Zico, SEVENTEEN and NewJeans Set to Make Highly Anticipated Comebacks Amidst HYBE and Min Hee-jin Dispute

On April 22nd, HYBE launched an investigation against NewJeans producer Min Hee-jin, suspecting that ADOR’s executives, including CEO Min Hee-jin, were attempting to make the label independent from the corporation. HYBE demanded a shareholders’ meeting and sent a letter to Min Hee-jin, requesting her resignation. At present, HYBE holds 80% of shares in ADOR while CEO Min Hee-jin owns 18%. However, Min Hee-jin refuted the allegations of trying to take over management rights and accused ILLIT, a new girl group from another HYBE label Belift Lab, of plagiarizing her group New Jeans.

Despite the internal conflicts within HYBE, the company continues to operate under a multi-label system where each label has the freedom to create their own music and pursue diversity. This has caused concern among K-pop fans about the potential impact on artists from other labels. However, HYBE has reassured fans by consistently announcing comebacks for their artists despite the current unpleasant situation.

Initially, Zico, a singer and producer under HYBE’s KOZ Entertainment label, will make a comeback as a singer with his latest digital single “SPOT!”featuring BLACKPINK’s Jennie. Despite his role as a producer, Zico is also responsible for the overall production of BOYNEXTDOOR, the boy group introduced by KOZ in the previous year. As a result, “SPOT!”marks his first return in almost two years since the release of his 4th mini album “Grown Ass Kid”in July 2022.

The song “SPOT! (feat. JENNIE)”is a hip-hop track that captures Zico’s signature style, with the added contribution of popular artist Jennie as a featured artist. The collaboration between Zico, known for his skillful and polished rapping, and Jennie, whose alluring vocal tone is well-known, has generated much excitement. On April 21st, a recording studio video of the new song was shared on Zico’s official YouTube channel, quickly gaining popularity by claiming the top spot on the Korean YouTube Trending Chart for two consecutive days (April 22nd and 23rd).

On the 29th, SEVENTEEN will officially make their comeback with the release of their highly anticipated album, “17 IS RIGHT HERE”. This compilation album showcases the group’s past, present, and future with a total of 20 title songs from their Korean albums and 8 from their Japanese albums. The title track, “MAESTRO”, is a new song and each of the group’s three units also have their own tracks, including “LALALI”, “Spell”, and “Cheers to youth”. Fans can also look forward to a new version of their debut song, “Adore U (Inst.)”, which will be included in this special album.

The group’s upcoming music video for their title track “MAESTRO”will be the first to be released, followed by the music videos for their unit songs in sequential order. The hip-hop team’s “LALALI”will be released on May 10th, followed by the performance team’s “Spell”on May 17th and the vocal team’s “Cheers to youth”on May 24th. This marks the first time in seven years that SEVENTEEN will have music videos for their unit songs. Prior to their comeback, the group will also hold “SEVENTEEN TOUR ‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN TO SEOUL”at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on April 27th and 28th.

After a hiatus of 9 months, NewJeans will make their highly-anticipated return to the K-pop scene on May 24th with their double single “How Sweet” . The album will consist of four tracks, namely the title track “How Sweet” , “Bubble Gum” , and instrumental versions of both songs. Fans can start pre-ordering the album on April 26th, marking the group’s first comeback in Korea.

On June 21st, NewJeans will have their official Japan debut with a double single, featuring the tracks “Supernatural” and “Right Now” . The group will be releasing “Right Now” as a commercial CM song in both Korea and Japan this May, prior to the Japanese single’s release. Although this is a Japanese single, it will also be distributed in Korea and globally. To celebrate their Japan debut, NewJeans will perform at Tokyo Dome and hold their second fanmeeting, “Bunnies Camp 2024 Tokyo Dome” , on June 26th and 27th. The group has plans for new music release in the second half of this year and a world tour in 2025.