ATEEZ performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Nov. 5, 2022. Steve Carlson/STAFF. OAKLAND — On the heels of two arena shows in Seoul, South Korea, K-pop up-and-comers ATEEZ kicked off the North American portion of their second arena tour of 2022 at Oakland Arena on Saturday, giving Bay…

Blackpink, “Born Pink.” Marking its sixth year as a group, Blackpink is back with its anticipated sophomore album, Born Pink. The quartet comprised of Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa shows that being one of the biggest names in K-Pop has its perks. While what fans (BLINKs) have come to know…

Jackson Wang, “Magic Man.” Known as the face of K-pop group Got7, Jackson Wang is no stranger to success. His sophomore album, MAGIC MAN, follows an alt-rock pumping lifeline that reverberates throughout. The theme of each track is about letting go and giving into seduction. Exploring another side of…

Stray Kids perform at Oakland Arena in Oakland on July 12, 2022. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. OAKLAND — It would be reductive to call Stray Kids the hot new K-pop group on the block. For one thing, they’ve released nine EPs and two full albums since 2017. Their latest, March EP Oddinary,…

K-pop star BamBam performs at halftime of the Golden State Warriors’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center in San Francisco on April 7, 2022. Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO —K-pop superstar BamBam wowed a sold-out crowd of fans watching NBA basketball between the Golden State Warriors and…

TWICE performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Feb. 18, 2022. Courtesy JYP Entertainment. OAKLAND — K-pop group TWICE sold out all five initially announced U.S. shows on its current “III” tour within a few hours of tickets going on sale. The nine women in the group had…

The Dreaming is the second all-English album release by Monsta X, following last year’s All About Luv. This new album showcases the South Korean pop group’s versatility and is full of uptempo songs about heartbreak and revival. The Dreaming Monsta X Starship Entertainment, Dec. 10 7/10 The album intro,…

Lee Chae-rin, better known as CL, is one of the most formidable female artists in the K-Pop industry to date. After breaking away from the popular second generation mega girl group 2NE1 (YG Entertainment) to focus on her own work, CL continued to make a name for herself by…

88rising founder and CEO Sean Miyashiro, courtesy. Sean Miyashiro looks at 88rising’s partnership with the makers of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as a case of “worlds colliding.” The 40-year-old CEO and president of the wildly successful Asian art and music company—a San Jose native—said…

Insert Foot discovers BTS. Editor’s note: Work with us here… Mr. Insert Foot, in many ways, is like RIFF’s curmudgeonly dad. He’s open to new ideas, but it takes a while! Next month, we’ll talk to him about the 23-member NCT. I was messing around the other day (working)…