From juicy K-pop gossip to heartfelt moments between artists, here's what Billboard learned and overheard during the three-day Los Angeles music fest.
KCON has long been heralded as a Mecca for K-pop fans thanks to its star-studded concert lineups, direct fan-to-artist opportunities, as well as being a one-stop shop for albums, merchandise, and all things K-culture. As Korean-pop culture continues to grow its footprint via idol music (seen by Stray Kids and Jimin of BTS occupying the top 2 slots of the Billboard 200 this week), KCON offers an exciting but safe space to showcase not only what’s trending but what’s coming up in the culture.
“It feels like you’re coming home,” says Keeho, leader of boy band P1Harmony who performed across two days of KCON LA 2024 this year, to Billboard. “It’s really a convention to show off Korean culture and what’s hot and upcoming in Korean culture like K-beauty, music, food. To be able to go there and just be part of that wave of representation, and showcase what’s new, I feel like it’s really really good to take part.”
This year’s KCON LA could very well also lead to more opportunities to expand the culture. Beyond the momentous music moments, Billboard noticed players in the Hollywood, TV, and gaming worlds all engaging throughout the three-day festival. Plus, a newly launched industry party after Day 2’s concert at the Crypto.com Arena boasts the potential to become a must-attend annual networking meetup.
“Subcultures like K-pop and anime are so pervasive it’s now part of mainstream conversation,” says Jenny Zha, a co-founder of Day 13 who hosted the industry mixer that brought out artists, execs, influencers and more.
From whispers inside the Day 13 party about new music, signings, and projects to the private moments shared by artists like P1Harmony, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE, BOYNEXTDOOR, POW and TWS, here are moments from the KCON LA 2024 weekend that you didn’t see.
As ZEROBASEONE kicked off a busy KCON weekend with an interview as part of the Grammy Museum’s Global Spin Live series on Thursday, July 25, member Zhang Hao was also celebrating his 24th birthday. The intimate audience was a majority of fans but also included talent agents, journalists, festival promoters, and label execs (one of which expressed hope they could one day strike a distribution deal with ZB1), and everyone sang an impromptu “Happy Birthday” to the Chinese superstar. An LED screen-equipped van with a video wishing the singer happy birthday was also driving outside the L.A. Live campus.
While KCON’s media press room was icy, air-conditioned relief from the LA weather, a super-publicist was hot with excitement about sharing the forthcoming scoop about the lineup for the rescheduled Krazy Super Concert, initially set for February this year but postponed over concern of incoming inclement weather a week before. Fully revealed on Aug. 1, previously announced performers like CL, aespa, ZEROBASONE, and The Kid LAROI join new additions including AKMU, Sunmi, BamBam, and DK, plus Chinese-pop singer and EXO member Lay Zhang, as well as HYBE and Geffen Records’ girl group KATSEYE. Singer and TV star Kim JongKook is the MC for the Sept. 14-15 event at the Long Beach Arena.
With KCON LA marking a major overseas moment for BOYNEXTDOOR, group leader JAEHYUN tells Billboard how he supported and kept his youngest member calm.” “WOONHAK and I were hosts for one part of the show at KCON LA and his hands were shaking really hard,” JAEHUYN shares. “I held his hands to comfort him. He was really cute, but he did really well at hosting. He’s a natural.”
“I was trying to film a quick video for our fans, ONEDOOR, backstage nearby the stairs,” LEEHAN of rising rookie group BOYNEXTDOOR tells Billboard of an unexpected moment during KCON LA 2024. “We asked the security guard if we can, and he winked at us and said, ‘Two minutes.’ We filmed in two minutes, and I went back to give him ice cream to thank him. He gave me the biggest smile.”
Despite the hours in between AleXa’s performance of her latest single, “Distraction,” and the KCON LA Day 1 concert closer Taemin, the Korean-American star made sure to watch the senior superstar’s set, looking visibly emotional taking in the SHINee member’s performances. Taemin undoubtedly delivered some important inspiration for AleXa, who has shown her love to the K-pop veteran in the past, like in her dance cover of his 2016 single “Drip Drop,” that’s amassed nearly a quarter of a million views.
While P1Harmony was just in the LA area last month for a concert as part of their “P1ustage H: Utop1a” tour, the boy group made their KCON LA return two years after their debut appearance in 2022. “I feel like the first time we came to KCON LA, it was very new and we didn’t know what to expect,” leader Keeho tells Billboard. “It was our first time performing at such a big arena in the Crypto.com Arena. It was a lot, but I feel like coming back just felt so welcoming. We received so much love and support from our fans just a month ago at the Kia Forum; feeling that overwhelming love and energy, and just knowing that we’re going to go back to it is a different feeling.” In addition to coming home to KCON, Keeho adds that the festival is also an opportunity to link up with friends on the lineup who share common backgrounds. “We did share our room with TWS, but we don’t really know anyone from TWS yet,” he says. “I do have some friends in ZEROBASEONE and I’m very close with Matthew. I feel like in the K-pop industry, when someone speaks English or is from a different country, you just kind of reach out because it’s so different. Matthew and I have just gotten so close because we’ve been to so many of the same festivals like KCON. We’ve made some TikToks together and the fans love it.”
P1Harmony shared with Billboard that they love that KCON showcases all facets of Korean culture and were happy to team up with brands on the ground at the convention, who were all too eager to show their appreciation to the boy band. “Inside KCON, we did a little promotion to cheer on and work alongside a Korean beauty brand [TIRTIR],” youngest member Jongseob said before making his band members crack up by adding, “They gave us a gift of, like, 30 to 40 cushion foundation products.” Keeho jumped in to add, “We legit were like, ‘What are we going to do with 40 cushion foundations?’ So, we decided, ‘Let’s just hand them out!’ It was really spontaneous — they didn’t ask us to do it — but we don’t need all 40 of them so we gave out a lot.”
Independent producer and consultant Briana Frapart, who launched her Frapart Muse agency after years working in and out of the K-pop industry, tells Billboard that this year’s KCON concert helped further open up Hollywood casting directors to the potential of hiring more Korean talents. “Hollywood casting directors are opening up their minds to considering idols for serious acting roles,” she shares, adding how she spoke at KCON with Mark Droter, casting associate for the upcoming Alien: Romulus film out this month, who shared how Korean actors were considered early on in the audition process. Frapart also added that executives from top entertainment law firms and production companies attended this year, joining conversations about “diversity in storytelling and how Korean filmmakers are improving TV and film standards.”
Members of ENHYPEN and Filipino-pop girl group BINI met for the first time backstage. SUNOO, JAY, and HEESEUNG filmed a dance challenge for the K-pop group’s latest single “XO (Only If You Say Yes)” with BINI’s Colet, Stacey, and Sheena. ENHYPEN also gifted BINI a signed copy of their latest No. 2–peaking Billboard 200 album ROMANCE : UNTOLD, which Sheena also posted on her X/Twitter (below) and Instagram Story.
While NMIXX is known for delivering undeniably energetic live performances and showcasing their bubbly personalities, the JYP Entertainment girl group showed noticeable calmness backstage. While waiting to enter a media interview room on Day 2 of KCON LA, each of NMIXX’s six members had a quiet, focused professionalism inside the back hallways of the Crypto.com Arena as they spoke quietly to themselves or one another or paced back and forth amid some final touch-ups. When a reporter from MBC America introduced herself before the interview, the group stepped right into friendly mode and was more than ready to jump into action to spread their group name.
As one of the busiest artists at KCON this year, ZEROBASEONE made sure they balanced work and play by penciling in some important relaxation time at the beach and going out to eat together. “We had very tight schedules in LA this year, but we were able to visit Venice Beach and take photos of each other,” shares ZB1 rapper-vocalist-dancer GUNWOOK. “We also visited a Korean restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal! [Laughs] That’s how we were able to keep our energy and stay motivated during the busy schedules.”
Backstage at TWS’ green room in the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, the newly launched boy band from HYBE’s PLEDIS Entertainment had their first-ever meeting with a journalist for a casual chat about their whirlwind success so far, critical acclaim as debut single “Plot Twist” was named the third-best K-pop song of 2024 so far from Billboard critics, as well as an upcoming Disneyland trip they’re planning to take. A staff member noted that the sextet was nervous, but there was nothing but a friendly and engaging coolness to TWS.
A new party that launched amid KCON’s 2024 Los Angeles date could also set a new standard as a must-attend mixer for those in the industry. What was initially planned as a night to celebrate K-pop became a cross-industry collaboration event hosted by Day 13, a new joint venture merger between K-pop and marketing expert Jenny Zha with Keith Kawamura, the anime and gaming marketing veteran who is also CEO of C3i Productions. Following KCON LA’s second day of concerts on Saturday, July 27, artists, execs, and influencers were on their way to downtown LA hot spot Hatch. Notable attendees included KCON performers like K-pop star and American Song Contest winner AleXa, as well as Mikha of the Filipino girl group BINI — both of whom enjoyed bites and drinks in the roped-off back section of Hatch with friends like The Kelly Clarkson Show producer Jasmine Stephen, songwriter Vanessa Jefferson who has had her love of K-pop long documented by her sister Lizzo, and Henry Jiang of OfflineTV who talked to AleXa about their interest and collaborating in the game space. “With the inaugural Day 13 industry party, we wanted to bring everyone together to create more avenues for ideation and establish a longstanding tradition that can give way to even more exciting cross-collaboration projects,” Zha reflects to Billboard. Subcultures like K-pop and anime are so pervasive that they’re now part of the mainstream conversation—especially at the forefront for key stakeholders behind the scenes.” A host of journalists, publicists and other media figures that long worked in the K-pop space were also in attendance. Lively discussions included the extra effort being put into ILLIT’s comeback single, ATEEZ’s recent signing with United Talent Agency, excitement and inquiries about TITAN CONTENTS’ first girl group AtHeart (first revealed on Billboard), a K-pop act’s upcoming song collaboration in partnership with Netflix, a new K-pop artist’s signing with a U.S. PR, gripes about working with and guesses about the future of one major Korean agency, as well as tons more juicy tidbits to compete with Hatch’s wagyu and wasabi skewer. Also in attendance was award-winning actress and dancer Krystal Ellsworth (who blew up in India after starring in the 2017 flick Heartbeats, which was shot in the country). Brian Chau of CAA was in the house, linking up Konami and Bandai Games over drinks to explore integrating new talent into the video gaming industry. Influencers like “The Transition Guy” Jonny Tran (930,000 TikTok followers) and Twitch streamer iGumdrop (with nearly 300,000 Twitch followers and 450,000 Instagram followers) connected with members of Sony’s Santa Monica Studios — producers behind the God of War franchise — about collab opportunities too.
Early into Day 13’s party, creative director at Zanybros and label representative for ZB Label Angelina Foss toasted screenwriter Lynn Q. Yu following the news earlier that week of Zanybros co-founder and director Hong Won-ki directing the film for Yu’s 2023 Black List script, Unnie. Other collaborators for the project were also on hand to toast the news broke by Deadline that reports casting is underway for the “K-pop thriller in the vein of Black Swan.” Production will begin in Seoul and Los Angeles this January. K-pop producer teams Sunshine and Moonshine (whose work includes songs with BTS, Red Velvet, TWICE, AleXa and more) will create an original soundtrack for the film.
The Day 13 mixer also saw Apple TV+’s upcoming K-Pop Idols docu-series as a hot topic. The series producer, music producer Alex Wright, spoke to guests about the show’s early beginnings, how it came to life, and his particular excitement over the story told by global girl group BLACKSWAN and what their future holds. BLACKSWAN, comprising of four non-Korean members, released its new Roll Up EP and title track single just after KCON on Wednesday, July 31.
In another display of KCON moving away from its K-pop focus, Asian-American boy group NSB (or North Star Boys) also held a fan event during the convention. To close the session, members Oliver and Sebastian Moy, Regie Macalino, Ryan Nguyen, Justin Phan, Darren Liang, Kane Ratan, and Tyler Bray lined up to do quick meet-and-greets for a line of supporters that wrapped around one of the LA Convention Center panel rooms — but NSB fans’ insistence on chit-chatting and taking selfies to each of the guys was the most adorable way of ticking off KCON staff who needed to constantly remind supporters they were only allowed a quick interaction and no photos.
After debuting in September 2023, POW was one of the youngest acts to join KCON LA 2024, and the rock band–inspired quintet took advantage of the opportunity by performing across several of the different stages inside KCON: meeting fans in their own 50-minute panel, teaching attendees their choreography at the Dance All Day tent, and performing at the KCON concert pre-show, which was the personal highlight for the group’s main dancer and vocalist Dongyeon. In addition to the group teasing that their new music is coming very soon and has “a new kind of band sound” with a “very well-known melody,” youngest member Hong also shared about seeing one of his friends in LA. “I’m very close friends with Kyungmin of TWS,” Hong tells Billboard. “The two of us are the maknaes, youngest of each group, and we have that as a common ground. We didn’t get to really hang out because the schedule’s been kind of crazy for both our groups, and we were in separate dressing rooms, but we passed by each other. I was really happy I got to say hello.”
While KCON spotlighted a larger share of non-Korean acts this year, these global groups were also able to link up and share their love and support for one another. Lai Frances, a KCON weekend MC and Billboard contributor, shared, “Behind the white curtains where artists are in green rooms for convention floor events, it was all about girl group love and support. BINI met up with fellow Filipina Sophia of girl group KATSEYE and her group to shoot social videos together. Even after the content capture, Sofia and the BINI members fangirled over each other to the point where both girl groups kept taking selfies with each other. To wrap it all off, KATSEYE gifted BINI with a signed tote and some merch. The meeting of the two groups was nothing but wholesome and women empowering.”
While KCON LA marked nearly two years since Los Angeles had seen NCT 127 live, it was also important for several of the performers to peep as half a dozen members of J-pop boy band INI creeped out from backstage to watch some of the group’s performance closing down the festival. A staff member eventually culled the guys back out of sight, but clearly, there were some hardcore NCTzens in the group, as their excitement seeing songs like “Walk” and “Lemonade” live was palpable.
Despite ZEROBASEONE’s packed weekend, the group’s leader HANBIN tells Billboard he focused on keeping his team mates focused for their special performances at KCON LA. “I remember talking to my members that it’s important to keep the original essence of [BLACKPINK’s] ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ and ‘Psycho’ [by Red Velvet], two cover songs we prepared, while implementing our own powerful side,” the stars say, adding a hint about their upcoming Cinema Paradise album, which was surprise announced on the final day of KCON LA. “Especially for [the] ‘Psycho’ performance, our intention was to share a bit of a spoiler about our upcoming album with fans by showcasing the mood of our comeback trailer in the performance. While selecting our outfits and trying them on before the performance, all of us were curious if our fans would notice those hints and spoilers hidden in the performance. We have more secret spoilers on the way for this comeback, so please look forward to new updates!”
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