back in 2023, my friend and i went to see blackpink on tour. at the time, i honestly had only really been familiar with bts and blackpink, i wasn’t really a serious “kpop stan” back then i was more so just an army. she asked me if i wanted to go to the concert with her because she’s a big music fan and goes to at least one concert per year. blackpink was the first concert i had ever been to. the concert also just so happened to be three days after my birthday, so it was also partially like a birthday gift to myself to get to go. everything was going great, we arrived at the stadium two hours before the show, we took pictures in and around the stadium, etc… then on one of the jumbotrons, there were previews and ads being projected. an ad with 7 men popped up and from a far distance, i wasn’t even thinking, i was just so excited to be at the concert to begin with, and i blurted out loud, “is that BTS???!!!” my friend turned to me and said with annoyance “that’s enhypen…” and i absolutely shrunk. i know there were multiple people around us that heard my comment and probably had all types of thoughts, giving a harsh side eye. outside of that the concert was amazing and the vibes were great, i know anyone who was sitting around us probably forgot about my comment shortly after the show started. but still, that moment made me feel like i didn’t deserve to be there after that. now, as a more generalized kpop fan, i still look back on that moment and cringe. and my friend and i haven’t really hung out again since that concert, but idk if truly the reason why or not. in the present, i understand the differences between labels, and that a bts(hybe) billboard would probably never appear at a blackpink(yg) concert in the first place, but back then i didn’t really understand all the intricacies. i just knew that BTS and BLACKPINK were the two biggest K-pop groups in America, so i thought “why wouldn’t a BTS billboard be at a BLACKPINK concert in America?” i guess… i was also looking at the billboard from afar, if i would’ve looked for five seconds longer, i probably would’ve realized it wasn’t BTS, but i just glanced at it and was super excited in the moment. sometimes i wonder if my friend was so embarrassed to be seen with me at that concert after i made that comment that she actually disowned me, or she felt like i wasn’t a real enough k-pop fan and stopped associating with me because i embarrassed her. honestly, i wouldn’t have called myself a real kpop fan until the end of 2023 because that’s when I allowed myself to start listening to more groups than just the really big ones (BTS/BP) but it’s also kind of frustrating because it seems like so many people already knew about other groups like stray kids, TXT, ateez, etc either pre debut or they just seemingly appear to have a huge fanbase out of no where. like, prior to two years ago, i wouldn’t have known any of these groups. but i fell in love with bts during the pandemic, and i really only engrossed myself in their music up until they went into the military, and there wasn’t as much new content to consume. and I feel like the K-pop community is split in half, half K-pop stands only stan one group and act like you’re a traitor if you begin to show support for any other groups, and then there’s the other half of stans that enjoy listening to any and all groups as long as they like the music. in the beginning for me it was hard to get into other groups because i feel like i need to know everything about all the members and their entire discography before i can call myself a real fan. also toxic armies online made me feel like i’d be a traitor for streaming other kpop, and during such an isolating time like the pandemic, that felt very true. but when most of these groups are more than five years old, and already have 10+ albums and eps, it’s just too much and i’m kinda overwhelmed with content. idk sometimes i just wonder if the negative reaction i got was deserved, because i definitely felt stupid at the concert, but sometimes i wish more k-pop fans were a bit more understanding and willing to share information rather than just look down on you because you didn’t know… submitted by /u/HelpDazzling7577 [link] [comments]
