![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I follow very few groups really so I don't post much here haha, but yeah, TXT's storyline is very interesting (and the videos are amazing). Seen interpretations of it
as a Coming of Age Story (boys that want to cling to the magic of youth, but can't). I do wonder what the death elements mean, and how literal they're supposed to be.
In the name of being honest
Because it's 2020 and anything goes, I made a Loona edit:
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Dec 31st 2020 at 7:22:04 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
In the name of being honest
Everyone say thank you to Brave Girls for supporting the troops:
In the name of being honest
Nothing exactly new, but I found BTS's performance of "Butter" on Stephen Colbert to be pretty bomb:
Professional Wick Checker
All these screaming military men....
In the name of being honest
Not sure if the guy still counts as a K-Pop star at this point (either way, he's been giving off a lot of wrong vibes since he quit EXO), but: Kris Wu denies all sexual assault allegations.
He continued, "I have never done things like luring someone and committing rape. The same applies to underage girls. If I've done anything like this, I'll turn myself in jail. I will legally take accountability for my words here."
Previously, a 19-year-old Du Meizhu accused Kris Wu of allegedly raping her and 30 other girls, including underage teenagers.
Meanwhile, his contract with SM Entertainment will be effective until 2022 due to the court's decision back in 2016.
Professional Wick Checker
30 other girls??? What the fuck.
Things like these need to be brought to court because it's easy to make up stuff about someone as much as it's easy to brush off/deny the accusation and move on with life and still maintain a successful career. ://
In the name of being honest
Only hyped for Wendy, but anyway
NME: SM Entertainment launches new female supergroup Girls On Top.
The new band is the sixth project group to be formed in the label’s history, an endeavour that began with SM The Ballad in 2010. That group featured members of TVXQ, Girls’ Generation and EXO.
Girls On Top was announced earlier today (December 26) and, according to December 27 a report by Pop Herald, will feature SM Entertainment’s female artists in various different combinations and sub-units. The first of which will be GOT The Beat, featuring soloist BoA, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet’s Seulgi and Wendy, and aespa’s Winter and Karina.
The upcoming sub-unit will make their debut with a special stage on January 1 2022 – likely at SM’s online concert SMTOWN LIVE 2022: SMCU EXPRESS@KWANGYA, which will take place on the same day.
A tweet from the supergroup’s new Twitter account also announced that they would release a new song at 6pm KST (9am GMT) on January 3. No further details about the track have been revealed at present.
“Girls, bring it on,” reads their official Twitter bio, while their only tweet so far suggests the group’s name might be shortened to GOT. “GOT the beat,” it read. “(GOT: Girls On Top).”
SM’s last supergroup came in the form of the boyband SuperM, which was comprised of members from SHINee, EXO, NCT 127 and WayV. On their launch in 2019, they were billed by the label as “the Avengers of K-pop”.
Meanwhile, the line-up for the SMTOWN LIVE 2022 livestream concert will also include performances from EXO, aespa, H.O.T’s Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, SUPER JUNIOR, Girls’ Generation – Oh!GG, SHINee, Red Velvet and NCT. DJs who are represented by the label will also appear.
The concert will be free to watch and will start at 1pm KST (4am GMT) on January 1. It will be preceded by the release of a new album, ‘2021 Winter SMTOWN : SMCU EXPRESS’ at 6pm KST tomorrow (December 27).
A Self-inflicted Disaster
Not sure if it fits here, but
[[NYT: Song Hae, Who Survived War and Poverty to Become a Beloved TV Host, Dies at 95]]
His death was confirmed by Lee Gi-nam, the producer of a 2020 documentary on Mr. Song’s life, which charted a tumultuous course that reflected South Korea’s modern history. No cause was given.
A jovial Everyman figure known for his cheeky grin and folksy wisecracks, Mr. Song became a household name in South Korea when he took over in 1988 as the host of “National Singing Contest,” a weekly town-by-town competition that mixes down-home musical talent, farcical costumes, poignant life stories and comedic episodes.
His talent show, which he announced with a booming voice, ran every Sunday for more than three decades. Mr. Song traveled to every corner of South Korea, to the Korean diaspora in places like Japan and China, and even to Paraguay, Los Angeles and Long Island. He continued as host until the show went on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic, and he was still officially at its helm at his death.
Without a weekly outlet while the show was on hold, his health seemed to deteriorate, said Jero Yun, director of the documentary “Song Hae 1927.”
“It was, in some ways, the driving force of his life, meeting people from all walks of life through the program and exchanging life stories,” Mr. Yun said. “People would always recognize him, crowd around him and want to talk to him.” Referring to the K-pop megagroup, Mr. Yun added, “He might as well have been BTS.”
Mr. Song was posthumously awarded a presidential medal for his contributions to South Korea’s culture, the president’s office announced on Wednesday. He was entered into Guinness World Records in April.
Mr. Song was born Song Bok-hee on April 27, 1927, under Japanese occupation in what is now Hwanghae Province in North Korea. His father was an innkeeper.
A few months after the Korean War broke out in 1950, when he was 23, he left home to avoid being drafted to fight for the North, and made his way south. He eventually boarded a United Nations tank landing ship, not knowing where it was headed. Staring out at the water, he would later say, he renamed himself Hae, meaning sea.
He left his mother and a younger sister behind in North Korea. Well into his 90s, he would be reduced to tears by any mention of them.
After the ship took him to the South Korean city of Busan, on the peninsula’s southern coast, he served as a signalman in the South Korean Army. He said in interviews that he was one of the soldiers who tapped out the Morse code transmitting the message in July 1953 that there was a cease-fire.
After his discharge from the army, he peddled tofu in impoverished postwar South Korea before joining a traveling musical theater troupe. He sang and performed in variety shows and eventually became a radio host, anchoring a traffic call-in show that catered to cab and bus drivers. It included an occasional segment in which the drivers would dial in for a sing-off.
In 1952, Mr. Song married Suk Ok-ee, the sister of a fellow soldier he had served with in the war. They had three children. After 63 years of marriage, Mr. Song and his wife held the wedding ceremony they never had, having originally married amid the poverty and turmoil of their youth. She died in 2018.
He is survived by two daughters, two granddaughters and a grandson. In 1986, his 21-year-old son was killed in a motorcycle accident, and Mr. Song could not bear to continue working on his radio traffic show. Around the same time, he was tapped to host the singing contest for the national broadcaster, KBS.
With Mr. Song at its center, the show quickly became a national pastime, particularly among older residents and those in rural communities — groups that the program spotlighted, and that were seldom seen on television.
Grandmothers break-danced and rapped; grandfathers crooned sexy K-pop numbers. Countless young children, some of whom went on to become stars, charmed the host onstage. Once, a beekeeper covered in bees played the harmonica while a panicked Mr. Song cried out, “There’s one in my pants!”
Mr. Song never fulfilled his lifelong dream of revisiting his hometown in North Korea. But because of his show, he came tantalizingly close.
In 2003, during a period of détente between the Koreas, the show filmed an episode in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The songs were carefully screened by the North’s censors to include only propaganda, and the atmosphere was so tense, Mr. Song said in interviews, that he never broached the possibility of visiting his hometown, Chaeryong, even though it was just 50 miles south of the capital.
At one point during the trip, he recalled, he got drunk with his North Korean minder, who told him that he wouldn’t recognize his hometown anyway because everything had changed in the intervening five decades and most of the people had moved away.
In a 2015 biography of Mr. Song, Oh Min-seok, a poet and professor of English literature, wrote: “As a refugee who fled south during the Korean War, there is a loneliness that is wedged in his heart like a knot. He has no problem connecting with anyone, from a 3-year-old to a 115-year-old, from a country woman to a college professor, from a shopkeeper to a C.E.O. That’s because inside, he’s always pining for people.”
In South Korea, the show’s contestants and adoring fans became his family. Women — including that 115-year-old, the show’s oldest contestant — took to calling him “oppa,” or older brother, Mr. Song later recalled.
“Who else in the world can claim to have as many younger sisters as I do?” he said. “I’m happy because of the people who boost me, applaud me, comfort me.”
TLDR: The South Korean singer Song Hae, who holds the Guinness world record for "oldest TV music talent show host" passed away at the age of 95. He was the host of National Singing Contest, one of South Korea's most popular music shows, and one of the country's longest-running TV shows.
"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
Outspoken Cleric
Also not sure if it fits here but I'm looking for potential kpop song lyrics that could be my blog title for my Tumblr? I'm contemplating using another lyric from "Lilac", the song that inspired my URL (except I got a word wrong lol) but any other suggestions are also welcome!
FC: SW-1445-0294-1719/PSN: TekkenGirl4Lyfe/Currently playing: Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
It really would depend on what kind of lyrics you'd want. Korean pop (or even just idol music) is very broad in that regard.
under construction
I have been a K-pop convert for about two months short of two years. BLACKPINK was my gateway, and, for a few months, I was hesitant to go further than that because groups tend to have large numbers of members (five to nine seems to be the average). However, TWICE has since become my favorite group (almost) by far despite that (only Blackpink comes close). I tend to prefer girl groups over boy bands, not just for reasons you'd think, but because female idols also tend to have amazing voices (especially IU).
Anyway, here is the new English song from Twice. "The Feels" seems like a Tough Act to Follow (though "Moonlight" from Formula of Love would have been a strong follow-up if it had a video), but this seems to be more in line with their usual post-"Fancy" sound (maybe a bit too much; it sounds a lot like "Feel Special").
Edited by AnotherOnlinePersona on Jan 21st 2023 at 2:11:31 AM
Hey, so. I just heard BTS for the first time. It was the song "Dynamite" and I heard it simply out of curiosity because an official LEGO set based on the music video, and a review on said set, is coming soon.
I enjoyed that song more than I expected. 
It's a great song! Their English stuff isn't exactly representative of their lyrical work (their Korean lyrics, which are written by the members, display their style, influences and themes much better), but "Dynamite" is great nonetheless. Love that it was LEGO that got you into it 
Their sound is quite varied and I don't know what your personal taste is, but if you liked "Dynamite" and its pop/disco influences, you can't go wrong with "Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)", "Pied Piper", "Trivia: Seesaw" or "Butter".
Professional Wick Checker
English or Korean (or Japanese... or Chinese), all their songs are good regardless of the language. :)
Also, have y'all heard about Le Sserafim's Yunjin receiving criticism for joking about wanting Messi's football career to end? Knetz are being dramatic for the 375th time again, lol. Her comment's pretty tame.
A Self-inflicted Disaster
On the subject of lyrics, I do wish good lyrics get more appreciation outside of Korea as well. I think there is a correlation between how much a singer or a song is popular in the West and how much Gratitious English they put in their lyrics. Verse doesn't translate well, especially when some songwriters use a lot of puns (AKMU's Lee Chanhyuk comes to mind), but still, there are good songs that have good lyrics even when translated into different languages.
"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
Yes! The thing is that even with BTS - who have dedicated pages of lyric translations with detailed notes that are widely shared around the fandom - barriers such as radio stations refusing to play their Korean songs and media often mostly focusing on the novelty or the worse aspects of K-pop (as in, the industry itself, with little effort to differentiate individual groups), or on non-essential aspects like "they dance!" or "they're the Korean (insert boyband here)!", really tend to prevent most non-fans overseas from knowing about their Korean lyricism, let alone feel curiosity towards it.
Which is really a problem with non-English media and systematic anglocentrism. It's generally normalized in many countries to listen to music in 1. their own language, 2. languages from nearby places (or Europe), or 3. in English, while music in other languages has to become too big to ignore to break the barrier. And even then, with songs like "Gangnam Style" many ignored what the song was actually about.
Edited by DNAe on Feb 18th 2023 at 1:54:25 PM
In the name of being honest
NME: Hybe (BTS's label, formerly Big Hit Entertainment) has finalised the acquisition of a controlling share in SM, in a move that some SM employees have denounced as a hostile takeover. Seems that all of South Korea is destined to converge into a single company sooner or later, eh.
For context, the alternative (since, from what I understand, Lee Sooman was selling shares which involved a governance dispute between him and his nephew Chris Lee) was selling to Kakao, which is an even bigger company that owns KakaoTalk, streaming service Melon, among others. Tech giant Naver and media giant CJ ENM, both bigger than HYBE, were also competing over SM shares before negotiations fell apart.
Not saying that the HYBE purchase is necessarily better or even good, but SM would have been subsumed into a bigger conglomerate (albeit not necessarily in the music field) either way.
under construction
under construction
Long post alert!
This month marks two years since I first descended into the K-pop rabbit hole! I tend to concentrate a lot of my focus on Blackpink and Twice, but I have been becoming increasingly more interested lately in second-generation acts (who might or might not still be active) like Girls' Generation (the definitive girl group), f(x) (I like their primarily synth-driven style), and IU (her voice is no joke). There is so much content that it's hard to focus on all of it.
I still have some questions pertaining to entries I had written - based mainly on guesses from the wiki, random online outlets like Koreaboo, and YouTube and Twitter comments - and possible future entries I might write if I get answers from people who may know more.
Is TWICE losing popularity in Korea?
- They are definitely gaining popularity internationally, but I still question their popularity in Korea on noticing that their last number 1 hit there was their last bubblegum single, and that catering to the English markets with "The Feels" appeared to have killed their chances of scoring another full-group top ten (it's only been a year and a half since "The Feels", but "Scientist" and "Talk That Talk" were a bit far from the top ten) though Nayeon still had her solo single at number 2, and their album sales appear to have increased.
How popular is Girls' Generation in the West?
- I get the impression that their Western popularity is more or less limited to a cult following at best. Their only Billboard 200 entry just happened to be their last comeback with Jessica, suggesting that whatever popularity they were just gaining was irreversibly damaged by her departure, given that not even their reunion album charted. Their only US shows were parts of SMTOWN shows, though there seems to be no word on whether or not they intend to tour at all again.
How popular was Sulli of f(x) when she was alive? How much popularity has she gained posthumously?
- Even though f(x) was one of the few K-pop groups I had heard of (along with SNSD) before the omnipresence of BTS appeared to have convinced the world that BTS pretty much invented K-pop, I did not know Sulli existed until after she died. I have seen some evidence that she had her fair share of fans when she was alive, but she was subject to nonstop hate from Korean netizens (including disturbing drama within the fandom), yet the "Electric Shock" video has every other comment mourning her. The group is seemingly more popular in the West, but, like SNSD, their US presence was pretty much confined to SMTOWN. They only had one headlining tour (after Sulli left, and the only shows on the tour were in Korea and Japan).
(Not asking for strong detail; just a basic idea of her popularity before/after her death)
(PS - Victoria was the one that caught my attention)
Is IU cute?
- She was dubbed Korea's Little Sister, so that would imply a yes, but I still want to be absolutely sure it's not just me saying she is. I need to find more content showing her media personality (not her personal life). I don't think she normally does reality shows or variety show appearances like most groups do.
What makes Red Velvet one of the most popular girl groups among male fans?
- Aside from visuals, obviously. Their ethereal full-group harmonies and frequent shifts between bubblegum and R&B might be a factor, but it seems like there should be more. Or maybe it really is just the visuals.
Does BLACKPINK have a Broken Base over Born Pink?
- Now that it's been (slightly over a week short of) six months, I figured it would be safe to ask now. It may be hard to tell because it may involve digging through Twitter and YouTube comments and possibly digging through Korean websites with Google translate. I know a few reasons why there would be a broken base. The album is only 24 minutes long, is largely in English, has some hard swearing (pages for PSY suggest his music objectively became better when he stopped swearing), and even has a weed reference in "The Happiest Girl" note given that weed is apparently heavily vilified in Korea.
What are some good Boy Band albums to function as gateways into K-pop?
- Full albums or mini-albums, not single albums. I think I made it obvious that I generally prefer Korean girl groups over boy bands. As someone who does not speak Korean (I have picked up some words, but only just), I am not among those who would listen to BTS for their lyrics, no matter how meaningful they may be. I could use some recommendations based on voices (if not heavily auto-tuned) and music (preferably synth-driven, maybe mixed in with hip-hop beats) I only know a handful of BTS songs and only listened to a couple of random early albums that were darker and more hip hop-based than their newer, more straightforward pop.
What are some good Girl Group gateway albums?
- I can name a few I think would make good gateways, but they are probably far from the majority opinions. These include the Square Up EP by Blackpink, Formula of Love by Twice (I also like Eyes Wide Open a lot, but that barely sounds like any of their other releases), and Multiple Multiple by Loona (the reissue of the Plus Plus EP is the closest thing to a full album they have) are the ones from the top of my head, but, aside from maybe Square Up, they are probably not very widely considered gateways by fans (I think Twice fans generally consider the Fancy You EP to be the gateway). What are generally considered gateway albums (full or mini, but preferably full) for Red Velvet, SNSD, f(x), and others?
Edited by AnotherOnlinePersona on Mar 7th 2023 at 5:18:21 AM
In the name of being honest
I remember Sulli being frequently held up as the archetypal wholesome maknae persona back during f(x)'s heyday in the early 2010s. I didn't keep up with them quite as closely afterwards, but whenever Sulli came up on the news in the later years, it's painfully obvious that she was suffering from a severely deteriorating mental health, which only got worse as her switch to more "adult" output riled up her Hate Dom.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
A Self-inflicted Disaster
Professional Wick Checker
- Q1: I wouldn't say they're losing their popularity so early like this just because their latest and most recent releases aren't as successful as their old ones. They aren't as popular as they were before? Maybe, but they haven't lost popularity. If they don't grab attention with better title tracks later they might start losing popularity for real.
- Q2: What do lyrics have to do with song recs if you're speaking only music-wise? It doesn't matter if you care for BTS' lyrics or not, there's still the beat and the vocals. For BTS, "Wings" is considered a great album. TXT has "The Dream Chapter: Magic" and for male soloists, it'd definitely be Taemin's "Move" and "Press It". RM's "Indigo" is a mix of rap, pop, and R&B.
- Q3: NewJeans' "New Jeans", Le Sserafim's "Fearless", Red Velvets' "The Red", (G)I-dle's "I Never Die" (not sure about this one, but it's a very good album objectively), and Sunmi's "WARNING" (?).
Underrated albums by girl groups: NATURE's "WORLD: CODE M" and GWSN's "The Park in the Night Part Three", EVERGLOW's "ARRIVAL OF EVERGLOW" (BON BON CHOCOLAT has lots of autotune tho).
In the name of being honest
NME: EXO’s Baekhyun, Xiumin and Chen to terminate contracts with SM Entertainment.
Lee claimed that SM Entertainment had repeatedly failed to furnish the three K-pop idols with data on how they were being paid since they made their debut in 2012. “It is the artist’s most basic right to demand clear and precise proof of how payment has been made, and SM Entertainment is required to abide by the law,” Lee said. “But SM Entertainment maintains that such data cannot be shared.”
“The artists have been asking very firmly for the payment data until Wednesday but have resorted to demanding a termination of the contract as of Thursday upon the company’s refusal to do so,” Lee added. He also claimed that SM Entertainment had offered Baekhyun, Xiumin and Chen 12 to 13-year contracts, notably longer than the standard, government-recommended 7-year contract.
Meanwhile, SM Entertainment has released its own statement regarding the situation. The K-pop agency claims that “some outside forces” have been “committing illegal acts” by cajoling its artists to violate the terms of their contracts. “We will take all necessary legal actions against these forces,” SM said, per The K-pop Herald.
