Korean boy bands are set for a four-way clash in March. Cube Entertainment act BTOB has already released a pre-release cover version and charted on several music lists.

GOT7, JYP Entertainment’s first hip-hop boy band, is releasing its album teasers, with one of them recording more than a million views in just one day.

YG Entertainment’s Winner is said to be joining the fray after a yearlong hiatus. TS Entertainment’s B.A.P, which debuted 6 years ago, will also be involved.

1. BTOB

BTOB has already charted a host of music lists after its pre-release cover came out last Sunday, “Someday.” The song had a strong start. It took just an hour for BTOB to oust Twice’s “Knock Knock” from the top spot. Fans are now looking forward to four other songs from the album. BTOB will release its 10th EP, “Feel’eM,” next Monday.

The lead song of the EP is called, “Movie,” a dance tune arranged with piano and brass. Jung Il-hoon joined the song writing and arranging process as well. “Movie” deals with a man who falls in love with a heartbroken woman.

BTOB is expected to hold its third official fan event, “BTOB’s Secret Room,” the day before its release. BTOB is planning on introducing the songs during the fan event. The event will be held at Korea University.

2. JYP Entertainment’s GOT7


GOT7 is rapidly gaining attention too. GOT7 released the trailer for its new series Tuesday, and it soon went viral.

The trailer marked more than 1 million views on YouTube in a single day. GOT7 will continue the series with its new album release, “Flight Log: Arrival,” on March 13.

Other teasers for each of the members, and for the group as a whole, will be unveiled as the release date gets closer. They are named, “Album User Guide” and “Album Spoiler”

GOT7’s new EP, “Flight Log: Arrival,” has eight songs, including “Never Ever,” “Paradise,” “Go Higher” and “Q.” The song, “Never Ever,” is drawing great attention as JYP producer and CEO Park Jin-young was involved in the songwriting process.

3. YG’s Winner


Rumors say Winner is aiming at putting out a new album in March, but nothing has been confirmed. YG Entertainment confirmed in early December that the members are planning on coming back early this year, but gave no further details.

Winner’s last album came out in January 2016, but the group did not get many opportunities to perform. Nam Tae-hyun’s departure from the group also threatened to dent its popularity as well.

The return of Winner looked more likely after the members were seen together in California. The members were filming their music video for the album, according to sources.

4. B.A.P


B.A.P, which formed in 2011 under TS Entertainment, will also release its new album Tuesday.

TS Entertainment gathered a whole roster of famous producers for B.A.P’s new EP. Those who joined the producing process are Steven Lee and Selena Gomez, the music directors of Iron Man 2, Jimmy Richard, a music producer who wrote songs for Miley Cyrus, and Choi Jin-suk, a famous Korean K-pop composer.

TS Entertainment has also recruited Hong Won-ki, a well-known Korean music video producer to help with the EP. Hong Won-ki has produced the video for the lead song, “Wake Me Up.” The video teaser was released Tuesday and has been viewed over 160,000 times on YouTube.

“Wake Me Up,” features guitar riffs and electronic sounds. B.A.P’s new EP, “Rose,” has three songs.

The album design will also be a treat that Fans can look forward to. TS Entertainment has said the album will come out in two different designs, one with a red rose on the cover and one with a white rose with a black background.

After the release, B.A.P will start its world tour with three concerts at Bluesquare Samsung Card Hall, beginning Tuesday.



By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)