chart

BTS topped the Billboard Social 50 chart again this week, extending its record-breaking dominance of the chart. Coming atop the Social 50 chart for Feb. 15, BTS marked its 135th consecutive week on top of the chart and its 165th Social 50 No. 1.  A week earlier, BTS became the act with the most No. 1 rankings on the chart, beating pop icon Justin Bieber, who topped it 163 times. The Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Wikipedia,

Feb 10, 2020

Meet songwriting duo behind Red Velvet’s ‘Zimzalabim’

Sweden’s Caesar & Loui talk Red Velvet’s latest single, S.M. song camps, K-pop career