Latest news with #K-pop
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
BTS Denied Another No. 1 Album By A Surprise Competitor
BTS debuts Permission to Dance on Stage (Live) at No. 2 on Top Album Sales and No. 10 on the ... More Billboard 200, while Tyler, the Creator leads both lists. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 31: BTS performs during the Times Square New Year's Eve 2020 Celebration on December 31, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Manny Carabel/FilmMagic) BTS is back on the charts in the United States, as the South Korean septet debuts its latest album Permission to Dance on Stage (Live). The set appears on several Billboard tallies thanks to the pent-up demand for anything connected to the boy band, as the singers have all been focusing on serving their country and their solo careers for several years now. The full-length effort doesn't quite make it to No. 1 on most rankings, but it does perform well across the board. On the most important sales list, the K-pop favorites are denied another champion as a surprise release from one of hip-hop's biggest stars beats the Grammy-nominated group to the peak. BTS's New Album Launches at No. 2 Permission to Dance on Stage (Live) arrives at No. 2 on the Top Album Sales chart this week. The set opens with 36,000 pure purchases, according to Luminate. During another tracking period, that might have been enough to send the K-pop superstars to the top spot, but the competition was too fierce this time around. Tyler, the Creator Beats BTS to the Summit The current ruler of the Top Album Sales chart is Don't Tap the Glass, which Tyler, the Creator released midweek. The rapper only revealed the full-length shortly before he dropped it, and it only had a few days in which to rack up sales, but that didn't stop it from selling incredibly well in its first few hours of availability. Don't Tap the Glass sold 127,500 copies in less than a week, easily conquering the ranking. Half a Dozen Leaders for BTS As the group's live project debuts, BTS earns its fifteenth placement on the Top Album Sales chart. 11 of those projects have climbed into the highest tier, and half a dozen have led the charge. BTS Returns to the Billboard 200's Top 10 Permission to Dance on Stage (Live) also makes it to the highest tier on the Billboard 200, which was a tougher feat to manage. BTS narrowly breaks back into that coveted space as the group's live project starts at No. 10. The success of Permission to Dance on Stage (Live) is largely thanks to those 36,000 pure purchases, but when including the sales of individual tunes from its tracklist and streaming activity, the live effort moved a total of 43,000 equivalent units.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Who was Alon Aboutboul? The Dark Knight Rises star dies at 60
'KPop Demon Hunters,' a Netflix film, has captivated audiences with its unique blend of K-pop culture and animated musical storytelling. Following the fictional group HUNTR/X, the film's soundtrack has topped charts, resonating with fans and inspiring a wave of fan art and engagement. Its cultural authenticity and original narrative have contributed to its surprising success this summer.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
How ‘KPop Demon Hunters' became the surprise hit of the summer
This image released by Netflix shows characters Zoey, from left, Rumi and Mira in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP) NEW YORK — In the colourful, animated, musical world of 'KPop Demon Hunters,' everyone is a fan. The general public rocks T-shirts supporting their favorite idols. They hold light sticks and stare starry-eyed at stadium stages; they scream, they cry, they cheer, they buy the merch. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, then, that the Sony Pictures/ Netflix film itself has inspired similar fanfare, having topped the streamer's global rankings. Fans have flooded the internet with art, covers, cosplay and choreography in response to the movie, which follows the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X as they fight demons. And it's not just the film that's a summer hit. The 'KPop Demon Hunters' soundtrack has topped the charts — debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Soundtracks chart and No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Here's how 'KPop Demon Hunters' became the year's surprising success story. Musical tradition — and K-pop — are honoured The 'KPop Demon Hunters' soundtrack utilizes some of the best and brightest in the genre. That included a partnership with K-pop company The Black Label, co-founded by super producer Teddy Park, known for his work with YG, Blackpink and 2NE1 — empowered girl groups used as references for the film's protagonists, the trio HUNTR/X. It's one of the many reasons the musical film's soundtrack stands on its own. Filmmakers 'really did their homework,' says Jeff Benjamin, a music journalist who specializes in K-pop. Indeed, they did a lot of research. One of the film's directors, Maggie Kang, said that her team prioritized 'representing the fandom and the idols in a very specific way,' as to not disappoint K-pop fans. They pulled from a treasure trove of influences heard at every corner: The fictional, rival boy band Saja Boys' hit song 'Soda Pop,' for example, references the '90s K-pop group H.O.T. And it has worked. 'KPop Demon Hunters' is the highest charting soundtrack of 2025, with eight of its songs landing on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200. To put that in perspective: Lorde's 'Virgin' and Justin Bieber's 'Swag' did the same. In some ways, it recalls Disney's 'Encanto,' which topped the Billboard 200 and produced a No. 1 hit, 'We Don't Talk About Bruno ' in 2022. Similarly, 'KPop Demon Hunters' embraces 'the original soundtrack, which is a lost art form,' adds Benjamin. Tamar Herman, a music journalist and author of the 'Notes on K-pop' newsletter, says the movie succeeds because it embraces animated musical tradition and authentic K-pop music production styles in equal measure. She considers 'Kpop Demon Hunters' to be 'a musical with songs inspired by K-pop,' not unlike a Jukebox musical, where the songs of ABBA are reimagined for 'Mamma Mia.' Audiences hunger for something new The novelty of the film, too, seems to be resonating. Where many animated films rely on adapting existing intellectual property, 'KPop Demon Hunters' is original. And it comes from an original perspective. 'It's not completely Korean, it's not completely Western and it's kind of right in that middle,' says Kang. 'It's like not pulled from one side; it's kind of flavors of both. So, I think that's what makes the movie feels a little different.' And 'the core story is what's drawing everybody in,' says Kang. San Francisco-based cosplayer and content creator Nanci Alcántar, who goes by Naanny Lee online agrees. 'It's not only a K-pop group, but it also tells a story of their journey, of how they transform into powerful warriors,' said Alcántar in Spanish. For her, it goes beyond K-pop — it's about the narrative. Kang's approach to cultural authenticity, too, may have contributed to the film's crossover appeal. Rather than explaining Korean elements like HUNTR/X's visit to a traditional medicine clinic or translating K-pop light stick culture for Western audiences, she opted for full immersion. 'We just wanted everybody to just accept that they were in Korea,' Kang said. The director said this method of 'throwing people into the deep end of a culture' breaks down barriers better than heavy-handed explanation. 'We just wanted to keep everything feeling normal,' she explained. 'If you don't shine a light on it, it just becomes more easily accepted.' Inventive animation connects Zabrinah Santiago, a San Diego-based longtime K-pop fan and freelance illustrator who goes by ItmeZ online, was so inspired by the animation style of the movie that she raced to make fan art. She sold illustrated fan cards of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys at her booth at the Los Angeles Anime Expo, held in July, two weeks after the movie was released on Netflix. And she wasn't the only one. A search of #kpopdemonhunters on Instagram yields thousands of fan illustrations of HUNTR/X and Saja Boys. Japan-based Youtuber Emily Sim, also known as Emirichu online, says the character designs and original plot drew her to the movie. Sim, with more than 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a 35-minute video about the movie. In a week-and-a-half, it garnered nearly 450,000 views. 'I love seeing all the fan art and just the ways that this movie has creatively inspired people,' Sim said. Kang says for 'KPop Demon Hunters,' her team wanted to bring together demons and Jeoseung Saja — the grim reaper in Korean mythology — for a film that could look both very traditional and modernized — what she says is common in K-dramas but not in animation. Herman compares the movie to another Sony animation: 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' which also attracted a broad audience with its creative animation. 'And it's a fun, animated musical, which we haven't had in a while,' she says. 'It's campy, it's engaging, it's universal.' And K-pop fans see themselves represented Santiago was initially skeptical of the title 'KPop Demon Hunters.' 'I feel like with big companies they kind of like to use K-pop as a bait. They kind of like to take advantage of K-pop fans' sincerity,' said Santiago. 'But I felt like with this one, it was such like kind of a love letter to K-pop fans.' Indeed — if the film wasn't authentic to K-pop fans' experience, or mocked them, it is unlikely to have become so popular, says Benjamin. Instead, there are Easter eggs for the dedicated K-pop listener. Herman agrees, and says that the film has in-jokes for K-pop fans, not unlike a children's movie that features some humor meant to appeal specifically to parents. 'Figuring out what makes K-pop tick in a way that resonates with musical fans was really important to this movie,' said Herman. For Kang, that was always at the heart of the project. 'Fandom plays a huge part in the world being saved at the end of the movie,' she said. 'So, we were really confident that we were doing that justice.' ___ Karena Phan reported from Los Angeles. Juwon Park reported from Seoul. Maria Sherman, Karena Phan And Juwon Park, The Associated Press
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Jung Kook's Historic Hit Continues To Chart, Years After Its Smashing Debut
Two years after topping the Hot 100, Jung Kook's 'Seven' remains a landmark hit that helped define ... More the global rise of K-pop soloists in the U.S. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 08: Jungkook of BTS performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by) Two years ago, one of the biggest stars in the world made a bold move by launching his solo career. In July 2023, Jung Kook stepped out from BTS's shadow and into the global spotlight with a single that made history from the moment it reached the charts. A pair of summers later, and 'Seven' should be remembered as a historic chart-topper – one which represented a turning point in the rise of K-pop musicians in the United States. A Hot 100 No. 1 Right Out of the Gate Jung Kook's solo single 'Seven,' featuring Latto, launched at No. 1 on the Hot 100. As it arrived on the chart dated July 29, the South Korean superstar became only the second K-pop soloist to reach the summit of the busy chart. He did so just months after his BTS bandmate Jimin managed the same showing with 'Like Crazy.' No other solo musician from that part of the world has led the charge since, so Jung Kook and Jimin continue to stand alone in this regard. 'Seven' Ushered in the Golden Era Released on July 14, 2023, 'Seven' introduced Jung Kook's debut solo album Golden to the world. The track's immediate success helped power the full-length to strong first-week numbers and long-lasting popularity. Golden eventually produced several more hit singles, including '3D' with Jack Harlow and 'Standing Next to You,' which both peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 – but it all began with his pop/hip-hop hybrid cut. A Rare Radio Breakthrough 'Seven' didn't just dominate the charts thanks to sales and streaming activity. The tune also gained traction on pop radio in the U.S., reaching the top 20 on multiple Billboard tallies. For a track by a South Korean soloist, that kind of airplay success is rare, and the popularity of 'Seven' on mainstream American stations helped widen its reach well beyond K-pop's usual audience. It also made the single a longstanding one, instead of a quick smash. A Worldwide Win That Broke Records From the moment it dropped, 'Seven' proved to be a global sensation, as well as an American favorite. The song hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. The cut, which long ago disappeared from Billboard's U.S.-based rosters, can still be found regularly on the worldwide tallies to this day. A Defining Anniversary — and a Look Ahead Two years after it reached No. 1 in America, the continued popularity of 'Seven' serves as a reminder of just how massive Jung Kook's solo breakthrough truly was. He only needed a few months to emerge as one of the most successful soloists in that space, and years later, he still holds records that no other K-pop act has approached. Now that all seven BTS members have finished their mandatory military service, the group is getting ready for a new chapter. In fact, the septet scores a new top 10 album on the Billboard 200 this week with a live set, and new music is expected in early 2026.
The Star
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
How ‘KPop Demon Hunters' became a global phenomenon
The Washington Post | Published 4 hours ago Jeff Yang My initiation into the 'KPop Demon Hunters' phenomenon came while traveling on vacation in Taiwan, courtesy of my 19-year-old niece, Sienna. 'Sorry, but you have to watch this if you want to stay part of my family,' she announced, before clicking the link at the top of her 'recently watched' list. Both I and my 21-year-old son feebly protested that we 'weren't really in the demo' for the movie, but to no avail. Ninety minutes later, we found ourselves repeatedly rewinding it to belt out our own baritone versions of the show's soaring power ballad, 'Golden.' It turned out we were in the demo after all. And so are a legion of other viewers of all backgrounds, who have watched it 106 million times and counting - putting the debut feature from Maggie Kang (its creator, co-writer and co-director) on pace to become the most-watched animated movie in Netflix history, while sending it soaring up the lists of the platform's most-watched movies of any kind, period. Since its premiere, the movie has hit Netflix's top 10 list in all 93 countries the streaming service tracks. The show's two idol groups, fiend-fighting femmes fatales Huntr/x and their rivals, the hunks-from-hell Saja Boys, have become the highest-charting female and male K-pop groups with U.S. audiences in Spotify's history - despite being, you know, fictional. Two of their songs have topped the streaming rankings, a peak even flesh-and-blood superstars Blackpink and BTS have yet to summit. But these stats aren't what convinced me that this movie is a cultural milestone. That happened when, the following day, we booked a ride to dinner and the driver, a middle-aged Taiwanese woman, was blasting the 'KPop Demon Hunters' soundtrack on the car's stereo. In my halting Chinese, I commented on her choice of music. Her response: 'Sorry, but you have to listen to this if you want to stay in my car.' Within minutes, we were engaged in an impromptu sing-along as we slogged our way through a summer typhoon. What accounts for the staggering popularity of 'KPop Demon Hunters'? It's not quite your Little Indie Film That Could - it was produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the studio behind the Spider-Verse movies - but Netflix initially didn't seem to know what it had, doing relatively little to promote the movie, which recorded a relatively modest 9.2 million views in its first week. And then, shockingly, it grew by word of mouth - first among those passionate about K-pop, of course, then far beyond that group. It seemed to dance with ease among American, Asian and other global audiences, grabbing eyeballs and planting earworms along the way. Even viewers who think 'Blackpink in your area' sounds like a medical diagnosis found something to enjoy. That expansion of the audience might have to do with the fact that many on the film's creative team are Asians in North America, whose cultural roots on both sides of the Pacific helped them to intuitively find the Venn diagram overlap of taste in between. Kang is a Canadian who was born in Seoul; the stellar cast largely comprises Korean Americans and Canadians; the film's dialogue, and the tone, accent and diction in which it is delivered, is North American English. Even the songs are sung in English (with a few Korean lines to keep them honest) by performers born, raised and/or educated in the U.S. and Canada. It remains an authentically South Korean story, with details and references that reflect a deep and careful respect for the nation's history and pop culture, but one told through the lens of the South Korean diaspora. 'It sounds like a paradox, but it's about balancing the universal and the specific,' says actor Daniel Dae Kim, who has a small but hilarious role in the movie. 'By leveraging the identity of diaspora Koreans, ['KPop Demon Hunters'] was able to create something that anyone Korean would recognize, and anyone not Korean could understand.' That makes 'KPop Demon Hunters' exceptionally rare in Hollywood, although it might become less rare very soon: an example of how Asian Americans can serve as the interpreters and globalizers of authentic and original Asian stories, bringing them to the world without the stigma of 'whitewashing' that often occurs when content crosses oceans. It's a promise we've been waiting for ever since San Francisco-born and Hong Kong-raised Bruce Lee proved that an Asian American storyteller could fuse two cultures to make something universally beloved. It's a promise that we've seen flare up in gate-crashing projects such as 'Crazy Rich Asians,' set in Singapore with an 'Asian Avengers' cast assembled from around the world. And with the triumphant breakout of 'KPop Demon Hunters,' it's a promise that many hope is on the verge of being fulfilled. Last week, Amazon Studios released the trailer for its high-octane spy thriller series 'Butterfly,' produced by and starring Kim and shot entirely in Seoul. This week, Hybe - BTS's management and production company - announced that it is collaborating with Paramount on a feature film set in the world of K-pop, directed by Korean American filmmaker Benson Lee, and starring Ji-young Yoo (who plays Zoey in 'KPop Demon Hunters') and Atlanta-born K-pop star Eric Nam. 'In the past, neither Asia nor Hollywood were particularly interested in Asian Americans,' says Kim. 'But we're starting to see a shift. I'm seeing it in Korea, certainly. They used to laugh and ask, 'Why can't you speak better Korean?' But now that they aspire to become a world leader in pop culture, they've begun to see those of us in the diaspora as a unique resource.' It's an exciting reminder of how immigrant communities are often a boon, culturally and commercially, to both their adopted homeland and their ancestral one. Hollywood was built by immigrants, after all, and their innate feel for cultural fusion is the superpower that has fueled America's rise to pop culture dominance. Isn't it ironic that, just as South Korea is embracing these overlapping identities as a recipe for global success, the message America is increasingly sending is that, if you're 'not really in the demo,' it might not want you here at all? Jeff Yang is the author of 'The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America.'
