Kpop Behind | All the Stories Behind Kpop Stars

Q. You release your new album after a long hiatus, while it is notable that you wrote all the tracks in the album. BoA: Yeah, the album is more meaningful than any other albums I released. I'm so nervous and just the thought of the album makes my heart flutter. I've worked on the album for more than a year. Q. Before releasing the album, your new song 'Who Are You' was pre-released. It seems that many people like the song. How do you feel? BoA: Actually, I never expected. I was bemused with such a good result. I think it's thanks to Gaeko who was featured in the song as a rapper. I wanted to show a variety of performance through different kinds of music in the album. Q. Eddy Kim is featured in your song 'Double Jack'. Are you close with him? BoA: No, not at all. Actually, I've never met him. I tried to visit the recording studio when he was recording the song, but I couldn't due to tight schedules. I want to meet him later. I think h...

"Girls' Generation's Taeyeon is currently preparing for her first ever solo album although everything is up in the air. Nobody knows when the album will be released and what kind of song the singer will sing. According to the official from SM, they are planning for the album carefully. Anyway, if Taeyeon releases her first solo album, it is likely that the singer will be able to win a big success with the album. Taeyeon, who is considered as one of the most competitive female idol singers, has a wealth of experience on stage, while her agency, SM entertainment, is well known for its best system for album production." UK Jung's Rating - Taeyeon Singing ★★★★★ Dancing ★★★☆☆ Appearance ★★★★☆ Musicality ★★★☆☆ "Girl's Day's Minah will release her first ever solo album in March 2015. Minah is currently making final preparations for the album, while her agency is torn between calm ballad track and cheerful dance track. Since she...

EXO will release a live album of its first ever exclusive concert. According to SM entertainment, the popular boy group's album 'EXOLOGY Chapter 1 : The Lost World' will be released on December 22. The album is compiled from live recordings from the group's concert 'EXO FROM. EXOPLANET #1 - THE LOST PLANET - in SEOUL' held in Seoul last May. The album, which is comprised of 2 CDs, includes a total of 36 tracks including original versions of EXO's hits, and new studio versions of 'Black Pearl', 'Love, Love, Love', 'Wolf', and 'Growl'. The album also has EXO's special winter song 'December, 2014'(The Winter's Tale). Meanwhile, EXO is currently on its first ever exclusive concert tour and will hold its concert in Osaka from December 22-24.

Crayon Pop held a special event in Japan to celebrate its album release in the country. The girl group, who released its special mini album 'POP! POP! POP!' last November, held 3 mini concerts in Tokyo, Japan on December 6. The first place for the girl group's mini concert was LaLaport TOYOSU, while the group performed its hits such as 'Dancing Queen', 'Bar Bar Bar', and 'Uh-ee'. Crayon Pop also visited Tower Records Shibuya and held 2 mini concerts there, while some of Japanese fans caught eyes of people by wearing the girl group's costume.(Helmets and tracktsuits) Even though the Crayon Pop members had to manage a series of tight schedules by holding 3 concert a day, they didn't look tired at all and tried to communicate with their fans by shaking hands with them. Meanwhile, Crayon Pop released Chrome entertainment's winter song 'Love Christmas' on December 3. The agency's other artists including K-Much, B...

DSP media will release its winter album. The Kpop agency's winter album 'White Letter' will be released on December 15, while various artists of the agency including Oh Jong Hyuk, Kara, Rainbow, and A-JAX will take part in the album. The album will includes various winter songs including cover versions of Fin.K.L and Click-B's hits, and KARA's new song. One of the songs is a remake of Fin.K.L's 'White', which gained great popularity in the late 1990's and early 2000's. DSP added an electronic sound to the rhythmical and cheerful song.

Teen Top will release its new song 'Snow Candy'. According to the boy group's agency, the group will release the winter song on December 10, while it is the first time for the group to release a winter song since it debuted in 2010. The upcoming album will also include Changjo's own song 'Merry Christmas' and CAP's new song 'Winter Song'. The agency stated, "Teen Top will release the album in return for its fans' constant support. The album will also has Christmas cards which were personally designed by the Teen Top members and Christmas messages written by the members."

Secret's Song Ji Eun released her first ever solo album in Japan. The female idol star released her solo mini album 'Twenty Five' in the country on December 2. The album is the Japanese version of her solo album '25' that was released in Korea on October 14, while it is the first time for the 6th-year singer to release her solo album in Japan. Song Ji Eun's Japanese solo album includes various songs including '25', 'Don't look at me like that', 'La Boum', and 'Vintage'. The album also has the Korean version of singer's own song 'Star'. Meanwhile, Secret has been gaining popularity in Japan by showing off its lovely and sexy charm. The girl group held its exclusive concert '2014 Secret's Summer LIVE ~YooHoo~' this summer.

AOA will release its second mini album in Taiwan. According to FNC entertainment, the girl group will release its second mini album 'Like a cat' in the country, while the album will has a total of 6 tracks including 'Like a cat', 'AOA', 'Girl's heart', and 'Just the two of us'. The album also includes a DVD that has a Chinese version of 'Like a cat's music video. Meanwhile, 'Like a cat' was pre-released in Taiwan through online on November 12 and has been gaining popularity by being ranked at top 10 on the country's online music charts. The group's former hit 'Mini skirt' also has been gaining great popularity in the country since it was released last September. The song is still ranked at top 5 on various online music charts of Taiwan.

Super Junior's Kyuhyun took a new challenge as a singer. On November 13, the idol star released his first ever solo album since his debut in 2006. It is notable that 6 out of 7 tracks are ballad songs because the music genre seems to be something that is improper to the cheerful and mischievous boy group. As you may know, the handsome member Kyuhyun  dressed up as a woman and showed special performance at the group's concert and SMTOWN's concert, showing off his talent as an entertainer. Well, Kyuhyun made a debut as a solo singer with his ballad album anyway, and to tell the conclusion first, he has been reborn as a "prince of ballad". There have been many Kpop singers who were called "prince of ballad" or "king of ballad", such as Shin Seung Hoon, Cho Sung Mo, and Sung Si Kyung. Through his first solo album Kyuhyun proved that he has more than enough talent as a ballad singer to succeed his competent senior ballad singers. I can say...

Super Junior-M's Zhoumi will make a debut as a solo singer. According to SM entertainment, Zhoumi's first solo mini album 'Rewind' will be released through various music sites in Korea and China on October 31. He will do his promotional activities for the upcoming album in both countries. The tall and handsome idol star, who is well known for his outstanding singing and dancing ability, has been gaining popularity throughout Asia. He has been chosen as an MC for MBC MUSIC & Chinese video site YOUKU's 'Idol True Colors' and SBS MTV & another Chinese video site TUDOU's 'The Show Season 4'.

Super Junior will release a special edition of its 7th full album. According to SM entertainment, a special edition of the group's 7th album, titled 'This is love', will be released on October 27. The album will have a total of 13 songs including 9 songs from Super Junior's 7th full album that was released last August, a new version of 'This is love', and 3 new songs. The Super Junior members personally took part in designing upcoming album, while various versions of the album will be released. It is expected that each Super Junior member will show their individuality through the albums. 3 new songs to be included in the album will be released through various online music sites on October 23. Super Junior will perform 'This is love' and 'Evanesce' at Mnet's 'M Countdown' to be aired on the day. Meanwhile, Super Junior has topped a variety of music charts with its song 'MAMACITA', proving its global pop...

SISTAR released its special album. On August 26, the girl group's special album 'Sweet & Sour' was released through various online music sites. The album has the group's new songs 'I Swear' and 'Hold on tight', while remix versions of its hits 'Loving U' and 'Touch my body' are also included in the album. The title track 'I Swear' is a house dance music, which is composed by a hit maker Double Kick. Starship entertainment stated, "'I Swear' is a summer song which has rich excitement and fantasy, while fans will feel charmed by the SISTAR members who give off cat-like charm through 'Hold on tight'." Korea's best electronic artists such as House Rulez, Glen Check, Reno and DJ Smells took part in producing the album's remix tracks.

AOA released its new mini album 'Short Hair'. At Mnet's 'M Countdown' aired on June 19, the girl group performed the title track 'Short Hair' for the first time, showing off its sexy and lovely charm.(Before the song was released, I made a direct translation of the song's title and called it "Bob Cut", but the song's official English title is "Short Hair") As you can see in the picture above, the AOA members' costumes for 'Short Hair' are quite distinctive. Each of them wore different uniforms for various occupations such as flight attendant, cheerleader and police woman. According to FNC entertainment, the members intended to represent a wide diversity of personalities. Yeah, they are pretty and attractive. However, that's not all. As you may know, AOA's label mates are CNBLUE and FT Island, who are the representative Kpop idol bands. And unlike other Kpop idols who usually do dance or hip hop music, ...

BEAST(B2ST) released its new mini album 'Good Luck' on June 16. The album includes a total of 7 songs, while it has been about a year since the group released its second full album 'Hard to love, How to love' last July. The title track is 'Good Luck'. The song begins with main vocal Yang Yoseob's attractive high note part and is about a man who tells his ex-girlfriend to be happy. Through the song, Yang Yoseob proves that he is one of the best Kpop idol vocalists, capturing listeners' ears with his mournful voice. In the world of Kpop industry, he is well known for his outstanding singing skill that vivifies feelings of all the songs he sings. And through the music video of 'Good Luck', the Beast members show splendid dance performance. After being released, the song ranked high on various online music charts and it is expected that the group will be able to top a variety of TV music chart shows in consideration of fan base of Beast and ri...

U-Kiss will make a comeback in June. According to NH Media, the group will release its new mini album 'Mono Scandal' on June 2. The title track for the album is composed by hit maker Double Kick. NH Media stated, "As it has been 6 years since the group's debut, U-Kiss will show an extreme makeover." Meanwhile, the group's former member Dongho left the team last year, while AJ is studying in the United States. Recently, it added Jun as a new member.

B.A.P is coming back. According to TS entertainment, the group will release its new single album 'B.A.P Unplugged 2014' on June 3. The album will include a total of 3 tracks, and B.A.P, who has gained popularity by showing powerful hip hop performance since its debut, is expected to captivate fans' hearts with its sweet new songs. TS entertainment stated, "B.A.P's new album includes songs that have comfortable and sweet melody. The songs are focused on pure sounds of instruments such as harmonica and guitar, and the members' voices."

15& released its first ever regular album 'Sugar'. On May 26, the duo, comprised of Park Jimin and Baek Yerin, released the album and unveiled the music video for the title track 'Sugar'. 'Sugar' is a R&B soul song that is co-composed by Shim Eunji and Andrew Choi. Shim Eunji is the one who composed the duo's hits 'I Dream' and 'Somebody'. 15& also released a 'live video' for another track 'Rain & Cry' through JYP entertainment's official YouTube channel, Facebook page and Twitter account. Check out the two girls' outstanding singing performance through the videos.

IU made a comeback with her new mini album. Through the album, IU reinterpreted the past hit songs with her own characterful vocal tone. IU personally selected all the songs to reinterpret. Let's take a look at 7 tracks of IU's new album 'Flower Mark'. All of the songs have beautiful lyrics, and it is too bad that I can't transmit the songs' real emotions soundly to foreign Kpop fans. Track 1: My Old Story 'My Old Story' was originally sung by Cho Deok Bae in 1985. It is a sentimental song about first love in old times. When he released the song, Cho Deok Bae was 26 years old and the song's lyrics are about his first love in his middle-school years. Just like the other original singers of IU's 7 songs in her new album, Cho Deok Bae has been recognized as one of legendary Kpop singers who have their distinctive voices. It is really surprising that IU, who is just 21 years old, expresses all the feelings of the song quite freely. She...

EXO set a new record by having 660,000 copies of its new album pre-ordered. According to SM entertainment, 660,000 copies of EXO's second mini album 'Overdose', released on May 7, were sold out through preorders. The album sales include 372,160 copies of Korean version and 286,550 copies of Chinese version. EXO sold million copies of its first regular album last year, and it is expected that the group is going to be the million-selling artist again. Right after being released, all 5 songs of EXO's new album, 'Overdose', 'Moonlight', 'Thunder', 'Run' and 'Love Love Love', got to the top of various online music charts.

Have you heard about Kpop singers' 'burglary'? Oh, I hope you don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about a real crime. Big Bang's G-Dragon commented about Kpop singers' 'burglary' in his song. Including new singers and big time singers, countless Kpop singers release their albums throughout the year. And the release date is as important as the perfection of the album because it determines the list of matches. It has a decisive effect on album sales and music show ranking. Naturally, most of Kpop singers want to pick on weaker competitors, and avoid tough opponents. To complete the likeable list of matches, Kpop singers and their agencies try to read other singers' mind. If one of the most popular Kpop singer announces that he will release his album on certain date, other singers usually move up or delay their album release date to avoid the worst case that they have to face such a tough opponent. In the meantime, they search for the da...