Author: Denise Coley
It’s December, so you know what that means? It’s time to vote for your favorite artists during the Kcrush America K-Pop Awards! Now in the fourth year, we’re thrilled to let your voices be heard in 20 categories that pit some of the year’s best against each other to be voted as kings and queens of the K-Pop mountain. Who would you like to see crowned champion in each category? Let us know as voting is open between December 2 to the December 20, 2020. Here are your nominees! Best OST For this category, we couldn’t pick individual…
The South Korean parliament has passed a bill that allows those who excel in popular culture and art to postpone their military service until the age of 30. All eligible South Korean males aged from 18 to 28 must serve in the Korean military. The law previously allowed exemptions for top performing athletes and classical musicians but not top K-pop artists. The revised law now lets exemptions for males who elevate the country’s cultural status and boost the financial economy – and the specific criteria for the exemption would be decided by a presidential order. The oldest member of…
BTS lands seven entries on this week’s Billboard Hot 100. While BTS’ new album Be, launched as the group’s fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, their single “Life Goes On” was placed at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart, becoming the group’s third chart-topper (on November 30th), after “Dynamite” and “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” with Jason Derulo and Jawsh 685. “Life Goes On” is the group’s sixth top 10 single, and third No. 1., – the milestone comes less than a week after BTS was announced to be nominated for their first Grammy, where…
K-pop boyband UP10TION’s member Bitto has been diagnosed with COVID-19. TOP Media released a statement regarding the issue and that all of UP10TION’s future activities will be canceled for now. Hello, this is TOP Media. Our artist UP10TION’s Bitto tested positive for COVID-19. Following the conclusion of his scheduled activities on November 29th, he was told that he came in close contact with a confirmed case, and got tested. His diagnosis was confirmed on the morning of November 30th. Our agency artists, staff, and those who crossed paths or came into contact with Bitto are being tested for COVID-19,…
Note: Post contains spoilers Family, tragedy, sorrow, heart, and healing: The TvN/Netflix drama Hi Bye, Mama! has it all wrapped up in a heartwarming comedy-drama that asks the question of what would happen if a loved one came back to life to regain their place amongst their family and friends. Hi Bye, Mama! tells the story of Cha Yu-Ri (Kim Tae-Hee), a young woman who died prior to the birth of her daughter, Seo-Woo (Seo Woo-Jin). In the five years since her death, Yu-Ri has watched her daughter grow while lingering around her family including husband Jo Kang-Hwa (Lee Kyu-Hyung)…
Korean rock band HarryBigbutton recently released their latest single “Dawn of the Dead” that they collaborated with Russian rock band The StarKillers. The two bands have been communicating online during the corona pandemic and recorded in their studios based in Russia’s Khabarovsk and South Korea’s Seoul. It’s also notable that Grammy winner John Davies at Metropolis Mastering completed the single’s mastering online. HarryBigButton’s music is of heavy guitar riffs, distinctive rhythms and deep roaring vocals. The band is named after a slang for a vintage car stereo with big buttons. See their great interview with us here! HarryBigbutton has…
The Korean government stated that the Level 2 distancing – the third-highest five-tier COVID-19 alert system – will take effect in Seoul. Level 1.5 distancing was enforced from Thursday in the metropolitan area, but as the coronavirus continued to spread, higher antivirus curbs are to be applied. At Level 2 social distancing, restaurants will not be allowed to accept customers after 9 p.m., and only takeout will be permitted. Coffee places will only be allowed to serve takeout, events with 100 or more people will be banned – nightclubs and bars that allow dancing will be also shut down.…
On November 23, K-pop boyband GOT7 released “Breath,” a pre-release single from their upcoming fourth album “Breath of Love : Last Piece.” All the members participated in composing and writing to make this an especially special album for the fans. GOT7 is a seven-member boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of JB, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom. The group debuted in January 2014 with the release of their first EP Got It?, which reached number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart and number 1 on Billboard’s World Albums Chart. We appreciate GOT7 for…
People’s magazine released the results for its ‘Sexiest Man Alive 2020: Readers’ Choice Poll’ – announcing Korean boyband BTS member Jungkook as the Sexiest International Man Alive 2020. Congrats! According to People’s magazine, the poll ran for about a month before the results got revealed. People’s Sexiest Man Alive 2020 title went to Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan. As for the Sexiest Royal title was awarded to Prince Harry, who beat his brother Prince William, Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden and Prince Felix of Luxembourg. He also won the Sexiest Dad Alive last year. English singer Harry Styles…
Soulsweet is a Korean Soul singer-songwriter who is a part of Bubble Sisters, a female vocal group. For this interview, we quizzed Soulsweet on what it’s like to be a solo artist and how she is spending time during the pandemic. We would like to massively thank Soulsweet for this great interview, and wish her all the best in all her endeavors! Hello, thank you for offering your precious time to do this interview. Would you like to introduce yourself to our readers please? – Hello, how are you? I am Soulsweet, the sweet and soulful singer-songwriter. I…
Mnet has released a statement on IZ*ONE’s future activities, after recent claims on the “Produce 101” series vote-rigging have been revealed in the news. During the appeal trial for the “Produce 101” case, the court unveiled the list of contestants who were eliminated due to manipulation of the votings. On the same day, Mnet released a statement about the possibility of compensating the contestants who had been affected. Mnet stated that IZ*ONE will continue to follow their previously scheduled activities, which includes the release of a new album on December 7 and a comeback performance at the 2020 Mnet…
Melon announced the 40 nominees that are competing for Melon Music Awards 2020’s Top 10. Melon Music Awards is a Korean pop music awards show that is held each year in South Korea – and organized by kakao M. The nominees are chosen by Melon Popularity Award results – Melon weekly charts and votes – plus artists who were selected by their Melon download and streaming. The Top 10 will be determined 80 percent on Melon download count and streaming counts, and 20 percent on online votes. Voting is open from November 11th to 20th for Melon’s verified accounts…
Today, SG entertainment is pleased to announce its 7 trainees who will be selected to compose its first female group: Alpha Ray! Alpha Ray will be made up of 4 artists, representing 4 rays coming together with their respective energy and ability to create a great group synergy. To achieve this, the 7 girls have been selected based on their MBTI personality, so that they can find natural harmony, a first in the history of the Kpop industry. SG entertainment – the first Korean-European company – wants to create a new trend in Kpop with new concepts, more creativity…
Rolling Stone will be publishing a Korean edition of the magazine beginning of this month (November) as the latest international edition series. Rolling Stone Korea (which will be Rolling Stone’s 12th international edition) will be comprised of a variety of local content and syndicated articles in a bi-monthly print edition with both digital and video content. Gus Wenner, Rolling Stone president and CEO said, “The international popularity and success of music from Korea over the last few years has only grown our interest in launching the Rolling Stone brand in that market. We’re excited to give readers in Korea…
FAKY, a Japanese dance / vocal group, has released a music video for their latest song “little more”. Taking into account the social background of 2020 which forces a lot of people to refrain and restrict themselves to prevent new infections of the novel Coronavirus. This music video expresses that conflicting feeling of frustration which they believe should be channeled as it is a feeling that is just one step away from becoming a feeling of empowerment. ▼「little more」Music Video https://youtu.be/zB9mrBQ435g This is their second single following the release of “Darling (Prod. GeG)” produced by GeG from Hentai Gentlemen’s…
K-pop powerful boy-group ONEUS announced their very first online concert titled ONEUS 1st Ontact Live [CRUSH ON Ø US]. The concert will be held on November 28, 1:00 PM (KST). MyMusicTaste will be partnering as the ticketing and streaming platform for ONEUS’s first online concert providing the best service and experience for fans all over the world. This is not the first collaboration with ONEUS as this show comes after the successful completion of ONEUS’ 2019 North American tour, actualized through the overwhelming requests of fans on MyMusicTaste. To fulfill the group’s commitment to stay connected with their fans…
A special event called “ON: Hallyu Festival” which will promote the Korean culture will be held online for a week this month. The event will take place from Nov. 16 to 23, with trade meetings, live sessions and an online concert, while selling products by 12 companies in the character, beauty and fashion businesses via real-time sales sessions. This event will feature K-pop stars MONSTA X, SuperM, ITZY, Indonesian singer-songwriter Raisa and Thai boy group Trinity. Their performances will be livestreamed to over 230 countries via VLive. A room will be open at the COEX convention in Seoul for…
There is something different about the 7th Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF) this year. With caution to the Covid-19 pandemic, the fashion show, which has always been an entertaining part of the event – is held online. This very first virtual fashion show in Indonesia ran from 28th October to 31st October 2020, featuring modest fashion by 164 designers from all over Indonesia under one big theme “Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Lifestyle”. As the first virtual fashion show in Indonesia, kudos to the production team that certainly did a great work in compiling and editing the videos that made it so…
Korean fashion has over the years taken the world by storm. The fashion trends that come in and out of Korea every season leaves style enthusiasts yearning for more. Korean inspired fashion trends are even on international runways these days and looking at how things are going we are likely to see even more in the future. Fall trends in Korean fashion are one of the most exciting. These are the top trends for fall Korean fashion. These unique clothing pieces are fun and classy. They have a very unique touch when worn well. This year the trends are adorable…
Park Jisun, a well-known comedian was found dead at her home in the Mapo district, Seoul. It is reported that her mother, who was staying with Park to help with her recovery process after a surgery, had taken her own life also. It has been known for some time that Park was suffering from a quite severe case of allergy to sunlight. Park was unable to apply makeup, and had to wear long sleeves all around the year due to the sensitivity of her skin. In a telephone interview with a Korean sports journal, Park said she was undergoing…