WARNING: semi long post
First of all, I want to preface this by saying that I’m a huge gg enthusiast. I do like bgs and ggs but I find myself being more of a fan of ggs.
My ults are TWICE and I’m a huge fan of BLACKPINK, Itzy, Aespa, Stayc, and NMIXX.
I’m also a casual listener of groups like Red Velvet, IVE, Gidle, and Kep1er. I like a lot of their songs but I wouldn’t say I “stan” them per se.
I don’t have anything against any of the groups I’m going to be talking about.
Recently, I’ve seen this trend with a lot of 4th gen gg stans where they refer to 3rd gen groups as having past their prime, calling them flops, incessantly comparing the success of 4th gen groups to them, saying they are better and what not. And honestly? It makes me sad to see.
The success of a lot of 4th gen groups is actually kind of mind blowing. 2022 has basically been the year of the gg with ggs coming out with so many smash hits, demolishing sales records and reaching exceptional heights in popularity. While all of this is amazing, I don’t get the need to compare them with 3rd gen ggs especially as a way to call these groups “flops”.
It started with a comment I saw on Reddit the other day here someone was talking about Love Dive and Tomboy and how they were so much better than anything 3rd gen groups could do and how the success outweighed 3rd gen groups (mind you, at this time I think only red velvet as a 3rd gen gg had actually had a comeback) and I just remember being so confused.
Comparing rookies or people who are still in the starting phases of their careers is just crazy to me. These so called 3rd gen flop groups are STILL recording higher album sales each year, selling out stadiums and domes, are the brand ambassadors for multiple top brands, keep improving on their craft in terms of singing, songwriting and dancing, and are most likely the idols of the idols that they are being compared to but somehow they are flops because they don’t get PAKs with every release? Okay.
Even though I wasn’t a fan during that generation of K-pop I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the same conversation that happened when a lot of 3rd gen groups stepped into the scene towards the end of 2nd gen. I wish K-pop fans wouldn’t feel the need to put down every new generation of girl groups simply because new ones are coming out and are getting very successful these days. Because for example, to me, no matter how big RV, Blackpink or TWICE are, when talking about the legacy of K-pop, you wouldn’t exclude groups like 2NE1 and SNSD. Yeah the younger groups might sell more and have more achievements than those older groups but there’s still a thing called LEGACY which these older groups have.
Idk at this point, maybe I’m rambling but it’s really upsetting hearing fans of predominantly younger groups calling older groups flops or saying that these older groups are “threatened” by younger groups. And it’s a narrative I mostly see applied towards girl groups and not boy groups. And I’m not surprised because it’s symptomatic of our society these days. Older women should always be “beware” of their younger counterparts while dudes just all get to chill out with each other.
Just want to end this long post by saying that yeah 4th gen ggs are killing the game right now and maybe someday they would be a part of the “K-pop hall of fame” but for now, stans should just enjoy their careers and music and stop using them as a drag against 3rd gen groups. Respect should be given to who it is owed. Peace out ✌️
