K-pop News Today (Oct 29, 2026): CL in Talks With THE BLACK LABEL, JISOO’s ‘ADDICTED’ Teaser, A2O LITE’s Sixth Win

I’ll be honest: as a fan, I read the first headline this morning twice. CL and Teddy may be working under the same roof again, JISOO dropped a teaser that has me counting the hours to Friday, and a two-week-old group just picked up its sixth trophy. Here are the stories K-pop fans were talking about on Oct. 28.

CL in Talks to Sign With Teddy’s THE BLACK LABEL

THE BLACK LABEL, the label led by producer Teddy, confirmed to Star News on Oct. 28 that it is “in discussions with CL about an exclusive contract,” after News1 first reported the move the same day. CL debuted as the leader of 2NE1 under YG Entertainment in 2009, and Teddy was behind much of the group’s music, from “Fire” to “I Am the Best” and “Come Back Home.” She left YG in 2019 and has run her own label, Very Cherry, since then. Nothing is signed yet, but the idea of CL and Teddy making music together again is the reunion BLACKJACKs have dreamed about for years, and it’s why her name was all over Korean entertainment news last night.

Sources: News1, Oct. 28, Star News, Oct. 28, Ilgan Sports, Oct. 28

Also read: The No. 1 Korea Doesn't Want to Believe: Why Fans Doubt A2O

JISOO Shows an Underwater Performance in the ‘ADDICTED’ MV Teaser

JISOO’s label BLISSOO released the MV teaser for “ADDICTED,” the second pre-release single from her first full-length album, at 1 p.m. KST on Oct. 28. The clip shows her moving underwater beneath a thunderstorm, with flashes of lightning cutting through the dark. The song arrives Oct. 30 at 8 a.m. KST, and she will perform it on music shows this week. Her first pre-release single “CLICK,” out last month, reached the iTunes Top Songs top 10 in 43 regions, and the official teaser had 1,721,691 views by 5 a.m. KST on Oct. 29. After the playful humanoid of “CLICK,” this darker, bolder JISOO is exactly the turn fans were hoping the album would take.

Sources: Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 28, Mediapen, Oct. 28, YouTube views checked 5:00 a.m. KST, Oct. 29

A2O LITE’s ‘NEON’ Wins ‘Show Champion’ Again for a Sixth Music Show Trophy

A2O LITE took No. 1 on MBC M and MBC every1’s “Show Champion” on Oct. 28 with “NEON,” its second straight week on top there, for a sixth music show win in just eight days. The run began on SBS M’s “The Show” on Oct. 20 and went through “Show Champion,” “M Countdown,” “Inkigayo” and “SHOW K-POP.” In Japan, “NEON” climbed from No. 48 to No. 5 on Oricon’s weekly streaming chart dated Nov. 2 with about 5.37 million streams for Oct. 19-25, up 140.3% from the week before. The D Awards also named the group on Oct. 28 for its 2027 show at Paris’s Plenitude Arena (formerly Paris La Défense Arena) on Jan. 15-16. A debut two weeks old now has a European stage booked, and every new win makes the “thank you” at the end of the broadcast feel sweeter.

Sources: Top Star News, Oct. 28, Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 28, Sports Seoul, Oct. 28

ILLIT’s ‘It’s Me’ MV Passes 200 Million Views in 180 Days

ILLIT’s “It’s Me” MV passed 200 million YouTube views around 3 a.m. KST on Oct. 27, BELIFT LAB announced on Oct. 28. That took 180 days from its April 30 release, compared with 329 days for the debut hit “Magnetic,” and it gives ILLIT a second 200-million MV. The new title track “You’re Under Arrest” entered Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart at No. 98 on release day with 1,329,544 streams, ILLIT’s first same-day entry there since “Magnetic,” and reached No. 11 on the Melon Top 100. The “It’s Me” MV stood at 201,568,202 views on Oct. 29. Six months on, GLLIT is still pressing play on the old song while the new one climbs.

Sources: OSEN, Oct. 28, TV Daily, Oct. 28, YouTube views checked 5:00 a.m. KST, Oct. 29

AND2BLE Sells Over 520,000 on Day One of ‘Sequence 02: Attraction’

AND2BLE’s second mini album “Sequence 02: Attraction” sold more than 520,000 copies on its release day, Oct. 27, to debut at No. 1 on Hanteo’s daily album chart, making it the group’s second half-million seller in a row. The album hit No. 1 on iTunes Top Albums in eight countries, including Estonia, Hong Kong and Indonesia, every track entered the Melon HOT100, and “French Kissing” reached No. 6 on LINE MUSIC’s real-time chart in Japan. The MV had 8,144,268 views by 5 a.m. KST on Oct. 29. Five months after “Curious,” the five members have proven their debut was no one-time spark, and their first comeback stage is set for KBS2’s “Music Bank” on Oct. 30.

Sources: OSEN, Oct. 28, YTN Star, Oct. 28, YouTube views checked 5:00 a.m. KST, Oct. 29

KATSEYE to Headline Lollapalooza India 2027

KATSEYE will headline Lollapalooza India 2027 at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse, taking the stage on Jan. 24, the festival’s second day, HYBE and Geffen Records said on Oct. 28. They join Olivia Dean, Limp Bizkit and Fontaines D.C. at the top of the bill, and it will be the group’s first show in India, a homecoming of sorts for Indian American member Lara. On the Billboard charts dated Oct. 31, “WILD” sits at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 in its 10th week, and “Animal” is No. 30 on the Hot 100 and a career-high No. 8 on Pop Airplay. Watching Lara bring her group to the country of her roots is going to be one of the sweetest moments of their 2027.

Sources: Newsis, Oct. 28, Joy News 24, Oct. 28

BTS’s ‘ARIRANG’ Spends a 31st Week on the Billboard 200

BTS’s fifth studio album “ARIRANG” is No. 46 on the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 31, its 31st straight week on the chart since it debuted at No. 1 on the April 4 chart and held the top spot for three weeks. Title track “SWIM” is No. 10 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., its 30th week in that top 10, and No. 28 on the Global 200. On Spotify, BTS became the first group to reach 10 billion streams in a single year (as of Oct. 16), and “SWIM” became the first song released in 2026 to pass 1 billion streams (as of Oct. 24). With the South America shows wrapping up and the Asia leg starting in Kaohsiung in November, ARMY has kept this album alive for more than seven months.

Sources: Star News, Oct. 28, YTN Star, Oct. 28

TXT’s ‘PERFECT STORM’ Tops Spotify’s Countdown Chart Three Days Running

TOMORROW X TOGETHER released the second set of concept photos, the “EYE OF THE STORM” version, for their ninth mini album “PERFECT STORM” at midnight KST on Oct. 28. Before release, the album has passed 300,000 Spotify pre-saves and sat at No. 1 on Spotify’s Top 10 Countdown chart from Oct. 26 to 28, according to BIGHIT MUSIC. The six-track album, led by “Angel Bite,” comes out Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. KST, with a concept film on Oct. 31 and a highlight medley on Nov. 5. MOA have turned a pre-save button into a chart win more than two weeks before a single note is out.

Sources: Tenasia, Oct. 28

NMIXX Sells Out All Three Finale Shows of Their First World Tour

NMIXX’s three shows at Incheon’s Inspire Arena on Nov. 27-29, the finale of their first world tour “EPISODE 1: ZERO FRONTIER,” sold out after an NSWER fan club presale on Oct. 26 and general sale on Oct. 27, JYP Entertainment said on Oct. 28. The tour opened at the same arena last November and grew into 21 shows in 17 cities across Europe, North America and Asia. The group is also promoting its sixth mini album “Strange Muse” and title track “Birthday Wish,” released Oct. 19. Ending the tour where it began, and in front of a full house, is the kind of full-circle moment NSWER will remember.

Sources: Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 28, Etoday, Oct. 28

ITZY’s CHAERYEONG Counts Down to Her Solo Debut ‘Lovesick’

JYP Entertainment posted seven new concept photos for CHAERYEONG’s first solo mini album “Lovesick” at midnight KST on Oct. 28, with silver wings and blue light. The album and title track of the same name come out Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. KST, after a countdown live at 5 p.m. A dating-show parody short, “Lovesignal,” brought in YEJI, LIA, RYUJIN and YUNA to cheer her on, which might be the cutest promotion of the week. It’s her first solo record since ITZY’s 2019 debut, and the official trailer had 2,047,056 views by early Oct. 29.

Sources: BNT News, Oct. 28, YouTube views checked 5:00 a.m. KST, Oct. 29

Stray Kids’ Lee Know Gives 100 Million Won to a Cat Shelter on His Birthday

Lee Know donated 100 million won (about $75,000) to the animal welfare group Nabiya SarangHae, which announced the gift on Oct. 28 with a donation certificate dated Oct. 25, his birthday. The group said the money will go to the cats’ hospital bills and the shelter’s running costs. Lee Know, who shares his life with three cats, is in the middle of Stray Kids’ “RUN IT” world tour, with Tokyo shows on Nov. 6-8. Spending his birthday on cats who need a home is so completely him, and STAY couldn’t be prouder.

Sources: Top Star News, Oct. 28

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JISOO’s “ADDICTED” lands Friday morning, AND2BLE and ILLIT take their new songs to “Music Bank” that same evening, and I’ll be waiting right here for whatever CL says next.

Exchange rate: 1,337.7 won per dollar, Seoul closing rate on Oct. 28, 2026.

Featured photo: JISOO at the 2026 Met Gala. Photo: SWinxy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped).