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| Singer Cho Yong-pil / Courtesy of YPC |
By Dong Sun-hwa
The Korean music scene is going to be more diverse than ever this year. After a crop of budding stars like New Jeans and IVE mesmerized people with their music offerings earlier this year, veteran singers with more than decades of singing experience are putting out new releases in November and December.
Cho Yong-pil ― whose nickname is the "King of Pop" ― rolled out two new singles, "Moment" and "Like Serengeti," on Friday, about nine years after unleashing his 19th studio album, "Hello." As of Sunday afternoon, "Moment" has retained the No. 20 spot on Bugs, one of the major music streaming platforms here.
Cho is an iconic figure in the Korean music industry, who accumulated 10 million album sales in 1994 and became the first singer in Korea to reach that milestone.
According to Cho's management company YPC, "Moment" and "Like Serengeti" can be thought of as the lead singles of his 20th full-length album, which will hit store shelves next year. The former is a pop rock song about a fateful moment that can change one's life, while the latter is a track conveying a message of encouragement to people. Cho is scheduled to premiere the new songs at his concert on Nov. 26 at the KSPO Dome in Olympic Park, located in Seoul's Songpa District. He will also play concerts on Nov. 27, Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 at the same venue.
Cho, who began his singing career as part of the rock band Atkins in 1968, went solo with the tune, "Come Back to Busan Port" in 1976 and has since dropped a string of hits such as, "Woman Outside the Window" (1979) and "Candlelight" (1980). "Bounce" and "Hello" ― the songs from his 2013 release, "Hello" ― took multiple music streaming platforms by storm upon their release, proving the 72-year-old's enduring popularity.
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| Park Jin-young, a singer and the founder of JYP Entertainment / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
Picking up the baton, Park Jin-young ― a singer and the founder of K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment ― will bring out his new track, "Groove Back" on Nov. 21. He already premiered his song on KBS 2TV's "Music Bank" on Friday.
Featuring rapper Gaeko, "Groove Back" is an urban dance track, which was initially made to be used as a song for a dance challenge. But thanks to support from Park's fans, he decided to release it on different streaming sites. Numerous celebrities, including K-pop diva Sunmi, took part in the dance challenge.
After debuting with the album, "Blue City" in 1993, Park was soon catapulted to fame for his dancing prowess. The 50-year-old, who is best known for his mega-hits like, "Honey" (1998) and "I Have a Girlfriend" (2001), continued his musical activity even after establishing JYP in 1997, with his songs like "Who's Your Mama" (2015) gaining immense popularity. He is poised to hold a series of concerts in Seoul next month.
In addition, WDJ, a sub-unit of boy band Shinhwa, will also join the star-studded lineup, with its first mini-album, "Come To Life" arriving on the music scene on Dec. 6. WDJ is made up of Lee Min-woo, Kim Dong-wan and Jun Jin. Having debuted in 1998, Shinhwa is one of the longest-running Korean pop groups whose hits include, "Brand New" (2004).
On Nov. 22, singer BoA, who has 23 years of singing experience under her belt, is poised to drop a new mini-album titled, "Forgive Me." Boy band g.o.d will meet its fans through concerts next month ― which are held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its debut ― but does not plan to release a new album in 2022.
