K-BUZZ

RIIZE Makes History: First K-Pop Boy Group to Ignite Lollapalooza South America

K-BUZZ

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 8:48

ITZY's Yuna takes a bold step into solo territory with her debut album Ice Cream, showcasing her versatile charm through bubblegum pop melodies that capture a feel-good energy. The young artist opens up about the challenges of carrying entire songs with just her voice and credits fellow member Yeji for emotional support during the process. Meanwhile, BTS continues their global domination as their Netflix special tops charts in seventy-seven countries and their album Arirang sells nearly four million copies on day one. Plus, rising group RISE makes history as the first K-pop boy group to perform at Lollapalooza South America, while the film The Man Who Lives with the King breaks all-time Korean box office records.


Stay connected with K-BUZZ for your daily dose of Korean entertainment news!

Visit us at https://www.kbuzz.net for more updates, episode archives, and additional content.

Love the show? Leave us a review and help other K-pop and K-drama fans discover K-BUZZ. Your support helps us keep bringing you the latest from Korea's entertainment scene every day.

Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you in the next episode!

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to K-Buzz, your daily source for the latest Korean entertainment news.

SPEAKER_00

We're your hosts bringing you all the hottest updates from the K-pop and K-drama world.

SPEAKER_01

Today is March 23rd, 2026, and we've got some incredible stories to share with you.

SPEAKER_00

Let's dive right in.

SPEAKER_01

It's Yuna has officially launched her solo career with the release of her debut album Ice Cream on March 23rd. The album showcases Yuna's versatile charm through four tracks, including the bubblegum pop title song that delivers an addictive, feel-good energy, perfect for driving or commuting. At her press conference, Yuna shared that preparing solo material was challenging, describing the process of filling an entire song with just her voice as a significant learning experience. She expressed gratitude to fellow Itzy member Yeji, who visited the music video set and moved her to tears with her support, and emphasized her desire to show fans how much she's grown since debuting at age 15.

SPEAKER_00

BTS continues to dominate global charts following their comeback with their Netflix special BTS Comeback Live, A Ray Rang, reaching number one in 77 countries and regions worldwide. The group's fifth full-length album, Ah Ray Rang, sold over 3.98 million copies on its first day alone. While the title track Swim claimed the top spot on Spotify's daily top songs global chart for two consecutive days. International media outlets, including Rolling Stone, Billboard, and BBC, have extensively covered the Comeback, with Rolling Stone praising the album for emphasizing the group's Korean roots while exploring bold new musical territories. The Comeback special marked the first time Netflix has livestreamed a solo artist's performance, cementing BTS's status as a global phenomenon after their three-year, nine-month hiatus.

SPEAKER_01

BTS has achieved another streaming milestone as their song Life Goes On surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify on March 23rd. The track, released in November 2020 as the title song from their seventh mini album, BE, delivers a message that despite having to stop during difficult times, life continues moving forward. This marks BTS's sixth song to reach the billion stream milestone on the platform, joining previous hits like Fake Love, Boy with Love, Dynamite Butter, and My Universe. The achievement demonstrates the group's enduring popularity and the lasting impact of their music across global streaming platforms.

SPEAKER_00

Trot singer Im Young Woon continues his unprecedented dominance on the Idol chart, securing first place in the weekly ratings for the 260th consecutive week. For the week of March 16th through 22nd, Im Young Wung received 320,438 votes, far outpacing second place Lee Chanwon, who garnered 74,854 votes. In the likes category, which measures actual fan engagement, Im Young Woon also led with 32,810 likes. The singer is preparing to meet fans at his upcoming I'm Hero, The Stadium 2. Concert scheduled for September at Goyang Stadium.

SPEAKER_01

K-pop Group Rise made history as the first K-pop boy group to perform at Lollapalooza South America, taking stages in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil between March 14th and 21st. The group delivered live performances with band accompaniment and handheld microphones, performing hits like Get a Guitar, Talk Saxie, Siren, Impossible, and Boom Boom Bass. They actively engaged with local audiences by communicating in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, earning coverage from major South American media outlets, including Argentina's Claren and Phylanews, Chile's TVN and La Tercera, and Brazil's TV Global. Houston Powell, Lollapalooza's general manager, personally met with the members and expressed interest in their performance, highlighting the group's growing international presence.

SPEAKER_00

The film, The Man Who Lives With the King, continues its record-breaking theatrical run, surpassing 14.75 million admissions and claiming the top spot in all-time box office revenue. Over the weekend of March 20th through 22nd, the film attracted 803,679 viewers, maintaining its number one position for seven consecutive weeks, despite the release of Hollywood blockbuster Project Hail Mary. The historical drama has now surpassed the admissions records of Ode to My Father and, along with the Gods, The Two Worlds, and with accumulated revenue of 142.5 billion one, it has overtaken Extreme Job as the highest-grossing Korean film of all time. The film stars Yu Hai Jin as a village chief and Park Ji-hoon as King Dan Jong, telling the story of their unlikely friendship that transcends social class.

SPEAKER_01

NCT Wish announced their comeback with their first full-length album Ode to Love, set for release on April 20th. The album will contain 10 tracks, including the title song of the same name, showcasing the group's evolving musical identity with enhanced clarity. The announcement comes on the heels of their previous album, Color, which achieved over 1.47 million sales and marked their second consecutive million seller, while also topping major domestic charts including Mellon's Hot 100 and China's QQ Music Rising Chart. The group will hold encore concerts for their first concert tour from April 17th through 19th before the album release.

SPEAKER_00

Big Bang's TOP is collaborating with world-renowned artists for his first full-length album, Another Dimension, set for release on April 3rd. Legendary American painter and layout artist Ed Rusher, often called a living master, has created the album's main cover artwork, bringing his sophisticated visual sensibility to the project. Additionally, Chae Kyung-soon, the art director behind Netflix's global hit series Squid Game, is overseeing the overall design and music video art direction for the album. The agency stated that TOP will demonstrate his limitless spectrum through collaborations that break down the boundaries between music and visual art.

SPEAKER_01

Park JBM's boy group Longshot surprised fans with the unexpected release of their new EP training day on March 23rd at 6 p.m. The special album captures the dreams and passion of the members' pre-debut trainee days, offering a different side from their powerful debut EP Shot Callers and earlier Four Show Boys mixtape. The five-track album includes solo songs from all members, featuring Lewis's RB pop track Good Girls, recorded when he was just 14, Wu Jin's trendy Boo Thang, featuring Park J. Beom and Cha Cha Malone, Oyle's acoustic pop Summarize, Ryol's UK Hip Hop Style For Us, and the group track Vanilla Days. Longshot previously made waves by surpassing 100 million Spotify streams just 38 days after their January debut.

SPEAKER_00

That wraps up today's episode of K-Buzz.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for tuning in to get your daily dose of Korean entertainment news. Don't forget to subscribe to stay updated on all the latest happenings in the K-pop and K drama world. Until then, stay tuned to all things Korean Entertainment, and we'll catch you tomorrow.