Rhythmking took to the stage with Bum Key introducing the band to Singapore and warming the crowd up for Kpop Opening Night of Music Matters. “Let the music groove you!”

Bum Key’s smooth vocals sweetly covers a high range of tunes that got the crowd screaming at his amazing falsetto (“I will love you, love you, love you… My love!”) in Love Song. It was an easy listening of dance pop with electronic sounds, blending a little R&B flavor in some songs “I will love you down and keep you in my arms. Don’t you know I will never let you down” in Butterfly. The tracks performed were Love Song, Gossip (which won guitarist Rhythmking the 2009 John Lennon Songwriting Contest (Electronic) Grand Prize), Butterfly, It’s Over,  and My Music.

Next up was BTOB. With a total of seven songs performed, it was more a BTOB mini-concert than a showcase. Kicking off with a Born To Beat (Intro), BTOB showed off their powerful rapping and dance skills. Immediately after was Insane.There was a strong showing of fans evident by fan chants and voices chorusing  “-sane!” and “Pain!” . Despite the starting being plagued by some sound system fault that cut off the background music, BTOB showed a very professional front by continuing with the performance without missing a beat. With so much confidence, BTOB owned the stage with their passionate performance.

All members introduced themselves in English except for Hyunsik who did it in Mandarin. Peniel, born and raised in US, led the introduction of songs throughout the performance in English. The boys were dishing out love (“We love Singapore!”), fan service (MinHyuk and Eunkwang did a heart) and energy (Just “Woo!”-ing at appropriate moments). Imagine was sung.

After this was the upbeat Monday To Sunday. BTOB was very lively and cute, and a camcorder appeared in Peniel’s hands which he used to film his fellow members and also the audience. While catching their breath after the song, Peniel chats a little and says how he enjoyed the little cruise BTOB took on Tuesday. “The view was amazing, was there anyone else who enjoyed it?” Minhyuk chimed in and said: “Singapore is such a beautiful country (all the members go “Ya ya ya” in agreement), the people are so beautiful and handsome, nice, and kind and sexy!” “Woah, calm down!” Changsub says he liked chilli crab, it was so delicious and he wants to eat it again. “But we have no time,” Peniel laments.

BTOB breaks into a well-rehearsed untitled dance number, following which Father was sung. Peniel talks about Parents’ Day, celebrated in Korea on May 8. Finally, BTOB performs Irresistible Lips live for the first time ever, having officially released the song only a day before. What a treat for fans!

Finally it was the Jungle family’s mini-concert.

MIB performed Who Am I and G.D.M Tiger JK joined the stage and really worked the crowd with Do You Know Hip Hop with Bizzy.

Tasha Yoon Mirae and Tiger performed Pay Day. MIB joined the stage, where Tasha performed Get It In. Monster was also performed with the entire Jungle family on stage. It was a rare stage, having the entire Jungle family in Singapore.

Kpop Opening Night by Music Matters was a blast. It was also good to see various genres represented by the different groups. Korean music indeed has more to offer than pop and hopefully the opening night brought exposure to the artists and to the audience a wider range of korean music.

You can read more about the bands and artists here. Music Matters Live runs from 24 May to 26 May.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:

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Catch their performances here:

Insane:

Monday to Sunday:

At the same time, we would also like to thank Universal Music for making the event possible as well as the opportunity to cover the event. Follow them on Twitter(@universalmusg ) & Like them on Facebook HERE for future updates! Follow us on Twitter (@mykplayground) for the latest updates on events in Singapore.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:

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Rhythmking will present six songs at Music Matters, five of which are unreleased new songs. The sixth is Love Song.

Rhythmking says Singapore is like California but it’s more humid here. He also wants to try chilli crab.

J’Kyun (aka ‘Prince of Hip Hop’ in Korea -which makes Tiger JK Godfather of Hip Hop) recently released his second EP titled ‘These Days’ in April, with title track ‘Hot MC’ featuring ZICO from Block B. 

J’Kyun has five songs prepared for Music Matters.

Clazzi, best known as the founder of Clazziquai, dropped his first solo album Infant in January this year. DJ Clazzi does not feature his vocals in his tracks but instead notably features music heavyweight Lee Seong Yeol, who is also one of Clazzi’s role models, Jinsil of Mad Soul Child and MYK. His album ambitiously reaches out to a wider audience of different music genres in this way. Mainstream and pop artists such as 2AM’s Im Seulong, Sunny Hill, Urban Zakapa and popular indie-rock The Koxx were also featured.

Clazzi is in Singapore alone as an artist but will be performing his DJ show with four other singers for Music Matters. (They are… refer to recording). Clazzi insists that he is not a clubber (despite working as a DJ in clubs) but a homebody so he will be chilling in his hotel room with his friends. Clazzi’s electronic sound is unique and ever evolving. When asked to peg his music to a genre, he says it is hard for him to explain the genre of his music. Instead he wants to try new styles in the electronic domain such as hard electronic, and even softer music, and hopefully it will be fun for the listeners as well. In fact Clazzi has mentioned in a previous interview that he leaves it to the audience to think about his music, about which genre it belongs to. Looks like Clazzi is happy to skip the preoccupation with music labeling and focus on mixing beats.

Clazzi is proud as an Asian to see far east movement famous in Asia and America. He likes their sounds as well.

BTOB, meaning Born To Beat, is a rookie boy band with singles ‘Father’, ‘Irresistable Lips’ and ‘Insane’. Consisting of members Eunkwang (leader and vocalist), Minhyuk (visual and rapper), Changsub (vocalist), Hyunsik (vocalist), Peniel (rapper), Ilhoon (rapper) and Sungjae (rapper), BTOB debut in March this year under Cube DC of Cube Entertainment. 

Singapore is the first overseas stop for BTOB since their debut and they sure had a fun day on a boat cruise, swimming and eating chilli crab. BTOB was shocked at the number of fans waiting for them at the airport. Leader Eunkwang explained that ‘beat’ in BTOB could mean the music beat, or to beat someone at something. He also joked that Arirang was a band name they toyed with. BTOB members are working on learning foreign languages and a few members introduced themselves in Mandarin and Japanese. They would like to work with the seniors present at Music Matters in the future.

Drunken Tiger or Tiger JK is the Godfather of Hip Hop in Korea. His Queen of Hip Hop is Tasha, better known as Yoon Mirae in Korea. He is here with labelmates Tasha Yoon Mirae, Bizzy and MIB.

Tiger JK is honored to be here at Music Matters in Singapore. He says Tasha is really one of a kind, she can sing and rap, and deserves to debut in America. Seems like there is a lot planned for her debut, following which other Jungle artists will be riding on her coattails in collaborative projects to enter the market as well. Tasha has a song ‘Live My Life’ featuring Justin Bieber.

Tiger JK: “I haven’t eaten chilli crab yet LAH” to show he has read his notes on Singapore. He also did his hair just for Singapore. His inspiration is Bob Marley. When talking about his own style of hip hop, he brings up his definitive years in US and battling between communities, and hip hop as a way of life (“In hip hop you can’t copy… there’s no respect” ) which he embraced.  Tiger JK notes that American hip hop is mainstream now, and more so than in Korea. In talking about Jungle’s collaborative projects in US, “Look out will.i.am!” There are plans to release them globally on Youtube in June.

Tasha is appreciative to be here at Music Matters and she hopes that regardless of language and genre people get to know a little more about Korean music in general and not just Kpop.

Old-time rapper Bizzy has a new single titled ‘Angel’ to be released soon. He is hoping for interaction with the crowd today at Kpop Night Out.

Q: BTOB has a track in “Born to Beat” titled “Monday to Sunday”, so which are your favourite days?

Minhyuk: Sunday, as it is our rest day.

Sungjae : Friday, as it meant that the weekends are coming up and also because it meant that we have completed a week’s activities, the mere thought of it gives him a sense of satisfaction.

Changseob: Monday, as it represents a new start.

Q: Since the latest MV is titled “Irresistible Lips”, when you meet a woman, which part of her body will you notice first?

EunKwang: Lips, as I like girls with thick lips.

Minhyuk: A girl with a beautiful smile.

Changseob: Eyes, therefore I tend to make eye contact with them

Hyunsik: A girl who gives off a very kind feeling

Peniel: Beautiful smile

Ilhoon: Hairstyle. Through the hairstyle I will be able to look at the girl’s personality & characteristics.

Sungjae: A girl with double eyelids

Q: How does Minhyuk feel about his first on screen kiss scene in the MV “Irresistible Lips”?

Minhyuk: I was very nervous in the beginning, but once the shooting started I was so engrossed that I do not remember much about the kiss scene itself.

Q: With Singapore being the first stop after debut, what are your thoughts about it?

Hyunsik: We are very thankful to be given this opportunity to perform in Singapore. We were also shocked to see the large amount of fans waiting for us at the airport when we arrived.

Q: Could you tell us more about the track “Irresistible Lips” included in your Asia Limited Edition?

Minhyuk: The song “Irresistible Lips” was released prior to our debut through a sitcom. As the fans loved the song a lot, thus we decided to include it in our Asia Limited Edition album as a gift to our fans. Please show lots of love to the song.

Q: What are some of your upcoming plans?

Eunkwang: As we are still very new, we hope to let more people know about BTOB therefore we will practice hard to show everyone our best. We also hope to master more foreign languages so as to better interact with our Hallyu fans.

Q: A message to the Singapore fans.

Peniel: It’s really an honour to perform in Singapore. We were really surprised at the amount of fans who greeted us at the airport. We are really thankful and please expect a lot from us tomorrow as we prepared a lot.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:

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Catch BTOB’s live performance at Music Matters 2012 live tonight at Fountain Square! Be sure to support their upcoming Asia Limited Edition album which includes the mentioned track: Irresistible Lips.

Catch the MV starring BTOB’s very own Minhyuk here:

In conjunction with The Straits Times’ 167th birthday, a carnival & concert will be held Gardens by the Bay on 15th July. Other than the carnival which will be held in the day, a 2 hour long concert is set to take place at 7pm. The concert will feature local talents like Singaporean jazz flautist, Rit Xu, Singapore Idols Taufik Batisah and Hady Mirza, as well as ChildAid performers Amni Musfirah, 18, and Sophia Joe, 13. It will also feature international acts Boys Like Girls, an American rock band, and Korean idol group, 4Minute.

Details:

Date: 15th July 2012
Time: 7pm
Venue: Gardens by the Bay

Ticketing Details:

•  $67 (The Straits Times readers)
• $75 ( All others)

The tickets also entitle holders to a private sundown party in August at the Universal Studios Singapore, in Resorts World Sentosa, where they can enjoy all the rides, and a goodie bag.

Follow us on twitter (@mykplayground) for more updates!

Information via: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_800328.html

Details:

Festival Period: 24th to 26th May 2012
Time: 7.30pm – 2am
Venues: Main stage at Clarke Quay, Beer Market, China One, Crazy Elephant, Cuba Libre, Forbidden City by Indochine, Shuffle and The Arena.
Official Site: http://www.allthatmatters.asia

Korean Performance Schedule:

24 May2012 (THU)- Main Stage (Fountain Square)
8.00pm – 8.20pm: Rythmking (KR)
8.30pm – 8.50pm: Jkyun (KR)
9.00pm – 9.20pm: BTOB (KR)
9.30pm – 9.50pm: Clazzi +3 (KR)
10.00pm – 10.20pm: Drunken Tiger & T (Bizzy & M.I.B)

25 MAY 2012 (FRI)- Arena
10.30pm -11.00pm: Jkyun (KR)

More details coming up! Follow us on twitter (@mykplayground) for the latest updates.

Details: 

Date: 23rd May, 2012 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: Bugis Junction, Bugis Square.

Albums with Signing Pass will be on sale at ALL CD OUTLETS from this coming Thursday (17th May 2012) onwards! Remember to call the outlets to make sure stocks are in before heading down!

Other than the autograph session, BTOB is also one of the guest for Singapore’s annual Music Matters taking place from 24th to 26th May. So keep a look out for them! Follow us on twitter (@mykplayground) for more updates!

Kim Hyun Joong bursts out from a huge white ball and starts grooving to “Break Down”. After the number, he greets the audience and reiterates that he has made Singapore his first stop because he likes the energy we give him.

Next he sings “Happiness is” and before that he preps the audience to sing it with him. He has been very thoughtful in changing the Korean lyrics for one line into English so that the fans can sing along! It goes something like “Without you baby, I can’t imagine it”.

The second video screened showed five things Kim Hyun Joong would do for his girlfriend. It portrayed a soft, caring and romantic side to him that played along to a girl’s fantasy. First, he would cook for her. Second he would write her a “true-hearted” letter. Third, giving her a romantic gift. Fourth, mimicking a scene from a movie (“I’m the king of the world!” from Titanic, and Kim Hyun Joong acting it out with a huge white teddy bear. Now cue: “Aww…” from the audience). Lastly, singing only for her…  Kim Hyun Joong was really cute and goofy in the video and it was fun watching it.

Kim Hyun Joong comes out singing “Kiss Kiss” like a playful boyfriend and presents the huge white teddy bear featured in the video to a lucky fan sitting in the first row!

Next he sings “I’m your man” passionately, making all the girls swoon and sigh.

Afterwards, Kim Hyun Joong teases: “You must all be very lucky… Because I am singing this song for the first time.” Indeed, fans in Singapore were treated to the premiere of “Smile”, a slow RnB number. Even thought the lyrics went “I must be a lucky man” I’m sure the audience was feeling lucky to be the first in the world to hear this sweet song!

Kim Hyun Joong then belted out in earnest a slow rendition of “Because I’m Stupid” which melted the hearts of the fans. He picked up a towel to wipe his face and sensing the fans going wild and screaming in anticipation of what he would do next, he granted their wish by throwing the towel to the audience!

Finally it was time for interaction with the fans! “One mind with Kim Hyun Joong” was played. Kim Hyun Joong came up with three very cute Marilyn Monroe poses and the fans (Kim Hyun Joong had earlier personally pasted yellow pieces of paper under random seats in the audience- these lucky people got to go on stage) had to perform one action simultaneously with Kim Hyun Joong in hope that it would be the same action. It seemed the fans were telepathically sensing the action Kim Hyun Joong was doing because they played many rounds without being eliminated.

“They must have eyes at the back of their heads!” Kim Hyun Joong exclaimed, laughing. The last remaining fan got a photo opportunity with him on stage.

There was a twist to the game because the ‘unlucky’ fan who lost was brought back on stage! The lucky girl was wheeled out on a bed to the centre of stage, and Kim Hyun Joong serenaded her. He even sat next to her on the bed and put his hand over her shoulder. Finally, he presents her a bouquet of roses.

The bed was wheeled backstage but it reappeared behind a screen. The silhouette on the screen showed Kim Hyun Joong caressing the fan’s face and kissing her hand… The audience was screaming wild with envy! However, it wasn’t the fan but a male dancer/staff member and the audience heaved a sigh of relief. Seems like that was the cheeky, playful side of himself Kim Hyun Joong talked about during the press conference!

Fake money was shot into audience and the lights came on, with “Do You Like It”. The mood picked up as Kim Hyun Joong went on to sing another fast song, “Lucky Guy”. Streamers shot out as Kim Hyun Joong sang goodbye to the audience with ”If You Are Like Me”.

But it turned out to be another trick! The audience were in for a surprise when Kim Hyun Joong re-entered the stadium from the stall back entrance, i.e. within the audience on the first floor. He walked around the stall to the stage, giving the fans sitting at the periphery a good look at his handsome face. Great fan service!

On stage, Kim Hyun Joong sang ”One More Time” with the audience!

He sang “Lucky Guy” again with great energy, jumping and moving from one end of the stage to the other.

Kim Hyun Joong reappeared after preparing backstage for the handshake/high-five session. He made eye-contact with every fan and really seemed to be memorising each and every face. What was impressive was that no matter how tired he must have been from the non-stop dancing and singing, Kim Hyun Joong never stopped smiling. I’m sure because of such a huge effort on his part to connect with every member of the audience, he has successfully wooed and captured the hearts of everyone present.

It was a splendid fan meeting and Kim Hyun Joong hinted that he will be coming back to Singapore for a concert. It will be greater than the fan meet with more songs, so let’s look forward to that!

Mykplayground would like to thank Running Into The Sun for the opportunity to cover this event. Follow them on twitter at @sgRITS & like them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/runningintothesun?ref=ts

Photos with credits to: Running Into The Sun

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:

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Pumping the energy with as jaywalkerz entered St James Movida in an orderly fashion at 315PM with Jay Park’s tracks playing in the background, and a hysterical scream in unison resonated all over when his music video, “Girlfriend” played to its climax of his kiss scene.

It had an understandable delay for about 15 minutes from the scheduled 330PM. “Are you ready for new breed?” greeted DJ Ah Ken of 100.3FM. “I cannot hear you, Jay cannot hear you! Who are you here for? Who are you excited for? Are you ready for today?” he pumped the crowd up, where all answered in unison for Jay. Lights came out on stage presenting Jay Park himself cooly dressed in a white blazer and air Jordan sneakers, greeting all his Jaywalkerz, from girls to guys alike with his hit remake song Nothin’ On You. He knew how to please his Jaywalker ladies well: pointing out to the entire crowd present at his showcase during the lyrics “beautiful girls, all over the world” the girls swooned and cheered in utmost glee.

“Hello Singapore, what’s up, this is Jay Park! Thank you for your support and love for being here! Let’s roll; put your hands up, Singapore!” he opened his showcase and continued on with Got Your Back. Two apparent fans in front of the stage had made fan signs that said “We Got Your Back Jay”, which I think was totally right for the time and so sweet! Mesmerized in his perfect choreography, and singing with his utmost strength, live in perfect pitch. Doing a little crotch grab and wave move made everyone gone mad as the energy starts to rise. Giving his all to his final climax of the song, his veins popped out from his neck.

Finally resting for a small pep talk, Ah Ken returned to everyone’s surprise with his face, half-painted in the skeletal style of Jay Park’s album cover (LINK: read his press conference of where he got his inspiration!). The crowd both laughed and screamed at the same time when Ah Ken sputters the usual questions that makes a fangirl go high: “so what do you think about Singaporean girls, are they beautiful?” Park went in a little closer and then when Ah Ken invited him to come up to the end of the stage, taught him to say “Wah chio! That’s when you see someone beautiful,” the crowd went wild. “Yeah, I see a couple hotties in the crowd! Wah chio, is that right? Should I do a rap and a little beatbox then… wah, chio~!”

Park continued to wow the crowd with his live skills, atests from his continuing Immortal Songs 2 fantastic appearance to his next song, Up & Down. Full on-rap force on stage still not missing a beat to his choreography, his Jaywalkerz fans who joined the competition for a chance to have a solo photo with him did not dissapoint as well – all 5 contenders had to dance Know Your Name with their face half-painted in a similar way Ah Ken did, and boy, did the first contender, who won in the end, wowed us with his freestyle dancing ability and spot-on-the-dot dance moves. The 5 even got to dance together with Park, where he, as a senior in dancing, did a little direction for positions, like a dance crew up on stage. His title track proves to be the hit of the showcase where he brought in a solo female dancer as his partner for his chorus, and finished the night perfectly without a mistake.

Additionally, being his birthday month, Jaywalkerz in Singapore has especially prepared a little birthday treat of a tray full of cupcakes and a replica of him – “it’s not me, its a bit too fat!” he joked. Blowing off the candles, Ah Ken asked what was his wish. “My wish came true already, I’m here in Singapore!”

With more captivating moves and suave choreography, powerful vocal skills and continuing ability to rock the hip-hop and rap world of music, Jay Park ended his showcase with a fansigning moment, for all the fans who had purchased the limited edition tickets. A natural on stage, and amicable with fans where he kept smiling to every single one of them asking for their name and signing his name away, Jay Park certainly has returned with a new side of him, matured from the past and continuing onwards with success.

Support him with his new full-length album, New Breed, available from Universal Music. We would also like to thank Universal Music for giving us this wonderful opportunity to catch Jay Park live in Singapore.

Reported by Rice