u/Wonderful-Expert8084

It’s definitely worth welcoming them back just because it’s been so long, but the song itself feels pretty mid to me.

Arirang was never gonna qualify for Best Asian Pop Music Performance anyway. More than 70% of the whole album is in English. Below is the Language Requirement the Grammys published.

>"Recordings must feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. An Asian language should play a significant role within the song in bilingual or multilingual structures such that the recording is identifiable with that language. Recordings performed entirely in an Asian language are eligible. Incidental or minimal use (e.g., isolated words, adlibs, or brief phrases) does not qualify. Recordings performed entirely in English are not eligible in this category and remain eligible in other appropriate categories."

Sure, you can argue that "meaningful use" and "significant role" are kinda subjective. But I don't think anyone can seriously say Korean still has a meaningful or significant role when over 70% of the album is in Engilsh.

So in the end, Hybe actaully made a pretty smart move. They got to claim the "resisting the Grammys" position over an award they were probably never gonna win anyway, and from a marketing pov that's honestly not bad.

I really loved Billie's latest full-length album. At first, I was skeptical because the track count didn't seem big enough for what I'd normally consider a full album. But after listening to it from start to finish, I completely changed my mind. It's packed with high quality songs that all share a consistent sound and atmosphere. The whole album flows together and feels like one living, breathing piece of music. Honestly, it feels more like a true full album than some others that have more tracks but end up sounding like a random collection of songs.

That said, I can also understand why their results have been a little disappointing every comeback. They don't really have that one title track that instantly grabs people. Work is a great song, but it doesn't have that one standout moment that immediately hooks the general public. Making a great album is already difficult, but finding that one title track that rises above everything else is even harder.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons too, but at the end of the day, I just hope they eventually get the level of success that matches the quality of the music they're putting out.

I really loved Billie's latest full-length album. At first, I was skeptical because the track count didn't seem big enough for what I'd normally consider a full album. But after listening to it from start to finish, I completely changed my mind. It's packed with high quality songs that all share a consistent sound and atmosphere. The whole album flows together and feels like one living, breathing piece of music. Honestly, it feels more like a true full album than some others that have more tracks but end up sounding like a random collection of songs.

That said, I can also understand why their results have been a little disappointing every comeback. They don't really have that one title track that instantly grabs people. Work is a great song, but it doesn't have that one standout moment that immediately hooks the general public. Making a great album is already difficult, but finding that one title track that rises above everything else is even harder.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons too, but at the end of the day, I just hope they eventually get the level of success that matches the quality of the music they're putting out.

fromis_9 is a group that has become pretty well known for having bad luck with their companies. After moving on from Pledis and joining what was basically a newly established agency, I was curious to see how things would turn out. But so far, I’d say they’ve been doing a solid job. The company seems to be relatively small-scale at the moment, yet their management, execution, and the quality of their projects actually seem better than what they had under bigger companies before. I also really like the design direction for their upcoming full-length album.

Many people misunderstand this issue because they judge K-pop based on the traditional relationship between record labels and artists. However, much of the “controlling nature” of K-pop companies comes from the fact that they invest in a group from the very beginning and are involved in building it from the ground up.

Most music companies outside of K-pop typically sign artists who have already developed their own identity, skills, and fanbase. The label invests in things like album production and promotion after the contract is signed, but the artist’s foundation already exists. If the project fails or the artist causes a serious controversy, the company can usually cut ties and move on. Of course, real contracts are far more complicated, but the basic difference is that the label did not create the artist from scratch.

K-pop companies, however, build groups from the ground up. They select trainees, provide years of training, develop their skills and image, and shape the group’s identity before debut. This requires not only massive financial investment but also years of time and resources. Because of that, if a member of a group makes a serious mistake or becomes involved in a major controversy, the damage does not only affect that individual. It can impact the entire project that the company and the other members spent years building. Unlike traditional labels, they cannot simply replace the artist and immediately move on because creating a new group requires another long process of training and development.

Of course, the ideal situation is for individuals to freely express themselves and take responsibility for their own words and actions. But we have all seen cases where one careless comment or mistake can seriously damage an artist’s career, and this is not unique to K-pop. The difference is that in K-pop, the consequences of an individual’s actions often extend beyond that person because the group itself is the result of years of collective effort and enormous investment from both the members and the company. That is why K-pop companies tend to have a much stronger level of involvement and control compared to traditional record labels.

------

edit: I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding. The point of my post was not to create a Korea vs. the West dichotomy. Even within the Korean music industry, there are areas outside of K-pop, or more precisely, Korean idol music. And of course, non-K-pop companies also exercise a certain degree of control over their artists.

What I was talking about is that the tendency people often criticize, namely the tendency to control artists’ individual actions and statements, comes from the broader characteristics of the K-pop industry itself. Of course, there are also companies outside of K-pop that show similar tendencies, but my point is that this is a more common structural tendency within the K-pop industry.

The music videos for Burning Up, with their Korean snack bars and electronics markets as the backdrop, DDI RO RI, which borrows the way Korean children pronounce Bach's melody, and even the choreography for Hit Em, which looks like it's imitating workout poses from Korean gyms, all make it seem like Meovv's production team is consistently trying to create content that's intentionally goofy, memeable, and likely to go viral.

What do you think about this creative direction? Do you think it's actually working? DDI RO RI, at least, feels like a success in the sense that it generated a lot of discussion and became a meme, whether people loved it or hated it.

Although Nmixx has consistently centered its identity around Mixxpop, I think they've continuously evolved the way they approach it throughout their career. I'm curious which era of their music you prefer the most. I also tried dividing their career into different eras based on the title tracks, and I'd like to know whether you agree with this classification.

O.O, DICE - The original Mixxpop. A production approach that stitched together songs with completely different styles and even different rhythms.

Love Me Like This, Party O'Clock - A departure from Mixxpop. They temporarily set aside the Mixxpop identity and embraced a more conventional pop sound.

Dash, See That? - A return to Mixxpop. While the original Mixxpop often switched rhythms entirely, this era kept the same rhythmic foundation while changing musical sections. Examples include the punk rock section in Dash and the country-inspired section in See That?

Know About Me, Blue Valentine, Heavy Serenade - Instead of building songs by piecing together distinct sections, Mixxpop evolved into a style that organically blends different musical elements and sonic textures into a cohesive whole.

View Poll

When I first heard that AOMG, a Korean hip hop label, was launching a girl group, I was honestly surprised, but also excited. Since they're a company that has specialized in hip hop and rap for years and has been home to some of Korea's most respected rappers, I expected both the music and the members' skills to be solid. At the same time, I felt it might be bad news for a group like Young Posse, which also bases its identity around hip hop. This might sound harsh, but I felt the members' rap skills were lacking compared to established rappers. I wondered whether they could really compete if a group doing "real" hip hop came along. I'm not saying they're lacking as idols. I just don't think they're at the level where you would say they're truly specialized as rappers in the same way professional rappers are. (For example, one of the members, Jeong Sunhye, received criticism from Korean hip hop fans after an underwhelming performance on Show Me the Money last year.)

But after Keyveatz started releasing music and I listened to their album, that opinion completely changed. As expected, the members' rap performances were solid, and I thought the songs were very well made. At the same time, I realized they simply didn't feel very K-pop to me. Young Posse also builds its identity around hip hop, and personally I still think rapping is their weaker point. Even so, their music and overall aura still have something that feels distinctly K-pop. That made me realize there's a certain K-pop quality that can't simply be explained by specific musical elements alone. It's something I don't really feel from Keyveatz, but I do feel from Young Posse, and I think that's one of their biggest strengths.

It's difficult for me to explain exactly what that quality is. It almost feels like Keyveatz's music, style, and overall presentation were recreated without really going through the process of being adapted into K-pop. That's the closest I can come to describing it. I'm curious whether anyone else had a similar reaction, and I'd also like to hear from people who disagree.

They've got concerts in Japan coming up soon, and Sullyoon's collab with a Japanese contact lens brand has already been teased. It kinda feels like they're slowly getting ready for more promotions in Japan. My guess is it'll mostly be Japanese versions of thier existing songs, like Blue Valentine and Heavy Serenade. I could be wrong tho.