Rain teams up with Jo Sumi
(Credit: Sublime Entertainment/ SMI Entertainment)
Rain and celebrated soprano Jo Sumi will sing the theme song for “Universe,” NCSoft’s newly launched K-pop platform, according to the game developer.
The company’s content arm, Klap, rolled out the mobile entertainment application in 134 countries in January so that fans of K-pop around the world could enjoy communication with their favorite musicians -- including Kang Daniel, Monsta X, IZ*ONE, The Boyz and Ateez.
IZ*ONE, a 12-piece act with Korean and Japanese members, was the first band to be featured, putting out a single titled “D-D-DANCE.” Original content featuring other musicians will be available soon.
Rain and Jo have joined hands, bridging the divide between the pop and classical genres, to send a message of support for the younger generation while promoting the global platform. Their new song will be unveiled Feb. 9 but further details, such as the title, have not been announced.
Previously, Rain was part of a duo with his mentor and former producer Park Jinyoung: The pair topped music charts in South Korea with “Switch to Me” earlier last month.
Jo is coming out with an LP version of “Only Love” on Wednesday. The 2000 album sold over 1 million copies in Korea and will include 12 crossover tunes selected by the singer.
Park Jinyoung ‘best boss’ in Japan
Park Jin-young (JYP Entertainment)
Park Jinyoung has been picked as the perfect boss, according to an annual online survey in Japan.
A Japanese insurance company asked about 3,000 respondents in December last year to name a celebrity they thought would be a great person to work for. The results, released Tuesday, showed that Park was fifth in the male celebrity category.
The head producer of JYP Entertainment demonstrated his leadership in “NiziU Project,” an audition program that he launched in a joint effort with Japan’s Sony Music last year. Nine artists were chosen from the candidates, and the winners formed the group NiziU. They were then trained at the Seoul headquarters and swept the Oricon chart with the pre-debut digital album “Make You Happy” in June 2020. The band also set a record by appearing at NHK’s year-end pop festival only 29 days after its debut.
This is the first time the musician/producer has appeared on the list, which was topped for the fifth year in a row by Teruyoshi Uchimura, one of the most famous comedians in Japan. Asami Miura, a television presenter and actor, ranked first in the women’s section for the fourth straight year.
CIX takes 180-degree turn with 4th EP
(Credit: C9 Entertainment)
CIX held an online media conference and introduced its fourth EP, “Hello, Strange Dream,” Tuesday.
This is the last installment of its “Hello” series and offers a fresh perspective on the boy band’s worldview. It also shows a cuter side of the quintet for the first time since its debut.
“This album is dandy and lovely,” said the band members at the event, admitting that they were excited to show their fans something they’d never seen before. Their looks have changed, of course -- from the color of their hair to their shorts and knee socks -- but they weren’t just being cute, they said. They asked fans to pay attention to how they reminisced about childhood.
Title track “Cinema” is an upbeat, rhythmic number about a beautiful time before everything happens, striking a sharp contrast to their dreamy yet strong music. It turns back the clock, providing a prequel to the band’s earlier narrative dealing with the hellish encounters the different band members faced in the previous EPs -- fire, water, a desert, ice and wood.
“This EP adds more details to our story and hopefully brings more attention to our music and narrative,” said the artists.
Defconn denies rumors about past
(MBC)
Defconn, a rapper-turned-television entertainer, issued an official announcement in response to rumors about his past.
His management company, SM Culture & Contents, released a statement Tuesday that said even though Defconn had been in a fight alongside a group of then-friends years earlier, he had neither been sent to a juvenile detention center nor exempted from military duty.
His recent appearance as a police detective on an entertainment program led some viewers to protest that a former “juvenile delinquent” should not be playing the role, and to demand that he be dropped from the show.
The TV personality confessed on a 2013 variety show that he’d almost gone to court after being involved in a group fight but had settled with the family of the victim.
Defconn is a regular on a number of TV shows, including “Hangout with Yoo” and “Law of the Jungle.”
By Hwang You-mee (
glamazon@heraldcorp.com)
