I guess annoyed is a strong word but I've been around in the scene and these types of soloists are very famous and legitimate in their own right. Not every kpop song is popular, especially since digital streaming has always been very important. I'm REALLY sick of it. The industry has been saturated with more and more idols, which is fine but other artists (indie, krock, khiphop, alternative) are always getting disrespected. Gayos, or year end shows are FILLED with idols now. Very few artists outside of kpop which is a shame -- there's so many strong soloists, performers and genres that have a right to perform. They also get PAID less, with Sohyang, a gospel singer and Korea's best vocalist EVER getting paid a FRACTION of what an idol makes in an appearance.
It's OKAY if you favs don't win. Like I liked Next Level BUT I can wholeheartedly say that I think Lee Mujin's Traffic Light is the best/biggest song of 2021. People have been throwing out hate way too easily these days, and disrespecting singers that have a right to be there and win as well. The K indie industry is DYING. Bolbbalgan4 was my last hope until they broke up. Krock is having a resurgence thankfully, but all these genres, trot too (a genre very unique to Korea) all are a part of the MUSIC industry and just saying "sajegi" really minimizes the amount of effort these people are putting and deserving to win.
They're NEVER going to get as much recognition as a top kpop idol but there should be an amount of decency and respect. It's hard for many to even GET on shows, Lee Mujin's agency has 10 people. Several fade away every year. They're getting disrespected at award shows.
I've seen it with AKMU, Bol4, Lee Mujin, Lim Young-woong, Ben, Yoon Mirae...there's always someone out there discrediting them. Especially since many of them come from competition shows, where they can get the funding to even release songs. It's a slippery slope out there.
I'm not calling out just Lisa fans before anyone comes for me, I'm calling out all the girl group stans and boy group stans that Lee Mujin is going to/has won against. Let's have some decency here. World's not going to end after 1 loss.