January saw new entries on the chart from Minnie, Duri, Polaris, and Taeyong.
Minnie’s new solo album Ocean Flower earned her a #1 with “Siren” in its second week, while Duri’s Hospital Playlist 2 OST “Rain and You” entered the chart at #72 in its first week and rose to #11 in its second. Taeyong’s pre-release single “Paranoia” off of his new album Blacklight debuted at #2, while Polaris’s much-anticipated comeback single “Black Swan” debuted at #13 with just over a day of tracking and rose to #7 the following week.
Weekly Top 20 for January:
Top 20 Week 1 (2021.12.26-2022.01.01)
2. Bbibbi - Minjung
6. Blueming by Minjung
7. Dear Santa by Suji, Eunah, & NPC
9. Decalcomanie by Selene
10. Yes or Yes by Candy
12. Four Seasons by Suji
14. What Do I Call You by Suji
18. Beautiful by Cloud
Top 20 Week 2 (2022.01.02-2022.01.08)
3. Bbibbi - Minjung
8. Blueming by Minjung
9. Yes or Yes by Candy
12. Dear Santa by Suji, Eunah, & NPC
15. Four Seasons by Suji
18. Beautiful by Cloud
Top 20 Week 3 (2022.01.09-2022.01.15)
1. Siren - Minnie
5. Bbibbi - Minjung
10. Blueming by Minjung
11. Yes or Yes by Candy
18. Four Seasons by Suji
19. Beautiful by Cloud
Top 20 Week 4 (2022.01.19-2022.01.22)
3. Siren - Minnie
5. Bbibbi - Minjung
12. Blueming by Minjung
13. Black Swan - Polaris
14. Yes or Yes by Candy
Top 20 Week 5 (2022.01.23-2022.01.29)
2. Paranoia - Taeyong
3. Siren - Minnie
5. Bbibbi - Minjung
7. Black Swan - Polaris
11. Rain and You - Duri (Hospital Playlist 2 OST)
13. Blueming by Minjung
15. Yes or Yes by Candy
The Gaon Chart Music Awards were held at Jamsil Arena on January 28 for the eleventh year.
Cloud took home Artist of the Year (Physical) - 1st Quarter for You Made My Dawn, Artist of the Year (Physical) - 4th Quarter for 1-1=0 (Nothing Without You), Artist of the Year (Digital) – November for “Beautiful”, and the Popularity Award.
Candy took home Artist of the Year (Digital) – April for “What is Love?” and Artist of the Year (Digital) – July for “Dance The Night Away”.
Polaris won Artist of the Year (Physical) – 2nd Quarter for Map of the Soul: Persona, the Social Hot Star of the Year Award, and the Retail Album of the Year for Map of the Soul: Persona, while labelmates Quantum were awarded the Hot Performance of the Year award.
Equinox were awarded Artist of the Year (Digital) – December (2020) for “Psycho”, while member Minjung won Music Steady Seller of the Year and Artist of the Year (Digital) – March for “Through The Night” and member Suji won Artist of the Year (Digital) – October for “Four Seasons”.
Ultraviolet won Artist of the Year (Digital) – June for “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and the World Rookie award.
Cloud, Candy, and Quantum performed at the ceremony, among others.
List of Winners:
Popularity Award: Cloud
Social Hot Star of the Year: Polaris
Hot Performance of the Year: Quantum
Music Steady Seller of the Year: “Through the Night” - Minjung
Retail Album of the Year: Polaris
World Rookie: Ultraviolet
Artist of the Year (Physical) - 1st Quarter: You Made My Dawn - Cloud
Artist of the Year (Physical) - 2nd Quarter: Map of the Soul: Persona - Polaris
Artist of the Year (Physical) - 4th Quarter: 1-1=0 (Nothing Without You) - Cloud
Artist of the Year (Digital) – December (2020): “Psycho” - Equinox
Artist of the Year (Digital) – March: “Through The Night” - Minjung
Artist of the Year (Digital) – April: “What is Love?” - Candy
Artist of the Year (Digital) – June: “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” - Ultraviolet
Artist of the Year (Digital) – July: “Dance The Night Away” - Candy
Artist of the Year (Digital) – October: “Four Seasons” - Suji
Artist of the Year (Digital) – November: “Beautiful” - Cloud
Gaon has released their latest chart update for the period of August 8 - August 14.
This week, Cloud have earned themselves their first number one entry on the chart and a hit comeback with the debut of their new release “Energetic”. All of their b-sides also charted, with “Burn It Up” at #6, “Wanna Be (My Baby)” at #9, “Always (Acoustic)” at #10, and “To Be One (Intro.)” at #18.
Among other new releases, Calypso’s August 12 release “We Ride” failed to enter the chart, while Equinox’s “Tiki-Taka (99%) comeback debuted at #8 on the chart despite its late-week release.
Candy’s and Ultraviolet’s summer hits “Dance The Night Away” and “DDU-DU DDU-DU” have dropped a spot each to #4 and #5 respectively. Ultraviolet’s “Forever Young” falls to #12.
Meanwhile, Lily’s “I’m So Sick” remains steady at #7 and Selene’s “Kill Bill” dropped five spots on this week’s chart to #11.
Polaris’s four-month old “Boy With Luv ft. Halsey” also remains in the top twenty despite dropping one spot to #17.
This week’s Gaon Chart top twenty:
1. Energetic by Cloud
4. Dance The Night Away by Candy
5. DDU-DU DDU-DU by Ultraviolet
6. Burn It Up by Cloud
7. I’m So Sick by Lily
8. Tiki-Taka (99%) by Equinox
9. Wanna Be (My Baby) by Cloud
10. Always (Acoustic) by Cloud
11. Kill Bill by Selene
12. Forever Young by Ultraviolet
17. Boy With Luv ft. Halsey by Polaris
18. To Be One (Intro.) by Cloud
29 MARCH — CLOUD has returned for their first music release since the news of all members renewing their contract in February. “Fallin’ Flower” is an elegant melodic synth track. The music video shows off the best of Cloud’s flower-like visuals and soft, prince-like charms.
The physical single includes three tracks: the title track and Japanese versions of Cloud’s song “Good To Me” and “Smile Flower”. The single album can be bought in three Limited Edition versions (A, B, and C), a Regular version, and a HEART version.
1 FEBRUARY — A compilation of buzzworthy news and activities in January 2023.
COMEBACKS
LILY kicked off the new year with the release of new mini-album Percent. As their return to a dance group after promoting with a band concept for their tenth anniversary comeback Reboot, Lily brought home wins on Show Champion (Jan. 11), MCountdown (Jan. 12), and Inkigayo (Jan. 15) in January for the lead single “%% (Eung Eung)”. The mini-album peaked at #3 in weekly sales on the Circle Chart and “%% (Eung Eung)” peaked at #17 on the weekly Circle Chart.
CLOUD released a new album in Japan (I Won’t Let You Go).
Catalyst member JACE made his solo debut on January 11 with his mini-album Tell Me. Peaking at #12 in its debut week on the Circle Chart, “2U” took home four music show wins over the course of promotions: one each on The Show (Jan. 24), Music Bank (Jan. 27), Show! Music Core (Jan. 28), and Show Champion (Feb. 1). Fans were excited to see Jace’s work as a choreographer on his solo album for “2U” (in part) and “Jealous” (in full), as well as a lyricist on “Gorgeous”, “Jealous”, and “Interview” in addition to contributing to the lyrics of “2U”.
The Base FM202.3 project got off to its start with a release from Titan member DURI. The song “Devil” was released onto streaming sites on January 28 with the music video released exclusively on the Homebase application for Duri’s personal fan subscribers.
CONCERTS
Lily welcomed the new year with fans on January 1 (their second night of their concert, which held its first night on December 31) at their Pink Collection: Red & White Seoul concert. The members won over their fans hearts once again with a set list of hits old and new and solo stages from each member.
Cloud took their Ode to You tour to North America in January with eight dates.
ULTRAVIOLET continued the Japanese dates of their In Your Area world tour with two January dates in Osaka, which were reportedly sold out.
TELEVISION
Several award shows aired in January, including the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Music Awards.
The new dating reality show Love Transit premiered on TVING on January 20 with Lily’s HAYI and Selene’s HYOJUNG as panelists. Each week, the panelists give their insights to guide the audience through the show’s love lines.
ENA drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, starring Polaris’s JAKE in the role of Lee Joonho, ended its run on January 12 with finale ratings of 17.5% nationwide. The drama topped the list of buzzworthy dramas in its final week, according to Good Data Corporation, and star Jake landed at the number two spot of most buzzworthy actors.
Equinox member MINJUNG made her return to acting in her second drama with the romantic comedy Our Beloved Summer, which debuted January 9 on SBS, in the female lead role of Kook Yeonseo.
FASHION & BRANDS
Several fashion magazines and brands tapped idols to help them ring in the new year. Arena Homme Plus Korea chose Polaris’s Jake to feature in a spread, while Vogue Hong Kong had Selene’s MIRAE as its cover star in her role as Bvlgari’s Asia-Pacific Ambassador. Mirae was also promoted to Hera Cosmetic’s Asia-Pacific ambassador in January, after being appointed their Korean model in 2022.
POLARIS released a commercial song as Hyundai ambassadors and three members made a surprise appearance singing a cover song for a Coca-Cola commercial. They additionally starred as models in a FILA campaign.
Shortly after making their debut in Japan, ARCADIA have already proven their demand in the region by landing a new gig as the face of an ABC Mart campaign for an exclusive Nike colorway.
Ultraviolet starred in a new Samsung campaign as brand ambassadors and attended a fansign event for the brand in Jakarta. They also starred in a global Adidas campaign with other celebrities from around the globe.
OTHER
For their debut anniversary, TITAN hosted a music video marathon at a cinema at Seoul and lucky fans who got tickets were greeted by the members in a surprise appearance. Their acapella rendition of “Universe” showing off their vocals for their fans created a buzz on social media.
CATALYST open a collaboration cafe in Shinjuku in the lead-up to their next Japanese comeback. The cafe remains open through February 19 for fans to buy merch and meals chosen by the members.
1 FEBRUARY — On January 31, BC Entertainment held a corporate briefing to share the plans for their idol groups in the upcoming year. The briefing was held by BC Entertainment CEO Kim Byungchul.
Kim Byungchul began to presentation with the word that is meant to drive the next year of activities for BC Entertainment in all of its fields: evolution. As one of the oldest idol companies in Korean entertainment, BC has long been held as a bastion of the foundation of idoldom, but Kim Byungchul acknowledged that any industry will evolve over the years and BC Entertainment and its artists intend to take the lead.
LILY was highlighted as an artist who has already shown BC Entertainment idols’ ability to successfully evolve. Though they debuted with the fresh and youthful “Into The World” and solidified their national girl group status with songs like “Gee”, Lily have evolved into a mature, elegant, and chic ‘Lily Crush’ image. The quartet even debuted a band concept for their tenth anniversary last year, proving that they have much left to show. During this segment, Kim Byungchul also highlighted the individual activities of the members last year, including HAYI’s work as a brand ambassador and variety personality and MICHELLE’s magazine modelling work. Kim Byungchul promised that Lily will continue to show the many sides of Lily’s ‘Lily Crush’ concept. In addition to the comeback and concerts they entered the new year with already, Lily are planned to meet with fans this year through the announced Tokyo concerts in February, another comeback later in the year, and meeting with fans through performance near the end of the year.
TITAN has also persisted through industry change-overs, remaining a top boy group amid a competitive landscape. Titan have evolved musically and conceptually while still staying true to their worldview in order to lead the boy group market and have become a reliable market asset in the process. Member DURI has been active with individual schedules in many sectors, from brand deals, music production, and variety, and has earned love for being a representative of the umchinah-like image. Duri also continued to release solo music in 2022 and was recently announced to be returning with a new mini-album in February of this year. Titan as a group will continue to release new music contents in the new year, including Korean and Japanese comebacks and a single through the recently announced FM202.3 project.
CLOUD debuted with a youthful, boy-next-door image in 2017 and their music has matured to reflect the maturing personalities of the members. In 2022, Cloud released their fifth full-length album An Ode, which signifying the deeper emotions and more sophisticated images of the members. Cloud’s touring and music activities will continue into 2023 and Cloud will pursue evolving their status as a global boy group with activities in Korean, Japanese, and English-speaking markets.
CANDY ended the presentation of the briefing dedicated to each of the company’s idol groups. Candy have become known for their namesake sweet-as-candy color pop image, but in 2023, the group will reach to be known as candy for the ears and eyes by challenging new concepts, colors, and sounds they have yet to explore while remaining true to their ‘Candy core’. The group will embark on their first world tour, with further details to be announced at a later date, and will promote in South Korea and Japan during the year.
