Lil Baby's 'My Turn' tops the US album chart Lil Baby's "My Turn" is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. UPIRapper Lil Baby's My Turn is the No. 1 album in the United States for a third consecutive week.Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Saturday is Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways, followed by A Boogie Wit da Hoodie's Artist 2.0 at No. 3, DaBaby's Blame It On Baby at No. 4 and Post Malone's Hollywood's Bleeding at No. 5.Rounding out the top tier are Lady Gaga's Chromatica at No. 6, Drake's Dark Lane Demo Tapes at No. 7, Teyana Taylor's The Album at No. 8, Lil Uzi Avert's Eternal Atake at No. 9 and Polo G's The Goat at No. 10. (UPI)Jul 5, 2020
BLACKPINK kicks off new chapter with 'How You Like That' BLACKPINK poses during a global press conference held in Seoul, June 26. / Courtesy of YG EntertainmentBy Kwak Yeon-sooBLACKPINK unveiled its pre-release track “How You Like That” on Friday ahead of the release of the group's first-ever full-length album, planned for September.The girl group's newest offering comes over a year after 2019's EP “Kill This Love” and on the heels of “Sour Candy,” BLACKPINK's collaboration with Lady Gaga which was released on May 29. BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga's collaborative song ranked as high as 33rd on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and peaked at 17th on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 40. It also ranked the first on the global YouTube song chart. The K-pop act's new song “How You Like That” is an intense, dynamic song written by Teddy and Danny Chung and produced by Teddy, R.Tee and 24. At the global press conference broadcast live through YouTube, BLACKPINK shared stories about the new album as well as the members' experiences during their stellar global show business career.Member Jisoo introducedJun 26, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
Cobain 'MTV Unplugged' guitar sells for sky-high $6 million This file handout photo obtained May 11, 2020 courtesy of Julien's Auctions, shows the guitar played by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana's acclaimed MTV Unplugged in New York performance. - The 1959 Martin D-18E featured in the band's performance in November 1993, five months before Cobain's death at the age of 27, sold at auction on June 20 for a record $6 million. (Photo by Handout / Julian's Auctions / AFP)Grunge became gold Saturday as the guitar Kurt Cobain played on Nirvana's 1993 ``MTV Unplugged'' performance months before his death sold for an eye-popping $6 million at auction. The 1959 Martin D-18E that Cobain played in the band's rare acoustic performance and subsequent live album was sold to Australian Peter Freedman, owner of Rode Microphones, at the Music Icons event run by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California. The bids opened at $1 million for the sale that ended up breaking several world records. Cobain used it to play tunes including ``About a Girl'' and ``All Apologies'' at the Nov. 18, 1993, show in New York that came less than five months before the singer and Jun 21, 2020
BTS' virtual concert becomes world's biggest paid online music event BTS perform during the group's virtual concert “Bang Bang Con: The Live” held at Paradise City hotel in Incheon, Sunday. Courtesy of Big Hit EntertainmentBy Kwak Yeon-sooBTS' virtual concert “Bang Bang Con: The Live,” which served as a substitute for the group's tour that was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has attracted a record-setting number of viewers from across the world.The 100-minute livestreamed concert drew some 756,000 viewers from 107 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., China and Japan, according to Big Hit Entertainment. The number of online viewers is roughly equal to the combined audience of 15 stadium concerts.“'Bang Bang Con: The Live' has become the world's biggest paid online music event,” Big Hit Entertainment said in a release. “Despite the difficulties that the music industry is facing, BTS has opened up new possibilities for online concerts.”The music label not only found an innovative way to connect its performers with audiences but also set a new profit model during the COVID-19 era. Tickets for &ldJun 15, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
Korean punk scene's skinhead history he Korean skinhead punk band Jiraltan99 performs at Skunk Hell near Hongik University on March 27, 2004. / Korea Times photo by Jon DunbarBy Jon DunbarThere are no appropriate polite words for Facebook's botched crackdown on racists. On June 9, the social media platform banned, by one commenter's count, around 200,000 accounts using a far-reaching measure to block skinheads. Calls were growing for Facebook to combat racism, and a move like this would be welcomed ― you'd think.The purge was reversed shortly after RT reported that one of the people banned was Neville Staple, the Jamaican-born 65-year-old former singer of the mixed-race two-tone ska band the Specials ― literally one of the most vehemently anti-racist bands in history, also popular with skinheads. After news broke, the ban was lifted early morning June 10 Korean time. Facebook's misguided action reveals a lot about the nature and online structure of the worldwide skinhead community, which represents all races, religions and ideologies. The culture came into being in the late 1960s, as a result of the mixing of Jamaican iJun 13, 2020By Jon Dunbar
Esme Quartet debuts in Korea after sweeping international awards Esme Quartet Courtesy of Sihoo KimBy Park Ji-won When most people in Korea think about classical music quartets, they relate to those that are composed of male musicians or a mix of the sexes. It is very rare for them to have heard of an all-female quartet. Because the harmony and experience of the musicians are key elements for a successful quartet, when the Esme Quartet ― a Germany-based ensemble formed in 2016 with four promising young Korean female string players with an average age of 29 ― began winning a series of renowned international classical competitions despite their short careers, it made headlines. Their individual performances are so charismatic and impeccable that some even say the four sound as one. With such virtuosity, Esme won first prize at the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, one of the most prestigious competitions for quartets, and the first time for a Korean ensemble to win, followed by the Hans Gal Prize 2020, run by the Mainz Academy of Science and Literature. They also won the Villa Musica, also a first for a Korean groJun 9, 2020By Park Ji-won
Katy Perry battled depression while producing new album Katy Perry. AP-YonhapYou would think that the world is yours if you were Katy Perry, the American pop star who has sold over 18 million albums globally throughout her career replete with chart-toppers, including "Waking Up In Vegas," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "Roar." But even the great Katy Perry is human too, with emotional ups and downs, and apparently at times even harboring dark thoughts in moments of emotional desolation, similar to the rest of us mere mortals. In an exclusive interview last Thursday with Korea Now, Yonhap News Agency's English video news service, Kerry shared her experience in battling depression and overcoming a sense of hopelessness while writing her upcoming sixth studio album, due out Aug. 14.The 35-year-old singer is also soon expecting a baby together with her fiance, British actor Orlando Bloom."I was writing this record when I was feeling really hopeless, feeling really depressed and struggling with that darkness," Perry told Korea Now in an interview held via video conference software Zoom.Perry explained of her state of emotion during the writinJun 3, 2020
From Yi Jeong-suk to BTS: exhibition revisits 90 years of Korean pop lyrics Korean pop lyrics in the 1990s are seen at the “Korean Pop Lyrics ― Melodies of Life” exhibition held at the National Hangeul Museum in this photo. Courtesy of National Hangeul MuseumBy Park Ji-wonThe speed of change in Korea over the past century is something remarkable. A century ago, Korea was a small, weak country which was under the control of Japan. Five years after it was liberated from Japan's colonial rule with the end of World War II in 1945, the Korean War broke out. The nation was torn apart but rose from the ashes of the war and became one of Asia's most resilient economies within decades.Just like the country's dynamic modern history, the lyrics of Korean pop music has changed a lot during that period. Despite its enormous transformation, lyrics have always reflected the voice of the masses. The “Korean Pop Lyrics ― Melodies of Life” exhibition at the National Hangeul Museum showcases how Korean pop music lyrics have changed since the 1920s to the present. It will be held through Oct. 18. The exhibition covers hit songs in Korea's modern history Jun 1, 2020By Park Ji-won
Jennifer Lopez on wedding delay: 'I'm a little heartbroken' Jennifer Lopez. AP-YonhapJennifer Lopez is feeling "a little heartbroken" that her wedding has been delayed.The 50-year-old singer, actress and television personality said on Tuesday's episode of Today that it's disappointing her wedding to Alex Rodriguez has been put on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Lopez discussed the matter with Today host Hoda Kotb, who is also a bride-to-be. Kotb got engaged to her boyfriend, Joel Schiffman, in November."Nobody knows! There's no planning right now. You just have to kinda wait and see how this all plays out," Lopez said."It's disappointing on one level," she added. "I planned to take time off, which is what we're doing, kind of, right now, but at the same time we had a lot of plans for this summer and this year. Everything's kinda on hold right now."Lopez said she's "heartbroken" over the delay but is leaving the matter in God's hands."I'm a little heartbroken, because we did have some great plans. But I'm also like, 'You know what? God has a bigger plan. So we just have to wait and see,'" she said. "Maybe it's gonna be better. May 27, 2020
Singer Lee Sun-hee confirms divorce Singer-songwriter Lee Sun-hee. / YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Singer Lee Sun-hee, 56, broke up with her husband earlier this year, ending their 14-year marriage. The artist's agency Hook Entertainment confirmed Wednesday that the couple had mutually agreed to divorce in February. The reason is unknown. Lee herself did not directly mention her divorce. “Six years of waiting… My 16th album will come out on June 15. You'll find it on the Melon website,” she tweeted. “How am I doing ... Well, nothing special. No big deal…” She did not mention her marriage. Lee married her non-celebrity husband, surnamed Jung, in 2006. It was her second marriage. She previously married her first husband, a music producer, in 1992, and they separated after six years. According to the agency, despite the divorce, the singer has been working on her 16th album. She plans to release the first part “Part 1” on June 15, and “Part 2” this fall.The seasoned singer made her big debut with her song “To J” at the Gangbyeon Song Festival in 1984. She haMay 27, 2020By Lee Hyo-jin
