A summary of the news, current and upcoming comebacks, charts and music show wins, and more!
NOTE: Except in special cases, the news recapped in these posts will refer to K-pop only. K-dramas, variety shows, and other forms of entertainment will only be mentioned if there is an idol or idol group involved.
News to Note
- Given the recent wave of COVID-19 cases in South Korea – particularly Seoul – there are several more idols who have had to test for the virus.
- Two members of TREASURE have contracted COVID-19: First Doyoung, and then Junghwan a few days later. So far, all other members have tested negative You can read translations of YG’s statement about the two artists here and here.
- BTOB’s Minhyuk also caught COVID-19 from his vocal trainer – he initially tested negative, but then got a positive result several days later. You can read translations of Cube Entertainment’s first statement here and second statement here.
- SF9’s Chani has officially left his position as an MC for MBC’s Music Core – he hosted for around two and a half years, which is a pretty long tenure for idols. Music Core will not be airing for several weeks because of the Tokyo Olympics, and it will return in August. There are rumors that NCT’s Jungwoo and Stray Kids’ Lee Know will be the new MCs along with remaining host Kim Minju – it seems like Jungwoo would replace Chani, while Lee Know would replace fellow Stray Kids member Hyunjin (who has been on hiatus). However, Music Core hasn’t confirmed these rumors yet.
- Kakao Entertainment and Melon Company will be merging in September. You can read more about the situation here.
- SM Entertainment has declared they will be taking legal actions against sasaeng (stalker) fans who are bothering their artists. You can read a translation of their statement here.
- After rumors spread about SF9’s Inseong supposedly said an inappropriate word in one of the group’s videos, his agency FNC Entertainment clarified the situation and denied the allegations. You can read a translation of their statement here.
This Week’s Debuts and Comebacks
(Please note that I won’t necessarily link every release that came out this week – just the ones that I’m aware of or popped up on my radar. The same is true of the “Coming Up Next Week” category.)
Last week I mentioned Baek A Yeon was releasing a new song, but I guess it’s been delayed because I couldn’t find it. I also mentioned OnlyOneOf, but it looks like they didn’t have a full-on comeback either.
HA:TFELT feat. Kim Hyoeun
“Summertime” (7/14)
Rain, Monsta X, Brave Girls, and ATEEZ
“Summer Taste” (7/14)
This is a collaboration between Starship Entertainment and Pepsi. The Monsta X members who participated are Shownu, Hyungwon, and I.M. The Brave Girls members who participated are Yujeong and Yuna. The ATEEZ members who participated are Hongjoong and Yunho.
Coming Up Next Week
As far as I know, there aren’t any comebacks next week! July seems to be rather slow.
This Week’s Music Show Wins
| The Show (SBS MTV) | Jeon Soyeon ((G)I-DLE), “Beam Beam” (1st win) |
| Show Champion (MBC) | NCT Dream, “Hello Future” (5th win) |
| M! Countdown (MNET) | NCT Dream, “Hello Future” (6th win) |
| Music Bank (KBS) | BTS, “Butter” (13th win) |
| Music Core (MBC) | BTS, “Permission to Dance” (1st win) |
| Inkigayo (SBS) | BTS, “Permission to Dance” (2nd win) |
Album Sales, Streaming, and Charting
Gaon Chart
NOTE: Gaon‘s weekly charts reflect the previous week. To see a full breakdown of the chart, you can go here.
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album Sales | BTS, Butter | SF9, Turn Over | NCT Dream, Hello Future (Kit version) | NCT Dream, Hello Future | SEVENTEEN, Your Choice |
| Overall Digital | MSG Wannabe (M.O.M), “Foolish Love” | aespa, “Next Level” | MSG Wannabe (JSDK), “Only You” | BTS, “Butter” | Brave Girls, “Chi Mat Ba Ram” |
| Streaming | MSG Wannabe (M.O.M), “Foolish Love” | aespa, “Next Level” | BTS, “Butter” | MSG Wannabe (JSDK), “Only You” | Heize, “Happen” |
| Downloads | BTS, “Permission to Dance” | Taeyeon, “Weekend” | MSG Wannabe (M.O.M), “Foolish Love” | MSG Wannabe (JSDK), “Only You” | Im Young Woong, “Trust in Me” |
| Social | BTS | BLACKPINK | Im Young Woong | Kim Ho Joong | IU |
According to Hanteo, BTS’s CD version of Butter sold over 1.9 million copies in its first week – making it the highest first week sales of any album in 2021. It’s also the first single album to sell over 1 million copies in a week ever, and BTS is the only artist who has sold over 1 million albums on the first day of release.
The International Side of K-pop
- Lots of news for BTS:
- “Butter” extended its winning streak as it placed #1 on Billboard‘s “Hot 100” for the 7th week in a row. (“Permission to Dance” should appear on this upcoming week’s charts.)
- BTS will perform at the “Global Citizen Live” 24 hour worldwide event on September 26th.
- BTS returned to The Tonight Show, performing both “Permission to Dance” and “Butter” as well as participating in several interview segments.
- “Fake Love” is BTS’s 5th single to be certified silver in the UK. Meanwhile, “Permission to Dance” debuted at #16 on the UK’s Singles Chart.
- TXT’s The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE spent its fifth week on the Billboard 200, this time at #110. It’s still the longest-charting K-pop album of 2021.
- NCT’s Taeil joined Instagram this week and gained a million followers in one hour and forty five minutes, breaking the Guinness World Record for fastest Instagram account to reach one million follows.
- The following K-pop music videos reached new viewer milestones on YouTube:
- NCT U’s “Make a Wish” reached 200 million views, becoming the first music video by any NCT subunit to do so.
- Rosé’s “On the Ground” also hit 200 million views.
- BTS’s “Boy With Luv” is now the fastest K-pop boy group music video to pass 1.3 billion views, breaking the record they previously set with “DNA.” Earlier in the week, “Save Me” also reached 600 million views.
Variety Show Casting News
- WINNER’s Song Mino will be a producer along with Gray for Season 10 of rap survival show Show Me the Money.
- Former IZ*ONE member Chaeyeon will be appearing on Street Woman Fighter, MNET’s upcoming survival show for female dance crews. She will be part of the dance crew WANT.
Notable Variety Shows Featuring K-pop Idols
| Weekly Idol | Knowing Brothers | Amazing Saturday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| This Week | SF9 | Shinhwa (Jun Jin, Andy) and Baby V.O.X (Kan Miyoun, Yoon Eunhye) | Non-idol guests |
| Next Week | Dreamcatcher | Non-idol guests | FT Island (Dohyun and Hongki) |
SOURCES NOTE: I get my news from a mix of sources, and all of them report the same information and sometimes cite each other as well. So rather than linking the exact article for each and every news item (unless the article provides a lot more detail), I will cite my general news sources below. Each of them will most likely have an article and/or tweet providing more details on the item in question.
MY REGULAR NEWS SOURCES: Soompi, Omona They Didn’t (Livejournal), The Seoul Story (Twitter @theseoulstory), and Girl Group Zone! (Twitter @girlgroupzone)
FEATURED IMAGE SOURCE: BTS performing “Butter” on The Tonight Show. Original picture is from BTS’s Twitter account, and you can see the original tweet here.
VIDEO SOURCES: YouTube, Amoeba Culture (HA:TFELT), Starship Entertainment (“Summer Taste”), The Tonight Show
OTHER SOURCES: YouTube, Wikipedia, Billboard, Gaon Chart, KBS, MBC, MNET, SBS
Katherine Does K-POP 
Taeil’s unexpected Guiness World Record is the most unassuming Taeil thing ever
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Right??? Hahaha
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