There are not enough content to write about the month September , so I decided to combine September and August together this time.
Aespa - Savage
On September 14, 2021, SM Entertainment announced Aespa will release their first extended play, Savage. The album contains six tracks, including the lead single of the same name. It was released on October 5. The extended play marked Aespa's first and highest entry on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 20, and debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart. Within 15 days of release, it was reported that the mini-album sold 513,292 copies. The group performed at the 2021 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade making them the first Korean girl group to perform at the event. On December 2, Aespa won their first Daesang (Stage of the Year) at the Asia Artist Awards. Two days later, on December 4, the group won their second Daesang at the 2021 Melon Music Awards for Record of the Year
STAYC - Stereotype
On September 6, the group released their first extended play Stereotype and its lead single of the same name. The music video reached 30 million views in 21 days. The album recorded sales of over 114,000 copies in its first week. On September 14, the group received their first music show trophy on SBS MTV's The Show with an overall score of 8,760 points.
In a review for NME, Carmen Chin wrote that the EP was "a project of pure aural bliss" and "STAYC doesn’t just challenge expectations of girl group music, but blazes the trail for a promising future through what has become their best release yet.
SECRET NUMBER - Fire Saturday
On October 8, 2021, Vine Entertainment announced that Secret Number would release their third single album Fire Saturday on October 27. On October 16, Zuu was introduced as a new member of Secret Number. A day later, Minji was introduced as the second new member
Fromis_9 - Talk & Talk
On September 1, the group released their new special single album Talk & Talk, featuring the title track of the same name. On September 7, the group achieved their first ever music show win on SBS MTV's The Show with "Talk & Talk"
TRI.BE - Would you Run
On October 12, 2021, Tri.be released their first extended play Veni Vidi Vici with the lead single "Would You Run"
Purple Kiss - Zombie
On September 8, Purple Kiss released their second EP Hide & Seek, with the lead single "Zombie". The lead single was co-written by Yuki, alongside labelmate Cya, with the group having writing and composing credits for most of the songs on the album.
LightSum - Vivace
I have talked about this group like half year ago, so won't repeat again. On October 13, Lightsum released their second single album Light a Wish, with "Vivace" serving as the lead single
There are not enough content to write about last month, so I decided to combine July and August together this time. Even that, there are only 5 groups.
Red Velvet - Queendom
On June 9, 2021, it was announced that Red Velvet would be releasing a new album in August. On August 16, their sixth Korean EP Queendom containing six tracks, including the lead single of the Queendom, was released.
Upon its release, "Queendom" received mixed to positive receptions from critics, citing the song as an "empowering", "perfect return" of the group. It also attained commercial success, marking the group's thirteenth top-ten hit in their home country, their seventeenth top-ten entry on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales, and their first entry on the Billboard Global 200, landing at number ninety-six.
Dreamcatcher - Because
On July 30 2021, Dreamcatcher made their comeback with the song "BEcause" and the special EP Summer Holiday. Dreamcatcher’s ‘BEcause’ MV surpasses 10 million views in just 2 days. Other than on global platforms like YouTube, ‘BEcause’ also topped real-time domestic music chart Bugs after its release, and made a personal record by having all the songs in the album enter the charts.
I also noticed that there's increasing number of international DreamCatcher fans in the past 2 month
Weeekly - holiday party
The group released their fourth EP Play Game: Holiday on August 4, featuring "Holiday Party" as the lead single. APink's sister group continue making progress so far.
Brave Girls - After we ride
On August 23, Brave Girls released the repackaged version of their fifth mini album After 'We Ride' and its lead single of the same name.
Posh Girls - Got Chu
So this is new group, I will briefly introduce them here.
Posh Girl , formerly known as ZDreamZ and One Dream Project, is an 8 member J-pop & K-pop pre-debut girl group under No.1 Media (also known as ZPworld) formed of Japanese((Miyu, Riona, Niina and Tsugumi) and Korean members. They will be debuting on August 18th, 2021. The group officially debuted on August 18, 2021 with “Got Chu“.
For June 2021, finally there are 5 kpop girl groups comeback or making debut, slight lower number than May this year.
Twice - Alcohol Free
On April 19, JYP Entertainment announced the group's upcoming mini-album that is planned to be released in June 2021. On April 28, Twice appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with a performance of their single "Cry For Me". The group's tenth Korean EP, Taste of Love, was released on June 11. "Alcohol-Free", the EP's lead single, was pre-released on June 9, along with its music video. After the release of the music video, the number of YouTube views exceeded 20 million in just 24 hours. In the week ending June 17, Taste of Love debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, becoming Twice's first top 10 album in the United States with 46,000 album-equivalent units earned.Of that sum, the EP recorded 43,000 physical sales, making it the best selling album in the US for the week. With this, Twice became the first female Korean act to chart an EP within the top ten of the Billboard 200, and just the second female Korean act to have a top 10 album in the chart
Mamamoo - Where are we now
On June 11, 2021, RBW announced that Wheein would be leaving the company since she has chosen not to renew her solo contract with the agency, but she signed a second contract extension to remain as a member of Mamamoo until December 2023. Therefore, making RBW responsible for her activities in the group, but no longer involved in her solo endeavors.
The group's eleventh EP, WAW, which stands for "Where Are We," was released on June 2, 2021, with the lead single "Where Are We Now"
Brave girls - Chi Mat Ba Ram
On June 17, the group released their fifth mini album Summer Queen and its lead single "Chi Mat Ba Ram". The album peaked at number 3 on the Gaon Album Chart and the song peaked at the same position on the Gaon Digital Chart.
Chi Mat Ba Ram" peaked at number two on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 on the issue dated July 3, 2021, becoming their third song to reach the top five and their highest-charting song since "Rollin'".
Loona - Paint The Town
On June 1, 2021, Loona announced that they would be having a comeback on June 28, with their fourth EP, [&] The following day, on June 2, a teaser was posted to Loona's official social media accounts showing twelve sets of eyes, confirming the return of member HaSeul who had been on hiatus due to mental health issues since early 2020. On June 12, group members YeoJin, Kim Lip, Choerry, and Go Won released the song "Yum-Yum" as a collaboration with Cocomong.
On June 27, Loona announced at the end of their special clip that they are making their Japanese debut on September 15 under Universal Music Japan sublabel EMI Records.
Lightsum - 'Vanilla'
This is a new kpop girl group, so I will introduce them briefly here. Lightsum is a kpop girl group formed by Cube Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Sangah, Chowon, Nayoung, Hina, Juhyeon, Yujeong, Huiyeon, and Jian. The group debuted on June 10, 2021 with the release of their debut single album, Vanilla.
For May 2021, finally there are even more kpop girl groups comeback or making debut compare to previous few month. But also comes with sad news about G-Friend disbanded.
Gfriend Disbanded
On May 22, 2021, all six members left Source Music upon the completion of their six-year contract, and the group has officially disbanded.
However the thing doesn't seem as just it is. The sudden announcement shook the K-pop world as all the members of GFriend decided not to renew their contracts.Not long after the Source Music made the announcement, a lot of Buddies became really upset as the agency noted that GFriend will no longer promote or do any activities in the future. This was due to the expiration of GFriend's exclusive contracts only four days prior to the date of the GFriend member's contract termination. And also without any final release as well. So Source Music is really that awful?
Oh My Girl - Dun Dun Dance
Dear OhMyGirl is the eighth extended play (EP) by kpop girl group Oh My Girl. It was released on May 10, 2021 by WM Entertainment .The album contains six songs including the lead single, "Dun Dun Dance". On May 10, Oh My Girl held an online comeback showcase where they performed songs from the album for the first time. A choreography video for "Dun Dun Dance" was released on May 11.[Oh My Girl began promoting the album on various music program. They got award for 3 weeks.
Everglow - First
On May 25, 2021, the group released their third single album Last Melody, with the lead single "First". Their comeback concept is described as "warriors from the future". On June 1, 2021, the group won their second music program trophy on The Show with "First".
Fromis_9 - We Go
9 Way Ticket is the third single album by South Korean girl group Fromis 9. The album was released on May 17, 2021 by Off the Record and distributed by Stone Music. The physical version of the single album is available in two versions: "Ticket To Seoul" and "9 Travelers". Both of them consist of the same three songs, including the lead single "We Go". And the MV below is very unique and interesting as well.
Rocket Punch - Ring Ring
On May 17, Rocket Punch released their first single album Ring Ring, and its lead single of the same name
GWSN - Like It Hot
GWSN was set to release their fifth EP The Other Side of the Moon and its lead single "Like It Hot" on May 20, 2021, but the album's release date was pushed back to May 26. The group would be moved to The Wave Music, which was formerly named Kiwi Media Group.
Pixy - Let Me Know
Since they are new, so I will briefly introduce them. PIXY is a 6-members kpop girl group under ALLART Entertainment and managed by Happy Tribe Entertainment. The group consists of 6 members: Ella, Lola, Satbyeol, Dia, Sua, and Dajeong. They debuted on February 24, 2021 with Wings.
On May 20, Pixy released their first EP Bravery and its lead single "Let Me Know".
For April 2021, finally there are more kpop girl groups comeback or making debut compare to previous few month. I do think it has much to do with financial situation of various entertainment company.(Same as boy groups). It was really bad for the past few month.
Itzy - In the morning
For April, the most well known ones is ITZY comeback. On April 30, Itzy released their fourth EP Guess Who and its lead single "In the Morning".
The EP received both commercial success and generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented the hip hop music genre featured in the album; however, a few critics found the material controlling the vitality of the group. It marked Itzy's first and highest entry on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 148, and peaking at number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart.
The lead single, "In the Morning", peaked at number 11 on the Gaon Digital Chart, becoming the group's fifth top-twenty single, as well as the group's third single to enter the top five of the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. To promote the EP, the group performed on several South Korean music show programs, such as M Countdown and Inkigayo.
In addition, On April 28, Guess Who surpassed 260,000 preorders, making it their best-selling album surpassing Not Shy with 200,000 copies. According to Korea’s Hanteo Chart, the EP garnered sales of 200,130 copies in the first week of release from April 30 to May 6. The EP debuted at number 1 on the Gaon Retail Album Chart with 58,291 copies sold in a week. In South Korea, Guess Who debuted and peaked at number 2 for the week ending May 1,
It also entered at number 2 on the US World Albums Chart, earning the group third top ten entry. It also entered at number 1 on the US Heetseekers Albums, becoming their highest-charting album on the chart and becoming their best-selling project in the country.
Apink - thank you
At Apink's 10 years anniversary. They promised to delivery a new song to their long beloved fans.
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Apink released the new digital single "Thank You" on April 19, 2021. APink was one of the very few kpop girl groups from that generation still active in kpop scene nowadays.
On April 29, 2021, Play M Entertainment announced that member Naeun decided to not renew her contract with the company, while the other five members renewed with the agency. With the change of agency, the group will not be disbanded and future-activities of the six-member group remains to be discuss.
STAYC - ASAP
STAYC is one of the few new kpop girl group who stand out from the rest recently. The group returned with their second single album Staydom and its lead single "ASAP" on April 8. The music video of "ASAP," released consecutively with the release of the album, reached 20 million views in nine days.They also entered the "Billboard K-pop 100" weekly chart. Their title track also reached the top of Korean music platforms, including Melon, Bugs and Genie. Since their debut, they have been receiving tremendous love and have been breaking the highest record on music charts. Staydom sold 56,198 copies in it's first month, making STAYC the first 2020 rookie girl group to sell more than 50,000 copies with a single album
Lunarsolor - dadada
I already mentioned this girl group in the past, so I won't introduce them again.
The group released their second single album Solar: Rise, and its title track "Dadada" on April 7, 2021.The group announced on the same day that they were planning to make their debut in the Japanese music industry and signed a contract with label Teichiku Entertainment for future Japanese activities regarding music and management. The group also opened their official Japanese website ahead of their Japanese debut.
(When I was training at ED, one of my instructor talks about LunarSolar Japanese member Yuuri as successful foreign trainee who debut in kpop industry since there are quite a few Japanese girls in the program as well, and from what I know, they do have few other training agency in Japan which has partner with few Korean entertainment company)
Hot Issue - Gratata
This is a brand new kpop girl group, so I will introduce them briefly here.
HOT ISSUE is a seven-member kpop girl group under S2 Entertainment. They debuted on April 28, 2021 with their first mini album Issue Maker. Their group name stands as an abbreviation of "Honest, Outstanding and Terrific" + "Issue"
First of all, if you didn't see my Feb 2021 blog, it's because there is only one girl group Tri.be made debut and Brave Girl's strong comeback will I will talk about later , so I will just combine Feb 2021 and March 2021 in one blog. I would say the low debut and comeback rate of kpop girl groups still continuous...
Brave Girls -Rolling
This is not a new song, but since the most surprising success with this song, I will talk about this first.
And more surprisingly, this song is also in the eggbun program, which I used to learn Korean, and my teacher also mentioned this song as well, just to see the influence of this song.
"I wrote as follows: Other than the big 3, Brave Girls comeback draw some attention, On March 17, it was announced that member Yujeong will halt activities due to health issues and the group will promote as a four-member group for the time being. She returned back to the group promotions on March 21 on 'The Show'.
the group performed "Rollin'" on several South Korean music programs, including M Countdown and Inkigayo. A music video for the title track of the same name, was also released on March 7. The EP was a moderate success peaking at number 30 on the Gaon Album Chart,which is not too bad for a relatively unknown girl group."
However, everything changed after this video, A lot of people said this video saved the girls' career.
It also saved a lot of people who lost hope in their dreams.
In February 2021, four years after its initial release, "Rollin'" topped the MelOn, Bugs, FLO, and Genie real-time chart, achieving a “real-time all-kill,” after a video compilation of the group performing the song went viral on YouTube. The song went on to enter Gaon Digital Chart at number 2, peaking two weeks later at number 1, making it their highest charting song to date
My Personal Take on this: Yes, back in 2016/2017ish, I always browse on few major kpop news site already, and from what I remember, many fans described brave girls as flops from other fandoms, like GFriend, Girl's Day are big during that time. Even Brave Girls debut for 10 years, they never get successful like this, and their producer and song writer never gave up on them for the past 10 years, finally they got really successful at this time.
WJSN - Unnatural
On March 8, Cosmic Girls announced that they would make their comeback in late March. It was later announced that they would return with their ninth mini album Unnatural on March 31. 3 Chinese Members Cheng Xiao, Meiqi and Xuanyi were not a part of the album release due to the scheduling conflicts in China. And they did win once on April 6th SBS The Show as well.
Weeekly - after school
The group released their third EP We Play on March 17, featuring the title track "After School". After the song is released, It HIT 15 MILLION VIEWS IN LESS THAN A WEEK, many fans give quite positive comments on their songs as well.
Purple Kiss - Ponzona
First of all, let me briefly introduce them first .Purple Kiss is a 7 member kpop girl group formed by RBW in 2020. They are considered to be a self-producing group, with members involved in songwriting, choreography, and other aspects of their music and showmanship, which is quite different from most other kpop girl groups. On February 28, 2021, Purple Kiss announced their debut, which would be the EP Into Violet.It was released on March 15, 2021, with the second track "Ponzona" serving as the EP's lead single with an accompanying music video. Into Violet peaked at number 11 on the Gaon Album Chart whilst "Ponzona" at number 99 on the Download Chart.
Tri.be - Doom Doom Ta
Tri.be is also a new kpop girl group, so I will introduce them briefly here as well. Tri.be is a also 7 member kpop girl group formed in 2021 by TR Entertainment and Universal Music Group.Tri.be debuted in February 2021, with their single album Tri.be Da Loca with the lead single "Doom Doom Ta". The group was later announced to be signed under Universal Music's Republic Records for United States promotions.
First of all, if you didn't see my December 2020 blog, it's because there is only one girl group IZONE did make comeback, so I will just combine Dec 2020 and Jan 2021 in one blog. I would say this period is hit all time low for new kpop girl group comeback and new debut.
G-idle - Hwaa
Even G-idle not the most popular girl group at the moment, but their strong comeback, I will write them first in this blog. (G)I-dle announced in December 2020 that they would be making a comeback on January 11, 2021, with their fourth EP, I Burn, and its lead single, "Hwaa"
According to Hanteo Chart, I Burn debuted at No. 1 on the daily album chart with 75,510 copies sold. This is higher by 19,147 copies compared to (G)I-dle's Dumdi Dumdi album released on August 3, 2020, which recorded 56,363 copies in first-day sales. The album also debuted at No.1 on Gaon Retail Album Chart with 59,086 copies sold. On January 13, it was reported that the album charted on iTunes Top Album charts in 52 regions around the world, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Italy and Finland. In Melon chart, (G)I-dle not only charted "Hwaa", but also all the songs from I Burn. This is the first time that the group has made such achievement since its debut in 2018
The lead single "Hwaa" Commercially, the song debuted at number one on South Korea's Melon Chart and become the first song by a fourth-generation idol group to chart-in.The song eventually became the group's first top-five hit, peaking at number four on Gaon Digital Chart and their first chart-topper on the component Download Chart.
Izone - Panoram
According to Hanteo Chart,I was suppose to write about Izone last month, but since they are the only kpop girl group comeback last December, so I will talk about them in Jan blog instead. On December 7, Iz*One released their fourth EP, One-reeler / Act IV, accompanied by its lead single "Panorama". The EP debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. On January 26, 2021, Iz*One released a promotional single titled "D-D-Dance" for Universe, a mobile application.
The group achieved a double crown on the week ending December 12 after topping both the physical album chart with the mini-album and the digital download chart with its title track "Panorama". The mini-album became the group second project to top the Korean albums chart after Heart*Iz (2019). Not only did the mini album debut at number one on the week's physical album chart, but the "Kit version" of the album also entered the chart separately at number five. Despite being a Korean release the mini-album entered the top ten of the Japanese Oricon albums chart peaking at number eight..
Dream catcher - odd eye
With the third installment, the group announced their new comeback with their sixth EP, Dystopia: Road to Utopia and its lead single "Odd Eye", which was released on January 26, 2021.
On January 30, Dreamcatcher Company revealed that Dreamcatcher’s sixth EP Dystopia: Road to Utopia has sold more than 60,000 copies in just three days (according to the statistics of Hanteo Chart), and the sales on the day of release has surpassed the first week sales of the previous EP, Dystopia: Lose Myself. The lead single "Odd Eye" is a nu metal with a strong rock sound and hip hop elements. It conveys the story of the EP implicitly, with a deep and strong will to move forward once again towards a true utopia
Cherry bullet - Love so sweet
The group released their first EP Cherry Rush and its lead single "Love So Sweet" on January 20.it's a retro-based synth-pop track about sweet, romantic love.
Berry good - time for me
I have mentioned this group multiple times before, usually appear as one of the relatively unpopular group. They released their fourth extended play Undying Love, which was released on January 19, 2021
