10 Moments That Defined K-pop’s Huge Year
“Kpop Demon Hunters” ruled the world, Blackpink kept getting bigger, and new artists broke rules. My latest for Rolling Stone magazine.
Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“Kpop Demon Hunters” ruled the world, Blackpink kept getting bigger, and new artists broke rules. My latest for Rolling Stone magazine.
It is midnight in Seoul when Shownu and Hyungwon log on for our Zoom interview. Despite the late hour – which they chose, rather than asking western media to stay up late for them – the two members of the South Korean group Monsta X show no signs of fatigue. They are dressed in immaculate white T-shirts and easily riff off each other as they share their views about their music and life in general.
“Celebrity Show-Off” is the latest U.S. series that’s based on a Korean variety show (“My Little Television).
Monsta X has been nominated for their first MTV Video Music Award for their English-language single “Who Do U Love?” They will become the first K-Pop group to perform at the iHeartRadio Music Festival later this year. (They previously were the first Korean boy band to take the stage at Jingle Ball.) But a highlight of 2019 for the group was performing in Oslo for South Korean president Moon Jae-in and King Harald V of Norway, where the countries’ dignitaries celebrated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Norway.