'History of Kingdom: Ivan': Release date, concept and all about the Kingdom series
The K-pop boy group Kingdom is back once more with their third EP ‘History of Kingdom: Part III. Ivan’. The seven-member boy group first stormed the K-pop scene by debuting in February 2021 with the ambitious project Kingdom. Each member is based on one historical King of the past and their label, GF Entertainment, has shared that they have a long-term plan for it. They plan to explore the Kingdom universe with 32 albums over 12 years with eight albums for each series. And this comeback is for the member and Russian King Ivan.
To date, each comeback has been based on the telling of the backstory of a King that has been represented by a member. Kingdom debuted with ‘Part I. Arthur’ which focuses on member Arthur who represents the medieval British warlord Arthur. Their next EP was on Chiwoo who represents the Chinese Emperor Chiyou. Well, this comeback is based on member Ivan and the king he represents is the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Here’s everything we know about this album.
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Release date
‘History of Kingdom: Part III. Ivan’ will be released on October 21 at 6 pm KST (5 am ET).
Where to listen
Kingdom’s third mini-album will be available on all major music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, MelOn and more.
Tracklist
1. ‘Intro: Legacy of Hatred’
2. ‘Black Crown’ - Title track
3. ‘Fallen Star’
4. ‘We Are’
5. ‘Burn’
6. ‘ON AIR’
7. ‘Black Crown’ - Instrumental version
‘Black Crown’ is the title track of the album. The members -- Mujin and Dann have written the lyrics for ‘Fallen Star’ and ‘ON AIR’.
Concept
Kingdom released three sets of concept photos that expand on the Russian royalty. In the past, the boys have taken a medieval and oriental route for their previous albums. For ‘History of Kingdom: Ivan’, the group is taking a different path by going with a royal concept. They sport velvet princely uniforms, white royal outfits that are a contrast to the black crown prop and show the dark side to Ivan the Terrible with fur coats and dark makeup.
Kingdom’s members
As mentioned, with seven members, each of the boys represent a different King and has a different kingdom. Dann, the leader of the group, represents King Dan of Denmark.
Arthur is the medieval King Arthur of Britain.
Mujin is the first Japanese Emperor Jinmu.
Louis is the French King Louis XIV who was also known as the Sun King.
Ivan is the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Jahan is the Indian Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.
And the youngest member, Chiwoo is the Chinese Emperor Chiyou.
Music video teaser
In the teaser for the music video of ‘Black Crown’, we get a glimpse of the boys getting ready to fight. Their good and evil side is symbolized through their white and black outfits with Ivan taking the crown from his evil version. With Ivan’s kingdom called the Snow Kingdom, we will be seeing a chilling backdrop throughout the music video.
Watch the music video teaser below: