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| K-pop girl band DIA will release third mini-album "Love Generation" on Aug. 22. / Courtesy of MBK Entertainment |
By Kim Ji-soo
Sizzling heat and political tension may have gripped Korea in August, but there is refreshing news as more K-pop idol groups and singers will drop mini-albums later this month.
Groups and singers are following in the footsteps of GFriend, Girls' Generation and the hot new boy band Wanna One that released albums earlier this month.
NCT Dream, a six-member group from S.M. Entertainment, has dropped an album titled "We Young." First introduced last year, NCT Dream is the third sub-unit spun off from NCT, following NCT U and NCT 127.
Their first mini-album carries five songs, with the six members singing of young love and other problems teens face. "We Young" is also available in a Chinese-language version.
Along with the title track "We Young," the other songs are "La La Love," "Walk You Home," "My Page," and "Trigger the Fever" with the last song being the official track for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea 2017. The NCT Dream members were goodwill ambassadors for the sporting event.
TVXQ, comprising Yunho and Changmin, will open an Asia tour, starting with a concert in Seoul and Tokyo, Aug. 21, and in Hong Kong, Aug. 22.
The boy band B.A.P, which is on tour, will soon release their latest album although the date has yet to be fixed.
First up on the female K-pop side is the group DIA. The nine-membered DIA will drop its third mini-album Aug. 22. The album is titled "Love Generation," and will carry 11 songs.
The group is also set to split into two sub-units, with one called BinChaenHyeonSeu which takes a syllable from each of the four members' names, and the other called L.U.B., short for Lovely Unit B. The nine-member idol group debuted in 2015.
Two other K-pop girl groups, Momoland and Pristin, are expected to release albums.
The nine-member Momoland will drop its second mini-album "Freeze" on Aug. 22. The band Pristin releases its second album titled "SCHXXL Out" a day later on Aug. 23.
Solo artist who have foretold of their returns are back. Two interesting artists with the larger YG Entertainment agency will hold fan meeting events.
Taeyang of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG released his solo album "White Night" on Aug. 16, his first solo release in three years and two months.
With his latest album, Taeyang topped the iTunes album charts in 23 countries, including France, Mexico, Cambodia, Colombia, Finland and Indonesia. His album reached the No.2 spot on the U.S. chart.
Taeyang will soon meet with fans, beginning with two concerts in Seoul Aug. 26 and 27.
Sunmi formerly of Wonder Girls on JYP Entertainment will release her single "Gashina," produced by Teddy under The Black Label, his own label affilliated with YG Entertainment.The singer took part in writing the lyrics for the song.
SHINee's youngest member Taemin will also release his solo album and hold concerts in Seoul Aug. 26 and 27.
HyunA, formerly of 4minute, will release her solo album Aug. 29.
HyunA released what looked like teaser images for the upcoming album on Instagram this week. The album will be the first since she released a solo mini-album "Awesome" in August 2016.
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| NCT Dream has released a new mini-album, "We Young" / Courtesy of S.M. Entertainment |
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