Side C
K-Pop
The industry that exports itself — generations, systems, crossover.
K-Pop · NewsFP-028
BTS' "Swim" Passes 1 Billion Spotify Streams, the First 2026 Release to Get There
The lead single from ARIRANG crossed the line seven months after release. It is the group's seventh song to do it, and the fastest.
K-Pop · BusinessFP-029
After BTS, HYBE, SM, JYP and YG Skip the Grammys' New Asian Pop Category
K-pop's four biggest companies reportedly sent nothing to best Asian pop music performance. The Recording Academy is going ahead anyway, and nominations land November 16.
K-Pop · New MusicFP-031
LISA Releases "Tarantino" Video and Her Press Play EP
The BLACKPINK member's six-track set is out on Lloud and RCA, with a spy-film video, a PlayStation tie-in and a Las Vegas residency starting November 12.
K-Pop · ChartsFP-032
SEVENTEEN's JxJ Set a Hanteo Record With Debut EP "Dreamscape"
Jeonghan and Joshua's first album as a duo sold 656,011 copies on day one, the most for any unit album in Hanteo's history. A six-city tour starts October 30.
K-Pop · AwardsFP-030
2026 MAMA Awards: BIGBANG, ENHYPEN and CORTIS Set to Perform in Osaka
The K-pop awards run two nights at Kyocera Dome Osaka on November 20 and 21. BTS lead the nominations with five, and BIGBANG's members add up to eight.
K-Pop · DevelopingFP-019
DaYoung Took Three Years to Go Solo. The Catalog Shows Why.
The former WJSN member spent years building a solo sound between Seoul and the US. Three singles in, "body", "What's a girl to do" and "FLIRTY" sketch an artist who keeps choosing range over repetition.
K-Pop · DevelopingFP-020
KiiiKiii Keep Changing the Sound. The Results Keep Climbing.
Starship's youngest girl group has gone from hip-hop and synth-pop to UK garage to hyperpop in eighteen months, and picked up a Billboard No. 1 pick along the way.
K-Pop · The RecordFP-013
Who Broke BTS in America? The Record, Not the Myth
The fans did the heavy lifting and Big Hit made the calls. The American campaign behind the award shows, the late-night TV run, the Billboard covers and the Steve Aoki and Halsey connections had a US managing partner, and his name keeps getting left out.
K-PopFP-011
The Operating Partner Era
International acts used to break America with a promo trip and a prayer. The ones converting now share a quieter structural choice: a US manager who operates, not coordinates.
K-Pop · The FeatureFP-009
Monsta X Learned How to Heal
Three albums into their English-language experiment, K-pop's longest-running crossover act delivers its most grown-up record — and a title track that earns its name.
K-PopFP-005
The Fifth Generation Has a Definition Problem
Every K-pop generation has been defined by a platform shift. The new class of debuts has everything — except a consensus on what makes it new.
K-PopFP-006
K-Pop's English Test
The crossover playbook used to be translation. Now it's native production — and the industry is quietly splitting over what 'K' even means.