BTS, Seungri, BLACKPINK, ASTRO, KARD, And More Grab Spots On Billboard’s World Albums Chart

Billboard has released its World Albums chart for the week ending in August 4!

See Also: BIGBANG's Seungri Reveals How He Defines His Identity And How It Shows In His Music

BTS remains in the top two spots on the chart once again. “Love Yourself: Tear” is in first place in its 10th week on the chart overall, and “Love Yourself: Her” follows at No. 2 in its 45th week on the chart.

BIGBANG member Seungri’s new album “The Great Seungri” enters the chart at No. 3. It features the title track “1,2,3!

BLACKPINK’s mini album “Square Up” remains on the chart for its sixth week, now in fifth place.

ASTRO’s mini album “Rise Up,” including the title track “Always You,” has debuted on the chart at No. 7.

KARD’s “Ride on the Wind,” featuring the title track of the same name, enters the World Albums chart at No. 8.

SEVENTEEN’s mini album “You Make My Day” spends its second week on the chart, now at No. 9, while MAMAMOO’s “Red Moon” also remains on the chart for a second week, now at No. 13.

Congratulations to all the artists!


Source: Soompi


YG YANG HYUN SUK, “SEUNGRI’s MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’, You Will Regret Not Watching the Video”

[OSEN=김은애 기자] YG Entertainment’s YANG HYUN SUK raised attention on BIGBANG SEUNGRI’s solo track, ‘WHERE R U FROM’.

On July 30, YANG HYUN SUK uploaded SEUNGRI’s MV poster on his social media and wrote, “#SEUNGRI #BIGBANG #WHERE_R_U_FROM #MINO #MV #OUTNOW #YG”.

He emphasized by adding, “YOU_WILL_REGRET_NOT_WATCHING_THE_VIDEO”.

Along with SEUNGRI’s comeback, the MV for the title song ‘1, 2, 3!’ was released with his album on the 20th. However, the MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’ was kept in veil, raising the curiosities of fans.

The MV released on the 27th starts with a global summit conference scene, while the parody of president Donald Trump of USA and Kim Jong Un of North Korea’s meeting captured the viewers’ attention. While representatives argued and raised voices during the summit, SEUNGRI arrives in a black horse, wearing a military police uniform.

WINNER’s MINO appears after SEUNGRI as a featuring artist, wearing a North Korean military uniform, and everyone at the scene starts dancing while the summit becomes a party.

The MV was directed by producer Park Junsoo, who directed ‘YG Electronics’. His unique B-rated emotions flooded within the MV, adding more joy.

Billboard responded by spotlighting SEUNGRI’s new MV with an article titled, ‘BIGBANG’s Seungri & WINNER’s Mino Mock Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in ‘Where R U From’ Music Video: Watch ‘.

Billboard introduced SEUNGRI’s MV by writing, ‘SEUNGRI’s MV is an obvious political satire, among all MVs released in K-Pop’.

In fact, the MV mocked not only president Donald Trump of the United States and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, but also reenacted a scene from the movie ‘JSA’, with MINO wearing a North Korean military uniform.

Billboard added, “While PSY’s MV in 2012 parodied the socio-economic situation, SEUNGRI’s MV in 2018 satirically described the global political situation”.

SEUNGRI is currently working hard on preparing for his first solo concert ‘SEUNGRI 2018 1st SOLO TOUR [THE GREAT SEUNGRI] in SEOUL x BC CARD’ which will be held through August 4~5 at 6 PM in Seoul Jangchung Gymnasium.

2018. 7. 30.

Source: YG Life

CNN: BIGBANG’s Seungri takes on Trump-Kim summit with new video

One of South Korea’s biggest stars has taken on the peninsula’s biggest news story in years: the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a new video from Lee Seung-hyun, better known as BIGBANG’s Seungri, the K-Pop star invades a meeting of the world leaders and sits down alongside not-really-look-a-likes of Trump and Kim.
At one point, “Kim” performs a choreographed dance and drinks champagne arm-in-arm with “Trump” as the chorus pumps “where are you from?”

To a western audience not up on K-Pop, the video shares a number of similarities with Psy’s colossal hit “Gangnam Style,” with a similar tone, simple chorus and choreography.
Seungri’s video seems destined for a similar amount of viral success too, racking up more than 2.7 million views on YouTube since it was released late last week.

He isn’t the first Asian musician to go after this topic: in March, Japanese band World Order released “Let’s start WW3,” which directly targeted Trump with the memorable lyric, “let’s grab them by the pussy.”

The video ends with a poster showing dozens of world flags and the slogan “We are all one.”

K-Politics

While it doesn’t quite reach the levels of social commentary in Childish Gambino’s mega hit “This is America,” Seungri’s video does touch on some sensitive topics in South Korea, especially for usually apolitical mainstream K-Pop. He dons the uniform of a South Korean soldier during one scene, while featured rapper Mino wears North Korean military garb.

All of Seungri’s BIGBANG bandmates — T.O.P, Taeyang, G-Dragon, and Daesung — are currently performing their mandatory military service, and he is due to join them later this year, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Under current South Korean law, all men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to perform at least 21 months of military service. The Defense Ministry has pledged to reduce the term to 18 months by 2020. Those who do not serve can face years in prison.

The law has derailed the careers of many of the country’s biggest sports stars and K-Pop artists, and even BIGBANG — one of the most successful South Korean bands in recent decades — risk their legally-mandated hiatus harming future record sales.

South Korea’s Supreme Court is due to hear a case on conscientious objection next month which, depending on the ruling, could begin to chip away at the decades-old law. Last month, a lower court ruled that objectors must be given alternative forms of service, though it did not change the mandatory nature of the law.

Any ruling will likely come too late for Seungri, however, and even if he wanted to avoid military service in order to keep performing, doing so can have a far more negative effect on a musician’s career.

Yoo Seung-jun, a hugely popular singer in the 1990s, had to give up his career in South Korea after he was accused of evading military service by becoming a US citizen. He is still banned from entering South Korea.

Source: CNN

Kakao joins hands with YG Entertainment for Japan ‘webtoon’ market

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger, KakaoTalk, has joined forces with major talent agency YG Entertainment Inc. to tap deeper into the online comic market in Japan, industry sources said Monday.

Although the two firms have not signed official tie-up deals, the collaboration is drawing attention from industry watchers as Naver Corp., South Korea’s top Internet portal operator and Kakao’s rival, is the second-largest stakeholder in YG Entertainment.

According to the sources, Piccoma, Kakao’s online comic platform in Japan, recently started to publish an online comic series, which is titled “Go Blings” and features globally popular South Korean boy band BIGBANG.

Piccoma has been staging a massive publicity blitz for the 12-episode comic series, timed to coincide with member Seungri’s first concert tour in Japan in August.

In June this year, the online comic platform used the songs of YG-affiliated boy band Winner and singer ikon as the background music for its two new online comics, known as “webtoon” in South Korea.

“We are cooperating with a range of companies in various ways in an effort to make forays into the Japanese online comic market,” a Kakao official said.

Kakao, which launched Piccoma in 2016, recently invested about 100 billion won ($89 million) in its Japanese subsidiary Kakao Japan.

Naver invested 100 billion won in YG Entertainment last year as part of efforts to enrich its content, emerging as the No. 2 shareholder of the talent agency.

In addition, it has unveiled plans to invest an additional 200 billion won in YG Entertainment and its content business by next year.

Naver’s Japanese mobile messenger arm, LINE, currently operates a webtoon service, called LINE Manga, which has emerged as the industry leader in Japan with a cumulative 19 million downloads since its launch in 2013.

Source: Yonhap News

US Billboard Praises Seungri’s MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’… “A Great Political Satire”

Seungri Reaches 1.09 Million Viewers During Chinese Weibo Live…’ Seungtsby Sweeps the Continent’

Seungri reached 1.09 million simultaneous viewers during Weibo live, becoming the ‘Great Seungtsby’ in China.

On July 26 at 9 PM (KST), SEUNGRI met the chinses fans through his live broadcast in Weibo, which is China’s largest social media platform. The simultaneous viewers reached 300 thousand in 2 minutes, and 420 thousand in 5 minutes, proving Seungri’s popularity.

Seungri’s Weibo live broadcast had the most viewers among all live broadcasts during the time and displayed Seungri’s status as a global artist.

The simultaneous viewers reached 1.099 million viewers, which indicated Seungri’s high popularity among Chinese fans. The broadcast had 10.04 million accumulated views when the broadcast ended and reached 11.16 million views as of July 28 at 8 AM, proving Seungri’s popularity among the public.

Seungri displayed his fluent Chinese skills during his 1-hour live broadcast through Weibo. He not only introduced his new song, but also sang the title song ‘1, 2, 3!’ in Chinese, making the Chinese fans cheer.

He continued to communicate with the fans through games prepared with care, prior to the broadcast. Seungri learned what artists in China say to confess their feelings and made sweet comments, capturing the ears of fans.

He responded to the fans’ support by stating, “I want to meet the Chinese fans. I really want to have a concert in China”.

Seungri also put the people in awe by perfectly mocking a Chinese song he heard for the first time. The simultaneous viewers surpassed 1 million while he was taking polaroid photos to gift the fans, and Seungri appealed that he is a hot topic.

Seungri’s first solo album ‘THE GREAT SEUNGRI’ was placed at no. 1 on QQ Music’s daily and weekly album revenues chart, proving his high popularity among Chinese music fans. QQ Music is China’s largest music platform.

Source: Korean Kyungjae via YG Life


US Billboard Praises Seungri’s MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’… “A Great Political Satire”

US Billboard spotlighted Seungri’s MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’

On July 27 (local time), Billboard spotlighted Seungri’s MV with an article titled, ‘BIGBANG’s Seungri & WINNER’s Mino Mock Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in ‘Where R U From’ Music Video: Watch’.

Billboard introduced SEUNGRI’s MV by writing, ‘Seungri’s MV is an obvious political satire, among all MVs released in K-Pop’.

In fact, the MV mocked not only president Donald Trump of the United States and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, but also reenacted a scene from the movie ‘JSA’, with Mino wearing a North Korean military uniform.

Billboard added, “While PSY’s MV in 2012 parodied the socio-economic situation, Seungri’s MV in 2018 satirically described the global political situation”.

Along with Seungri’s comeback, the MV for the title song ‘1, 2, 3!’ was released with his album on the 20th. However, the MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’ was kept in veil, raising the curiosities of fans.

The MV released on the 27th starts with a global summit conference scene, while the parody of president Donald Trump of USA and Kim Jong Un of North Korea’s meeting captured the viewers’ attention. While representatives argued and raised voices during the summit, Seungri arrives in a black horse, wearing a military police uniform.

WINNER’s Mino appears after Seungri as a featuring artist, wearing a North Korean military uniform, and everyone at the scene starts dancing while the summit becomes a party.

The MV was directed by producer Park Junsoo, who directed ‘YG Electronics’. His unique B-rated emotions flooded within the MV, adding more joy.

Seungri is currently working hard on preparing for his first solo concert ‘SEUNGRI 2018 1st SOLO TOUR [THE GREAT SEUNGRI] in SEOUL x BC CARD’ which will be held through August 4~5 at 6 PM in Seoul Jangchung Gymnasium.

Source: YG Life

Youngest Member Of Long-Running Group Impresses On “The King Of Mask Singer”

“Hedgehog” on “The King of Mask Singer” has been revealed as the youngest member of a male group.

On the July 22 episode, “Hedgehog” won the first round against SF9’s Rowoon with their duet of 10cm’s “Love in the Milky Way Cafe.”

The July 29 episode featured “Hedgehog” showcasing a solo performance of Roy Kim’s “Pinocchio” for the second round.

As a result of the audience vote, his competitor “Dongmakgol Girl” came out on top with 78 votes over 21 votes for “Hedgehog.”

When “Hedgehog” took off his mask, he revealed himself to be BIGBANG’s Seungri.

He shared, “I wanted to show this to the BIGBANG members who are in the military. I hope they will be proud.” He added, “I hope the members know that I am working hard so that BIGBANG’s absence can’t be felt.”

In the interview afterwards, he commented, “I thought, ‘Is my singing voice this unfamiliar?’ I tried to not get caught, but I didn’t know that a lot of people wouldn’t even imagine that it’s me. Many people were surprised and enjoyed it, so it was exciting and made me happy.”

Check out the clip of his reveal below!

Source (1) (2) Soompi

Watch: TWICE Takes 6th Win For “Dance The Night Away” On “Inkigayo”; Performances By Seungri, FTISLAND, SEVENTEEN, And More

Congratulations to TWICE for winning first place with “Dance the Night Away” on SBS’s “Inkigayo”! Second place was MAMAMOO’s “Egotistic,” and third place went to Apink’s “I’m So Sick.”

See Also: Watch: BIGBANG's Seungri And Anda Get Playful In "1, 2, 3!" Dance Practice Video

Although TWICE’s promotions have ended, they shared their reaction to the win through a video on Instagram:

인기가요 1위!!!! 감사합니다!! 원스 고마워요??

A post shared by TWICE (@twicetagram) on

This week’s performers include Seungri, FTISLAND, SEVENTEEN, Triple H, MAMAMOO, GFRIEND, MOMOLAND, gugudan SEMINA, Chungha, SATURDAY, and more.

Watch this week’s performances below:

SATURDAY – “MMook JJi BBa”

Chungha – “Love U”

gugudan SEMINA – “SEMINA”

MOMOLAND – “BAAM”

GFRIEND – “Sunny Summer”

MAMAMOO – “Egotistic”

SEVENTEEN – “Oh My!”

FTISLAND – “Summer Night’s Dream”

Triple H – “Retro Future”

Seungri – “1, 2, 3!”


Source: Soompi


Watch Live: TWICE, Wanna One, Seungri, NCT 127, And More Perform On “Music Core”

The July 28 episode of MBC’s “Music Core” will be a “2018 Ulsan Summer Festival” special. There will be performances by Seungri, FTISLAND, Wanna One, Triple H, TWICE, GFRIEND, SEVENTEEN, LABOUM, NCT 127, gugudan SEMINA, 100%, MOMOLAND, Golden Child, Chungha, Jeong Sewoon, KARD, and IN2IT.

See Also: GFRIEND Talks About Their Close Friendship And Praises Each Other's Strengths

Watch the show live below!


Source: Soompi


Watch: TWICE, Wanna One, Seungri, NCT 127, And More Perform On “Music Core” Special Episode

The July 28 episode of MBC’s “Music Core” was a “2018 Ulsan Summer Festival” special.

See Also: GFRIEND Shares Things That Have Changed Since Debut + Thoughts On 1st Solo Concert

There were performances by Seungri, FTISLAND, Wanna One, Triple H, TWICE, GFRIEND, SEVENTEEN, LABOUM, NCT 127, gugudan SEMINA, 100%, MOMOLAND, Golden Child, Chungha, Jeong Sewoon, KARD, and IN2IT.

Catch all of the performances below!

Seungri – “1, 2, 3!”

Wanna One – “Light”

FTISLAND – “Summer Night’s Dream”

TWICE – “Dance the Night Away”

GFRIEND – “Sunny Summer”

SEVENTEEN – “Oh My!”

Triple H – “Retro Future”

gugudan SEMINA – “SEMINA”

NCT 127 – “Touch”

LABOUM – “Between Us”

Golden Child – “Let Me”

MOMOLAND – “BAAM”

KARD – “Ride on the Wind”

Chungha – “Love U”

100% – “Grand Blue”

Jeong Sewoon – “20 Something”

IN2IT – “Sorry For My English”


Source: Soompi


Billboard: Seungri and WINNER’s Mino Mock Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in ‘Where R U From’ MV

In 2012, PSY parodied the socio-economic situation of the titular neighborhood and went viral with “Gangnam Style.” Now, in 2018, former labelmate Seungri is here to follow in his satirical footsteps in the viral-ready music video for “Where R U From.”

Released on “The Great Seungri” album on July 20, “Where R U From” features WINNER’s Mino and is a groovy EDM track built to be danced to, which is just what Seungri, Mino, and a whole crew of dancers do in the music video. But not before turning the song into the soundtrack for 2018’s political scene.

Caricatures of President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take center stage, while other world leaders also make appearances in the music video amid a lifelike political summit that is set to end in shambles. To sort things out, “The Great Seungsby” rides in on a horse and saves the day, and potentially the world, by making his way into the meeting amid a shouting match. Declaring himself the face of YG Entertainment, the BIGBANG member takes control of the situation, and then breaks into the song’s dabbing and galloping-filled choreography.

The DMZ border that divides North and South Korea also plays a major role in what is one of the most blatantly political K-pop videos ever, with rapper Mino donning the garb of a North Korean soldier and Seungri dressing in that of a South Korean border soldier.

The satirical music video is full of cameos from television personalities popular on South Korean television, such as Sam Okyere and Daniel Lindemann who appear as members of the Secret Service and comedian Yoo Byung Jae, who emulates Seungri’s bandmate G-Dragon.

While being draped in political comedy, the music video also draws on Seungri’s funnyman image in the Korean entertainment world. It utilizies his role as the the CEO of YG Entertainment subsidiary YGX, and also his panda-like image, which he incorporates by featuring bamboo and a furry white-and-black coat.

Seungri co-produced the song with Future Bounce, and co-wrote the lyrics with Mino.

“The Great Seungri” is Seungri’s first Korean LP, and was preceded by his 2011 “V.V.I.P” and 2013’s “Let’s Talk About Love” EPs, the latter of which went to No. 2 on the World Albums chart upon its release. He reportedly returned with a new solo album to give BIGBANG fans new music while the other four members of the act are enlisted in South Korea’s military.

Source: Billboard.com