K-Town
2021 MAMAs: BTS Cleans Up, Aespa Debuts and NCT Dream, Itzy & Wanna One Deliver
The Mnet Asian Music Awards have come and gone for another year, and while one of the most prestigious music award shows in South Korea is always chock-full of exciting performances and plenty of idol worship, this latest event felt truly special. After the 2020 ceremony featured no live audience at all, it was obvious to all involved that the 2021 staging had to be bigger and more fantastic than ever… and thankfully, the show was everything it should have been. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news BTS wrapped the evening as the biggest winners, as they claimed all four Daesangs — artist of the year, worldwide icon of the year, song of the year (for “Butter”) and album of the year (for Be) — as well as just as may other prizes, bringing their total ...
Fans Choose MONSTA X’s ‘The Dreaming’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music
MONSTA X‘s new album has topped this week’s fan-voted new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll that was published Friday (Dec. 10) on Billboard, choosing The Dreaming as their favorite new music release of the past week. MONSTA X’s The Dreaming, the K-pop group’s second English-language album, brought in an overwhelming majority of the vote, at 86.72%. The K-pop group’s new record was released the same week as their feature film Monsta X: The Dreaming, an inside look at the six-piece’s journey over the past six years. In second place on the poll results was Fighting Demons, Juice WRLD‘s second posthumous release, which had 11.53% of the vote. Suga from BTS guests on the track “Girl of Your Dreams,” and Polo G, Trippie Redd and Justin Bieber also make appearances on the late rapper’s albu...
Megan Thee Stallion No Longer Performing With BTS at 2021 American Music Awards
Megan Thee Stallion has dropped out of her appearance at the 2021 American Music Awards, which included her highly anticipated performance with BTS, due to a personal matter. The rapper was scheduled to join BTS onstage to perform the Hot 100 hit “Butter” at Sunday’s (Nov. 21) event. The live collaboration was set to be the televised world premiere of their “Butter” remix. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Hotties I was so excited to go to the @AMAs and perform with @BTS_official, but due to an unexpected personal matter, I can no longer attend,” she wrote on Twitter on Saturday, the day before this year’s AMAs. “I’m so sad! I really can’t wait to hit the stage with my guys and perform #BTS_Butter real soon!” said Megan, who is nominated for thr...
K-Pop’s MAMA Awards Is Coming to the U.S.
“MAMA has been hosted mainly in Asia such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Korea,” comments CJ ENM director-general of music content headquarters, Kim Hyun-soo. “As K-pop continues to grow in influence globally, we plan on expanding our presence to regions bordering Asia and beyond. In a few years, we plan to host MAMA in the U.S., the world’s biggest music market.” Those ambitions were revealed during a press conference Monday in Seoul, during which details were presented for the forthcoming awards ceremony. The 13th annual MAMA will take place Dec. 11, with British singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran booked to perform on the night. Sheeran has a special connection with K-pop fans through his collaboration with BTS on their 2021 hit “Permission to Dance.” “Permission to Dance”...
Fans Choose TWICE’s ‘Formula of Love: O + T =
The new full-length features TWICE’s No. 10-charting Global Excl. U.S. single “The Feels,” the act’s first effort entirely in English. The set also features new track “Scientist,” which sees the nine-piece telling their lovers that there’s no need for special equations or chemicals when it comes to true romance. Released on Nov. 12, Formula of Love: O+T=<3 arrived shortly after Taste of Love: The 10th Mini Album, which dropped in June and hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. Placing second on the past week’s tally with 23% of the vote was Swift’s just-released Red (Taylor’s Version), the second in the superstar singer-songwriter’s series of re-recorded albums. Red was originally released in 2012, debuting at No. 1 o...
Taylor Swift, BTS, Missy Elliott, Lady Gaga, T.J. Osborne & More of the Week’s Biggest Winners (Nov. 12)
Take a look at Billboard‘s weekly roundup and the “awards” it’s giving to this week’s headlines. Reddest Music News: Taylor Swift releases Red (Taylor’s Version) The album Swifties know all too well is the gift that keeps on giving. Taylor Swift finally released the re-recorded and expanded version of her 2012 album Red (Taylor’s Version) on Friday (Nov. 12), totaling 30 tracks. She’ll also slated to perform on Saturday Night Live again on Saturday, Nov. 13. Listen to Red (Taylor’s Version) here, and watch her accompanying All Too Well short film here. Smoothest Music News: BTS will perform “Butter” remix with Megan Thee Stallion at 2021 AMAs The American Music Awards announced on...
BTS Leads Performers Lineup For 2021 American Music Awards
Rodrigo, who leads this year’s pack with seven nominations, will make her AMAs debut during the broadcast. Bad Bunny, a two-time AMA winner, will undoubtedly get the place bouncing with the world premiere TV performance of “Lo Siento BB:/.” Nominated for five awards this year, the rapper and singer last graced the AMAs stage in 2018 alongside J Balvin and 2021 AMAs host Cardi B for a performance of “I Like It.” BTS’ RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook are no strangers to the AMAs. In recent years, the South Korean superstars have nabbed six trophies, and in 2020 performed from their home country. They’re up for more hardware this time, including a nomination for artist of the year. Megan Thee Stallion, meanwhile, has a hat trick of nominations this year. “Butter” ...
BLACKPINK Perform ‘Stay,’ Deliver Speech for ‘Dear Earth’ Special
“We don’t have to ask if climate change is happening,” the group said. “We don’t have to be persuaded that nature is disappearing. The planet is warming too fast, our wild nature is disappearing too fast, the oceans are dying, the waste is piling up. The way things are going, there may be no planet left to save.” BLACKPINK said, “Our generation will be responsible for taking care of the Earth and we will work towards building a better, more equal, more sustainable world.” The special, produced by Done + Dusted, Strong Brew and Silverback Films, was released to “inspire and motivate audiences to create a better, healthier, existence for the planet through contributions from a wide range of global leaders, creators, celebrities and musici...
Watch SEVENTEEN Talk ‘Growth’ on ‘Attacca’ EP & Getting CARATs Involved in Their Music: Video Interview
SEVENTEEN returned Friday (Oct. 22) with their ninth EP Attacca, and in a new interview with Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly, the group is opening up about their quick comeback after Your Choice, the album’s message of love, and getting CARATs involved in the music-making process. The 13-member K-pop group is spoiling fans with new music, releasing Attacca just four months after June’s Your Choice EP, and they’re not planning to slow down anytime soon. “We’re not taking any breaks,” Hoshi says, with S.Coups adding: “We worked even harder since we’re not able to meet everyone in person right now. We wanted to connect more frequently, at least through our music.” You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So ...
TWICE Announces Release Date for Third Album ‘Formula of Love: O+T=
TWICE are gearing up for their next era, fresh off the release of their first English single “The Feels.” The K-pop group announced Friday (Oct. 8) via Twitter that their third full album, Formula of Love: O+T=<3, will arrive on streaming platforms Nov. 12. The girl group shared new imagery to accompany the album reveal. The cover art sees the group’s nine total members –Sana, Tzuyu, Momo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun and Chaeyoung — each dressed in unique uniforms and hanging out in what appears to be a stylish chemistry lab where colorful chemicals in test tubes decorate tabletops. The post shares additional information about the release, stating that the album will arrive at 2 p.m. KST and midnight ET. TWICE has also made a pre-order ...
Coldplay & BTS’ ‘My Universe’ Blasts Off at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100
“My Universe” was released Sept. 24 on Parlophone/Atlantic Records and previews Coldplay’s album Music of the Spheres, due Oct. 15. Sung in mostly English with some lyrics in Korean, it’s the 1,129th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 63-year history, and the 57th to enter on top. Let’s focus our telescope for a sharper look at its chart launch. Streams, airplay & sales: “My Universe” drew 11.5 million U.S. streams and 5.5 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 127,000 downloads and physical singles combined in its first week, ending Sept. 30, according to MRC Data. The track debuts atop the Digital Song Sales chart, where it’s BTS’ ninth No. 1, extending the septet’s record for the most among groups, and Coldplay’...
Coldplay & BTS’ ‘My Universe’ Launches Atop Both Billboard Global Charts
Billboard‘s two global charts (the latest of which are dated Oct. 9) began in September 2020 and rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the U.S. Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations. ‘Universe’ Rules the Wor...
