By NATASHA IMAN

alltherage@thestar.com.my

THE K-pop scene is constantly full of “debuts”. A debut in K-pop marks an act’s first introduction to the public, but it’s not necessarily with a new song or album. It could be a debut at an event, like a public appearance. Sometimes, even the announcement of a new act coming together is considered a debut.

In a way, they try to make it more official. In most other music industries, you just release your debut single, and you’re considered “debuted”. In K-pop, you announce the debut, and then you have to release teaser videos, posters and mini-albums; and appear on all the popular music programmes.

Here are some of the bigger debuts we’ve seen over the past month:

Junsu solo again

Multi-talented vocalist and member of C-JeS Entertaiment’s JYJ, Junsu, has confirmed the release of his second solo album following his debut as a solo artiste last year. The album, scheduled for a July release, is said to comprise a mix of pop tracks and ballads that will highlight Junsu’s development as a solo artiste. Junsu’s first full-length solo album Tarantallegra received much love from fans worldwide. Before working on the new release, though, Junsu had been busy touring Asia, North America and Europe. With an amazing voice and incredible musical theatre skills, Junsu will definitely keep fans wanting more.

New singer

Adding to the stream of solo artistes that have been debuting this month is SM Entertainment’s new singer. SM Entertainment, home to groups like Girls Generation and Super Junior, recently announced that the company has signed a new solo artiste. This is the first time since 2001 that the company has taken on a new artiste, with Kang Ta being the last one to debut 13 years ago. This time around, SM Entertainment has decided to sign Super Junior-M member Henry as a solo artiste. Henry, who has been noted for his skills in music composition and production, is releasing his brand new album called Trap today! Fingers crossed that SM Entertainment will be able to put Henry in the limelight as he makes his transition from being a band member to a solo artiste.

EXO’s back with XOXO

EXO has released its first full-length album called XOXO. This time around, both EXO-K and EXO-M (who are promoting in South Korea and China, respectively) have come together to release the album under the name EXO, and the album features songs in Korean and Chinese. Recently, the 12-member group released its music video of Wolf. The video showcases only a theatrical performance while the track is a fusion of dubstep and hip-hop. The group’s first stage performance was held on May 30, prior to the release of the album. A few hours after its release, XOXO became the number one song on the Soribada, Daum and Bugs real-time music charts. EXO has definitely been in the spotlight since its debut and we will no doubt be seeing more of the group.

Beast is Beautiful again

It looks like the boys of Beast will be back with a second round of the Beautiful Show with the release of its official poster. The show is scheduled to be held in Seoul on July 20 and 21. Cube Entertainment announced that the group will be putting on a very special show with a new concept and set list, as well as some surprises thrown in. Beast is currently promoting its new ballad Will You Be Okay, which was released on May 29. Beast’s Junhyung, popularly known to fans as “Joker”, wrote the ballad which topped all major music charts in Korea within hours of its release. While only the dates for the Korean concert has been released at press time, it doesn’t seem like fans (or “Beauty’s) will have to wait much longer to see their favourite boys back on the stage once again.