Kpop Girl Groups update December 2021

        Just continue from the last blog.

     

                                        Ive - Eleven

This is a quite successful new kpop girl group. so I will introduce them here briefly. Ive is a 6 member  kpop  girl group formed by Starship Entertainment. The group is composed of six members: Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Wonyoung, Liz and Leeseo. The group made their debut on December 1, 2021, with their first single album Eleven.

On December 8, exactly a week after debut, Ive earned their first ever music show win on MBC's Show Champion, making them the fastest girl group to win first place since debut. The song went on to win on music shows 13 times, winning triple crown on KBS2's Music Bank, MBC's Music Core, and SBS Inkigayo. In addition, Eleven recorded the highest initial total number of album sales in its first week of release, the highest among girl group debut albums.[On the 27th, the single "Eleven" rose to 4th place on Spotify's global ranking of "Viral Top 50" and peaked at #95 on the "Global Top 200" chart. On the regional chart, the song topped both the Viral Top 50 and Top 200 charts in South Korea. The song was also the most streamed song on YouTube in South Korea for five weeks, and the group was chosen as the top cover artist on music streaming platform Tidal's K-pop Hits playlist

                                        Everglow - Pirate

 On December 1, 2021, the group released their third mini-album, Return of the Girl, with the lead single "Pirate" Title "Pirate" uses an electro-heavy and frenetic bass beat. Each member brings a unique charm to this in-your-face concept. Encouraging girls all over the world to dance together, EVERGLOW has a slightly nostalgic electronic hit.

             

                                   Billlie - Snowy Night

I just mentioned this group from the previous blog, so won't introduce here again. On December 14, the group released their first digital single album The Collective Soul and Unconscious: Snowy Night with "Snowy Night" as the lead single. The single is the group's first release to feature member Sheon

Kpop Girl Groups update November 2021

        I am back with the new post today.

                                            Twice - Scientist

The group's third Korean studio album, Formula of Love: O+T=<3, was released on November 12 with its title track, "Scientist". The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, breaking Taste of Love's record. On November 15, the group announced five initial North American tour dates of their fourth world tour, "III"

On November 10, 2021, it was reported that the album had gained over 630,000 pre-order sales by November 8, becoming Twice's most pre-ordered and best-selling album of all-time before its release. By November 10, it had reached over 700,000 pre-order sales. In its first week, MRC Data reported that the album had sold 66,000 album-equivalent units in the United States. On January 6, 2022, the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) certified Formula of Love: O+T=<3 2× Platinum after it sold more than 500,000 units in South Korea. 

Formula of Love: O+T=<3 debuted at number 1 on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, making it Twice's tenth number-one album on the chart; following More & More (2020). In Japan, it peaked at number 17 on Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart and at number 2 on Oricon's Albums Chart. The album became Twice's highest-charting album in the US and Canada to date, peaking at numbers 3 and 17 on the Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart, respectively

                                     

                                   

                                    Tara- All Kill , Tiki Taka

        On July 29, it was announced through the group's 12th anniversary livestream that they would be making their first comeback in four years before the winter of 2021. Released in collaboration with Dingo Music, the group made their long-awaited comeback with the single album Re:T-ara on November 15, 2021. The album consists of two tracks: "All Kill" and "Tiki Taka

        If you follow k-pop for quite a few years, T-ara was also one of the very important girl group in kpop history in the past. Right now, the remaining four members left are:  EunJung, Hyomin, Jiyeon and Qri.

                                          Laboum - Kiss Kiss

On October 6, it was announced that Laboum would be making their comeback as a four-member group in early November.  ZN will be using the name Jinyea for future activities moving forward.  It was later announced that Laboum will be releasing their third EP Blossom on November 3. On November 3, the official music video of "Kiss Kiss" was released.

                                         Weki Meki  - siesta

On November 18, 2021, Weki Meki released their fifth EP, I Am Me., featuring six songs, including the title track "Siesta". This is one of the group I actually like, even not a big fan of them.

                                 

                                  Billlie  - 'RING X RING

This is a brand new girl group, so I will introduce them briefly. Billlie  is a  7 member kpop girl group formed by Mystic Story,  debuted on November 10, 2021, with the extended play (EP) The Billage of Perception: Chapter One. The group originally consisted of six members: Moon Sua, Suhyeon, Haram, Tsuki, Siyoon and Haruna. A seventh member, Sheon, later joined the group. 

Kpop Girl Groups update Septemher&October 2021

        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

 

Kpop Girl Groups update July&August 2021

         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“.

Kpop Girl Groups update June 2021

    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.

Kpop Girl Groups update May 2021

         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".

Kpop Girl Groups update April 2021

        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"