Can a group with universal critical acclaim like NewJeans ever come from kpop again?

    Kpop stans mostly focus on numbers but today I will talk about critical acclaim. NewJeans were one of the very few contemporary kpop groups who garnered universal acclaim right from their debut. Their visuals, concept and sound all were praised. Min Heejin, joining Hybe after a series of flop endeavors in SM and a widely publicized comeback from the burn out, was at the forefront of this stylish new band who seemed to be appealing to hipsters and artsy critics. The marketing was insane. They were earning brand deals here and there. From chic classy Chanel endorsements to fun little Coca Cola and League of Legends collabs. 250 and Erika de Casier came together to revive UK garage and DnB. Their sound were deliberately engineered to appeal to the indie/pop adjacent crowds and everyone fell for it hook line and sinker. Their music videos invoked european and asian art films. They seemed so 90s. Chic, stylish, fun. K-indie crowds loved NewJeans. Jon Carmaniaca of New York Times loved NewJeans, Joshua Minsoo Kim of Pitchfork loved NewJeans. r/popheads loved NewJeans. r/indieheads did too! Everyone loved NewJeans.


    Then the facade ended but we are not talking about that today.


    My point is: NewJeans were deliberately manufactured to appeal to this alt adjacent crowd and they succeeded in that. It was the first time kpop seemed to be gaining legitimacy, being taken with seriousness. BTS and Blackpink are huge no doubt but how many people take them seriously?


    I think the group that came closest to NewJeans in terms of aesthetics was f(x) and they were also received with a lot of acclaim. Ofcourse there was Red Velvet but they were super underrated. My question is can a group ever come up that will be similarly received?


    I know people talk about Aespa but I think while Supernova was well received they are still contentious in fan communities. Twice has been a sleeper hit when it comes to this aspect. They have been quite favored by critics recently but they weren't always so. I don't consider RM in this category because he is a soloist and his group is critically contentious.

    Hmm... anything is possible... However, I don't see another group appearing like them in probably the next 5 to 10 years. Groups like them only come around once every decade.

    MHJ and Hybe let them take the speedlane for domestic acclaim but it didn't do more for their international acclaim then MHJ and being in SM did for SM groups she worked on. It was just genuinely good music, no reason that can't happen again.

    Quote from yerisvelvet

    Kpop stans mostly focus on numbers but today I will talk about critical acclaim. It was the first time kpop seemed to be gaining legitimacy, being taken with seriousness.

    lmao, I think this is way overselling it.

    The average person globally doesn't know them and people who casually knew them often saw their songs as lightweight bubblegum pop that was nice to listen to but not very deep.

    Quote from Petrified

    lmao, I think this is way overselling it.

    The average person globally doesn't know them and people who casually knew them often saw their songs as lightweight bubblegum pop that was nice to listen to but not very deep.

    But that's the thing the average person doesn't give you critical acclaim. Radiohead didn't have critical acclaim because they appealed to the average person. They actively made sure that they didn't appeal to the average person in fact.


    I am saying NewJeans were intentionally manufactured to appeal to the hipster crowd, in Min Heejin's own words.

    People never thought that there will be another BTS, another BP, and like you said another NJs


    But then Day6 happened and destroyed everyone, ended all of them


    So yes it can happen


    Stream Happy


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    I said it before


    records and critical acclaim and accolades and achievements are meant to be broken


    From sporting records to musical achievements and everything beyond and in between people have always said nope this person or this group is the GOAT and yet people are continually breaking old records and achieving new heights


    this is no different to kpop - obviously it's not going to be easy but nothing is ever impossible


    Most people who don't even know of Ice Hockey have probably heard of the GOAT Wayne Gretzky - and yet just recently one Alex Ovechkin broke his all time scoring record - does that mean Alex Ovechkin is better or greater than Wayne Gretzky? not necessarily but it does show that it always possible to best a record previously thought impossible and the same reasoning can be applied to kpop and NJZ

    In many ways it was lightning in a bottle because you need the resources of a major company but without the interference of the upper management. MHJ was able to have her pick of trainees to choose her “5 Krystals”, but was then left to her own devices while Hybe focused on Le sserafim.


    In the end it wasn’t to last of course, once they debuted with such aplomb and acclaim, upper management quickly began to meddle with ADOR. K-pop is dominated by the egos of a handful of very powerful individuals who think they know better than the creatives.

    Quote from yerisvelvet

    But that's the thing the average person doesn't give you critical acclaim. Radiohead didn't have critical acclaim because they appealed to the average person. They actively made sure that they didn't appeal to the average person in fact

    In what universe are Radiohead not critically acclaimed?

    Quote from Bottles

    In the end it wasn’t to last, of course, once they debuted with such aplomb and acclaim; upper management quickly began to meddle with ADOR. K-pop is dominated by the egos of a handful of very powerful individuals who think they know better than the creatives.

    Bang Bang couldn't standby and allow another group outshine his boys on his watch. He had to interfere to make sure his group would always be at the top, at all costs. I'll say this, and I'll say it again. He'd sell his entire company if it meant BTS were guaranteed at least a Grammy.

    NewJeans was the only girl group getting critical acclaim among international journalist. I don’t recall other groups receiving that kind of praise. I don’t see other groups getting that type of response for awhile imo.


    Kpop is losing credibility every month they don’t release content. No other group can fill the void that they left.


    With t eh way that kpop is going I’m unsure if a creative can go on a run similar to NewJeans that has global appeal.

    Quote from Seoged

    In what universe are Radiohead not critically acclaimed?

    Read again what I wrote. I am saying they are literally critically acclaimed and they didn't get that acclaim because they appealed to the average person but rather because their music was innovative and pushed boundaries. I am saying they were not scared to NOT appeal to the average person.

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