MONSTA X — ‘The Phase’ (14th mini album)

‘The Phase’ is the 14th mini album from MONSTA X, released by Starship Entertainment on September 4 at 1 p.m. KST. It has six songs, led by ‘MAGIC’, which compares being powerfully drawn to someone to magic — rhythmic guitar over a strong beat, opening with a short, intense rap from Jooheon. With I.M serving in the military, five members promoted it (Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon), and Hyungwon also released a remix of ‘MAGIC’ as DJ H.ONE.

On September 11, a week after release, ‘MAGIC’ won first place on KBS2’s Music Bank with 5,045 points — the song’s first music-show trophy. The album entered the worldwide iTunes album chart at No. 6 and topped the iTunes K-pop album chart in 11 countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. Its predecessor ‘The X’ reached No. 31 on the Billboard 200, the group’s first Korean-released album on that chart.

The official ‘MAGIC’ MV is on Starship’s YouTube channel (STARSHIP). On TV, the group performed it on KBS2’s Music Bank and SBS’s Inkigayo, wrapping up promotions on Inkigayo on September 13. Stage point: the dance opens with a swinging, pendulum-like move, keeps shifting formations, and uses a smooth arm wave for the song’s mystical feel. Live, the five members tour 10 North American cities from October on ‘The X : NEXUS’ tour, then hold encore concerts at Inspire Arena in Incheon on November 21–22.