The easing of covid-19 restrictions in countries around the world has opened the door to many K-pop artists, who had been limited to performances online and engaging with fans through social platforms over the years. 

Having kicked off global tours in May, idol groups such as Monsta X and The Boyz recently concluded overseas tours, with other artists from Kakao Entertainment’s music labels to follow. Kakao Entertainment has been increasing its footprint in the global music industry, spearheaded by its most popular existing K-pop stars as well as newer names to the game such as girl group IVE.  

Under music label Starship Entertainment, IVE has swept global music charts with its two singles and is seen as a new generation of Gen Z K-pop artists. The six-piece girl group is gearing up to meet fans abroad, kicking off with a tour in Japan this August. IVE will perform in Yokohama, Kobe, and Fukuoka at “The Start Nextage” concert, after topping Japan’s Apple Music weekly song chart, landing second on the Oricon Weekly Chart, and ranking within top 10 for other major music charts in the country earlier in the year with its song “Love Dive.” The girl group is scheduled to release its third single on August 22 and will continue to meet fans around the world.  

IST Entertainment’s The Boyz is set to release its 7^th mini album on August 16 on the heels of its first world tour “The Boyz World Tour: The B-zone,” which kicked off in Los Angeles in May and wrapped up with an encore performance in Seoul. The boy band met fans in eleven cities including Chicago, Newark, London, Rotterdam, Jakarta, and Bangkok. The Boyz will also be increasing its presence in Japan in the coming months. After topping Japan’s Oricon Daily Album Chart in May with its second mini album “She’s the Boss,” the boy band will tour the country, performing in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Kobe. 

ATBO, who debuted late last month, is IST Entertainment’s latest boy band, which has quickly built up a global fan base thanks to its appearance on the survival reality show, “The Origin.” On August 26, the band will join a special broadcast of Japan’s “Music On! TV” as it seeks to build its presence in other markets. The music video for its title track “Monochrome (Color)” from its debut album, “The Beginning,” accumulated more than 20 million views within five days of its release. The album entered the ranks in Melon’s latest album charts in Korea as well as the top ranks on iTunes’ top album charts in Indonesia and Thailand. 

One of Kakao Entertainment’s leading boy bands Monsta X under Starship Entertainment wrapped up its U.S. tour back in June, meeting with fans in nine major cities. In July, the boy band released a single with famous Dutch DJ Sam Feldt, titled “Late Night Feels.” During a short hiatus, members of the group will be looking to continue solo activities and a variety of other activities. 

Also under the same label is Cravity, which has swept multiple best new artist awards at renowned awards ceremonies. The group will release its first English single, “Boogie Woogie,” on August 12 prior to its official album release in September. In addition to the surprise track, the boy band will also be on tour around six cities in the U.S., starting with San Francisco on August 25, followed by Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and ending with New York on September 1.

And last but not least on the list is Apink’s subunit CHOBOM (Chorong, Bomi), which has recently completed the promotion of its first single album “Copycat.” With this, the IST Entertainment duo entered the iTunes Top 10 music charts in Bahrain, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong. CHOBOM is also scheduled to hold a fan meet in Japan mid-September.