After a nearly yearlong absence, the seventh member of breakout K-pop group RIIZE will rejoin his band mates.

RIIZE’s official social media accounts announced that Seunghan will gradually participate in select group activities starting in November, marking a return that’s been highly anticipated yet fraught with confusing controversy.

Beginning in August 2023, Seunghan’s break stemmed from pre-debut photos and videos of the young star leaking that ignited backlash within some of South Korea’s more conservative social climate. The images showed Seunghan in a bed with an unidentified woman and smoking a cigarette, leading to some fans labeling his actions as inappropriate for a K-pop idol and demanding his removal from RIIZE. Last November, the group’s label, SM Entertainment, announced that Seunghan would “halt activities indefinitely” while reflecting on his behavior with no further updates from the label in a decision that left fans and industry insiders forced to speculate about his future.

The controversy surrounding Seunghan’s return reflected the broader tension between the global aspirations of K-pop artists and the expectations placed on them by domestic audiences. While RIIZE has earned international acclaim for music and the group’s authentic approach to social media and fan connection — highlighted in a Billboard digital cover touting them as “K-pop stars on the rise” from this past June — Seunghan’s situation highlights the pressure increasingly international idols face to uphold traditional values in a rapidly modernizing industry.

In the statement, SM Entertainment acknowledged both Seunghan’s personal growth during his time away and the label’s internal deliberation on the timing of his return. While many fans will welcome his reappearance (an online petition requesting his return had 20,000 signatures), the decision to reintegrate him into RIIZE marks a pivotal moment in how the group will navigate its future trajectory both at home and abroad and, potentially, how the K-pop industry can more seamlessly navigate controversies of cultural clashes.

Seunghan followed up on the statement with a handwritten letter uploaded to RIIZE’s Weverse account, in which he apologized to his fans, company, and band mates. The 21-year-old shared that he questioned his future as a musician but pointed out that his RIIZE members Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Sohee and Anton actually reached out to him.

“Because I caused such great disappointment, I continued to have more realistic thoughts such as, ‘Will I be able to stand on stage again?’” he wrote. “During that time, the members held my hand once again. It must have been a very difficult decision, and I am only filled with gratitude and apologetic feelings for giving me another chance. I know there is so much I need to show to the members who have taken my hand again, the fans who are worried that the achievements made in my absence might be tarnished, and the company that made the tough decision. Of course, I feel burden and fear about this.”

Earlier today (Oct. 10), RIIZE released the “KENZIE RE:WORKS” remix of their pre-release buzz single “Memories,” which dropped ahead of the septet’s official debut in September 2023.

Read the full statement below (with translation provided via Soompi):

To the BRIIZE [RIIZE’s fandom] who love RIIZE,

Hello, this is Wizard Production, who is in charge of producing for RIIZE.
We would like to cautiously make a statement regarding member Seunghan’s return and the direction of RIIZE’s future activities.

As the fans know, it has been around 10 months since Seunghan went on a hiatus from group activities due to issues with his pre-debut personal life.

Seunghan acknowledges that his past actions were wrong, and he has currently halted activities for nearly a year while deeply reflecting [on his actions] and feeling apologetic to the other members and his fans.
We also recognized that Seunghan’s past actions were not appropriate as an artist, which is why it took us a long time to debate the timing of his return to activities.

Because there was no announcement regarding Seunghan’s activities, the fans went beyond curiosity to become worried and concerned, and we empathize with those feelings. But as we continued to debate the matter from various angles, [our decision took some time], and we sincerely apologize for the fact that we are only now telling you our decision about the direction of RIIZE’s future activities.

We poured our heart and soul into planning out RIIZE even before their debut, and we have determined that RIIZE’s next chapter would be even more meaningful if the seven members were together. Therefore, after numerous discussions with the staff and members about the direction of the group’s future activities, it has been decided that Seunghan will be returning to the group.
After joining the group and preparing for a certain amount of time, we plan for Seunghan to gradually participate in some of the group’s scheduled activities for November and greet the fans once again.

Even during his hiatus, Seunghan has consistently worked to build his skills, and as he still has a lot to show you in the future, we hope that you will look warmly upon him.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for causing confusion and difficulty for the fans who have watched over and cheered for RIIZE’s growth.
However, as RIIZE is a group that aims to rise and realize their dreams together, the members think of the group as their top priority and are, even at this very moment, working hard to practice [for their future activities].
We ask that you trust our decision so that we can properly show the fans a RIIZE consisting of seven members.

We are certain that many people are curious about what RIIZE’s next chapter will be, how much farther they will rise, what sorts of dreams they are harboring, and how they will realize those dreams in the future.
Because we, the people who are the closest to RIIZE and who are also passionate fans of RIIZE ourselves, are also eagerly looking forward to RIIZE’s next chapter.

We will continue to work hard in the future to repay [the fans] with RIIZE’s great music and performances while sharing the members’ dreams.
We ask that you stay with the members and share all of their moments of rising and realizing that will continue to unfold in the future.

Seunghan’s Weverse letter (via Soompi):

Hello, this is Seunghan.

First of all, I sincerely want to apologize to the members and the fans. When the photos from before my debut were released, although they were photos of me, I was deeply disappointed and regretful about myself. If even I felt that way, I can’t even imagine how the members and fans by my side must have felt.

You must have been angry, shocked, and disappointed. I am truly sorry to the fans who supported us from the very beginning, which was such a crucial time, and to those who were hurt by my immature actions. I also feel sorry to the members, with whom I should have been working hard to move forward together, which led to my sudden suspension of activities. I want to apologize to everyone who had to endure and overcome that situation. I felt both sorry for the situation and a sense of despair at not being able to be with everyone.

Because I caused such great disappointment, I continued to have more realistic thoughts such as, “Will I be able to stand on stage again? Can I continue making music?”

During that time, the members held my hand once again. It must have been a very difficult decision, and I am only filled with gratitude and apologetic feelings for giving me another chance.

I know there is so much I need to show to the members who have taken my hand again, the fans who are worried that the achievements made in my absence might be tarnished, and the company that made the tough decision. Of course, I feel burden and fear about this aspect.

However, I am determined to work even harder and do better because of the trust placed in me.

I will strive to be a good member who takes responsibility and does not tarnish the achievements the members have built up. I want to become a necessary presence to the team RIIZE.

Once again, I want to apologize to the members and company staff who made the difficult decision and to the fans who must have been shocked. I will work more diligently and responsibly in the future.

Rod Wave has released a project every year of his career since 2017, and he adds to his resume by checking off 2024 with his Last Lap album.

The project is filled with 23 tracks in total and boasts a few guest appearances — typically rare real estate on Wave projects — from Lil Baby, Lil Yachty and Rylo Rodriguez.

Singles “Passport Junkies” and “Fall Fast in Love” are on the LP, both of which made the Billboard Hot 100, with the latter giving him his 72nd entry on the chart. “Passport” sits at No. 97, while “Fall” lands at No. 68 in its debut on this week’s Hot 100.

With the album finally here, next order of business for Rod Wave is his Last Lap Tour. The singer will hit the road with Moneybagg Yo and Toosii for the North American trek, which kicks off in Phoenix on Oct. 19.

The tour will also make stops for shows in Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Lexington, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, Baltimore, Philly, Nashville and Orlando, before finishing up in Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 18.

Rod Wave is looking to notch his fourth consecutive album, and he’ll be battling GloRilla and her Glorious debut album for the top spot on next week’s Billboard 200.

Wave’s riding high off the success of 2023’s Nostalgia. The Florida native’s fifth studio LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 137,000 total album-equivalent units sold in the first week. All 18 tracks from the LP also made the Billboard Hot 100.

Stream Last Lap below.

For everyone who thought the season of Brat ended with the summertime, Charli XCX would like you to think again.

On Friday (Oct. 11), Charli unveiled her long-awaited remix album, Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat. Revamping all 15 songs from the original album (and one additional song from its deluxe version Brat and It’s the Same But There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not) the pop singer teams up with an all-star guest list of fellow pop luminaries to create a completely different (but also still Brat) sound.

Some of the guests and their respective songs have already been released, including Billie Eilish (“Guess”), Lorde (“Girl, So Confusing”) and Troye Sivan (“Talk Talk”). As for the remaining guests, Charli revealed her newest set of collaborators using a series of billboards around the U.S., before she ultimately unveiled the entire tracklist earlier this week, including Ariana Grande (“Sympathy Is a Knife”), Tinashe (“B2b”), Caroline Polachek (“Everything is Romantic”) and The 1975 (“I Might Say Something Stupid”).

In a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Charli revealed that the album’s minimalist, lime-green branding was born out of a place of fear that the album wouldn’t perform well. “The actual first idea of doing a text cover came from was to save money. I was like, ‘This album is not going to appeal to a lot of people,’” she explained. “I was like, ‘I think I will do a press shoot and then maybe we just save on the album cover.’”

Stream Charli XCX’s Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat below.

Tyla dropped the deluxe edition of her self-titled debut album on Friday (Oct. 11) via FAX and Epic Records.

The new version features three more songs: “Shake Ah,” featuring Tony Duardo, Optimist and Maestro, “Push 2 Start” and “Back to You.”

The original version of Tyla was released on March 22, 2024. The 14-track project included previously released singles like her Billboard Hot 100 No. 7 smash “Water,” “Truth or Dare,” “Art” and “Jump,” featuring Gunna and Skillibeng, and additional collaborations with Kelvin Momo (“Intro”), Tems (“No.1”), Becky G (“On My Body”) and Travis Scott (“Water – Remix”). The set reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on Top R&B Albums and No. 1 on World Albums (five weeks).

The 22-year-old South African artist won the inaugural best African music performance Grammy earlier this year for “Water,” which recently won Best Afrobeats at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. She also won the Global Force award at Billboard‘s first-ever R&B No. 1s party in New York.

Tyla is set to perform during the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show next Tuesday, Oct. 15 in New York City, which will be available to watch live at 7 p.m. ET across Victoria’s Secret’s Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, and on Amazon Live & Prime Video. She will be joined by Cher and LISA on the first-of-its-kind all-female lineup. She also joined the 2024 Coke Studio lineup, alongside Usher, Peggy Gou, NewJeans and Karol G. As part of the partnership, Tyla will perform in her native Johannesburg and live debut a new song produced for Coke Studio.

Listen to the deluxe version of Tyla below.