ICYMI IN CASE YOU MISSED IT // MAY 24 - MAY 30

[Dragon of the West]

MAY 24 - MAY 30


Hello Hallyuplussers and welcome back to another edition of In Case You Missed It! This week was relatively slow when it came to news and releases, but we hope that It'll pick up once June begins when even more artists return with new releases! This week was largely filled with artists stating that their intentions were to do just that. June and July look to be comeback-heavy months for both established artists and rookies alike and we can hardly wait! Now with that said, let's get ready to jump into another great article!

BY POLARIS_TAE


MONDAY:
#1- To start off the week, a slew of releases were announced! WEi will be making their return on the 9th of May with their newest release, 'Identity: Action'. Also set to return in June will be Got7's Bambam who is set to release his first mini-album on the 15th of June. Bluedot Entertainment has announced that they will be debuting a six-member boy group JUST B later this summer. I-LAND participant Geonu has been announced as the groups' first member. Now onto J-pop releases! Rocket Punch is set to make their Japanese debut under Yoshimoto Music. Meanwhile, AKB48 will be returning with their 58th single on the 29th of September. Only AKB48 senbatsu members will be partaking in this release; which means that none of their Japanese sister groups will be joining them for the release.

#2- On Monday, it was reported that Lee Seunggi & Lee Da-in are in a relationship. According to the report, the couple began dating last year after building a friendship through golf & other hobbies. Speaking of relationships, Kim Euna, formerly of The Ark has announced that she'll be retiring from the Korean Entertainment Industry as she plans to get married and return to normal life. What are your thoughts on this development?



TUESDAY:
#1- Rocket Punch has announced that Juri will be temporarily halting all promotions with the group due to health concerns. We wish her a speedy recovery and hope she feels better soon.

#2- Now onto entertainment news! Mnet has announced the third lineup for their KCON:TACT 4 U online concert! A.C.E, CNBLUE, EVERGLOW, LOONA & more are set to perform! The following day, Perfume announced that they would be holding their first live performance in over a year & a half, 'Perfume LIVE 2021 [polygon wave]' on August 14 and 15 at Pia Arena MM in Kanagawa. In addition to this, the group will also be appearing at 'Primavera Sound 2022'. Are you looking forward to seeing them?

#3- Red Velvet's Seulgi has announced that she will be hosting her very own radio show, 'Seulgi ZIP' on the 1st of June. The following day, it was announced that Red Velvet's Wendy has become the new DJ for SBS Power FM's 'Young Street'. Speaking of the 'Young Street' radio program, it was later announced that Nu'est's Baekho would be joining the show as a special radio DJ from the 31st of May until the 7th of June. We can't wait!



WEDNESDAY:
#1- A number of releases were announced for the next two months. In June, VIXX's Ravi & KARD's BM will both be dropping solo releases as Ravi will drop his 4th mini-album on the 3rd of June, while BM will be making his solo debut with 'Broken Me'. That same month, former Infinite member Hoya will be making his return on the 9th of June with a new single, while Cube Entertainment will be debuting their new girl group LIGHTSUM on the 10th of June. The following month, BOYFRIEND's Jeongmin will be releasing new content! Jeongmin will be teaming up with Makestar to release a new mini-album this July. Finally, BiSH will be coming back with their first release since July 2020 with 'GOiNG TO DESTRUCTiON' in August. Baek A Yeon has also announced that she'll be returning during an unspecified time this summer. Which release are you most excited about?

#2- SEVENTEEN has decided to commemorate their anniversary by giving to others. It was announced that the group has donated to the 'Good Neighbours' charity in honour of their 6th anniversary. We thank them for their generous donation!

#3- Sadly slave contracts are still a topic that is relevant in 2021 after it came to light that Japanese actor Okada Kenshi had been stuck in a slave contract with his management company Spice Power. The Shukan Bunshun report revealed that his salary was surprisingly low compared to other actors of the same standing. We hope that slave contracts can become a thing of the past.

#4- Former AKB48 member Kohara Haruka & her actor husband Osagawara Ken have announced their marriage & the birth of their first child together. We congratulate them on this exciting news!



THURSDAY:
#1- THE BOYZ members Ju Haknyeon & Younghoon will sadly be unable to participate in the groups' upcoming performance for KINGDOM. Their agency, Cre.ker, stated that due to injuries the two had previously sustained they would be taking a break in order to recover.

#2- BTS has gained another exciting opportunity! This time they will be joining LOTTE as the advertising models for Xylitol 'Smile to Smile Project' campaign. We can't wait to see their smiles on all of LOTTE's advertisements!

#3- CHUANG2021's resulting Cpop boy group, INTO1 has revealed their official fandom name and colour. Their fans will now be referred to as INsider's while their official colours include white, ocean blue & tranquillity purple. What do you think of this fandom name?



FRIDAY:
#1- EXO has announced their plan to hold a special VR online exhibition starting on the 15th of June. Meanwhile, the MYSTIC STORY four-member band, LUCY will be holding their first solo concert, 'LUCY ISLAND: First Landing' between the 18th & 19th of June; while DREAMCATCHER has been added to the list of performers in the world music festival, 'Primavera Sound' set to take place during 2022 in Spain.



SATURDAY:
#1- NCT127 will be contributing to the Amoeba Culture Project with a new single in June! The SM boy group will be releasing their new single 'SAVE' as a part of the project next week on the 4th of June. We can't wait!

#2- The individual idol brand reputation rankings have been released for May. BTS' Jimin continues his dominance of the chart, while Kang Daniel & ASTRO's Cha Eunwoo claimed 2nd & 3rd places respectively. Did any of your biases manage to rank this month?



SUNDAY:
#1- To cap off the week, it was announced that the 2021 Dream Concert would be held offline on the 26th of June. Are you looking forward to seeing in-person concerts again?

#2- Eunyoung, formerly of Brave Girls took to Instagram on Sunday to announce that she had gotten married. We congratulate her and her new husband and wish them nothing but the best!

BY DRAGON OF THE WEST


#1. EVERGLOW - FIRST
Last September, Everglow reinvented themselves as retro synth warriors, releasing one of the year’s best songs in the process. "La Di Da" was immensely satisfying, finding a megawatt melody to match the girls’ always-impressive presence. As much as most of us would have loved the idea of them continuing down that path, it seems like they have opted to revert back to their original concept with their latest single "First", the title track from their 3rd mini-album Last Melody. borrows many tropes found in boy group hype tracks. While grand and imposing, the instrumental plods where it should soar. To their credit, the producers imbue this familiar structure with dynamic flourishes, Many of the song’s phrases round off with an unexpected element, whether in the form of a symphonic stab or an extra jolt of percussion. towering chorus shows promise, but its verses are repetitive and forgettable. They’re essentially the same two melodic phrases repeated over and over, giving the track a predictable flow that feels borrowed from so many other tracks. The song’s bombast carries it over the line, but this is quite disappointing as a follow-up to "La Di Da".





#2. GAHO - RUSH HOUR
Off the back of his massive hit song "Start Over" which was an OST from the 2020 K-drama Itaewon Class, Gaho is back with a new digital single "Rush Hour". For the first minute or so, it seems content to remain a pleasant little acoustic-pop bop. It bounds upon plucked guitar and a plonky beat that has bounce but not bite. Thankfully, it eventually finds its footing during the chorus. Rock guitar joins the fray, giving the instrumental a crunchy backbone that injects much-needed drive. The melody here is standard radio-rock bombast, but works as a dynamic contrast to the verses. As usual, Gaho’s performance elevates the material – especially when he fires shots of killer harmony into this refrain. The final thirty seconds make a convincing case for how great a full-on rocker might have sounded.





#3. GWSN - LIKE IT HOT
It’s been just over a year since we last heard from GWSN -- perhaps due to company-level issues -- and their new mini-album The Other Side of the Moon marks a shift in both sound and collaborators. The title track "Like It Hot" has a great chorus – groovy and memorable. The girls sing in a lower register, bringing strength and charisma to the hook. The rhythm chugs along, assisted by guitar and restless hi-hats. Unfortunately, everything surrounding this chorus is a mess. The verses and pre-chorus struggle to find an enduring melody, as the instrumental lurches this way and that without any clear end game. There’s an intangible quality to these segments, making it difficult to grab hold of any specific element and find an entry point into the song. This is especially problematic during the post-chorus breakdown, which sacrifices rhythm for a sluggish, momentum-killing arrangement. This dissonance between chorus and verses makes it hard to enjoy it as either a dance track or ethereal mid-tempo. And without a memorable performance or climactic moment, the song passes by without leaving much impact.





#4. WONWOO x MINGYU (SEVENTEEN) - BITTERSWEET (FEAT. LEE HI)
Prior to the release of their new mini-album next month, the members of Seventeen have embarked upon several offshoot projects. In April, Hoshi and The8 each delivered a solo track. Now, members Wonwoo and Mingyu have teamed up with Lee Hi for the release of the digital single "Bittersweet". This is a lovely song that reinvents two of Seventeen’s rappers as vocalists. Bringing Lee Hi in for guest vocals gives the track added indie cred, but it’s a testament to Wonwoo and Mingyu’s skills that she doesn’t overshadow them. All three performers operate in moody territory, imbuing it with plenty of atmosphere. Much of the melody is phrased as you’d expect from a rap song, but I love that they chose to sing it instead. The various textures of their voices blend well with the simple, guitar-led instrumental. And at just under three minutes, the track fades out before becoming too monotonous.

BY NARA


#1- We have more YouTube milestones this week. iKON's 'Love Scenario' and TWICE's 'What is Love' have both reached 500 million views on YouTube! Kudos to both groups for serving quality music!

#2- With their latest album 'HOT SAUCE,' NCT DREAM sold over 2 million copies of the album cumulatively! Congrats on becoming double million sellers!

#3- NiziU 「Step and a Step」 MV has reached 100M views on Youtube! Congrats to the group on this milestone!

#4- BTS 'Butter' continuously made astounding records and this week was no exception. In just 7 days, it became the fastest song to surpass 100 million streams in Spotify history! Congrats to the group once again!

#5- ENHYPEN's 'BORDER: CARNIVAL' debuted at #18 on this week's Billboard 200! This is the highest-charting album of a fourth-generation K-pop group! Congrats on making this milestone!

#6- Everglow's 'First' has reached 30 million views! Congrats for reaching this mark in its first week of release!

BY POLARIS_TAE

Shop+ fans, our Shop+ team was busy again this week adding more great items for you to get your hands on! These were all of the items added to our shop this week:

The PR Team entertained us with a fun game this week in the form of a video on our YouTube channel where we had to guess the outfits from all of our favourite Kpop releases! Did you give it a go yet?

The Translations Team gave us two updates this week! Our Chinese translator Vanilla Cupcake gave us two articles. The first was an article on the YG Trainees that almost joined BLACKPINK and what these trainees are up to now. The second article asked us the question: 'Is Twice in danger of disbanding? Will they be able to overcome the “7-Year Curse”?'


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This brings us to the end of another great ICYMI update! We hope to see you again next week. Make sure to let us know what your favourite aspect of the past week was by sounding off in the comments below!





GFX BY @yerm
PROOFREAD BY @Dragon of the West
FEATURED ARTISTS: Miya (GWSN), Woong (AB6IX), Sihyeon (Everglow), Gaho, Honoka (lol)​

 

[Jibang]

Many thanks

 

[UMJI MOODS]

Thank you for your continued hard work.​

 

[kimsguardian]

thank you for the updates, you guys are always the best!

 

[Happy]

Thank you so much as always! :hearteu:

 

[ARandomFan]