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N C T H O L LY W O O D

T H E F I R S T E V E R A M E R I C A N K- P O P G R O U P

June2021

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NCT LABEL LOOKING TO K-POP GROUP IN NEW C

SM Entertainment & MGM Worldwide Television Group have teamed up for the series, which will scout young American men for the new group NCT-Hollywood. In the latest business deal to underscore the globalization of K-pop, MGM Worldwide Television Group is partnering with Korea’s SM Entertainment to develop a competition series to scout young American

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men to form a U.S.-based K-pop group. To be more precise, the new boy group, NCT-Hollywood, will be the latest subunit of SM’s hit “concept” group NCT, a growing collective of members (currently numbering 23) who can be combined into various subunits: NCT 127 (Seoul-based), NCT Dream (originally a teen-only group) and WayV (China-based).

NCT Talks ‘Resonance Pt. 1’ & Their Biggest Wish in 2020 The talent search will be open to “America’s most talented emerging artists,” who are males aged 13 to 25. Contestants will be flown to Seoul for K-pop boot-camp training at the SM campus, where each episode they will compete in dance, vocal and style tests and will be judged and mentored by SM founder

Soo-Man Lee as well as various current NCT members. “I look forward to making an unconventional audition show that all music fans around the world can enjoy,” Lee said in a statement. “I hope the audience enjoys watching the journey of new stars being born in Hollywood, that will be promoted as NCT-Hollywood in the global market in the future.”

O FORM U.S. BASED COMPETITION SERIES

Plenty of K-pop artists have hailed from different nationalities and Asian ethnicities (NCT includes members who are Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean American and Korean Canadian), and competition shows to form new groups are a fixture of Korean television. However, a series produced in collaboration with an American company to form a U.S.based K-pop group would be

a first; in February, BTS’ company Big Hit Entertainment (now known as HYBE) announced a strategic partnership with Universal Music Group to do the same thing. Can Big Hit & Universal Music Create the Next BTS on US TV? “This series is exactly the type of innovative programming that MGM is committed to creating on a global scale,”

MGM Television chairman Mark Burnett said in a statement. “K-pop is more than a genre of music; it’s a cultural phenomenon and we’re so excited to partner with the incredible SooMan Lee and the team at SM to bring K-pop to the U.S.!” MGM’s current unscripted series include NBC’s The Voice, CBS’ Survivor, ABC’s Shark Tank and Fox’s Beat Shazam. Founded in 1995, SM Entertainment

is one of K-pop’s traditional “Big 3” agencies/labels, birthing such major artists as Super Junior, Girls Generation, Shinee, Exo, Red Velvet and SuperM. Today, K-pop is a $5 billion global industry that generates more than 20 billion downloads and streams worldwide, with more than 62 million listeners tuning into the genre every month on Spotify alone.

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AUDITIONING TO BECOME A TRAINEE Any person wanting to become a K-pop idol must go through the audition and trainee process. As a Trainee you will solidify your singing and dancing skills for your debut as an Idol. Here are a few simple steps you can follow to feel more comfortable at your audition.

Research which company you would like to audition for.

Some of the major K-pop companies are SM, JYP, YG, Cube, LOEN, Pledis, Woolim, and BigHit. Some companies are focused on trainees who match a certain aesthetic and already know how to sing and dance, while others don’t mind taking someone who looks a

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little different from the norm or who needs more training in a particular area. You could audition for every opportunity you come across, but that might get expensive and time-consuming. It’s a good idea to find the company that seems most likely to accept you and focus your attention on their auditions. It’s also good to note that if you’re under 14, a legal guardian will need to attend or signoff on the audition for you.

really strong skill and a familiarity with everything else. For example, if you are strongest at dancing, take classes and hone that skill as best as you can, but also don’t neglect to work on your singing and rapping, too. No matter where you end up, you’ll be taking hours and hours of classes for all of the skills needed to be a K-pop idol. But having a strength when you set out to addition could help you stand out to the producers.

Become an expert in your skill and be confident when you audition.

Most K-pop trainees are great at one of the following skills: singing, dancing, or rapping. Make sure to have one

Think about where your talents shine, and then make your song selections based off of that talent. For example, if

Prepare 3 songs for an audition, 1 of which should be Korean.

you’re great at rapping and dancing, choose 1 song that is in Korean that showcases your rapping and dancing skills, choose another that exhibits another type of dancing, and then choose a song that you absolutely love—the producers will get a chance to see your skill and your passion! Search YouTube for audition videos to check out what other hopeful trainees are doing.

Get headshots done to hand out or to send to producers. You can have these done professionally, or you can try to do them yourself at home. Take shots from the front and profile, and include photos of just your face as well as your

entire body. Wear minimal makeup for your headshots, as producers will want to see your face on its own.

Wear normal clothes and minimal makeup on your audition day.

The judges will want to see what your face and body look like without excessive makeup or body-altering clothes (like Spanx). K-pop trainees live in a world controlled by the company, and they will be choosing your clothes and styling your makeup and hair for you when you perform or make public appearances. Avoid wearing K-pop fan clothing—producers might assume you’re at the audition to get to see your idol.

Attend a live audition or submit an online audition if you’re overseas. There are tons of live auditions that take place all over the world, so chances are you can find one in your country to attend. If you can’t attend a live audition (or even if you can but want to submit more work), check out each company’s online audition forum at their websites. Online auditions are a great option for people hoping to be trainees! Live auditions are great for the experience and opportunity, too, but don’t discount the possibility of getting discovered through an online audition.

Be resilient - it can take a long time to get accepted as a trainee! A lot of people audition time after time after time before they finally get chosen to be a trainee. If you get feedback from an audition, make sure to incorporate it before your next one. For example, if a judge says that you need to work on your vocal strength, start seeing a vocal coach to work on that. Don’t worry if you’re older and still not a trainee. Lots of K-pop idols didn’t get started in a company until they were in their late teens. Keep working on your skills and attending auditions

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PREPARING FOR TOUR

NEO CITY – The Origin was the first solo concert tour of South Korean boy band NCT 127. The tour was officially announced on December 21, 2018 with tickets going on sale on December 27, 2018. The tour began in Seoul’s KSPO Dome on January 26, 2019 and initially visited 7 cities in Asia. The world tour extension began on April 24, 2019 in Newark and toured North America, and continued in Latin America, Asia and Europe before ending in Singapore on July.

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BTS RELEASE “BUT SON

After weeks of having fans on the verge of a meltdown with concept pictures and teaser trailers, BTS finally released “Butter,” their highly-anticipated 2021 single. One of their goals was to make a song of the summer — and they definitely came through. Their latest English-language track comes right on the heels of the success of their latest album BE, which earned the group a Grammy nomination as well two no. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 for singles “Dynamite”

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and “Life Goes On.” The music video (which has already surpassed 50 million views in 8 hours), opens with the group in a black-and-white shot, looking dashing in suits before cutting to several brightly-lit sets. BTS pose for mug shots, mischievously dance in a gymnasium, freestyle in an elevator, and show love to their ARMY of fans while sporting monochrome mod pieces with contrasting textures and silhouettes from various designers the likes of Alexander McQueen,

Simone Rocha x H&M, Ruslan Baginskiy, and Givenchy. Speaking of ARMY, BTS have returned to some older methods to reach out to their loyal fanbase due to the pandemic. In the press conference for “Butter,” BTS answered my question about their return to Korean variety shows, which they had taken a break from doing over the years as their global success mounted. “It’s not because we changed our thoughts or

mindsets,” Jimin responded. “Just like J-hope said earlier, just like many others, a lot of our plans got upended, and we could not meet our fans when we had to. And there were more constraints on what we could do, so we just found a way to do what we can do and we just thought a lot about what we could do. We appeared in a lot of shows… to communicate with the fans. I thought it could be a gift to our fans.” That energy is on “Butter,” too, a song that is dancey

TTER,” A SYNTH-POP NG OF THE SUMMER

and cool in a different way than the boisterous glee of “Dynamite.” It’s a retro, synth-heavy ‘80s pop track that opens with a hard bass line (very reminiscent of early 2000s Daft Punk) that was written by Rob Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, Alex Bilowitz, Sebastian Garcia, Jenna Andrews, and Ron Perry. Group leader RM wrote the rap lines, saying in the press conference: “There were rap parts that didn’t suit us, so I participated thinking that it would be good to adjust

them to our style.” Not only does BTS’ “Butter” borrow lyrical wordplay from influential songs like “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson, “U Got It Bad” by Usher (who is a huge inspiration to Jimin), and “Ice On My Wrist” by rap mogul Master P, it also displays that BTS are perfectly aware of their own icon status — they’ve got that superstar glow, after all. Like Suga raps in the song, “hate us, love us” the statistics don’t lie. The

group were recognized as 2020’s IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, have multiple no. 1 albums under their belts, and their name is synonymous with breaking records. “Butter” is a fusion of their many talents, the swagger and confidence of “Mic Drop” and “Cypher Pt. 4” disguised in the feel good, carefree vibe of “Dynamite.” In their recent Rolling Stone cover interviews, the group discussed doing the hard work to lay the foundations of their success

and build their legacy. (“I think we are still able to draw upon the things that we talked about when we were still hungry,” Suga told RS. “So we can maintain that work ethic and stay hungry, even if we change and develop as people. Now, instead of hungry, I think we’re more hangry!”) BTS know exactly who they are — and even if the western music industry has turned up late to the party, the septet will keep taking over you for years to come.

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White Fleece Zip-Up Jacket Hyunjin - Stray Kids 55.90$

Black and White V-Neck Vest J-Hope - BTS 31.90$ 10

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Orange Checkered Shirt Haechan - NCT 28.90$

DRESS LIKE YOUR FAVORITE K-IDOL

FIND MORE AT FASHIONCHINGU.COM K-IMPACT

The photoshoot ended earlier than planned. The ‘Ok Cut’ came out really quickly. It was enjoyable as it’s been about 2 years since I had an individual magazine shoot. I am glad I can greet everyone after a long time. I sent the pictures I took today to our members real-time, and they all said the pictures came out really cool. You must be very busy from <Taste of Love> promotions. It’s your 10th Mini Album right? That’s right. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had such hectic schedules. <Taste of Love> is an album filled with stories about love. They are songs which anyone who is in love right now can relate to. No matter what kind of love it is. The title “Alcohol-Free” is already very unique. It’s a song with a little bit of wit, that a person who cannot drink alcohol can still get drunk on our song? There are 3 album versions, “Taste”, “Fallen”, “In Love” and they are all very different. Just like cocktails with different flavours. You’re right. If you look at our title track lyrics, a lot of cocktail names are mentioned. Unlike other kinds of alcohol, you can drink cocktails lightly during the day or night, and they have a wide variety of colors. I think our MV represents this context pretty well on how we start from the Day and end at Night. It’s the same album, but just like Day and Night, we decorated the versions with slightly different concepts, similar to how cocktails have diverse colors too. Personally I like the “Fallen” version because of its dark color vibes.

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I’m curious about what cocktail you like. To be honest, I don’t really drink cocktails. There are so many different types and I didn’t really have a lot of opportunities to drink them. The colors in the MV are really pretty. How was it filming in Jeju Island? I was really excited about going to Jeju Island in the first place. It’s been a long time since we got on an airplane. (Laughs) The weather was neither too hot nor too cold throughout the whole filming so it was really nice. I was so excited so I took a lot of selcas with our members too. Even though you rode so many airplanes before COVID-19 broke out? (Laughs) It’s been almost a year since we last rode an airplane. My heart was beating while packing our luggage and going to the airport. It was to the point I kept pondering on what to wear for our “Airport Fashion”. I think I missed it a little. Is there any special location or restaurant that you remember? Ah, I don’t remember the name, but there is one. Their menu changes everyday and it was so popular it would be difficult to go in if you don’t make a reservation. It was even better because it made me remember the taste of home-cooked food. What is Taste of Love to Jeongyeon? Sweet and Salty? When it’s sweet you think of a salty taste, and when it’s a little salty you miss the sweetness. It’s also the taste of being unable to stop and your hand keeps reaching for it.

Isn’t it just because you usually like Sweet and Salty taste? That’s also true. (Laughs) If you had to pick one, what would be this album’s Killing Part? Chaeyoung’s rap in “Alcohol-Free”. She really did a great job replicating the vibes in PD-nim (JYP)’s Recording Guide of the lyrics ‘What’s the name of this drink anyway’. I heard he was as happy while explaining the choreography. That’s right. He showed us the dance while feeling 120% of the song. We also tried really hard to recreate the same vibes but it wasn’t easy. At this point shouldn’t JYP’s version of “A l c o h o l Free” be released on YouTube too? I really want to release it. (Laughs) I feel that he expressed the song better than us.

JEONGYEON ESQUIRE KOREA

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