YG Entertainment's 30th anniversary, Big Bang's 20th anniversary and Blackpink's 10th anniversary make 2026 a monumental year. Gifts that surprised K-pop fans poured out.
YG Entertainment, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Earlier it had already given gifts such as Big Bang's resumption of activities, BABYMONSTER's album release and large-scale world tour, the unveiling of the four-member girl group "Next Monster" (provisional name), and TREASURE's full-scale second act of activities. Like a springtime Santa Claus, YG Entertainment is exciting K-pop fans by delivering a large gift a day before the start of May.
The start was the activity plans for 2026 for BABYMONSTER and TREASURE announced by chief producer Yang Hyun-suk. YG Entertainment introduced a track from BABYMONSTER's mini third album to be released on May 4, "CHOOM (Dance)", and shared TREASURE's new album plans on its official blog on the 30th.
First, regarding BABYMONSTER's activities, chief producer Yang Hyun-suk said, "Recently YG has been actively conducting song camps," and explained that the mini third album's first track "MOON" "is the first collaboration with this song's overseas producers, a team that makes sound design very sophisticated and unique." With four music videos in total scheduled to be released sequentially starting with "Dance," expectation for the activities is inevitable.
TREASURE will release a new mini album on June 1 and open a new chapter. The album will include four rap-based tracks, and chief producer Yang Hyun-suk expressed confidence, saying, "TREASURE debuted during the pandemic and faced many difficulties in the global market," but "this album is personally the result I like the most."
The gift that came after the BABYMONSTER and TREASURE activity plans is a rookie boy group unveiled for the first time in six years. Chief producer Yang Hyun-suk said, "In a previous interview's subtitles I mentioned we plan to launch a new male group from YG this fall," and explained, "Right now we expect to introduce YG's new male group in September. The number of members, which many are curious about, is five."
YG chose a five-member composition to differentiate itself from TREASURE's large-member system, aiming to maximize each individual's personality and skills through an elite member configuration. The new boy group is expected to become a strong rookie lineup for YG alongside Next Monster (provisional name).
A new member of "Next Monster" (provisional name) arrived like a gift. Following Ively and Chanyae, the third member introduced after 10 months is none other than Kasey. Born to a Korean father and a Chinese mother, Kasey is a Korean-Chinese mixed heritage who speaks Korean and Chinese at a native level and is proficient in three languages including English, and not only performs both singing and rapping as an all-arounder but also possesses outstanding dance skills.
On the last day of April and a day before May, YG captivated K-pop fans' attention by pouring out a bundle of gifts throughout the day.
Chief producer Yang Hyun-suk said he hoped, "I hope the joy, emotion and pleasure that exceed what I expect are delivered to the fans like a gift." As excitement and anticipation grew with the outpouring of gifts for YG's 30th anniversary, attention is focused on how those will be fulfilled.
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