Kpop music thread. Stan talent, Stan-all.

Isn’t Momoland a bigger group than six people?

JeremyK wrote:

Isn’t Momoland a bigger group than six people?

Yeah. Usually nine. Two are out on a hiatus with very little detail other than "health" and "personal" reasons, but MLD says they'll be back for the next full comeback. One is out for some mental health recovery, she was having anxiety attacks, though hopefully she'll feel better in time for the next comeback.

My personal theory is that Chiri Chiri was originally going to be the full comeback with everyone returning, but when Yeonwoo had to be out for the anxiety attacks, they changed course and made this a side project so that all 9 will be back for the next comeback. I think a lot of fans would have blown up with two coming back and one leaving for the promised comeback. There's already a lot of uneasiness about who's gone and who may or may not be returning. I choose to hold out hope.

That's a lot more than your question asked.

I didn't realize Yeonwoo was suffering from anxiety. I knew she wasn't at KCON LA but when I googled her I saw something about her filming for a K-drama and assumed she wasn't there because of scheduling reasons.

Wheein from Mamamoo also missed KCON LA because of anxiety. I was hoping she'd get some time to rest, but they just announced that she's got a solo album coming out this week.

Seems to be a lot of anxiety going around these days, but I think it's a broader discussion than just K-pop, and could have more to do with the general expectations in Korea of acting properly and honorably all the time. And it could be something that's happened just as often in the past- but there's a shift to being more open about it and shining light on the issue.

Of course, I'm far from an expert on either subject (Korean culture or anxiety) so I could be way off.

Yeonwoo's condition was announced or released right near the end of KCON, or shortly after it ended. Those days all blur together for me. I don't think it was before the concert, though. I was still telling people that she was just out because she was filming a drama while in line for the concert. But when I went back a week or so later and reread the release, it sounded like it was actually while filming the drama that the problem worsened to the point that she needed to step back. It kinda makes me wonder who took the initiative to give her some time away, the Kdrama people or the Kpop agency.

Yeonwoo was working this week with her father, a documentary filmmaker, to do the voiceover for his new documentary. She's also been posting pretty regularly on the official MMLD accounts to keep everyone assured that she's doing fine (talk about pressure, when you're the one recovering but also responsible to make everyone else feel better about it). Of course, that's way more than Daisy and Taeha have been able to do. They've got full-dark on everyone but the occasional family-member's account update.

Also far from an expert, but everything I've read on Korean culture and the Kpop industry seems to be pretty clear about the demands put on everyone, and on idols even more so, as ambassadors of Korea, of culture, of virtue, etc.

Some kpop comeback news. Should be an exciting end to the month.

Dreamcatcher - 9/19
Twice - 9/23
AKMU - 9/25

Also, this is a pretty cool video, and I'm thinking I'll have to give ATEEZE a deeper listen after watching this.

I’d just heard about Twice’s comeback, but Dreamcatcher and Akmu also—— hot dang!

I loved that Ateez video. They were a really hot ticket at KCON, them and Stray Kids HiTouches were selling for $400 at the peak of what I saw. I cannot imagine meeting that close and that personally, even a group I don’t follow would feel so overwhelming.

I'm excited for SM's new unit, SuperM. Album lands on 4 October.

Bfgp wrote:

I'm excited for SM's new unit, SuperM. Album lands on 4 October.

That's the super group with members of EXO and others groups, right? It should be worth checking out.

In other news, about 2 hours ago the 1theK youtube channel started uploading a bunch of old LOONA solo MVs and teasers to their channel. The most current one is Jinsoul's (the 7th member) Singing in the Rain.

What does this mean? Does it imply anything about an impending comeback? I don't know.

So, TWICE is hyping up their comeback by releasing these 10 second teasers with no content other than what individual members be wearing in the music video apparently. I really wouldn't care about them all that much, except with Mina being diagnosed with a legit anxiety disorder, I'm kind of waiting with baited breath to see if she even gets one for Feel Special. It'd be pretty cool if they at least gave her one before the comeback even if she wouldn't be participating in the concert schedule.

And this might be old hat for all you kpop veterans. Hell, up thread someone was talking about MOMOLAND only having six of nine active members at a time or something. But considering six months ago I didn't give a sh*t about kpop in general and TWICE being the first group I'm actually following, I'm still surprised at how much I care.

The big news on Twitter yesterday was that Twice member Momo was trending higher than the Apple event because she didn’t have her bangs she is known for in her teaser photo.

Grenn wrote:

I'm still surprised at how much I care.

This may be the most universal experience for a Kpop fan I've ever read.

As one who in less than a year went from first listen to dropping over $1,000 to see Momoland at KCON (on a public teacher, single-income budget, no less), this is very much my experience, though at this point I've just embraced it for what it is.

There's something about Kpop in particular, I think, in the marketing, the media, the fan-outreach, or who knows what else, that is designed to make you care. When you find your group, caring is part of the package in a way that just doesn't happen with other music, at least certainly not in my experience.

Tscott wrote:

The big news on Twitter yesterday was that Twice member Momo was trending higher than the Apple event because she didn’t have her bangs she is known for in her teaser photo.

At first I didn't read this right, but trending higher than the Apple event... wow, unsurprising to some degree, but still wow.

Interesting to note about Momo, she is actually good friends with Momoland's Daisy. They both trained at JYP before Daisy tried out and was cut from Finding Momoland (later being brought back on). Momo visited Daisy at one point during the survival show and they both had a good laugh over Momo-land.

As for Twice's comeback, I've not been following the teasers, but after looking up the ones that have been released, I'm even more excited for this comeback. And we're still weeks out. I just hope Mina is doing well. I would hope she's in the comeback for the recording and MV, even if she's not touring.

I'm catching up once again, so sorry for what is probably going to be a very long post.

Antichulius wrote:
Dyni wrote:
Antichulius wrote:

I don't remember if I found this because it was already posted here or if I found it somewhere else, but I really dig the vibe of this song. AKMU is so good.

That video was in my first post in the thread AKMU is a top 3 group for me. I love them.

That explains why it was on my Watch Later list. I typically just cue up every video here and ones I find elsewhere to listen to when I get the chance. Must've found it when I recently combed through the whole thread and was probably like: "Akmu, oh yes, I like them," and queued it up. Thanks for posting it :)

I'm always happy to introduce others to my favorite brother/sister duo Speaking of AKMU, they recently put out one of the best variety segments I've seen (starts at 1:58 in case the timestamp doesn't work):

It's an improv bit, with Chanhyuk coming up with chord progressions and Suhyun interpreting melodies to random lyrics. They could probably come up with an album in an hour if they wanted. Needless to say, I'm very excited for their new comeback.

JeremyK wrote:

I actually really like Everglow's Adios. I mean it's not quite to Bon Chocolat's level but still one of my favorite kpop songs of the year. Red Velvet however has always been hit and miss and unfortunately their last two MV's have been huge misses for me.

I see Sunmi had a new comeback but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I'm always down for some Sumni though!

I completely 180'ed on Adios. I had only listened to it on Spotify and decided to give the MV a look after seeing how many views it received in the first couple days. Aside from it being a great MV, the song just clicked for me on the second listen. It has been in my rotation for a few weeks now.

It looks like no one posted Sunmi's latest video? I don't like it quite as much as her last few releases, but it's still quite good:

Tscott wrote:

Dreamcatcher - 9/19
Twice - 9/23
AKMU - 9/25

I'm always excited for more Dreamcatcher and AKMU. Twice is often a hit-or-miss group for me, but I really enjoyed Fancy. I'm hoping Feel Special has a similar vibe.

Tscott wrote:

The big news on Twitter yesterday was that Twice member Momo was trending higher than the Apple event because she didn’t have her bangs she is known for in her teaser photo.

I barely recognized her in the trailer. Sana with Pink hair and a mean mug is pretty trippy too.

A couple other releases I've enjoyed recently:

CLC has been gradually becoming one of my favorite groups over the last year. Seungyeon is an incredible dancer, Seunghee has power vocals that regularly catch me off guard, and Yeeun may just be my second favorite female rapper behind G-Idle Soyeon. Their charisma is on the same level as the most popular girl groups, but sadly, their popularity is not, at least in Korea. Hopefully their popularity internationally will continue to climb and get them more attention domestically. They deserve it.

This is more of a poppy sound than I'm used to from BOL4, but I still really enjoy it. If you like music more towards the indie/acoustic end of the spectrum and haven't checked out this group, you should. They are always at the top of the charts in Korea, but their international fan base seems to be very small. I think I linked to Dejavu earlier in the thread. Other songs I'd recommend are My Trouble, 6 o'clock, and Puberty.

Dyni wrote:

It looks like no one posted Sunmi's latest video? I don't like it quite as much as her last few releases, but it's still quite good:

It's on the previous page but I posted the one on her official youtube instead of 1theK so there's a different thumbnail. I think I like this one better than Noir.

I've watched a few people commenting on this video and picked up some interesting stuff about it. She translated it to Lalalay in English- but the Korean title is pronounced more like "nallari" and while it doesn't have a direct English translation, it means sort like a beatnik/party animal: someone who just likes to party and will never amount to much. Also the word nalla means 'to fly', so in the bridge she plays with that with the "I'll take you high, high, higher." and "if we get caught we can just 'nalla'.........'Lay!'" I also love her look and her live performances of this song.

I like the new CLC song too- but I'm annoyed that, yet again, they haven't made the song available to buy on Itunes.

I normally don't post random reaction videos from youtubers but this one's pretty good. She also looks a little like Sorn from CLC...

Tscott wrote:

I normally don't post random reaction videos from youtubers but this one's pretty good. She also looks a little like Sorn from CLC...

See what you did there.

Spoiler:

In case it isn't clear:

PRODUSORN on Youtube wrote:

About:
Hello guys!
My name is Sorn, 22 years old.
Born and raised in Thailand!
I first came to Korea when I was 15 years old.
I am a Thai member in a Korean girl group name CLC (Crystal Clear), under the label CUBE Entertainment.

Antichulius wrote:

See what you did there.

She also makes it pretty clear at the start of the video that she's Sorn from CLC pretending to be a reactor before she gets into the bit. I thought it was pretty funny watching an actual idol who seems to fully understand youtube culture and memes. She also did a reaction for "Me" which was pretty good too.

Meanwhile I'm fulling leaning into my Yeji from Itzy bias. After opening several copies of It'z Icy and getting exactly ZERO Yeji photocards, I stalked Ebay for a while and finally found her cards at a good price. I thought about getting just one card- because if I had gotten just one in my albums I would've been very happy. But since I was going through the trouble of Ebay, and Paypal and paying for shipping... I got all five of her cards. I used a $5 coupon Ebay sent me shortly after logging in for the first time in years and it was $23 including shipping. Not bad.

They arrived from South Korea today:
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/40ozYr8.jpg)

That’s a really solid price for 5 cards. Nice find! The cards I’ve gotten off eBay have been like 15 a piece to start.

Mina got her teaser. I hope that means she'll be involved in the tour.

Grenn wrote:

Mina got her teaser. I hope that means she'll be involved in the tour.

That makes me happy. Hope she's doing better.

Dyni-- I totally forgot to mention that I watched that AKMU video you posted. It was amazing. So incredibly impressive talent from both of them.

Today my wife did my daughter’s hair with two high on the side, braided pigtails. My daughter hated it. So I showed her a picture of Yeji, “You look like her.”

IMAGE(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/c1/bd/e5c1bd3db42aaf2d51eb55ef33e6762d.jpg)

Now she wants this hairstyle every day.

IZ*One dropped the MV for Vampire not too long ago. I don’t particularly like it on first listen.

I loved it from the first 3 seconds.... and it just gets better. This is an insta-buy for me. I hope it's on iTunes already/soon. Such a great comeback. Cannot wait for the B-sides.

It is on iTunes. I was already listening to it on my way into work. I also have the limited edition version of the album preordered because that looked extra extra. I can’t wait for it to arrive.

That whole album is solid. Deja Vu and Polaris are the standouts for me, but it's all quite good. I was just thinking last night that I wanted some new music.

I usually wait until I get home from work to check out new vids, but I had to sneak a peek for Dreamcatcher, and damn, it's so good! I love the contrast between the quiet verses and bombastic chorus, the stunning presentation of the video, and the climax of the final chorus. I also appreciate the fact that they didn't feel the need to force a rap verse into the song.

Dreamcatcher is working hard to secure my ultimate bias group position. They have yet to put out a bad song. Excited to check out the B-sides this evening.

Having trouble getting up this Monday? What if Twice was here to make you "Feel Special"?

Yeah, that helps a bit.

So, am I to infer that Jeongyeon in love with herself?

What!? Why did I think this was dropping next week? Man, my sense of date is really disrupted lately.

I can't wait to show this to my 6yo daughter. She'll be "she looks so pretty" through the whole video. I don't think it's their strongest, but I like it on first listen, which probably means I'll love it by midday. I guess I'm off to iTunes again.

EDIT: Oh, dang, this one's got K version of Breakthrough!