Lee Jieun showed she is the last standing of the 2nd generation.
I mean, Lee Jieun fought the giants of Kpop from 2010, and for 11 years which is like an eternity in KPop, all these acts wanted Lee Jieun out of action because she was the only one not following the rules of KPop,
but , as the only soloist of note (others were famous for some time but only Lee Jieun has held on for 11 years), she has always had some following from K-O-R-E-A.
Her biggest crisis was on 2012, when her most famous photo was revealed, and Ailee did take IU's place, but AKP did contribute a lot to IU's return to grace because it was here where Ailee's former pics, which was kinda naughty, were revealed. So Ailee descended to the same level as Lee Jieun, who returned back to contention on Jan 2014, when she defeated the mighty EXO on the first week
(The video where Jang Yijeong, later El Capitxn (a Big Hit producer), gets to shame EXO has been taken down.)
Even the mighty BTS has been unsuccessful defeating Lee Jieun, and this occurred last year
Lee Jieun defeating NCT and txt.
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Lee Jieun's extraordinary survival for all these years raises a philosophical question; even the Emperor of the world canNOT put a local ruler to rest, because the local ruler has a very, very hardcore support in her turf.
I will ponder this question again when her new song is released, but it is quite ironical that she became the last standing 2nd Generation Singer when she was technically NOT part of it.