Explore the art of blogging
Sm Entertainment - Blog Posts
Unpopular kpop opinions
I know I'm super late but here they are (and maybe some of them are not unpopular I'm not sure)
• I think Lisa's rap is cringy especially in boombayah and so hot.
• Asking if you are welcomed in the random is kinda dumb. Like, nobody's gonna stop you. But I do understand asking for names under mv because this can be really helpful.
• It's okay to be slow joining the kpop community. I, myself for the first month only liked bts and later I started exploring more. If someone is only an army give them time. After watching bts gayo it is impossible not to be interested in other groups.
• Both love scenario and ddu du ddu du won't win the song of the year(mama) not because they aren't good but becouse they are under yg and mnet and yg aren't exactly in a good relationship.
• And about band award. Day6 will hopefully win, the rose will be nominated and maybe drug resrestaurant? Not sure.
• It's hard to tell if blooming days will win mv of the year. Even though it was beautiful, aesthetic and stuff I'm not sure if it had that impact on the kpop community. But I do hope it will win.
• Shinee HAS to win something. Whether it is the artist of the year, song or dance I don't care.
• I honedtly don't like girls generation. I respect them but I wouldn't listen to them. Before I started to like kpop I saw snsd party and thought it was super cringy. The only song I could listen to is gee.
• Telling twice to change the cute concept is pretty damn disrespectful. Nobody tells blackpink to change theirs. Maybe it's becouse twice has got more songs but honestly i don't think they are cute they rather are happy.
• Rosè gets the least attention in blackpink. Lisa and Jenni are the most popular and everyone talks how Jisoo should get more lines so nobody really talks about Rosè. This opinion is becouse I'm kinda salty about it couse she is my bias.
• I feel like gwsn will be really successful in the future couse they debuted like 2 weeks ago and puzzle moon has already got about 7-8 million views.
• Jyp may be the best company out of big 3. They treat their idols good and if needed let them go(sunmi, somi) and quite regular comebacks. Sm's big plus is that the idols stay active for long and yg gives us some good hip-hop vibes I personally find jyp the best.
xiumin gon be throwing hands soon 🤭
lol sike i’m just playin but if y’all weren’t ready for baekhyun and taeyeon, kai and krystal or kai and jennie then HOH HUNNAYYYZ y’all better be prepared, we getting a Chen Jr!
now let’s give this man a round of applause for finding love and becoming a father and devoted husband.
but let’s drop an “f” for xiumin ✊🏼😔
xiumin:
i ship xiumin and chen as BEST BROS ion know i’m here for that bromance. i also got that meme idea from someone on twitter, ion know their handle but creds to that comedic genius.
UNIVERSE HIPSTERS in “HANRYANG”
my stills.. like/reblog if saved
GIRLS’ GENERATION in “MR. MR.”
my stills.. like/reblog if saved
IRENE in “PSYCHO”
3/5 posts
I really wish i could be as chill and fun when discussing jongin but the reality is the origins of my kpop journey never called for that. I only liked eggsos music for a very short period of my life and once I heard the demo tracks that ended. For some reason knowing they didnt make their hits or even contribute past one line or two just makes me feel icky. I never liked the others past the bullying years of 2012 to 2016. I also cut off kji when I felt like he was also very inauthentic. I returned out of curiosity for my research of the entertainment industry. Most artists in korea act like they are in some hybrid between the military and a gang. I just cant take it seriously. Its a hybrid between american hollywood and a dictatorship. The industry still rubs me the wrong way as apparently child protection laws and human rights in south korea are a suggestion.
In the end I comment on jongin 1 because i still do see some ...potential is the wrong word ...life maybe. He seems to have more of a soul than most in the industry. So I still check for him. Yet I wont lie or be fake. His recent projects have been god awful. Sm has ran him into the ground and dont seem like they will be stopping anytime soon. He is the most obvious case of "industry mistreatment programming" that I have ever seen. I still cringe at times seeing the toll the industry has taken on him.
I do however understand many fans are either very quiet because they just want to enjoy and relax. And others want community and friendship.
I get it. That was never my intention. I have a lot of perspectives on jongin and his career and I feel like sometimes I should keep them to myself..but then other times I feel like thats very unfair.
Online their are people that write very objectifying, dirty vile things about him but that is okay cause they are being quirky...
But if you talk about sprituality, souls, diets, genetics, chi magic, face yoga, spritual contracts ect or connecting things to the occult thats too far.
No its not. The lies are too far.
I just don't vibe with the lies anymore. And what is going on all over the internet about him the group, kpop and the entire entertainment industry is a lie.
So in my opinion as long as I have evidence for what Im saying anybody can choose whether or not they want to read or believe what Im saying. But the dumb fake arguements about literally nothing. Its a distraction. They plan things out for people to argue over so nobody every holds the company or artists or infrastructure accounatble. I cant just waste time like that anymore. I will write and make content from my perspective. Because there is nothing wrong with the truth. 99 percent of whats on the net about exo and jongin is a lie. I just cant anymore. They really take advantage of the language gap. So many people literally lying about things. Almost nothing they say is true.
I think its only fair to be transparent. I thought about creating another blog to post that stuff on but again that would just be more secrecy. There is no point. But I understand most people dont like that so at this point its just best I be honest. I like being chill but with kpop my conspiracy and investigative journalism side cant rest. I will post things of that nature from now on.
Its not all completely serious some things are simply opinions and research but those things help understand the larger picture.
is he racist? No not in the traditional sense but he has had an idealized fetish for black aesthetic culture since a young age. But other peoples perception of what he does should not concern you. If people from black society interpret what he did as racist that is their right. Its a complex topic to be handled with care not a sassy response of oh sm made him do it. I will not just accept that foolish behavior. Let his behavior be interpreted by whoever is interpreting it. The tacky lawyer defense just makes black people feel more offended and angry. I just wish everyone would allow people to have their own opinion about art without getting over emotional. Especially if no one is being direspectful. Everyone has the right to their own opinion. Telling others to just leave and shut up is not a mature response.
Adult Swim Analysis. Kai; Fallen Angel, Messiah and Cult Leader?
So I decided to analyze this music video since nobody does that now and days.
But first the lyrics.
24 year old me pretending I don't know what this is about
but yeah this is one of his only songs where there is no other meaning it's just as dirty as you think it is even though it's the name of a beloved cartoon network.
this is ...
Basically it's a clever and innocent way of referring to s.xual activity. Something younger people are restricted from.
But honestly literally all of his albums are about the same thing. S.x. Well all his title tracks refer to s.x the songs tend to be about either s.x or a relationship.
In the end of rover which is really chronologically the second album, we find him locked away in a cave and calling himself a sinner.
Now in this more modern music video we find he is in the present day with a new more ethnic group of young folks where he is teaching them the art of adult swimming.
He is the only one dancing in the music video other than the girl.
In the first scene we see a melting popsicle. Popsicles are made out of fruit. But it is cold and condensed and you must lick and consume it to get the flavor. So yeah. I mean I don't really expect deeper meanings from his work at this point but like it wouldn't hurt.
Anyway
I don't believe it's a coincidence that the woman is holding the popsicle. Her shirt says forever. If you are going off the metaphor that the forbidden fruit is the anatomy of a woman this is a direct continuation of peaches where not only has nothing about his behavior changed he is also more brazen about it. He is able to openly do this instead of being in a castle, a mountainside or some post apocolyptic temple. He's out in public living freely. As a fallen angel partaking in unheavenly delights.
We also see a bird in a cage so it's possible that these people are trapped and he is feeding off of them.
In peaches and mhmm we met his followers in white and gray garbs that served him in temples and palaces
He is dancing with her and he has an angel wings necklace on and she has a angel wing tattoo on his back. This is super old symbolism with him
In peaches he said it feels good to be the bad guy, so basically he is a vampire and he feeds off his cult members. How interesting. This cult is young and most likely unaware of anything he is or does because they are not worshipping him they are all just hanging out and partying at this sort of group home.
The nice young lady also has a skull and crossbone necklace symbolizing these cult members may have recently been reborn or he is easing them into his lifestyle. Albeit slowly.
Another skull and crossbones just so you know these people are marked for death.
The place is full of meaningful posters and graffiti in english that I believe is trying to communicate to the audience something about what we are seeing, it is a short music video after all.
Right here says "This moment is more precious than you all think" To me this looks like the typical cult phrase. This is not just a group of friends these people all are living together and partying together in this abandoned pool zone.
The angel wings necklace serve to symbolize that although his wings are hidden he still caries them with him in some way shape or form or basically he is still an angel even if he doesn't have his wings. And more than likely he still wants to be worshipped or in charge or a group of people just like he was in mhmm and Peaches. He still craves some type of power and control over others.
Lmao life imitating art or the other way around you never know.
he is also wearing the spiral necklace that was seen in rover.
The spirals symbolize hypnosis.
Implying that he is now exercising this control over his cult members now.
Kai unlike the others is ascended and he has been that way for some time. The others perhaps are newly ascended but under his own direction so he can be seen walking around checking on everything. It is similar to the seen in mhmm when he is looking over the city on the roof, except now there are people instead of an empty technowasteland.
he is almost acting like the lifegaurd of the place
Eventually after looking around he spots a girl with a angel wing tattoo on her back. This sets her apart from the others and is likely symbolic to her being awakened as well.
She notices him looking at her and turnsto him somehow making eye contact even though he's 25 feet in the air. But I suppose it's similar to him being high up like an angel even though he doesn't have wings. Maybe they are saying like his rank and status as an angel is above hers. I don't know for sure.
then he begins dancing by the pool and draws attention to himself
Then later we see a split screen of Kai watching the woman dance, we don't see the shot of him directly watching her but the screen is split in half to show us her dancing and attracting his attention.
It's almost surreal.
We are seeing from his perspective.
Oddly oddly enough we get a close up and see that she is actually nowhere near him so he must be watching her from a long distance
On a yellow bin we see the graffiti words in english titled "Make More."
make more of what exactly?
The girl seems uncomfortable for a split second and seemingly out of nowhere Kai is suddenly right behind her, almost like he spawned randomly.
This music video is so elaborate and subtle it's amazing right after they began dancing this scene with a boy holding a lolipop that says I love you and he is wearing an anhnk
An anhnk in ancient kemet was basically a symbol for the reunification of the masculine and feminine principles. Them being in front of a yellow bin that says make more, wow.
It does make sense because with Kai's last few albums the angel symbology was heavy. She has a pair of inked wings on her back. They are both ascended so to speak, which makes sense why they are the only ones dancing together. Which I thought was odd, there are no other dancers. Which is definitely purposeful. In other music videos he may single out one female dancer but the dance usually contains 5 to 10 people in it. This music video only contains a solo and duet despite having a large amount of people in it.
after the little dance number we see a poster that says
"are you up or what?" Up referring to awakened or higher. In peaches he ascended out of a cave a went to the astral realm where he was able to dream walk.
We also see gender which only points to more questions with what is going on with the characters that we see in this. Are they all friends, are they even all human we don't know.
After this frame we get a scene with two people staring at one another. It seems to be either it's supposed to be representing what is happening between the two main dancers or they are influencing the behavior or the people at the pool.
We also get someone eating a peach which is again a reference to copulation
After this frame they continue their duet in the center of the room
and then they move onto the now empty pool
After they begin dancing the "pool' is now dry having been drained.
Which kind of ties into the he is feeding off of his members. Dancing could be a metaphor for an energetic exchange.
Even when he is shining in the later scenes where his shirt is sparkling
She is actually still behind him dancing in the dark, which is so symbolic. Like what are they doing? I mean I know it's symbolic he's feeding off her energy which is why his shirt is shining even though she is in the dark.
End of part one.
short lil tease teases
My crashout rambles must mean something
apparently they had black stylists, I may not have been completely right about the album theme but I was close enough.
close enough is good
I kinda felt bad for going on a unhinged rant about the awful s.m entertainment stylists and how they should be barred from doing anyone's hair. Also what I said about their untrained untalented stylists and that baddies and bad girls club had better hairstylists than them. I hate being rude, but if it made them reconsider to be clear I honestly don't care. Man I hope that man never is able to touch anyone's scalp ever again. I actually have a collection of the various scalp burns I've seen on about half a dozen kpop idols. I was this close with filing a report but I don't even know how that would work. But honestly I will say this, social media is observed by teams of people constantly to see how people are feeling about certain things. Apparently they do observe and see what people are loving and hating. I never wanted to spread negativity to those unqualified people and some of my tweets went a little to far and for that I am sorry. But at the same time there are hundreds of very good qualified stylists who take EXTREMELY good care of people edges, scalps and hair. Why not hire them. Especially if it's affordable. No one should have bald spots or scalp burns due to someone's lack of know how.
I've even seen him have bleach almost on people's ears, that can lead to burns. I'm sorry but if my family taught me anything sometimes you HAVE to open your mouth and say something when something wrong is happening. You have to, wrong is wrong even if the person is well beloved and famous. Even if the particular stylists wasn't working on his hair at least they are trying to find qualified people it's a start.
S.m took so many career notes from Island records and young money and some of their producers.
2012 sm ent whenever a new trend dropped in America:
Kai with a model during ‘Growl perf @ Seoul Fashion Week
wait this is what happened? this is so funny
why can't ppl laugh? man live a little they act like korea's war zone anything that happens must be taken so seriously. Like grow up how are ppl gonna react when they start letting these people actually be free and they are seen with models. Will people actually faint?
longpost---- open to find out the truth about asian idols in america
Is it because this ruins the illusion that some tense dating situation was going on. All these people knew and grew up together, behind the scenes they all talk and behave normally kpop idols only act antisocial for the cameras and the fans. The only awkwardness that exists is the kind they make up while they are company slaves. The minute they are free they are like regular people. This is why I always push the Kji is secretly dating an ig model or something because like in people's mind it's impossible but realistically he's gone to so many events and has met so many celebs that people forget he knows.
Sadly the realistic side of the korean entertainment host club industry is ain't nobody wants to see it, even if it's like common sense that's what most dudes are into, doesn't matter.
This is why its so annoying when people keep on with those same company made ships for so long. Like they clearly know other people even though they refuse to say it, they do. Like social media is where celebs play in public, they rarely address anyone if they don't know them in some type of way.
After going to the same events people in the same circle have followed him on instagram. Like it's so funny how people can't put two and two together but can tell you a bunch of scripted company nonsense some poor intern got paid 25 cents an hour to write.
Most personalities, friendships and personal info told by the company about an idol is FAKE. They sign contracts to play characters for the company, many even change their legal names. What they like, their taste, their innocence level it's all scripted. They are real people who have emotions and make emotional connections just like anybody else. Language is a small barrier for humans and it always has been. Just because their english isn't at a native level that does not mean they can't have english speaking friends.
Kji and so many others are apart of so many other circles other than kpop and their groups.
Like celebs have very small private circles once one person is invited in then they get to know everybody else. Fenty offered him a contract forever ago, contacts like that don't just go away. Do people think just cause you don't see him publicly @'ing people that he doesn't use his instagram for other reasons, like be serious people have no idea who he talks to, they just assume he lives in an isolated shy baby doll world and he doesn't.
Kai literally refused for years to start an instagram and staff forced him to do one for promotion and he immediately deleted it. Asap rocky asked him for his insta once, one time! and he was right on it.
Public account. He'd been had a private one tho. And then he talked about it publicly which he did not have to do, but he wanted to.
Jennie alone is bff's with like 5 people that are always with the kardashians and several rappers. They all get invited to events with celebs if they have brand deals s.m just rarely posts it, so it's like it doesn't happen. People also assume they can't speak english and just stand in the corner which in most cases is not true, every korean person learns english in school. If they went to school and graduated they understand at least basic level english.
She is also close friends with Dua Lipa and has been for years. And Dua had Kai rep her collab in 2022
It was an extremely private party and there's only a few photos, of course he didn't post any. That's just how s.m is they will fly someone to an event and there's no evidence of them being their unless the media and fans decide to promote it. They do the bare minimum which is usually nothing.
Back to Jennithea who is usually very busy with her socializing has so many Kdash connections it's insane. Along with various music connections, I would have to make a seperate post.
On top of going to their halloween party a few years ago, like they all know one another outside of just one and done events. Hollywood is very small. What people think super m was doing in hollywood for a week, staring at the wall? Kai was in LA even before that for personal reasons.
Arden Cho even went to one of Exo's last concerts in 2023, but did s.m put that in any social media posts or post a video publicly so it could get attention?
She's apparently a supporter, would probably love to do something to bridge the Korean and American Gap, but no they only wait until a big American label tells them to do something, they don't want to make proper connections or show off any ties to anything western if they can avoid it
Arden is an amazing actress, I can imagine what they could do if they showed more love and support to their Korean American Hollywood community publicly, all the fun things they could accomplish. It could really ease the gap between just feeling like they need to speak english and completely conform to America's standards. Imagine a reality show where they go visit Korea town and meet with community leaders. It's just sad, they are so focused with their fake artificial image they can't grow.
The literal only difference is some tell the truth and others hide is due to marketing, YG leverages appearances with celebs but S.M hides it because it does not fit their persona. When people leave S.m magically they stop caring about the stupid politics which doesn't help them anyway.
They all know other celebs, they talk, they go to parties, they hookup, they breakup etc etc etc. People are so ridiculous thinking the infantile baby thing is real, it's a complete act for most of them. Also most of the kdash clique know justin who's friendly with everybody.
Literally everybody
And Justin's bff knows kpop idols at least one,
and she knows Momo who knows
and wasn't Conan in Korea and literally went to the s.m building and got shown around by Key
Aw, look at Key trying to get Conan into an innocent halfu Japanese boy into a slave contract how sweet!!!
90 percent sure they just took his dna to make more nct clones....
anyway
Like these people be clicked up. It isn't like after the cameras are done rolling they all never see one another again. The padding squad is such a joke, people actually believe those are his only friends it's so sad. That's a company marketing tool to get people to watch their god awful variety and reality shows they made for all of them. Why else where they always on kbs saying omg we don't know anyone else, we only are friends with our group members, company staff and a few tiny bit of people and then we go back in our company boxes until it's time to film the next comeback, like get real.
I make stuff like this cause at first I thought nobody knew, but in reality nobody really wants to talk about it which leads to others who don't research on their own completely lost cause how can they piece old info with new info, plus all the fake stuff that's online.
In conclusion stop being closed minded and stop infantilizing asian people. Good day. In the future if I reference a kpop person and connect them to an american celeb it's much more possible than you think. That's why I was so confused why people talked about Jb like kji would hate him or something.
Like really, "listens to explicit young thug and bryson tiller songs on full blast in public Kim Jongin" would hate bizzle team lightskin for the win Justin Bieber? Are you sure?
They couldn't possibly know one another.....are you sure? Kji and Hailey have been at the same events countless times and had the same sponsorships. The worlds that could never connect before because oh no, kpop idols are too lowly, the worlds are connected. They are compete for and get the same opportunities now.
Hollywood is extremely small as I just showed, and it's not hard to get in touch with instagram. Plus half these people go to the same parties, so I'm really not getting how it's so impossible? Like I'm sorry if a grown man says a year before that he wants to get a meaningful tattoo but is too scared of the pain, then a year later gets temporary tattoo's and puts the same exact tattoo and similar tattoos as another dude he used to look up to, and it's in the same place and he shows it off with pride both onstage and shoves it in the camera after the concert on ig live.
This was after he did a super long live talking about his childhood, and how much he wanted to learn english and visit america.
The sad part is how this is available for people to find, yet instead people would rather pretend you're crazy for mentioning things people would rather not talk about.
Then a couple years later does the same title track on his album as the other dude on the same year months apart. And yes on knowing bro's he said he was very much aware of Justin's song. He even said what month it came out. Like if he is so whatever about him why keep up with the exact month? Then in the behind the scenes for the peaches music video they were playing Stay by Kid Laori and JB. Which was a collab they did later in that 2021.
There's so much there but people so small minded and ignorant. Like the bullying random celebs cause it's fun atm and everyone is dogpiling on them is so lame. Especially if its getting in the way of you making clear as day connections. People so blinded by hate they can't see anything else.
The reason it makes me so mad, isn't cause people don't just buy into some random idea that I had, I didn't want this to be true, it's just I happened to be curious and dig and find that they most likely are friends or in the same circle. Sad how bp fans are supportive of their favorite artists having friends in other non kpop circles but some just bully and laugh at the idea. It's very racist and isolationist and very sad. Imagine how they would feel separating themselves from everyone to keep fans happy. Sadly even more people keep feeding into this idea making it more popular. They are grown people, keeping them from enjoying life and meeting people is only going to make them resent and HATE their jobs, fans and company.
Jb actually is surprisingly very nice, and has lots of friends in and out of america, the only reason I can think why cl or others would be comfortable posting or talking about him but a male idol wouldn't is because of those stupid clauses where they have to always be perfect and around other perfect people. They turn down many collabs for that reason. Exo didn't go to Coachella literally for that reason. If they were caught looking at a model or another artist with heart eyes, their fans would go insane, but not really they would just catch temper tantrums online cause they aren't behaving like a doll.
Anyway I look forward for more of the veil dropping, this separation stuff is so dumb, no grown adults should have to hide knowing one another for fear of scolding. A major wakeup call is needed. They aren't cartoon characters they are flesh and blood. A fan or an artist is not God. They are people. They are equal. They can't tell you what to do and you can't tell them what to do either.
Like if they don't know one another then that's just plain weird I'm sorry.
even better what if they want to publicly date? What if they want to go on insta live with their partner, what if they want to discuss their crush on the internet. What if they want to take photos in the club with their partner or crush and post it what about that? This don't ask don't tell policy is equally unhealthy. It's normal to be curious about someone's love life but it's not normal for them to loose their career over dating someone. Maybe other things need to be confronted like why groups need to be best friends for people to like their music.
everyone repeat after me: “idol relationships are not any of my business and i do not need to know whether they’re in a relationship or not bc that is their personal life and they are a real living human being just like i am and it is not my place to invade their privacy or demand to know their private lives when they sacrifice enough of their privacy just by being an idol”
Why being a company stan for a unorganized company makes no sense.
A few days ago I saw comments on x about kai's new comeback and people being excited and shaming others for thinking he could of used like a few weeks off maybe. I'm neither here nor there, personally I don't think it's a good idea how they overpromote him for no reason, cause a successful over promotion is like with the bp girls. A show, a movie plus a concert or something. That's a good type of overpromotion, not sleeping to do a hour live WHILE YOU'RE CLEARLY SICK. Sniffling and covering a cough the whole time like what was the reason. He's not a newbie, and saying he'll work like an animal, like a slavedrive animal, like that's cute to you? I already said he was the group's workhorse and it's true but it wasn't a compliment, he literally works to the bone for that group. That's a majority of his life for a boyband, a boybrand.
He has an amazing work ethic, but he's doing it at the wrong company, I can see doing that for a nice company but its sm even he knows it's crappy. They aren't even in their afterglow phase their being shuffled out by the entertainment industry slowly but surely. So him breaking his back for that isn't loyalty it's silly.
"I guess it looks like overwork to you"
Argh company fans are so annoying it's clear when they work for the company cause who else would say something so foolish. He already says he's a workaholic, he already said he gets sick at times. He's grown he can do whatever he wants but don't say people don't know what hard work is if they think hey maybe someone working a job for almost 2 years straight and doing basic training just might need five minutes to get himself together. Like at least mentally there's nothing wrong with someone getting themselves together as a person then going back to doing their other job, it's like a basic human right. That's my problem with sm unpaid employee's they do not understand that they do not care about these people. The little bit of attention they give them is fleeting, they are basically working to pay for their future replacements, after all this is over. When the show is done they are still a person who has to live with the state of their body, THEIR BODY. Not your body or a fanclub's body, their own vessel.
Nobody want to end up disabled or hurt because of a few fleeting years of fame, it's a humanistic thing to be like dang hopefully this person can heal and see a therapist before going into the spotlight again. Cause guess what if anything happens people can and will just move on. But there's nothing the person can do about it.
I would much rather someone be in a healthy state making art than a terrible one.
I like art, I love it but someone having ...issues and then putting their career first especially when the money isn't absolutely a necessity. It's ridiculous, what will anyone do if the person gets sick, if their body turns on them, nothing, not a damn thing. I'll write about the album, but I'll do it in my own way. I refuse to just pretend everything is peachy keen cause that just isn't me. I really don't get how people can't be mature about this type of thing, like yes, he's a good artist and his work is interesting. But the way he and his company is going about it is lazy and unorganized, and it's leading him to do multiple schedules in the same day for quite literally no reason at all. He did the same thing when he was about to leave for the military. The scheduling quite literally doesn't make sense.
For example, why wait until late at night to die his hair right after a live, what's the point of that, if he could of easily just did it in the morning. Even when they were overlapping filming and he was dying his hair and he was going back and forth between bleaching and dying it on the same day, to do different shoots. It was confusing cause it's clear he was literally damaging his hair, but that's more the fault of the s.m stylist from what I understand some had to take certification tests multiple times because they kept failing, and some may simply just be former s.m staff members who were encouraged to become stylists. I've never seen a liscenced stylist do what these people do. Even in the hood, they would of gotten their verification revoked and they'd of been reported. Some s.m artists have serious scalp damage and they even complain about it, but the stylist threw them under the bus and he said its basically his clients fault that their hair is damaged because they wanted lots of colors.
I have never EVER heard a stylist blame a customer for them doing a bad dye job, there are people who change hair colors every week and that do not suffer from that.
I never have issues with staff, while watching shows like bad girls club and other reality shows I was shocked that the stylists were not only professional, but always did such a good job on sudden dyes, alternating hairstyles to give the scalp a break and fixing random issues. S.m cannot have trained these people. Personally, that person who's the main stylist he ...something about him, I noticed so many things, but like the most important thing is the hair wtf are you doing to these people's hair. That is like messing up someone's skin, are you crazy? If someone has a damaged scalp that can be messed up for life. I will probably personally make a detailed analysis, on the awful nature of hair care in the south korean pop industry. If most weren't in trainee debt they would of sued these people. It holds a special place in my heart because I know how painful it is for something traumatic to happen to your hair. It's something people rarely think about, but that can harm people's health and self esteem. A professional has to be held to higher standards and to be so lazy about the thin layer of skin that is connected to someone's brain is crazy.
But in s.m it's clear they refuse to take accountability no matter what the issue. Also as the stylist it's there job to make the call about what is best for the client, sometimes wigs are necessary. Lace fronts exist, extensions exist, but the common scalp damage in the kpop industry is not necessary. It's do to schedules piled on top of one another that aren't properly organized.
It's there is a way to take care of hair under stress they just do not know how to do it. It's really sad and I think it could be a whole talking piece just by itself, it's insane to do this to people. I want to reitirate that there are people who have been able to keep their hair dyed for long periods of time and it's not badly damaged, or they have terrible scalp issues. In kpop not only is it not an issue, but it's almost like a joke. With even these stylists saying at least they still have hair and they should be bald.
Do these people even go to a proper school? No bleaching doesn't make you bald, but it does weaken your folicles, what's happening is they are putting little to no protection at all on these people's hair. They quickly bleach it and then quickly put various dyes on it.
I go into so much detail, because this is just one instance of how they want to rush rush rush. Nothing is given anytime. They quickly need the hair to change, because "hurry we just did this live, and now we need to film a video online and then we will change it again cause it has to be a secret"
Are they seven years old? Nobody cares about a stupid hair color that much to rush and sneak around like that, especially if the person could literally lose their hair. It's so childish and goofy.
They rush on everything which is why they always have a subpar result. Kji was disappointed with peaches, and I didn't want to say anything or be rude, but it's because although they had 2 years it was still rushed. How does something you work on for two years become rushed?
Filming for one music video can definitely be about a week, but for s.m it seems like a day. Even exo growl was one take and for what. Could they not do it again, they even have kji dropping his hat and picking it back up, like why?
That isn't normal, but do you know why they do that? The only reason I can think of is that they don't want to pay their staff for multiple days at a time so it's easier to pay them for one day's of very busy work than paying them for multiple days of a regular work schedule. That is, I assume why they were filming Mhmm in the cold middle of the night in a garage, instead of waiting until there was better weather conditioning.
The whole company is very disorganized, I have many issues with how they do many thing, but the sole root of the problem is that they don't have a proper organization system in place to help put schedules in a proper order. This is why they have frequent visa troubles, and leaking hair dye during concerts, and members confused about recent choreography changes while on stage.
I think a few groups have a good organized and loyal team, and some groups have teams straight from the pits of hell. Why that is probably varies, but exo has one of the worst teams out there. The amount of things I've read is almost comedic. The team was always a mess, from the managers from the stylist. A huge problem is getting a huge team to match having 12 members, the only issues is they no longer have 12 members, why do they still have a huge team. That leads to multiple people doing the same job that one person can do.
The current mode of promotion seems to be blitzkrieg style, just have a bunch of random stuff happen to get fans talking and then promote something, come out with an album whatever. The thing is behind that is hiding a grueling schedule of work where the job is never ending. There's always something. Go to this concert late at night even if you're in the f#cking military and have a tiny window of a break, it'll go viral and we can use that as leverage for more investments.
But when they are not in the military and have an empty schedule they can't even manage a youtube properly. They deleted most of the footage kji recorded. So instead of just uploading a bunch of his videos he wanted to be on his youtube, oh no just go ghost and then we can have staff stalk you everywhere so fans can go crazy over it cause they have nothing else to pay attention to. These people really get on my nerves, they steal everything from japan except the actual good ideals.
Idol culture is DEAD,
just promote them like normal celebrities and public figures, let them travel, stop cultivating everything and scripting everything they do. It's lame. Just let them be themselves and film content when they feel like it instead of keeping them hidden until it's time to sell something. This is common sense or should be, but who wants to buy something from someone they know literally nothing about.
They are ghost for ages and then are overexposed when it's time to sell something. Like they can't change their business model even when it's clearly dying, s.m 3.0 is a complete failure and it's because the people doing their jobs aren't properly trained. Tons of people left and now a bunch of ai models are probably planning their schedules.
They didn't pay their staff so they lost so many of them who were actually useful,
I feel like avex may end up buying out their contract because s.m is clearly lost on what to do with them.
Even when it comes to sm towns. They don't even know who will show up, why are artists texting on bubble that they are confused on why their names are up their when they already said they weren't going. Was s.m going to lie and say an artist was going to be there, when they knew they weren't coming to get ticket sales up, only to then blame the artist for not showing up. Did they plan on doing the same thing with kji. Why do they keep baiting fans that they will have a full comeback when the members are not saying the same thing. Why did the members say on live that kji was going to be at the next smtown, but then on the poster he wasn't there. Now they are updating the list?
Why must they update the list when this should be planned out months in advanced. It isn't illegal to arrange for plans for work once you get out the military. They are trying to tease fans that he will be doing a solo concert, but refuse to confirm a solo concert why?
I believe it's because they plan on creating a ruckus where people hurry to buy tickets and they don't have time to plan, so they waste money on whatever they can find. Super m concert's were well organized, at least in comparison but that wasn't there money they were playing with it was Capital Records. So they do know how to do their jobs but only with the threat of a class action lawsuit.
I---
I knew it was super structured but I didn't think they probably literally had papers of exactly how much money the fan spent with people taking notes and giving tips like ...........................I need an HBO expose documentary on all of this. Kpop the corruption of love. I feel like at least in japan people know what it is it's pretty transparent but in korea there's a layer of feigned authenticity that's really dangerous.
13/14/15 year olds debuting in kpop IS a problem and i wish kpop stans would stop pretending it’s not thank u
Exo Kai: Due West
heavily opinionated semi long post
Inspired by a genius post I saw on twt iykyk, I didn't wanna bother them they seemed stressed.
topic: Is Kai promoting in English and doing Western promotion activities pandering for Western validation?
(because he clearly never pandered to anyone before ever in the history of ever...it never happened... seriously. I don't believe he knows what pandering is actually.)
Simple Fact: TECHNICALLY..yes
Question: Is that a bad thing?
Opinion: It depends
Clarification : By western do you mean American? And by pandering do you actually mean worshipping Eurocentricity and it's machine of capitalism? That is a slippery topic, technically most kpop idols, such as Kai, are already modeling for European brands and not Asian or African etc. Plus they have fans constantly brag about said sponsorships that they do. Plus South Koreans and far east asians are top consumers of european luxury brands
so anti colonialism is an odd arguement to stand behind with a kpop pfp but okay.
Opinion: Look, If you have a precise plan and goal for promoting in America, creating a better bond with foreign audiences, expressing creativity, working with more diverse creatives, and touring in multiple different states and/or countries, solidify the artist's place in the realm of popular music while having a more freeing time doing it... I don't get the problem with an artist like Kai promoting in America. It cannot intensify the issue of Kpop artists seeming like they are pandering to the euro-colonial powers, because it's already looking pretty bad tbh.
The real issue: Freedom. The reality is when someone dynamic, attractive, and full of life has freedom, obviously they are going to meet new people, make friends, and develop in personality. The real issue is whether fans who have had an artist as a cute little toy for years.
Are they ready to find out what his real personality is when he is given freedom. The reality is that despite dating clauses not technically existing after a few years post-debut, people do not actually expect them to talk about crushes, who they find attractive, or publicly state their attraction towards someone. Personally, I believe what K-pop fans expect, which is virtual silence except when being cute, charming, funny, or flirtatious and/or childlike asexual behavior, except if it is for audience consumption, this teeters on a slave owner mindset and is very gross. A person who calls themself a K-pop idol cannot publicly date like a regular artist.
I mean, they can, but not in a traditional way. Kai and Krystal technically dated for 2 years, and they couldn't mention one another's name publicly during that entire time.
They didn't even go near one another in public after it was revealed not even at smtown's. But at least people had a magazine shoot as proof they even knew one another.
Jennie and Kai weren't event at the same event since the dating scandal happened years ago, not an award show, or any other public event. If anything a dating scandal just means the person will enter a crackdown and be forced to be more present with fans to make up for what they lost.
It is extremely normalized in Korean culture that males and females try not to even make eye contact lest it be thought of that they did something.
For this reason it's incredibly easy for fans to say it is nonexistent. This is a pretty good summary of what happened.
The accepted narrative anyway. Sadly to combat the 'negative press' of dating publicly, fans go harder on the shipping, the overs#xualization, and the unfunny jokes to move the conversation away from their dating news. Taking the fandom further and further away from reality.
Yet, at the same time since people don't see 99 percent of the artist they obsess over's life and the entire 1 percent is scripted, they don't know how these people truly act or behave, or really anything about them. So to overcompensate other parts of their personality and minor things are overblown and hyperfocused on. Praise and worship take the place of actual critical thought.
Regardless of the opinion of whether it matters to every individual supporter or not, it still had actual effects on his career. To this day his support is stronger overseas. I believe this is in conjunction to the 2 dating scandals and his appearance. Which is a whole nother thing, but with this in mind a western audience, especially one that is less likely to bash for a simple dating scandal would be a smart choice.
To the people who have a don't ask don't tell policy when it comes to artists, but just don't want the artists to date publicly to protect them, what do they know, do they even look into the analysis how when properly leveraged a relationship could be good for business and not bad. I hesitate to believe fans whenever they say they don't care if their fave dates or not anyway. Like of course you don't care, because they will continue to play their role of a perfect idol content with fanservice.
I would say it's fine, but it really isn't, even in japan idol culture there is room for growth and evolution inside the mold. They gradually moved their idol culture over to the acting scene so now the youth are somewhat used to seeing public figures dating openly, it may be a surprise but I wouldn't classify it as a scandal.
Personally, I believe if they can push kpop idols towards acting and movies, then similar to japan it wouldn't become this crazy thing and artists can be young and married without it being a frenzy.
(p.s weloveyoukento) It's not exactly perfect but it is changing for the better.
In japan the mold is forever being molded and shifted to where it needs to be, whereas in kpop it seems to be stuck in stasis with the conveyer belt model continuing.
With the art clearly showing what fans deny, that each idol group is contained and perfected to the fans whims and desires.
Understandably people want privacy in relationships, but the privacy is mostly due to their careers being built on the whims of the fans.
To be fair all boy bands historically have done this. Whether that means wearing outfits that only teen girls like, or dancing uniformly to upbeat tunes for hours on end. It isn't just kpop that stretched people to the limit and covered up their originality.
Regardless of the location, race, or culture/ethnicity of said boy band this was all true, but in Kpop there is a specific desire to control the entire person as a product and as a human and this is something the fans are willing to ignore to recieve whatever fanservice they want.
Nobody cares who their local restaraunt owner or store employee dates, because they don't go to the store for them they go for the product, BUT in K-pop the artists are the product, the emotional relationship with fans is apart of the deal. Therefore they feel almost a sense of surrealness when thinking about them in a public relationship. Personally, I believe even western people struggle with having an odd fascination with who a person does or does not date, but again this is because people craft an image that makes it unbelivable if they go against it.
Whether it's a fake relationship or a real one, the point is that with either you would expect something like a conversation or a small mention during an interview, but typically Kpop stars are not allowed to do such a thing, ever. That is just how it is in K-pop. Whether the fans are native Korean or foreigner fans, much of the same behavior is expected. No one can say they have seen an artist's real personality. It isn't possible. Nearly everything is scripted.
In some cases, like Taemin's, they didn't even know their actual personalities.
They can go out and do things for fun, but it is expected that whatever they do not be noticeable to fans. Everything is expected to be hidden or undercover to be respectful of the fans. Because the artists are firstly marketed as boyfriends and girlfriends for the fans. Regardless of how it is spun, this is the marketing promotion; otherwise, suggestive music videos wouldn't really be necessary, nor would high-five events of ...fansigns.
I don't want to act like K-pop invented this.
It did not
or pretend that it is even the most extreme version of marketing love to strangers out of an exotic curiosity;
because it isn't. This has been happening for ages, but I will say that kpop has this unique hold where evolution doesn't exist. Since the 1990s I think kpop has gone backwards, before it was normal for idols girlfriends to leave the performance venues with them.
Now if a girlfriend posts something on her social that even implies they are together it is cause for fans to burn merch and say rude and innapropriate things online out of vendicated anger.
Even having a boyfriend or close male friend can invoke the ire of fans who have crafted an idol's desires to their imaginations, even if they themselves have no interest in them.
So if they do something unexpected like date a man, even though they "hate men" people have full blown meltdowns and delete their accounts out of embarrassment.
I've seen it happen to so many people. They refuse to accept a possibility and when it happens they loose it.
I know that people have sensitivities about Kpop people becoming more free, and honestly I think it's for the best. I do not think people want the ownership that fans feel to grow even more. They need more open and honest interviews, less objectfication and more laying out the facts instead of fans being so bored they hyperfixate on fake gossip to the point of it being more real than reality.
But no seriously all jokes aside, please somebody explain to Kai what pandering to an audience means. Doing things specifically to appeal to others whims and desires that you as a grown adult person probably don't want to do, but you must because of dinero, guap or cash money. Cause clearly he is just a giant stuffed animal and he has no ideal how it works, how anything at all works actually, he just dresses like this on stage because..I mean like what else would he wear, duh! How could he be expected to pander to the euro-colonial-objectifying axis of evil...
He's like..never even done that before....
Why S.M. didn't sabotage EXO... at least not how you think
S.m. did not sabotage Exo. They don't sabotage any of their groups. At least not how people think they do. Sure, from the fans and artists perspectives, I definitely think they may feel like that is the case, but we don't read their contracts. Heck, they probably didn't even read their contracts. Somebody can only screw you over if you let them.
It is possible to bargain and refuse to sign a contract if you don't want to. Multiple artists have left S.M. Entertainment and decided not to renew their contracts, but Exo, 8 members of Exo, did. They decided to stay in a contract locked tight with S.M. to stay in the group Exo.
Many say they had to; they had no choice, but they did. They could have all left together. There is no excuse for why they didn't. Because of the redraft of Korean entertainment laws to combat the exact thing that CBX sued for, the Korean government gave groups like Exo an out.
Which is why I knew they could not win their lawsuit, because it is very clear. It does protect the artists but it also protects the company. If you choose to resign odds are you will not win a lawsuit. The new law is a safety vest. If you throw it away you cannot cry foul.
There are many very helpful videos about this law that exist online. Groups can leave together with all their music and their name, but only if they leave together. Most likely what happened was some wanted to leave and some wanted to stay. It is quite clear who was on those two different sides.
The law is very specific that the thing is with this situation ALL the members must leave together if they want their name and music.
That right there would be, or should be, enough to stop this false claiming of S.M. mistreating Exo. Which, honestly, is kind of comical in 2024, the difference of the meaning of that word. Actual groups are abused by their agencies, and people think a company not making a group as famous as they could be is mistreatment.
It's not. And hey, if it was, and I'll give it to you, maybe that is a crappy thing to do, to block offers and say, Nah, we're not going to make you more famous but...
They could have left; they all had the free will to leave.
Though that would mean no more S.M. promotions, no more S.M. paying for everything, and no more benefits. Do I really have to go to the s.m. website and show you all the benefits they give to their employees? I mean, it's pretty nice. Sadly, we live in a world of comparison. People are desperate to find some comparison between the haves and the have-nots. Maybe if these millionaires aren't getting the highest pay in the company, then they deserve people to rally for them.
It's like a huge victim off--who is the least privileged rich person.
it's giving
But it's not even as simple as that. S.m invests a lot of money into each artist. They made them famous, they built them up, they got them sponsorships and acting jobs, and like it or not, they got them a fandom too. From S.M.'s perspective, they made the group. I mean, fans are shallow, and they want content and fan service, which is valid. I mean, if you like a show, sure you want more seasons, but these are real people. It takes millions to get these guys a reality show, wearing fancy clothes, with makeup artists and a camera crew with a rented-out villa. On top of feeding everyone, staff, managers, producers and stylists.
Meanwhile, some groups have personal YouTube channels just hanging out. Like the comparison is not valid. Like yes, they are so oppressed they have to spend tons of money giving their fans a fancy reality show to watch and heavily scripted and edited YouTube sketches.
S.m truly hates their guts so much they let them rag on them in public and on bubble and still buy them birthday cakes lmao.
I mean, think about that: Who needs all that to hang out with their friends? People bend over backwards to make it seem like S.M. is sabotaging them with no content... like it's not hard to hang out and film it. It's not S.M.'s fault they need a script or be at a concert in order to have chemistry. Kai said himself it took him a long time to get a youtube channel because he had to organize and pay for everything. It's expensive to do what they want to do. Look perfect, have great editing and keep their image fancy.
There are tons of issues in Kpop and s.m ent but complaining about the most pointless things takes validity away from the argument.
"But ...they cancelled youtube red reality show/ they said no to cochella" allegedly..
Do ya'll understand that those are avenue's that can't be controlled. Look at what happened to those poor girls who went to that event and got trashed for weeks. Anything can happen and it's not an asian event. Exo has had bad performances in the past, mess ups, bad notes, if that happened in a crowd full of foreigners who may not even be into kpop; they aren't women who can just laugh it off cause they look like instagram models, that would be humiliating. People are way meaner to men on the internet.
Do I need to bring back the last time S.m and fans tried to push exo performing at a western event, a very traditional group of people opposed it heavily citing it was an american event and began picking the group apart. Gender and race are a huge issue companies are hesistant how they bring a group to the west. They purposely promoted super m differently to prevent a bad reaction from certain groups of people. They wore less makeup, did less overt fanservice and made sure they promoted them more masculine. They always referred to one another as brother. They don't want to put their groups in a bad spot and I don't blame them.
Did people ever think that the group may not of been the best group to perform at that type of event. They have a lot of members and cochella isn't known for focusing on dancing. Some members don't even have lines in most songs, they would just be standing there. They aren't blackpink or 2ne1 with only four members who equally share lines.
I don't remember other large groups crying cause they weren't invited to cochella, because every market is different. Rappers, bands and female performers do better at cochella than dudes and there's nothing wrong with that.
How can 9 people sing equally at a musical event?
"Youtube offered them a show why didn't s.m take it"
With Youtube red...can exo be as authentic as the documentary may require? Can they have a scene with serious or contraversial stuff like hybe is doing and their fans be okay with that? Maybe that wasn't a risk they were willing to take. They have a completely different promotion style than other companies. The fans do not know these people. What if the members had to show their real authentic personalities? Would fans even be interested in that? It could destroy the fourth wall s.m built up for them. Fans would rather ignore issues just like the lawsuit, they plug their ears and cover their eyes, even when it was cbx who tried to call attention to it. They were trying to say they had an issue but fans just wanted more fluffy content and were upset the lawsuit messed it up for them. So could the fandom take a documentary where problematic stuff might be filmed? The fans themselves might of boycotted youtube.
They would of been like:
"How dare they put the boys in a bad light. S.m should have protected them"
The members are known for saying stuff that got them in trouble with foreign american fandoms. What if it caused more trouble than it was worth?
That's how companies have to think.
I understand that there are many things which do need to be talked about concerning exo, s.m and kpop but the reality is that be honest most do not want to have those conversations. How many injuries and people passing out had fans rolling their eyes saying "again?"
or "screw s.m"
what does that do?
People don't even know how to boycott because they are so addicted to their faves being top sellers and milking their achievements. How can people say they don't care when they talk about exo's awards like they earned them themselves. The only award a fan should be proud of is a grammy because there's a council of critics who are unbias not a bunch of crazy fans.
When people let go of their ego then change will happen until then the companies will continue to do whatever they want. Having underage children dancing in a basement learning how to attract fans is an issue. Millionaires getting less money than they thought they could get is not.
Like, yes, but how old do you think the members of popular groups were when they joined the company, though?
13/14/15 year olds debuting in kpop IS a problem and i wish kpop stans would stop pretending it’s not thank u
brown skinned boy
also another commentary on the colorism and dualism in fujoshi culture. Like they need a darker melanated male to play the masculine that's all that matters. Who that is does not matter. Whatever they are going through doesn't matter. Finding out the roughest years in kji's life is when he was shipped the heaviest say everything. A masculine dark skinned athletic male in fandom circles gets passed around continuously in shipping. CONTINUOUSLY and like no. And then if one member says something colorist or rude or is just plain mean due to either people being weird, trying to make a joke or whatever, it's laughed off and normalized. It's bad enough it happens in korea. To the extent I really don't believe people understand, like it's really bad, worse than pann comments on koreaboo let on. It's inhumane the socially acceptable comments dark skinned koreans get, the treatment. The cameras show only a fraction. Then after all that poor treatment s.m changed his makeup and styling and now he's getting dehumanized via his proximity to femininity, and his body is being objectified like ten times more. It's on the same level people talk about female s symbols and they get dogged out pretty bad. Cause now his skin is lighter and more appealing to the eurocentric eye. Like it's messed up. Seriously. It's okay to say someone looks good but you'd think there'd be a little respect to go along with that for people who allegedly care about human rights and women's issues so much. It reeks of internalized misogyny. The rude comments about his body and his effeminate behavior. Also I'm not pro pity, but maybe if people see this is a problem maybe they can reflect. Nobody wants to live in a boring world, but there is levels to how terrible people can be to one another. I hope in the future we can be better and do better for one another.
shipping commentary
Man I feel bad for people once they are out of the company and don't have to pretend to be close anymore. It's gonna be a sad sad day in delusional hell.
Idols outside of kpop filming time being asked about their ship :
I love healthy male bonding it's great, but people take it way too far. Even if they aren't straight, they could easily still be in a relationship with another person, what is the obsession that people in kpop only date their coworkers? Is s.m a plantation? Can they not drive? Catch a flight? Facetime? This is exactly how some shippers missed harry had been dating loads of people while millions were convinced he was dating his band member. It's not high school, they don't live in a dorm, they aren't middle schoolers. They have lives outside of kpop. They know other people. Everyone only clings onto the ships s.m shoves in their face is because it gives them peace. It's a huge world, half of them aren't introverts, they aren't shy, they live full lives that you and nobody else is privy to. Ships are just a comfort so fans think they know who they are with and what they are doing. But I promise you do not. And I don't even hate friendshipping it's fine, enjoy fandom stuff. I really don't mind it, the content isn't innately evil, but it's the mindset it creates, especially when you bring babyfied thinking into serious conversations. Discussing somebody's racist colorist ass comments aren't coming for a ship, and using a ship to shield someone from criticism is disgusting, that's the real truth everybody conveinently leaves out. And if the response is oh well they said this or did that, another time, it's like the point is completely missed. It's not about hiding nobody else's shit it's about acknowledging all of it and not pretending none of it matters.They use the ships to hide shady stuff that was said and done and it's sick.
People think everybody is dumb and just know the basic stuff. Some people know alot. I don't care, but pretending that a lot of stuff never happened, and then continuing to bully the person who was picked on cause now everyone is just shipping and its all fluffy and cute..it gets on my nerves. And I do not like the idea of newbies who know nothing just accepting this cuteness while the dinosaurs are steady burying everything they can. Especially the ones who make videos and find clips to craft a better narrative. Really gross. Everyone can do much better. We don't have to live in the past, but we don't have to lie about it either.
kpop idols as soon as they get out of the military
Did nct ever make sense financially:
But I want to explain why though
Nct was started as a group with infinite members. The goal was to have a male akb48
That being said the financial success of akb48 depended on the members doing various activities OUTSIDE of the group with an emphasis on practical safe and relatively inexpensive projects= consistent returns on investment.
Also the group's success depended on the group being well, actually successful.
S.m's marketing strategy is the opposite. The group is successful just by virtue of existing, they will get million invested in them regardless.
The group at least was thought of since the early 2010s when most of their members join. We know the group did not have a name and was simply a large collection of male trainee's. The group was basically a basket to keep their trainee's inside of. Don't worry if you do not make it into xyz group you can go to Nct.
Johnny was originally going to be a member of exo and was later placed in Nct, not the first round but in a later unit nct U.
It's actually very odd the thought and financial process of nct. Because unlike with akb48 it was not the direct intention to have the members do other projects and have seperate careers. It is the method of s.m to have people in groups for a majority of their career and then they can do other things. Unless you are lucky.
Also akb48 built up over time. It is a very old group, whereas nct gained lots of members quickly and the direction wasn't always decided or clear.
Like Akb48, Nct or SRB14 had a more direct and connected with the public image. They were not exo who were meant to be distant to create intrigue. They all had a pretty nice and approachable personality.
"AKB48 was founded as "idols you can meet".[4]Japanese idols are entertainers/performers who appeal directly to fans for support. Close interactions between fans and idols allow idols to cultivate and maintain loyal fan followings."
You won't remember Exo having a group youtube channel with weekly vlogs or having so many varieties even though they were a smaller group. Each group has a specialized team and marketing style.
AKB48 like nct had specialized teams as well
"According to former member Misaki Iwasa, each team has its own theme. Team A represents freedom; Team B is idol-like, with cute costumes, and Team K has a strong, powerful image"
AKB48 was very successful and had their own theater which would cut down on costs. The concepts were also more down to earth, they are more a performance troupe than an idol group. The focus is on entertaining the fans
Nct being a boy group inside of the kpop industry had a lot of competition and also they didn't have much of a pull besides having lots of members. They still had to travel and book venues and sellout stadiums to break even. Because boy bands are made to impress and show out. Of course lots of money is spent on expensive music videos, hotels, lots of staff, appearances at awards shows, top fashion for each member. Which is fine for a small group, but when the members keep growing and growing every year eventually getting into double digits; almost half the size of AKB48 in almost 1/3rd the amount of time, how is that sustainable?
It's not.
Simply put the more employees a company gains the more they spend paying their employees. If NCT is a company and the staff and members are the employees, then almost every year their costs increased. Even when they had good years, it was offset by the fact that their money would be paying for another unit. This is why s.m ent went so long without any other groups. And when they finally made a new group they took members already in NCT.
Add in the fact that there are some artists getting paid and sitting on the bench. They cannot afford to add them into a project or promote them. They can only bet on people they know will bring in money.
If they had brand new people that would be adding more and more people to the payroll, which at this point they likely can't afford. They would need a new project with already existing employees and have them double their workload--since they are the main ones bringing in money anyway, recycle in-house music and producers, and garner outside forces investing money on this dumpster fire to create something that would be profitable for the company. Send them to America so you can rack up the prices on tickets and merch cause Koreans sure won't go for this.
And...........that's how you get super m
okay now I'm done.
Also one more thing, the artists are not making money off the music, they make money other ways.
Spotify also takes a lot from the artists
Please, please stop streaming (too much music fries your brain) and bulk buying(is awful for the environment). The music industry has been dead, these artists are literal slaves. Good day.
The Exo critique/ comparison continues more of a kpop/ western cultural overview though
for educational purposes only of course. So many links. I never did this if it doesn't work I'll just do something else..
I believe a lot of my issues with exo and struggling to appreciate their discography like I do other groups I listened to was the lack of personal touch as I once said. I don't believe I'm being negative or whatever but at this point you literally can't even give your opinion without being called weird Korean slang terms by ironically non korean people..who don't usually speak korean..super weird. I just am tired of it. I feel like there's worse things in the world than someone giving their honest opinion but understandable some people feel extremely attached to bands and shows. Which I kind of get somewhat. But like I always do I will try to give as much detail as possible it's my thing on here. Weird opinions central. None of my friends ever//ever ever really wanted to discuss kpop on a deeper level. I was going mad not being able to express myself to anyone cause nobody knows it that deeply. That sucks so for a lot of people it's a stress reliver and it's aesthetic. I completely understand. But to me there's a million people that give kpop praise, or even rude unhinged hate. I'm not that type of person. I try and be as honest as possible and then sometimes I make a funny. This is more for people who like history than people who like kpop. But some people who like kpop like history, theories and deep diving. So I just tag relevant things and if you don't like reading that much..you..don't have to..which is kinda obvious. Also if opinions not harming anyone makes you mad, that's fine, but just don't..freak out. Or do. Idk, it's a free world, but the main reason I talk so much is because I care. I want to live in a world where everyone can express themselves respectfully and intently. That will only happen if we start speaking on things nobody wants to speak on. I try and only talk about confirmed stuff that's free real estate on the internet. So it's not a just trust me bro situation. This is stuff anybody can dig into and if it's my opinion I will make that clear.
If I never branched out and read/watched random documentaries etc I wouldn't know any of this stuff either. Many people spend most of their time scrolling may as well teach something while I'm on here.
WARNING I TALK A LOT..so you already know before I keep going
To me I like to stretch back to this infamous quote because it ties in with what I was talking about with the motown inspirations and such
A Motown alum with many
Grammy's and a history with Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson to me was Lee Soo man's main inspirations for what he wants his S.m artists to be. The entire kpop industry is built off of that model. In the U.S the inspiration is great but I believe in Korea it's what the foundation is built off of almost entirely.
The want to create someone beyond a human being, with a devout fanbase and global success. The indie music industry is barely thought of or given much attention, the rap industry takes a backseat and the idol culture reins supreme.
But why?
I believe many misunderstand that although Micheal Jackson is the name used he himself is used as a stand in for the African American race.
The true inspiration is African American culture itself, the jazz, the rhythm and blues, the hip hop, popping and locking, B-boying. But nobody wants to say all that, it isn't Michael Jackson but he is a representative of the African American population so of course they use his name, because that's what everybody says.
Lsm's first artist was in fact a hip hop star, the large majority of 90s idols were reflections of artists like boys II men, who is a big blueprint for the white American boy band and later the K-pop boy band
They were clearly and unapologetically black people. The market allowed for glitz and glam and also for performers who were toned down.
With K-pop the market is extremely geared towards the Michael Jackson type of performance extremely theatrical and to this day that's where most of the focus is the performance and not really the vocals.
Lsm's first artist had a different experience than other k-pop idols later would. In the begining things were a bit more loose, still heavily western inspired but relaxed
To understand the way kpop is now you have to understand it's roots, not the superficial this song sounds like these other song, NO, the actual roots of how this industry even exists.
I could go into what was going on in America at the time while all this was happening but I might do a whole seperate thing on that. The asian american experience during the 80s and 90s had more to do with assimilating into white culture, while trying to distance itself from black culture almost entirely.
Meanwhile in Korea, things where changing in the opposite direction.
Now, stick with me, taking all of this into account looking at Exo's trainee process which for some members was right when the hip hop industry was at it's height/also the white boy singing black music craze was also very popular. From a business standpoint of course they want to promote a group that's hip hop inspired. After the incident with Hyun-jin it's clear they may have wanted to distance themself from the urban scene and cater to different audiences.
When Exo debuted they did have that style people were used to from edm, hard base, edm, electronic, not necessarily urban by any means. But they would have a turn in genre for their first full album which featured their first hip hop single Growl.
I consider it old school hip hop, but this is what Rolling Stone said about it
the original sounds like something that could easily be a Corbin Bleu song or something or a very young Chris Brown. This would be one of S.m's first real step back into the urban market with Exo, but it wouldn't be the last
They went full urban with Call Me Baby
and remade this demo to a more tame tune. I believe this is the first but not last sample of a black girlgroup they would use. This song has a sort of sample/reference with the 'say my name' which I believe is still dantaethekid's vocals. This using of the demo's singers vocals and remixing it was used one other time. But it's a blend. If you aren't aware of blending vocals, it's a smooth trick to use the original artist vocals and the new artists vocals to get something that sound like normal to the listener, but when you hear the singer sing it acapella something is missing.
S.m paid for all of this, so it's not stolen. That's not what this is about, it's more of a artistic overview and a behind of what went into creating Exo's themes, concepts and what made their music 'special'.
I had no idea Marz was the person who leaked a lot of the original versions, I knew about the older ones but hearing the demo's and now knowing a bit about the music industry...like hearing the original versions help so so much. Good on him.
I honestly thought black people were capping when they talked about what was going on in Kpop. Because, isn't black culture just uesd by everybody? Like they listen to music and their brain makes something similar. That's what I thought was happening...only partially. There is a whole world of information I didn't know about and I thought I knew a lot.
Now that the basis is out of the way, back to the creative process. I believe an integral part of music lasting has to be the emotional connection one has with the music. If an artist's music catalogue was taken away could they start over, if they didn't have songs made for them could they craft their own, or at least try? In a group that's easier, because members can rely on each other.
Using modern western examples, Justin Bieber certainly started out like many artists, he was handed exactly what he was going to sing. He had very little if any connection to his music at all.
Scooter Braun a former party organizer and the opposite of Lee soo man had connections that helped his young client get started in the music industry
unlike in Korea where many groups may never collab with another artist in their entire career. The west survives off of collabs and hit singles. It's a different system. Justin was helped by a Ludacris feature that gave his sound some validity. It helped him not seem like just a nerdy little kid singing about love.
He did not start off with hip hop and it took years before he developed into a sound he and his voice was comfortable with
But wait..there's another part we're missing. Justin wasn't a songwriter but he was a musician. Let me explain
He was not a composer yet, but he wasn't dead weight, he could play any instrument in a band and sing acapella at random. He even did so in one of his first youtube video's.
there's a lot and you can only put so many links on here but this is one of his busking performances
A common misconception when lumping all artists togther is saying they are all untalented or the label helped them sound like this or that. Anyone can get singing lessons, but if this kind of talent could just be put into anybody to sing like this acapella every parent in hollywood would be doing it. Every performer, disney kid would sound exactly like this. Justin was helped by the fact that he didn't need tremendous work on his voice. Only to maintain when he began touring and learning proper technique.
Sm vocal trainer Yoo Young Jin's first album Blues In Rhythm Single 1. and the demo's he does for sm clearly show his singing inspiration comes from Slow Jamz from the 1990. He helped out on Tell me what is love where D.O mimics his style. It becomes like a pattern when you see where they are pulling inspiration from. In terms of american style singing he is thought to have the best voice for rnb. That may not be his preferred style but with the vocal coach they gave him that's clearly what they wanted from him.
I never knew there was another person on this track and back in 2014 I didn't know about their individual vocal coaches and just assumed they were all trained equally. But it seems they gave vocalist specific teachers to improve their craft, screw the others I guess
Hearing it in 2024 it's clear the soul and feeling that existed in the 90s in Korea is..like it just doesn't exist anymore. Yoo youngjin is honestly amazing and I am wondering why he isn't like on Rain's level. Like, he's one of the best clearly. He recently left s.m I believe but he should make a fortune as a vocal coach wherever he goes though.
Good training is definitely important, but as a wise woman once said
Honestly there's nothing to explain it there are just some people that are like angels, there voices are out of this world. Yet, sometimes it's not that complex some people just have a knack for music, they create their own special sound and emotion it's incredibly personal they put their soul into what they do.
How s.m teaches...I really think it's similar to what this woman did. Like first time watching it but it's pretty obvious.
I'm not the most articulate person when it comes to singing, but it feels like they try to purposely use this style to create a flavor that may natural come when other artists are singing, but they do it purposely. Everyone in the company is kind of the same, the stop start, belting, quick talk. It leaves a sense of..how am I even sure what happened, no less what the quality of the vocals are. I like to listen to them cover songs in english because I'm able to tell what their natural rhythm is and not 'sm's rhythm for them' this is important because I like to know that outside of their job an artists likes music and sings music. Korean songs are find but I can tell they depend on vocal tricks they learn to get around actually having to master their voice completely like Yoo youngjin did. That takes mastery. Knowing every limit of your voice.
Not every singer can do this but most successful ones definitely can. Even talking should sound like singing. In general sm and extension Exo sing restrained and restricted even when belting so they hardly ever encounter those surprising vocal tone moments when an artist riffs freely.
I try to be fair yet also I want to use a small pool of artists, Exo is male musicians but I'm not talking in terms of vocal range but technique which anyone can learn.
In this one take Haley showcases a bit of her preferred vocal technique. She's able to belt, keep good breath control, project, and keep a consistent yet give emotion and go all the way with her lines without getting outside her vocal range. It takes self knowledge completely.
She actually has a wide range but rarely hits the notes Exo is known for hitting. It's her stability and projection and belting that stands out.
Also a lot of people say kpop is performance is choreography, which is true, but Rockers are known for running around jumping up and down during concerts, similar energy is being exerted. Not exact but very similar.
Early in Justin's career he was going through puberty. A very straining time for a singer because the voice gets deeper and you loose your original tone and possibly range. Many singers work very hard to maintain their voice if you ruin your voice that could be it for life.
In his early 20s honestly he still had a great voice but he also kind of treated his body poorly, more recently he's been trying to improve his health and get used to his older male range. His sound is different but the technique he learned still holds him. The biggest thing I want to show is the importance of being comfortable in your own range it's less about the falsetto's and belting and more a person mastering their own sound and voice.
That's what matters.
I personally in my opinion don't think s.m cares about this and only wants people to adhere to their vocal standard, this is bad for their overall health and will only lead to strained and bruised vocals. Impressing people is not worth declined quality in your natural singing voice.
I think many fans of singers are afraid of them showing their true voice, cracks and bruises and all. Personally for me it's the mark of a weathered person who's lived life. It's genuine, it leaves an impact on people.
apparently this was at drake's hockey party? I don't know a Canada thing, and he performed a private event, there were no official camera's so the person took the audio that was clear from some and tried their best to cut up and splice it like a seamless video. This is the song most people know him for, it's a completely different arrangement and a natural progression. His voice is rough, smooth, his belting is usually projecting a lot. That's the one thing even back in the day nobody could explain his chest voice, it's evident acapella and with the mic. He does lip sync at times but for the most part whenever he sings acapella it sounds the same or better because he has a crisp to his voice that gives it a unique 'texture'. It's like his voice is the instrument. The projection is crazy though particularly when he's outside. I don't want to put a lot of video's but I wish his talent would be studied more than the gossip. He's a very hurt person, but his talent is a wonder. It's unfair people are only appreciated after they are gone. His relationships, gossip and drama many times over shadow his God given abilities.
There's so many good vocal moments..but I have other stuff to talk about, he's just an example here.
I mainly mentioned him because he trained under the same people Exo's songs come from, but he was trained similar to how the oldies where trained..not in a gospel choir like Elvis but very very close
Justin sang worship songs on the street and mimicked mainly that sound as a child and other black artists, he copied them pretty much all day and night. Once you get into it...like it's a rabbit whole you won't believe. I'm just trying to fit a little bit of this circus into an article. Elvis basically was heavily inspired by the black Pentecostal church and in his movie in idk 2022 with Austin Butler you can see just how much black culture had an effect on him. Like people even me didn't understand. He allegedly really had a spiritual experience
there and it changed basically everything about him. Many didn't really like his style and they thought he was too much, too raunchy or whatever. So it took awhile for people to accept what he was doing.
There's a pattern hear somewhere, but it's a lot.
I'm mixing the history with the vocal analysis because it really does overlap, okay back to the black singers from back in the day. So as I was saying, black culture was having a renaissance away from the stereotypical stand up and snap boy groups of the past. Something new was burgeoning, the soulful sensual group that actually danced and walked around. There were so many black boy groups. This could have twelve parts if I go into every way the black entertainment industry has it's grasp on other music industries. And this is just the music, not even talking about the clothes, the hair, the slang, the walk the talk. It's not even making me upset anymore like this is anthropology at this point. So really we should be glad because I've yet to see so much absorption of black culture. Like it was under lockdown and was considered evil and dark for a long time but now it's like people can't get enough. It's honestly interesting.
So one group I always knew about but never went into was Hi-five who have this hit called the kissing game. A super schoolyard song that is like a black community staple. I never thought I'd analyze it or take a deeper look at it because I've been listening to it since childhood.
But looking back at this live performance that they looked like they just walked on stage and are just doing their thing. They seem so casual and calm like singing like that is just normal and anybody could do it. Two members passed away(rest in peace) it's just insane thinking about it. The black community doesn't even think twice about this kind of stuff it's like pretty much everybody has a cousin or two that sings just like this, or an aunt, uncle. It's like nothing. But in other races we praise something we wouldn't praise in our own race cause we'd expect better. Just something to think about.
Like lord, this precious talented child. Like it's funny cause he don't even take it serious and he's playing around. It's nothing to him, the notes he's hitting so many people have to try so hard. The deep bass to the belting, it's like I always wondered why black people belted like they did, I'm not even sure and I haven't found an answer as of yet.
I purposely chose him singing post puberty because him singing at like 11 literally isn't fair he literally sounds like an angel. From what I understand black boys have a long ribcage and large lung capacity, idk there's theories about it.
Also the audience is important ;a lot of acts mainly K-pop will never play anywhere they don't already have fans, the fans are already there. They will even fill the audiences with fans specifically for each filming session for a broadcast, so they can get the chants and avoid a dead crowd.
They were playing at the Apollo, which is a very tough crowd they boo a lot of people. Like black audiences can be notoriously rude so it's always a hit or miss even if people like you. Like idk if anybody ever got jumped but I wouldn't be surprised.
A big part of sm is their extensive trainee process which is supposed to produce global talent. I still wonder what actually is going on, like there are many cases where the people aren't ready or struggle dang near there whole careers to hold a not and dance properly. I really don't understand it. There is also varying things, on one hand some people train for a short time and debut young, so they aren't ready to sing properly and have to learn but then some train for too long of a time and it's treated like that hurt their talent instead of helped it. So there's hardly ever a person that debut's ready to sing, dance and perform with complete comfortability.
Even by the time they have a solo, their is usually little improvement and it may of been better if they debuted as a soloist and been allowed to grow if being in a group would inhibit their growth so much. Yet at the same time their soloist sometimes struggle as well to make a mark and go global.
The main goal of sm is to focus on fandom and pleasing the fans no matter what so they won't have to truly compete on a global level and will be able to fall back on fans support. Which leads to less cultural impact overall. An artist should be apart of everyday life, there music should be known and listened to passingly not because it's all there is. Variety is key, rock, hip hop, rap, pop being staples in American culture gives soul music credence cause people had choices. When the main acceptable thing is one genre and everyone feels inclined to like it to support the culture it leads to less good music. Variety means competition.
also I believe me using the younger but post pubescent versions of these boy groups are fair because I'm trying to get around Exo's vocal range.
It's not a young Justin completely and not an older Justin so I just used two different video's comparing growth.
I used Haley to cover the belting to compare the technique. I struggle putting into words completely so to give a basis I'm using musicians I actually listen to, in order to give a fair explanation on why I feel like for the kings of K pop operating on a global performance level they don't really hit for me. But not just that, also I just like talking about their impact and what made them a group, both good and bad. I really don't like stan culture, like I really don't. I feel like it took defending celebs way too far. I can't even find an honest review anymore. It's turned fans into babies who can't even articulate what they mean anymore. The brains are beyond fried and it's by choice. Simply to fit in and impress the next person.
I always question if I'm on the right path so I listened to Exo in the studio..I-- it's like average modern korean vocals.
Vocal teachers in Korea that actually want the kids to have vocal chords left after 35
Because forcing people to sing out of their range when you can instead let them mature, and marinate is so dumb. All to impress people and to keep up with 15 year old idols it's not smart.
A good example of proper technique is Bang Yedam, his parents are godtier stage parents, with their kid every step of the way. YG didn't make him, he can write good decent music on his own, he knows his worth. He was taught I'm supposing in a similar manner to the western artists. Very smart. He never went out of his range for a group and now he still has his voice and will continue to if he cares for it.
I remember watching this years ago, and I still to this day can't put into words everything I have stated Exo I suppose wasn't taught to do..but that's wrong. What I believe is similar to dance there's a breaking in process. You cannot just wake up one day and sing like Aretha Franklin or Mariah Carrey you must start from childhood and train your vocal chords. Also I'm assuming..it is something people may be born with. Training is apart of it but some have trained for close to almost 20 years and like I'm not finding what I find in the other artists even children/men/women from the Philippines can sing a Beyonce song randomly like I've studied a lot. It may be something unseen. Like who's gonna study this. Nobody really cares.
Anyway concerning Bang Yedam he hasn't sung many western songs post puberty but this cover of thinking bout you where he's barely raising his voice yet implements bass. He switches into chest voice effortlessly. Many mistake head voice for chest, if the neck veins are popping for someone slightly lowering there voice that's head voice. Chest kind of flows out. That's where the belting and heavy flow out of projection comes from. He has definitely at a very young age solidified his own voice
Like if you don't think this is impressive...lord it's like ..this is a talented child for real. Texture is so hard to come by, like he has real texture, he's aware of almost every facet and can bring out emotion like man there's some talented kids in this world. Like, studying the science of it makes it truly more enjoyable for me. The more Iearn it truly helps me understand more about God and how he works, like everybody is truly different and the best part is when a person does what they specifically are made to do. Forcing someone to become someone else, I hate that. Nobody should try to be anyone else but they encourage these kids to do it instead of figuring themselves out
These companies did not make their trainee's. The credit they are given is honestly blasphemous, it irks me. They helped them get famous but I blame any parent who didn't have their child taught outside these companies. They loose confidence, will struggle to become artists and will loose themselves in this industry.
No everyone isn't the same level of talent. With a lot of these people it's not their teaching, it's their knack for it plus genetics and anatomy. This is clear now, because if everyone were capable of singing just like this is kpop they would. His training helped but people have to stop taking away the self appreciation these people have. They are who they are because they were born with a specific set of skills.
I honestly don't think of western artists much when others berate the talent of others and lift some up. I always think about the precious children left behind because their looks aren't as up to par with the beauty standards, or their fanservice isn't as good.
It's sick to be honest. I understand people can like whatever they like but the lies are getting under my skin, false narratives. Certain talent suppressed. Over obsessed fans laughing at those who are actually more talented than their preferred person but they don't have clout or a huge fanbase so what do it matter. Meanwhile the company isn't even concerned with making good music. They just buy whatever sounds decent hire western producers to do most of the work the throw their staff on it to even it out so they seem self sufficient.
I actually feel better doing all this research cause I always go to the ends of the earth to figure out the truth. I wanted to do other things but this was on my heart for awhile.
I have more specific opinions on Exo but.. I don't know if people are ready for that, it's not rude at all but it's..I'm very blunt and do a lot of research so it's so true to me it would be nothing to say but a pain to explain. I will one day but I mainly just wanted to put non exo musicians here because sometimes you need a fresh perspective. Personally I can't imagine listening to kpop as much as most people do, I bet my perception would be messed up as well. I barely knew s.m had a sound or what techniques s.m used and how once you notice it you can hear the shortcomings of all of their singers, how badly they are straining themselves and how unhealthy it is.
I guess that will be another day when I feel like it. I barely do theories anymore like I used to because reality is way stranger than a theory. But this is just something I do for fun so it depends idk I kinda wanna look at some movies or comic books. It depends whatever is least stressful.
End of pt 2.
These longpost are special to me but i'm very opinionated but polite..will put little bits of info for clarification ==Mini Exo fandom analysis pt 1
lmao at people who actually thought the exo vocalists were at Zayn's caliber. Even Zayn "Bradford" Malik
has to work hard to maintain his level of talent, touring is no joke and wears your vocals out that being said you should be able to get a clear grasp on somebody's best and their average
I used zayn cause honestly I am trying to be fair and use a modern example and not people way back in the day. Also I remember this
jk jk. Girl I've never fan voted in my entire life, but I remember this happening though.
But using 1d and using the same standards some Exo supporters use when talking to fans of other kpop group
: do you really think people who aren't true artists of the craft can actually outdo people who can sing a soulful rnb song in their sleep? No, way too much association game being played. Just because s.m entertainment got a leg up from Quincy Jones
and got a bunch of his songwriters and associates and producers
(no this literally isn't even half of it lmao)
to help exo make 'black music'. "Popular music' "We can rock with this music'
Don't mean they are on that level like that. Please note the people that own this music and who own a lot of the music s.m used they all in some way go back to uptown
or motown
In some way, shape or form, because the black music industry was kept separate from the white for a long time, there's a very small crew and circle of people involved in the black music scene. A lot of it has merged into sub labels of larger companies like Universal or Sony. A lot of these songwriters of pretty much indentured and must continue to churn out these 'hits' and it doesn't necessarily matter where in the world it goes so long as it's sold.
They are classically trained singers and can do just as much as a classically trained singer around the world can. But they aren't blowing anyone outside of the average chaebol kid who don't even really care about performing out of the water. S.m taught them well but not nearly well enough for the ego their fans have developed.
Smtown entertainment was built off the foundation of motown, to be the korean version of motown. It's talent is mediocre compared to the original talent the company was based off of, but I suppose compared to the copy of a copy of a copy that exists in Kpop now it's something.
Personally they struggle to outdo Japanese acts artistically as well. In their heyday they created their own genres so unique japanese energy in and of itself was a movement, so I don't understand the superiority.
To be fair Japanese entertainment was on one back in the day from the 80s to early 2000s they ruled even American pop culture
Japan had a longer history with allowing it's citizens and artists freedom of expression, they were able to show out for a good while and gain respect slowly but surely in the international arts realm.
Korea tried to make up for decades of artistic freedom in like a single decade. They are still very rigid with their approach and of course adhere to the strict controlling method of the idol culture model, set by Japan who honestly was way loser even back in the day and even more now.
They critiqued obsessed idol fans back in the day with movies like perfect blue. Of course it still happened but trust when the modern culture shames something and the rest of the world is watching it does effect how people act. Imagine if their was an Hbo show that was about the kpop industry and obsessed kpop fans it definitely would make people tone down. People act differently when people really know what's going on in a situation.
Perfect blue is a mirror to fan culture at it's roots. It's fanatical, a bit unhinged but it's socially acceptable all the same.
A film I believe is necessary for anyone stuck in the idol worship process. It's 'these people don't know you' but artsy.
Even Lee Soo man sent Boa to japan to solidify her career back in the day.
They've had their gender wars, yaoi shotacon era, weird asf eras, religious guilt era, smooth jazz, blues, rap, kawaii, wannabe hood, what's our place in the universe era etc etc as a culture as a society. So their idol industry had a chance to grow slowly, rise up and simmer down naturally. Whereas Kpop just kind of had 20 or so years to boom and the artists have little more growth and development as a disney channel show after 3 seasons.
Boa of course went with the techno chic style that ruled Japan in the early 90s and she did very well.
America however is an entirely different beast, the talent in america is on a different level. Hybrid vigour going 1...2
but that's just a theory. Point is America's a different playground
(I was seven when I first watched her mv on mtv)
this is why most kpop gets their sound from abroad
(Boa's debut single eat you up was made by european producers I guess they were going for a more fusion Backstreet boys style american debut but there is a remix with Flo Rida)
(I may do a breakdown on this later, but it's just the way sm approached the whole thing. They wanted to create an urbanized Boa. That's such a dumb way to go about it. No concern for what actually fit her. That's sm's biggest mistake not letting their artists make their own decisions and be their own people. I watched an interview of her in La back in 2008/9 and she seemed like she was being shuffled around. This producer to that producer, now having to just become a whole new person. It didn't fit. Particularly because she wasn't american, it's not second nature or something she was at all used to.)
For s.m the superiority must be because the korean government is backing them up so they know they cannot fail. Now they feel superior to all of other asian talent and many go to korea to have a chance at becoming globally famous. That's fine.
Even fans of vocal deities don't go around disrespecting everyone like their fans do. Just because they made a point to imitate black singers and use their demos early in their career don't mean they are more elite than anybody else. I never see adele fans do this, it's giving insecurity. You don't have to keep repeating something everybody knows. I feel like as more time goes on the lack of originality is making their remakes more forgettable.
To use a comparison again, in one direction it was almost annoying how obsessed they were about songwriting, they were always in the studio trying to out do one another with the songs they made. Back in the day I thought it was pointless and I felt like Exo was more fun because they focused more on their bond and spending time together.
Now that I'm older it's woven all throughout the music that they had personal deep connections to what they were writing. This is why there are performances where the lyrics actually emotionally effect them, life, death, relationships, breakups, things the fans knew about things we didn't. That's what makes an artist.
Apparently a few members had writing credits on Kokobop and I read about what they said concerning it,
I will say that the group has added to a lot of their songs but I don't believe the craft for songwriting and composing becomes them. In Kpop I noticed many songs created lack a certain spark of life and personal touch
The fine details are also important, this isn't an exposing of the group simply clarification on things that aren't delved into. Many of the songs are remade and have a previous demo.
Knowing the background of the songwriting trio the stereotypes creating hits like Justin Bieber's somebody to love, Tomboy by Destiny Rodgers, Rocketeer by Far East Movement, they have quite a track record and their work is well known. I believe the average fan would give all the credit to Chanyeol because he 'worked on it'.
A very easy thing to find out but when people see an Exo members name on it many ignore anything else about it.
Especially with how they've regarded the black community in general. You truly wouldn't know the impact the black music industry had on kpop or sm unless you were american and it was just obvious to you already, or you researched and figured it out.
I bring this up to say the main compliment I see regarding exo's superior vocals is when members sing high notes and whatnot, which is fine. I love all types of vocals some of my favorite bands of all time is the fray and onerepublic, I purposely mention them because they are grown people music and not for immature 'stans' I hate whenever I bring up an artist that stan culture doesn't like and people bring up streams or who they dated as a drag. It's so immature and petty. So I use them because their music and vocals are not pass out but they are people who have mastered their own voice. It's unique, soulful and not trying to be anybody else. Personally to me this is when I know someone is a true master of their craft whenever they put their soul into their music when they sing.
In my personal opinion I always felt like I couldn't talk years ago, there was no room for oh yeah this artist kind of sings a bit better--if they didn't have stats, weren't popular it didn't matter. Yet, when people in the kpop fandom talked about their favorite artist they were top tier best in the industry and they had the numbers to prove it.
Now years later because the numbers aren't as good as people in the fandom may want it to be; they put other groups or artists down because they aren't real 'singers'. Then show clips of what is love/what if or some other obvious 90s rnb demo or a 90s japanese style pompeii style epic .
I just rarely see commentary about the obvious influences that were used to create the group that Exo's mythos/style/clothing and setup were based off of.
Which they can do because their leader/owner made friends with the right people and opened up a world of connections for them. Because many other groups have been cancelled for jacking theme's and concepts but that never happens with exo because sm owns/CALLS IN FAVORS/ with the media.
So those convo's are never had, so besides the average fanwar, most people can freely live in the world that exo is original and super duper talented above all others. Whenever someone wants to have a convo about this and actually know info about exo and can't just be deemed stupid and uneducated then 'it's not that important'
I tend not to bother or even talk about things that don't really irk me, but I can't lie sometimes I'm a bit irked. The false narratives truly do get to me, I remember a lot of stuff that many fans just weren't there for. I pass in on certain artists every now and then with Exo and Shinee being the only kpop boy groups I really listened to album after album, I keep wondering why I don't randomly get the urge to listen to them.
It could be a lot of reasons, bad memories, or I just am not into them as people. But celeb gossip to me means nothing. I don't care about rumors or someone's bad reputation if their music is good. It's not even the fandom cause some fandoms make me question humanity but when the beat drop I honestly don't really care
With Exo, honestly the music is something I have a hard time returning to. I once agreed with people that it was indeed better than other K-pop but now I'm starting to think that's a poor comparison. We are all equal, maybe not in ability but we all have the ability to put our heart and soul in what we do and if the music is good it should come off as right. There's little excuse when there are kids with youtube channels around the world who sound literally amazing, and they are no different than anybody, just singing to their heart's content. Passion, soul, drive. I believe that will always come off to others. It's what helped the civil rights cause for blacks back in the day, how they sang and danced. People just couldn't believe it.
Now we have an open market for talent so the competition is fierce but there is still people who blow listeners away. Every now and then I'll find a song that's good regardless of the singing style, they could be whispering or just humming and it sounds perfect, because they are doing what's for them.
Kpop is extremely manufactured to the point where this authenticity is very rare, few people truly sing with their heart and soul, it's mainly singing to impress and following a stiff formula. The problem with Exo mainly is the excellent catalogue they had access to, that lee soo man had access to. To me that was their ticket to stardom and a big reason not only for their success but the success of S.m entertainment as a whole. Many fans are less concerned with the details of how their artists and their work came to be and mainly are into the parasocial nature and competitive attitude of fandom for which the overall music and art suffers in my opinion.
The group finds little reason to give content and work very hard on their artistic ventures because honestly, who really cares. It's quite sad and the complete opposite of the music industry decades ago.
So most of the focus is just giving the group a concept, album or good song and the special touch the members give is next to none. The songs and albums could of been for anybody and deep down they know that which may lead to them being disconnected with their music.
Regardless as someone who watched many Untold stories about the black music industry, black artists were done bad, very badly, treated like dirt.
To see their music get new life is bittersweet because of the context in which it's happening, it seems ironic that people who care nothing for the cultural, political or even spiritual reasons for this music existing get to profit off of it. But that's just life. To get back into the talent aspect the singing in general all these years later I can hear now what my young ears couldn't. The vocal technique is mediocre and there is no attempt to fix it
Not only that fans who don't really care about vocal technique are going out of their way to claim not only is Exo superior to Kpop vocals which sure why not, but it's like a disrespectful attitude towards the black musicians and their 'versions'. As in the black musicians talent is ok but it couldn't compare to their Oppa's.
Many in kpop are guilty of this, but heavy is the head that wears the crown even after it's taken off. They are the kings of Kpop, no? Then they are responsible for inspiring the current generation more than anybody. If they are on the wrong path they are only following the example Exo set for them. They have called a lot of attention to their talent but I've yet to see them truly shine brighter than other's on their level. I believe there's a reason they stayed out of America. There is no such thing as constant popularity in the west. They don't just demand showing up and looking good and performing on a basic level. They want everything. Singing, dancing, choreography, artistry, political opinions etc etc.
Artists like Taylor Swift have written a majority of their music whether partially or fully. Hits and misses. It's a learning curve, but improvement is expected in the west. The more personal the better. Haley Williams also writes a majority of her music with her bandmates as well
Haley often talks first hand about her source of inspiration and always goes very deep when creating her music with her team.
constant artistic evolution is never easy there are blips and missteps but the point is an artist is responsible for putting their soul and passion into their work without concern of judgement.
Their hit Ain't it fun was unlike anything they'd done before fit with a gospel choir and all, it wasn't a sure hit but they went for it. A group can be an old group yet still keep it kicking artistically
weird and wacky can definitely work.
To keep going with the boyband contrasts Louis, and the other members, didn't just write one off songs he helped create songs that really had an impact on the group as well. This also helps with creativity because it must be discouraging to an artist to be an artist and have everything handed to them. How can they truly speak.
I put this in here because those boys really did work hard, they had a good run and they truly contributed to the music world despite having the most cookie cutter starting point.
End of Pt one
they really look like they tried to leave sm, but failed and they know they stuck now.
his ass really staring
I'm patiently waiting for the day sean lew does his big one and finally choreographs for sm and saves the company from mediocrity cause southern hip hop does not go like how they've been doing it or teaching it.
Back in the day they used to have a good medium of american choreographers to assist the trainee's and idols and clean up their faults now it's like they don't' have that and it's soo evident.
I don't care the minute they got rid of that bald british or american dude they companies dancing went down hill. It became a weird oligarchy. Like I noticed kai's main teacher started recommending people he trained and they eventually ended up replacing most of the western choreographers. They brought in bailey sok
for peaches, the asian american southern swag hip hop extraordinaire that she is and it was way better than Mmmh.
It actually had so many different elements in it, but most don't really focus on the dancing. But for rover they settled on bada lee
who is mainly a krump battle dancer, it lacked authenticity. Not to get all so you think you can dance, but Jongin cannot do that and at sm they make no effort to really teach everyone learns on their own and they aren't really pushed to be at a certain standard.
Kasper and all those other choreographers and that studio they get most of the dancers from have a very specific skill sets.
They've been with sm for quite some time and I get that, loyalty but like the art world don't work like that they're gonna get left behind.
they got clout about 2013 from america's best dance crew made it to the quarter finals cool. We back to Korea with prestige
Did the olympics alongside exo.
I get sm always wants people with lots of prestige and clout but they tend to keep the same people for so long the creative image of sm gets stifled and left behind, now sm is desperately trying all the trends and fads to get their artists relevant to the youth again. Like it's a little late they should have been letting young creative directors in.
I don't care I'm always gonna advocate for new and upcoming artist with lots of passion. They make the world turn, they start the trends, they bring the most energy with their ideas.
Ignoring the performative style an artist specializes in and getting choreographers that make lite hood tik tok mashup dances is ruining the game. But if one must do it I think letting the western choreographers they bring in for ideas have some real creative freedom. It typically never fails I feel like they bring in these choreographers for a blueprint then let a korean choreographer twist it up a little bit so they never have to really give somebody credit. They never say western names hardly if ever only thank you team who contributed to the success but the korean choreographers get to show their face, do interviews, and idols basically have them as a part of the crew.
Like they are NOT slick. At all. I know the western choreographers get inspo from southern hip hop but at least they are transparent. They'll say this is inspired by this dance, two step, crank that, etc but it never is even a topic of discussion. Only full credit going to the k choreographers and yeah yeah some other people helped...like people forget why exo's choreo was so on point when they started
I really don't wanna make it seem like it's just black creators they try to shelve and ignore it's basically anyone non korean.
Tony Testa I remember him from back in the day but when I wanted to search him up to my surprise nobody really talked about him and the only choreographer people talk about training Kai is mainly Mihawk and Kasper...which is somewhat true.
Cause they're choreo is...like it's okay.. but Kai himself went into how Mihawk trained Exo and it was basically sm style, yelling, you're terrible, quit now, emotional abuse... wow you're famous I love you let's take pictures.. I don't care they gaslight them kids idc idc idc. Now that's trauma bonding.
But then there's the actual full truth that they and many other sm performers who have been praised for their dances around that time, were in fact trained by a real deal professional at one point, one of their staple choreographers was Tony Testa and he choreographed for Britney Spears(circus) and Michael Jackson(Testa was hired by director Kenny Ortega as an associate choreographer for Michael Jackson's final tour This Is It which obviously never got to happen but still)
This was dance on sunset? I think?
and suddenly the quality makes all the sense in the world
But again try and find it without knowing about it before hand you'd be like yeah no they never really had any western choreographers. There's no history books in Kpop if you were there you remember but if you weren't woops doesn't exist.
except it does.
Anyway too many people have this weird odd narrative Mihawk did it all and thank God for him like....how? He's just one of the only one's still there. Everybody else left cause Korea is trash to artists and creatives.
Like Kai cannot do that hood stuff, he wasn't trained for that at all. Now if sm invested more in there artists fine blame him but everybody knows these kids would dance in that basement for hours by themselves cause be honest they probably paid the teachers for a certain amount of time and then it's all on the kids. They absorb as much as they can but then it's up to them. He couldn't just learn such an advanced style like krumping from watching, you either grow up in the culture or you learn from someone who grew up in the culture. This is why you can't expect these Korean teachers to teach krumping. They know it but only cause they most likely learned from someone close to the source, it's not just something that can spread so easily.
sm has always like historically done this like it's just something they do they will never stop taking these itsy bitsy pieces of black culture and recycling it they can't help it. They've worked with tons of black artist to make the actual music and tend to get some western or black influenced people to try and create some type of instant quick success. But it's so subtle one could say it's not related at all.
I would say its a coincidence but knowing who trained shotaro like uhm no it's not,
Sm knows exactly what company trained Shotaro and they are known to specialize in krumping and hip hop. The little time he spent at sm most likely taught him barely anything he was already trained when they got him. They fib so much and never let their artists go into detail. He trained for years with a company that trains people in the top boy groups in japan.
EXPG is a studio connected with the iconic Japanese boy group exile tribe where most of their members train.
I just get tired of people saying 'studio from japan or studio in america' like if it was Korean people would give the entire name...like what's wrong with giving people credit who deserve it.
They typically sometimes get sent to new york for 2 years I think? But that was in the old days it may be different now. This is because the japanese always understood if you want your artist to do black music they should not just sing black music but be under the cultural american influence in some sort of way.
I don't know what they aren't getting, Kai isn't perfect at every style. They just don't plan on ever investing any more money into him or really any of their artists.
He was more in his comfort zone at the beginning of exo with a heavy emphasis on jazz and contemporary style dance.
If there isn't jazz or contemporary at least in the basis of the dance that's where Kai starts to falter. Broadway theater style is what he's most comfortable in. But because of appearance they push urban dance on him.
They didn't even try with bomba
Rover was a soul crushing mix between crank that soulja boi and the macarena.
I was watching the video like nooo that's every viral black/ethnic dance in one and I already knew that tagged choreographer was korean. I wanna analyze rover later but I might get upset it's pretty like a big major 106 in park style mv/music video and dance but like that fact just got
Everything he specializes in sm is like nah they also make anyone with sm have this weird loyalty to where the artist never get to express and cultivate themselves as a human. They are stuck in some sort of child/star hybrid.
I don't know why in the world they didn't send exo or at least super m to millenium they literally rented out the studio where so many talented dancers choreograph and just flew out they korean choreographer so ignorant. They were so stubborn with that group.
I feel like if they were trained by young vibrant artist close to their age they could of gotten so much inspiration. Freedom is really a virus and why would a kpop company want them to have freedom
Like hire the boy he just traveling around asia in his spare time making some of the best choreography of his career and they're like lalalala let's hire other people he's worked and trained with but not him. If anyone could actually help fill in the gaps with some of sm's main dancers I think he could.
Anyway I just feel definitely by 2025 either super m is gonna be somewhat active or sm will be out of business but I still think sean and kai should at least meet up once at a dance conference they become friends and post jazzy contemporary dances online with the occasional obligatory bff's cooking in the kitchen youtube channel, like so many of the peebles do now and days. They both do the same artsy triple threat yet auditioning to be a stay at home husband type of thing, cooking, yoga, self care. Like it can be good for the brand I swear. I just have a thing for artsy people with the same vibes clicking up. It's not so far fetched cause he already worked with Jackson. I just want the two balls of sunshine to meet
kpop opinions that are actually unpopular like actually
every since the new year hit I got late night energy and womanly opinions, ppl was on the bird app talking about how everybody calls ppl siblings in kpop when kdolls are different genders and i was thinking how ppl call kai and bada siblings and lil sis + big bro
I never said nothing but wth, they was grindin afro trinidad jamaican style what kind of weird thought process people got goin on. I get calling them friends cause she's dating somebody but nooo!
ppl so desperate to throw any proof of kpop dudes being around attractive women into some kumbaya they are family. It is okay he's grown the backup dancers are grown they want to emulate grown ppl dances. I know the bear bear agenda has everyone looking at him as an actual stuffed animal but like he's not. People turned mhmm and peaches into he's so g@y he don't even like boys.
That's fine but maybe don't invest energy in thinking you know somebody's orientation. It is all fans seem to care about and when they can't push that they infantilize, or treat them like an object. Ive even seen human therapy dog like bruh. Even if they want that from you to rely on them like that. Preserve your energy its precious. Many ship believing it makes them not like other girls
ur energy is still going out the window whether they are straight g@y bi whatever.
But anyway men and women can be friends but I feel like that isnt enough for people who have a vested interest in shipping they have to restructure their mind to prove their is no way im the world they could ever be with a woman. But I feel that has to do with wounded femininity more than anything some women deep down feel like women are bad and drag men down and they could be happier and more free without women. People gotta leave women alone they are the center of the whole world no living being other than a unicellular one would exist without women stop the madness, go hug ur mother, watch gilmore girls, watch bad girls club whatever get a better understanding of what its like to be a woman. As my dad would say to me as a kid stop hating. Maybe go into the history of male female dances what it symbolizes why its a representation of life. They didn't choreo vanilla and bamba for ppl to be like oh swell aren't they the best of buds. Respect his art. Cause that seems to be the last thing on ppls mind i thought peaches flew over everybody's head ppl didnt get rover at all making barbie memes. He had to resort to soulless promo and the fans couldn't have been happier. Thats sad. Not only that ppl refuse to speak on it he made a whole song with spanish verses nobody even cared to question it like at all not only that but he stuck with the carnival theme for the film. (i wanna do a whole breakdown about that)
But he put a crop top on and everybody went nuts... he always works to tell a story but ppl only care about their narrow minded perspective of him. Then have the nerve to get mad when other ppl bring it up then continue to talk about ships.
And ppl dare to say exo not a fanservice group, sweets most groups stop ddoing fanservice around year 4 in preparation for solo's at about year 7 to 10 maximum. And no thats not a kpop thing thats a all the way back to motown thing. Its plot by plot the same formula. It's a lou pearlman backstreet boys thing, its a simon cowell one direction thing, a destinys child fifth harmony thing. Same playbook different players.
So ppl ignoring someone's humanity for ships like bye. Never ever will a relationship even a marriage be over somebody's bodily autonomy and the spirit in there body. And if this seems preachy its cause I feel like some people will put a friendship over somebody's career. Like nope can't listen to this album they said she and her instead of remaining gender neutral and I know they are not straight so I'll wait for the next group album to actually care about anything they say or do
but people laugh at kfans like no. I dont laugh at kfans cause I know how down bad they emotionally manipulate them women straight or not. Its way more intense than what they do with american fans. They manipulate the straight women with pseudo romantic mass flirting ala like beliebers
and for the other more shy girls they flirt with the members. Because these companies learned from Japan and they know some women are shy so the members flirting with one another is like a conduit through which they can flirt with the people shipping them. It's all psychology its voyeurism.
(with crowds this large they not only know they have an audience it is typical for celebs to become performative by nature for fear of boring the crowd leading to public displays of affection when there may not have been)
They know you watchin so if they all up on somebody and they know somebody watching and they being er*tic wouldn't it be common sense they tryna get people heated on purpose? That's common sense
These labels are not as dumb as you think they are. They have the psychology down pat. Like don't take my word for it there are dozens of books on this. Entertainment in korea is gov funded they know what they doing.
They not keeping anybody in the closet they want everybody to be as convincing as possible for a reason. Notice how kpop is heavily pushed but rap isn't? Cause rap culture mainly pushes amongst other things hypermasculinity which historically results in rebellion revolution all things the korean gov worked hard to push down
1988 riots happened same year as the seoul olympics where the whole world had their eyes on the country
closer to the winter olympics in 2018 south korea already had a new generation of kpop that would reach out globally with the main group who kicked off the third generation of kpop being exo among other group who began to get coverage in the west all gov funded and approved
this would not be the first or last time exo would be involved in global politics
this is why exo and cl of 2ne1 performed at the winter olympics these are the idols that spearheaded kpop globally. I'm telling you it all started when exo won that ema
I don't think yall understand they were a new group and had more clout than one direction justin beiber and ariana grande in this moment in time..like the ego and fandom is blinding people really think about that for a second this opened up a whole new world for kpop. Mama flopped in korea, exo admitted this themselves kai said their debut accomplished nothing. Think real hard about this. Growl was a song remixed for the korean public by a black producer. In america growl would of been a mediocre summer radio hit played once or twice a week before disappearing. But its one of Exo’s biggest hits of all time they still perform it.
kpop wasn't only meant to be ear candy and nice dances it was to keep the youth trusting the people in power and focused on idols rather than what was going in the country like crazy work hours, chaebols and unfair imbalance of power. Being that there is an american military base in seoul for decades no korean could go inside its clear its deeper than any individuals preferences.
Also take into consideration many trainees are underage, threatened with being kicked out if they are caught dating the opposite gender, watched by managers and staff 24/7 kept away from their parents, most have about a 6th grade education because they spent a majority of their time training. Insiders and fans have caught physical abuse on camera, idols have spoken out about being severely scolded as trainee's, bullied by grown adults for looks, weight, acne, social status and if that isn't a recipe for dissociation they also give the idols different names for their fans to call them that they must answer to. They also must only give affection to members of their same gender or fans may disown them and call for them to be kicked out of the group and start bullying them online and in person.
So if all that isn't proof enough that the yaoi culture kpop thrives off of is not about love at all but about psychological manipulation fr its very roots idk what else I can say. But really idc what people believe but don't act like the company is against your ship they groom those boys and girls in every sense of the word. Kji is naturally feminine which only make people think he is simply in control of everything including his crop top era. Really and truly I believe he's stuck at the age he was when his parents pushed him to be famous when he was a cute ballerino that people mistook for a girl that got lots of attention from other kids and older girls.
Anyone can be feminine but people have used certain idols being tomboys or nontraditionally masculine as ultimate proof of things they have nothing to do with. Using the companies hide everything excuse. Remember its a whole system set up from the jump. Once in a vlive kji said as trainees they assign people roles such as the mom and the dad of the group, why would a company of homophobes hellbent on making everyone as straight as possible to do that. Early they teach them to go to one another and managers for comfort instead of seeking outside people. I'm not saying America or the west is perfect but more people gotta wakeup. Male western popstars date and marry and still have a career but kpop idols gotta fight to stay alive even if they have western fans. Fandoms aren't full of sherlock holmes they purposely put clues for ships if you didn't notice. The national enquire alone has five years of stories planned for all major celebs korea is no different. Sometimes when celebs speak our about companies they will purposely make fanservice happen to distract everyone. Its not just jenkai yall im so sorry, its every ship everywhere all at once.
Kpop is like an enigma the further you peel the creative layers back everything is black..then there's the colorism, featurism nd cultural hoodwinking
I dont wanna make a super drawn out post about the cultural cou d'état going on in kpop but like who else is gonna do it