KPOP MONTHLY - Fall 2022 Edition

NCT 127 Returns With Full Album

On September 16th, NCT 127 released their fourth full album, “2 Baddies.”

The album includes 12 all new tracks: “Faster”, “Time Lapse”, “Crash Landing”, “Designer”, “Gold Dust”, “Black Clouds”, “Playback”, “Tasty”, “Vitamin”, “LOL (Laugh Out Loud)”, “1, 2, 7 (Time Stops)” and the title track, “2 Baddies.” The tracks were first previewed in a highlight medley which was released on September 12th on NCT 127’s official YouTube channel.

After weeks of teasers, the music video for 2 Baddies dropped on September 15th at 6pm KST. The members are featured in cool outfits alongside various cars to further the racer concept of the album. The video also experiments with various camera effects, neon lighting and glow-in-the dark paint on the members.

Watch the full music video now on SMtown’s official Youtube channel.

2 Baddies

“2 Baddies” made its music show debut on M Countdown alongside b-side “Faster.”

“2 Baddies” took home its first win on The September 30th episode of Music Bank.

Since its music show debut, 2 Baddies took home its second win on Music Core on October 1st. NCT 127 also performed 2 Baddies on MTV’s Fresh Out Live, Good Morning America and the Jennifer Hudson Show.

Stray Kids Drop New Mini Album

On October 7th, Stray Kids returned with their new mini album, “MAXIDENT.”

The music video for Case 143 dropped at 12am EST. The members are featured in different vibrant settings while trying out differing concepts, from police officers to cute outfits to vandals. The music video also includes CGI that adds in cute heart creatures and even creates the illusion of being inside a YouTube video. The song itself discusses an irresistible love.

The album features eight allnew tracks: “Chill”, “Give Me Your TMI”, “Super Board”, “3RACHA”, “Taste”, “Can’t Stop”, “Circus Korean Version” and the title track “Case 143.” Check

MAXIDENT MAXIDENT

Prior to the album’s release, Stray Kids teased their b-sides through unveil videos which are available on JYP’s Official YouTube Channel.

Since the album release, Stray Kids have also dropped an official music video for “SUPER BOARD”, “Chill”, and “Give Me Your TMI”. The videos are now available on JYP Entertainment’s YouTube channel.

Stray Kids debuted “Case 143” on the October 7th episode of Music Bank. The song got its first win on Show Champion on October 12th.

Jin Releases First Solo SIngle

At BTS’s monumental free concert in Busan, Jin announced he would be the second member to release a solo project following J-Hope’s solo album.

On October 18th, BigHit Entertainment announced the release of Jin’s solo single, “The Astronaut.” A few days later, the pre-order began and the promotion schedule was released.

With the release of the poster image, fans learned the song was in collaboration with Coldplay.

After a few days of stunning concepts, the official music video and song were released on October 28th. Jin is seen exploring various sets such as a bedroom, a neighbourhood and a city. He also has cute interactions with with a little girl such as showing her how to ride a bike. Later on, Jin witnesses a spacecraft take off and is seen in a purple galaxy. Chris Martin of Coldplay even made a guest appearance as a reporter on the news. The song is extremely sentimental and is a love letter to ARMY ahead of Jin’s military enlistment.

Check out the full music video on HYBE’s Official YouTube Channel.

“THE ASTRONAUT”

For The Astronaut’s live premiere, Jin travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to perform the song alongside Coldplay at their October 28th concert. The performance was wholesome and tear-jerking as Jin showcased his beautiful vocals while having cute interactions with the members of Coldplay.

Watch the full performance now on BTS’s YouTube channel, BANGTANTV

The Astronaut received its first music show win on the November 10th episode of M Countdown.

Check out the song now on Spotify!

The physical copy of The Astronaut is now available for pre-order on Weverse Shop, Amazon and other local retailers.

Xiumin’s Solo Debut Brand New

Brand New

On September 26th, EXO’s Xiumin made his solo debut with the first mini album, “Brand New.” The album features five new songs: “Feedback”,” Love Letter”, “SerenitY”, “How We Do ft. Mark of NCT” and the title track, “Brand New”.

The music video for Brand New was released on September 26th at 6pm KST. Xiumin is seen acting cutely in bright and fun environments. The video even plays on his ice superpower from EXO’s storyline as snow starts to fall on the main set. Xiumin also debuts the energetic and cute choreography that goes along with the song. Check out the music video on SM’s official YouTube channel.

“Brand New” made its music show debut on September 29th on M Countdown.

Since the release, EXO-L’s have received many EXO interactions such as. a mini video series including Xiumin, Sehun, Kai, Suho and Chen. Check it out now on EXO’s official YouTube channel.

Check out the full album now on Spotify!

TREASURE

returns with new mini album The Second Step: Chapter Two

TREASURE released their new mini album, “The Second Step: Chapter Two” on October 4th. The album includes five new songs: “VolKno”, “Clap!”, “Thank You”, “Hold It In”, and the title track, “Hello.”

The music video for “Hello” dropped on October 4th at 6pm KST. The video features the members dressed in casual outfits while cutely dancing in multiple bright settings. The song has an EDM core and is light and fun while portraying the feeling of finding love.

Check out the video now on YG’s official YouTube channel.

TREASURE premiered Hello on the October 6th episode of M Countdown.

Check out the full album now on Spotify!

On October 24th, MONSTA X’s Kihyun returned with his first mini album “Youth”

On September 5th, ONEUS returned with their eighth mini album “Malus.”

AllCOMEBACKS

The next pages feature an overview of all the comebacks that happened this fall, including solo releases, universe releases and collabs

On September 27th Cravity returned with 4th mini album “New Wave”

On September 23rd SEVENTEEN’s Jun released his first solo single, “Limbo”

Postponements

BTS take over busan

To promote the 2030 World Expo in Busan, on October 15th, BTS held their first free concert in Busan.

The concert took place at Asiad Stadium in Busan. For globalfans, the concert was also live-streamed for free on Weverse, Naver and Zepeto.

BTS energetically opened the show with Mic Drop and the choreography premiere of Run BTS. They then performed Run followed by an opening ment. Next was Save Me followed by an intermission. The vocal line took the stage for their unit segment in which they performed Zero O’Clock and Butterfly. Next was the rap line segment in which they performed UGH! and Cypher 3: Killer.

After another intermission and a quick costume change, the members returned for the upbeat segment that included Dynamite, Boy With Luv and Butter. They did another ment before performing Ma City, Dope, Fire and Idol.

For First Free Concert

After another quick ment, BTS performed Epilogue: Young Forever and For Youth in the finalsentimental segment before the encore

Following the finalintermission, BTS emotionally performed Spring Day. They did one finalment before performing the last song of the night, Yet To Come.

Overall, the concert was energetic, emotional and extremely meaningful to both BTS and ARMY. it was stunning to watch and the members gave fans flawless performances once again. on top of this, the concert also gained thousands of viewers.

50,000 people from around the world attended BTS’s Yet to Come in Busan concert with another 10,000 at the live play at Busan Port. The live stream gained around 50 million viewers despite crashing and lagging on streaming sites.

There is yet to be an officialfullvideo of the event, but the Run BTS performance is now available on BTS’s YouTube channel, BANGTANTV along with a stage focus of Mic Drop and Run BTS.

Music Videos that Remind Me of Autumn

Just like songs, there is a music video for every season. Since this is the fall edition of kpop monthly, I have put together a small list of music videos that remind me of fall! I’ve chosen all of these videos based on artists and songs I like and I’m sure there are plenty of other fall music videos out there.

I Need U - BTS

One of the reasons I love BTS’s music videos so much is their ability to create such strong feelings and form a specific atmosphere. I Need U is a great example of BTS doing just this. Between the desaturated filming and the overall grunginess of the whole video, I can basically feel the fall energy bursting through the screen.

Jealousy - Monsta x

Jealousy is one of the more unexplainable of the videos from this list. I don’t know why it reminds me of fall. Perhaps it’s the dark and wet atmosphere or maybe it’s purely Kihyun’s orange hair. I genuinely lack an explanation for this… Maybe watch the video again and see if it makes you think of fall too!

Numb - CIX

This song was released in the later half of 2019 and the school setting reminds me so much of September and October. I listened to this song so much during the fall and winter seasons of 2019 that my brain associates it with those seasons in particular. However, once again, the desaturated filming and the abandoned school remind me of fall.

Blue hour - TXT

Blue Hour is a must for fall. The tree at the beginning is all I needed to declare this as a fall music video. However, this video has many other fall aspects. The members’ attire, specifically the sweaters and jeans also enforces the fall vibes. Also, both the cloudy field setting and the squirrel in a sweater in the fantasy scene scream autumn. To top it all off, the song was released in late October. I rest my case.

Beautiful scar - Lee Eunsang ft Woojin of ab6ix

This song came out in late August, yet it always reminds me of fall because I listened to it nonstop during the season. I love this song so much and it is severely underrated, so I want to start this explanation by saying: please listen to this song right now. Anyways, the video itself has a lot of muted colours and it's overall on the darker side. The beige walls, the fog and the nighttime setting all play into the fall atmosphere.

Universe - EXO

Honestly, this music video reminds me of both fall and winter. It’s a winter album, so I immediately think of winter. Yet the extremely brown colour scheme and the abundance of coffee remind me of fall as people tend to pull out these things during the season. Overall, the coziness of the whole video also screams fall, but it also screams winter. Either way, EXO are kings of the chillier seasons.

Run away (9 and three quarters) - TXT

I officially stanned TXT during this era, meaning I have a strong connection to this song. Everytime I listen to it, it pulls me right back to the fall of 2019. Just like Numb, the main setting of this music video is a school which reminds me of September and October–the beginning of the school year. Similarly to the other videos on the list, this video has a dull filter which also gives fall vibes.

Halloween

The Perfect Halloween Playlist

of

a

Overdose - EXO Pirate King - ATEEZ The 7th Sense - NCT U Idea - Taemin

Red Moon - Kim Wooseok Black Swan - BTS Heaven - Taemin Thirsty - Taemin

Venom - Stray Kids Arson - J-Hope Wonderland - ATEEZ Favorite (Vampire) - NCT 127

Sticker - NCT 127 Who - Moobin & Sanha Paranoia - Kang Daniel Dr. Bebe - Pentagon

Test Me - Xdinary Heroes Happy Death Day - Xdinary Heroes Frost - TXT Criminal - Taemin

Hoshi - Spider Kai - Mmmh Key - Villain (ft. Jeno) WOODZ - Noid

My Favourite Idol Halloween Costumes

Many kpop idols celebrate Halloween by posting spooky dance practises or even having entire company parties. With this, there are plenty of iconic kpop costumes–from the crazy expensive ones, to the scary ones to the ridiculously funny ones, there is an idol costume for everyone. So, I have put together a list of some of my personal favourite costumes worn by idols.

Baekhyun (EXO) - Vampire and Mummy

Baekhyun has his fair share of really cool Halloween costumes (thanks to SM’s Halloween parties). Of his costumes, I chose his Vampire costume from 2014 and his mummy costume from 2018. I love vampires, so the vampire costume was a must. I especially love the different coloured contacts. His mummy costume was executed extremely well. I can’t imagine how long it took for him to get ready that year, but honestly, the effort paid off. Overall, he looked stunning in both costumes.

Chanyeol (EXO)

- Iron Man

You can’t say “kpop halloween” without mentioning Chanyeol’s extremely expensive and accurate Iron Man costume from 2017. I barely have any words for this costume. Chanyeol really went all out to the point where he had to walk to the SM Halloween party. This is for sure a costume that I’m sure went down in SM Halloween party history. I can’t wait until all of EXO return to SM Halloween parties…

Chenle (NCT) - Pennywise

Chenle and Pennywise just work. He played the role of Pennywise so well in NCT Dream’s We Go Up Halloween dance practice and it overall just suited his chaotic nature. Not to mention, his costume was crazily detailed–even his hair was on point!

Key (SHINee) - Ronald McDonald

Everytime I think of this costume, I think of that one picture sequence where Key is putting on the wig. Because of this, I think this costume completely deserves to be on this list. After all, SHINee were basically the creators of idols dressing up for Halloween, so at least one member had to make its way onto the list. I also especially love when Key and Onew as Colonel Sanders started fighting. SHINee are just too iconic.

Suga (BTS) - Chucky

This costume suits him scarily well. Between his evil smile and his prop knife, he was really having the time of his life in this costume. His hair was the perfect colour and he effortlessly pulled off the character. We did not get enough of Chucky Yoongi.

V (BTS) - Snow White

It is impossible to name kpop costumes without mentioning this one. Back in my early army days, I would watch this dance practise on loop because of how chaotic it is. Honestly, four years later, I still laugh every time a member loses a dwarf shoe. However, Taehyung was clearly the star of this dance practise. He never failed to make the other members crack up and also performed so seriously the entire time. This is truly one of the most iconic kpop costumes out

New and Younghoon (The Boyz) - Corpse Bride

Of the costumes I’ve seen, Chanhee and Younghoon are the first to dress up as the Corpse Bride pair and they totally killed it. Firstly their makeup was on point and they looked so eerie. I also love how they just floated around and stared at the camera during the dance practice. It sold the look while also being kinda creepy.

Ten (NCT) - Mona Lisa

I can’t even explain the iconicness of this. Whoever decided to give Ten this costume, I send a sincere thank you because so many iconic moments have come from this. First of all, that one video of Ten dancing in this costume is just amazing and it’s been used for so many memes.

Taeyong (NCT) - Edward Cullen

As mentioned earlier, I love vampires. Prior to this costume, I would always say Taeyong would be an amazing Edward. So, when I saw Taeyong dressed as Edward last year, my dreams basically came true. He totally suits the vampire look and I wish he actually played Edward in the movies.

Honourable Mentions

Yoongi (BTS) Naruto Ren (NU’EST) angry avacado

Keeho (P1Harmony) “Vampire from the south side west”

Seungkwan (Seventeen) anpanman