which groups actually earned the “self produced” title?

Le used to write for EXID, but I am not sure what percentage of their releases were composed by her.

Miryo from BEG also composed a few of their songs, but not all.

We also have to distinguish between title songs and B sides, some idols do write songs that become B-sides, but the agencies still get help with the title songs.

Ikon?

B.I’s name was basically always first for lyrics and music in their credits for majority of their songs.

Quote from kittykang

oooooohh i remember LE! iirc she was one of the only idols self producing for their group.

Even wrote for T-ara

Eunchae's great uncle produced for Freddie Mercury

Epik High?

It's mostly just a marketing gimmick and something fans like to say to try to make their favorites sounds better the rest. Just because they come up with a few suggestion or write a line or two in the lyrics don't make them "self produced". I can't help lauging when people can Gidle "self produces", right... People must understand companies have a intrested to push an image like that.

Quote from kittykang

I personally believe the “self produced” title is thrown around way too easily in kpop.

there’s a lot of minimal song credits that many groups have dabbled in here and there.

but i think the only groups that have really earned the self produce titles are:

GIDLE

seventeen

stray kids

BTS (mainly the rapline)

monsta x

are there any i’m missing?

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BigBang. But yes seventeen should be on top of your list. Woozi is one of the richest producers he's made damn near every song for seventeen and has even made songs for other groups, soloists and OST for dramas and films. Woozi is always producing something

Skz monsta x svt g idle bts bigbang bap pentagon

Multiple levels to talk about here.

First of all, writing lyrics even if it's all the lyrics to a typical pop song doesnt really impress me. I mean, it's just basic poetry. Hell one could argue that it's even below grade school poetry since haikus and limericks don't allow you to substitute in random sounds and nonsense wordplay for real words to make the song rhyme or flow better. Unless you're Bruce Springsteen, Jim Steinman, Indigo Girls or Taylor Swift, don't even bring up lyrics to prop up your faves .

For Kpop it's different since my Korean isnt good enough to gauge how good a songwriter's lyrics are, whether it's Soyeon, RM, Suga, SKZ rapline, etc.

For both Kpop and local pop, the true test of a self producer (arrangements, instrumentals, chords, keys) or a songwriter (melody, harmony, lyrics, chords, keys) is just how many other folks are on the credit lines and just how good the actual song is. If an idol is one of like 6 people listed on the credit line, then you know he or she didnt do much. If the idol is the sole songwriter or producer or has maybe one or at most two other names listed, and if the idol is listed first, then you can give more credit to your faves.

Would also be ideal to institute a standard naming convention here. Songwriter could mean lyrics only, or it could mean having actual musical knowledge enough to write melodies and harmonies and show legitimate understanding of chords, keys, tempo, and progressions. Producer could mean having a legitimate understanding of the aforementioned while also knowing how to add tracks, edit tracks, arrange and rearrange songs...or it could just mean fiddling with Garageband or doing stuff like this which really isnt "producing music
.

With all that being said, i think the only consistently solid self-produced idol is Soyeon. I dont like any of Suga's self produced stuff, RM had that song Wildflower which was decent, SKZ had a couple amazing Mixtapes but have fallen off recently...overall, Soyeon has Oh My God, Dumdi, Uh Oh, Allergy, and even kwinka. That's 5 songs that range from 7 to 9 out of 10, which is probably way more than any other idol in Kpop.

Self-producing to me means being responsible for coming up with the concept, being the main lyricist, being the primary composer, and being the overall director.

Here's self-producing:

Soyeon has self-produced every one of (G)I-DLE's title tracks.

Quote from patrik-k

I can't help lauging when people can Gidle "self produces", right... People must understand companies have a intrested to push an image like that.

People like you always tell on yourself, because everytime you have this stupid conspiracy theory, you always say Soyeon is the one tricking people. Never SKZ, never BTS, never Seventeen - only ever Soyeon. I wonder how Soyeon is different from the others listed.

Soyeon couldn't possibly write chart topping hits - it's unpossible for a *woman* to do that!

Quote from Disevidence

People like you always tell on yourself, because everytime you have this stupid conspiracy theory, you always say Soyeon is the one tricking people. Never SKZ, never BTS, never Seventeen - only ever Soyeon. I wonder how Soyeon is different from the others listed.

Soyeon couldn't possibly write chart topping hits - it's unpossible for a *woman* to do that!

Tomboy, Nude, and kwinka. Three straight #1 hits. With all of them getting PAKs. Forget idol producers, how many fulltime producers can say this?

iKON and big bang