2024 felt like a change year for many things in K-Pop. With BTS largely in the Army, the news was largely elsewhere in the K-Pop world. Here’s just a brief breakdown of some of the many releases, tours, and news stories that defined the year in K-Pop!
January
SISTAR19’s Comeback
Second Gen sub-unit SISTAR19, of SISTAR fame, made a comeback with the appropriately titled ‘No More (Ma Boy)’ which echoed back to their debut single ‘Ma Boy’.
February
Babymonster Release First EP Babymons7er
Following a release of singles beginning with “Batter Up” in 2023, Babymonster released their first EP “Babymons7er” which has gone double platinum according to KMCA. Babymonster is the newest girl group under YG Entertainment, consisting of 7 mmembers.
TWICE release 13th EP “With You-th”
2024’s been an incredible year for Twice with solo releases from Nayeon and Tzusyu later in the year. Prior to those releases however, Twice released their 13th EP “With You-th” which was led off by the single “One Spark.” TWICE’s “With You-th” became the third K-Pop album to achieve #1 on Billboard 200 (preceeded by Blackpink’s “Born Pink” and NewJeans’ “Get Up in 2022 and 2023 respectively.)
March
ILLIT Pulls In Fans with Debut “Magnetic”
Belift Lab’s girl group Illit debuts with “Magnetic”, one of the most popular songs of the year. “Magnetic” was recognized by several music publications, NME and NPR, as one of the best songs of the year.
IU Kicks Off HEREH World Tour; First Tour Dates in U.S.
IU ‘HEREH’ World Tour
Beloved solo pop singer I.U., at times known by South Koreans as the Nation’s Little Sister and the Nationals Sweetheart, kicked off her first world tour in five years, including her first ever performances in North America. IU’s tour stops sold out in minutes and according to Billboard was the sixth bestselling K-Pop tour of 2024, with over 92, 000 tickets sold and accruing $16.6 million dollars in revenue.
April
K-Pop Rocks Coachella
K-Pop has increasingly become a robust presence at Coachella, the annual music festival known as much for the influencer culture that thrives there as the music. This year in particular The Rose, Ateez, Peggy Gou, and Le Sserafim made splashes with their music (with some controversy, or perhaps non-controversy over Le Sserafim’s set. Though it’s hard to say whether Coachella truly gives K-Pop artists the footprint they may be looking for in America, I think it’s fair that at this point Coachella needs K-Pop more than K-Pop needs Coachella.
Midas Touch Propels Kiss of Life’s Career
Though perhaps it was inevitable Kiss of Life would leave nugu status (nugu = lesser known K-Pop groups); Midas Touch cemented their success and helped propel Kiss of Life into one of the defining groups of 2024. Singles such as “Sticky” helped continue their rise.
HYBE launches audit into ADOR and Min Hee-jin
Members of NewJeans captured from live video
2024 has been defined by many stories, but no story has stayed front and center as much as that of the internal fighting with HYBE, ADOR, and Min Hee-jin. It was discovered on April 22nd that Hybe had launched an internal audit into ADOR, then run by former CEO Min Hee-jin, who helped oversee the rise of NewJeans. Following this news a series of competing press announcements and press conferences followed alongside lawsuits and legal inquries and investigation. This is an ongoing story, but as of publish date CEO Min Hee-jin’s stood down, though the end of the lawsuits is far from over. NewJeans themselves, largely perceived as the victim of this infighting, has remained steadfast behind Min Hee-jin, and surprised fans across the world first with their improptu livestream addressing their concerns against ADOR and Hybe, followed by Hanni’s talk with the Ministry of Labor, and more recently their certified letter suggesting they may cancel their contract if their requests weren’t met.
This conflict will undoubtedly continue in 2025, but it’ll forever be tied to 2024 as the year this all started.
May
RM Releases 2nd Studio Album “Right Place, Wrong Person”
RM’s 2nd Studio Album “Right Place, Wrong Person”
Though RM was enlisted (and still is as of this writing) in South Korea’s military service, his second solo album debuted to much acclaim in Spring. RM is one of the last BTS members in the military, leading to a much hyped 2025 for BTS fans, and despite being away the album achieved critical and commercial success.
Aespa Drops 1st Studio Album “Armageddon”; Hits “Supernova” and “Armageddon”
SM Entertainment’s Aespa achieved new heights this year thanks to their incredible bombastic hits, their instantly iconic dances, and their incredibly elaborate (if not hard to find limited edition) album packages – complete with a working CD player! “Supernova” and “Armageddon” became instant favorites for fans, and would be enough for any artist to cement an epic year; however, the girls raised the ante by releasing TikTok favorite “Whiplash” in October as well, to get you looking back at their incredible work once again.
ATEEZ Releases EP ‘Golden Hour Pt. 1’ & “WORK“
ATEEZ, KQ Entertainment’s eight member boy group, hit new levels of popularity with their release of their EP Golden Hour: Part.1 and their infectious track “WORK”, which was only matched by the watchability of their MV for the song. Though “Work” made Billboards list of Best K-Pop Songs of 2024 (So Far) it dropped off their final list (overtaken by ATEEZ single “Ice on My Teeth.”) Any other year this would be a contender for #1, which just shows how strong a year for K-Pop 2024 has been!
June
Dajeong Leaves PIXY; Debuts Solo Music as U_Chae
PIXY released their last EP ‘The Voice’ in 2023; however, following this however, there had been little official word regarding the group till it was announced by Dajeong that she would be leaving PIXY. Shortly thereafter in September, Lola also announced she’d be departing the group. Both members also decided going forward to go by new names, Lola as Choi Yu Jeong and Dajeong as U_Chae, and U_Chae has since released her first comeback as a solo member titled “AWAKE”, which accompanied a slot on the K-Pop Breakout Tour.
U_Chae is among our list of Nugu Artists We Hope Breakout in 2025.
July
Stray Kids Eat with “ATE”
Stray Kids, the incredibly popular boy group under JYP and Republic Records, released their 14th EP titled “ATE”. “ATE” was kicked off by the lead single “Chk Chk Boom”, that instantly became a song of the Summer contender. (The music video also featured some unlikely cameos.) Stray Kids followed up the EP with a series of shows, including a headlining spot at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
Katseye Breaks Out with “Touch”
KATSEYE (Source: Netflix)
K-Pop groups have for some time consisted of members of multiple ethnicities and countries of origin; however, it feels like Katseye’s breakout with “Touch” – an absolutely addictive track – is truly the first time a K-Pop “global group”, based in Los Angeles no less, has really found success! This predated the Netflix documentary (itself rather controversial) surrounding the making of Katseye, and though it certainly won’t be the last global group (or even the last documentary in part about a global K-Pop group in 2024), we’ll still have to see if it’s truly changed the landscape or if Katseye’s success will be limited to their group only.
August
BTS Suga’s DUI Scooter Scandal
Marie Claire Korea, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps the most discussed story of the year, as anything that brings in BTS members becomes an even larger story, is that of Suga’s fine and license revocation for riding on his scooter while intoxicated. Suga apologized and paid a court ordered fine; however, many K-Pop fans (even non-ARMY) were curious if the penalty and especially the news attention was more intense than the crime would’ve warranted, especially given Suga’s high profile.
Taemin Returns with “Eternal”
Taemin (of SHINee fame) released his latest solo comeback with his new EP Eternal, which featured his singles “Sexy in the Air” and “Horizon”. Taemin also began his first world tour at the end of the month to promote his new release.
September
Tzuyu’s Debut EP Aboutzu Charts at #19 on Billboard Chart
Tzuyu (of Twice fame) released her debut solo EP “Aboutzu” which featured the lead-in single “Run Away”. Tzuyu’s EP charted at #19 on the billboard chart. Tzuyu is the third member of Twice to release music as a solo artist, following Nayeon and Jihyo.
October
SM Announces Seunghan’s Departure from Riize Amid Controversy
Riize at 2023 MAMA Awards
TenAsia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
SM Entertainment initially welcomed Seunghan back into Riize following a hiatus prompted by the release of controversial pre-debut photos. The company stated that he would rejoin the group in October, raising hopes among fans for his return. However, just two days later, SM announced that Seunghan would be permanently departing from the groups. The decision has sparked widespread backlash and counter-backlash within the K-pop community, both domestically and internationally.
2NE1 Reunites for 15th Anniversary
Iconic girl group 2NE1 reunited in 2024 to celebrate their 15th anniversary, which kicked off with a three-day concert at Seoul’s Olympic Hall. 2NE1 later teased a world tour in 2025, which promises to be one of the biggest tours and stories of K-Pop next year!
Rosé’s ‘APT’ Longest-Running Number-One Song of 2024
Rosé of Blackpink released her first single from her forthcoming solo album Rosie (released in December), which adapted the popular Korean drinking game for hit-making effect. Joined by Bruno Mars, her single became the longest-running number-one song of 2024.
G-Dragon Returns with “Power”
G-Dragon’s had remained rather quiet, at least musically, since 2017 when he released his last EP Kwon Ji Yong. Much of this was presumed to be due to the uncertainty of Big Bang, following Seungri’s participation in the Burning Sun Scandal as well as T.O.P.’s criminal arrest for marijuana; however, it could also have been time for a well-deserved break for BigBang’s leader and one of the hardest working performers in K-Pop. Fortunately for fans of G-Dragon, 2024 however seemed him back and as good as ever with his new release “Power!” Of course, this also just setup further one of our big stories for December.
November
NewJeans Announce They’ve Left ADOR
NewJeans Emergency Press Conference Nov. 28th
After months of back and forth between HYBE, ADOR, Min Hee-jin, and NewJeans, the members released an ultimatum requesting ADOR address specific grievances which per their contract needed to be addressed in 14 days time. As the deadline approached, with very little from ADOR in regards to a response, NewJeans announced they’ve terminated their contract with ADOR and would now be independent agents. ADOR pushed back and now legal filings have been made which will undoubtedly mean this will remain a story well into 2025.
December
Award Season in Full Swing; Aespa, Jungkook, Rosé, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, and Others Take Home Major Wins
For K-Pop in particular, the award season really centers on the final months of the year. With award ceremonies such as the MAMAs, the Asian Artist Awards, Asian Pop Music Awards, Korean Grand Music Awards (KGMA), and more, there has been plenty to celebrate! Aespa won big at the MAMAs, alongside Jungkook, while Le Sserafim won their first daesang for Performance of the Year Daesang at the 2024 Asian Artist Awards. NewJeans, a regular presence on the award circuit since their debut year, continued to win big despite the HYBE/ADOR controversy including wins for Best Performance for “How Sweet” as well as Singer of the Year at the Asian Artist Awards. Rosé and Bruno Mars won Song of the Year at the Asian Artist Awards.
G(I)-DLE Confirms Contract Renewal with CUBE at Melon Music Awards 2024
G(I)-DLE K-Pop group at Melon Music Awards 2024
Following weeks of online speculation that Soyeon, the leader of (G)I-dle, shut down the rumors of her departure by instead confirming alongside her members at the Melon Music Awards that the group had fully re-upped their contracts with CUBE. Members on-stage can be seen teary eyed as Soyeon confirmed the group would be stay together for sometime to come.
BigBang Reunites as Trio; Performs at MAMAs
Following G-Dragon’s return to the MAMAs, where he welcomed members Taeyang and Daesung to the stage, the trio reformed as BigBang and played a medley of their hits to the delight of fans and in particular it seems their younger peers.
