The Horizon staff now presents a new weekly segment featuring the shared passion of four Student Press members: Kpop. Through the Weekly Kpop JAAM (representing Jenna Zhang ‘17, Asha Rao ‘17, Angela Kwak ‘17, and Matilda Dang ‘15), we will provide an update on the major events occurring in the Korean pop music world with the hope of informing and connecting the community on an international basis.

This week marked the third year anniversary of massively popular 10-member boy group EXO. The group recently made a comeback on March 30 with the song “Call Me Baby”. It was the first time the group made an official return in 11 months. They quickly swept the charts, and even claimed a position on the Billboard 200.

The event, however, was not without controversy. The fanclubs of EXO and label-mate SHINee were embroiled in a heated dispute after SHINee’s fans (called Shawols) were banned indefinitely from a broadcasting station for allegedly breaking station rules. According to reports, an EXO fan was caught taking pictures during a recording, which is strictly prohibited, and named herself as a Shawol, resulting in the entire fanclub being punished. The fan has since taken to Twitter to apologize and is currently attempting to mend the situation. The fanclubs were already on shaky terms after several EXO fans were revealed to be reselling tickets for a SHINee concert to pay for all 20 editions of EXO’s new album.

Another notable comeback was from girl group miss A, who returned after a year with upbeat title track “Only You” in their mini album ‘Colors’, which features two tracks composed by members Min and Suzy. Suzy recently drew much attention after her relationship with popular actor Lee Min Ho was uncovered.

Also this week, Jimin, of powerhouse vocal duo 15&, made a solo debut with “Hopeless Love”, an emotional ballad track that displayed the 17-year-old’s impressive musical range and maturity. Former MBLAQ member Lee Joon, who is currently expanding his acting career, stated he does not plan to return to the music scene. And finally, veteran hip-hop group Epik High (who performed at SXSW this year) announced a stop in Dallas for their summer tour, joining GOT7 in making a visit to the lone star state this year.

The podcast below introduces the members of JAAM as well as a clip of the song of the week, so take a listen!