Showdown: K-pop stars battle for top chart spots
November will be a month of cutthroat competition for K-pop singers, with dozens of big names tuning up to vie for top spots on music charts. Included in the line-up are EXO, MAMAMOO and IZ*ONE.
EXO
K-pop supergroup EXO is poised to release its sixth studio album “OBSESSION” on Nov. 27.
The EP will contain 10 crossgenre numbers, but the lead track’s title is being kept under wraps.
The band’s latest album “Love Shot” hit shelves last December. With the album, EXO became a “quintuple million-seller,” meaning five of its albums have sold over a million copies.
Six members — Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun, Chen and Kai — will return this time, excluding Xiumin and D.O., who are doing their obligatory military service.
MAMAMOO
The four-piece girl group MAMAMOO will also return with its second full-length album “reality in BLACK” on Nov. 14.
The quartet’s agency RBW said the release is about a parallel universe, where the members are not singers, but women with different occupations.
The group — Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein and Hwasa — is appearing on Mnet’s competition show “Queendom.”
IZ*ONE
IZ*ONE will join the returning line-up on Nov. 11 with its first studio album “BLOOM*IZ.”
Fronted by lead number “FIESTA,” the EP has 11 B-side numbers including the moombahton-flavored “DREAMLIKE,” the dance-pop “DAYDREAM,” the tropical dance song “OPEN YOUR EYES” and the bright “SPACESHIP.”
IZ*ONE is a Korean-Japanese project group comprising 12 finalists from TV music survival competition show “Produce 48” on Mnet.
Its Korean members are Lee Chae-yeon, Kim Min-ju, Kim Chae-won, Kang Hye-won, Kwon Eun-bi, Ahn Yoo-jin, Choi Ye-na, Jo Yu-ri and Jang Won-young, while its Japanese members are Miyawaki Sakura, Honda Hitomi and Yabuki Nako.