(Credit: YG Entertainment)

Blackpink reached the 2.2 billion views milestone on YouTube with the music video for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” label YG Entertainment said Monday.

This cements the record Blackpink holds as the most-viewed music video from a K-pop artist.

“Ddu-du Ddu-du” is the lead single from the group’s first EP “Square Up” which was released in June 2018. It not only dominated every domestic music chart but also claimed No. 50 on Billboard’s Hot 100 while the mini album notched No. 50 on the Billboard 200, both records for a K-pop girl group at the time. It has generated close to 700 million streams on Spotify so far.

The performance video for the mega-hit garnered 500 million views on the platform as of last month.

aespa’s 1st LP received 1m in pre-orders

(Credit: SM Entertainment)

Aespa's first full-length album sold more than 1 million copies in pre-orders, according to label SM Entertainment on Monday.

The group’s three previous albums – the second EP “Girls,” the third EP “My World” and the fourth EP “Drama” – all sold more than a million units. The third EP logged 1.69 million in first-week sales and holds a record for the K-pop girl group.

LP “Armageddon” consists of 10 tracks including two focus tracks – “Armageddon” and “Supernova.” The latter was dropped in advance on May 13, topping all music charts at home and winning aespa three trophies from television music chart shows. The pre-release has amassed over 30 million streams on Spotify while the music video has surpassed 50 million views on YouTube.

On June 29-30, the group will hold a concert in Seoul and will embark on its second world tour which will span 14 cities in Asia and Australia.

H1Key to bring out new album next month

(Credit: GLG)

Girl group H1Key will drop a new album June 19, agency GLG said Monday.

It comes about four months after the digital single “Deeper,” which is part of the group's yearlong project, H1-KEYnote. The single was co-written by Young K of Day6 who also wrote the lyrics for its hit songs “Rose Blossom” and “Seoul (Such a Beautiful City).”

“Rose Blossom” is the title track from the group's first EP which was released in January last year. The mini album gained popularity slowly yet steadily and the song claimed the No. 40 and No. 17 spots on the annual streaming charts of Melon and Genie Music, respectively. The focus track from the second EP, “Seoul,” brought the group their first television chart show win.

The Boyz to launch world tour in July

(Credit: IST Entertainment)

The Boyz announced Monday that it will kick off its third international tour in July with a three-day concert in Seoul via agency IST Entertainment.

The band will go live on July 12-14, marking the start of the tour “Zeneration II,” which comes about a year after the previous tour that took the group to 13 cities around the world. The upcoming tour will resume in mid-July in the US and, after hopping around five cities, The Boyz will visit fans in five countries in Asia before heading to Europe.

Meanwhile, the 11-member act released “Love Letter,” the third and final installment from its second studio album “Phantasy,” in March. The main track “Nectar” came in first place three times on television music chart shows. The second part of the trilogy sold more than 600,000 copies in the first week, a career-high for the group.