Here are the top stories from the K-pop world you should know.
NMIXX Debut and Controversy
On Feb. 22, a sub-label of JYP Entertainment debuted their newest girl group, NMIXX, with their debut album Ad Mare and single “O.O.” The seven-member girl group includes Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Jinni, Bae, Jiwoo and Kyujin. NMIXX more recently announced their fandom name to be NSWER, which stands for North, South, West, East and Route. This means that NMIXX will find the route and answer together with their fans. Their debut has elicited mixed and negative reactions from fans in recent weeks, even prompting the British news outlet DailyMail to label “O.O” as “the worst song of all time.” Despite the massive popularity of other girl groups on the K-pop scene, NMIXX has struggled to crack the top 100 on Korea’s main music chart, Melon. In addition to this, K-pop fans have also claimed that NMIXX plagiarized boy band ATEEZ, claiming that the “O.O” music video copied one of ATEEZ’s clips.
Jungkook’s Graduation
On March 3, it was revealed that BTS’s 24-year-old Jeon Jungkook had graduated from Global Cyber University with a degree in Broadcasting and Entertainment. Despite BTS’s publicly busy schedule, which included award show appearances and sporadic concerts in the United States, Jungkook was able to receive the President’s Award, the highest honor given to college graduates at the ceremony. Fans congratulated the “Stay Alive” singer on his accomplishments on Twitter.
NU’EST Disbandment
On Feb. 28, Pledis Entertainment announced that contracts with the members of K-pop band NU’EST would expire on March 14. This marks 10 years after the group’s debut. Of the five members, JR, Aron and Ren have decided to leave while Baekho and Minhyun have renewed their contracts. The group announced that they will release their final album, NU’EST The Best Album – Needle & Bubble on March 15 at 6 p.m. KST.
Somi Leaks Music on Instagram Live
On March 2, Somi, known for her hits “Dumb Dumb” and “XOXO”, was hosting an Instagram live while in the YG Entertainment building. While walking through the building looking for places to film, the soloist walked in on an occupied studio that was playing an unreleased song. Viewers speculated that the voice heard in the song belonged to Blackpink’s Jennie, which sparked excitement among the group’s fans, who have been waiting for a comeback since their last album was released in October 2020. Although Blackpink and YG have yet to announce a comeback, the leak has given fans something to look forward to.
PS5 and Yeonjun’s TikTok Dance
On Feb. 23, Salem Ilese, best known for her song “Mad at Disney,” collaborated with Tomorrow X Together (TXT)’s Yeonjun and Taehyun on a fully English song titled “PS5.” The song tells the story of a relationship and the ultimatum of choosing your partner over a gaming console. A few weeks after the release, Yeonjun took to TikTok to choreograph a PS5 dance. In subsequent TikTok videos, he has asked his group members, Taehyun, Soobin and Beomgyu whether they would choose him over the PS5. So far, all of them have jokingly said no. He also dueted a few MOAs, TXT’s fandom, who took part in doing his choreography.
In the last week, the following idols have been confirmed by their agencies with positive COVID-19 cases including:
- Apink’s Namjoo
- Apink’s Bomi
- Apink’s Chorong
- Apink’s Eun Ji
- Apink’s Hayoung
- SHINee’s Key
- All Loona members except Hyunjin
- Victon’s Sejun
- The Boyz’s Jacob
- Blackpink’s Rosé
- Itzy’s Ryujin
- Seventeen’s Vernon
Fans across social media have put out heartfelt letters and get-well-soon messages for their favorite idols as they fulfill South Korea’s necessary quarantine protocols.
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