Hybe playing its supreme card - and the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Expansion around the World aiming for her chance to return to Power

    The Worst has come to pass - who will win the control of Kpop, the 4th Generation or the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World? 17

    1. The 4th Generation (5) 29%
    2. The Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World (12) 71%

    Hybe plays its supreme card by suspending BTS' activities, kind of forcing the politicians of Korea to make a decision.


    There won't be any elections for the net 2 years, so there will be no young K-O-R-E-A-N males to appease as well.


    Seventeen is not too behind, but at least it has many members so the absence of a few members will be manageable.


    Meanwhile, the Singer who contributed nothing towards the expansion of Kpop around the world will probably be under a lot of thoughts.


    Kakao is certainly aware of it and has taken the control of her company from her, rest she would be preoccupied on acting and neglecting the chance to return to power. Kakao , after retaking the control of Edam Entertainment, pulled her from an upcomingI ott drama.


    The promo for Broker will end at the end of this week. She will have to go to Japan for Kore-eda's sake, but by July she will probably be planning for strategy. (Her soccer movie with Park Seojoon is expected to be released around the Autumn moon festival season, early Sep in this year, leaving the rest of year for her to plan for her concerts.)


    I expected BTS to have concerts and all that for the rest of the year, but now that won't happen, the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the Advancement of Kpop around the World will probably want to take over Korean Pop again.


    Events are progressing in the direction I expected to be the least favorable. The 4th Gen is not strong enough to take over and prevent the ambition of the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World from manifesting itself again, and it is just like the heavens cursed Kpop and make the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World to have one final chance to kill the Kpop Revolution and make Korean Pop return to its sleepy, isolationist era which lasted for a very long time, led by Kakao, who now has control of her company.


    Will the 4th Gen, which didn't have time to get established around the world, be strong enough to stop her ambition? I doubt it.


    I have talked about the ambition of the Singer who contributed noting towards the Kpop Expansion to the world, because in spite of having contributed nothing towards it , she wants to share the benefits and coattail towards it. She is the one person who could end it all, and now events are progressing in a way which is very favorable for her, and not too so for the 4th Generation of KPop.

    taylor-swift-eras-tour-via-variance-films-.jpg

    Edited once, last by WhyKnock ().

    Very curious to know how much Kakao Ent stock IU was given as trade for Kakao's increased EDAM stake, I'm guessing we'll find out when Kakao Ent IPO's later this year? If the SM Ent acquisition ever goes through.


    Anyway, I expect concerts from IU later this year but no significant new music movement until mid-next year at earliest.

    Quote from dummi

    I would love to see IU become big around the world, maybe I'll even hear her music in supermarkets

    I did hear her songs (in Korean of course) in non-Korean , Asian themed restaurants and sometimes Asian supermarkets several times since her whispering style of singing weakens Korean accents and her songs are kinda known at least in various Asian countries.

    Bruh, have you seen Tomboy and Love Dive charting? They're fixing to get 20+ weeks on Melon Top 10, and Tomboy is #1 on Melon and Genie Daily charts after three months since release. This is IU like charting ngl.


    In fact, IU has a "Fifth Column" in her own ranks, a li'l 4th gen upstart group by the name of StayC who has already made waves. I dont think her victory is assured just yet.

    Quote from pchromo4

    Very curious to know how much Kakao Ent stock IU was given as trade for Kakao's increased EDAM stake, I'm guessing we'll find out when Kakao Ent IPO's later this year? If the SM Ent acquisition ever goes through.


    Anyway, I expect concerts from IU later this year but no significant new music movement until mid-next year at earliest.

    Unknown since it would be a fraction of total Kakao stock (Kakao has a market cap of 25 billion


    Kakao (035720.KS) - Market capitalization
    As of June 2022 Kakao has a market cap of $25.85 Billion. This makes Kakao the world's 636th most valuable company according to our data.
    companiesmarketcap.com

    )


    but since Lee Jieun has been with Kakao for quite a long time it is estimated her stake could be as high as $80 million. It is likely that her name will show up , in some way , in Kakao's statement but that will be sometime next year.

    Quote from BlackpinkHouse

    Bruh, have you seen Tomboy and Love Dive charting? They're fixing to get 20+ weeks on Melon Top 10, and Tomboy is #1 on Melon and Genie Daily charts after three months since release. This is IU like charting ngl.


    In fact, IU has a "Fifth Column" in her own ranks, a li'l 4th gen upstart group by the name of StayC who has already made waves. I dont think her victory is assured just yet.

    Every year I used to do a list of acts who paid filial duty to her by covering her songs, but this year I didn't do that because other than a few , most 4th Gen acts worth something did so, making me think that it is meaningless.

    Yippeee... as expected WhyKnock delivers.


    That girl with no contributions,
    That girl Whyknock hates,
    That girl no i-fan know,
    That girl is oh so spiteful,
    That girl Whyknock is afraid of

    If 'Broker' hits Oscars, then CJ ENM should be smart to do at least an LA concert along with the promotions.

    But otherwise, I expect IU will keep to her pattern. 2022 will be low activity, Dream promotions and Corona willing, concerts. It is quite possible that there are few like Jay Park holding back their IU cards to be used strategically. But apart from such collabs, nothing much to expect.

    She has enough material from Eight - Lilac-Strawberry Moon, which have not been sung in concerts so far. So need not bother about new music.


    But 2023 will see music releases, singles if not an EP.

    And even if she withdrew from Money Game this year, I am betting she will do an OTT drama - maybe with KakaoTV. with Disney/Netflix distribution, like "Lovestruck in the City"


    However, I don't think it is going to matter much to K-pop, while she is indeed an 'Exception' to many of K-pop dynamics, and will remain so. She will not impact the direction of the market or the industry by much.


    So 4th gen groups will prosper, even if not as successful as BTS internationally, they will do well.


    Besides I don't expect Kpop as sustaining in the West. It was just BTS and to lesser extent BP/few others, who succeeded. Wake of that impact will last for sometime and merge/fade.

    I changed my avatar to a photo she took , with full confidence, when she was the owner of Edam Entertainment. (the faces of her two bodyguards have been cut by the akp avatar system.)


    Since Broker didn't get good reviews in English-speaking media it is unlikely that it will be invited to the Oscars. Which means no LA concert.


    that aside, the 4th Gen did not have enough time to develop their reach around the world. So they won't fill the giant gap created by BTS' long hiatus.


    With no clear cut front runner being able to take over BTS' vast empire, it is likely that KPop will retreat to the situation in early 2010s, with IU as the de facto leader for the absence of anyone else to take that spot.

    "Broker" is indeed an aside. As to reviews, it does not matter, it all depends on the campaign CJENM & Neon will run. But let that be.


    "reach around the world" - my contention is that BTS is not replaceable, because it is not that K-pop became popular and BTS benefitted, but rather BTS became popular and equated with K-pop. (few other groups to much smaller degree). So if BTS steps out, nobody is looking for a replacement.

    Another K-pop brand, needs to build its own impact, they are not going succeed into BTS' shoes. No more than anybody succeeded ABBA.

    (That may or may not happen. SKZ is showing promise - again their own path. The "paving the path" trope is nonsensical, in art, nobody can merely build over/follow others to be successful, each one has to pave their own paths. And sometimes being the first mover is a huge advantage thanks to novelty factor, than later movers.)


    So in that sense, I agree that Western expansion of Kpop might be done with BTS ramp down (or whatever hell HYBE means that they are not taking hiatus, but just focusing on solos)


    My point is however it goes, IU will have little to do with it. She will continue to have her own success, which is independent of what is happening to groups and her success is not/has not made any difference to agencies debuting groups.


    Even before BTS found success say 2015-2016, how many agencies tried to duplicate IU vs. debuting groups to repeat SNSD or Bigbang?

    She is like a parallel stream within K-pop, but a stream that is rather unique.


    Musically as well, people are not going to stop making dance music with trashy lyrics, just because IU is successful with lyrical authenticity.


    So meh..

    Quote from WhyKnock

    Since Broker didn't get good reviews in English-speaking media it is unlikely that it will be invited to the Oscars. Which means no LA concert.

    I know you like to make up stuff from thin air and run with it but..

    Broker - Movie Reviews
    Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and…
    www.rottentomatoes.com

    It has 85% on rotten tomatos, 4 out of 25 english reviews says its bad, the rest range from ok to great.


    Oscar yea sure unlikely, but she will never hold a concert in LA even if it was so

    Quote from Kreatin

    I know you like to make up stuff from thin air and run with it but..

    https://www.rottentomatoes.com…ecard_tomatometer-reviews

    It has 85% on rotten tomatos, 4 out of 25 english reviews says its bad, the rest range from ok to great.


    Oscar yea sure unlikely, but she will never hold a concert in LA even if it was so


    Well there are bunch of festivals before Oscars. And Oscars depend a lot upon the campaign mounted by the producers/distributors. A nomination would be good enough.


    Maybe a concert is improbable, but even if they hit the talk shows, where her K-pop superstardom comes out, that will exponentially increase her profile.

    It still beats me that with no such thing, she is already ranking among BTS/BP in many an international surveys/searches.

    Quote from Kreatin

    Oscar yea sure unlikely, but she will never hold a concert in LA even if it was so

    tbh I kind of got the sense that iu/her team was interested in a north american tour for 2020 but then pandemic happened....


    the problem for IU now is opportunity cost - if she condensed tour dates to just LA/NY she could sell out reasonable-sized venues (I'll guess 5-6k seats per show) but the problem is that whatever money she'd make from that pales in comparison to if she spent the same amount of time shooting a drama or cfs. way more lucrative to stick to her korean concerts where she can sell upwards of 100k tickets and asian tour stops with 10-15k tickets per stop. most groups/artists do north korean tours as a promotional tactic, not necessarily for the money (until they become big enough to sell out arenas in multiple cities).

    Quote from pchromo4

    tbh I kind of got the sense that iu/her team was interested in a north american tour for 2020 but then pandemic happened....


    the problem for IU now is opportunity cost - if she condensed tour dates to just LA/NY she could sell out reasonable-sized venues (I'll guess 5-6k seats per show) but the problem is that whatever money she'd make from that pales in comparison to if she spent the same amount of time shooting a drama or cfs. way more lucrative to stick to her korean concerts where she can sell upwards of 100k tickets and asian tour stops with 10-15k tickets per stop. most groups/artists do north korean tours as a promotional tactic, not necessarily for the money (until they become big enough to sell out arenas in multiple cities).


    Wut? 100k tickets in Korea? How many concerts would IU need to hold to get this attendance...i read that Korea is a bad place for concerts which is why so many Kpop acts tour overseas 95 percent of the time.

    Quote from bbgc



    So 4th gen groups will prosper, even if not as successful as BTS internationally, they will do well.


    Besides I don't expect Kpop as sustaining in the West. It was just BTS and to lesser extent BP/few others, who succeeded. Wake of that impact will last for sometime and merge/fade.


    I think you're forgetting the potential of BTS' soloists in the US.


    I think there is a real chance for a few of them to become household names in the US. To me, that's an even bigger deal than BB charting records. If JK or V become popular enough to be mentioned among the likes of Harry Styles or Bieber, even among locals, i think this would be even more impactful, speaking as a KA myself.

    Quote from BlackpinkHouse

    I think you're forgetting the potential of BTS' soloists in the US.


    I think there is a real chance for a few of them to become household names in the US. To me, that's an even bigger deal than BB charting records. If JK or V become popular enough to be mentioned among the likes of Harry Styles or Bieber, even among locals, i think this would be even more impactful, speaking as a KA myself.

    Doubtful.

    K-pop's speciality is in its group dynamics exhibited via the choreography.


    But we will see

    Problem for IU is not the money she could make in US vs. Korea by concerts.

    But also her branding, far more then groups even BTS, her image is Korea's own for Korean's sake - not tied to the economic benefits or external affirmation that BTS brings.


    That can get diluted is she focuses on the West and worse if she underperforms.


    We can put any monetary value on that image or even assess the dilution.


    BTS had the advantage that their rise was almost concurrent, some even say that the foreign fans were ahead of Koreans.


    But the Nation's Little Sister pandering to the West, singing in English.. I don't know.


    Is the risk worth it?

    Does she even need it?

    Quote from BlackpinkHouse

    Wut? 100k tickets in Korea? How many concerts would IU need to hold to get this attendance...i read that Korea is a bad place for concerts which is why so many Kpop acts tour overseas 95 percent of the time.

    IU wants to hold a concert in olympic stadium (if she's able to do it this year, before it starts renovation), which has 60k capacity, and she usually does 2 shows in seoul. her last domestic tour was over 100k tickets between 4 cities.

    Edited once, last by pchromo4 ().

    Quote from WhyKnock

    The Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World

    Quote from WhyKnock

    the Singer who contributed nothing towards the expansion of Kpop around the world

    Quote from WhyKnock

    the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the Advancement of Kpop around the World

    Quote from WhyKnock

    the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World

    Quote

    the Singer who Contributed Nothing towards the KPop Explosion around the World

    Quote

    the Singer who contributed noting towards the Kpop Expansion to the world

    I'm REALLY impressed that you are so fixated and obsessed that you typed this sentence out 6 times (7 including title) with variations in wording and capitalisation each time instead of just writing it once and then copy pasting it each time.


    That is real dedication to a tired, boring obsession.


    Congrats.

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    I'm REALLY impressed that you are so fixated and obsessed that you typed this sentence out 6 times (7 including title) with variations in wording and capitalisation each time instead of just writing it once and then copy pasting it each time.


    That is real dedication to a tired, boring obsession.


    Congrats.

    And Kudos to you for noticing how much care WhyKnock puts into his obsession.


    I didnt notice the fine details.

    Quote from pchromo4

    tbh I kind of got the sense that iu/her team was interested in a north american tour for 2020 but then pandemic happened....

    can i ask what made you think this? imo they seem everything but interested in promotion outside of asia

    Lee Jieun has taken hiatuses from singing frequently. In 2020, despite of not doing much, she only released one song, Eight, with Suga. (The signal song for Into the I-land and the OST which frustrated IZOne might count too but they are not regular releases.)


    It is just that she doesn't have the base for a world tour.


    She already failed in Japan and the K-O-R-E-A-N fans are forgiving. They know Lee JIeun's music really doesn't work outside of Korea so won't pay too much attention to her misadventures in the west.

    Quote from ThePhantomThief

    I'm REALLY impressed that you are so fixated and obsessed that you typed this sentence out 6 times (7 including title) with variations in wording and capitalisation each time instead of just writing it once and then copy pasting it each time.


    That is real dedication to a tired, boring obsession.


    Congrats.

    I have been doing this for 10 years.

    Quote from selfmate

    no history lesson today OP?

    Napoleon tried to invade Russia but it was too cold


    Then Trump built the great wall of china


    Replace the wall of China with Lee Jieun and some of the others with BTS and you can understand what the Great Anachronism is about.


    Dimensional travel, worlds creation, the big bang on steroids... That's just the beginning.


    And Lee Jieun is the beginning, the middle and the end. Because she reached nirvana, got bored and came back to annoy BTS fans by breaking records.

    I’mma give you something Bet you put the money in the bag

    XWQN6MB.png

    When lee jieun reaches world 77.000.000.000 she'll say: I am bored of being bored.


    Then she'll stop destroying and rebuilding realities. She'll become a butterfly, cause 77.000.000.000 apocalypses at the same time... Then she and jungkook will become ethereal beings.


    Jungkook or V, it's not clear who she is dating with.


    They'll become ethereal beings and have a human baby. That baby will be called Sidarta XIII.


    Sidarta XIII will rename herself to IU The Second and that's how IU will conquer ethereal immortality and reach true peak seniority.

    I’mma give you something Bet you put the money in the bag

    XWQN6MB.png

    no no no that's fanfiction


    I want it straight from the horse's OP's mouth

    With the effective end of BTS as a group, there is no act which would take control of KPop and in the last few years only IU stood against BTS so the control of KPop falling into IU is inevitable.


    IU, for the first time in her 15 year career, gets to call the shots in KPop at her will, and she is likely to exercise the rights to direct the future of Korean Pop according to what she feels like, namely isolationism.


    Other acts will follow what they feel is right, but with the Korean scene dominated by IU, they will be marginalized.

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