Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Less than seven months after xikers debuted, the 10-man Korean pop group has already released two EPs and is currently on their first headlining world tour – which includes a Chicago concert at the Patio Theater on October 24.
It is a stiflingly hot day in Seoul. But when Kim Jin-kwon – known professionally as Jinkwon – arrives for an interview at the Somerset Palace in the heart of the city, he appears cool in every sense of the word. The college student, 22, has a lot on his plate. Besides being the leader of the K-pop group Newkidd, he’s an actor who’s currently filming a new series.
Eric Nam graduated from Boston College, worked as a business analyst at Deloitte Consulting in New York, co-founded the platforms DIVE Studios and Mindset … and is set to embark on a 7-month world tour to promote his latest album “House on a Hill.”
What follows is not only the story of Korean popular music, and how it birthed the K-pop business, but also how a small peninsula nation learned how to make art in the face of colonialism and political change, culled sonics from all corners of the globe, and keeps striving to find new ways of distilling the purest, most thrilling aspects of the human experience into four-minute packages of pop revelation.
A rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, Kim Han-bin has been known professionally as B.I since his 2015 debut with the South Korean group iKON. The multi-hyphenate musician is a solo artist now and is promoting his latest album, “To Die For.” That title along with the promotional poster’s YOLO message – dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today – may lead people to speculate that the 26-year-old musician’s own mortality was on his mind when he composed his songs.
To many misguided editors, one Asian is enough. Two Asians is overkill. Three Asians will get you called in to the office to be reprimanded. And also… Epik High is not a boy band. But they wouldn’t know that, would they?
“I’m still in awe of the great passion and amazing support by Latin American fans,” said Jehyun, one of OMEGA X’s 11 members. “I’m truly thankful for them enjoying our concerts as passionately as we do!”
This second season of “Hello, My Twenties!” is entertaining, but suffers a bit from too-much-going-on syndrome, as well as the recasting of a central character.
At the time of our Zoom interview, AleXa had no idea that she would win NBC’s “American Song Contest.” “I’m just grateful for this experience,” she said. “I performed for a huge American network in front of a live audience. Hopefully, I can take this positive energy and move forward with it.”
Teen Vogue asked 54 music writers to pick their favorite K-pop songs of 2021. I chose Monsta X’s “One Day,” which features gorgeous harmonies, along with heartbreaking lyrics that may make the listener sob in commiseration. Radio really dropped the ball on this song.