Is there any actual k-pop sub that allows for freedom of discussion?

K-Pop monthly listeners don't make sense at all compared to the venues and views the groups get Stray Kids apparently only has 9M monthly listeners and are selling out stadiums and are getting average 100m views on a music video? That just seems weird BTS only having 25M monthly listeners with lots of music videos hitting over 1B views and the other ones getting very close does not make sense with the fact that when they go on tour they sell out the same stadium for at least 2 nights minimum with each member being able to go on tour and sell out an arena by themselves is insane Blackpink definitely has way more than 15M monthly listeners bro again the views they get and the stadiums they sell out? way more let's compare this to a smaller artist that is based in the US with more than all of the groups I've named D4vd he has 34.5 million monthly listeners and he is only playing at small venues? Bro something doesn't add up does Spotify delete the monthly listeners? Before someone gets mad at me for talking about monthly listeners this is just a general observation that doesn't add up for me submitted by /u/jhopesspritee [link] [comments]

Link to the Google Form survey • Rank (up to) your top 25 BIBI songs. #1 gets 25 points, #2 gets 24 points, #3 gets 23 points, etc. • You can list <25 songs if you want. TTT lists are always due by Sunday, 11:59 PM Pacific. • You can choose to vote EITHER by filling in the Google Form above OR by leaving a comment down below. • (If you are using Reddit markdown, please do not number every song as 1, while it will show up as 1-25 publicly, when I retrieve the comment using my automated process, it returns all 1s) . • Songs where BIBI was the featured artist are allowed. • Officially released remixes/alternative versions will be counted as separate songs. • Japanese/Chinese/English songs and unreleased songs are eligible. • Japanese/Chinese/English/Korean versions of songs will be considered the same song. List of BIBI songs: https://kprofiles.com/bibi-discography/ Spotify playlist of BIBI's discography: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5yFLOu5c0cdATA87op1T2o?si=c85bbae2b12f40d9 Schedule: June 10th: STAYC June 17th: OnlyOneOf June 24th: Schedule for Second Half of 2025 July 1st: The Rose (Full schedule can be found in the spreadsheet linked below.) Link to the E'LAST results thread . Google Spreadsheet with all past results and full schedule Spotify channel containing all Top Ten playlists YouTube channel containing all Top Ten playlists Interested in doing more song rates? Come join r/kpoprates, where we have K-Pop song rates on a regular basis! Here are the currently ongoing rates: The "Early Gen 3" Girl Groups Rate! TTT lists are always due by Monday, 6 AM Pacific (deadline has been pushed 6 hours later!) submitted by /u/Zypker125 [link] [comments]

I ’ve been holding this in for a while, but seeing the recent reactions to “Escape” and even earlier works like “Red Lights” and “JJAM” I felt compelled to share my perspective. As someone who genuinely respects Stray Kids, particularly Bang Chan and 3RACHA’s dedication to crafting thoughtful, emotionally driven lyrics, it’s disappointing to witness how often their songs are misread, especially by segments of the international audience. To be clear: yes, some K-pop artists do occasionally release tracks with overtly mature themes. Jungkook’s “Seven” is a good example. That song was written by external producers, specifically designed to project a more adult image, released with both explicit and clean versions, and not written by the artist himself. Context matters. That is not the same approach Stray Kids take. Their music, especially when it comes to lyricism, leans heavily into symbolism, layered meanings, and introspective storytelling. Their creative identity isn’t shaped by shock value; it’s rooted in emotional complexity. Take “Red Lights.” It isn’t a song about physical desire. It uses the imagery of chains and tension as metaphors for obsession and being emotionally trapped in a toxic mental loop. “Drive” explores recklessness and longing, not casual intimacy. “Silent Cry” is about emotional breakdown masked by quiet endurance. “Maze of Memories” is a chaotic, inner monologue about fragmented thoughts and not fantasy. Stray Kids, and 3RACHA in particular, have been writing in this style since before debut. Their music is meant to resonate on a symbolic and emotional level. So it’s frustrating to see that nearly every time a new performance video, unit song, or concept is released, especially involving members like Bang Chan or Hyunjin the dominant online reaction shifts quickly to overly suggestive commentary and content edits focused on superficial attraction. It raises a broader question: is this a byproduct of international expansion and growing popularity in Western markets? While it’s true that other groups face similar treatment, it feels more persistent in SKZ’s case. And in the context of K-pop, this matters. The idol industry still operates within a controlled image structure, where a large portion of the audience includes teenagers, young adults, and even younger fans. Entertainment companies like JYPE are very aware of that demographic balance. Releasing something with overtly mature themes would invite unnecessary backlash and compromise their wider appeal. It’s simply not aligned with how their branding or songwriting is built. Bang Chan is known for his tireless work ethic. He’s someone who spends nights refining lyrics, prioritizes emotional expression in his delivery, and reviews feedback from fans in great detail. So when fans quickly reduce a song like “Escape” to a surface-level interpretation, it undermines the complexity of what he and the team are trying to communicate. To me, “Escape” feels like a reflection on emotional escapism not seduction. It conjures the idea of a dreamlike figure, perhaps romantic, perhaps comforting or even symbolic of safety, inviting the listener into a space away from pain or stress. That interpretation allows for nuance, personal imagination, and emotional connection which is the essence of symbolic writing. This habit of minimizing their work to superficial readings not only misrepresents the intention behind it, but also does a disservice to the effort and creativity that artists like Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han invest into their music. Even Bang Chan has expressed frustration with misinterpretations and assumptions in the past, such as when he reminded fans via Bubble not to feed into exaggerated narratives about mistreatment. He reads the comments. He notices the reactions. Not every visually intense concept or emotionally charged lyric is meant to be provocative. Sometimes, it’s simply meant to express pain, introspection, or personal growth and those messages deserve to be acknowledged for what they are. Let’s respect the work for its depth, and the artists for their integrity. UPDATED :- I’ve read through the replies and I just want to clarify a few things because I think maybe my original post came off more rigid than I intended. I’m not saying people can’t interpret art however they want. Obviously, music is subjective and part of what makes it powerful is that people connect with it in different ways. And yeah, 3RACHA are incredibly smart they absolutely know how to play with layered meaning, and I respect that a lot. That said, my issue isn’t really with the existence of multiple interpretations. It’s more about how often the deeper, emotional side of their work gets drowned out by the more surface-level takes especially the overly sexualized ones. It just feels like, time and time again, certain songs or videos get reduced to thirst edits or comments about how "horny" a track is, and the more personal, symbolic messages barely get acknowledged. I know a song like “Drive” can be read as suggestive, and I get that. But I also think it’s about more than that about recklessness, desire in a broader sense, even emotional chaos. “Red Lights,” too sure, there’s tension in it, but it’s not just physical. It’s about obsession and being mentally trapped. My point is, those emotional layers shouldn’t be pushed aside as if they’re less valid just because the other reading is more flashy or viral. I also brought up the context of K-pop and how idol branding works for a reason. These artists are still performing under certain constraints with younger fans, public image expectations, and company involvement all playing a role. Bang Chan, especially, has talked before about reading fan reactions and feeling misunderstood or hurt by certain assumptions. So when fans latch on to a suggestive reading only and ignore everything else, it’s hard not to feel like that misrepresents what the group is trying to do. And yeah, I saw someone mention the LGBTQ director being involved in “Red Lights” that’s cool and all, but I don’t really see how the director’s identity changes the lyrical intent of the song itself. Direction and songwriting are different things. I guess I’m just tired of seeing really thoughtful, emotional music get flattened into something it’s not. It’s not about being a prude or acting like there’s one “correct” way to interpret things. It’s just about not losing sight of the emotional and symbolic weight these artists clearly put into their work Meant to say why fans 90% of the time chose a whole sexy suggestive theme over the others instead(?!) submitted by /u/Party_Nervous [link] [comments]

I saw a translation of some backstage comments from a well-known Kpop group right before a concert. They were stressing out about whether the crowd would support them or even know who they are. One of them literally joked "What if they’re like Who are these guys?" This is a group in their 7th year, under a huge company, with a massive fanbase. Most of the audience of that concert was probably there for them. So it’s kind of wild to hear that kind of insecurity at this point. And it's not the first time either. They've said stuff like "Should we really tour Europe? Do we even have fans there?" Like… huh? Is the company telling them they're one flop away from irrelevance? Are they being kept in the dark about their actual numbers? Or is it some kind of humble fanservice move to stir up sympathy and engagement? Not trying to be harsh, it just sounds so out of touch for a top group. Unless it's all part of the performance at this point? submitted by /u/Mean_Trick_1 [link] [comments]

I became a huge kpop Stan in 2011 with Girls Generation and F(x), however since then I've seen wave after wave of groups start off strong and then seemingly disappear within 4 or 5 years. The girl groups suffer from the famous 7-year curse but most of them aren't even making it to 7 years anymore due to ageism and new groups coming out rapidly. Boy groups lose a tremendous amount of momentum when they start enrolling in the military, and even if they still succeed afterwards they don't achieve the same highs as before. Super groups like LOONA who were supposed to innovate the industry with their broad appeal and international vitality collapse due to corporate greed as well. It took them like 2 or 3 years to launch just to fall apart in 2 or 3 years. Everglow also had such a strong start, being labeled as Blackpinks competion only to go on a long hiatus, have the members say they were never paid, and then leave the company. Fifty fifty and New Jeans also had such exciting fresh starts breaking through internationally only to crumble a year or so later. It's frustrating because there are so many aspects of kpop that have been missing from western pop music (variety of groups, strong concepts, memorable choreography) but it all goes to waste time and time again because of the same mistakes. Idk how the industry can look at itself and not realize it has to make some changes. Katseye is the most exciting group currently promoting and I hesitate to even call them kpop but I hope they don't also crumble under the Korean standards and corporate greed. Fingers crossed they make a name for themselves internationally and it gives them more freedom (I'm also more of a girl group Stan if that wasn't obvious, so if I missed some boy group nuance it's because I don't follow them as closely) submitted by /u/Vegetable_Station_73 [link] [comments]

This is a post. It will go long. I do not pretend to be the most biased person but you'll know what is a fact and what is my opinion. Please do not remove my post mods. People would rather post multiple posts about Ablume 'shading' Keena (a social media manager reposted a tiktok calling them the real fifty fifty) and cry themselves dry over it than acknowledge the third loss in a month for the ATTRAKT side. I suspect this is because the battle lines were drawn long ago and Reddit especially has been extremely hard on Fifty Fifty 1.0 from the very start. Just the fact that most of the people talking about this case post in the extremely toxic circlejerk snark sub known as Fifty Fifty Truths is enough to prove that to me and yes posting there is a problem. It also doesn't help that even the most charitable reading of these cases portray Attrakt's CEO as maliciously moronic at best and his weird cult of personality can't handle that. I've always found the uwuification of this man by this supporters as extremely weird parasocial and downright illogical, if he was a naive novice who didn't know how anything worked instead of the 60 year old man with near 30 years in this industry and 15 years of being a CEO with multiple companies under his belt (especially because these are the very same people who refuse to give any grace to the idols involved because 'they're 20 and are adult enough') and these court cases show him in the worst light so can't have that. On the 8th of May it was revealed that ATTRAKT had lost a lawsuit for the copyright of the song Cupid from the Givers. Attrakt argued that it held the sole rights to Cupid due to the fact that they claimed the Givers had forged everything to get those rights and wanted all of the royalties transferred over, but the court found otherwise, ruling that the copyright-transfer contract lists The Givers as the sole counter-party and that every substantive act—negotiating, signing, and paying for the deal—was carried out by The Givers and that their contract showed this without any fraud involved. As it turns out ATTRAKT didn't even do the basic company thing of using the company's funds to buy the rights to a demo as that was all the Giver's funds. Attrakt also claimed that its contract with The Givers implicitly required a transfer of copyright, but the court rejected that: the contract contains no such clause, and in practice The Givers assumed the creative risk and executed the agreement on its own judgment. The court dismissed all of Attrakt's claims which means that the Givers own the royalties' from Cupid. This does not mean that Attrakt still don't make money off Cupid as the production company they do it's just that they don't have the royalities. Attrakt also filed a suit against the Givers for comitting fraud on another track but the court found that The Givers had in fact led every major aspect of that track too —concept development, recruiting performers, songwriting, and copyright registration—and that the songwriter and producer credits had been properly assigned so that case was also closed. The status of Cupid as a go to cover for Fifty Fifty or Ablume is unclear. On the 25th of May it was revealed that JHJ had lost a 300 Million Won defamation suite against SBS's I Want To Know for their episode in June 2023 about Fifty Fifty 1.0. The court concluded that SBS couldn't be held liable for the claims in the episode as both SBS and the people they interviewed can be considered to be telling the truth based on what they know and SBS didn't conspire at any point to lie on purpose, they just used what they had. This episode has long been the subject of theories about how SBS conspired with Fifty Fifty 1.0 to deliberately lie about Attrakt which has now been refuted. The court also said that Attrakt's CEO cannot claim biased reporting because he refused SBS' request for interview upwards to 10 times and thus if there was any balance issues it was because of this. ATTRAKT did not want to talk to SBS and Fifty Fifty 1.0's side did. I also find the cope around this case particularly hilarious from the JHJ fanboys because they go on about defamation suites are really hard to win as if you don't hear 'in South Korea even telling the truth isn't a defense against defamation' all the time. This defamation suite loss is even more humiliating when you realize that it was entirely unnecessary due to the fact that the episode itself was fined by the Broadcasting Ethics Committee in the wake of the backlash to the episode and was taken down which should have been enough for JHJ. The episode today appears to only exist in the google docs links of 3J supporters so the argument that it is still affecting him to this day also fell through. Now he's stuck paying the legal fees of a company he is boycotting (via not allowing Fifty Fifty 2.0 to perform on Inkigayo) for no real reason. On the 29 of May it was revealed that the Gangnam Police Station had decided to drop the criminal charges filed by Attrakt on behalf of Keena in regards to the case of the Givers allegedly forging her signature to reduce her royalties from the original Cupid from 6.5% to 0.5%. The police's reasoning for this is that in the contract set up ATTRAKT signed away all duties to The Givers and thus can't claim that The Givers had no right to sign on behalf of Keena without her consent. because The Givers can handle that as part of admin duties and thus there is no way of determining if this is fraudulent behavior. So once again ATRAKT's criminally trash contracts that consistently shirk all responsibility to the Givers who used that exploit strikes again. There's also a theory going around that in actuality Keena's share was never reduced, it was always 0.5%, the 6.5% figure and the entire form KOMCA going around was a sample form dating back to 2021 and the recording Keena's dad leaked wasn't so much ASI gloating about how he stole Keena's rights and more him explaining her rights to her and that they were going to say they stole it. I do not trust this theory mostly because I do not trust ASI and do not buy that he was ever out for anyone else's best interests but I will say if that if the recording was given to the police which is certainly would have been they might have just heard her agreeing to the terms and called it a day that sort of thing has happened before. I'm loathe to link to both sources because I find them to be the same sides of the extreme and toxic coin but here's the video and the two competing translations of this call you can decide from there. My main point is that unless ATTRAKT somehow had never read the contract in the last three years they have to had seen this clause and knew it would be at best hard to prove a criminal case knowing this and at worse a complete nonstarter and somehow managed to not tell Keena this. At best they were hopelessly optimistic and threw yet another year's worth of money down the drain hoping that the inconclusive phone call would be enough or they used something they suspected wouldn't work in court to lure her back in and at worst they outright lied about something they definitely signed off on (because it certainly did benefit them to do so there) and used Keena as yet another pawn in his fight with ASI. Personally either option looks really bad and I suspect it's a combination of all three. The main thing for me is that these court losses prove that a) JHJ is somehow even more incompetent than we suspected to the point that it seems outright criminal and malicious at point. Seeing as we are in speculation territory at this point I'll just say it, I highly suspect that while he is in fact a moron the seeming signing away of everything was less a true bamboozlement and more a calculated business decision, the kind that allows the average nugu company ceo to keep on making failed companies with seemingly no skin off his back while all the debt raked up goes to the various sets of idols underneath him. Knowing that he was behind Hotshot proved this to me, a group that somehow managed to squander the hype of multiple members going on some of the most successful shows ever including one making it into the Wanna One by releasing two barely promoted singles and letting them sit in the dungeon for close to five years and who also had allegations that JHJ was barely involved in the running of his company and had outsourced it to a rando who abused the idols. Simply put it was not in his plans to have a group that makes real money versus the fake semi translucent money nugu companies often make. Also it was not in his plans to do even the bare minimum of a parasite CEO. The moment Cupid became a success an actual success was the moment JHJ started caring about how much money he could make and how much money he could lose. And don't talk to me about how you think The Givers paid off the courts for these results because it's so transparently cope, the kind that has and will mysteriously goes away when and if Fifty Fifty 1.0 lose cases. JHJ defenders were mocking those who brought up the fact that Gangnam Police Station botched the Burning Sun case to explain away their dropping of Fifty Fifty 1.0's abuse allegations so don't give me that. Yes the court system everywhere is screwed and favors those with money and technicalities on their side. You know why you're bringing this up now. This doesn't even mention that it is ATTRAKT with most of the cards in this situation, ATTRAKT who has the kpop industry on its side, ATTRAKT with the expensive legal team is currently winning ADOR's cases against NewJeans. The only reason Fifty Fifty 2.0 got any attention in the beginning outside of Keena is because two very popular members of the HYBE survival show RUNext joined, a business arrangement JHJ bragged about as HYBE giving the contracts to him. In contrast to Ablume who are blacklisted and have to do their promotions in the USand have their very presences protested by some of the biggest players in the industry, they are platformed everywhere and celebrated by that same industry It is clear that the kpop industry is gearing up for a full scale attack on 'tampering' using the stories of Fifty Fifty 1.0 and NewJeans as proof that contracts these days are too soft and they need to make them even harder for idols to leave of course ignoring the countless idols abused by their companies every day. I may not at all support NewJeans' decisions but I know a bullshit justification to crack down on any form of idol dissent when i see one. Getting accused of tampering has real consequences and with Omega X we can see how even the most obvious abusers can use even a weak obviously false tampering allegation to stall out the careers on anyone trying to leave them. The kpop industry needs ATTRAKT to win crushingly and so far they haven't. It is ironic that, despite that overwhelming support, ATTRAKT is losing because of that the same idol industry's love of specifically damning contracts and their lack of evidence to prove that illegal not just amoral things are going on. That isn't to say that they're going to lose the tampering cases against the Givers and WMK. I don't know that yet there is a possibility that they will. Just that these three losses in the space of a month is embarrassing for their cases going forward and was a waste of money they didn't have. And ultimately who has won? Who will win? Not 3J nor Keena nor anyone who actually has to suffer the real consequences. If the Givers lose they'll probably just slink off back to another venture because this industry loves slotting back abusers and fraudsters once they keep their heads down for an arbitrary amount of time. If JHJ loses he'd look the fool but when has he not and again he'd probably move onto another venture when the dust settles. The kpop industry itself will probably not be great on idol rights either way. We will still be here. At this point I consider it fact that 3J and Keena both went back to their abusers and I do not begrudge them at all for this considering the lack of options all the adults in their lives have given them. Also I am not falling for the propaganda that a ceo going to a tabloid and explaining in excruciating detail the extreme ptsd symptoms of one of this idols is fine and cool and not the sign of extreme exploitation nor that it wasn't maliciously timed. submitted by /u/Miserable-Elephant-3 [link] [comments]

Within the last day or so, there were some posts complaining about over moderation on the sub. We took that on board and have decided to overhaul the sub rules and guidelines. This is for two reasons: You don't like them As a few of you thought: the active mod team is very small and overworked As always, mod applications are open. Feel free to send us a modmail if you are interested. As this is a big job, it might take some time for us to fix up all the small details: change automatic replies, alter wording on the sidebar, edit the automod etc. However, these changes are in effect immediately. We will give it a month or so and then see how people are reacting to these changes. Firstly, guideline changes: The number of reports a post can get before the Automod locks it is 6. That will be greatly increased. The trigger word list will be reduced. However, the ban on censoring words will remain. We don't care why you did it, just that you did. It's an accessibility issue (screenreaders can't read it) and also an attempt to get around existing rules. So don't do it. When there is a new controversy, the first post that links to news articles and explains the situation adequately will become the megathread. That megathread will run free for 12-ish hours and then be locked to 'go through' and clean up. If a user seems to have camped on the thread making a lot of bad faith comments and engaging in fanwars, they will get a 7-day ban for derailing the discussion. This is in response to the large number of people who want us to ban people making bad faith comments. Further: Other posts on a megathread topic will be deleted for the first three days, no exceptions. We get more complaints about repetitive posts that we do about people not being allowed to make their own special post about something that already has four posts dedicated to it. The rule changes, and the reasons for them, are as follows: Most reports are for Rule 1 (Be Civil and Respectful) and Rule 2 (No hating on idols, groups or fandoms, no starting or participating in fanwars). Rule 1 will now be: No Direct Insults. What we mean by that is, if someone says: "That's a stupid statement" it doesn't break Rule 1. They are saying your statement is stupid, not you, and 'stupid' isn't a big deal anyway. However, if the comment was "You are fucking stupid", then that would break the rule. Rule 1 will include "Don't feed the trolls" clarification: if someone breaks it, you don't clap back. You report the comment. If your response to "You are fucking stupid" is to respond by calling the other person a fucking moron, then you both broke rule one and you both get banned. "She did it first" is not a defence. As previously, breaking Rule 1 incurs an automatic temp ban, the length of which depends on the severity of the insult, along with how many insults you've made on the same post. Rule 2 will be: "No direct insults to idols, groups or fandoms" As these (directly insulting other people, idols, groups or fandoms) are a fanwar, we will take out the part of the rule that says not to have fanwars. It's already part of it. Rule 3 is No Discrimination. That stays. Rule 4 is Participate in Good Faith, which says that you shouldn't be using Whataboutism and Strawman arguments, among other things. There is a lot of that. In keeping with the desire shown to ban people more, having multiple Bad Faith (ie Whatabouts) in a post will get an automatic 3 day ban. Rules 5, 6 and 7 will remain. Rule 8 is No Low Effort content. There is a definition there, but it will be edited to include: Do not simply post text of a news article with no commentary. News articles must be linked. Posts must have the correct flair. The explanation text for Rule 9 - No Spamming, Repetitive Posts or Stale Topics will be altered slightly. If there is an existing post on the topic within the past 3 days, the new post will be removed as repetitive. "Stale topics" will have a distinct definition (see below). Rule 10 (Flair posts correctly) is absorbed into Rule 8. There will be a new Rule 10: No Gatekeeping. It's not up to you to say who is allowed to be a fan of kpop, or of a specific group. For that reason, posts and comments about how older women or younger women or any men or any other group shouldn't be fans will not be permitted. Rule 11 will be removed as it falls into the various other rules. Rule 12 will remain and become Rule 11. What is a stale topic? Anything on the banned list. Anything that is an old controversy with no new information. This includes the current NJ situation, which is confined to megathreads only. Anything that the sub has shown, time and time again, that they can't discuss civilly. What are the current banned topics? Cultural appropriation, race-related topics. This may be lifted at times for a megathread on a large scandal. Speculation on idol's sexuality. Speculation on dating that is not a confirmed news topic. Eating disorders, body shaming, weight-related topics. International politics, including Israel-Palestine and Xinjiang. submitted by /u/KpopThoughtsmodteam [link] [comments]

With South Korea's election season going in full swing, K-pop idols have to avoid these factors: no colorful clothing, no hand gestures (which may relate them to a party), and other factors which may as well scrutinize them. Unfortunately, Karina of aespa posted several pictures on Instagram with her wearing a black jacket with the number 2 imprinted in color red. And in the caption? A red rose. All those signs and features lead with her seemingly supporting of the People Power Party, which is a conservative and right-wing party, and their nominee was controversial candidate who backed Trump's summit Kim Moon-so. This post soon circulated amongst several online Korean communities. While supporters of the said party praised her for the post, all the other K-netizens were singing an entirely different tune, criticizing her and asking her to "explain" her actions. The post was soon deleted and Karina, along with SM Entertainment, issued an apology regarding the post and supposed actions. [PERSONAL INSIGHT] From my point of view, it would be no problem in general. But when it comes to politics, I can understand the K-netizens' rage towards her. We international netizens have absolutely NO knowledge when it comes to South Korea's politics. And considering it IS election season, the general public is very sensitive during those times, so...let's not actually barge in or interfere. [What do you think? Comment your personal thoughts down below!] submitted by /u/ReddieLocke [link] [comments]

As someone who enjoys the comeback of Irene&Seulgi's 'Tilt', and someone who is abit more sensitive to the world, it is kind of disapointing how devisive it is. 'Tilt' is a proficient song objectively, SM just decided to try pushing the main chorus in the instrumentals instead of the fronting vocal harmonies as the song is going for an antichorus, so in my own personal feelings, I hate that the fandom have posts about how they find this comeback song bad or lazy. A good reference point to understanding what 'Tilt' is going for is 'heaven', on the album, 'heaven' due to the instrumentals is super musically complex in my opinion, which allows me to respect 'Tilt' more, SM purposely held back to make an easily rewatchable song, cause no lie, 'heaven', is a perfect song but I can only listen to it every half an hour, versus being able to enjoy what 'heaven' was going for in 'tilt', every second of the way. I just wish that we weren't put in this situation of a fandom where people like me who enjoy 'Tilt' didn't feel like they have to covet their enjoyment of the song while others feel disappointed as it didn't fill that Irene&Seulgi hole left by 'Monster' and 'Naughty'. Some hopeful thoughts after expressing my thoughts is, if Irene and Seulgi comeback again we are due for a brighter concept and high energy pop can be understood by everyone better. I hope we can all enjoy their comebacks in the future. submitted by /u/IllShock6655 [link] [comments]

i love tripleS so much, but i really wish their choreographer would take better advantage of having 24 members on stage. they usually just stand in a few lines and dance, and while they do rotate center time and let people go off to the side, it doesn’t feel like a fully formed group performance most of the time. i wish they did cooler formations or more dynamic staging instead of just standing in lines. it often ends up looking kind of messy or like individuals dancing next to each other instead of one big cohesive group. i know it’s probably hard with so many people, but that’s also what makes it exciting! there’s so much potential for really creative choreography that shows off how unique tripleS is. no hate at all, they’re my fav group in kpop right now!! i just think they could be doing so much more with the size of the group. i love them and want to see them shine even more. submitted by /u/rain-bow8 [link] [comments]

It’s honestly kinda annoying how when locals hear “K-pop,” their mind immediately goes to the most heavily promoted, overly poppy songs that sound like they were made for a kids’ cartoon. You know the type,bright colors, auto-tuned choruses, and dance routines that look like they belong at a school talent show. And yeah, those songs exist, but that’s just one tiny corner of K-pop. K-pop is a massive industry with so many layers. There are artists and groups doing R&B, hip-hop, rock, EDM, even experimental stuff that you’d probably never expect unless you dig a little deeper. But locals never get exposed to that side because the companies push the same three title tracks to international media usually the catchiest, safest, most “digestible” ones. It doesn’t help that most people’s first exposure to K-pop is through viral moments or TikTok challenges, which are usually tied to those cutesy or overproduced songs. So yeah, the stereotype sticks. But honestly, it sucks that a lot of genuinely talented idols and deep discographies get ignored just because the loudest K-pop exports are designed to be super commercial. Wish more people knew there’s a lot more to K-pop than just what ends up on a YouTube ad or Spotify front page. The B-sides, the indie idols, the smaller labels? That’s where the real gems are. submitted by /u/Starpeachhhh- [link] [comments]

I feel like this is something fans don’t want to admit, but it’s becoming super obvious most K-pop boy groups don’t really survive military service as a group. Sure, they might technically still be “active” or not disbanded, but once the enlistment period starts, things usually fall apart fast. It’s not even just the wait. It’s the vibe shift. The chemistry changes, priorities shift, and when they do come back, it’s awkward or inconsistent. Some members go full solo, others barely appear, and the group interactions that fans used to live for are just… gone. We’ve seen this happen over and over. What really bothers me is the certain fanbases out there that act like their group is above this. They’ll drag other groups for falling off after enlistment and act like theirs is different, even though their members don’t even interact much anymore. Like... how are you clowning other groups when your own faves are out here in separate countries working on solo stuff and only meeting on Zoom? Be serious. It’s fine to love a group and stay hopeful, but let’s stop pretending every group will reunite perfectly like nothing happened. The industry doesn’t make that easy. People grow, they move on, and group dynamics naturally shift. Instead of mocking groups that go through it, maybe we should just support our faves and be realistic. Not everything lasts forever, and that’s okay. submitted by /u/Starpeachhhh- [link] [comments]

I don’t know if it’s just me, but lately it feels like a lot of new gen K-pop stans are more focused on the status of being a “predebut stan” than actually liking the group or their music. Like as soon as a group gets announced even before any actual music drops people rush to stan them just so they can say “I’ve been here since day one.” It's giving ✨main character syndrome✨. We saw it with MEOVV, we saw it with NEXZ, even Kick Flip. These groups barely have a teaser out and suddenly there’s fan accounts, deep Twitter threads analyzing their personalities from a 15-second TikTok, and people defending them like they’ve been through 3 scandals and a world tour already. It’s wild. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being excited about new groups. But when your whole reason for stanning is just to have clout in a fanbase that doesn’t even exist yet, it kind of defeats the point. A lot of people drop these groups the second they don’t debut with a banger or don’t fit their initial expectations and that just ends up hurting rookie groups more than helping them. I miss when people stanned idols because they were drawn to their music or stage presence, not just because they were early enough to get bragging rights on stan Twitter. Being a predebut fan doesn’t make you special,it should just mean you’re genuinely interested in the group’s potential, not treating them like a social badge. Let them debut. Let them exist before we throw them on altars or cancel them off of one fancam. submitted by /u/Starpeachhhh- [link] [comments]

Ok so I’m guessing everyone knows the current situations going on. From Aespa to KOL situation. All that I’m getting from this is that idols are never gonna be truly held accountable. As a black woman what KOL did was very bad and two of them already promised they’d learn after saying the n word so it was like they didn’t really learn at all. And apparently after a couple half apologies from their company we’re supposed to get over it? Then you have Baekhyun doing a challenge with them like bro read the room😂. Then with Aespa, people are calling the Koreans “sick and nasty” cause they feel a certain way with the situation. And most of those people aren’t even Koreans themselves. Idk I know I can just stop tuning in but it really saddens me the lack of social awareness kpop fans have sometimes. They will defend their favs to the grave even if they are wrong. Idk am I overreacting??? submitted by /u/Svt_bby_girl [link] [comments]

I’ve been into K-pop for a while, and one thing I’ve noticed is how rare it is to find idols who feel genuinely honest or real. A lot of them seem either super filtered because of company pressure, or they go the opposite way and develop this weird ego after a bit of success. And when fans do notice this behavior, they either ignore it or twist it into some "misunderstood genius" storyline. What bugs me most is when people say stuff like, “You’d understand if you stanned them” or “Watch their YouTube vlogs, you’ll see the real them.” Like…no? Watching highly edited content where they’re 100% aware a camera is filming them doesn’t tell me anything about their actual personality. Especially when they’re being extra soft or funny for the fans, and they’re surrounded by their members who they’ve trained and lived with for years. Of course they’ll seem close and warm in that setting. That’s not the same as being a down-to-earth or genuinely kind person. Also, can we talk about how fake a lot of variety show appearances feel now? It’s all scripted banter, “chaotic energy,” and the same fake laugh they’ve rehearsed a hundred times. It’s not to say idols have to be super open or vulnerable,we all have our boundaries but let’s stop pretending that being charming on camera equals being a good person. There are definitely some idols who come across as more real and honest, and you can just feel it in how they speak, how they handle uncomfortable situations, or how they talk about the industry without sounding like a PR machine. But those types are rare. It’s totally fine to like idols for the entertainment they provide but fans acting like they personally know these people and defending every red flag is just weird. It’s okay to admit that we don’t really know most of these idols, and that not every one of them is a humble, kind-hearted angel behind the scenes. submitted by /u/Starpeachhhh- [link] [comments]

I used to extensively collect pcs and merch, and my main goal when collecting pcs would be to always collect everything in the template, but it has gotten exhausting and tiring. I'm not sure if this is the same for other groups, but Ateez has too many pcs per comeback. It's never-ending. From POBs to albums pcs and to endless fansign and fancall pcs. Why are they still doing fancalls 3-4 months after the release of their albums? Why is there a Soundwave fancall event ROUND 7? Are they not tired? Cause I am from collecting all these pcs. And it's starting to annoy me a little because a lot of the pcs have similar poses, just that they're in different clothes. It's extremely repetitive. And some of their fancalls were done while they were touring... It's absolutely insane knowing how extensive and long their tour is. And why do things like Season Greetings, concert DVDs and photobooks for example, need 3-7 different POBS from 3-7 different sites?! You're telling me I now need to have multiple Season Greeting's just to get that POB? Otherwise, I will just have to buy it off others for double or triple the price? Insane. And the merch? Diabolical pricings. I missed the dateline to order San's 2023 birthday merch, and now it's reselling for over $100... For a 10cm doll... It pisses me off because I want the doll so badly but I am not gonna be throwing $100 just for a doll 🥲 Not to mention how different merch comes with different pcs so if I want that pc then I would have to buy MORE merch. They just KNOW how to suck us financially dry 😭 I've now decided to just collect the pcs that are really cute, in my opinion, or those with really cute props and outfits for the sake of my wallet. But unfortunately, I'm a sucker for merch, especially keyring dolls, so.. Sigh.. Take my money.. submitted by /u/Alone_Collection1507 [link] [comments]

For context, GOT7 just had a comeback earlier this year and just had two massive concerts, one in SK and another in Thailand. Group activities were well satisfied given how busy they are as individuals. Mark is releasing a new single, “High As You”, on May 30th and has been doing promo for it lately. He’s done a few IG lives, dropped a few teasers, concept photos, etc. On a previous Iive, he explicitly said it was to talk about “High As You”. Answer any questions or curiosities we had. He was quite excited. Despite him saying this in advance, some fans still asked him about “when GOT7’s new comeback would come out” and about more group activities. He had to, again, make it clear that the live was just for his single. That he had nothing to say about a group cb. Then in his most recent live, again dedicated to discussing “High As You”, fans AGAIN kept asking him about group activities and GOT7’s next comeback. You could tell he was disappointed, and he had to explain that there won’t be a cb for quite awhile since two members will be enlisting this year. But everyone knew this already. If you’re joining IG Lives, then there’s no way you didn’t already know about the members’ upcoming enlistment. They talk about it all the time. Everywhere. On social media, at their group and solo concerts, etc. He shouldn’t have had to repeat this just to stop the questions (as if they stopped lol) It’s just so sad when they encounter fans like this. I’m an Ahgase, but I also think fans should respect when the members are promoting their solo works. It feels disrespectful to only talk about “but when are we getting more group stuff” in the middle of a members’ solo promotion (unless they mention it first ofc.) It makes it seem as though that’s all fans care about, group content and not the members as individuals. I’m not saying everyone should know everything all the time. Nor am I saying fans shouldn’t be curious about group activities. But if you’re truly curious, it’s so easy to look things up elsewhere (especially when it’s something everyone’s talking about like the members’ upcoming enlistment!) instead of spamming it in one member’s lives when he explicitly stated the point of the lives was to discuss his solo work. I know this is a problem that will never change. It’s not new for fans to do this when one member goes live. I’m just ranting about how disrespectful it seems. submitted by /u/strawbebb [link] [comments]

So I just watched the "next monster" debut clip and it brought out a huge rant for me about how YG is already failing this group. I'm so disappointed in YG right now on multiple levels. Obligatory disclosure: I've been a fan of all YGGGs since 2NE1. I love BLACKPINK and BABYMONSTER. This is a critique of any of them, or of any members of the YGNGG. This is solely about YG's failings as a CEO and as a company. Despite what others may think, when BABYMONSTER's rollout was happening, it felt very fresh to me. The cover videos with minimal staging, lighting, and outfits helped to spotlight the members' raw talents without them having any specific concept or image yet, especially with how the cover genres being all over the place (R&B, pop, rap, a country song). Then came the intro videos with each of the members' personal stories, most of which were quite vulnerable. In comparison to BP's untouchable it girls, high-production, swagger image, it felt strikingly different in a good way. It got me really excited for BABYMONSTER to have a different style and concept from their seniors. The other thing is, they changed up each cover to make it uniquely their own. The slowed-down tempo of Rami's Let Me Love You, the acoustic instrumentation for Traitor, Asa applying her range to Me Myself and I, etc. all helped those covers to shine. There was work put into those covers to make them high-quality, which helped draw attention to this new group. I still go back and listen to those covers today, I prefer some of them to the original versions because of what they brought to that song. Now that BABYMONSTER has been around for a while, we can clearly see the similarities and differences between them and their senior groups, 2NE1, BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, TREASURE, etc. I personally see them as having a brighter, more upbeat sound and vibe to YG's other two GGs, and feel that they've successfully differentiated themselves. I think their unique rollout and the focus on raw vocal talent was a big part of that. We know BABYMONSTER's debut was in the works for years. YG copyrighted BABYMONSTER and BAEMON back in like 2018 IIRC, and there were trainee rumors floating around for 3-4 years before they finally debuted. Now, less than two years in, we get this - a stale repeat of the BABYMONSTER model, even up to the point of re-using the word monster. It's so incredibly lazy and does nothing to differentiate this new group, or reinforce the uniqueness of BABYMONSTER. It's the exact same style of video. I also don't feel like this is a good showcase of this girls' talent. She's not making this cover uniquely hers, it's like karaoke. Her rap flow and English pronounciation isn't good, despite the video mentioning she's Australian. it hurts to watch this because I have no doubt she's talented and has better performances under her belt to showcase that. What an awful first impression to give an audience, both of this girl and of the whole group. It feels like what happened is the board of investors told YG "all of your competitors have 3-4 active GGs at this point, what are you doing? get a new GG out ASAP" and YG snapped to attention and rushed a thoughtless rollout, assuming their brand would automatically make it a success. The girls of this new YG girl group, who I'm sure have given up so much, worked so hard, and put up with so much harshness to pursue this, deserve so, so much better. If YG is going to spend time and $$ investing in them, they need to set them up to success by differentiating them from their seniors and all the competition. Not do... whatever messiness this is. EDIT: I'm not responding to comments that clearly didn't read my post and are inserting assumptions on what they think it's about. If you didn't want to read, don't comment. submitted by /u/freakyfishiesunite [link] [comments]