Kpop Behind | All the Stories Behind Kpop Stars

On September 13, 2018, Cube Entertainment announced that it would kick Hyuna and Pentagon's E'Dawn out of it, saying it would be impossible to restore trust between the agency and the idol stars. You know, Hyuna and E'Dawn, who'd been together as members of Triple H, were reported to be real lovers in August, but Cube denied it. However, the two young stars, without discussing with Cube, later confessed that they're lovers, saying they didn't want to deceive people. Hyuna and E'Dawn are young and they have the right to love, but I understand Cube's position because the agency had invested lots of money its idols and must have felt a sense of betrayal. It's true Hyuna and E'Dawn deceived Cube and broke the agency's rule. It doesn't mean I agree with Cube's decision, though. Cube should have dealt with the thing more cleverly. Hyuna and E'Dawn have their fans, and Cube should have considered the fans. The decision was too dras...

Q. You finally made a comeback with your new solo album. How have you been? Jo Kwon: I've done a lot of things in 2017. Before starting preparing for my new album, I made an appearance in musical "The Evil Dead". And after signing with Cube Entertainment, I've been preparing for my comeback. Q. You've left JYP and made a contract with Cube. Jo Kwon: Yeah, I've been in JYP for 16 years, and I know I was regarded as the representative artist of JYP. I was happy with JYP, but I thought I've been in JYP long enough. I needed a turning point, and as a 30-year-old man, I needed a fresh start. Q. How do you like your life as Cube's artist? Jo Kwon: When I filmed the music video of my new song "Lonley", all the artists of Cube including CLC, BTOB and Pentagon visited me to cheer me up. Hyuna couldn't come due to her busy schedule, but I was very thankful for all of them. Actually, when I was in JYP, very few artists visited me because I...

Q. You released your second full album "Brother Act". Tell me about the album. Hyunsik: The album is inspired by famous movie "Sister Act". All the members took much part in the album, and we tried to include great Autumn songs in the album. As it is our second full album, we want to show our growth through the album. Eunkwang: The album has a story line, and it also contains our talking session. The album is like a musical film. Q. Hyunsik, you wrote the title track of the album "Missing You". Hyunsik: Well, I'm happy that my song has been chosen as the title track of our new album, but on the other hand I really feel pressured. I'm happy anyway because all the members like the song and always believe me. Q. Highlight, who once was your label mate also released its new album today. Minhyuk: It's an honor, and I'm thankful for that. We've always respected them since we were trainees. Q. It has been 6 years since you de...

Jang Hyun Seung is coming back as a solo singer. According to the Cube official, the former member of BEAST will release his solo album. He's currently working on the album, and it is expected that the album will be released in July. Much attention is given to Jang Hyun Seung's upcoming solo album because it is his first ever album since he left BEAST in April 2016. Cube Entertainment originally planned to reform BEAST into a 3-member group, but, you know, as there have been public criticisms against it, the agency has changed its plan.

On June 3, Highlight held a press conference at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul. Check out what the 5 members talked about their first ever exclusive concert as Highlight. Q. So, it's your first ever exclusive concert since you changed your team name into Highlight. Doojoon: Yeah, it reminds me of old memories because we held our first ever exclusive concert right here years ago. I'm thankful for everything. Q. What do you think is the biggest difference between holding your concerts as BEAST and Highlight? Dongwoon: When we were BEAST, we focused on showing new performances. And we showed various solo performances too. But as Highlight, we want to show our performance as a 5-member group. Junhyung: In the old days, we sang many calm songs. But, as Highlight, we'll perform a variety of exciting and cheerful songs. I hope you're excited. Q. You've recently released your new album "Calling you". Junhyung: It's our first ever repacka...

Q. You formed your new unit Triple H with E'Dawn and Hui. How do you feel? Hyuna: I feel great to form a new unit with the Pentagon members, who are the future of Cube Entertainment. Some people say Cube uses me to promote them, but I have a lot to learn from them too. I was very nervous when I was preparing for Triple H's first album. Q. What's your relationship with the two young members? Hyuna: They might feel uncomfortable being with me, but we try to take care of each other. I think we're still trying to find common ground. Q. You appeared on Music Core and Inkigayo last week. Were you satisfied with your performance? Hyuna: Even though I appeared on only two music chart shows because music chart shows these days are not that popular, I love my costume with with a floral pattern. And it's fun to wink too. I didn't know I'm that much cute, haha. Q. It's notable that you acted in Triple H's music video. Hyuna: It's meaningful t...

Do you like Hyuna? I'm sure there are a lot of fans who love the sexy queen. By the way, Hyuna is having a hard time now. Do you know why? You know, in June 2016, 4minute was disbanded and Nam Jihyun, Heo Gayoon, Jeon Jiyoon and Kwon Sohyun left Cube Entertainment. Hyuna is the only member who decided to renew her contract with the k-pop agency, and Cube Entertainment has high expectation for her now because she is a super star and the agency believes that she alone can earn as much money as 4minute. That's why Hyuna held a world tour in North America early this year. But that's not all. At the end of 2016, the BEAST members left Cube Entertainment too and made a new start as Highlight. Even though Jang Hyunseung still belongs to Cube Entertainment, the agency doesn't have the other 5 popular and talented members any more. So, Hyuna is the only artist Cube Entertainment can depend on, and that's one reason why Hyuna formed a new sub unit "Triple H" ...

On February 10, Cube Entertainment announced that BEAST will make a comeback as a 3-member group. According to the agency, Jang Hyun Seung, who's left the team last year will join the team again, while two fresh members will be active as his team mates. Well, it was a surprising news, wasn't it? You know, as Yoon dujun, Yong Junhyung, Yang Yoseob, Lee Gikwang and Son Dongwoon, who have left Cube and established their own agency are preparing for their comeback and fans of BEAST still regard them as BEAST, so many fans are blaming Cube after the agency announced BEAST will be reborn as a 3-member group. Actually, the only reason Cube made the decision is because the agency didn't want to lose its trademark right to BEAST. Cube has the trademark right to BEAST, and it is valid till 2026. That's why the 4 BEAST members couldn't use the name "BEAST" after leaving Cube. And as the members want to reclaim their name, they have been negotiating with the ag...

BTOB made a comeback by releasing its new album "NEW MEN" on November 7. With the title track of the album, "I'll be your man," the boy group ranked high on various online music charts, showing off its popularity. By the way, the interest of people in the kpop world is now focused whether BTOB will be able to be the future of Cube Entertainment because the agency is on the brink. You know, 4minute has been disbanded, and the only one left to Cube is Hyuna, but it doesn't seem like Hyuna is gaining as explosive popularity as before. And BEAST, the representative idol group of Cube, who has made big money for it, is likely to leave the agency. Whether BEAST will leave Cube is not confirmed yet. The members want to leave the agency and take a fresh start, but problem is that Cube has the trademark right for "BEAST" and the right will last till 2026. The BEAST members are currently negotiating with Cube. So, in this situation, Cube has gr...

On October 10, Cube Entertainment's new boy group PENTAGON made a debut with its first ever mini album. As Cube is one of the most influential kpop agencies and PENTAGON is the first rookie boy group of the agency since BTOB debuted 4 years ago, the 10-member group has been attracting much public attention. By the way,  I could not help laughing when I read Cube' press release that was issued days ago. It says, "PENTAGON is going to inherit the success of SM's TVXQ and YG's BIGBANG because there's a parallel among the 3 groups. All of them debuted(or will debut) 8 years after their agencies were established." Well, i t's an unwritten rule among the big kpop agencies that they do not comment about other agencies' artists in their press releases because it could have bad effect on the artists. However, Cube has  overreached itself because the agency is now desperate for the success of PENTAGON in the situation that 4minute has been disbande...

Q. You released your new solo album after a one-year hiatus. How do you feel? Hyuna: I was very nervous before releasing the album but I tried my best not to disappoint my fans. Q. Tell me about the album. Hyuna: I've been hard at work on the album for about 2 years, and the album contains various genres of music. As it's summer, I'll show very cool performance on the stage. Q. It seems like you tried to put emphasis on your sexy charm as a sexy queen again. Hyuna: Actually, the music video of "How's this?" was given a "15" rating, and my managers were very happy about it because they were worried if it could be rated "R." I worked out really hard when I was preparing for the album, and I'll show my healthy and sexy charm on the stage. Q. It is your first ever album since 4minute was disbanded. Hyuna: Even though 4minute has been disbanded, I don't think my memories with the 4minute members for 7 years will be just g...

You might have heard about the news that Cube Entertainment is in trouble. Due to the internal problem, Hyuna's album release and Pentagon's debut concert have been postponed. Well, as I mentioned before, the problem began with Cube Entertainment's president Hong Seung Sung's ill-health. After he was diagnosed with  Lou Gehrig's disease, Park Choong min, the representative director of Cube Entertainment has led the management of the company. In this process, the company was divided by internal conflicts. People who are loyal to Hong Seung Sung thought he was still the leader of the company, but others felt differently. They thought their leader was Park Choong Min, and in the decision-making process, they tried to excluded people who support Hong Seung Sung. By the way, a very symbolic incident has recently occurred. Park Choong Min fired some people from Cube Entertainment. Yeah, they are those who have been supporting Hong Seung Sung. Hong Seung Sung, who...

Q. You released your new album after a one-year hiatus. How do you feel? Dujun: I was so nervous before releasing the album. Actually, we've finished producing the album just before kicking off our Japan tour. Fortunately, it seems that many people like the album. Q. It's notable that the title track "Ribbon" is a calm and sentimental song. Junhyung: It's a urban pop music, but it seems like Korean fans consider the song as a ballad track. Hopefully we'll be able to be in an unique position as a group who does such a lyrical music. Q. It's your first ever album since Jang Hyun Seung left BEAST. Dujun: Yeah, we became 5-member group, and I feel awkward about situation. We'll try to fill the vacancy by working harder. I don't want to disappoint our fans. Junhyung: As only 5 members left, each member has to do more.  Gikwang: Hyunseung was a lead vocalist of the team and was a great dancer too. We need to do better to fill the vac...

On April 19, Cube Entertainment officially announced that Beast's Jang Hyun Seung decided to leave the team. According to the agency, Jang Hyun Seung will concentrate on his music work as a solo artist, while Beast will be active as a five-member group. Well, this might not be a surprising news for the Beast fans. Jang Hyun Seung has already been embroiled in controversy a few times due to his ill manners toward his fans, and there has been a rumor that he's going to leave Beast after all. As you may know, Cube Entertainment announced that Jang Hyun Seung broke up with the other Beast members because of personality difference. It's partially true. Jang Hyun Seung is a little bit shy of strangers and didn't want to actively participate in various promotional events of Beast, while the other members are very bright and cheerful. It has been a long time since the members had a disagreement about their activities. In this situation, it seems that Jang Hyun Seung was ...