Megathread 22: HYBE / ADOR / MHJ - We reach one year of the dispute, All legal cases settle into a slow procedural pace, and More

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]

I’ve seen some people explain why they hate kpop so much and it’s always the same crap “i cant understand the lyrics” Like, ofc you cant! ITS IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE “they all look like girls/ they all look the same” NO THEY FRICKING DONT. if you actaully cared to look at their faces and see the differences, you wouldn’t think that. Stop being racist. Also, there are idols that aren’t asian, so you’re just being rude to them “the music sucks!” Okay, and? It just doesn’t suit your taste, saying it sucks is exaggerating “the guys wear make up, it looks gay/ they act gay”. Do i even need to explain this? EVERY CELEBRITY WEARS MAKE UP. And also, they do not “act gay”, they are just showing their affection toward each other, and stop being homophobic “they have no talent” THEY DO. why do you think kpop got so popular? They can rap, sing, and dance perfectly fine. In fact, they are amazing at it. They can dance perfectly synchronized too “the fans are unhinged” not all of them are tho? Stop judging the entirety of the fanbase based on a small part of the fandom. Everyone is different. People should rly stop hating on kpop for no apparent reason submitted by /u/Beautiful-Vast7545 [link] [comments]

Hello everyone! We are excited to take a trip back in time to revisit some K-Pop classics once again, continuing with this rate, the "Early Gen 3" Girl Groups Rate! (If you haven't already, make sure to join r/kpoprates to ensure that you stay updated on future rate-related posts!) Quick Links: Ballot submission: Link to Reddit Chat to message a ballot // Ballot template (Google Docs ver.) // Ballot template (Pastebin) Playlists: Spotify // Youtube (Audio ver.) // Youtube (Lyrics ver.) // Youtube (MV ver.) Deadline: July 7th (Monday), 11:59 Pacific (Link to a timezone converter) How the songs were selected: We used the /r/kpop Top Ten Tuesdays results to grab the most adored songs from each of the artists on Reddit, and we also had a songlist feedback survey on /r/kpoprates to help decide the songlist! Now, without further ado, let's introduce the 55 songs (& 7 bonus songs) that were selected for this rate, ordered chronologically for each artist (artists were also ordered by debut date): . Spica: Russian Roulette You Don’t Love Me EXID: Every Night Up & Down Ah Yeah Hot Pink Night Rather Than Day DDD I Love You HelloVenus: Wiggle Wiggle I’m ill Mysterious Crayon Pop: Bar Bar Bar AOA: Miniskirt Short Hair Like a Cat Heart Attack Good Luck 10 Seconds Excuse Me FIESTAR: One More You’re Pitiful Ladies’ Code: Pretty Pretty Galaxy The Rain BESTie: Love Options Excuse me Mamamoo: Piano Man You’re the Best Décalcomanie Starry Night Egotistic Wind Flower Gogobebe HIP Laboum: Journey to Atlantis Hwi Hwi Lovelyz: Ah-Choo Destiny WoW! Now, We That Day Sonamoo: Friday Night GFriend: Me Gustas Tu Rough Navillera Fingertip Time For The Moon Night Apple Mago Brave Girls: Deepened Rollin’ We Ride Chi Mat Ba Ram After We Ride . Bonus Rate: The bonus rate is basically an extension of the main rate! There were several songs that received high praise during the songlist feedback survey that still were barely not able to make the main rate, so we have put them into the bonus rate here to give them a chance to be rated. . EXID - Lady HelloVenus - Venus Crayon Pop - FM Fiestar - Mirror Ladies’ Code - Bad Girl Laboum - Between Us GFriend - Labyrinth . The Bonus Rate is optional and you do not have to submit a score for every song in the bonus list if you do it: you can score none of them, all of them, or any number in between. You cannot give a 0 or 11 to any song in the bonus, as they are not part of the main rate. While it is optional, we hope you consider participating. Spotify playlist YouTube playlist (MV version) YouTube playlist (Audio version) YouTube playlist (Lyrics version) Rules: You must listen to and assign a score to EVERY song listed. If your ballot is missing any scores it will not be eligible and you'll be sent a message asking you to fill in the missing scores. Each song should be assigned a score between 1 to 10. Decimals up to one point are allowed but any further is a no-no – 6.9 is fine, but 6.99 is not. You can use ONE 0 and ONE 11 for the entirety of the rate, for your least favorite and most favorite song respectively - they are optional but HIGHLY encouraged if you feel some type of way about any given song! Comments are also encouraged but not required for such scores (except if you give a song a 0). Comments are encouraged and much appreciated (but not required, except for if you give a 0) and can be added to any song by simply typing after the numerical score, like so: Hip: 2.4 Ofc the title track that utilizes Mamamoo's vocal power the least ends up becoming the most popular (yells angrily at cloud) This is the ONLY correct way to format a comment. Please do not include colons (ex. 9: I stan!), dashes (ex. 3.3 - This song sucks), or any other symbol after your score/before your comment as it breaks the program. You can also give comments for individual artists! Just write your comment after the :, such as the following: EXID: Are they pronounced like "exit" or are you supposed to say every letter separately? I'll never know For this rate and most future rates, we have a ballot average minimum of 4.00. In addition, if your ballot average is between 4.00-5.50, you must leave comments on your lower scores (which we define as any score that's a 3 or lower). {Do not worry about having to calculate your ballot average, once you submit your ballot, we will tell you if you need to make changes to your ballot for it to be accepted.} SUBMITTING A BALLOT: * Link to Reddit Chat to message a ballot As Reddit is (unfortunately) moving away from the private messaging system in favor of utilizing the Reddit chat system, we are forced to also adopt the Reddit chat system for messaging. You can make a copy of either the Google Docs or Pastebin ballot templates below, add your scores on your local copy/file, and send the link to your local copy/file in your Reddit Chat message to u/KpopRates_Ghost. * Google Docs ballot template * Pastebin ballot template Google spreadsheet template that you can use to calculate averages, record scores, and make predictions Alternatively, if you have Discord, you can message the link to your ballot to both the rate hosts, @Zypker124 and @aidshha. You can also submit the top/bottom 5 prediction form at any time. DUE DATE: Monday, July 7th, by 11:59 PM Pacific - This will be the FINAL deadline, no extensions will be given this time! (Here is a link to a time zone converter for the deadline.) REVEAL DATES (Reveals will take place on /r/kpoprates as well as the KpopRates Discord: https://discord.gg/4YY2ksBbT6) Day 1 - July 12th (Saturday), 8 AM Pacific (Time zone converter here) Day 2 - July 13th (Sunday), 8 AM Pacific (Time zone converter here) submitted by /u/kpoprates_ghost [link] [comments]

Hey folks! Over in r/kpop we just posted a new special Town Hall that is focused only on the Flairs we use to help organize our posts based on content categories. Link to r/kpop's 'All About Flairs' Town Hall We included announcements for new flairs here on r/kpoppers and also on r/kpophelp. The following is the section relevant for this subreddit. NEW FLAIRS! Connect - This flair will be used for anything where fans are trying to socially connect with each other. Announcing new K-Pop subreddits or Discords, looking for mutual fans on social media, wanting to meet up at a concert, seeking fans in a region to form a dance group, networking for a fan project, announcing a K-Pop night at a club, etc. Research - Academic surveys related to K-Pop or fandom topics. We'll keep an eye on these new flairs to see if they create any confusion or need adjustments. Let us know if you have any thoughts, concerns, or questions! submitted by /u/alleybetwixt [link] [comments]

I'll be honest. If you want to, you can drop your own opinion on it too. submitted by /u/tbaeist [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/SapphireHeaven [link] [comments]

Jhope was spotted at BLACKPINKs deadline tour.... submitted by /u/Pretty_Initiative722 [link] [comments]

She gave more context and went deeper about what actually happened that day. The translation: “But recently there was a bit of an issue and bcs of that I started wishing not just for myself but for everyone around me to live peacefully without any trouble. I honestly had no such intention at all so I really wanted to talk about it. And I felt really sorry about that. I just wanted to say that I’m truly sorry for causing concern to our fans and so many others people. I really want to say sorry. I remember going out with the staff on a chilly day, buying an outer layer, posting on social media to communicate with fans and then getting contacted and having to delete it. All of that made me realize how ignorant I was. Even if I was abroad, it was still something I should have known and been aware of. So it really made me feel like I need to be more aware and study these things more deeply. I think it’s true that I was just very ignorant. And in any case, since I’m the one who put the story out there, it’s something I have to take responsibility for. But it was really hard seeing the other members get affected too”. cr: ujiminphoria She talked about this on a very popular show hosted by Jung Jaehyung. Link in the comments. submitted by /u/randomgirl852007 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/MasterHospital [link] [comments]

so i am not a glit but wonhee has been on my tl and god she is so fcking cute, i love that most idols keep babying her after everything she went thru last year (ok i have much less to say than i thought i did lol but i am not gonna post this on uncensored) also i kinda love that illit was the 1st big grp to acknowledge baby dont cry submitted by /u/innova779 [link] [comments]

THIS VIDEO IS NOT MADE BY ME. The Choreography, The vocals and The Execution is literally Chef's Kiss. Anybody who hasn't seen this before highly recommended. submitted by /u/Jeong_Hyeri [link] [comments]

this is just my opinion. I listen to most groups and ive stanned a few here and there over the years. but i try keep up with most comebacks, either that or whatever comes on my fyp. i would say i know most groups even now as a music lover i listen to a lot of albums too but for some of the groups i may only know their title tracks sorry. submitted by /u/AdEmergency6619 [link] [comments]