Author: Denise Coley
Dreamcatcher Stands At The “CROSSROADS” To Their Third Online Concert Popular South Korean girl group, Dreamcatcher prepares dual concepts with a live band for their third online concert [DREAMCATCHER CONCERT CROSSROADS], a two-night event happening on March 26 and March 27 at 10pm KST. Dreamcatcher has garnered significant attention, even claiming the title of K-pop’s first female act to hit #1 on Billboard’s Next Big Sound Chart. It’s not their first run on the Billboard Charts though, as the musical septet have ranked on the Billboard World Albums Chart and Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart multiple times since…
On February 28, 2021, the 78th Golden Globe Awards were held. This year’s awards were a socially distanced and virtual affair thanks to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. During this year’s awards, two Asian and Asian-American directors made a splash. Lee Isaac Chung’s film, Minari, won the Best Motion Picture- Foreign Language category. The film, which is about a Korean-American family searching for the American dream during the 1980s, was shrouded in controversy. Minari received a nomination in the Best Foreign-Language Film category instead of the Best Motion Picture category because it failed to “meet the Globe’s 50 percent English…
At Kcrush, we’ve interviewed Josh Johnson who is the Lead Designer at Golden Gear Press that recently created a fun board game KPOP: Becoming an Idol. We hope this interview draws more interest to the work and we wish Josh and his team a lot of success! Hello! Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers, please? Hi! I’m Josh and I’m the Lead Designer at Golden Gear Press for KPOP: Becoming an Idol. My team and I are all professional game designers and huge K-pop fans so Becoming an Idol is a real passion project for us.…
“Beauty Water” is now the first Korean animated film to be honored as the best animated feature award at the 46th Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. As the oldest independent genre film festival in the United States, the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival runs for 10 days, showcasing over 100 science fiction features from around the world. The best animated feature award of 2021, was awarded to “Beauty Water,” which was directed by Cho Kyung-hun. The animation, displayed mostly in 3D, tells the story of a homely makeup artist who meets horrific consequences after she comes across “beauty water”…
Korean singers and actors are often seen dressed in outfits worth thousands of dollars. Not only is that undoable for the average person, these celebrities hardly ever own the clothes. With this in mind, Kpop fans launched Fashion Chingu in 2018, after realizing how hard it was to find affordable alternatives to what their favorite idols were wearing. After fine-tooth combing the internet every time a style interested them, they noticed that not one website focused on this niche. Finding a single piece might have taken up to several days. Sometimes, a good enough match would never even come…
Trigger warning: Story discusses sexual harassment/assault. Reader discretion advised. After three years and ten trials, Kim Himchan, 30, received his sentence for the sexual harassment allegations stemming from a July 2018 incident. After years of back-and-forth between the defendant (Kim) and the plaintiff (the unnamed female), the Seoul Central District Court convicted Kim and sentenced him to 10 months in prison and 40 hours of sexual violence treatment. “The evidence, including statements from the victim, is credible and backs the charges,” Judge Jung Sung-hwan said. “The seriousness of the crime and the fact that the victim did not forgive…
Oakland-based hip-hop orchestra Ensemble Mik Nawooj unveils a new track today, “Who Would Be Born,” alongside a video, which exclusively premiered last week via Glide Magazine—watch it here. The new track is from the group’s forthcoming album, Death Become Life, out March 19. All music composed and orchestrated by JooWan Kim. All lyrics written by Sandman Produced by JooWan Kim and Christopher Nicholas. In collaboration with Asian Art Museum and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Inspired by Herman Hesse’s Demian, “Who Would Be Born” is an apocalyptic rap score on the destruction of the world and Gnostic god Abraxas. “The…
Having performed for audiences across Asia, Europe and North and South America, Japanese rock band BACK-ON release ‘FLIP SOUND’ on February 17, an album of self-covers featuring re-recorded versions of their most popular worldwide hits. The collection includes versions of BACK-ON’s theme tunes for globally celebrated franchises such as the ‘Gundam’ anime series and PlayStation Portable game ‘Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2’, making it a truly special must-hear collection for fans. Some of these songs were originally released many years ago, so these brand-new self-covers are a chance to hear classic BACK-ON tunes reborn with a modern…
The former CEO of Melon – South Korea’s top music streaming service – has been given three and a half years imprisonment for stealing billions of won (US$16.4 million) from musicians’ royalties. He has been arrested and put into prison since the ruling. The Seoul Eastern District Court gave out the sentence on Tuesday to the chief of Loen Entertainment on fraud charges. Loen Entertainment was formerly in charge of operating Melon from 2009, and it was renamed Kako M Corp in 2018. The company is currently owned by Kakao Corp. The court also sentenced the company’s former vice president…
Hailing from YG ENTERTAINMENT, the management stable behind global megahit artists BIGBANG and BLACKPINK, TREASURE are Korea’s hottest boyband right now. In 2020 they dominated the rookie category at numerous awards ceremonies, including the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Now they are blowing up in Japan, with the February 14 release of the full version of ‘BEAUTIFUL’, their first original Japanese-language track. This will be followed by a full major-label debut Japanese album on March 31, titled ‘THE FIRST STEP: TREASURE EFFECT’. Japan digital single ‘BEAUTIFUL’ download and streaming links: https://treasure.lnk.to/beautiful_0214 ‘BEAUTIFUL’ was selected as the new ending theme…
Vicke Blanka is blowing up big, with theme songs for several anime, TV dramas and commercials in Japan, while his music has received sustained attention from around the world, racking up some 200 million plays on streaming services. February 12th, he released his latest single, ‘Ponytail’, along with an accompanying music video. This breaking Japanese singer-songwriter, disregards genres such as pop and rock to deliver his own brand of melodic music. Among his various tracks for popular TV shows and commercials in Japan, ‘Black Rover’ and ‘Black Catcher’ – his two opening theme tunes for the anime series ‘Black…
The 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards ceremony was held on February 9 at Paradise City in Incheon, South Korea. Actress Kim Hye-soo and Actor Yoo Yeon-seok were the presenters for the annual film event for the third time. The nominations were selected via a survey of film industry experts and ordinary movie watchers on Korean films released from October 11, 2019 until October 29, 2020. We congratulate all the winners! Best Picture: The Man Standing Next Best Director: Im Dae-hyung (Moonlit Winter) Best Actor: Yoo Ah-in (Voice of Silence) Best Actress: Ra Mi-ran (“Honest Candidate”) Best Supporting Actor: Park…
Valentine’s Day is almost upon us and that means finding the perfect date for a romantic evening on the town. Unfortunately, the pandemic has put a damper on the Valentine’s Day date plans of people all over the world. With many restaurants and pubs closed, lockdowns, and the threat of a deadly virus, more and more people are choosing to stay at home for Valentine’s Day and find ways of making the most of their date’s in. K-Pop fans have a different idea, however. Rather than sitting at home feeling down about their situation, they are playing a game of…
WATCH FOR FREE AT: HTTP://SESSIONSLIVE.COM/JOYRUCKUSCLUB OVER 180 ARTISTS CONFIRMED FOR ONE OF THE LARGEST ONLINE MUSIC FESTIVALS EVER CREATED! Headlined by superstar South Korean idol HYOLYN, this 6-day free music festival features 9 separate stages featuring over 180 different performers of Asian descent from around the world to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Feb. 17th is a special focus on Canadian talent presented by The KCN Agency featuring top DJ’s including CTRL ZERO and YUKA K, and live performances from HMLT & KEI-LI, FOREIGN FLOW, AIKO TOMI, EMI CHOI and many others. The Canada Stage will be…
South Korea has again landed first place in Bloomberg’s list of innovative countries, which is ranked annually. South Korea is the only country that has been placed in the top spot in seven out of the nine years since the index has been published. The country also scored 90.49 points on a scale from 0 to 100, as the only country with more than 90 points. The index evaluates various criteria, including research and development spending, manufacturing ability and concentration of high-technology companies. Bloomberg stated, “The 2021 rankings reflect a world where the fight against Covid-19 has brought innovation…
Kassy (Kim So-yeon) is a Korean singer who debuted in 2015 and competed on Unpretty Rapstar Season 3 in the following year. She has so far released the extended plays, I Want Love (2018) and Rewind (2019). We would like to thank Kassy for this great interview and wish her a lot of success in the future. Hello, thank you for taking the time out for an interview with us. Please introduce yourself to our readers please. Hello, I am a Korean singer called Kassy. Tell us about the process of how you became a singer. I…
BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE unveiled the video for their latest track ‘Animal’ on February 1, following a countdown to its premiere release on their YouTube channel. Today (February 3), they release the full version of the ‘Animal’ single, including bonus tracks. There’s a lot to check out, so read on for more info! The video and song show a sexier and more mature side to BALLISTIK BOYZ, while the lyrics express the members’ feelings about the women they admire. In the video, these emotional lyrics are represented on-screen with rich scenes that were shot using film cameras. The video…
K-pop band BTS has been honored as “One of the 10 best pop bands of all time” by Esquire magazine. The American magazine has a proud history of 87 years in the publication industry. Esquire stated, “BTS is arguably one of the vanguard acts to pioneer K-Pop’s immeasurable worldwide success. With a fanbase that is aptly described as “ARMY,” BTS’s beloved septet has rapidly redefined boy bands, fandoms, and pop music itself. Their hits “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On” offer a blend of pop, hip-hop, disco, and R&B, with catchy melodies that are often laced with social commentary-based lyrics.”…
Korea’s veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung has so far collected 20 Best Supporting Actress awards in the States, for her role in the highly-acclaimed film “Minari,” written and directed by Korean-American film director Lee Isaac Chung. Minari is a Korean word that indicates a “water dropwort,” which is an edible deep green plant that can grow in the water like weeds. “Minari” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020, and tells a heart-felt story about a first-generation Korean immigrant family that moves to a farm in Arkansas from California to pursue the American dream during…
T1Entertainment & Sports debut their League of Legends theme song titled “Runner” today, which is a collaborative record by DJ/producer Raiden, K-Pop vocalist BAEKHYUN, and rapper/producer CHANGMO. The song incorporates a sophisticated mix of rock, trap and EDM, and consists of magnificent ambience, eerie string sounds, and dreamy vocals, perfectly deliveringT1’s resolution to start the new chapter of their dynasty in the year 2021. RAIDEN – DJ/Producer T1’s CEO Joe Marsh said, “We’re thrilled that we had the opportunity to start this season’s journey by collaborating with some of the best artists in the music industry. I hope fans…