Welcome back, readers, to another edition of Week in Review. Here’s your weekly update, featuring a lot of Winter and Christmas music:
Serious News
- Epik High‘s Tablo has once again become the target of TaJinYo, after photos of him attending a Stanford alumni gathering in Seoul were circulated.
- Rap Monster issued an apology for using a quote in his lyrics without crediting the original owner.
- The JYJ bill has finally been passed by South Korea’s National Assembly. The law is to protect entertainers from third parties attempting to block their appearances on TV. Whether this will be effectively enforced remains to be seen.
Comebacks & Debuts
- BTS fans lost their collective shit on the 30th when the group made their comeback. Read Pat‘s take on their new MV here, and Cjontai‘s thoughts on the new album here.
- Here come the Christmas songs! First up is Starship Entertainment with “Softly.”
- SNSD sub-unit TTS wasn’t far behind with a slightly trollish MV for “Dear Santa,” available in both Korean and English.
- Ailee collaborated with the three Seventeen members whose names I know — S.coups, Vernon and Woozi — for special Pledis single “Q&A.”
- K-indie act Hyejin Jo released the MV for “Lone Traveler.”
15&‘s Baek Yerin made her solo debut this week — check out Willis‘ review of her first album, Frank.- Roy Kim is here for Winter with a new album and MV for “The Great Dipper.”
- Phantom is back! Check out their MV for “Could You Be Mine?”
- Royal Pirates has also made their comeback with “Run Away.”
- Nell released the MV for the emotional “3인칭의 필요성.”
- And finally: Psy!!! Which MV do you prefer: “Daddy” or “Napal Baji?” Or is your opinion of this comeback more in line with Michael Buble?
Teasers & Announcements
- ZE:A member Tao-hun will be enlisting on the 7th.
- Exo has released some snowy teasers for their Christmas album Sing for You.
- Exo will also be embarking on their first North American tour in February. Will the group be coming to a city near you?
- SM is also teasing a new winter single project called “Winter Garden.
- Zico‘s mini-album will be dropping soon. In addition to the tracklist, there is also a MV for “Pride and Prejudice,” featuring Suran. Check out the MV teaser here.
- Jaejoong may still be in the army, but he’s still got music to release: the JYJ member will be dropping his sophomore solo album in February.
Lovelyz revealed the preview for their upcoming album Lovelinus.- Ahead of her solo debut later this month, Fiestar‘s Yezi teased the pre-release of “Crazy Dog,” featuring San E.
- Former SNSD member Jessica has revealed that she is recording an album.
- Youth Over Flowers fans rejoice! Season 3 of the popular tvN show is now in production. Jo Jong-suk, Jung Woo, Jung Sang-hoon and Kang Ha-neul filmed in Iceland for the show.
- Khalil Fong teased a possible collaboration with Zion.T and Crush. What do you think these three could be cooking up?
- Starship and Yuehua are set to debut a new girl group together, called Cosmic Girls.
- Lim Kim will be releasing a new mini-album soon. Let’s hope for more goodness like Simple Mind!
- We may not have gotten that f(x) fandom name yet, but we are getting teaser images for the group’s upcoming concert tour!
- Krystal will be following f(x) leader Victoria into China, landing her first lead role in fashion drama Graduation Season.
Other News
- U-Kiss member Eli has come out as a family man on Instagram. He revealed that he had married his girlfriend of five years in 2014, and that the couple are now expecting their first child in 2016. While it is unfortunate that Eli had to hide this news (and felt that it would lose him and his group fans), we are nonetheless happy for him and his new family, and wish them all the best!
Meanwhile, fellow married man and former U-Kiss member Dong-ho released official images from his wedding.- Mnet held its annual MAMAs ceremony on Wednesday: Exo won Album of the Year, while Big Bang won Best Artist and Song (for “Bang Bang Bang”). You can read more about the evening’s highlights in Nabeela‘s MAMA recap.
- Speaking of, a YG rep has stated that Bom‘s return to the stage is a one-off. So, no commitment to a 2NE1 comeback. Booooooooo.
(BNT, eNews 24, Exo Official Site, Facebook, Insight, Instagram[1][2][3], Nate, Osen[1][2][3], Today Official Site, TV Report, Twitter[1][2], Yonhap. Images via:)
