Kpop music thread. Stan talent, Stan-all.

Forgive me that this BOA song that came out a few days ago hasn't been posted here yet:

BOA - Forgive Me

Also, another music video from BiBi's latest album, and another content warning for violence.

BIBI - JOTTO

I'm almost to the point of wanting to ask who hurt her so.

Tscott wrote:

Chuu

Oh no! That’s heartbreaking news. I read the translated release and wow—that was some direct and indirect harsh words aimed at Chuu. And aimed at her personal career, from my reading of it.

I always liked Chuu, and I really hope she lands okay through all this!

Comments I've seen on Twitter, Reddit, on her Chuu Can Do It channel and on her personal instagram have all been 100% in support of Chuu (I'm not saying there are no comments that are not in support, but I didn't see any personally). There were several instances of people who worked with Chuu posting on social media that BBC's claims had to be bogus and Chuu was one of the nicest people they knew. Also, HyunJin got on Fab (their paid social media app for fans) and said her heart is breaking and she's so angry. Fans on the app tried to caution her saying to watch what she said for fear of repercussion for speaking out.

From what I can tell, BBC seemed to have tarnished their image considerably by making this statement about Chuu. I'm really hoping this comes back to bite them, but also I'm hoping the best for the rest of the members who are still a part of Loona. I'm also sure Chuu will be fine, I'm just sad she has to go through this at the moment.

That is all good to hear, especially that people who worked with her are posting because that’s the best refutation for me—comparing apples to apples as it were.

I don’t see any possible good outcome from BBC’s statement. Even if it were true, it still colors the company in a bad light. And if it’s not true, it makes them dishonest, petty. and vindictive.

And I just keep going back to seeing Chuu at KCON and despite it being brief and public, it just doesn’t square. I’ll keep giving Chuu the benefit of doubt and save my skepticism for the company.

I feel so sad for Chuu and the members. Heartbreaking all around.

In better news, Red Velvet have released their latest comeback.

Red Velvet - Birthday

Birthday along with 4 other new songs are now available on their 'The ReVe Festival 2022 - Birthday' EP. This title track is going to take a few more listens for me to fully grasp, but I don't dislike it.

just....wow. That feels like it was made for me. The video is a bit bonkers, but Red Velvet looks amazing (nothing unusual there) and the song is just perfect. I can see maybe having an issue with the Nutcracker sample, but I think it works in this case and it's on trend now for the group (this will be their third classical music sample so far); as long as the song is this good I'm fine with it. This one is definitely going into heavy rotation. After a couple disappointments recently (Nxde and the new Japanese Stayc release Poppy were both pretty 'meh' in my opinion) we got a banger. Plus we have the KARA comeback to look forward to; we shall see I guess but I'm hopeful regarding that one as well.

I think the sample is Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, unless there’s an other sample used that I’m not aware of. After 3 listens I think I’ve got a good grasp of the song and really like it. Definitely A tier Red Velvet.

The Loona situation is developing quickly and still has yet to resolve. BBC made another statement after the world came out in support of Chuu and many were demanding BBC provide proof of Chuu’s “abuse” if it existed. In the statement they claimed it was up to Chuu to provide proof to disprove their claims- which isn’t how proofs work.

Now 9 of the remaining members have reportedly filed an injunction to be removed from their contracts due to a break in trust. BBC denies this but news sources are quick to point out that BBC have lied about things like this before. ViVi and HyunJin are the two members not included in this. ViVi is likely because her visa is tied to the contract, and would have to return to China if she left. And HyunJin currently has schedules with FIFA and the World Cup that would be complicated if she left BBC. Fans speculate they’ll both follow the other 9 when they can.

I know there have been members kicked out of groups all the time in K-pop, but the universal support in favor of Chuu and the solidarity from the other members in this case seems unprecedented.

Tscott wrote:

The Loona situation.

Woah. That's just flooring news. Thank you for keeping us updated. I've been pleased overall by the recent(ish) waves of idols standing up for themselves and each other rather than just accept the industry as it is. I'm super happy to hear Loona really making a stand.

I might be cynical but if one of your most popular members is being slandered for...suing for monetary entitlements...and you're at existential crisis point because the group is likely to be boycotted to hurt BBC financially AND you're also indebted and unpaid...there's nothing to lose in seeking a release at this point, particularly if BBC is in serious breach of their contract.

New song from Hynn

Hynn - Orpheus


I've never heard of The Fix, but I dug this one

The Fix - Rush

the new video for KARA's comeback single dropped and I am very impressed. I'm now just sad they ever stopped promoting in the first place, imagine all that they could have done. Also, I think I got something in my eye when the final shot of the video appeared...

KARA - When I Move

ITZY - Cheshire

Time once again for Throwback Thursday! Also there's a hashtag for this I found out, so #tbt I guess. I'm too old for hashtags but whatever.

I was trying to decide what to feature today, and rather than a music video I thought I'd show you one of my favorite videos from a Korean music variety show. There are a few of these kinds of shows that I've stumbled across over the years; as you may know the Masked Singer that was all the rage on American TV originated as a Korean show, but there have been several others, not including the weekly stage performance shows like Inkigayo or Show Champion.

Unfortunately I don't know the names of most of the shows since the translations on Youtube aren't always on and also sometimes the clip doesn't actually include the name of the show in the subtitles. There was one that was kind of like a karaoke competition but the words on the screen that the person had to sing to were scrambled and they have to decipher them on the fly based on their knowledge of the song they are being asked to sing. There's another that has a famous singer and then several sound-alike singers that all sing together (behind a screen so you can't tell who is singing when) and then the audience votes on which singer was actually the famous person. There's a show called Golden Tambourine where two teams of celebrities put on musical numbers with full costumes and the audience votes for their favorite (more played for humor than anything else tbh) that has some hilarious clips up on Youtube if you're into that sort of thing.

Anyway, there's more that I could talk about but the clip I'm putting on here is from a show called Fantastic Duo. On this show several non-famous singers are selected via auditions to sing an arrangement of a famous singer's songs, and then the famous singer chooses one at the end and they do a duet together. I've watched clips from a few of these shows and it's always impressive who they find that can sound so much like the featured celebrity singer, but also they sometimes choose someone who isn't necessarily a sound-alike but is a good compliment to their voice. I think that's the case with this one; at any rate, the duet they perform is maybe the best performance of this song that I've ever heard. Please enjoy, and let me know if you have favorite videos from other Korean music shows; I'd love to watch them!

Another music video for a song from BiBi's Lowlife Princess album. I just got a shipping notification from Choice Music that the version I ordered is on my way. I'm lowkey excited to have a physical album from BiBi finally.

BiBi - Blade

Chuu & George - Dear My Winter

Antichulius wrote:

Younha - Event Horizon

Just saw a report that this song- released last March- has risen back up the charts in South Korea, achieved a perfect all-kill and got Younha her first music show win in 15 years. Meaning her last win before this was in 2007.

In sadder news, the management company for Bugaboo, ATEAM Entertainment, has announced that the group will cease all activities and the members will be released from their contracts, effective immediately.

Very sad for them; they only got a debut plus one comeback, and I really liked both of them and felt like they were generally well received. I'm surprised they are not being given more time to build up a fanbase; I wish them the best on any new endeavors going forward.

Yeah, I just went online and saw that. Total BS. When their debut came out, I learned every member's name instantly, I enjoyed them and their song so much. That's unheard of for me. There are groups I've listened to for years and wouldn't be able to name one member.

I was just watching Cyan and Choyeon in the most recent video on their channel and wondering when the next comeback would be. I was really looking forward to seeing what they'd come out with next.

I really can't believe they'd do this to the best dimples in K-pop.
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/uxmZA7o.jpg)

Dang, I was really enjoying Bugaboo, too. And only around for a little over a year--that's harsh.

I am thrilled for Younha's win though. Interesting that it was this song coming back--just not the one I would have thought. I would've guessed Winter Flower or Stardust first. But all the same, she's such a good artist and I'm happy for her.

Huh. There's a KPOP broadway musical and it's closing after 2 weeks. Who knew.

Now I'm curious about the upcoming cast album the article mentions toward the end.

I had heard mention of the musical here and there, but didn't know anything more about it. In my mind, I was picturing a musical review where the cast sang Big Bang and 2NE1 songs for a couple hours. Reading that article, that's nothing like what it actually was. Too bad it didn't find an audience.

NMIXX member Jinni is leaving the group due to personal issues and has terminated her contract.

...

I hope she is okay. I remember when I heard that Oh My Girl member JinE left the group. I was confused, but she had apparently been having issues with her health and decided it was better to leave than continue on. And as far as I know, she's out there, living her life. I wish for Jinni the same. After the KARA comeback and reflecting on what happened to Gu Hara (and not just her, there were a few tragic deaths around the same time but Hara was the one that affected me the most), I would prefer a departure on (what I can only hope are) good terms rather than the alternative.

for my Throwback Thursday pick, I'm going with the Oh My Girl song that made me first notice them, and the last MV to feature JinE. Please enjoy.

Oh My Girl - Liar Liar

I stumbled across this artist on Instagram today, and couldn't remember if anyone had posted about her before, but after watching a couple of her videos I thought I should remedy the issue. Adora is a singer/songwriter who officially debuted about a year ago with 'Make U Dance'; her most recent release, 'Magical Symphony', is from a couple months back. Check her out!

Red Velvet X aespa 'Beautiful Christmas'

I love Winter!

GyeongseoYeji & Jeon Gunho - The street where our winter is

Throwback Thursday is back once again! Got a great video for y'all this time; it's by a sub-unit of 4Minute featuring the rapper and main vocalist from that group, Jiyoon and Gayoon (respectively). The sub-unit was (cleverly) titled 2Yoon and the song, released at the beginning of 2013, is a fun little country-music-inspired number called 24/7. Gayoon is my 4Minute bias so I checked it out right away, but thankfully the song turned out to be good regardless. Please enjoy!

2Yoon - 24/7

NewJeans - Ditto

And a different version of the video: (side B)

One group I've been enjoying since their debut but somehow haven't posted in this thread lately is Secret Number. They came out with a single last month that keeps growing on me every time I hear it.

SECRET NUMBER - TAP

Um, wow...

Let's see where did we leave off in the LOONA drama in this thread? Chuu was expelled. 9 remaining members were reported to file injunctions to break their contracts. Blockberry Creative (BBC) gave a stupid statement saying that it's up to Chuu to prove she wasn't abusive.

Then... BBC announces a comeback! Not only that but it's announcement is completely tone deaf... the first teaser image was the question "What's next?" (calling back to the "Who's next?" teasers they would run when they were introducing each member individually). This lead to many comments from angry Orbits- "lawsuits", "disbandment", "jail". Then BBC reveal that this is somehow going to be a LOONA "origin" album called [0] - leading everyone to ask "how can they do an origin album without all 12 members?"

Orbits flip out and organize a boycott. Pre-sales start. One popular site that sold thousand of the Flip-That album pre-orders in its first 24 hours, reportedly only sold 96 copies of [0] in the same time frame. Many stores have come out in support of the boycott and have said they will not stock/restock any albums by BBC.

Then a dispatch article comes out trying to spread the blame partly to Chuu. They exposed texts between Chuu and BBC employees. AND they exposed details of the LOONA members contracts. Basically the members and BBC share any debt 50/50 from production/distribution/etc/ of their music, but any profit from their music is shared 70/30 in favor of BBC, which leaves the members perpetually in debt.

Any "mean" texts from Chuu that were exposed are seen by most people as someone rightly frustrated in her situation, and this article does little to change people's opinions on BBC, despite the article being changed later to remove some of the things that make look Chuu sympathetic.

Finally, a few hours ago BBC just announced that the comeback album [0] has been indefinitely delayed. I've never before seen a fandom overjoyed in an announcement of an upcoming album delayed/possibly canceled, but here we are.

Orbits know the members of LOONA are unhappy, and they want them compensated or out of their contracts over all else. It's completely crazy. I don't think there's ever been anything like this before.

Moon Byul releases another song for her birthday:

Moon Byul - Present