Lilac - End of Lee Jieun's 11 years war against KPop

IU's new album has more songs geared towards i-fans.

She did keep a few ballads for her traditional fans, but both of her titles, lilac and coin, are more suited for i-fans, as well as her pre-release Celebrity.

At the beginning of this year Lee Jieun had grand total of one, uno, une Kpop song in her belt, BBiBBi. However, she is now finally joining the KPop crowd afte fighting it for eleven long years.

Most singers' career do not last 14 years. And Lee Jieun spent 11 years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016(no song release), 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) fighting KPop's world conquest.

At the Good Day Music Video,, the musician Jung Jaehyung appears to cheer IU up on the way to fight Kpop. She showed up like a highwayman, against the Congress of KPop which all but eliminated all other genres possible. She was the last non-Kpopper still standing at that time, and at that point of time even trottists were kind of cheering her up because she was basically the only nonKpopper still remaining in the arena.

By hindering the expansion of KPop, she became KPop's Greatest Anachronism, KPop's Most Useless Singer (KPop's Least Useful SInger), and eventually KPop's Senior Singer on 2014 because she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from MAMA at the age of..... 21.

With all of these, plus a couple of big scandals and a few smaller incidents, she was more hardened than ever but she noticed BTS is now too big to be toppled.

With her dramas getting more popular outside of Korea, she sang her first Kpop song in her career, BBiBBI, on Sep 2018.

Despite of the inconvenient factor that she contributed next to nothing towards the worldwide expansion of KPop, most KPop acts (with the sole exception of Laboum - Brave Girls has stopped promoting and won't come to see and humiliate IU this week. Guess Brave Brother might be giving a song to IU in the future) came to respect Lee Jieun.

In her newest album title Lilac, Jung Jaehyung, who blessed IU's war against KPop, appears again in the title song's music video.

Which signifies that IU's 11 year of war against KPop has ended, and Lee Jieun finally conforms to the empire of KPop.

Quote from pchromo4

I expect IU to become a lot more active in acting in her 30s, and music will take more of a backseat. IU really has nothing left to prove musically in South Korea. This album is her grand send-off of her reigning music career.

This album is more like a declaration to the world that she will do bigger things for the world. She might try to become some kind of Asian diva since she is quite well known all around Asia, and acting is a way to expand her niche

Quote from nevermindmejin

That’s interesting. Maybe that explains why I’m loving the whole album compared to her other previous releases.

She has now changed her approach since there is really nothing more to prove in her old style of music. She wants to appeal to the world now

Quote from BEG4DAWIN

Boom there it is, the switch has been made.

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BG still holding on to #2 so next week they might strike back

Quote from omegateatimer

And again you are literally forgetting 23 and the beginning of her career

23 was kind of a tantrum thrown by her because KPop was shunning her

and it was quietly silenced by F(x) in their final hurrah

and she did not sing again until 2017

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Very interesting read. Korea's Greatest Pop Anachronism for sure. Korean pop music scene was once dominated by ballad singers before the rise of Kpop. Even now, we still see balladeers for OSTs doing really well in K Charts. But through it all, no balladeer has remained as consistently powerful and popular as IU, who is still the biggest weapon that traditionalists have against BTS, BP, and the rest of Kpop.

I think her turn towards Kpop came with Eight and Into the Iland. The collab with Suga was guaranteed to bring massive media hype and she probably got thousands of additional hardcore fans who are now buying her new album as we speak. Into the Iland was another joint venture with the biggest behemoth of them all, BH.

Then came Celebrity which had a Kpop dance break!! It was cute af to watch IU go.

And now, she even has her own talk show where i've seen both Itzy and Shinee as guests.

Oh, dont forget her appearances on music shows!! I think both Minju and Yujin of Izone got to meet her, as well as Rose.

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Other than BBiBBi, Celebrity is IU's first KPop song.

Into I-land is a signal song helping BigHit . Eight, she did cut out Suga's part and had performed it all by herself. It is probably her last ballad in the traditional sense.

she has ceased to remain a traditionalist, because there is no viability.

Quote from pchromo4

When was IU ever shunned in 2015? She had 3 major hits in 2014 ("meaning of you", "friday", and "not spring love cherry blossoms"), she released "Heart" in 2025 and starred in Infinite Challenge where her song set chart records. I agree that "23" was a clapback but she was clapping back at knetizens. Did you even listen to the lyrics?

The Zeze fiasco was huge, and it did break IU for the time and on 2016 she did not sing.

And when she returned with Through the Night on 2017 the lyrics were much tamer