There was a long war between BTS and Iu in Korea (I am no longer allowed to use dashes in country names) , which ended with IU's triumph at least in there.
IU is the master of easier-listening style of Korean Pop, but she did find some fans outside of her home country and if she didn't insist on writing all of the lyrics herself, in Korean of course, she might have found some inroads in the West.
Meanwhile, the 4th Gen began to practice the easier-listening of KPop more extensively.
NewJeans' songs began heralding the arrival of easier-listening songs in KPop, followed by IVE's Love Dive, etc.
No need to talk about Fifty Fifty here.
It seems a big backlash against the older style of KPop is occurring, and a chasm between the traditional style of KPop (BTS, SVT, SKZ, BlackPink, etc ) and the easier-listening trends led by FF, NJ and IVE has taken place.
In other words, Lee JIeun, who was basically the only person doing the easier listening genre in Korea, with the coffee shop style of songs, might finally get her last laugh. She doesn't seem to be concerned by Fifty Fifty in her last clip - she seems to be happy that her style of music , which was shunned by the foreigners but still swallowed by the Koreans, finally has seen its day.
