Jamie is back! After years of industry groundwork, artistic shifts and a semi-retreat from the spotlight, the child prodigy and winner of TV singing-competition "K-pop Star", Jamie (formerly known as Park Jimin) finally steps into her own to prove herself as one of K-pop's most gifted female artists with her new single "Numbers" under Warner Music. Jamie and Changmo have participated in composing and writing lyrics for the song too. 

Over the slick R&B-hip-hop production of stirring piano lines and bouncy rhythms, Jamie exudes her newfound sense of self-confidence and youthful humor, refusing to value numbers that are commonly used to define self-worth― especially in our data-driven and wealth-obsessed society. Simply put, the hip hop track is about not judging someone by the "numbers". Armed with a strong new single and innate musicality, the K-pop prowess is poised to reach new heights this year. 

Jung Hae In, Goo Kyo Hwan, Kim Sung Kyun and Son Suk Goo have confirmed to join Netflix's new Korean original series 'D.P'. D.P. is an acronym for 'Deserter Pursuit,' a unit within the Army's Military Police for tracking down AWOL soldiers. It tells the story of a young army private who unexpectedly becomes a desertion arrest officer and finds himself in confusing and complicated situations. With this novel premise and a close look into issues within the military, the original webtoon by Kim Bo-tong was a huge hit that attracted more than 10 million readers in Korea. 

Jung Hae-in plays An Jun-ho, an army private assigned to D.P. detail by his supervisor who has found him to be observant and persistent. An Jun-ho is a quiet, even-tempered young man who does not believe in bending the rules. He becomes to be struggling with inner conflict as he faces different cases of deserters.

Goo Kyo-hwan plays Han Ho-yeol, the corporal leading the desertion arrest unit. Although he appears to be an unambitious free spirit, Ho-yeol will present Jun-ho at times with useful investigation know-how and at times with ill temper, in a display of great teamwork between the two actors. 

The seven-member band joins Spotify to discuss what “Dynamite” means to them especially during these unprecedented times, providing a behind-the-scenes look into their creative process. BTS also share their appreciation for ARMY and discuss how they would like to be remembered by future generations.

To provide additional perspective on BTS’ remarkable journey to this point, Spotify also talks to TIME Magazine Editor and K-Pop aficionado Kat Moon about BTS overcoming their underdog status, important milestones and breakthrough moments. Lastly, because there is no BTS without their dedicated fan base, ARMY — Spotify speaks to superfans around the world from Taiwan to the UK, including Gracie Ranan, who is responsible for ARMY anthems, to talk about BTS’ impact globally and the family they made within their fandom.

“I think it appeals to and it's easy to listen to and it's easy to enjoy for anybody, anyone of any generation, anyone. And especially with the COVID-19 situation, we wanted to write a song that has bright, uplifting lyrics. And we're really glad that people have come to enjoy this song, and get some energy from this song.”

“I think the best part is “ARMY”. They're the reason we perform. And it's their energy and their support that allows us to keep going. So they, our ARMY, our fans, are really the best part of this job.”

CLC released the highly anticipated visuals for the record on 2 September. Co-written by member Ye-Eun, the trap pop and EDM powerhouse song “Helicopter” hit 20 million views on YouTube in less than four days – setting a new personal record for the group. Also, since its release on 2 September, the album had sold a total of 12,834 copies which is 3.5 times higher than their previous first-week sales record. 

We caught up with the group to talk about the new release and what they’ve got planned for this comeback. 

Q: It has been one year since the last CLC comeback, how have you been? Do you feel nervous to perform on stage after a year?

YEEUN: We have individual promotional activities and have spent much time on self-development as well. It's been a productive year for us. It'll be a lie if I say I'm not anxious, but we feel more relief as we prepared very hard over the past year. We’re confident because we are well-prepared.

Q: How does this comeback, ‘HELICOPTER’ stands out from your previous comebacks? 

Directed by 8 film directors, "SF8" consists of 8 science-fiction episodes and stories about artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), robots, gaming, fantasy, horror, supernatural powers, and disasters. The series includes star-studded cast Super Junior's Choi Siwon, EXID's Hani, actress Lee Yeon Hee, Kim Bora, Uee and more. During the press conference held in July, the directors and cast sat down with the press and talked about the drama. 

Episode 1_SF8: The Prayer

Cast: Lee Yoo-young, Moon Sook, Ye Soo-jung & Yeom Hye-ran Airs on 15 Aug, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch 394)

The series kick-started with "SF8: The Prayer" which tells the story about the intelligent nurse robot, Gan Ho Joong (starring Lee Yoo-young) who is responsible to take care of a woman who's in a coma for 10 years and the daughter Jung-in. Jung-in is facing financial and emotional problems and tries to commit suicide due to stress. However, the nurse robot detects suicide risk from Jung-in and desperately tries to protect her. 

Episode 2_SF8: Manxin

Cast: Lee Yeon Hee, Lee Dong Hwi Airs on 22 Aug, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch 394)

7 years ago, Precon Company developed AI fortune telling program "Manxin" that claims to have a 95% accuracy rate. One day, Sun-ho (starring Lee Yeon Hee)’s little sister disappears with the big sinkhole in the ground. Sun-ho and 'Manxin' believer Ga-ram (starring Lee Dong-hwi) start to look for the program developer of Manxin to find the solutions of their problems.

Episode 3_SF8: Joan's Galaxy

Cast: Kim Bora, Choi Sung-Eun Airs on 29 August, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch 394)

In 2046, the earth is covered in fine dust, and humans are categorized into 'C' (Clean) and 'N' (Non-Clean). C's can get an expensive shot for an antibody at birth and get to live up to 100 years old. N's however, are not given expensive vaccines at birth and can only live up to the age of 30. They lead totally different lives. Lee Oh (starring Choi Sung-Eun), a 26-year-old university student who thought she was a C but realizes that she didn’t receive antibody injection when she was born due to the hospital's mistake. She then started to have interest of N's lives, especially the life of Joan (starring Kim Bora), the only student at her university.  

Episode 4_SF8: Blink

Cast: Lee Si-young, Ha Joon Airs on 5 September, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch. 394)

Detective Ji-woo (starring Lee Si Young) works at SF investigation but she hates AI technology as her parents died in a car accident involving an automatic driving car. Since then she did not believes anything related to AI and tends to trust her own sense and ability. One day, she meets a new freshman detective, Seo Nang (starring Ha Joon) who's an AI. Will she be able to solve the murder case with Seo Nang and catch the criminal?

Episode 5_SF8: Baby It's Over Outside

Cast: David Lee, Shin Eun-soo Airs on 12 September, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch. 394)

Nam Woo (starring David Lee) a policeman, who lives a lonely life for 6 years. In a week, a meteorite will fall and bring the end of the world. After the news being announced, people started to reveal their identities such as superpowers. Hae Hwa (starring Shin Eun Soo) then starts to gather people with superpowers and try to protect the world. Will they be able to stop the apocalypse from happening?

Episode 6_SF8: White Crow

Cast: Hani, Shin So-yul Airs on 19 September, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch.394)

BJ Juno (starring Hani) is a pro-BJ gamer who has 800 thousand subscribers. One day, one of her alumnae shows up and distorts Juno’s past. After she blows up at her fans and loses her dignity, she makes plans to recover her reputation through a new ‘trauma game’. When Juno went into the virtual world, she faces herself as a high school student again and could not overcome her trauma. She gets trapped inside the game that threatens her life.

Episode 7_SF8: Love Virtually

Cast: Choi Siwon, UEE Airs on 26 September, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch.394)

A real romantic drama about Min-jun (starring Choi Siwon) and Ji-won (starring UEE). The couple started dating through a VR app called “Love Virtually”, but aren’t able to meet anymore due to the malfunction of the app. They lied to each other about their looks and are scared to meet in real life, but their interesting love story begins now.

Episode 8_SF8: Empty Body

Cast: Moon So-ri, Jang Yoo-sang Airs 3 October, 8PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch.394)

Human brain and AI able to connects in this futuristic society. Hye-ra (starring Moon So-ri) succeeds in connecting her dead son, Young-in (starring Jang Yoo-sang)’s brain into an Android. But she doubts the Android son and thinks that he's pretending to be her real son. She gets more suspicious and reports to the police. Young-in is charged under ‘Symbiosis Android Kim Young-in deleting possessor Kim Young-in’s conscious’. But Android Young-in keeps claiming that he is the real possessor ‘Young-in’.

Don't forget to tune into Oh!K (Astro Ch 394) and watch this interesting SF8 series every Saturday. 

photo credit: Oh!K