The Boyz unveiled their eighth mini album, “Be Awake,” on Monday during a media showcase in Seoul. The full-unit return comes six months after the group released its seventh mini album “Be Aware.” Eric is back with the group after a year of hiatus that he had taken due to health issues. The new album “Be Awake” tells the story of boys that fight for love after realizing they have fallen in lov...

Management firms Rain Co. and Sublime Artist Agency ended their partnership, according to the latter on Monday. After careful discussion, the two companies terminated a memorandum of understanding they had signed in April 2020. Sublime thanked Rain and his company and asked fans to keep on supporting him and artists managed by the agency. The singer and actor started his namesake company in 202...

NewJeans became the first K-pop female act to sell more than one million copies of a debut album with their EP "New Jeans." The album sold a total of 1,036,811 copies by Feb. 11, according to data collected by Circle Chart. This is the first time since Circle Chart’s record began in 2011 that a K-pop act’s debut album has sold more than a million copies. NewJeans came out with its namesake deb...

SM Entertainment raised concerns over the K-pop industry monopolization that could result from Hybe’s acquisition of SM. SM Entertainment’s Chief Financial Officer Jang Cheol-hyuk took to the company’s official YouTube Channel on Monday to lay out the reasons why the company opposes Hybe’s “hostile” merger and acquisition. The video was titled "The reason why SM is against HYBE's hostile takeove...

The feud between SM Entertainment and Hybe is escalating as the two companies continue to refute each other's position in relation to SM founder Lee Soo-man's suspected offshore tax evasion. The allegation was first made Thursday by SM's co-CEO Lee Sung-soo, also the founder's nephew, when he posted a video to YouTube exposing his uncle's alleged offshore tax evasion. In the video, the CEO clai...

Girl group Cherry Bullet will return with its third EP on March 7, announced agency FNC W on Thursday. Its previous album was its second EP, “Cherry Wish,” which came out in March last year. No more details have been shared yet but hints were given in the phrases “Cherry Bullet Week” and “Fashion Week.” The seven members went to Tokyo in December, joining other artists from its agency for a gro...

"Rollin'" went onto reign on the top of local music charts and brought the group its first-ever TV music show No. 1 on March 14, 2021, the first major milestone achieved in over five years -- the longest period taken by any K-pop girl group to reach the feat. The breakout single also made history on Billboard's K-pop 100 chart in the US, making Brave Girls the third girl group to top the chart f...

CEO of SM Entertainment Lee Sung-soo broke his silence on the internal business management feud between the founder and former SM producer Lee Soo-man and the co-CEOs of SM by releasing a statement via video Thursday. Lee Sung-soo, who is also Lee Soo-man’s nephew, made allegations of offshore tax evasion against the founder and laid out 14 subjects he will touch upon from now on to explain why ...

Hybe, now the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, turned in its list of candidates for SM’s board of executives on Thursday. The list includes President of Hybe America Lee Jae-sang, Hybe Chief Legal Officer Jung Jin-soo and Hybe's chief of management and planning, Lee Jin-hwa, for the position of inside director. “These candidates have built multifaceted experience in the fields of law, f...

Purple Kiss debuted in March 2021 with its first EP "Into Violet" and has since made a name as an all-rounder group with the characteristic concept of witches and zombies. "Such concepts are what differentiate Purple Kiss (from other groups). But as it isn't something common, we're working on how to make it easier for the public to understand," Ireh said. Chaein piped in to point out that the b...

NewJeans ranked No. 74 on Billboard’s Hot 100 with “OMG,” up three places from last week. The song debuted on the chart on Jan. 28, at No. 91 and rose to No. 79 in the second week. “Ditto,” the pre-release from the single album “OMG,” extended its stay on the chart to a fifth week, sitting at No. 82. It hit the chart at No. 82, its first entry on the main singles chart. Both songs are staying ...

Experts predict SM's partnership with Hybe to bring opportunities for SM and the industry

Suga, a member of K-pop sensation BTS, will go on a world tour in six different countries starting in April, according to Big Hit Music on Wednesday. The first concert will kick off at Belmont Park in the US on April 26 followed by other cities in the US including Newark, Rosemont, Los Angeles and Oakland. Then, Suga will be moving on to the Asian leg of the tour starting with a gig in Indonesi...

Girl group StayC returns to share hope and comfort with its fourth single "Teddy Bear"

K-pop powerhouse Hybe will guarantee SM Entertainment's independence, noting that the founder and former producer of SM, Lee Soo-man, will not take part in business management, Hybe CEO Park Ji-won said to his employees Monday regarding the recent merger and acquisition of SM. Last Friday, Hybe signed a deal with Lee Soo-man to buy 14.8 percent of his SM shares at 422.8 billion won ($334.28 mill...