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
- NCT’s Jungwoo and Stray Kids’ Lee Know have officially joined Kim Minju as MCs for MBC’s Music Core, replacing SF9’s Chani and fellow Stray Kids member Hyunjin. The trio hosted their first episode together this week and had a performance that you can watch here.
- Former Big Bang member Seungri has been sentenced to serve three years in prison. He was previously indicted on nine different charges, including mediation of prostitution, gambling, and embezzlement. You can read more about the situation here.
- Founder of YG Entertainment Yang Hyun Suk and B.I had their first hearing in their ongoing case. B.I is accused of buying and using drugs, while Yang Hyun Suk is accused of threatening Han Seo Hee – the informant and whistleblower – and trying to cover up the situation. (B.I was signed to YG Entertainment and was part of iKON at the time.) You can read more about what happened at the hearing here.
- Cube Entertainment announced that Soojin has left (G)I-DLE. She was one of the first K-pop idols to be hit with bullying allegations earlier this year, and she had been on hiatus up until this point. You can read a translation of Cube’s statement here, but it doesn’t really provide any details or developments in the situation. (But the article links back to other ones that summarize all of the main events.)
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.)
Hyoyeon (Girls’ Generation), “Second” (8/9)
The Boyz, “Thrill Ride” (8/9)
Park Jihoon, “Gallery” (8/12)
Ten (NCT/WayV/SuperM), “Paint Me Naked”
(SM Station – 8/10)
ONF, “Popping” (8/9)
Ha Sungwoon ft. Don Mills, “Strawberry Gum” (8/9)
Hyolyn and Dasom (SISTAR), “Summer or Summer” (special single – 8/10)
Doyoung and Haechan (NCT), “Maniac”
(special single prod. Ryan Jhun – 8/12)
Coming Up Next Week
| Monday (8/16) | Tuesday (8/17) | Wednesday (8/18) | Thursday (8/19) | Friday (8/20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Velvet | TXT | Pentagon (sub-unit of Kino, Yuto, and Wooseok) | CRAVITY | |
| CIX |
This Week’s Music Show Wins
| The Show (SBS MTV) | ASTRO, “After Midnight” (1st win) |
| Show Champion (MBC) | ASTRO, “After Midnight” (2nd win) |
| M! Countdown (MNET) | Jeon Somi, “Dumb Dumb” (1st win) |
| Music Bank (KBS) | ASTRO, “After Midnight” (3rd win) |
| Music Core (MBC) | ASTRO, “After Midnight” (4th win) |
| Inkigayo (SBS) | BTS, “Permission to Dance” (8th 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.
Gaon Weekly Chart
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album Sales | ASTRO, Switch On | Golden Child, Game Changer | BTS, Butter | Weeekly, Play Game: Holiday | Dreamcatcher, Summer Holiday |
| Overall Digital | AKMU feat. IU, “NAKKA” | MSG Wannabe M.O.M, “Foolish Love” | Lee Mujin, “Traffic Light” | ASTRO, “After Midnight” | aespa, “Next Level” |
| Streaming | MSG Wannabe M.O.M, “Foolish Love” | Lee Mujin, “Traffic Light” | AKMU feat. IU, “NAKKA” | aespa, “Next Level” | BTS, “Permission to Dance” |
| Downloads | ASTRO, “After Midnight” | AKMU feat. IU, “NAKKA” | Heize, “On Rainy Days (2021)” | Mido and Falasol, “Let’s Forget It (Drama Ver.)” | Jeon Somi, “Dumb Dumb” |
| Social | BTS | BLACKPINK | TWICE | Im Young Woong | Block B |
Gaon Monthly Chart (for July)
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album Sales | BTS, Butter | D.O. (EXO), Empathy | NCT Dream, Hello Future (kit version) | SF9, Turn Over | NCT Dream, Hello Future |
| Overall Digital | MSG Wannabe M.O.M, “Foolish Love” | aespa, “Next Level” | BTS, “Permission to Dance” | Lee Mujin, “Traffic Light” | BTS, “Butter” |
| Streaming | MSG Wannabe M.O.M, “Foolish Love” | aespa, “Next Level” | BTS, “Butter” | Lee Mujin, “Traffic Light” | Heize, “Happen” |
| Downloads | BTS, “Permission to Dance” | Im Young Woong, “Trust in Me” | MSG Wannabe M.O.M, “Foolish Love” | Taeyeon, “Weekend” | MSG Wannabe JDSK, “Only You” |
| Social | BTS | BLACKPINK | TWICE | Im Young Woong | Kim Ho Joong |
Gaon Certifications
| Group/Artist | Album/Song | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| EXO | Don’t Fight the Feeling | Million (album sales) |
| SEVENTEEN | Your Choice | Million (album sales) |
| NCT Dream | Hello Future | Triple platinum (album sales) |
| TXT | The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE | Triple platinum (album sales) |
| TWICE | Taste of Love | Double platinum (album sales) |
| IU | Love Poem | Platinum (album sales) |
| Monsta X | One of a Kind | Platinum (album sales) |
| Stray Kids | Cle 1: MIROH | Platinum (album sales) |
| TREASURE | The First Step: Chapter Two | Platinum (album sales) |
| BLACKPINK | “Lovesick Girls” | Platinum (streams) |
| IU | “Celebrity” | Platinum (streams) |
| Dua Lipa | “Don’t Start Now” | Platinum (streams) |
The International Side of K-pop
- BTS’s “Butter” ranked #4 on Billboard‘s “Hot 100” this week, while “Permission to Dance” placed #27.
- TXT’s The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE continues to be the longest-running K-pop album of 2021 on the Billboard 200, placing #126 in its ninth week.
- KCON has announced its fifth online concert series, “KCON:TACT HI 5,” which is scheduled to happen from September 18 to 26.
- BTS has been nominated for 5 MTV Video Music Awards this year: Best K-pop (“Butter”), Best Pop (“Butter”), Song of the Year (“Dynamite”), Best Choreography (“Butter”), and Best Editing (“Butter”).
- The other nominees for Best K-pop are Monsta X (“Gambler”), SEVENTEEN (“Ready to Love”), TWICE (“Alcohol-Free”), BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez (“Ice Cream”), and (G)I-DLE (“DUMDi DUMDi”).
- The following K-pop music videos reached new viewer milestones on YouTube:
- Jennie’s “SOLO” hit 700 million views, making her the first K-pop female soloist to ever do so.
- Big Bang’s “FXXK It” reached 200 million views.
Notable Variety Shows Featuring K-pop Idols
| Weekly Idol | Knowing Brothers | Amazing Saturday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| This Week | The Boyz | Non-idol guests | Joy and Yeri (Red Velvet) |
| Next Week | ONF | Non-idol guests | Non-idol guests |
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: The Boyz Twitter account (original Tweet here)
VIDEO SOURCES: YouTube, 1theK (“Maniac” music video), Cre.ker Entertainment (The Boyz), Maroo Entertainment (Park Jihoon), MBCKpop (Music Core MC performance), SM Entertainment (Hyoyeon/Ten), Star Crew Entertainment (Ha Sungwoon), Stone Music Entertainment (“Summer or Summer” music video), WM Entertainment (ONF)
OTHER SOURCES: Wikipedia, Billboard, Gaon Chart, KBS, MBC, MNET, SBS
Katherine Does K-POP 