Another week another update and boy have we got a whopper of a post for you this week. First up we're still reeling from the hype surround Gangnam Style and GD's upcoming release. Be sure that we'll be playing these favourites at our next YG-themed KANDYPOP! night, coming to you on the 29th at Milk Club, Bangsar.

 

Now on to business...

 

<NEWsWORTHY>

G-Dragon

Of course, the biggest bomb to be dropped this week is our favourite leader’s next MV release. It sure seems like he is not out to disappoint anyone with this album, with awesomeness being dropped, one after another. No words can express the amazingness of this video, so we’ll just shut up now and let you see it for yourself!

FT Island

With the release of their new 10 track album, Five Treasure Box, our favourite K-pop rockers, FT Island has released the  Spanish sounding song as the lead tune with a cute MV, consisting also of labelmate members from AOA! We are approving of Jaejin’s new look, but not so sure of Hongki’s new hairstyle. What do you think?

 

Secret

The usually girly girls of Secret has released a new mini album with the main title track, Poison. Still with their hyper dance moves, the girls are steamy HOT as they sexified themselves for this video. This has totally changed what we think of the girls, what about you!

 

 

Orange Caramel

The subunit of After School, Orange Caramel, has finally released their own full album. Lead song of the same title, Lipstick has a very unique MV. Do you like Ping Pong and pretty girls? You would love this video then!

 

 B to B

Aiming for a more 90s boyband sound, B to B has comeback with a new song, WOW! Utilizing dancemoves and outfits from that era, we think they did a pretty good job trying to look like Backstreet Boys!

 

Jang Keun Suk

Asian Prince, a.k.a. King of the Hallyu wave, a.k.a Jang Keun Suk has recently released a new Japanese song. The MV is very sweet, so we thought it should be included in the update!

 

<WHAT’S NEWs IN K-POP>

-        PSY has reached the top of the iTunes chart this week, worldwide! There has been reports that our Gangnam oppa has reeived about 10 BILLION WON (Roughly about USD 10 MILLION) from the current popularity of his song, Gangnam Style. Unfortunately, Psy shot down the rumours, saying that he has seen NOTHING, and jokes, now with his popularity, he is afraid that Americans will now think that ALL Asians look like him. Sir, we surely hope not!

 

-Speaking of PSY, he has truly taken the world by a storm, proving his ever increasing popularity in the US, when he made a hilarious appearance in the parody of “Gangnam Style” on SNL. After his segment was aired, the star immediately tweeted a photo of him and the cast.

   

-          What kind of socks do you prefer? Toesies? Ones with cute characters? Or plain and boring ones? Teen Top recently shared their choices of socks, but could you tell, which member does each of these feet photos belong to?

 

-          Park Yoochun of JYJ (and formerly of TVXQ) has recently completed his tour of China for fanmeets. Lucky fans in Shanghai and Shenzen got a chance to interact with the handsome idol and extremely lucky fans even won presents from him! We are jealous!

·        

-          His band mate, Junsu on the the other hand was in Central and South America – meeting fans in Mexico and Brazil! Going with the moniker XIA for his solo efforts, the fans of Hallyu music flocked the cultural centrals and auditoriums where he made an appearance to show how vast the Hallyu wave has hit!

·         After not hearing any news on superstar Rain for a while now, the star has recently performed for his fans at the ‘9th Comrade-in-Arms Marathon’ sponsored by the Defense Media Agency. The performance was held outdoors at the Han River Park where Rain excited fans with his powerful dance moves he’s famous for.

 

·         Miss A’s Suzy also recently tweeted with her ideal guy, Ian Somerhalder. They were both having a friendly conversation in the twitter world. Check out both’s twitter account for the conversation.

https://twitter.com/​iansomerhalder

https://twitter.com/​missA_suzy

 

-          We swear Jang Keun Suk wants to be a girl! And a pretty one he will make too. Don’t believe us, here is the proof:

 

·       -  Comedian, Noh Hong Chul, are also benefiting from Psy’s popularity as he’s receiving a casting request from overseas. He’s known as the ‘Elevator Guy’, performing the hilarious dance routine in the music video. However, due to the language barrier, the comedian had to turn down the offer.

 

·         - Big Bang’s member Seung Ri was recently implicated in a sex scandal whilst residing in Japan. Japanese tabloid magazine, Friday, revealed pictures of a man whom they claim is Seung Ri, and these photos were taken by a woman who claimed that she had spent a night with the singer. YG Entertainment has yet to comment on this rumour.

 

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 - Meanwhile,we don’t know about you, but we are super excited fellow Big Bang member, Kwon Ji Yong (G-Dragon)'s new album to drop. His album, One of a Kind, is indeed one of a kind. Even the image teasers are unique! Check it out:

 

<OFFPOP>

 

We seem to be on a roll with musical duos here at KNUKEast! This time round, we have for you the male duo of 10cm. Kwon Jung Yeol and Yoon Cheol Jong like all their seniors before them paid their dues in the Hongdae music scene by roughing it out since early 2009. However, people started to take notice of their atypical duo set up – a djembe vocalist (Jung Yeol) and a guitarist (Cheol Jong) and their sweet, upbeat yet melancholic sound. The building interest finally surfaced with the popularity of their single, ‘Tonight, I Am Afraid of the Dark (오늘밤은 어둠이 무서워요)’:

 

 

 

And they turned it all around from the slightly needy and sad ‘Tonight, I Am Afraid of the Dark’ with the cheeky, follow-up single ‘Americano (아메리카노)’. ‘Americano’ courted a little bit of unintended controversy with its playful lyrics. While never meant to be anything more than a cheeky reference to casual dating, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family deemed it inappropriate for Korean youngins to be singing along:

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s ready for your weekly dose of K-pop goodness? Before we delve into the usual round ups, a little birdie told us that this month’s KANDYPOP! night at Milk Club Bangsar will be a YG theme party! And how apt that it’s on the 29th September, as Bigbang will be close to our shores performing in Singapore for their leg of the Alive Tour. Start spreading the news to YG Family fans NOW!

Without further ado, our K-pop booster shot continues:

 

Catch the MTV Video Music Awards 2012 encore telecast tonight at 10pm (MAL)

9.58am: Taylor Swift is on stage to close the show with 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'

If this song is really about John Mayer, this is one awkward moment for Katy Perry.


9.55am: Kevin Hart is presenting the final award for Video of the Year.

The VMA goes to... Rihanna and Calvin Harris for 'We Found Love'.

She's got this whole "mm-hmm-totally-knew​-I'd-win-this" vibe as she saunters onto the stage.

Kevin Hart is screaming like a girl.

9.54am: Apparently the most talked about VMA moment on Twitter is Frank Ocean's emotional performance.

9.51am: Last award coming up soon for Video of the Year. Taylor Swift set to close the show. But where's the big OMG this year?!

Past VMAs have really spoilt us: The biggest OMG moments from the MTV VMAs

9.45am: Alicia Keys is back; she's performing her new song 'Girl on Fire'. What an incredible voice.

Nicki Minaj starts rapping. Wait, there's more.

[photo credit: WireImage]

American Gold Medallist gymnast Gabby Douglas is on stage doing backflips and somersaults. Nice, classy touch.


9.37am: One Direction just picked up another VMA, this time for Best New Artist.

Camera zooms to someone (Looks like Frank Ocean; too quick to tell) ... is that disbelief on his face? The guy went, "What?"



9.34am: The 'Twilight' cast on stage now without Kristen Stewart, who's in Canada for the Toronto Film Festival.

[photo credit: WireImage]

Robert Pattinson looks like he's coping well with the breakup (we still feel bad for him...)

They're presenting an exclusive preview from the final film. Must be pretty awkward for Robbie...

9.28am: Green Day performing on stage. The kids are moshing and going nuts.



9.24am: PSY comes on stage doing the 'Gangnam Style' with Kevin Hart while Katy Perry is dancing in her seat.

Can there be any greater validation that Psy has conquered America!


9.15am: 2 Chainz is performing... Lil' Wayne comes on stage to join him. There's a lot of crunk happening right now.



9.02am: The Wanted present Best Female Video to Nicki Minaj for 'Starships'. She beat Katy Perry, Rihanna and Beyonce in this category.

Her hair is still very distracting.

She can't believe this is happening... she really, really can't believe it. Really.

8.58am: One Direction on stage performing "One Thing"

All the girls in front of screaming... Zoe Saldana looks very composed in her seat though.


8.56am: Almost an hour into the show and so far, it's been tame. Waiting for the big OMG moment this year.

[photo credit: WireImage]

8.51am: Drake wins Best Hip Hop. That's one a piece for him and Chris Brown.

Lil Wayne is on stage with him... and so is Nicky Minaj. Her super bright blonde hair is pretty distracting.

Drake is talking about being at a house party and getting made fun of; he dedicates the award to "any kid who's had to walk home by yourself. This is for you. For real."


8.50am: Andy Samberg and Rashida Jones (daughter of Quincy Jones, FYI!) on stage to present the Best Hip Hop award.

They're trying to rap. Trying...


8.38am: Zoe Saldana is on stage to present the next performer, "His voice can lift all of this arena and beyond."

It's Frank Ocean performing "Thinking About You"


8.30am: Rita Omar and Demi Lovato on stage now to present Best Male Video.

The VMA goes to...Chris Brown!

8.28am: Checking out photos from Arrivals.

Taylor Swift looks very grown up and mature... but where's her new boyfriend Conor Kennedy?

[photo credit: Reuters]


8.14am: One Direction wins Best Pop Video!

The boys thank Katy for the kiss and thank their fans for helping them win this award, "This one's for you guys. We love you."

They seem to have broken the award though...

[photo credit: WireImage]

8.13am: Katy Perry is on stage, "How sexy is my girl Rihanna tonight!"

She's presenting the award for Best Pop Video, "These videos are like the popular kids in high school."

Katy is looking great, by the way. Lucky John Mayer.


8.07am: Host Kevin Hart makes a grand entrance (as "the future President of the United States"). He says "MTV is the place for mistakes. I'm gonna talk about people who make mistakes."

"Drake and Chris Brown, I'm gonna nip this in the bud tonight. They're both my friends...arguing over a thrown bottle in a club."

[photo credit: Reuters]


8.00am: Rihanna is opening the show, looking as hot and feisty as ever. Girl can seriously gyrate! It's 'We Found Love' now as she makes her way into the middle of the crowd. Calvin Harris is on the decks as the DJ for the night.

[photo credit: Reuters]

PS. Hit the 'Refresh' button for live updates as winners are announced!


7.55am: The show will kick off in 5 minutes!

Miley Cyrus and her new rockin' haircut arrive at the VMAs:


[photo credit: WireImage]


If anyone knows how to throw a wild and wacky awards show, it's MTV!

We'll be live blogging this year's MTV Video Music Awards on Friday, Sept 7th at 8am (SIN/HK/PH), 9am (MAL) so bookmark this page and be sure to keep hitting the 'refresh' button for real-time coverage!

This year's VMAs will be hosted by comedian Kevin Hart with performers Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, Green Day, P!nk, Alicia Keys and One Direction taking the stage.

Get up to speed with the nominees here - looks like Rihanna, Drake and Katy Perry are firm favourites to win a Moonman... but will they? Join us when we find out!

Will this year's OMG moment top Lady Gaga's meat dress or Britney and Madonna's kiss? Revisit past VMAs that made us go OMG!

The 2012 MTV Video Music Awards airs LIVE on MTV S.E.A. on Friday 7 September, 7am (WIB), 8am (SIN/HK/PH), 9am (MAL - Astro channel 713).

 

Catch the encore telecast at 8pm (WIB), 9pm (SIN/HK/PH), 10pm (MAL).

 

This week has been a rather interesting week for k-pop fans with the release of T-ara latest video after the scandalous departure of (ex-)member, Hwayoung, and a back to back release of G-Dragon's new songs has left us in quite a daze. 

We've said HELL YEA to another successful KANDYPOP night. We danced to Gangnam Style, Fantastic Baby, and other K-pop favourites that which again, proves that KANDYPOP is brought to you by the people who KNOWS Kpop.  

It’s not easy to pick my favourite albums of all time, but since this is my last post here, I have to come up with something because I need you to know. So I’ve narrowed down to 10 albums I love most from the year 2000 onwards, so you may still be able to look for these albums. Without music, I don’t think I can survive this thing called life. I’ve learned to appreciate more music and as you can tell from my previous posts, I have embraced Justin Bieber because he is really talented and the whole dance and R&B mixture because it is fun music! These are just some of the albums that I am most connected to since 2000. Enjoy and take care!

D’Angelo- Voodoo (January 25, 2000)
 

I have recently reduced my use of social medias because I just couldn’t bear with another person telling me what they had for lunch, what they feel and oh my lawd, music/fashion snobs. I’m tired of your endless hashtags on that damn Instagram photo and tired of your daily braggings, so social media has become really unattractive to me these days. Everybody is trying to express something in 140 characters to make themselves sound cool and feeling the need to be retweeted and liked. Meh. 

Firstly, let us wish everybody celebrating Eid a happy and love-filled one. Don’t forget to keep safe on the road and share the kindness! Just a reminder, our second Kandypop for the month of August will be at the end of this week – 25th August! Come one, come all – free bottle of Soju promo is still on, with every purchae of a JW or Smirnorf!

 

OK, let’s take it easy this week by just focusing on the news and a barrage of music videos that was released during the last week! J