G-Dragon, the only member of Big Bang who remained in YG Entertainment, has ended his exclusive contract with the company after 17 years. Big Bang’s history with YG Entertainment officially comes to an end. After YG Entertainment’s announcement, company’s stocks have plunged significantly, of $130 million USD (170 billion won) in market cap value. Even though G-Dragon was not actively releasing new music, he was still viewed from the public as one of YG’s entertainment’s vital artist. G-Dragon’s fans have speculated G-Dragon’s end of contract with YG Entertainment prior to the announcement as ..read more

Stray Kids, one of the biggest boy groups from K-pop’s fourth generation, achieves a huge milestone in their career with their comeback album titled 5-Star. The success of their third full album catapults the band to become the first group in history to surpass five million pre-sales, with 5.13 million. 5-Star surpassed Seventeen’s album FML with 4.64 million pre-orders and BTS’ Map of the Soul with 4.02 million pre-orders. The 5-Star album also joins BTS and Seventeen to become the third album in history to exceed 2 million sales in first-day record sales with 2.39 million copies. This 5-St ..read more

In 10 Tracks, we link up with the cool kids and OGs of nightlife, then ask them for a mixtape. This time around, the DJ known as Makoto on his lockdown album and musical pet peeve. For drum and bass producer and DJ Makoto Shimizu – known simply in the industry as Makoto — a lifelong love for music started with a parent and an errant night out. His father collected jazz and classical records, which Makoto remained largely indifferent to until his teens. “But then I don’t know what happened — I was fourteen, fifteen when I started getting into classical, then jazz.”  Then came high school ..read more

Last Friday night, Hong Kong experienced some of Japan’s finest hip-hop talents with Awich and JP the Wavy. As part of the Asia Rising tour which includes stops at MAO Livehouse in Shanghai and Legacy in Taipei, the Japanese artists grace Hong Kong’s stage for the first time in their careers. With an opener of one of Hong Kong’s finest, YoungQueenz, the show was off to a great start at Music Zone @E-Max. Singing songs such as, “Kiko Mizuhara” and “WAR(Love is a…)” Hong Kong was in full support of their very own. Following YoungQueenz, JP the Wavy did his thing for Hong Kong and did not disap ..read more

NewJeans releases a new Coca-Cola campaign song “Be Who You Are” with Jon Batiste As Coca-Cola’s global brand ambassador, NewJeans have freshly released a new Coca-Cola collaboration song with the Grammy-award winning producer Jon Batiste titled “Be Who You Are.” The new original summer campaign song also features American rapper J.I.D, British singer-songwriter Cat Burns, and Colombian pop singer Camilo.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by NewJeans (@newjeans_official) In addition to their previous successful release of “Zero,” in April, this is their second collab ..read more

NewJeans releases a new Coca-Cola campaign song “Be Who You Are” with Jon Batiste As Coca-Cola’s global brand ambassador, NewJeans have freshly released a new Coca-Cola collaboration song with the Grammy-award winning producer Jon Batiste titled “Be Who You Are.” The new original summer campaign song also features American rapper J.I.D, British singer-songwriter Cat Burns, and Colombian pop singer Camilo.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by NewJeans (@newjeans_official) In addition to their previous successful release of “Zero,” in April, this is their second collab ..read more

South Korean singer Bang Yong-guk has announced the dates and cities of the Asia leg of ‘The Colors of Bang Yongguk’ tour. The former leader of the boy band, B.A.P, shared the details on his official Instagram account. Bang, who is mononymously known as Yongguk, is set to embark on the Asia leg on 14 July 2023 from Manila in Philippines and end it in Bangkok, Thailand, on 26 July 2023. In all, he will be touring six Asian cities. ‘The Colors of Bang Yongguk Asia Tour’ dates and venues Apart from announcing the tour dates and cities, Bang also shared details on when tickets for each city would ..read more

This coming long weekend, Indonesian jazz piano player Joey Alexander and his touring band will be performing at Carlyle & Co. in a special four-day performance. Jazz lovers who aren’t part of the members-only club, worry not — the performances are open to the public at the club’s live music venue Café Carlyle. It isn’t every day that one gets to meet a musical wunderkind. Nineteen-year-old Joey Alexander Sila, known simply as Joey Alexander, taught himself how to play jazz at the ripe old age of six. However, when we asked him about it, he was quick to credit his father. “My parents ..read more

“Randomness drives creativity” is the theme of the new Gareth.T x Casetify tech capsule collection. Hong Kong tech company Casetify and Lifestyle Asia cover star Gareth.T are teaming up to launch new accessories to “encourage fans to show their true selves”. A singer-songwriter with a quirky flair whose music has touched the hearts of many in the city, Gareth.T brings his creativity to a new medium with an exclusive collection of phone and AirPods cases. Themed around “randomness drives creativity”, the Gareth.T x Casetify collection invites fans to be confident in expressing who they are. Fo ..read more

Coldplay is a British rock band particularly renowned around the world for their awe-inspiring concerts and other live performances where they belt out some of the greatest songs from their albums. Formed in 1997 in London, Coldplay comprises Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion. Martin is the lead vocalist and leader of the group, Buckland plays the guitar, Berryman is a bassist and Champion is a drummer. Officially, the group counts Phil Harvey, their creative director and manager, as the fifth member of Coldplay. To date, the band has released nine studio albums. Wh ..read more