My most recent retail therapy experience left me heartbroken, not so much because it took me thirty minutes to find a parking spot, but more so because I saw something that took a heavy toll on my fragile heart: back-to-school window displays, everywhere. Gone were the summery sandals and flirty florals and in their stead were earth-toned cardigans and boots. 

And with that, I guess it's official - the countdown to the day we have to bid adieu to summer has begun. But before these past three months become nothing short of a nostalgic memory, let's be mindful of the last few summer releases the K-pop sphere is diligently squeezing out.

Here are some of the top headlines streamlining K-pop this week.

2NE1 releases "Do You Love Me"

After concluding promotions for their reggae-inspired "Falling In Love", 2NE1 released the MV for their latest single, "Do You Love Me". The track combines the work of musical talents like Teddy, DEE.P, and Lydia. This time around, the girls toned it down from their signature visually stimulating MV's and made do with a home-made style video they shot themselves.

And truthfully, I thought the turn out was remarkable. The MV has an organic vibe that shows off their otherworldly charms. We see a beautiful rawness in the girls that would have otherwise been lost in all the glitz and glamour of a high-maintenance MV production. The video tears down all fronts and reminds us why we fell in love with them in the first place. 

B.A.P returns with a blockbuster MV for "BADMAN" + mini album

B.A.P made a grand return with another epic MV as they released the mini album, 'BADMAN'! Paying homage to their warrior image that first robbed us of our ovaries sent us swooning, the boys went all out with a large-scale blockbuster MV shot in Detroit and the same filming location as movie 'Transformers'. 

Because I respect them as artists, I'll be completely honest - the track didn't impress me nearly as much as I had expected. Before you start running toward me with burning pitchforks, keep in mind that they're just as much your bias as they are mine. The MV was aesthetically arresting, without so much as a few seconds going by where our eyes aren't engaged. But as for the track itself, although there were some highlights, it felt disoriented - as though a couple of different sounds were fighting amongst themselves to be the center of attention. It's not that "BADMAN" was bad, per se - it's just, their past singles were phenomenal. 

'Twerk-dols' Wassup debuts on 'Show Champion'

The 'twerking idols' Wassup had their debut stage on the August 7 episode of MBC Music's 'Show Champion'. The girls expressed that they'll "be completely different from a basic girl group and let Wassup's own color known. You can look forward to it." 

In the days leading up to their debut, the girls had been garnering rabid attention with their twerking teasers. But as with all things, it seems all that attention was fated to be short-lived, seeing as to how their performance turned out to be anticlimactic (for me, at least). Ok, fine, maybe expecting them to be twerking against makeshift walls on stage was something of a stretch, but hey, they barely twerked, if at all.

SM Entertainment's SM C&C merges with Woollim Entertainment to form 'Woollim Label'

SM Entertainment has set out to become a representative music group in Asia. They've already kicked off the process, as SM C&C has announced a merger with Woollim Entertainment to create an independent 'Woollim Label', whose music will differ from SM Entertainment's sounds with their own color of music and an eclectic lineup of artists. 

Moreover, with SM Entertainment's well-established global network, artists now under Woollim Label like INFINITE, NELL, and TASTY will benefit, and their increased global recognition will also raise SM group's total sales and profits. 

SM Entertainment will run its global music distribution and additional businesses while SM C&C will take charge of the label's functions," SM Entertainment stated with regards with 'Woollim Label'. "In terms of business structure and scale, we will acquire international competitiveness and will stand as Asia's premier music group which can compete with global major music groups. We will take our place as the first global major music group in Korea." 

I'm in no way affiliated with either SM or Woollim, so accordingly, the only way I can make sense of the merger is through purely business means. It's been made clear that Woollim Label's music will differ from SM's sounds with their own color, and I want to hold them to their word. Besides, considering how well INFINITE has been doing domestically, it makes sense that Woollim will want to do everything in its power to push the boys onto the world stage. But with international stages come the added expenses that may have been too overwhelming for Woollim to bear alone. Perhaps this is too innocent a way to look at this, but at least for the time being, I'd like to keep it this way. 

INFINITE take you backstage as they get ready for their 1st world tour 'One Great Step'

While we're on the subject of INFINITE, the boys are preparing for their first world tour! They'll kick off their world tour 'One Great Step' at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena on August 9-10. The boys will then take their tour to Japan, China, North and South America, and Europe.

*Crying* I'll feign passing out if it means the boys are going to be able to see me getting carried off in stretchers through the horde of rabid fangirls.  

Sunmi to debut as a solo artist under JYP Entertainment

Sunmi will be coming back as a solo artist! According to JYP Entertainment, Sunmi will be coming back, three years and 7 months after her leave from the Wonder Girls. J.Y. Park himself took over her complete production, including dance, MV, outfits, and of course, the song. 

There's no set date yet on her music release, but Sunmi will have her solo debut stage on the August 22 episode of 'M! Countdown'. 

Frankly, I'm beyond excited to see how much she's grown from the last time we saw her. Granted, we won't immediately be able to associate her separately from her run as part of the Wonder Girls, but that's hardly something time can't fix. Who knows? Perhaps she'll join forces with the Wonder Girls after her solo promotions; then again, maybe not. Everything's up in the air right now, but time has a funny way of smoothing out the kinks, so let's be patient until then. 

Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism reveal new plans to prevent chart manipulation

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has revealed their plans to prevent the manipulation of music charts. 

SEE ALSO: YG, SM, JYP, and Star Empire Entertainment file a report against the manipulation of digital music charts

For chart rankings, real-time downloads will have a heavier weighted ratio than real-time streaming. Before, there were user IDs that would stream the same song over a thousand times in a short period of time. However, since downloads cost much more compared to streaming (about 20 times more expensive), it will be more difficult for companies to manipulate. Also, the songs which are discovered to have used chart manipulation will not be receiving any copyright royalties. 

However, this will have to be adopted by the music sites and industry as this will not be forcefully implemented. Also, the conflict of interest between the large and small labels along with music companies makes cooperation difficult.

Granted, the manipulation of music charts poses a serious ethical threat to the functioning of the industry as a whole, and I'm glad the big three powerhouses have taken the initiative to tackle the issue head-on. But considering the conflict of interest between the large and small labels, along with music companies, something tells me we're in for a crapton of skirmishes and stubborn cooperation the whole way through. 

EXO fans banned from having fandom access at SBS 'Inkigayo'

EXO fans are now officially banned form having fandom access at SBS' 'Inkigayo'. SM Entertainment relayed the news to EXO fans through EXO's official board, saying, 

"...we have been told that EXO fans will not be admitted as a fanclub for both pre-recordings and live shows. This is because even though fans were asked to stop jaywalking and were asked to follow the security and staff orders, dangerous actions such as jaywalking, taking over the streets, and chasing the artist's and causing others to frown upon those who were holding the EXO cheer equipment continued... Fans also took photos and recorded videos [even though it's not allowed] during recording, and after the recording, fans would jump into the road to wait an run after the car..." 

I can sympathize with both sides on this one. In one respect, you really can't put a group of 12 breathtaking boys together (with what has to be one of the best choreographed routines this year, might I add) and expect a hormonally unstable fangirl to be fine. Trust me, she won't be fine. Then again, I'd be willing to bet that amongst those fans who jaywalked or chased after EXO's car (I may or may not have been one of them), were fans who didn't act as irrationally. It's disappointing to know that fans of the same fandom are ruining the chance to see the boys for each other. Maybe it worked out for the better after all. 

Ministry of Defense states Rain cannot be forced to re-enlist

Although Rain has already been discharged, political circles as well as netizens have been calling for his re-enlistment along with other celebrity soldiers who were said to have become celebrity soldiers without all the necessary documents.

The Ministry of Defense has stepped up to point out that the matter at hand is not something that should be thought of with re-enlistment in mind as the solution. They reason that although it is true that there were some documents that were not included when bringing Rain in as a celebrity recruit, this was due to different interpretations on the regulations about what documents were necessary for the celebrity soldier qualification process. 

They also reasoned that this is just a discrepancy in the matter of Rain transferring into the celebrity recruit unit, not a problem that exists with his actual enlistment into the military. Since they say there was no problem with Rain's actual enlistment, he cannot be called to re-enlist.

A rep from the Ministry of Defense commented, "Rain already finished his military service and was discharged as normal, so for him to 're-enlist' means that we must consider all the duties he carried out during his service as invalid."

It's not so much a matter of whether or not he carried out his duties as a celebrity recruit as it is a matter of missing paperwork. Then what becomes of the two years he spent serving? I hardly think a misunderstanding over which paperwork qualifies for what is reason enough to re-enlist someone who's already served his time. That's my two cents - take it or leave it. 

IU and Lee Hyun Woo's reps respond to the photos from the late night movie session

Not long after the photos of IU and Lee Hyun Woo attending a late night movie together started to spread, the two stars' reps spoke up to deny the speculations being raised.

IU's reps were quick to deny the dating rumors and stated, "It is true that the two of them recently went out to watch a movie but other staff members were with them at the time. They are not dating so it is not necessary to explain it. They are not dating."

Lee Hyun Woo's reps also said along similar lines, "The two became friends while emceeing together. They both happened to have time after their schedules so they met up for a movie... IU and Lee Hyun Woo are good friends. They also knew that photos were being taken of them. They were not on a date or anything like that."

I guess that's the price you pay to be a celebrity in Korea. People are going to talk and there's hardly anything you can do to stop them. In one sense, I'm sure the celebrities who chose to debut into such an industry knew the ceaseless media attention was guaranteed. But it's still disheartening to see that two friends can't enjoy so much as a movie together without the sensationalized hype that they must be dating. 

Well that's it for the week, guys! I'll see you soon.