K-pop Megaband BTS Renews Grammy Challenge with ‘Butter’

K-pop boy band BTS member Jimin poses for photographs during a photo opportunity promoting their new single “Butter” in Seoul, South Korea, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
K-pop boy band BTS member Jimin poses for photographs during a photo opportunity promoting their new single “Butter” in Seoul, South Korea, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
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K-pop Megaband BTS Renews Grammy Challenge with ‘Butter’

K-pop boy band BTS member Jimin poses for photographs during a photo opportunity promoting their new single “Butter” in Seoul, South Korea, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)
K-pop boy band BTS member Jimin poses for photographs during a photo opportunity promoting their new single “Butter” in Seoul, South Korea, May 21, 2021. (Reuters)

South Korean megaband BTS said on Friday it was renewing its quest to win a Grammy Award with its new single “Butter”, building on its success last year, when it became the first Korean pop group to win a Grammy nomination.

In a breakthrough year in the United States in 2020, the seven-member boy band was nominated but did not win an award, and instead performed its hit song “Dynamite” at the Grammy ceremony.

“Of course we would like to win a Grammy. That’s still valid and we are aiming to work for it once again with ‘Butter,’ and hoping for good results,” songwriter and rapper Suga told a news conference in Seoul.

He said “Butter”, the group’s second English-language single following “Dynamite”, was a funky summer track.

BTS will perform the new song at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards set for Monday, for which it clinched nominations in four categories, the most yet for K-pop stars, including top duo/group and top selling song for “Dynamite”.

Vocalist Jimin said he regretted BTS could not meet fans for the eighth anniversary of the group’s debut next month, which will be celebrated virtually rather through a live concert because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve felt somewhat isolated being unable to see fans due to the current situation, but we continue to think hard about how we can show our different aspects and satisfy them,” he said.

Leader and rapper RM said: “For us, the biggest topic is what function BTS can serve, why we exist and which values we should pursue under this new normal era and for the industry.”



US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

American R&B singer Chris Brown, the former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was due to appear in court Friday in London on assault charges.

Brown was freed from UK custody last month on £5 million ($6.7 million) bail after his arrest in the northwestern city of Manchester, AFP said.

Under the terms of his bail, which would see him forfeit the £5 million guarantee if he failed to return for court proceedings, the Grammy-winning Brown, 36, was given the go-ahead to continue his scheduled international tour, which began on June 8 in Amsterdam.

The star, who had a troubled relationship with Barbadian singer Rihanna, is currently performing the UK leg of his tour, with his next date in London on Saturday.

Concerts are also scheduled in France, Portugal and the US later in the year, before the tour wraps up in Memphis in mid-October.

The star is charged with "grievous bodily harm with intent" in relation to an assault in which the victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked.

The alleged incident took place at a nightclub in Hanover Square in London on February 19, 2023 while Brown was touring in the UK.

Police detained him in the early hours of May 13 at a five-star hotel in Manchester after he reportedly flew in by private jet.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, at Southwark Crown Court in London, last month ordered that he could be freed on bail, and also stipulated that he should surrender his passport if he is not travelling.

He is required to live at a specific address known to the court and is not permitted to visit the nightclub were the alleged assault took place or contact the alleged victim, Abraham Diah.

Co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a 38-year-old US national, has also been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

Brown is known for mid-2000s hits such as "Kiss, Kiss".

He rose from a local church choir in Virginia to sudden fame with his rich R&B voice and later rap, but his reputation has been tarnished by the allegations of abuse.