TVXQ to continue with only two members: U-Know and Max

With the whole debacle between TVXQ continuing and no plans for Junsu, Jejung, Yuchun (who have since formed the group JYJ) to return, SM Entertainment has released a statement of what will happen to the two remaining artists of TVXQ: U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. “After the 3 TVXQ members left, for over a long year, both U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin have refrained from musical activities. The two members as well as the company wanted to keep TVXQ alive, thinking about the never changing hearts of our loyal fans who have waited a long time. As indicated by the ruling, all of TVXQ’s activities need to be done through SM, unfortunately, the three members that left have regretfully not responded to any of our offers for activities as TVXQ. After long and careful consideration, we made this decision. For U-know Yunho and Max Changmin, who never left and kept their dreams as TVXQ, we have decided together with the two members to keep TVXQ alive. No matter what happens, we believe that TVXQ should continue for the love and trust of the fans who created TVXQ together with us. We are not ruling out any possibilities in the future. Continuing TVXQ is the best way to repay the fans who love and waited for TVXQ.”

In August 2009, Junsu, Jejung and Yuchun sued their management claiming that their contract signed between TVXQ and SM Entertainment was unfair.  A lower court sided with the three and ruled that certain parts of the contract should be invalidated and thus it allowed the three to pursue an individual music and advertisement career. The trio have since created their own group called JYJ and have recently collaborated with Kanye West and are being promoted on the Billboard (USA) Website.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that a group has claimed their management/label was unfair to them. In the ’90s, Korean pop group H.O.T. were the hottest boy band similar to TVXQ and similar circumstances, the three members left the group and thus ending H.O.T. According to Time Magazine, ex-H.O.T. singer Tony An said, “We would complain that we never had enough money” and Lee Su Man of H.O.T. would say: ‘I even pay for your gas, what are you complaining about?’”.  According to the publication, while their albums would sell over a million copies, each member were paid only $10,000.

Unfortunately, with no resolution, it will appear as if the former bandmates may ended up going against each other in the music industry.

Kanye West collaborates with S. Korean pop group JYJ

We are seeing a few American artists collaborating with the hot S. Korean pop groups as of late and the latest is Kanye West who has teamed up with pop trio JYJ (Kim JaeJoong, Park YuChun and Kim JunSu).

The trio are also known for being part of one of the hottest and most successful pop groups in S. Korea and Japan known as DBSK/TVXQ (in Japan as Tohoshinki) and even for us at J!-ENT, fans from all over the world showed their love for the group with our 500-page book on the band (which has received over 3 million downloads since its release).

The trio is taking a break from their group as the dispute between members and their S. Korean label SM Entertainment is still unresolved.

JYJ has just released their album “The Beginning” and for the track “Ayy Girl”, the group collaborates with Kanye West and M. Yusuf. According to Billboard.com, “Show Shop Entertainment released the album Oct. 14 through Warner Music Korea. In the United States, Warner Music is releasing the album digitally through iTunes and Amazon with a CD release planned for late 2010 or early 2011.”

And the tracks are pretty slick, catchy and so damn cool! And as the fans would say, JYJ FIGHTING!

JYJ, “The Beginning” by billboard

Oricon Top 10 CD Single and Album Daily Charts (JAPAN): Kanjani8 takes #1 on the Singles Charts, Tohoshinki (TVXQ) takes #1 on the Album Charts (6.30.10)

It’s new release Wednesday! Which artist or band took the #1 spot for Japan’s Oricon CD Single Daily Charts and Oricon Album Daily Charts?

Buy the #1 CD Single & Album from CDJAPAN or YesAsia.com:

Oricon Top 10 Album Daily Charts (Japan): Tohoshinki’s “BEST SELECTION 2010″ takes #1 spot (2.17.10)

On new release Wednesday. Which artist or band took the #1 spot for Japan’s Oricon Album Daily Charts?

Purchase the #1 album from CDJapan.com:

1. Tohoshinki – BEST SELECTION 2010
2. FUNKY MONKEY BABY – Funky Monkey Babys Best
3. AAA – HEARTFUL
4. Kaela Kimura – 5years
5. Minori Chihara – Sing ALl Love
6. Kumi Koda – BEST~third universe~ & 8th AL “UNIVERSE”
7. The Birthday – STAR BLOWS
8. Aobouzu – Mizukane
9. May J. – for you
10. Taylor Swift – Fearless

Purchase the #1 album from CDJapan.com:

Oricon Top 10 CD Single Daily Charts (JAPAN): Tohoshinki’s “BREAK OUT!” takes the #1 spot (1.27.10)

On new release Wednesday. Which artist or band took the #1 spot for Japan’s Oricon CD Single Daily Charts?

Buy the #1 CD Single from CDJAPAN:

J!-ENT’s Tohoshinki/TVXQ/DBSK 500-Page Book is now available

Dear Tohoshinki/TVXQ/DBSK fans,

Great news!

DOWNLOAD THE 500-PAGE FAN BOOKLET HERE! (File Size: 88.86MB)

DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE/SHORT VERSION HERE! (File Size: 4.72MB)

THANK YOU!!!!!

After four months of hard work and coordination with fans from over 40 countries, I’m so happy to say that the the 500-page booklet and the 33-page short version is now ready for download!

Thank you again everyone for your help and your assistance. YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!

TVXQ FANS FIGHTING!

For those who are having difficulties downloading, you may need to download the FREE Adobe Reader software to view PDF’s.

Click here to download a version and also select the language of version of Adobe Reader. [Adobe Reader graphic is courtesy and linked from Adobe.com]

Koda Kumi feat. Tohoshinki – Last Angel (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

ARTIST: Koda Kumi feat. Tohoshinki

CD SINGLE: LAST ANGEL

LABEL: RhythmZone

CATALOG #: RZCD-45766

DURATION: 17:30

RELEASE DATE: November 7, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. LAST ANGEL – Koda Kumi feat. Tohoshinki
2. Dear Family – Koda Kumi
3. LAST ANGEL (instrumental)
4. Dear Family (instrumental)

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, DURATION: 7 minutes

1. LAST ANGEL – Koda Kumi feat. Tohoshinki (Music Video)
2. LAST ANGEL – Koda Kumi feat. Tohoshinki (MAKING VIDEO)

I’ve had Koda Kumi’s 38th CD single for quite some time, just listening to it over and over because it features a very cool collaboration with Korean pop quintet Tohoshinki (who sing both K-Pop and J-Pop).

Both Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki are known for their pop songs but also known for their awesome dance choreography. So, I had very big expectations for this CD single and especially their music video because I expected some awesome dance moves featured for “LAST ANGEL”.

The latest CD single features an image song used for the “Biohazard” (Resident Evil 3) film in Japan and actually, a little surprised because for Biohazard’s dark theme, I’d imagine more of a rock type of theme but nevertheless, “LAST ANGEL” is what was used.

The song starts out with “Welcome to nightmare world tonight”. Sounds threatening and dark but its anything but. The song is about overcoming the darkness, overcoming pain together with someone. The song is a synth-based pop song with a pretty cool beat and the string arrangement (ala synth) which was a very nice touch to the overall song.

The coupling track “Dear Family” features a slow ballad and features more of an R&B-inspired track with the deep bass groove. Almost like an old school R&B touch courtesy of Matsuawa “T.O.M” Tomokazu.

The lyrics for both songs were written by Koda Kumi (the first feat. a writing collaboration with H.U.B.).

The DVD features both Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki with a very cool setup for the overall video and as expected featuring great choreography. The music video has an arctic, futuristic look to it and everyone sporting white, silver and gray during their collaboration scenes was very cool and stylish.

The “making of” features behind-the-scenes of the dancing scenes between Koda and Tohoshinki, her solo scenes and also interviews. The guys were very stoked to work with her and a lot of enthusiasm during the filming.

The CD insert is actually a fold out poster. One one side is Koda Kumi sitting on a speaker with her legs on a wall. The other side features the lyrics to the two songs and CD and DVD credits.

Just the collaboration between J-Pop diva Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki is just awesome because the two have awesome pop music and also awesome choreography and to see these two gel together, everything worked very well and the CD single together.

A lot of reviews and I guess it depends who the listener is biased towards will say that Tohoshinki’s vocals overpowered Koda’s vocals and vice-versa for Koda overpowering the guys. Personally, I felt that there was a good balance between Koda and Tohoshinki and watching the music video, it’s good to see each guy of Tohoshinki get some face time evenly.

All in all, the music for both tracks is very well done, catchy and listened to it many times already and I really dig it! A very awesome collaboration and worth owning for Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki fans. The coupling track “Dear Family” had a nice old school R&B touch which is why I really dug it.

Both Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki fans should enjoy the CD single and “LAST ANGEL” would definitely make a good fit in a fan’s music collection.

View more Tohoshinki CD’s and DVD’s by clicking here!

BUY THIS CD SINGLE

[WORLD GROOVE] Currently listening to Tohoshinki – SHINE/Ride On

GROUP: Tohoshinki (also known as Dong Bang Shin Ki, DBSK, TVXQ)

CD SINGLE: SHINE/Ride On

LABEL: Rhythm Zone

CATALOG #: RZCD-45651

DURATION: 16:09

RELEASE DATE: September 19, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. SHINE
2. Ride On
3. SHINE [Less Vocal]
4. Ride On [Less Vocal]

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 8 minutes

1. SHINE (Video Clip)
2. Off Shot Movie

Tohoshinki is the Japanese name for the Korean boy band quintet that is currently rocking the charts in Japan.

In Korea, the group is known as Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK) and goes by different names for each country that they are promoted in. The group is signed with SM Records in Korea, the same label where BoA and Bada (Sea of S.E.S.) are from and have had success in Japan with their CD singles in 2007 reaching #1, #2 and #3 on the Oricon Charts.

The group consists of Hero Jae Joong, U-Know Yun Ho, Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu and Max Changmin.

One of the attractions of Tohoshinki is their singing ability, their choreography and of course, their looks. Where Japan has plenty of boy bands, what makes Tohoshinki unique is that like BoA, they are a Korean group that has managed to win over fans in Asia and also worldwide.

As for the double A-side singles, “SHINE” is a upbeat pop song used for the opening theme of net drama “Obanzai”. The song is more synth based, J-Pop and similar to previous CD singles. The guys can definitely sing and I’m not a hardcore fan to give you an example of which guy sings which part better or anything like that. But I can say that it’s an enjoyable song that definitely showcases the guys vocals and a pop song that is actually pretty cool and not cheesy.

As for “Ride On”, I’m actually more partial to Tohoshinki’s music that has the R&B element. I dig the beat and enjoy the songs where choreography plays a big part in their music and one of the songs that pulled me towards listening to their music are songs such as “Rising Sun”.

The final two tracks to round off the CD single are the instrumental or “less vocal” tracks of the two songs.

As for the DVD, the DVD features the music video clip for “SHINE” which is a well choreographed and well-filmed music video that features the guys singing and dancing in a run down tunnel. The amber colors give a pretty cool look to the overall music video and balancing with the darker colors. Thought the dancing on the wet puddles with the splashing, was a good use of showing off their dance moves in a stylish way.

As for the “Off Shot Movie”, pretty much the guys filming the music video for “SHINE” and interviews with the group as they have fun, goofing off during the filming.

The CD insert features a tri-fold featuring the lyrics and music credits on one side and the other side featuring the five guys sitting in a living room. Also, featuring a postcard featuring a member of the group.

The postcard of Jejung that is found inside the CD-insert of the reviewed CD single

As for the normal version of this CD single that does not come with the DVD, the normal version comes with an extra track ” Lovin’ you – Haru’s “deep water”mix-.

Overall, another cool CD single from Tohoshinki. The guys are extremely talented and I’m glad to see that they have increased their fandom considerably within the past year because the guys can sing, they can dance and they are awesome performers.

Their 13th CD single “SHINE/Ride On” is another well-balanced CD single of J-Pop/R&B and also showcasing the guys vocal talents.

As for the DVD, cool music video and also for the female fans or fans who dig these guys, a lot of eye candy for them and they will be happy with the OFF SHOT footage.

All in all, a pretty cool CD single that Tohoshinki fans will not be disappointed with.