K-pop Weekly: SM terminates contract with co-founder, BLACKPINK’s Jennie gifted custom Porsche and the 2022 AMAs reveal nominated K-pop acts

This week saw a plethora of new music releases from veteran idols and soloists alike. There was also a “League of Legends” collaboration, as well as some shake-ups with industry giant SM Entertainment and the addition of a K-pop category to this year’s American Music Awards.

Music Releases

Oct. 10 Monday

South Korean “League of Legends” team T1 joined forces with boy group THE BOYZ and DJ Raiden for their theme song “Last Man Standing.” THE BOYZ member Sunwoo, a T1 fan himself, co-wrote the song. While the music video is out now, it will be released on all streaming platforms on Oct. 16.

For Generation 2 K-pop fans, Brown Eyed Girls’ leader and soloist JeA released a new single titled “Orange Drive,” which was co-composed by the singer and produced by VERYGOODS. Jea’s last solo “Greedyy” came out in 2020, featuring MAMAMOO’s Moonbyul.

Oct. 11 Tuesday

Coinciding with their long-awaited 10th-anniversary comeback album, Solji of veteran K-pop group EXID has dropped a solo of her own with the ballad “I believed it was love.” This is her first new music project since the OST “By Your Side” in August and her debut mini-album “First Letter” last February.

Oct. 12 Wednesday

Former NU’EST member Baekho made his solo debut with the mini-album “Absolute Zero,” led by the title track “No Rules.” A majority of the six-song work was co-written by Baekho, the first of the disbanded group to go solo.

GOT7’s Youngjae has teamed up with former GFriend member and soloist Yerin for the collaboration single “Colors.”

Boy group UP10TION released their 11th mini-album “Code Name: Arrow,” led by the title track “What If Love.” Members Kuhn, Bit-to and Xiao all had a hand in co-writing, co-composing or co-arranging the six-track album.

Oct. 13 Thursday

South Korean rapper RAVI dropped a new single titled “BLOCK PARTY.” It is his latest release following his album “LOVE & HOLIDAY” and the collaboration track “BYE” with MAMAMOO’s Wheein, both of which dropped earlier this year.

Oct. 14 Friday

Soloist Wonho is getting over heartbreak in his second single album “Bittersweet,” led by the title track music video “Don’t Regret.” This is his third domestic drop of the year following his single album “Obsession” and June’s mini-album “Facade.” He completed his European “Facade” tour last month.

Playlists

Other K-pop News

SM Entertainment is terminating its production contract with company founder Lee Soo-man. They have outsourced music production to his production company Like Planning for over 20 years.
In related SM Entertainment news, their boy group NCT 127 performed their newest track “2 Baddies” on “Good Morning America” and became the first K-pop act to perform on the “Jennifer Hudson Show.”
BTS made Rolling Stone’s list of “The 50 Greatest Concept Albums Of All Time,” becoming the only K-pop act to do so.
The 2022 American Music Awards introduced a new “Favorite K-pop Artist” category and its nominees: BLACKPINK, TWICE, SEVENTEEN, BTS and TXT.
BLACKPINK’s Jennie was gifted a custom car as part of a collaboration with Porsche.
Following his drunk driving incident, VICTON’s Heo Chan is permanently leaving the group.
Soloist Youha performed a cover of (G)I-DLE’s hit track “Tomboy.”
The companies for Kep1er’s Dayeon and Ciipher’s Won have both responded to dating rumors, saying it is difficult to confirm aspects of their personal lives.

Feature Image via: SMTOWN, Porsche Korea and WIRED

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