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[Trans] [Exclusive] BigHit Seeks to Identify the Leaker Behind BTS's ARIRANG Album... U.S. Court Grants Discovery Request

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Information about the first comeback album following the members' military discharge was leaked in advance...  BigHit requests the user's identity through a U.S. court. After X relocated its headquarters, the company refiled the case in a Texas court. "The user must be notified firs." BigHit Music, an agency under HYBE, recently won approval from a U.S. court for its discovery seeking to indentify the individual responsible for leaking BTS's full-length album, ARIRANG. While K-pop artists have increasingly turned to U.S. courts to uncover the identities of so-called "cyber wreckers" and anonymous social media users overseas, this is the first publickly known case in which such a request has been granted by a Texas court rather than a California court. According to an investigation by Sisa Journal on August 14, the U.S. District Court for the Western District to Texas granted BigHit's discovery request against X (formerly Twitter) on August 5. As a re...

Jimin's Explanation to Fans Goes Viral Amid Controversy Over BTS Members Attending Chris Brown Concert

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  All day yesterday, BTS has unexpectedly become the center of a heated debate after some members became involved in a controversy related to Chris Brown. Namjoon and Hobi were seen flying to Canada to attend a concert that was part of Usher and Chris Brown's R&B tour. Hobi later shared a moment of the two of them fully enjoying the lively atmosphere of the concert on his Instagram story, while Namjoon also reposted it and shared additional photos from the event. In addition, Just one day earlier, Taehyung and Jungkook listened to three Chris Brown songs during a livestream following their second concert in Baltimore and appeared to be genuinely enjoying them. Notably, Chris Brown has been notorious for years because of allegations and incidents involving violence, sexual misconduct, and other criminal offenses. Meanwhile, BTS has always been praised for promoting positive values, frequently spreading messages about love, protecting women and vulnerable individuals, and speakin...

Grammys Continue to Spark Outrage After Recently Deleting All BTS-Related Posts

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  On the 29th of last month, BTS announced through their official social media accounts, using the names of all seven members, that they would not submit any music for the 69th Grammy Awards, scheduled to take place in February next year. The move was seen by industry insiders as an indirect criticism of the Recording Academy's newly established category, "Best Asian Pop Music Performance." The new category targets K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and other forms of Asian pop music, and requires songs to contain at least one Asian language of their lyrics to be eligible for nomination. However, the fact that the category was announced only around two months before the submission deadline, combined with the fact that the main tracks on BTS' new studio album, ARIRANG, are primarily performed in English, sparked controversy: "Was this rule deliberately created to target BTS?" BTS expressed their hope that "music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than bein...

BTS Dares to Say "No" to the Grammys: The New York Times Highlights What Sets Them Apart from Other K-pop Artists

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  How long will K-pop remain trapped under the label of "Asian music"? BTS's recent announcement that they would boycott the GRAMMY Awards has brought this long-standing question back into the spotlight in recent weeks. Regarding the new category introduced by the Grammy this year —"Best Asian Pop Music Performance" —BTS effectively declined to submit their work, saying, "We hope music will be recognized and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language. Thank you, as always, to ARMY and everyone who supports us." The statement directly calls into question the reality that, even after K-pop gas firmly established itself in the mainstream global music market, it is still being placed into a separate category simply under the label of "Asian." What makes this particularly notable is that BTS is the first and only K-pop artist to publicly and directly push back against the Grammys, just one month after the organization an...

RM "Exposes" Jungkook's Habit That ARMYs Never Knew About, Leaving Him Embarrassed

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  According to beauty industry sources on the 8th, products from Chanel's high-end fragrance collection, created in ambassador with Chanel Beauty Global Ambassador Jungkook, saw explosive demand immediately after their release. Using fragrance as a bridge, Jungkook embodies the elegance and authenticity that the brand seeks to convey through his distinctive presence, perfectly capturing the rare value of the Les Exclusifs collection.  Despite belonging to a premium line, with individual products retailing for as much as KRW 648,000 (approximately US$ 449), all products on the official websites across 28 countries—including South Korea —are currently sold out. As the news spreads, netizens flooded social media with enthusiastic reactions: "This is what it means to have money and still not be able to buy it," "We should have seen this coming ever since he made fabric softener sell out," and "Fans' spending power is truly incredible. Even a high-end produc...

Three-Time Grammy Winner Speaks Out: "BTS Is Right"—New 'Asian Pop' Category Is Segregation, Not Inclusion

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  Support for BTS's decision to boycott the Grammy Awards continue to grow both within and beyond the music industry. Ricky Kej, a three-time Grammy-winning composer from India, described BTS's decision as "an astonishingly courageous move" in an opinion essay published in the Indian edition of Rolling Stone on August 3 (local time). Referring to Recording Academy's newly introduced Best Asian Pop Music Performance  category, Kej criticized it as "a way of isolating Asian artists from te main award categories and confining them to a designated corner on the sidelines." He argued that "this is not genuine inclusion —it is segregation." He also pointed out that the category overlooks Asia's rich and diverse musical traditions by effectively focusing only on K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop. In an exclusive interview with the Indian media outlet News9Live , Kej reitrerated his position. He said BTS had "absolutely made the right decision,"add...

MetLife Concert Staff Member Sparks Fury Among Fans Over Gender-Stereotyping Post Targeting BTS

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  BTS recently became the center of attention for both local audiences and professional music media during their two concerts at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, United States, on August 1 and 2 (local time). Performing before more than 157,000 fans, the group kicked off the North American leg of the BTS WORLD TOUR "ARIRANG" with explosive and emotionally charged performances. Billboard praised BTS for their commanding stage presence, synchronized choreography, and undeniable charisma, calling the concerts clear proof of why the group continues to maintain its position that the very top of the industry. Celebrities were equally captivated—legendary rapper. Nas attended the show, jaz musician Jon Batiste was so exited that he almost forgot his phone, and Broadway icon Lea Salonga showered the members with praise. While the concerts left an unforgettable impression on everyone in attendance, an incident that occurred afterward suddenly overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere, spa...