Two X (투엑스, J. Tune Camp, part of JYP Entertainment), a five-member girl group who made their debut last August, have released their second single “Ring Ma Bell” (http://youtu.be/wKp0EdDEl3k).
Produced by Rado, the track is an electronic dance song, and the MV differs from their first release “Double Up” (http://youtu.be/zM3KEOzGw6M) and should contain a warning for anyone who dislikes pink and ‘aeygyo’!
Female duo Jevice (DreamT Entertainment) have released a new single, “Cause of U”, a dance beat ballad produced by Nam Ki-sang who has previous worked with Girl’s Day. The duo, who debuted last year, are Hana (formerly of T-ara) and Juri. They have released two previous singles. Their pretty voices can be heard here: http://youtu.be/KbXeCjhhjZk
B.A.P (TS Entertainment) have released “One Shot” and taken to broadcast promotions now. The MV, (http://youtu.be/1zRzl1d5vNU) reported to have cost 1 billion KRW (approximately 910,000 USD), took over 100 hours to film on 10 sets in Korea and the Phillipines.
All the members are said to have participated in the theme, concept, and lyrics. It’s doing well in the charts and the MV makes interesting viewing.
JYJ will be performing alongside Psy at the 18th Presidential Inauguration on February 25. where the artists will perform songs that represent the decades from 1950s to present. JYJ will be singing Seo Taiji and Kid’s classic “I Know”, a remix of representative songs of the 90s and Oh Pilseung Korea. A C-Jes Entertainment staff member stated “We’re very grateful to be able to participate in a national ceremony as artists, representing a decade. We promise to prepare thoroughly and provide a good performance.”1 With Japanese companies rumoured to be approaching them now that the lawsuit has been thrown out, the future is looking bright for them.
LUNAFLY (Nega Network ) will be holding a showcase and fan meeting ion March 28th in Jakarta, Indonesia, and on the 30th at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The male trio will be performing on “F.Y.I (Favorite YouTube Icons) On Stage” series – the first Korean artists to do so, further testimony to their growing fanbase overseas despite not promoting via broadcasts.
Psy-watch
Manila mayoral candidate Joseph Estrada seems to be planning to use Psy’s “Gangnam Style” in his campaign sorties. The rapper who was in Manila recently to continue promotions on a tight schedule but might return in March for a gig for ‘the poor people’. “Erap Para Sa Mahirap” (Erap for the Poor) was the famous campaign slogan used by Estrada on his successful presidential campaign back in 1998.
To celebrate the 1.3 billions views of Gangnam style and his huge success, postage stamps of the singer have been released. They can be bought in Seoul and at YG’s e-shop.
Aside from a very celebratory party in Brazil for the Carnival, Psy has added another accolade to his name as the first Asian artist to sell over a million singles in the UK.
It was revealed that Psy paid for the funeral expenses of Lim Yoon Tak, the lead of K3 supertsar winning band Ulala Sessions. Lim passed away on 11th February after a battle with cancer leaving a wife and newborn daughter and whilst Psy wanted the expense paying to be kept hushed up, 40,000 won is not an easy number to hide. He had cnaged his schedules to attend the funeral, flying back from Malaysia to ensure he could pay his respects.
Controversy Corner
It seems like CNBlue are not quite out of the woods just yet. They and FNC are being sued by indie band Crying Nut for breaching copyright. Back in 2010, CNBLUE performed Crying Nut’s “Offside” on “M!Countdown”, a performance that was later released on a DVD in Japan. FNC have stated they had no control over the distribution and release and Mnet have stepped in and said they will take responsibility, but Crying Nut have requested they don’t interfere as their issue is with CNBLUE and they had already received compensation from Mnet. Their issue is that CNBLUE have misled audiences to think that particular sound was their own.
Other controversies in the wings is the choreography plagiarism of nugu group Purplay whose teaser I posted last week. Seems like the dubstep section was taken from America’s Best Dance Crew’s former champions, I.aM.mE. Their agency said they would be looking into it.
Go Young-wook, on trial for sexual assault against minors, seems to feel that he has been wronged as the meeting with minors were consensual. According to the translations at Allkpop: “First off, I have been reflecting and felt many things while under custody about associating inappropriately with minors as a celebrity. This issue began May of last year and none of the things I said were released, and when the press reported things one-sidedly, my mother and I received a lot of pain and the fact that I met up with minors itself was being looked upon negatively even despite that the meeting was consensual, so there are things I didn’t speak out on although I felt wronged in that aspect. I would be thankful if you try to consider those aspects. If an opportunity is given to me in the future, even if I can’t do the work I did before, I will do my best to live as a person who is of help to society.” That he has yet to see his behaviour as negative in any way suggests he has a long way to go to get out of his little bubble.
The propofol investigation has now called on two more actresses – Park Si-yeon and Hyun Young. Park Si-yeon, whom many will know from dramas and is a former Miss Korea runner-up, says the drug was being used for a back injury, even though it was being administered at a plastic surgery and dermatology clinic.
Kang Sung-hoon, of ’90s idol group Sechskies, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on 13 February for fraud.
Mini Music bites
Rainbow had their comeback on Music Bank with “Golden Touch” and “Tell Me Tell Me” (http://youtu.be/h1obbuGnKnQ) They released a full length studio album on Wednesday called ‘Syndrome’ | |
Dasoni, the subunit of EXID (yes its getting confusing now isn’t it!), released a digital single and began broadcast promotions with ‘Goodbye’ http://youtu.be/GRCMSshV90g | |
H (에이치) has had a comeback after a 10 year hiatus. “Lose control” featuring Kanto of Troy can be seen here: http://youtu.be/bM46elqDHPU | |
Singer Kim Tae Woo (formerly of G.O.D.) will release “T-LOVE”, his first album in two years, on 20th February. The first single is a duet called “Oppa” with talent show and youtube singer Megan Lee who signed with his agency recently. “Cosmic girl” will be the album title song – a hip hop/rock sound – along with three more tracks. | |
Teen Top has released their MV for “I Wanna Love!” The song is from their upcoming album, “No.1”. Filmed in Hong Kong it is a dance number and can be seen here: http://youtu.be/s1pNnvXMHBI | |
Yoseob of BEAST has released a solo MV (http://youtu.be/5Ez1OnDcpSY) “Although I” from his first mini album. | |
NU’EST: the MV for “Hello” has been released http://youtu.be/9GdT1R2K6FE | |
Orange Caramel is set to release their first full-length Japanese album which will include their Japanese singles “Yasashii Akuma”, “Lamu no Love Song”, and “Lipstick” (Japan ver.); along with Japanese versions of the Korean songs “Bangkok City”, “Aing”, “Magical Girl”, a new title track of the album “Mint Cookies and Cream” and two new TBA tracks gives a total of 10 songs. The teaser for “Mint Cookies and Cream” can be seen here: http://youtu.be/QjwloyGluaA | |
SHINee: the teaser for “Fire” is now out (http://youtu.be/W6KRtaHLhCE) – the boys looking a little more grownup. Their comeback will be streamed live on 20 February | |
Team H, consisting of actor Jang Geun-suk and DJ Big Brother, released a teaser for their new single “Feel the Beat” which can be found here: http://youtu.be/JsIIl8cStOY — a cheerful dance number that doesn’t pretend to be anything other than fun. The project duo released an album last year so I suspect a second is in the offing. |
- Translation by Allkpop [↩]