As much as this year has been a literal hellhole for the vast majority of people on this planet, it has also been suuuuuch a good year for music (at least in accordance to my taste in music).
NCT killeeeed it this year. Neo Zone is such a great album, i still have it on repeat. Dream were done wrong with just the mini album but they still killed it. A beautiful 5 song run. Ridin to Quite Down, 7 days to Love Again to Puzzle Piece. Certified BOPS. WayV´s Awaken the World is 10 song work of art. They are really starting to dig deep and develop their sound and it is beautiful to witness and listen to. And they still have 2 full albums coming as NCT 2020, no doubt that shit will be DELICOUS.
SuperM. Super One is suuuuuuuch a beautiful album. They really outdid themselves with this one. I loved Tiger Inside but i wasn´t really expecting much of the album but JESUS it was so good. It has been on repeat every single day since it came out. I wish it got a proper promo run instead of that weird strategy that SM went for. I was a little sceptical about the combination of 2 different songs for the title track but gaadaaaamn did they pull it off. It´s become my holy rituale now to listen to those 3 songs in succession. Wish You Were Here? Better Days? Together At Home? Drip? Line em up? S- yeah I´ll stop. Just a great album.
BTS. As much as the album was polarising and was kinda convoluted, it still contains such beautiful songs. BTS did their thing as they always do. The album may be hard to digest on its own but coming back to each song on its own makes you really appreciate how good they are. And they are also coming back with another album, most likely going to be a banger.
Blackpink. I really wanted their full album to be a, uhh, full album but hey, they still went off. With the little they were given, they did sooo well. Pretty Savage is a shy title track. Crazy Over You, Love To Hate Me, You Never Know, all bangers.
Stray Kids. I know very little of these guys but Gods Menu was an absolute banger so i checked out their album, and IT WAS GOOD. The repackaged In Life version made it even better.
TXT. I checked them out due to someone on here talking about how Eternally was such a good mini album, annndd i can confirm, IT IS. Checked out the rest of their small discography and i can´t believe the production on this groups discography. They make such fairytale ish music and i love it. Guess who´s also coming back for October?
Seventeen. Heng:garæ was Heng:garæ. The self-producing group came thru and self-produced a great mini album. Fearless randomly pops in my head at random ass times. And they are also coming back with another one. Betting it will be a self-produced banger.
Special shoutouts to Beakhyun´s Delight, Taemin´s Never Gonna Dance Again, Kang Daniel´s Magenta, Suho´s Self-Potrait, EXO-SC, ONEUS, ATEEZ, TWICE, ITZY, EVERGLOW and a bunch more i can´t remember right now.
I´ll stop here before this becomes a full on essay. Music is subjective of course, but i think we can all agree a lot of what came out this year has been good. What are some of your favorite releases so far this year, and what are you looking forward to?

kudos to him for having the guts to call them out like that in an interview. i bet they’re kinda tired of being treated like they’re nothing compared to american artists, but that was really fucking sad to hear. (oh edit: i know ‘aliens’ means foreigners, but that still hurt like a bitch because it’s an awful term.)
look, i don’t care if you like bts or not. the impact they’ve had is big. they’ve broken barriers here in the US, yet they don’t get recognized as they should.
‘aliens’. he really labeled them as ‘aliens’. he also said that they don’t know if they have a place here yet. artists who have created and broken all sorts of records, who have impacted the music industry in ways people were not expecting, who have been constantly outselling and outperforming american counterparts, believe they don’t have a place. the western fucking media made them think about things like that.
they also talked about the grammys. we all know that the grammys are rigged and biased. i can see that they know as well. they were talking about the fact that they know they’ve gotten charting and numbers and are aware of achievements, but they said they don’t know what’s going on with the grammys, that it’s probably not even about numbers. but that they’ll continue to dream big. the grammys are lowkey based off of connections and basically labels vs labels. bruh, if queen, one of THE greatest acts of all time, didn’t get one, that’s how we know.
halsey even talked about bts getting taken advantage of in an interview. she said ‘this is a band that has been taken advantage of, in many ways, by people promising them spins and radio play, in exchange for social media power.’ and how after the bbmas in 2019, they were talking backstage. it was on a bangtantv episode, and i couldn’t hear rm very clearly, but halsey said ‘i hope you guys have a better feeling about america. i know it’s crazy, but there’s good people’. i bet they were having THE talk bruh. they’ve known for years i bet, that the american media and music industry don’t take them seriously. which is so fucking saddening.
but a fucking applause for ms. forbes for calling out the grammys in an article about bts, and other articles as well, who call out the xenophobic and racist industry. not only with bts, but with people of color as well.
‘aliens’. that one really fucking hurt.

i've been an army for years but i've been finding it very hard to stay quiet about this. i've been seeing armys complaining about people hating bts because their fandom is mostly women and that's a valid argument but it's really hypocritical because our fandom hates women. the tweet that set me off was this one op is giving a list of the women "we love" but what about the other women who haven't worked with bts???? and then there's this reply underneath so we don't love any women who aren't successful or talented by YOUR standards??? because i do love plenty of female artists and women in general in whatever they do lol they don't have to be anything to be deserving of respect. and that's the issue with army they really only like women who have done something good for bts and the thing is that they've also attacked some of the women in that first weet.
i'm going to list some instances because it's too much to list all of them

• first of all iu has literally been a punching bag for armys for ages, from shipping fodder to attacking her because she charts higher than bts to her recent collab with yoongi by downplaying her own achivements and making it sound like they're due to him. that was only the top because this post would be filled with all the stuff armys say about her. not to mention the hate accounts that appaered right around the time the collab was announced.
• suran has been targeted for years because of her collab with yoongi and "seeking attention" because they're apparently dating. whether they're dating or not is irrelevant but reducing her to that is pathetic. she even had to explain the post she made because of all the hate she got.
• blackpink have been armys target for years since they got big worldwide. blinks can be obnoxious but most of the hate is directed at the girls when they have done nothing against anyone. the most recent episode of this was jennie getting massive amount of hate because of an ambiguous comment she made about kpop's success. it's also worth mentioning that acting like all groups, especially a group of women, owe their success to men is not supporting women at all.
• momoland and that infamous award show incident. i bet this topic has been talked to death but they didn't deserve all the hate they got which was so much it made them close their comments section on ig.
• armys silencing and doxxing black women WHO WERE ARMYS THEMSELVES over the jim jones controversy. harassing and putting other women at risk all for of KOREAN MEN YOU DONT KNOW.

this is jut a shot list but i could go on because armys genuinely have a problem with misogyny and their selective memory about it is funny to say the least. playing the victim by saying people hate your fandom because you're women when you turn around and do this to other women is hypocritical and i think it needs to be discussed. but knowing that armys see criticism as direct attacks it probably won't be.
edit: before you claim this isn't because they're women please mention other male idol/boy groups who have had the same amount of hate.

Imma rant. So I've been in this male styling sub (I'm a straight asian male btw) and some dude was asking if he should get a hairstyle similar to RM's. Usually, the people in this sub are pretty chill, until I see some dude talking about how "BTS is the opposite of masculinity" and that he's better off not changing anything, so I reply with "That's their rapper man, I think it would fit OP" or something along those lines. Then this guy replies with "He ain’t a rapper Are you kidding me That guy a rapper Not one bit Listen to sometual rap brudah Not rich g*y lookin korean kids". Usually I'd chalk it up and let that comment be, cause I know that there are people like this. ONE, THAT'S FACTUALLY WRONG, A RAPPER IS DEFINED AS " a person who performs rap music. " SO HOW IN THE EVER LOVING HECC IS HE NOT A RAPPER. TWO, MY MAN DON'T GO TELLING ME WHAT RAP IS OR ISN'T, I LIVE IN THE DANG INTERNET, I KNOW WHAT IS OR ISN'T RAP. If teenage tattooed "rappers" who have their faces as substitute scratch paper can make "rap" then he can. THREE, RM HAS BEEN IN THE UNDERGROUND SCENE FOR AWHILE, SO TO CALL HIM A "g*y lookin korean kid" JUST PISSES ME OFF. LIKE I BET I CAN RAP BETTER THAN SOME OF YO FAVES, GIMME 1 YEAR TO PREPARE I WILL ROAST YA'LL BOTTOMS. I WILL CLIMB THE CHARTS JUST TO PROVE WHAT RAP IS.
​
It just annoys me when people (kpop fans or outsiders) make remarks towards idols just because of the way they're perceived either physically or sexually. If they at least do research and give respect to an idol, sure idc you're opinion I guess. But to call them degrading words just cause that one person can get more intercourse than you ever will makes my blood boil hotter than a super nova.
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(btw mods change the flair my brain is not working rn)
edit: censored and changed some words

I don't think there has been much discussion about this in the Dota 2 subreddit.
Over the last few hours, several prominent female Dota 2 esports personalities have come forward and have made allegations of sexual harassment.
The Tweets:
(I wanna just add that the fact that this needs a compilation is sickening)
Sajedene (Former Digital Chaos Manager, Former Streamer, esports manager, and consultant):

Know what happened when I tried to speak up about my abuse in the industry to people in my circle? I watched my colleagues and people who I thought were friends stay and side with the abuser and talk shit behind my back. That's why we stay silent. Outcome is rarely positive.

Moxxi (Dota 2 Caster)

1. "Everyone is talking about sexual harassment in gaming as if it hasn't been occurring the whole damn time. How are y'all surprised that sexual assault is happening when we regularly get harassed and when we complain, the response is "iTs JuSt PaRt oF tHe CuLtUrE." Fuck off.
2. The fact that I hesitate when parents approach me at events saying their daughters love my casts and want to be a part of esports breaks my heart. Esports is amazing but the amount they'll have to fight and constantly be on guard (just as a gamer, not even as a pro) is insane.

Reinessa (Streamer, Host, Writer)

1) I've been harassed, hit on, cornered, inappropriately approached, propositioned, grabbed at events etc. My stories are mild. For many of them, I even educated them about why it was bad.
BUT to do so - I surround myself with trusted & large men. I'm never alone. I'm very careful
2) The first thing I teach my cosplay volunteers for DreamHack is how to check in with cosplayers, identify if they are uncomfortable, and give them specific tools/phrases to give the cosplayer an easy escape from any situation
It's heartbreaking that this is necessary.
3) Now this is an old one from dota that someone reminded me of recently - comments about a dota caster from a pro player that referred to a trans woman as ‘it’ and apparently the ‘pro’ community thought this an appropriate topic to bet on.
[Attached Tweet of Dota 2 Caster LlamaDownUnder calling out ixMike.]

Tobiwan's replies (1, 2) are unsavoury at best
Kips (Former Coach of Complexity, Vega Squadron, Fnatic and TNC)

1) Reading today's stories of sexual assault in esports has been heart-wrenching--not because I didn't know these things happened, but because the victims had to wait so long before they could feel moderately safe talking about it. And they are just the tip of the iceberg.
2) Believe victims. Out loud. Not just because they deserve support but also because all the others who stay quiet deserve to know that they too would be heard and believed.

TI7 Afterparty Incident
@cofactorstrudel (Idk, who exactly she is, I think she writes for LiquidDota or JoinDota She is a mobile game scenario writer)

1) We telling esports sexual harassment stories?
TI7 afterparty. One drunk caster slurring at me and literally wouldn't let go of my hand, I had to wrench it off him with all my strength.
Another person aggressively propositioned me for sex, even started undressing.
2) A new friend I'd made thankfully noticed the latter situation and came and got me out of that situation because FUCK was I uncomfortable. People talk about the fight or flight response.
For some reason nobody talks about the fucking deer in the headlight response.
3) I don't think anyone could accuse me of not being an assertive person. But I freeze like a fucking prey animal in those situations, and the shame that brings on afterwards is massive.
Please, if you see these situations be like my one friend. "Hey can I talk to you for a sec?"

Replying to a question: (Did u report that caster?? Does he still do casting??) she says:

4) Report him to who? The DOTA police? 😂 Yeah he still does casting, more popular than ever. Nobody would care. I just privately urge other girls to stay away from him if I know they'll be around where he is. That's how we've been handling things for years.
5 When I went to TI4 I got messages from other girls warning me some DOTA personalities to stay away from.

@WickedCosplay (Cosplayer) replying to this thread.

Ah yes, the year I pulled away a very distressed looking girl from a dude who was aggressively touching her at the afterparty, to dance with me, and the dude running shoved me from behind, called me a bitch, and when his friends came to get him they told me to mind my business.

Replying to the same thread Reinessa said:

yeah that was the event I got the 'hey baby where you going, the party is over here' line for the first time. 10/10 never again pls

Edit:
Moxxi Replying to this thread.

This is a real thing. I can't tell you how many guys I've been warned about at after parties by other ladies telling me "Don't go anywhere near x, dude's a creep"

Edit 6:
@cofactorstrudel:

Fuck it. The hand-grabby person was Grant Harris. He didn't hurt or threaten me (well, he hurt my wrist a little bit not letting go when I pulled). Just made me feel gross and slimy.

Grant Harris=GrandGrant for those unaware.
Edit 7:
GrandGrant's Response:

No one should ever Feel uncomfortable or slimy in any situation or at an event , What I did is inexcusable alcohol or not, And I sincerely Do apologize for the pain I put you through. Thank you for opening up to me when I messaged you, You didn't have to.
I know my community will not be harsh, they are much better then I am. Also my DM's are open, I want to talk and I want people to help me learn what I can do to help the community , so please anyone dont hesitate to message me With concerns or ways you think I could help Improve.

Edit 8:
@cofactorstrudel:

Grant. You should know that someone else has reached out to me to say that you assaulted them. I don't know the specifics, but is it possible I'm not the only person you need to be making amends with right now?

Edit 2:
Ashnichrist (Twitch streamer, Youtuber, Podcaster, Cosplayer)
Ashnichrist:

Women don't owe you sex just because you buy them stuff, get them connections, or help their careers.
We are not piggy banks you put kindness tokens into and sex falls out...

Nahaz:

I’ve known lots of guys who otherwise conducted themselves in exemplary fashion but still expected this kind of quid pro quo with women. If you act this way you’re an asshole, period.

Ashnichrist:

I will never forgive Zyori for what he did to me.

@n00ance:

Uh you saying he did something, ash?

Ashnichrist:

Yes I am

Edit 4: Ashnichrist's Full story about this incident
Edit 5: Zyori's Response
For what its worth, I think it is very important to listen to his response and his side of the story.
Final Edit: A TL;DW of Zyori's version of events
During The Summit 2 after-party, after hitting it off and confirming that she was indeed interested in him through a mutual friend, they slept on the same bed. He too confirmed that since they were tired from the event, nothing happened. He acknowledged asking her if he could lie to his roommates (he clarified that it wasn’t the community) and say that they something did indeed happen that night in order to look cool in front of them. She agreed to this proposition.
He corroborates that he invited her over to the BTS house for Christmas and that she agreed. He acknowledged that Ashnichrist said that she was on her period, so she says they can still hang out, but nothing more. He stated that he said the period wasn’t a big deal for him. He confirmed that they did sleep with each other during this period but that he thought that it was mutually consensual up until now.
He says that he remembered sending the pictures of the bloody bedsheet, but he doesn't remember the context. He says that he probably sent it because he thought it was funny and that he never meant for it to appear as a threat.
Edit 3:
Nahaz's comments on the matter
Several other non-Dota 2 esports personalities have also spoken about this issue over the last 24 hours.
Please don't start witch-hunting.

I'm really frustrated right now so i might be a bit vulgar so if you don't like cussing you might as well skip. I may mention some groups but no hate goes to any of them.
if you're going to comment or up/down vote on this, you better read the whole fucking thing. And it's long.
​
Kpop is, well, a controversial topic. I've been into the music since let's say 2017. I've been on this sub for about a month, checking out rants maybe once every two or three days.
I love this artistic aspect of k-pop. The beat drops, the satisfying choreo, the heavenly vocals, the angelic visuals. But that's it. Let me explain. This is going to be broken down into 4 parts:

1. Comebacks, Singles, Albums releases and opinions on it
2. Content Rabbit Hole (you'll understand)
3. Fandom and Stans (because how could I make a rant about kpop in general without it)
4. Some other random shit that I have problems with (Western Influence, Scandals, Etc)

​
1
Why is it that I always see something along the lines of this: "God group X hasn't had a comeback in forever! I'm so excited its only __ months away!" Then it comes out and "To be honest, I only vibed with 2/9 songs" or (this is coming off of The Album which was released recently) "Why only 8 tracks? I wanted 18" I know some people are only joking about this but I know people who make a big deal about their group not having a comeback and then once they do, ew why is the title and b-sides the only good songs. Like be grateful, and damn I never said you can't have your own opinion or dislike a song but at least it's a song that a lot of other people like which can get the artist awards and shit. For god sake I know this isn't happening but if Bangtan wanted to they could literally go "Fuck you" and live in their multi-million dollar residence for the rest of their lives.
When a group puts out a single or even an album, I always hear people complain about line distribution "X member got the least lines wtf" and then when that member eats up another song "X member really shined this time!" It's fine if your favorite doesn't get the most lines and you're upset, but you don't have to be a bitch when they do and someone else didn't. I also always see "This song should have been the pre-release" or "Damn this song should've been the title it's so much better" or "This song should have been the pre-release" FYI, Title Track does not mean BEST SONG because EVERYBODY HAS THEIR OWN OPINION. A group might make a song the title because it shows the concept of the album the most, not necessarily because it has the best beat/lyrics/rap/etc.
When a song comes out and their isn't enough english, slap to the face for american/european/australian/any-other-english-speaking-country fans. When there is too little korean, slap in the face to koreans. Like WHAT THE FUCK don't complain about not being able to understand it because you speak english and then say something like, "Yes finally I can sing along to most/all of the song, but then again why so little korean?" Like thank you Twice for putting out an english version of More and More and literally all groups should do this IMO
2
So I got into X group over the summer. I would literally spend HOURS a day on YouTube, Vlive, Weverse, and any other "Kpop content filled" app. I used to think that I wouldn't be a stan unless I could laugh/cry/think back on every single word that an idol has said in a reality show, guest appearance on tv, award show, etc. BUT THAT'S FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE. You know what, It was BTS. I said it! I got sucked into Bangtan over the summer. How the fuck am I supposed to watch every single Run, Burn the Stage (which is pay to watch lmao), BV (also pay), Summer Packages, god i can't even list all the self made content, and forget about guest appearances. This goes for a lot of groups too.
I know people who would shut their blinds and grab bags of chips and sodas and sit in their room for 12+ hours and watch k-pop content all day over quarantine. Heck, I would do this for maybe 3 or 4 hours. But there's just TOO much so stop thinking that you're going to catch up. It's ok if someone makes a reference to "that one episode of ______" or "that one times group X was on _______" and you don't understand. YOU HAVE A LIFE, and don't waste it on watching 4 girls play games, travel, and cook.
Stop digging your hole. The more you watch, the more you're going to want to watch. I'm not saying unsubscribe and block this and do that, it's fine if you see that your ult is going to put out a series and you want to watch it, but WHY DEVOTE YOUR LIFE to CONTENT. GO OUTSIDE AND SOCIALIZE INSTEAD OF STARING AT PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW.
​
I'd suggest you take a break. Breathe in, and out.
​
3
First of all this is NOT IN ANY WAY directed SOLELY AT ARMY, so don't even try anything, because I said it. I just seriously hate how Kpop isn't Kpop without the Fandoms. Blinks, Onces, Armys, Atiny, Moa, etc. are literally what the experience of kpop has come to. For example, I can't enjoy freaking Dynamite (I didn't anyway) or Lovesick Girls without the whole "STREAM WE MUST BEAT THE OTHER" or "STREAM WE JUST WANT TO BREAK THE RECORD" I wish the views on youtube would literally just go away, or at least for music.
Be honest. When someone says K-pop to someone, or even you, what's the first word that pops into your mind. I bet fandoms is in the top 3, at least for me. I seriously wish the "fan-system" was much more like American fans. Sure you still have your stans and crazy stalker accounts on social media, and I know that "Arianators" and "Beliebers" exist, but I don't think you associate the term Selenators with Selena gomez as much as you would Army with BTS. I get that artist like these fan base names, and not all fandoms are horrible, but why can't you just like music and not be part of the fandom without stans calling you a fake fan.
Another thing I hate is the whole "OT__" and Solo Stans. I am not going to give my opinion on this but one day I see a post saying "Solo stans need to calm down" and I see all the hate thrown at akgaes but then I see "Not everything is about the whole group, sometimes X member needs to shine." LIKE IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP WANTED SOLOS MAYBE THEY WOULD HAVE CHOSEN TO GO FOR A SOLO CAREER. I hate when someone says "Ahh this is so X members era!" and then they're blasted by "OT4's or OT7's or OT whatever number saying "The whole group you mean?"
Yes I have my biases and everyone is entitled to their opinion of who is the best, but why are you going to put down a member if your bias loves them. In that situation you're only hurting the member you're hurting and your bias. I wouldn't be in a group with someone and do all these shows and trust them if I didn't love them. Just appreciate the music and whoever makes it.
One last thing I do have a problem is with Army. Can I and other Redditors post a not positive opinion on a BTS performance, song, show, etc. without being mercilessly downvoted and blasted in the comments. Thanks <3
4
​
Ages. OML THE AGES. How come a 23 year old in any other situation is treated much more different than a Korean Idol 23 year old. Take the recently put out "Savage Love" remix featuring BTS.
Jungkook: I know you don't give two fucks Nobody: Jungkook Stans: MY BABY WHAT IS HE DOING CURSING WHO LET HIM THE SKY IS FALLI-
just stop please it's embarrassing.
Same with 30 year olds. Irene from Red Velvet turned 30 a couple months ago and haters are calling her a hag and some old woman. Then there's people like J-lo who are 20 years older yet people treat them like they're not a day over 21. Like wha- God why does age have to be such a turn off in kpop. Soon enough freaking people will be in trainee auditions at age 9, 16 year olds are going to be debuting and by freaking 35 idols carries will be over.
Also I see a lot of people complaining about tuning in recent performances. Yeah I get that it may have been pre-recorded or even tuned but I don't see the problem with that if there is an insane choreo or cool camera tricks. I mean, if the idol(s) did originally perform the song and did a great job, they should be allowed to pre-record it's still their vocals calm down.
This whole thing about non-koreans or even non-asians auditioning to be an idol, I just don't know. I know Kpop is becoming very mainstream these past years but it's KPOP. I get that there has been no-korean idols, great example Queen Lalisa Manoban. But I'm talking about people in freaking California, London, Brazil, etc. I'm really sorry but be realistic. It's all ready an extremely selective industry, based a lot on look, so if you don't look somewhat asian good luck. I'm not saying you can't audition because of your race or ethnicity but I truly don't think we are going to be seeing a Kpop group debuting with people looking like Billie Eilish, Shawn Mendes, DaBaby, Meghan Thee Stallion etc.
One last thing, if an Idol doesn't have their own social media/are taking a break from it, it may be your fault. Not specifically YOUR fault, but so many fans watching every move and overanalyzing because they thing they saw a girl/boy in the reflection of the cup. Like god just appreciate the good looks.
Honestly I just wish that I could listen to Pretty Savage, Not Shy, Pied Piper, and More and More without all the shit that comes with it. If you gonna disagree, make your own post. I just want to see who feels the same way as me. god i'm tired

An easy third week at number 1 for Mood, 10k sales ahead of WAP! Lemonade is rising big on streaming, and could be set for the top spot next week, as is Tate McRae’s You Broke Me First, surely set for a top 5. Dua Lipa’s Levitating re-enters the chart after the Dababy remix dropped last week. BTS are still clinging onto the top 20, they’ve been stuck at 19 for 3 weeks now! Plus Blackpink’s Lovesick Girls debuts at 40.

1. Mood - 24KGoldn ft Iann Dior (=)
   
2. WAP - Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion (=)
   
3. Lemonade - Internet Money ft Don Toliver, Gunna & NAV (+2)
   
4. Ain’t It Different - Headie One/AJ Tracey/Stormzy (-1)
   
5. Looking For Me - Paul Woolford & Diplo ft Kareen Lomax (-1)
   
6. Mood Swings - Pop Smoke ft Lil Tjay (=)
   
7. You Broke Me First - Tate McRae (+2)
   
8. Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus (+1)
   
9. What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke (+5)
   
10. Take You Dancing - Jason Derulo (-2)
    

new entries in the top 40

(11) UFO - D-Block Europe & Aitch
(21) Wonder - Shawn Mendes
(24) Outta Time - Bryson Tiller ft Drake
(28) Mr Right Now - 21 Savage & Metro Boomin ft Drake
(30) Levitating - Dua Lipa (RE ENTRY)
(35) Come Over - Jorja Smith ft Popcaan
(38) Heart Of Glass - Miley Cyrus
(40) Lovesick Girls - Blackpink

for the kpopheads

(19) Dynamite - BTS (=)
(40) Lovesick Girls - Blackpink (NEW)
(62) Bet You Wanna - Blackpink ft Cardi B (NEW
(80) Ice Cream - Blackpink ft Selena Gomez (-3)
Surprisingly, Mr Brightside has left the chart!
View the full chart here
I want to be mad that a 17 year old is in the top ten, why do kids younger than me keep having such success when I just lost my job and am on a downward spiral spending way too much time on reddit posts that will get 3 upvotes but this girl did an interview before her song played and she seemed really nice so I can’t be mad at her and I just realised I’m starting to sound like a boomer oh no

I am in no way trying to say that I hate the girls or blame them for the way they are, I just simply don't like the way YG presents the girls to the public.
Sometimes it is hard to feel connected to them. I bet all of you know the stereotypical popular girls you see in those movies that everyone wants to be and are loved by many. BP are the popular girls in kpop and they are managed in a way you can't really relate to them, which is in some cases isn't bad because there is always going to be a barrier between idols and fans, like don't compare yourself to me, I am better than you type of thing.
Their lives always seem to be so fun and perfect. I mean all of them are beautiful, rich, fashionable, famous, they get to travel the world and have tours, they even get to meet other celebrities like Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa etc. and on Instagram they are always modelling for brands or something expensive.
In comparison to other groups they don't go on variety shows, reality shows, award shows etc. I feel like those shows help display their personality and variety skills. Documentaries/Tv serries like Burn the Stage from BTS, Twice's Seize the Light, Seventeen's Hit the road show footage of their hard work and efforts they put into their careers. They even got interviews where the members can express themselves more openly and tell their struggles/insecurities.
I know the girls have Blackpink Diares, Blackpink House, 24/365, but those ones were mostly just for fun and feel more lighthearted.
For most of the part YG is the one who controlls everything the girls do and nobody knows what goes on behind all of this glamour.
Not gonna lie, the members feel quite mysterious to me. You never know their true personality, not that this is much different to other idols ofc, but with BP this feels 10x times more unsure.
Of course the girls deserve their privacy and they are not obligated to show off their life but sometimes I would like to see their normal side rather than the celebrity one.
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Hello! I’ve been doing a lot of research into how bundles work since I’ve seen so much criticism on artists doing them and billboard is about to cut it out almost 100% completely. K-pop stans really need to stop using it as a way to heavily criticize or even hate other artist, especially other groups. This is an unpopular opinion I believe, as I rarely see people doing anything but hating on bundles.
The main groups involved with the conversation of charting from bundling is of course Super M, BTS, and now Blackpink. I like all three groups and I have no problem with them! I really do admire how BTS has no bundling and still manages an insane amount of sales, it really shows how many fans they’ve gained in the US. They deserve lots of praise and acclaim for such an achievement. I personally have bought quite a few BTS albums, so I’m not trying to downplay their achievements at all. However, what I do not agree with is the entire fandom hating on other groups for doing bundles, as it may not affect sales as much as the internet likes to think, at least for most groups. Here’s a few reasons why.
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1. Bundles do NOT affect Billboard Hot 100 singles. Okay, I’ve seen so many dumb comments about this it’s unreal. Billboard rule has already gone into effect that if you sell a digital SINGLE with an upcoming album or physical single release, it will not count until the actually item ships, and even then it will only count as one sale, not two (the physical/digital). So that argument is irrelevant. You don’t normally see artist selling merch with a single anyway. I saw lots of tweets about BP’s merch, but that’s coming with the ALBUM, not any single. So their singles HYLT and Ice Cream did not chart with any help from bundling, let’s get that straight. Because even if it does help sales, it wouldn’t count until the album releases and the merch ships, which it hasn’t yet.

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1. The Billboard rule is now that you have to offer merch separate from the digital album as well, with at least a $3.49 difference in price (as that’s the lowest price you can offer an album for it to chart on Top 200 albums). So really, you are paying for the music? I see lots of arguments about how all the Dynamite remixes were different than bundling because they were selling actual music, not dumb items. Well, that’s true, but now (since July) you are also paying for the music. Albeit a discounted price, (even tho Dynamite is/was discounted on ITunes), with this Billboard rule you aren’t just getting a “free” album technically. Plus there will be NO bundling with merch starting October 9th, so it won’t be a problem anymore, lol. And I have a feeling that soon there will be new rules on BB about remixes too.

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1. A lot of merch is ridiculously expensive. So, it’s not easy for all these fans to buy all this merch just to chart their faves music. I know I love Blackpink but no way in heck am I buying a $45 sweatshirt just to get them another album sale. I mean I could buy TWO physical albums for that price. If I really wanted to chart my favs that bad wouldn’t I buy more albums instead? Maybe that’s just my thinking though. It does help with digital sales, since you can only buy an album digitally once for each method, I do see that. However if the whole point of me buying merch was to see my faves rise, yeah I’d buy more actual albums. There’s a limit on each website but not overall, I could go in stores and buy many copies. Plus as I mentioned, you still are paying for music these days.

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1. K-pop albums are already a form of bundling. Y’all please don’t come for me. I don’t mean this in a bad way. But let’s be real, would k-pop albums chart as high if there was only a single version for each release? Now BTS I bet would still debut at the top or close to it, but I doubt they’d have near the pure sales. I personally only buy a single copy anyway (I ain’t made of money, lol) but many of my friends will buy all the versions. And of course those that buy even more for the photocards. So even though other Western artists (but not many, honestly) will release multiple versions of the same album (i.e. Taylor Swift), often no one cares. They don’t have the dedicated fan base k-pop has to buy all these albums, plus they don’t come with so much collectible goods (like Photocards, we really go crazy over these little square pieces of card stock, huh, I’m guilty too). So that does help sales already.

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1. Before you criticize, look at other metrics. I personally never hated on Super M but I DO see where the criticism came from. At that time, you could bundle an album with merch for free, and some merch was priced very low. Also, they bundled their album with ever concert ticket sale. However the discrepancy was HUGE. They didn’t chart anything remotely close to Hot 100, they had 164,000 “pure sales” (album sales digital and physically), while only 4,000 came from streaming that’s a 97.6% album sale only. In comparison Blackpink’s *Kill This Love* EP had 8.2K “pure sales” and 10.2 K came from streaming, 44.5% from albums sales, (they only charted at 24). Let’s look at the legend MOT7 which debuted with 347,000 “pure sales” and 75,000 streaming, 82.2% from album sales. This clearly shows the difference! First MOT7 had HUGE numbers, and the streaming numbers were insane as well. Blackpink clearly shows what GG’s always have happen, they are bigger digitally/casually so they have less album sales. But Super M, they had barely any streams AT ALL. This does show they really don’t have a big fanbase in the US or many casual listeners at all. The No.1 didn’t come from popularity, it came from the way they promoted + bundled the album. I think that looking at the streams, or more specially the stream/album ratio really tells if album bundling had such a big impact.

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1. We really need to stop with the thinking that BTS is somehow MORE popular with the GP than American artists. Okay, so this just isn’t true. Maybe this is just a stan Twitter opinion though. For example, Ariana Grande dropped Thank U, Next (with bundles ofc) out of which 116,000 were pure sales and A WHOPPING 244,000 were streaming, so only 32.2% album sales. Or Taylor who dropped a surprise album (NO PROMO, with bundles yes) 615,000 pure sales, and streaming 231,000, 72.7% albums sales. You can kinda see the difference, it’s obvious that Taylor did indeed benefit from bundles, but she also has a stronger dedicated fanbase. While Ariana is a digital monster and she’s all the rage right now. However, both these albums debuted with SIGNIFICANTLY more US streams than BTS. Which already shows way more GP listens (even more when you think about how much k-pop fans stream compared to the average Western fan). It just irritates me to see stans act like BTS has made other artists irrelevant and act like they don’t deserve it (when no matter how you feel about them or like their music style, Taylor writes her music and is a great lyricist, and Ariana has amazing vocals and also writes her songs too). It simply isn’t true and is based on facts that are explained wrong, lol. BTS has an unprecedented fanbase that many artists simply don't cater to, don't attract. When bundles are done away with, I expect pure sales for almost all other artists to decrease, but that doesn't mean that BTS is somehow bigger overall. Their streams are still quite lower than other top artists, their physical album sales are insanely high due to the large dedicated fanbase and how album buying work in k-pop as a whole.

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And with Blackpink’s upcoming album, it’s expected to chart pretty high (idk about No. 1 though). I would just hate to see everyone hating on them for using bundles, when as I’ve explained, it isn’t even as bad as people make it sound out to be. It’s obvious that BP has nowhere near the fanbase of BTS, but as we saw with their last album, they do have very good streaming numbers comparatively to so little album sales, even in the US. This album is HIGHLY promoted and there’s so much more hype this time, I think sales will be WAY higher. Even though I think you can attribute some to bundles, I highly doubt it will be as many as many are making it out to sound like. We can see the album/stream percent difference soon, I have a feeling it’s gonna be pretty level. I’m not gonna buy merch and the friends I have that like them aren’t either. The way they are promoting it (with their U.S. label) matches how American artists usually promote their albums, nothing is new. So I think they would deserve their high chart position just as much as most other U.S. artists. I wish we could just be proud of them for the success they have instead of always tearing them down and comparing them to other artists.
So my overall point is, while we as fans should definitely be proud of BTS’ success in this area, we shouldn’t use it to criticize other groups or put them down. And hating in cases like this is completely wrong. K-Pop as a whole has a way bigger advantage than most Western artists in the physical sale numbers. Let's not be hypocritical as a fandom, when BTS uses Western techniques they are praised as playing at the game (i.e. remixes, discounted single) but when other groups uses a different Western technique (bundling, previously singing in English) or even the same (collabs) it's now somehow "wrong" or "cheating", which is not always the case. No other groups No. 1 or high charting is gonna take anything away from BTS’ success, so let them enjoy it, they work hard too! They often use many of the same tactics as Western artists, so I’d argue they deserve it just as much, even if it is more of a niche fandom.
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(Note, if I’ve missed something or my info is incorrect, let me know. I saw a lot of different statements about this, so I tried my best to get the most accurate info, but I don’t have all the time in the world, I could have definitely missed something. Let’s be polite and nice too, thanks!)
(Edit, I’m having some editing issues. So sorry if the formatting is weird, only 1s)
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First of all, this is not a romantic shipping post. (will never do that tbh)
Honestly, I just want to brag about the friendships in ENHYPEN because some might think that their interactions were not genuine since they came from a survival show. This is my observations from watching the episodes and the I-LAND cams, and now that they are in ENHYPEN.
(Btw I wrote another post about ENHYPEN, if you want introductions on who's who)
Heeseung and Jay: Friendly competition Both leader material, both bring the fire. I love their interactions, especially that moment when Heeseung did not pick Jay, so Jay became a leader in the other group (and became a really great leader.)
What I like: They have friendly competitions and never had that tense moment. Most probably because they already knew each other before. It was funny to see Jay lose to Heeseung again and again and he sulks, while Heeseung just laughs at him. Then, Jay being so motivated and aiming for Heeseung's bed lol Also, the moments where these two are just talking about dreams and the future, its heartwarming.
This group will go in the right direction with these two oldest members, for sure. The fire (Jay) and the heart (Heeseung) of ENHYPEN.
Jay and Niki: Dream Team Original I-Landers - Went to the Ground - Got separated in 3rd-4th test in Part 1 but always together in tests in Part 2 - ENHYPEN
What I Like: How they worked as a team, for their team. As I said, this is the dream team. Both hard workers. Jay knew how Ni-ki reacts to the situation and I feel like he is the first person who understood Ni-ki's personality in I-Land. Since Jay knew how to speak Japanese, he's also the one Ni-ki goes to when he needs help (in ENHYPEN). Ni-ki, on the other hand, is very comfortable with Jay and trusts him in deciding for the group (Fire and Dive Into You). They work well together, especially on performances.
Sunoo and Sunghoon: Tom and Jerry Sunoo admires Sunghoon at first, and I felt like Sunghoon didn't really like Sunoo until that BTS episode. Now, they just bicker and bicker. Like always.
What I Like: Again, how they interact. They just love to annoy each other with Jake in the middle of everything (poor him tbh). Maybe because they have totally different personalities (ISTJ and ENFP) but then, you can see how they look out for each other. Sunoo picked Sunghoon in Chamber 5 because he wants to see Sunghoon go out of his comfort zone and do cute concept (he's also the most hard-working trainee), while Sunghoon said Sunoo is his role model for that concept. Typical love-hate relationship.
Sunghoon and Jake: Soulmates Probably brothers in another lifetime.
What I like: They bring out the best in each other. Jake is grateful to Sunghoon because he guides him on practice while Sunghoon became less quiet and more interactive when there's Jake. Both have low energy but chaotic when together, like typical introverts. Also, you can see how genuine they are and just works hard to debut. No drama, just love. And I'm here for it.
Jake and Jungwon: The Troublemakers I recently noticed their interactions when they became part of ENHYPEN. So lowkey but very funny.
What I like: The knowing stares and mischievous smiles. These two are the most innocent looking in Enhypen but they taught Sunghoon the wrong way to play the game so they can win lol. It's so funny to watch them form evil plans to win and I want to see them grouped more often for that. Another chaotic duo I'd love to see.
Sunoo and Niki: The Underdogs You might think, Sunoo? Underdog? Well, for me, he is. He was always overlooked by the trainees and even producers until they can't ignore him anymore. Ni-ki, too. He had the second-best growth, next to Jake, and us viewers underestimated him so much. (Glad he made it.)
What I like: They look out for each other. Ni-ki always checks Sunoo whenever he felt sick and Sunoo always beside Ni-ki as support. They were in Ground the most and I think that's where they became close. Sometimes, Ni-ki felt like a hyung but then, when he gets lost in translation, Sunoo is there. Like twins.
I wanna add trios...
Heeseung, Jay, and Sunoo: Chaotic trio This is the most interesting mix. I realized they were the funniest people in I-Land with interesting personalities which is probably the reason why they clicked with each other. Gives off the siblings vibe (2001-2002-2003).
Heeseung, Jay, and Jungwon: Baby and Overprotective Hyungs They go way back together as Bighit trainees so I guess that's why they're overprotective. Jay and Heeseung treat Jungwon as a baby, Jungwon looking out for his hyungs and well, I already explained how Heeseung and Jay interacts.
Jay, Sunghoon, and Jake: 02 LINE I just love to see these 3. This is the line I called "bias wrecking line" because I bet you, ENGENEs bias wrecker is one of them.
This is so long but please look out for their debut. Stan ENHYPEN! For my fellow ENGENEs, what ship is your favorite?

Ok so like a lot of big singles/albums have come out this year. From BTS' crazy breakout on the charts to ITZY's Not Shy to SuperM's first album. Kpop is a really broad industry, and what I mean by that is that every group is a bit similar in their style but each has its standout factors. EVERGLOW is not the same as BLACKPINK, since many who like BLACKPINK don't necessarily like EVERGLOW, and vice versa. Yes everybody has their preferences about what they like to hear during the day and what makes them feel emotion whether it's happy or sad. But I HATE when people come off rude about it.
Big example lately is Lovesick Girls. Me, being a Blink, was super hyped for the album and when I first heard it at 12:00 am on October 2nd, I gotta admit I was like whaaaaat, this is not the vibe I was expecting. I kinda didn't like the guitar ngl. Then again I was really tired so I listened to it in the morning and I realized the more I listen to it the more it grows on me. I actually really love this song, I would maybe even put it around the top 3. So I HATE it when someone goes, "This is like one of their worst songs, it's so bland and repetitive."
I like this song, but that doesn't mean you have to. I'm not going to hate you because you don't feel exactly the same way I do about a piece of music. But be respectful of others please, both ways. If you think this song is the best Kpop song ever, don't go insulting someone who doesn't by saying "What do you listen to, huh? Garbage I bet! You're probably deaf!" and if you don't like the song you don't have to go "Why did BLACKPINK release this crap? God this is worse than any other of their songs. SAME THING OVER AND OVER It's so BORING"
I'd rather see a "I really like this song something about it makes me wanna dance and sing at the top of my lungs! I'd recommend you listen to it every now and then maybe you'll hear something you didn't the first couple times." or maybe a "This song doesn't really match my preference but the girls worked hard and I'm really proud of them coming out with something that so many people love!"
IMO I don't see why people LOVE everything about LA DI DA, but I will say it has a nice beat and vocals and those people who like it probably have a different taste than me. And thats PERFECTLY FINE. I'm not going to call people who like this song dumb and say their ear for music is stupid.
Please just be respectful of others music is very unique and can be perceived differently by EVERY single person. thanks for reading!

there's been quite a few kpop artists to collab with american rappers, such as bts & nicki with icon, blackpink & cardi with bet u wanna, bts' rm & lil nas x with seoul town road (old town road remix), g-dragon with missy elliot for niliria back in 2013, and much more. i feel like this will be the next trend to come in kpop, as it is very beneficial for both artists since it helps bring exposure to both kpop and western music. what is your thoughts on kpop x american rapper collabs? what is the next kpop x american rapper collab you see happening and what collab would you like to see?

Tired of reactors overreacting for no damn reason? Tired of reactors giving surface level comments? Tired of reactors not knowing the members' names after the 7th time they reacted to the group? Tired of 'Right guys, that was amazing. Now like, comment and subscribe'?
Well Isaiah Hightower has you covered because this dude is legit. My dude overreacts for a reason and that reason, as he said, is ADD lol. Honestly, the time he takes to edit his videos in order for them to be funny and entertaining is commendable. I literally bust a lung when watching every.single.one of his videos. I legit watch every second instead of skipping through the reaction. At this point his videos are not even a reaction but a well thought out skit and commentary. This man's pop culture reference catalogue is astounding and his comedic timing is incredible. Like he is legit funny. Not to mention, he seems to have a gift at pronouncing Korean so clearly when trying to imitate the group.
The 'I bust a lung' compilation:

1. Him having nicknames for BTS (RM-No Name, Jin and Juice, Jiminie Cricket, J-Jizzle).
2. Him simping for Swagdaddy Lucas.
3. Him saying Felix is Mufasa
4. His Ugh reaction

On the other side, you can clearly see that he enjoys the music. He listens to full albums in his spare time and just listens to songs casually while reading the lyrics and trying to find the meaning in them. He is also not afraid of saying when he's not feeling the song.
His reaction to Black Swan is one of the equally most heartbreaking and beautiful reactions I've seen to music. The way he interpreted the lyrics and how they affected him was just so raw. Jokes aside, he really connected to BTS's fear of loosing love for what you were once passionate about and I am glad that it never mattered for him that the message was coming from 7 Korean men, he just connected to the music and you can see the deep appreciation he has for it.
He is the perfect casual fan that also stans. Isaiah Hightower is actually the one reactor I wish Kpop idols would watch and recognise. If idols could understand his pop culture references and jokes I bet they would be rolling on the floor as well.

My very first post and ohhhh boy is this gonna be long. Please don't tell me that I'm spewing bullshit btw, in my 2.5 years of being in the fandom, I've observed a lot of things. Before starting, I'd like to add that I'm not an akgae and dislike victimizing the members because they aren't kids and can speak up for themselves very well. I might be a tiny bit biased as a jk stan lol, but I still love all of the other bts members.
To start off, this post is inspired by a tweet. I can't find it now, but it said something along the lines of "Baby army's, don't let jk solo stans brainwash you into believing jungkook didn't get a solo mv and is mistreated", and it got around 30k likes. Edit : finally found the source https://twitter.com/seokonly/status/1292776043573465089?s=19, it's somewhere in this thread. While I don't believe jungkook or any bts member for that matter is mistreated, euphoria definitely is not a solo mv. Not only is it 9 minutes long with all the members appearing in it, it was the theme of a non-existent album. All the other vocal line members had their solos appear as comeback trailers, except for jungkook. I have absolutely no idea why the fandom is so eager to push the narrative that euphoria is a solo mv, when in fact it is not. Any unbiased person would see this, instead of ignoring all the arguments of it not being an mv. Most of the comments are also backhanded compliments like "sorry jungkook, but I was too busy looking at (insert bias name) member."
The amount of times I have seen that jungkook is priveleged and rapline is so held back omg is just laughable. To this date, rap line are the ONLY ones with multiple solo mvs, and I'm okay with that as rap line contribute so damn much to bts songs and they should have the chance to shine alone too. Also the fact that rap line have themselves done most of the work for their mixtapes, and they haven't been handed all of that by the company. I recognise all of that alright? However, Jungkook is called priveleged and the company favourite, for no reason other than him doing his job as main vocalist and center. In short, the work jungkook does for bts brings more attention to bts AS A WHOLE, whereas the work the members do for themselves (ost, mixtape, solo mvs, drama) etc brings more attention to them as INDIVIDUALS. Hmmm, I wonder which one benefits more 🤔😑. Keep in mind that I'm not bashing any of the members here, I am quite happy for them and always make sure to support their work. To add to this, I feel like if maknae line (especially jk)would've gotten the Collab with Becky g, we'd see thread part 3531 of why other members deserve it more. You can see this with the fact that so many so called ot7 were upset that jungkook was on waste it on me, and didn't even bother to listen.
In general, I think centers have it hard because of so much visibility, so stans who bias other members tell that they are overrated, overhyped, and undeserving. But jungkook especially has it quite hard because not only is he the main vocalist, he's also lead dancer, center, sub-rapper and obviously one of the most popular. All these positions put together obviously result in more and more army's discrediting his hard work. It also doesn't help that he has the title of golden maknae, and is so loved by his hyungs. There are unrealistic expectations placed on jungkook, like if he does a great job, ok he's the golden maknae this is his job lol we're not gonna compliment him. But if he's a bit off, everyone goes oml he's overrated, I knew it all along. I can't even imagine the burden of being the center of a group at 15 years of age. The golden maknae title is low-key a curse sometimes, I've seen people claiming that their bias in fact deserves this title or something and I just facepalm. It was something given to him by rm earlier on in their career when he wasn't very confident about his skills.
I still remember army's discussing which bts member would get ego, everyone wanted jhope to get ego and the few ppl telling that jungkook also might because he had yet to receive a solo mv were either ignored or were told to "stop acting like solo stans, your bias already gets majority of lines from bh let hobi have this for once". The narrative that hobi is held back is prominent among the fandom even to this day, when he's had so many solo mvs, collaborated with Becky g who is quite a big name and has overall begun to establish a name for himself. I will be brutally honest here, hobi isn't the major focus of bts mvs because he doesn't attract new fans as much unlike jikook who are major stan attractors. However I believe that hobi should have been center of on dance break instead of jk and should have been flanking the center instead of taehyung but oh well that's a discussion for another day.
Also the rainism performance, there was so much bashing of jungkook because he was the major focus to the extent that I'm pretty sure that jungkook saw all the cries and even wrote a message that he would do better next time. It is always a constant with jungkook, with stay gold jimin stans trended a hashtag demanding for more screentime, a thread on mistreatment of taehyung got around 50k likes and I don't even need to talk about how much hyung line stans put down ml to hype up their respective biases. I always feel that jikook are the most hated bts members, but while jimin gets hate from outside the fandom, jungkook's biggest anti are army themselves. Like this is the man who has army tattooed on his hand and even composed a song for them, I sometimes feel this fandom has never deserved him.
I feel like a lot of ot7 army are hyung line stans who can't bear to see ml more popular so they shit on them, and call the hl underrated all while crying that they're ot7. Whenever anyone speaks up for maknae line, they're regarded as a solo stan, but literally every freaking person forgets that bts are so huge all members will def have solo stans. Hl solo stans get away with every single damn thing while ml get called out for every small thing. They want their bias to become even more popular than ml, so will hype up rap line mixtapes, but are mute when it comes to ml. Whenever jungkook stans complain, we are told to shut up because our bias is the most popular. We just want a solo mv for god's sake, not anything else. Is that a lot to ask for? Please also don't come at me with the argument that maybe jungkook doesn't want all of this. He is very ambitious, and always accepts any work given to him, and will take any opportunity to showcase his talent as seen from his multiple covers.
Under every single line distribution video, you can see comments like jin should get more lines, taehyung should etc. This fandom doesn't seem to realise that jungkook is the main vocal ffs and is the only one stable while dancing heavy choreo. A lot of army laude Jin's stability but I'd bet good money that he'd be much less stable if he were front and center dancing heavily while singing his lines as the choreo slows down when he (and taehyung sometimes too) sing. Jungkook is also discredited as the main vocalist, I have seen so many army spreading the narrative of jin being the best vocalist (and I couldn't disagree more) and jimin because he gets all high notes. It is sad that nobody hypes up jungkook as the main vocalist, even if u Google search bts main vocalist, you will get jimin lol. I don't see people complaining about jimin getting the most lines nowadays, when he's the weakest of bts vocal line. Jungkook writes all the vocal guides, but I've only ever seen jk stans talking about them while army push the narrative that he's extremely dependent on his hyungs.
Jungkook stans are always and without fail, shut down with hurr durr jungkook the most popular member, dumbass he doesn't need a solo mv. "He will get his time to shine, can y'all stop victimizing jk maybe he doesn't want this,ugh solo stans are scum." The most popular member is taehyung, and in general I feel there's little different between maknae and hyung line popularity, it's just that maknae stans tend to be louder. Another point I feel that suga has the best amount of popularity, he's the fourth most popular and is actually quite close to ml imo, so he can keep releasing his solo stuff because nobody is as intimidated of him getting more popular as they are of maknae line and his stans will guilt trip everyone into omg meow meow soo underrated talk about him please.
In 2018, I still remember how I complimented jungkook under a yt post, and a bunch of ppl came for me telling me to compliment the others too, bts is made up of 7. All the other comments were also praising a single member, so why does everyone lose their shit when it comes to kook? Army are so diehard ot7 or nothing only when it comes to jungkook, it's like they can't bear for him to get praise it turned me off quite a lot. People need to understand that we can still praise individual members. I guarantee if you see a comment praising any of the rap line members, the replies would be yessss omg my biases rap line so underrated. To this day, I don't scroll down to the comment section because I know there isn't anyone praising kook, you only get them in his fancams. The fandom doesn't respect the stan attracting power of maknae line and are so damn salty about it, they resort to calling them overrated, overhyped and whatnot. The amount of times I have been called basic for stanning jungkook is just sad. However if you tell that you stan a hyung line member, you will get called woke and whatnot.
Bit off topic but since I'm on a roll, I'm gonna continue. Jungkook gets so much hate. I still remember army(or v solo stans idk) calling out jungkook for being a bit rude towards taehyung, I think he told him to stop talking or something. On the other hand when tae told jin to stop talking, dead skin cells are coming out of your mouth, they were like OMG YES KING. Jk's the punching bag of this fandom, he is over sexualised, babied too much, used as a toy in literally every ship, and is apparently whipped for every single member. I sometimes want him to stop being so nice and sweet and straight up behave like taejin and establish boundaries. This guy literally gets the worst end of every single stick out there. Lol am I making sense idk.
Under very jungkook appreciation post or thread, without fail there will be that one person who says wow his hyungs taught kookie well and that will get a lot of likes and agrees. I feel like army overestimate bts role in raising jungkook, and sometimes act like he was dropped off to their doorstep when he was five and everyone else was 15. He was still an ace when he hadn't met bts yet, and was scouted by a lot of other companies apart from bighit. Jungkook is more than a collection of his hyungs personalities, he is a sweet boy who pushes aside his struggles and cries for others, sacrifices himself for the group's sake (Jin's words not mine) and always hypes up the other members and is happy with talking the back seat during interviews so that others can shine. He deserves so much more than what he currently gets.
Pheww end of rant, please also keep in mind that this is me blowing off 2 years worth of steam, I had enough today so I decided to make this post. I understand if you didn't read the entire thing. I apologise if this entire post is very messy and maybe I'm just being pessimistic lol, it's my nature to see the bad in things. I'm very hesitant to post this because of the replies I might get, but oh well I'm gonna do it anyways.

Predictions for concepts, groups, songs, comebacks etc etc
I have two that come to mind for myself

1. The first time I heard Uni.T's I Mean back when it was released in 2018 i was convinced, convinced, it was going to blow up. It is 100% everything good about Bravesound tracks, combined with the greatest of kpop earworms (baby I don't want anything but you STILL sometimes pops in my head on a regular basis). The MV is great, the dance is catchy, the styling is immaculate, the gals were from all of these different groups which obviously hadn't been successful but I really though that combined power on initial release along with this PERFECT song was going to catapult it into the stratosphere. Bboom Bboom had done the same earlier in the year and in retrospect it was silly to think lightning would strike twice but I really was convinced, I would have been willing to bet money on it..... in the end it did not a damn thing and Uni.T never released another song. Still kinda mad about it and I Mean is still in my top 20 kpop songs to this day.

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2) I was completely sure when BTS dropped the release schedule for MOTS:7 that the build up was for a visual album/full art film a la Lemonade. There were a few reasons for this,

• Connect: BTS was all based around these artists who at the time I was like "ohhhh i bet these are who they took inspiration from for the visual album" It seemed like such a random project to have otherwise, especially to have integrated into the comeback unless that was considered an essential part of what they were doing.
• The SHADOW and EGO were being called "trailers" rather than "teasers" on official marketing.... what are trailers made for???? FILMS!!! The language in general surrounding the comeback all seemed to relate a lot more to film industry language than music industry language.
• There was a separate dance video (sorry: 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓂) coming out FIRST which made me think that the actual MV at the end was going to be really long so they wanted to drop the shorter version first + to call it a 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓂 just seemed so strange unless there was going to be an... idk non-kinetic manifesto film dropped later, so yeah i thought: visual album won't have dancing! Chill! More visuals!!!
• There had generally been some intra-fandom chatter about the possibility + some teases by possible collaborators. Most notably Baz Luhrmann, an acclaimed director especially for his visual style (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, The Get Down, Great Gatsby etc), had hardcore teased a collab in 2018!!! Many people, myself included, were really hoping to see the result of that and it seemed like, with all of the allusions to visual art and artistry + the need to BTS to do something new and bigger that this was going to be the result
• It honestly seemed like a natural leap for them, their MVs had been very visually driven for a long time Since MOTS:7 was already going to be the biggest comeback of their career, and was being branded in a lot of of ways as their most ambitious project, it just seemed like a natural stepping off point for a group that had already done and achieved almost everything in the kpop-verse. Like where else would you go to make sure this is a cb like no other before it? They had so much funding and industry connection, and such a strong basis of visual story telling and imagistic leanings that i was simply put, totally sure that's what we were getting.

Now i don't use the term "clowned" very often. But when that ON MV dropped and it was just a normal, albeit very beautiful and well-shot, MV I immediately got my rainbow wig, applied the white face paint, red nose:ON. I had been played. By myself. Congratulations.
Obviously I'm not mad that it was just a normal MV, that was what was promised and delivered, but I am still confused with how Connect BTS related to any of it, like did that end up going anywhere, was there any relation between that and the album besides maybe Black Swan and its theme of losing artistic inspiration and drive? Idk. Anyways, a visual album is still the type of thing I wish they'd do, or any kpop group for that matter, but i'm not getting my hopes up again.
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Those are my two, please reveal to me y'alls very incorrect predictions so we can revel in our mutual failings to be kpop Nostradamus.

Basically, I am a fan of BTS, just a casual listener and I've been listening to them ever since I got into kpop. I genuinely enjoy their music and personalities and I'm not ashamed to admit it. However, with all this bandwagon hate I lowkey feel ashamed of saying 'Yeah, I like BTS' work', because most often I'm replied with 'Eww, so you're an Army', 'Eww, you're a kpop stan' or 'How can you listen to these Chinese gays, I bet their dicks are small'. I'm not sure if I need to censor this but that's a real response I've gotten, so idk how to comment further, you get the point..
BTS' success was something really unexpected for me and I know that with huge popularity comes A LOT of hate. Literally I had thay girl from my high school. She liked kpop and was listening to BTS as well. But then she dropped out and an year later she came back to school and I was standing in the hallway speaking to a friend of mine. She came to me and asked me if I was still listening to BTS. I was like 'Umm.. Yeah, why?' AND SHE LITERALLY TURNED AROUND AND LEFT. I -......
Anyway, I am not ashamed by any means of listening to their music, because they have literal gems in their albums, but judging people who are fans of their music and being rude is just ridiculous. If I thought Armys were going too far protecting BTS idk what I should think about antis and judgmental people.

When I think back to playing MGS4 I mostly remember watching cutscenes. When I think of the gameplay, from what I remember, it was “sneak from one side of the map to the other”, mixed in with some on-vehicle levels, sometimes-frustrating boss fights, and a boxing match. It was all over the place. I feel like there might be a huge difference between 4 and V (which I have not played, only watched). 4 being more of a movie, V actually being a tactical stealth game.
**SPOILERS**
And the experience is what I was most interested in with Death Stranding after seeing those trailers. What the heck was going on in those trailers? When I saw gameplay, I didn’t think much of it other than it’s a Kojima game, there’s going to be some wacky shit and I want in.
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• FedEX the game. Sure, that was the root gameplay and I see why people would have a problem with that, but only if you look at just that. I have no problem with the gameplay being focused on deliveries and quite frankly I’m amazed they were able to make that this interesting. I can see if you were a Kojima fan, coming from MGSV, you might not be happy.
• I’m happy it’s not another military tactical stealth game. I have played all the mainline MGS games except for V. I was happy to see that Death Stranding is far from that theme, though there is shooty stuff in it. I’m excited to see more from Kojima now that he's away from MGS. A silent hill-like game from him will be bonkers.
• A post-apocalyptic world that didn’t feel like it’s been done a million times already. The world has been obliterated and it was so terrifying that people are afraid to leave their bunkers. The earth looks like another planet, with most traces of a previous civilization being wiped clean. We see some old buildings in Port Knot City, and maybe some rusty cars here and there, but that’s it. Advanced technology is the only thing that has kept people alive and even then it’s limited because of the disconnect between everyone. I really liked the setting.
• The game was oddly addicting for me. I couldn’t leave DS alone. The landscapes, the music, the world building and lore, the unlocking of new equipment, the performances, the sound design, the online aspect. It all was piled on top of a pretty basic pickup-and-deliver game. I wanted to see what would happen next and had to deliverysome packages to get to that next step. So I did.
• Play with good headphones on. My god the sound design! Ear candy. The music is setup perfectly, queuing up moody songs as you start to cross a rocky stretch on your way to do something momentous or after experiencing something momentous. A few times it was almost a relief to hear, like a nice break that let you chill out and catch your breath. And all the little sound queues and effects are so crisp. I amazingly didn’t get tired of them. Kojima productions should sell ringtones.
• The controls are a mess. Holding X to confirm, or trying to remember how to soothe BB, or getting to all the different gear I was carrying was sometimes tedious.
• Satisfaction in doing deliveries. Climbing up a snowy mountain using an exoskeleton, ladders and ropes to deliver a huge load of deliveries felt great. Planting zip lines along the route so you could zip back and fly over that rough terrain was even better.
• Zip lines did not break the game, they kept me from putting it down. Yes I liked doing the deliveries but the snowy mountains and rough terrain almost made it exhausting. I felt like I was climbing those peaks. With chiral bandwidth being a thing, and areas of the map not on the chiral network, you still had to climb those rocks at least once. Getting everyone online and planting those zip line posts made the zip line rides all the more worth it. I bet they were added because people felt fatigued at that point in the game and the mountains made people groan with the idea of trekking back and forth across them.
• I loved how the online mechanic worked. It’s interesting to see “online” done differently and it reminded me of dark souls and the messages you can leave for others. Seeing timefall shelters, generators, zip line posts and private rooms around the corner and built by others was most often a relief to see. Most of the game feels very lonely, but these structures brought some relief to that.
• I did not care for Amelie at all or reconnecting with her. Sam’s life up until when we meet him in the start of the game was completely ignored. It's as if he just suddenly existed at the point we meet him. The introduction of his “mom” was jarring, even for Sam it seemed. I thought that would be a story element, that Sam just kinda came into existence. But apparently he had a childhood and grew up in this world. It’s just never talked about and I wish it was to help me kinda connect Sam with these people.
• I enjoyed all the dialogue. There’s always tons of chatter in kojima’s games and I loved all of it in this game. I’m happy it wasn’t military stuff too. I didn’t get tired of hearing from all the characters.
• Die-Hardman, Deadman, Heartman, Mama, Sam Porter, Bridget Strand, Higgs. The names are very on the nose and I love it. Clifford Unger and Lou are the only “normal” names and that made them kinda weird only because they are normal. And I think Lou was used for the surprise of “Louise” at the end.
• A lot of weapons that I never really felt the need to use. The bola gun was great but then came the non-lethal assault rifle. I think I just used those two weapons and the grenade launcher and missile launcher for bosses.
• Son of a beach. Despite all the in-game talk about it all, I’m still not sure what the beach is, or the seam, or what BTs are, or that Amelie is an EE (and not really Amelie). I’ll have to watch some explainer videos. When you die you go to your own Beach. From there you enter the water to go to the Seam (the under water stuff) which takes you to the afterlife? Only Repatriotes can come back from the Beach/Seam, essentially making them immortal, unless they die on the Beach. Amelie is the Ka of the Ha of Bridget Strand, they are the same and also unknowingly and then Knowingly an EE, who’s “job” it is to bring on an extinction invent, that Sam managed to subvert. Or something.
• I didn’t get tired of the barren landscape and all the rocks. It’s all part of the Death Stranding disaster. It all felt very cold and lonely and that was the point. It looked the same yet it was different.
• The boss fights fall back to what the developer knows, but they felt out of place. I don't know what a better solution would've been for "boss fights". After managing deliveries and navigating terrain, what do you do for these epic battles? Asking me to shoot a grenade launcher at a giant tar squid after spending my time climbing up and down ladders was quite a change. I did enjoy some of the meta dialogue from Higgs in encounters with him.

End Game Stuff
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• Having to head all the way back to where I started really revealed that the maps aren’t that big. You were crossing America heading west, and it felt like a long journey going one way because of the stops you had to make and the new areas you had to explore. But making a bee-line back east was pretty quick. I didn’t have a problem with doing this, but I wish the game showed a lot more stuff that was built by others. It would’ve been nice to go back through areas I didn’t develop too much to see all the roads built and stuff everywhere to show the progress happening now that all the knots were connected.
• Confusion. So Sam was the BB from the flash backs, so who was Lou? Why was connecting to Lou causing my flashbacks? Was Lou anything at all?
• That ending went on forever. I stayed up late because it seemed like it would end any minute. Then the credits rolled, and I was still playing. And then the credits ended and I was still playing.

We are lucky to have Kojima in the industry we love. This game was something different and I enjoyed the experience of it all.
Will we see a Death Stranding 2? “Next Stranding”? “Last Stranding”?
I hope so. Kojima’s only done Metal Gear Solid sequels, and he did some interesting things with those. Changing the protagonist in MGS 2, a prequel for 3, and showing a dystopian world of 4. What could he do with the DS universe? I really hope he’s thinking about it and developing something.

Hello and welcome to the latest Nugu Roundup!
What is this?: This is a weekly feature designed to highlight the unknown/underappreciated groups and soloists working hard in the Kpop world that often fall under the radar. Please share your own information, favorite performance videos, fanmeet stories, or anything else relevant below!
Last week we spent some time in the swamp with BLACK6IX. This week let's check out a girl group that's easy to be a fan of, let's get to know Fanatics!
Look at the first comment below for the winner of the eighth Nugu Roundup Album Giveaway, plus details on this week's album up for grabs!
What is Nugu?: While in Korean it literally means 'Who' in the broader Kpop context it refers to groups that are generally unknown amongst the greater public. It doesn't have to mean they're extremely new, though it can, and there are of course varying degrees of 'unknown' which some groups having very strong niche fandoms and others being almost invisible. I take a fairly broad view and will include groups that may be known to some, but who don't have widespread name recognition.
Let's get on with the show...
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Fanatics
Who are they?: Fanatics are an 8 member girl group under FENT. Their group name represents their desire for people to become very passionate fanatics about their music. They're somewhat unique in that they've had three title releases thus far but each has had a different member lineup.
Company: FENT, short for Fascino Entertainment, is primarily an acting agency, with Fanatics being their only music group. The agency was founded by Yoon Tae-joon, a former member of the 1st-gen boy group Eagle 5 (High School's company RichWorld was also founded by a former Eagle 5 member).
Group Interviews

• Arirang PromiSinger [ENG SUB]
• Fact In Star [ENG SUB]
• Pops in Seoul My Rookie Diaries [ENG SUB] (the portrait quiz at the end is especially entertaining)

Members

• Doi
  • Position: Lead Vocalist, Rapper
  • Real Name: Kim Do I
  • Age: 26 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She joined the group after the soft-debut with the Flavor subunit. She is the oldest member and the company originally instructed her to hide her age, but she argued that she didn't want hide it and that idols older than her had debuted so they eventually relented. She was previously a member of an unnamed pre-debut girl group but the company failed and the group didn't debut. She majored in acting in college, can play the piano and the guitar, and is a talented painter. Her parents bought 100 copies of the group's debut album (5% of the total sales) and 140 copies of the second (10% of the total sales). She is said to be the best cook in the group, and especially likes samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) and soups.
• Sika
  • Position: Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer
  • Real Name: Lian Si Jia (Chinese) / Ren Sika (Japanese)
  • Age: 25 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She is half Japanese and half Chinese, was born in Japan but grew up in Dalian China, a major port city in Northeast China that has changed hands between the Chinese, Russians, Japanese, and British throughout history and is now important in the Chinese/Russian/Japanese trade. She was a trainee at JYP and trained extensively with Momo, Sana, and Mina of Twice. She is fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and can also speak English. Her favorites foods are malatang (hot and numbing hot pot), tteobbokki, and spring rolls.
• Chaelin
  • Position: Main Rapper, Vocalist
  • Real Name: Lee Chae Lin
  • Age: 20 (IA)
  • Facts: She was born in Japan but is Korean. She joined Fanatics for their first full-group EP The Six, but went on hiatus for their second EP Plus Two. She participated in Produce 101 and made it into the 5th round. She was a backup-dancer and backup-vocalist for The East Light when they appeared on Immortal Songs 2 (link). She was previously a trainee under MIDAS Entertainment with Chaebin of Nature. She dropped out of high school so that she could spend more time training and practicing.
• Chiayi
  • Position: Main Dancer, Vocalist, Rapper
  • Real Name: Li Jia Yi
  • Age: 20 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She is from Taiwan and is fluent in Chinese and Korean. She debuted with the group as part of the Fanatics Flavor sub-unit with Milkshake. She is a big fan of Girl's Generation and said listening to their music inspired her be a singer. She went to the same school in Taiwan as G-IDLE's Shuhua and though they didn't know each other then they've become close since both moving to Korea. She has been practicing dance for over 11 years including Traditional Chinese Dance, Ballet, Contemporary Dance, and Acrobatics. She ran into a scout for FENT after leaving a dance practice in Taiwan and was recruited into the group. Her favorite foods are pig's feet, chocolate, honey rice cake, carrot cake, and sweet potato.
• Via
  • Position: Lead Dancer, Vocalist
  • Real Name: Kim Vi A
  • Age: 20 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She is from Busan and grew up there, originally dreaming of becoming a choreographer. She particularly likes the dance style known as Waacking and after seeing Chungha perform a Waacking routine decided to move to Seoul to attend a dance academy. She joined the group for their most recent EP Plus Two. She was nicknamed Piglet by Sika because she often wears light pink make-up. She's been described as the most 'girly girl' member of the group. When she was a kid she was fascinated with the pop-out cash box at retail POS terminals and always asked her parents for one, which they finally gave her as a gift for her 20th birthday.
• Yoonhye
  • Position: Lead Dancer, Vocalist, Rapper
  • Real Name: Jung Yoon Hye
  • Age: 18 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She joined the group for the Fanatics Flavor sub-unit and took a hiatus for the group's 2nd EP Plus Two, using the time to focus on her studies at the Seoul National University of the Arts (department of Theater and Film). She was a church youth leader and a student body president when she was younger. She is one of the tallest idols, at 5'8" (173 cm) the same height as GFriend's Sowon and Weki Meki's Doyeon, and was already 5'6" when she was in 6th grade. She has trained in dance for 10 years specializing in Traditional Korean Dance, Ballet, and Contemporary Dance. She can play the guitar and piano and knows how to set up MIDI synthesizers, playing around writing music with her younger brother when she visits home. She is also good at writing lyrics. She loves Jokbal (Korean stewed pig's feet) so much that she often thinks about it.
• Rayeon
  • Position: Main Vocalist
  • Real Name: Lee Na Yeon
  • Age: 18 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She is originally from Gwangju but grew up and went to middle and high school in China. She can speak Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese and is currently learning Japanese. She joined the group for the 2nd EP Plus Two. Her vocal tone is said to be similar to Park Bom's and she can turn any song into an R&B song. She auditioned and was accepted by Wellmade Yedang Entertainment (which is now Imagine Asia) but chose not to accept the offer. She is a big fan of tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and Chinese hot pot.
• Doah
  • Position: Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer, Vocalist, Maknae
  • Real Name: Kim Do Ah
  • Age: 16 (IA)
  • Self Introduction
  • Facts: She joined the group for the Fanatics Flavor sub-unit. She participated in Produce 48 and made it all of the way to 23rd place. She had had CFs with Etude House, a makeup brand, Roem, a clothing brand, and School Looks. She has also appeared in the web dramas Not a Robot, Girl's World, and Real Time Love Part III. She was street-cast by FENT. She is a fan of the Korean baseball team the Doosan Bears. She prefers using a flip-phone. She tries to read at least one new book per month. She is friends with Juri from Produce. She has been nicknamed Doca-Cola because of her effervescent personality. She is allergic to cats. She says what immediately attracts her to a guy is how he smells.

Debut (Flavor sub-unit): November 26th, 2018 with Milkshake (MV) Live Stage (Link) Dance Practice (Link) Chinese Version (MV)

• Song: The lead single from their debut single album, retro synth-pop meets a cute and quirky MV in what's either a metaphor for finding love or a secret plot by the dairy industry to take over Kpop, you be the judge.
• Composers/Producers: BEATAMIN (Kim Sori - Dual Life, Dal-Shabet - Rewind, Hyuna - Don't Fall Apart)

Debut (full group): August 6th, 2019 with Sunday (MV) Live Stage (Link) Dance Practice (Link)

• Song: Described as an emotionally healing tropical EDM song, this was the lead single for the first full-group EP The Six (representing that the group debuted with six members). The song is about wishing every day was a Sunday and a day off. The choreography was designed by famous Kpop choreography Bae Yoon Jung.
• Composers/Producers: Nassun (KARD - Ride the Wind, Rania - No Dab, Berry Good - Don't Believe), Rich Jang (Stellar - The Wave, Kim Donghan - Everyday, UP10TION - Going Crazy), Koonta (쿤타) (WA$$UP - Dominant Woman, Rude Paper - Hand)

Most Recent Comeback: May 4th, 2020 with Vavi Girl (MV) Live Stage (Link) Choreography Video (Link)

• Song: The lead single from the group's 2nd EP Plus Two, this saw members Chaelin and Yoonhye take a temporary hiatus and the addition of members Via and Rayeon. The song itself is a romanization of the Korean word for 'Barbie' which is played up in the MV and is also a backronym for 'Variety, Adorable, Versatile, Independent'.
• Composers/Producers: MADEWELL (no other credits found), YOSKE (Momoland - Pinky Love, Nature - Bing Bing, Ailee/Jiwoo/Hyoyeon - GG), John East (no other credits found)

YouTube Channel: Fanatics Official
Random Stuff

• Pops in Seoul Pops Noraebang
• Pops in Seoul Peinguin Pang Pang
• No. 1 on Arirang Radio
• Follow Me on Arirang Radio
• Gotta Go (orig. Chungha) Chiayi Dance Cover
• Stay (orig. Zedd & Alessia Cara) Cover by Doi & Sika
• Shake it Off (orig. Taylor Swift) Cover by Doi & Sika
• Change Your Life (orig. Iggy Azalea) Cover by Doah & Chaelin
• Bury a Friend (orig. Billy Eilish) Dance Cover by Chiayi
• Another One Bites The Dust (orig. Queen) Original Choreography
• Kick Up Your Heels (orig. Jessica Mauboy) Original Choreography
• Womanizer (orig. Britney Spears) Original Choreography
• Dash (orig. Rouge) Original Choreography
• Sunday Eye Contact Version
• Do You (orig. TroiBoy) Chiayi & Via Dance Cover
• End Rayeon Cover
• Monster (orig. Irene & Seulgi) Yoonhye & Chiayi Dance Cover

Trivia: SangA of Pink Fantasy was a pre-debut member of the group but transferred to MyDoll Entertainment before debut. Their company doesn't place restriction on them for mobile phone use and while they set goals for them for weight before comebacks they let the members manage their own diets to hit their goals. All of the members are fond of jokbal (braised pig's feet) and gamjatang (pork spine soup). The concept of the group is that the members taking part in each comeback will change and vary based on the concept of the album. The group doesn't all live in a dorm together but does live close to one another. Doi has her own apartment, Via, Rayeon, and Doah live in an apartment below in the same building, Sika and Chiayi live together in another building, and Chaelin and Yoonhye live together. The group's composition is similar to G-IDLE with Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese members.
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Soloist of the Week
Jung Dae Hyun/Daehyun/Baby Hyun
Who is he?: A male soloist under STX Lion Heart Entertainment. He was the former main vocalist of the boy band B.A.P, leaving TS Entertainment after his contract expired.
Company: STX Lion Heart Entertainment is a relatively new company, founded in 2017. They represent a variety of actors, actresses, and solo musicians including Jung Joon Ho, Rang Yeon, JJANGYOU, and more.
Real Name: Jung Dae Hyun
Age: 27 (IA)
Solo Debut: December 1st, 2018 with Baby (MV) Live Performance (Link)

• Song: Released while he was still under TS Entertainment in the twilight of B.A.P, this is a tender and emotional ballad, released as his first solo digital single.
• Composers/Producers: Jung Dae Hyun (original artist), W.E (no other credits found)

Most Recent Comeback: October 10th, 2019 with Aight (MV) Live Stage (Link)

• Song: An upbeat Pop-Funk song almost reminiscent of Michael Jackson, a funky bassline and some fun synth work drive this one with some silky-smooth vocals completing the experience. This was his first Single Album.
• Composers/Producers: Kim Ki Bum (김기범) (Secret - I Do I Do, Girl's Day - Oh My God, B.A.P - 1004 (ANGEL)), Jacoby (no other credits found)

Other Releases and MVs

• You're My (MV) Live Stage (Link)
  • Song: Another emotional ballad, this was the title track for his first EP "Chapter 2 '27'"
  • Composers/Producers: Jung Dae Hyun (original artist), Ungrae (웅래) (Jaehan - The Untold Story)

Trivia: Daehyun was born in Gwangju but grew up in Busan. He has mostly assimilated into the Seoul dialect but still slips in to the Busan dialect on occasion. He has played the role of Lucian in the Korean adaptation of the musical Napoleon and has also acted in the Korean adaptation of Grease. His favorite food is cheesecake, and he dislikes bubble tea. He has composed a number of songs for B.A.P and written two of his solo songs as well. He says he is happiest when he is on stage singing, and is known to become very emotional while on stage.
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IN MEMORIAM
AxisB
Who were they?: A five member boy group under AXB Entertainment and RB Entertainment. Their name came from combining 'Axis' meaning 'the center around which things revolve' and 'B' for Boys, representing their desire to be a group at the center of Kpop.
Releases

• Curious (audio) Live Performance (Link)
  • Song: Their debut song, no MV or music show productions, but they appear to have promoted in the festival and club scene with it. The song itself is nice and fun with a funky-R&B sound. Strangely, there's an 'MV Making' video on their website, but no evidence of there ever having been an MV for the song seems to exist.
  • ComposeProducer: Jinjja Sanai (no other credits found)
• Be My Love (MV) Live Performance (Link)
  • Song: An upbeat love song with bouncy synths and a fun beach-themed MV. Strangely though this is listed has having been a Korean release (with a Japanese release later on) only a Japanese Version MV seems to exist.
  • Composers/Producers: Urban Hz (no other credits found), Jiae (지애) (Ailee (feat. Yoon Mirae) - Home), StreetWriter (no other credits found)

Active Between: September 28th, 2016 - Sometime in later 2017
Reasons for Disbanding: While there's precious little information available out there about them, it appears as it the group failed due to lack of money. Neither of the companies associated with the group seem to exist any longer, and the group was never able to promote on any of the music shows.
Random Stuff

• I Need You (orig. BTS) Dance Cover
• Apology (orig. iKon) Dance Cover
• Coward (member Juno solo stage)
• I Fall In Love With You (orig. Ken Hirai) Solo Stage by member DaeYoung

Trivia: Leader Jung Hoon was previously a member of late-2nd gen co-ed group F1rst (along with fellow member DoA) (who had a great bop with I Love You, You Love Me (MV)) as well as short-lived boy group FameUS (along with fellow members DoA and Dae Young). He has appeared in the Mr. Trot competition this year.
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That's it for today, let's get the discussion on!
As always, if you have any suggestions for groups, content, or things you'd like to see, please let me know in the comments below.
Also as always, a big shout-out to u/not-named-in-credits for founding nugutown and u/sharnaranwan for continuing the work over there.

Taehyung is a multi skilled and interesting artist whom I love and admire a lot, but I feel like most of the talk about him outside of his solo fanbases is centered around his visuals only. While he is incredibly gorgeous, he also has a lot more to offer. So I wanted to make a post to recognize some of the skills he has learned and showed us during the last 7 years as a BTS member and appreciate more facets of this king.

• Since debut, Taehyung proved immensely his singing. I wish I could talk more about technical aspects but I think it's clear how beautiful he sounds in the "Your Eyes Tell" performances
  
• His voice is unique and adds to BTS' songs, giving them an extra bit of flavor. I always love to bring back his moment with teacher Iris since it's one of the few occasions we saw BTS with a vocal coach on camera and she really adored his soulful voice. His tone is really so delicious and expressive and gorgeous, I can't wait until he releases his mixtape so we can hear more.
  
• He is also a great dancer. He has good musicality and dance lines, he is great at expressions too. And yes, he's part of BTS' dance line since 2018, their dance teacher himself said so.
  
• He can act. His stage of Singularity was an experience, Taehyung changed the pace, he told us a story and he wasn't simply V of BTS performing during it. His stage acting is often praised by professionals and other idols too. He also did really well for his first minor drama role after few acting lessons. I hope we can see him develop and explore more of his acting in the future.
  
• He is a musician. He plays the saxophone and he is learning to play the violin and the piano amidst BTS' hectic schedules. He also seems to have absolute pitch.
  
• Nowadays, Taehyung can compose, write lyrics and has even dabbled in producing too. His lyrics are lovely and very much him, he always paints landscaoes and encapsulates feelings in his songs and knows how to comfort and move his listener. Again, can't wait to see what he can do for his mixtape.
  
• With Winter Bear he has proved he can also direct and edit videos. I love it so much, it complemented the song beautifully. Plus he is also good with photography and takes great pictures, so much so he was the one in charge to decide how the jacket shoot of their upcoming selfmade album will be.
  
• He has also been painting for a couple of years now as a hobby and already has developed a signature artistic style (which, as I have learned since I recently started drawing, is harder that it seems)
  
• This one is a bet for the future: he already has an interesting fashion sense and likes to costumize his clothes, so maybe he will learn more about it and we'll get a Taehyung clothing line? I wish!
  

Tae has developed so many different abilities through the years and, with the amount of varied interests he has, I really think if he sets his mind to it he can learn and master so much more. He is a curious type and also a quick learner, he gets interested in different things all the time (most recently voice acting) so he has picked up many skills. I find it inspiring how open and eager to try new things he is. If you are interested in reading more in depth analysis of his work, @taefolio on Twitter has some really good threads. And yeah I'm really proud of him 💜

This goes to k-pop fans that talk about how they don't like English versions of songs in k-pop because it's seen as "breaking into the west" and how they want them to focus primarily on the domestic market. This DOES NOT apply to those who dislike listening to English versions because they find the lyrics "cringey" -- yes, the Korean lyrics are probably equally as cringey but I get that if you can't understand what they're saying, you won't know and you'll just listen to the music. That's fine. BUT to the people who want k-pop to stay something only in the east/Korea(?) they're really just exoticising the idols.
I saw a post about BP criticising their decision to sing Ice Cream in English, saying "shouldn't they want to show America that they can be popular without singing in English?" Okay so this is such like...a lowkey racist question/statement. First of all, I highly doubt that BP and their company could care less about proving to America that their language isn't inferior in some way, and this question literally implies that because America sees Korean as "weird" and "foreign", that BP has to overcome that. I don't think BP is singing in English because they have an inferiority complex; they're singing in English to make MONEY. Of all the companies/idols talking about having foreign members in k-pop groups, I haven't heard ONE statement about "diversity" or anything of the sort. If you have foreign members, you'll do bettethat idol will get more popular in that country that the member is from which leads to more income. I doubt that companies are adding more Japanese members just because they want to be more diverse; no, it's because they want to break into the Japanese market, and same goes for Chinese/Thai members.
Also, along that same line, why aren't people more pressed about idols making Japanese versions of songs or Chinese versions? Oh yeah, it's because they see Chinese/Japanese/Korean as the same because they're all East Asian. This just shows that people want to keep k-pop "exotic" and "unfamilar" by restricting k-pop to languages they don't understand don't hear regularly with people from a race/ethnicity that they also don't see often, especially in music/media. Korean, Japanese, and Chinese people see each other as foreigners because they're from completely separate countries, so imo, if you're going to be pressed about an English version, you'd better be pressed about Japanese/Chinese versions, and the same goes for members; if you're pressed about non-East Asian or Thai members, you'd better be pressed about Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and other non-Korean Asian members as well, or else you just seem like you want k-pop to be exotic and foreign.
Finally, I hate the superiority in which people talk about the west, which comes out in "they don't have to prove themselves to America!!" Who said anything about them proving themselves as legitimate artists? Idols and their companies want to be popular in Korea, and Japan, and China, and America, and SEA, and Europe, and South America, and India, and Africa, and everywhere else because the more places you're popular, the more income you make. Singing in English gets you higher on the charts and increases your chance of hitting it big in a large foreign market. That's it. Do you know why? Because Koreans ARE NOT OPPRESSED in their country. White people are not oppressing Koreans living in Korea where Koreans are THE MAJOURITY. I don't live in Korea but I would bet that Koreans themselves don't see a k-pop group singing in English or touring in the west as a threat to their Korean-ness somehow. As a minority myself in America, I understand the defensiveness that comes with something losing a certain racial identity because of forced assimilation and because there are not that many of your ethnicity/race/culture, but we have to remember that these idols are from companies in Korea where they themselves do not have to fear assimilation and that this lack of fear WILL push them to take more opportunities and will reflect in their business decisions.
Also yes, I know this is probably super popular and been posted before but I feel like some people still aren't getting it (and yeah, it is inspired by a lot of the comments about Blackpink's "Ice Cream", BTS's "Dynamite" and other English versions coming out right about now).

Hi! I wanted to make this post so I could help any new/experienced collectors who might be looking for some good stores to buy albums or merch from, I’m going to just go right into it lol • • Music Plaza | Store: Los Angeles, California Website: USA Link: Music Plaza

• I’ve been going to their store for years now and honestly it’s probably one of my favorite kpop shops
• They have many many many albums from all sorts of groups ( active and disbanded ), and on multiple occasions they’ve had out of print albums in stock
• Besides having a large album selection, they also have a ton of merch from keychains and light sticks, to idol covered stationary and posters ( I’ve even seen cases of BTS Coca-Cola for sale lmao )
• Price is pretty normal ( keep in mind if you buy online you will have to pay for shipping ), and when you go to purchase they’ll ask you who your biases are based off what you bought and they’ll include unofficial freebies of your bias they’re so nice :’)
• I have personally never bought from them online, but my friend who has said that their shipping was great and their albums came well protected
• Usually the shop is pretty quiet so your browsing experience is really enjoyable. The only time it’s ever super crowded is when KCON LA is happening, I took my friends there and it was packed with fans from KCON, you’d think that the actual expo was being held there lol

Kpop Republic | Store: Los Angeles, California Website: USA Link: Kpop Republic

• Probably the most just “OK” kpop store on my list
• I’ve only been there once since it’s closer to Anaheim ( Near Disneyland for non California residents lol )
• Their selection is pretty decent, not as big as some only kpop stores, but more than just normal retail stores. They mainly sell new albums and have a small merch selection
• I know that on multiple occasions they’ve held raffles and random dance plays in their store where you could win albums and store gift cards which I thought was pretty cool
• Price wise is definitely on the more expensive side as well. I remember buying two albums where I paid $50, which at the most should’ve been $35-$40. I’ve never bought online from them, so please keep in mind the shipping and tax

FYE | Store: The one I went to was in Denver, Colorado I’m pretty sure they have multiple across America Website: USA Link: FYE

• Not a kpop specific store, they sell a lot of different music/collectible things
• The store I went to had a pretty small kpop selection, but from my research they have more in other stores. Although even with their small selection it was pretty diverse. I bought ONF’s On/Off album, and this was back when barely anyone knew about them so I was surprised that they had it
• Their Website has a pretty great selection, I’ve been seeing some pretty old albums on there, but I’ve never ordered from them so I can’t tell you about the shipping and how well protected the albums are
• Prices are also kind of high compared to other stores except as of Today August 2nd 2020, they’re having a 15% off sale on their website :)

Kpop USA | Store: Las Vegas, Nevada Website: USA Link: Kpop USA

• This Website right here!!!! I absolutely love them and 100% trust them for everything
• They have a huge selection online for albums and merch
• Have a section of on sale albums/seasons greetings/DVDs
• Prices are good and have low shipping ( at least for me since I live closer to Nevada, I don’t know if the shipping is more expensive the farther you are )
• If you make an account everything you buy gives you points which you can redeem to get free stuff. It also tells you your purchases which I thought was cool lol
• Shipping is fast, and everything comes so well protected, literally covered in tons of bubble wrap
• Customers service is great. I had an issue where one of my albums didn’t come with something it said it did so I contacted them asking if maybe it was because it was a restock. They got back to me two days afterwards ( they’ll probably be faster if you call them during business hours, I emailed them ), and even though they did say it was because it was a restock they gave me 100 points on my account for my troubles, I’ve never had such nice customer service EVER.
• I haven’t been to their store yet, but from the pictures on Google they have a pretty decent stock of albums and merch, but it’s nothing compared to the website.
• If you’re going to buy albums online this is the website to go to

Mercari | Store: N/A Website: World-wide I think? I’ve only seen it be used in Japan and America Link: Mercari ( They also have an app which is better to use than the website on your phone )

• eBay but in my opinion easier to use
• I’ve heard of some people having bad experiences on there, but so far for me it’s been nothing but fantastic full of lovely sellers
• Large selection of people reselling used albums/merch I’ve bought all my signed albums off there from trusted sellers I talked to
• Shipping can be free or not, sometimes shipping is included in the price
• A lot of albums on there are sold without Photocards or other inclusions, but then again some are
• If you’re looking for rare/out of print albums this is the place
• If you’re going to buy signed albums be careful, talk to the seller and ask if they can offer proof on where/how they got the album I have yet for someone to not respond or not answer my request
• Unlike eBay where you bid for stuff, you can make offers on people’s items. If you don’t low ball and are nice to the seller they’ll give you a good deal. Also if you heart an item so it’s saved sellers will send a better deal to those likers
• Protection varies, most of the time they come well protected. I did have one case where during shipping the side of the album got smashed which was upsetting. I couldn’t blame the seller though since it was bubble wrapped pretty well, it was UPS’s fault I have no idea what they did to it
• What I really love about the app is that you can save searches/hashtags so when someone posts an item under those titles it’ll notify you so you won’t miss anything. You can save (AKA like or heart ) items too and it’ll give you a notification when it’s sold or the price has gone down

Barnes & Nobel | Store: Across America Website: World wide Link: Barnes & Noble

• It’s OK lol
• In store their selection has gotten better, but still pretty basic ( mainly BTS, EXO, Red Velvet, and Twice )
• Website has a a lot more diversity, they have a good selection of older albums
• More on the expensive side for sure, especially if you’re paying for shipping. They have Monsta X’s Beautiful album on the website for $28.73 while on Kpop USA it’s only $17.99
• Tbh I wouldn’t go here unless you have a gift card or are desperate to possibly find an older album
• I have no idea how well protected the albums are when they are shipped, but if they’re this expensive they better be wrapped in a mile worth of bubble wrap

Target | Store: Across America Website: World Wide Link: Target

• I’m just gonna say no on this one
• In store is awful, I like to call it the ghetto of kpop albums
• In store they only sell the most recent BTS, NCT127, SuperM, and the Monsta X All About Luv American edition albums. Not only is the selection very poor, but these are not well protected. People will often remove the plastic wrap and steal the Photocards from the albums. Once I went and saw that every single NCT127 Neo Zone the Final Round album they had in stock had their plastic wrap removed, and no Photocards or circle cards. I’ve bought albums from Target before, but I had to check carefully that the album hadn’t been messed with
• Website has a pretty poor selection too, and are also on the more expensive side. I’m gonna include Walmart in this too since they’re pretty much the same. Target and Walmart’s shipping isn’t good either, I’ve had to wait weeks for things to arrive ( not kpop ), and the packaging was somewhat damaged ( luckily my item wasn’t )
• I would say unless you happen to be there and see an album that hasn’t been tampered with, don’t go there just for kpop albums

Musica | Store: Paris, France Website: Only France I think? Link: Musica

• Probably one of the best kpop album buying experiences I’ve ever had
• I found them when I went to go see my family in England and we visited Paris
• They actually have two separate stores, one for merch and one for albums, and they’re both in the same complex
• They have a great selection of albums, when I was there this old Korean lady and her husband ran the album shop. They were both so sweet and were able to talk in French, English, and Korean!
• Their prices are pretty decent too ( I think, I’m not too familiar with using € lol )
• I want to go to Paris again just so I can visit their shop lmao

HMV | Store: Across the UK Website: N/A Link: HMV

• I’ve went and bought just normal CDs all the times I’ve been there, but I still looked at the kpop albums so I’m gonna talk about it
• Selection varies by store since it’s a pretty well known music store chain, but it’s pretty diverse. The times I’ve been the selection has just been getting bigger and bigger
• Price I remember being pretty decent ( more in the £20 range tho )
• I haven’t been able to find many kpop album selling stores in the UK so HMV is probably your best bet
• Website doesn’t have as much as the actual store does
• Bonus points because their logo is a cute dog

Amazon | Store: N/A Website: World wide Link: Amazon.com ( just search “kpop album” )

• Eh it’s okay
• Expensive, especially if you don’t have Prime
• Unless you search for a specific album/group you’re gonna get pretty basic results
• CEO kinda sucks and doesn’t need anymore money
• Albums are pretty well protected
• No rare or out of print albums

This is my list~ If I ever use a website I haven’t used yet, go to some of the the actual stores I haven’t been to already, or find new places I’ll be sure to update! I really hope this helps :))