All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Will KATSEYE ever be a six-person group again? That’s what fans are desperately trying to find out ever since it was announced that group member Manon she would be taking a hiatus to “focus on her mental health and wellbeing.”

Manon’s (as of now) temporary departure from KATSEYE has led to an outpouring of support from fans and celebrities online, as well as more questions about the Grammy-nominated group’s future. Manon’s hiatus has also led to surge in new interest for KATSEYE collectibles online, as fans buy up merch that includes all six members together — possibly for the last time.

Amazon’s No. 1 bestselling product in its “entertainment collectibles” category right now is this $10 set of KATSEYE photocards, which features 92 full-color images of the girls printed on durable cardstock and presented in a gift box. Amazon says it has sold hundreds of these KATSEYE photocard sets in the last week alone.

BESTSELLING MERCH

KATSEYE Photocards Gift Set for Fans

$9.99

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The set contains both individual photos as well as group photos. You can also find a set with a mix of photocards and stickers here.

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This is fan-made merch, of course, and not an official KATSEYE or HYBE release, but it’s clear EYEKONS are jumping at the chance to snag a collectible that includes all six of the members. While Manon and KATSEYE have not commented on her future with the group, many are speculating that she may not return. If that’s the case, this could be one of the last merch releases that has all six members together.

ALSO AVAILABLE

123-Piece KATSEYE Stickers Set

$7.99

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More than 1,000 people, meantime, have added this KATSEYE sticker set below to their cart in the last few weeks alone, per Amazon.

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The set includes more than 100 vinyl stickers inspired by photos of the group, their lyrics and album motifs. The waterproof stickers or decals are great for decorating your notebooks, laptops, water bottles, phone case and more.

Elsewhere online, fans are rallying behind Manon by giving the singer her own merch. Etsy sellers have this vintage-inspired T-shirt available for sale, featuring Manon in five cover-worthy poses and her name in bold block letters.

FAN MERCH

Manon KATSEYE K-Pop T-shirt

$17.20 $43 60% off

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This fan-made tee is available in more than a dozen colors online in unisex sizes XS to 5XL.

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We also spotted this Manon T-shirt which features a painting of the singer said to be inspired by KATSEYE debut EP, SIS (Soft Is Strong). Per the Etsy seller, this T-shirt features a “beautiful digital oil painting-style portrait of the KATSEYE star” and “captures her iconic visual with a trendy twist—complete with the signature denim dress and Tabi boots.”

FAN-MADE TEE

KATSEYE Manon Painting Shirt

$20

Buy Now on ETSY

Choose from more than ten colorways online in sizes XS to 2XL.

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As for the music? It’s not clear what Manon’s plans are beyond taking time off for herself, but if she is indeed moving on from KATSEYE, at least the singer has two well-received albums to be proud of. SIS and Beautiful Chaos are sure to become collector’s’ editions if Manon takes an extended — or permanent — hiatus, though fans are no doubt hoping the singer and dancer will return to the group soon.

For more on KATSEYE, you can see photos and picks from their viral GAP campaign here and shop their high-fashion SSENSE photoshoot here.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

While we love all Pokémon, it’s hard not to have a soft spot for Pikachu.

The electric-type Pokémon is extremely important to the franchise. Pal to Ash Ketchum and trainers everywhere, Pikachu is getting his flowers this Pokémon Day, Feb. 27, with a special collaboration from MAISON de SABRÉ. The designer accessory brand dropped a collection of ultra-adorable bags, bag charms and wallets in celebration of the pocket monster and Pokémon’s 30th anniversary.

The Pikachu-centric collection is live now on the brand’s website, along with Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Farfetch, FWRD, Saks Fifth Avenue and Revolve. You’ve got six pieces total, all created with high-quality full-grain DriTan™ European leather and Pikachu motifs throughout. One of our favorites is The Medium Palais bag retailing for $779, a tan leather medium-sized bag with tons of personality. We’d consider this piece an everyday bag because it is roomy enough to hold all your essentials, (keys, phone, wallet etc.) but managable enough where you don’t feel like you’re lugging a brick on your shoulder. What’s better? It also doubles as a crossbody bag.

The front of the bag is affixed with a little embossed Pikachu motif laid out sleeping with little footprints in its wake. There’s also a hang tag adorned with an image of Pikachu’s iconic zig-zag tail. The bag’s interior is a butter yellow, and features a zip-up pocket to keep your bag organized. The zipper closure on the inside is a Pikachu tail, yet another cute addition.

We are also pretty obsessed with the three bag charms available in the collection, an extremely on-trend addition. The standard Pikachu bag charm retails for $89, while the other, a bag charm that doubles as a coin purse, retails for $149.00. The third is a Poké Ball bag charm, also available for $89 that zips up. Every bag charm can be attached to your bags, adding visual interest to an otherwise boring tote, or you can attach these to your keys. While bag charms have run their course, we still think that they’re an ingenious addition to any bag, trend or not.

“Pokémon has always been about connection and companionship,” says Creative Director and Co-Founder of MAISON de SABRÉ Omar Sabré. “We wanted the customer to feel like the trainer -carrying Pikachu through their day – while translating the character through craftsmanship.”

Earlier this year, Pokémon celebrated their 30th anniversary with a “What’s Your Favorite?” Super Bowl LX AD. The campaign featured artists Lady Gaga, BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and rapper Young Miko. The stars shared their favorite Pokémon, Jigglypuff, Eevee and Gengar respectively.

Shop MAISON de SABRÉ’s Pikachu 2026 Pokémon Day Collection Here

MAISON de SABRÉ The Medium Palais Pikachu Bag

$779

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This Pikachu-inspired bag also doubles as a crossbody. It is made of high-quality durable DriTan™ European leather.

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MAISON de SABRÉ Pikachu The Coin Purse

$149

Buy Now at nordstrom

This is a leather bag charm of Pikachu that doubles as a nifty coin purse. Pikachu is sleeping soundly on the outside while the interior is roomy enough to store loose change or a lip balm.

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MAISON de SABRÉ Pikachu Leather Trifold Wallet

$189

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Our favorite detail from this wallet is the lightning bolt zipper, a nod to Pikachu’s electric powers. You’ve also got a tiny Poké Ball motif on the corner of the wallet.

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MAISON de SABRÉ The SABRÉMOJI Pokémon Charm

$89

Buy Now at nordstrom

This is one of three Pikachu SABRÉMOJI bag charms, all flashing different faces. The bag charm is made of leather and can be attached to your bag or keys.

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MAISON de SABRÉ The SABRÉMOJI Pokémon Charm Poké Ball

Buy Now at nordstrom $89 $89

This is the only SABRÉMOJI bag charm in the shape of a Poké Ball, the balls that you throw to catch a Pokémon. The bag charm is leather, like the others, and has gold hardware.

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MAISON de SABRÉ Pikachu Small Leather Bifold Wallet

$169

Buy Now at nordstrom

This is a bifold wallet, unlike the trifold in the collection, meaning it folds in half. This is a standard wallet silhouette but with Pikachu motifs throughout.

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This week’s new releases herald the return of a 16-time Grammy winner with his first new solo album in a decade, as well as five fresh tracks from one of the biggest K-pop groups on the planet. Bruno Mars leads the pack with The Romantic, his long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s 24K Magic.

The soul-soaked nine-track album features Mars’ slinky single “I Just Might” — which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and features the smooth bossa nova “Cha Cha Cha” and slow dance R&B jams “God Was Showing Off” and “Why You Wanna Fight?”

Also returning from a slightly shorter hiatus is BLACKPINK, the K-pop supergroup featuring breakout solo stars JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ and LISA. The quartet is back with the mostly English-language five-track mini EP, DEADLINE, which features the high-energy, Diplo-assisted first single “Jump,” as well as the equally banging new single, “Go,” which has a coˆwriting credit from Coldplay singer Chris Martin.

Other new releases this week include British crooner RAYE’s towering power ballad “Nightingale Lane,” which drips with heartache and a soul-stirring vocal that somehow makes it all feel like it will be just fine. The second single from the singer’s upcoming sophomore album, This Music May Contain Hope, is the follow-up to her global smash “Where Is My Husband!,” which peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100.

Make sure to also check out pop-rocker Towa Bird’s grungy power blast single “Gentleman,” British singer Elmiene’s two-pack of new songs from his upcoming album, Sounds for Someone, the silky slow jam “Honour” and the midtempo plea for just one shot “I Want In,” and Belgian pop singer Angèle’s pulsing team-up with French dance duo Justice, the funky bilingual track “What You Want.”

Which new release this week is your favorite? Vote — or share your own pick — in Billboard‘s New Music Friday poll below:

Earlier this month, global pop superstar Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language album to win album of the year the Grammys — and he followed that triumph with another culture-defining milestone the next weekend, with his Super Bowl Halftime show, which celebrated his Puerto Rican identity.

“I was emotional watching that,” says Latin country artist Andrea Vasquez of Bad Bunny’s Grammy win. “And watching him get emotional was just incredible.”

As the double punch of triumphant moments has only further cemented Latin music’s central role in the global music landscape, artists such as Carín León and Grupo Frontera have regularly braided elements of country music into their own music. Meanwhile, many country artists with Latin roots — such as Vasquez, Angie K, Frank Ray, Sammy Arriaga, Alfonso Terán, Kat Luna, Louie TheSinger and MŌRIAH — have been steadily building country music careers in Nashville.

Vasquez, who released her EP El Camino last year and just dropped the new song “The Wind,” and Angie K, whose new album Whiskey & Hemingway is due on May 29, identified a need for a community hub to be a bridge between Nashville and the global Latin music community. The two artists had shared stages around Nashville for a couple of years, but in early 2024, they built upon a shared vision, launching the Country Latin Association to champion country artists with Latin roots, in a genre that has long been dominated by white men.

Next month, the Country Latin Association will hold a show during the esteemed Nashville songwriters festival Tin Pan South on March 27 at Anzie Blue, which will feature Vasquez, Angie K, Ana Cristina Cash and Marta Albarracin. It’s the latest in a string of concerts, panels and other events the CLA has hosted to support Latin artists in the past couple of years. Vasquez also hosts the Latina in Nashville podcast, highlighting Latino creators, business owners and entrepreneurs across Music City.

“I’ve been fortunate to benefit from programs like Equal Access, from [FEMco’s] Leslie Fram, and from CMT’s Next Women of Country,” Angie K says. “You can’t put a dollar value on being in the same room, seeing each other as human and cheering each other on. The scarcity mindset can be so easy. It’s easy to not be happy for someone who gets a label spot, because you think they’re not going to sign another Latin artist.”

That mindset is exactly what the Country Latin Association wanted to disrupt.

“I started looking at the data and realized, ‘This isn’t charity work,’” Angie K says. “This is, ‘Pay attention or you’re going to miss the trend.’ This is something everyone should be watching.’ And not just artists that are Latin in the U.S., but way outside our quarters.”

According to the 2025 Luminate Year-End report, Latin music was one of the fastest-growing genres in the U.S., with streams of Latin music released within the last 18 months rising 5.2 percent.

Meanwhile, data from the 2024 study “Understanding The Latinx Country Music Audience,” conducted by the CMA with Horowitz Research, surveyed over 4,000 respondents and found that among Latinx weekly music listeners, country music was the seventh most-listened to genre, with 36% of Latinx listeners responding that they listened to country music (up from 25% in the CMA’s previous 2021 study). The 2024 study also categorized 25% of Latinx music listener respondents as “avid” country music listeners, based on listening frequency and stated affinity for the genre.

Artists themselves have increasingly made connections to Nashville. Grupo Frontera made their Grand Ole Opry debut last year, while Latin music star León made his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2024, and has collaborated with Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves and Kane Brown. This year, León will launch his La Cura Fest in Mexico featuring Grupo Frontera, and country artists Jelly Roll and Midland. Ana Castela, whose country-influenced sertanejo sound has earned her over 14 million monthly Spotify listeners, is known for songs including “Olha Onde Eu Tô,” and her Zé Felipe collaboration on a version of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One” (the video has earned 78 million views on YouTube alone).

Angie K and Vasquez have worked to bring country music into the heart of Nashville’s Latino community, even at a time when the Latino community has faced harsh strife in the United States.

Last summer, the Country Latin Association worked with the CMA’s Sr. Director, Industry Relations & Inclusion Mia Jones to launch the Latino Trailblazers in Country panel at CMA Fest 2025, featuring León, Luna, MŌRIAH and Hermanos Mendoza. That same week, the CLA also partnered with Origins Music Group’s Corey Jones and Stephen Miller, to host the live music event Country Con Corazón in South Nashville’s Plaza Mariachi, featuring artists including Generación M, Frank Ray and Garzón.

“If we’re really going to tap into the Latin community, we shouldn’t feel entitled to think they’re going to come to us,” Vasquez says. “We need to support them first.”

As they prepared for the event, the area saw an increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, and the team debated whether to proceed.

“It was a big conversation — do we hold it there or not? People were afraid,” Vasquez says. “But we felt the community needed something hopeful. And if we panic, other people will panic.”

Ultimately, they moved forward, and were told Plaza Mariachi experienced one of its busiest nights in weeks thanks to the event. “It brought people out to support local businesses,” Angie K says. “That meant everything.”

Of course, Latin music and artists’ influence in country music isn’t new, but rather foundational, from the influence of Mexican vaqueros on cowboy culture, to fashion designer Manuel Cuevas’ pivotal influence by designing stagewear worn by artists such as Johnny Cash. Johnny Rodriguez, Linda Ronstadt and Freddy Fender had breakthrough country hits in the ‘70s, while the genre-melding group The Mavericks have earned hits and accolades since the ’90s, and a new crop of Latin country artists are building upon the work of their musical forebears.

“It’s inspiring to see there is a new wave of us coming through,” Vasquez says. “We’re seeing that in pop with Bad Bunny and Karol G, and people are starting to see that is a huge thing in Latin music. When Carin and Grupo Frontera bring their audiences to the Opry, and they are just the most passionate people ever, it’s just showing that country music really is for everybody.”

Angie K and Vasquez envision expanding resources even further, including securing sponsorships for artists and increasing CLA members’ involvement with various awards voting.

“We would love to be a voting block for the Grammys, for the CMAs,” Vasquez says. “I think us coming together, our hope is to grow the amount of CMA members we have here in Nashville.”

Angie K notes that true change also unfolds at the individual level through deliberate and conscious actions.

“Changing the world doesn’t have to be this massive effort. It’s literally as easy as opening your Instagram and typing in Latin country artists, and that one search will change your algorithm,” Angie K says. “The problem is right now, our inputs are our outputs. If I were to go to ChatGPT and enter, ‘Make me a picture of a country music artist,’ I would bet everything I have, it would be a pretty standard image of a white dude. So how do we change that narrative? Well, we give it inputs. I always say, ‘If you open Instagram or TikTok, when you see an Andrea Vasquez video or a mariachi video, like it, comment on it. It will change your algorithm, and slowly but surely that will change our culture.’

“It seems like a small thing to do,” he continues. “But if many people do it today, it could be a foundation of a machine we can build on.”

So far this year, ROA was named one of Billboard’s Latin Artists to Watch in 2026, and won the award for male new artist of the year at the 2026 Premio Lo Nuestro. But way before accepting his third career win — following a Premio Tu Música Urbano and Premios Juventud award, both in 2025 — and officially kicking off his trajectory in 2022, he was studying business and psychology. 

“I realized it wasn’t for me,” ROA tells Billboard. “I was studying in Puerto Rico, so I began to make a lot of friends in the music industry. One day I went to the studio and realized that I had the talent. At that moment, I felt that this is what I wanted to do — and in 2016, I left the university, sports, and decided to focus on music.” 

Initially, his mom was not a fan of his change of heart, because she often associated music with street life, but on the hunt of his own dreams, ROA came across two artists who gave him his first opportunity. 

Those were Zion of Zion y Lennox — whom he randomly connected with at an electronic music festival, and who told him he has everything it takes to be an artist — and Phantom of the production duo Súbelo NEO, who was the first producer to record music with him. 

The gut-feelings were right. In 2022, ROA — who’s inspired by artists such as Drake, Don Omar, The Weeknd and Alejandro Sanz — signed to Universal Music Latino and launched his debut single, “Bellakeame.” His sophomore single, “Jetski,” ultimately earned him much wider recognition.

“It didn’t have a boom with the audience, but it sparked something internally within the industry, and it created a conversation,” he explains. “It was the first time you heard a fresh sound in Latin urban, which was trapsoul. A lot of colleagues began to notice me, and the remix with Omar Courtz, Dei V, and Bryant Myers, is what really made me known in Puerto Rico.” 

ROA has since released two EPs and has placed three entries on the Billboard charts:  “ETA” with De La Rose, Luar La L, Omar Courtz & Yan Block on Hot Latin Songs in 2024; “Fantasía” on Hot Latin Pop Songs in 2025; and “Netflix and Chill” with Chris Jedi and Anuel AA on Hot Latin Rhythm Songs earlier this year. 

“The connection comes from the musicality — because, although these songs share some of my DNA, they are all very different,” he notes. “It means that in the last year, my sound has crossed over and is transcending.”

Below, learn more about February’s Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise:

Name: Gilberto Figueroa (ROA derives from the last three letters of his last name)

Age: 29

Recommended Song: “Reina”

Major Accomplishment: “I’m at a point where I can support my family. Financially, I have the resources to help my mom and my grandmother. That, for me, is a relief, because I spent many years promising my mom that this [career in music] would happen. This is the biggest accomplishment I get to live with every day right now.”

What’s Next: ROA’s debut studio album, which he says “will change my career and is very personal,” is 70 percent done. He is also set to perform two sold-out shows at Puerto Rico’s Coca-Cola Music Hall in March, and announced his first-ever tour across Latin America, which follows his successful 2025 Spain trek. See the dates for the LATAM tour below: