YG Entertainment is gearing up to debut its first new girl group in seven years, Babymonster, and has unveiled the last member of the seven-piece band this week. Just like the label's previous hit group Blackpink, Babymonster is a multinational group. There are three Koreans, two hailing from Thailand and two from Japan. Since the band was first announced on Jan. 1, YG has disclosed information about the new group in gradual stages. Here, we take a deeper look into Babymonster to get an ide

Kakao has become SM Entertainment's second largest shareholder, venturing into one of the biggest tech and entertainment alliances in South Korea. IT conglomerate Kakao announced Tuesday that it has acquired a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment. SM Entertainment is one of the nation's biggest K-pop agencies, home to big names like Exo, Red Velvet, aespa and NCT. The latest partnership comes in a move to join force and secure competitiveness amid the burgeoning of K-pop and Korean e

In its third year of contending at the Grammys, K-pop phenomenon BTS ends the night technically empty-handed again. But experts assure this does not mean a failure at all. The 65th Grammy Awards' ceremony took place Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. BTS did not attend the event in person. This year saw the group get multiple Grammy nods for its first time, including in the best music video category for "Yet to Come" and in the best pop duo or group performance c

Three members of the K-pop boy band Stray Kids have become official members of the Korea Music Copyright Association. KOMCA recently announced a list of 25 musicians who have been promoted to regular members, and among them were Stray Kids' Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. Since the beginning of the band's career in 2018, the three members have been writing almost all Stray Kids songs under their producing unit name 3Racha. Their songs include the act's chart-topping hits "Hellev

Yet another K-pop audition program is on the way with Mnet's new competition show "Boys Planet," set to premiere Thursday. Mnet, the nation's biggest K-pop channel, operated by the entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, has introduced many aspiring artists through its countless survival shows in the past few years, and with "Boys Planet," the company and its producers aspire to uncover more of the industry's undiscovered talents. A spinoff of the girl group debut p

K-pop girl group Viviz is back to boast a new spectrum of colors with its third EP "VarioUS." The members -- Eunha, SinB and Umji -- held a media showcase in Seoul on Tuesday ahead of the album's release scheduled at 6 p.m. Stressing "v" and "us" in the name, the new album is packed with various new aspects of Viviz that had not been unveiled before. "The album embodies the fierce side of Viviz, which we've only been able to get a glimpse at through s

K-pop girl group Twice has been honored as this year's breakthrough artist by Billboard Women In Music, becoming the first Korean artist to win at the awards. Billboard on Monday, US time, announced on its website that Twice has been named the winner in the Breakthrough Artist category at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music awards. This marks the first time in history that a Korean artist earned a trophy at the US music event. Billboard Women in Music is an annual event held since 2007 by Bil

K-pop band Tomorrow X Together has turned a new chapter with its new album "The Name Chapter: Temptation." Ahead of the album's release on Friday, the five-piece act, also abbreviated as TXT, conducted a press conference in Seoul's Coex mall. Returning nine months since its last release, the fourth EP "minisode 2: Thursday's Child," the five members expressed excitement over its latest work. "We've met many fans through the world tour, and coming back

Do you know what "ah-shot-chu" means? Recently, Hoshi of the K-pop group Seventeen used the phrase in a Weverse message, and Zee, who provides English translations of the group's messages via Twitter, said she had a hard time deciphering the meaning. "I never heard of it until then, but could get the gist that it was a drink due to the word 'shot.' After researching, I found out it's 'shot added to iced tea,'" Zee, who runs the biggest translatio

All able-bodied South Korean men are obligated to serve in the military, with even the biggest K-pop superstars no exception. Unlike in the past, when conscription essentially meant a career death sentence for K-pop idols, many singers now return back to their group after serving approximately 18 to 22 months of duty to embark on a fresh new journey. This year greets a string of K-pop musicians from big groups returning to civilian society. Victon's Han Seung-woo, also the brother of singer

K-pop boy band Enhypen made a magnificent dome debut in Japan's Osaka, leaving an unforgettable mark in their journey. The seven-piece group held concerts at Kyocera Dome in Osaka over the weekend. The gigs were conducted as part of the act's first world tour "Manifesto" that has been running since September. The act's dome debut comes two years since its debut in November 2020 and a year and a half since its Japan debut in July 2021. And it was a successful dome debut

NCT 127 is launching a virtual concert in collaboration with Roblox. SM Entertainment on Wednesday announced NCT 127 will hold a global virtual concert, "The NCT 127 Concert Experience," in the metaverse space of Roblox. Along with the platform's developer Roblox Corp., the nine-piece K-pop band will launch the first-ever K-pop concert inside the metaverse space. From Jan. 28-30, the concert will take place every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Korean time, allowing fans from around

Aespa will be taking the stage at New York's Governors Ball Music Festival this summer. SM Entertainment on Wednesday announced that the girl group has been invited to the annual festival, becoming the first female K-pop act to perform at event. This year's Governors Ball is set to take place on June 9-11 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, with Lizzo, Odesza and Kendrick Lamar among the headlining artists. According to the performers lineup unveiled by the festival on Tuesday,

Ending a hiatus that had stretched over a year, Cignature marked a long-awaited return Tuesday. The K-pop girl group on Tuesday dropped its third EP, "My Little Aurora." Ahead of the album's release at 6 p.m. that day, the act conducted an online press conference. Cignature consists of Chaesol, Jeewon, Seline, Chloe, Belle, Semi and Dohee. "I'm nervous but it feels good. We've waited a long time -- and our fans also -- and we worked hard so that we could live up to

Love is not always pink, and oftentimes it brings out a raw side of us that even we had not been aware ourselves. With her first single "Love War," solo musician Choi Yena looks into such an unrefined side of herself that comes out during a heated romance. On Monday, just a day before her first anniversary, Yena dropped her first single "Love War." Ahead of the record's release at 6 p.m. that day, Yena conducted a press conference in Seoul on Monday afternoon. "Love

Backed by K-pop phenomenon BTS' Jimin, Taeyang made a smooth return back onto global charts with his new song "Vibe." Taeyang on Friday dropped his new digital single "Vibe," featuring BTS' Jimin, and quickly found himself atop local and global music charts. According to the Black Label, Taeyang's agency, "Vibe" shot to the topmost tiers of the local music charts within an hour of its release and notched No. 1 on iTunes top songs charts in 60 regions

Jay of K-pop band Enhypen apologized on Wednesday for his contentious comments regarding Korean history. On Tuesday, Jay spoke with his bandmate Sunghoon of Enhypen on the issue of history during an online broadcast. In the casual chat, Jay said Korean history is "like a short novel," causing some fans out to lash out that his words as disparaging. The conversation began with Sunghoon saying, "I used to find history not fun, but I'm into Korean history recently. It's bee

After a 14-year break of devoting herself to her family, Byul is ready to return with her sixth full-length album. Byul on Wednesday is set to unveil her sixth full-length album, "Startrail," the first album under her name since she tied the knot with comedian and singer Haha in 2012 and since her fifth LP "Like A Star - Primary" dropped in 2009. Standing before local press for a joint interview a week ahead of the album release, Byul expressed that she had been "despera

Pozalabs' artificial intelligence composition technology does not aim to replace the role of human songwriters, but to assist them and help more people flourish as composers, according to founder and CEO Huh Won-gil. During an interview with the Korea Herald in December, the engineer-turned-CEO said he was able to start the company because he himself was a musician. Having played the piano since he was 5 years old and grown up playing music, Huh said he still spends whole weekends on the pi

Moonbin and Sanha of K-pop band Astro released their third EP, "Incense," on Wednesday, along with the music video for lead track "Madness." The two members conducted a press conference Wednesday afternoon ahead of the album's release. "I'm excited and nervous. I'm also a little worried whether our fans will be satisfied, but we've really put in our everything so there is no regret," Sanha said during Wednesday's event. "Incense" m