Monsta X follow BTS and Blackpink as US music companies scramble to sign up K-pop acts
- BTS have been wowing the US – playing at the Grammys and topping the US Billboard Top 100 chart
- US record labels have been getting in on the action and Monsta X have just signed to Epic Records
In July 2017, K-pop boy band Monsta X played their first shows in the US: two nights at the 2,400-capacity The Novo in downtown Los Angeles. The concerts were hotly tipped among the genre’s superfans, who loved the brash aesthetic of singles such as Rush. But they were only just beginning to break through to American audiences.
What a difference two years makes. In August, the group will return to LA to headline the massive Staples Centre, an indication of their ascent into K-pop’s A-list. And this time, they have a US major record label and the most powerful music management consortium in the country behind them.
In May, the seven-member group – who perform performs in Korean, Japanese and English – announced they’d signed with Sony Music subsidiary Epic Records, putting them alongside US rap and pop stars including DJ Khaled and Travis Scott.
