March is truly the ‘golden age of solo artists’ for K-pop.

Global groups such as Seraphim, The Boyz, Nmix, and TREASURE are making comebacks all at once this month, creating a fierce ‘K-pop March battle’. The heat is heating up even more as top-tier group members are joining the competition as ‘solo artists’.

This month‘s big solo match will be opened by J-Hope of BTS and Jennie of BLACKPINK, two of the ‘big two mountains of K-pop’. J-Hope and Jennie will be releasing their new digital single ‘Sweet Dreams’ and their first full-length album ‘Ruby’, respectively, at 2 PM on the 7th (Korean time).

Both of them have pointed to this album as a significant turning point in their solo careers, and expectations from their global fandom are skyrocketing. J-Hope’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ is his first solo song since being discharged from the military in October of last year, and ‘Ruby’ is Jennie‘s first full-length solo album.

To this end, they have joined hands with winners of the ‘Grammy Awards’, the most prestigious award ceremony in the United States. J-Hope collaborated with R&B pop star Miguel, and Jennie collaborated with popular rapper Deutsch in their pre-released song ‘Extrael’.

‘Idol powerhouse’ SM Entertainment has Red Velvet’s Seulgi and NCT‘s Ten joining the ranks of solo artists one after another.

Red Velvet’s main dancer Seulgi will be releasing her second solo mini album ‘Accidentally on Purpose’ on the 10th, and will show off her ‘all-rounder performer’ skills in both dance and vocals. Ten, who made his solo debut in February of last year, will release his second mini-album ‘Stunner’ on the 24th, 1 year and 1 month later, and will also be holding his first solo concert in April.

Following this, ‘SM‘s 1st Virtual Singer’ Naibis, NCT’s Doyoung and Mark, and EXO‘s Kai are planning to release solo albums one after another.

Yezi of girl group ITZY has seized the opportunity to make her first solo debut within the team. She will be releasing her first mini-album ‘Air’ on the 10th and will begin her solo career in earnest. Yezi is also active as the team’s main dancer, so she will have a ‘Main Dancer Showdown’ with Red Velvet‘s Seulgi, who is releasing a solo album on the same day.

In addition, large-scale solo concerts by top idol members are also emerging as something to see on the K-pop stage this month.

Taeyeon will be holding her solo concert ‘The TENS’ from the 7th to the 9th at KSPO DOME (formerly known as the Gymnastics Arena), the ‘dream stage’ for K-pop groups, following last year. G-Dragon will be holding his first solo concert in 8 years, ‘Ubermansch in Korea’, from the 29th to the 30th at Goyang Stadium.



Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.