Posts by NaomiBlue

  • Is this a hard pill to swallow?

    Quote from BlackpinkHouse

    Bragging is fine. Army should be allowed to brag, what they did for BTS is unbelievable, propelled those boys to the stratosphere of boyband legends.


    Paving the way however is an insult that is used to discredit the work that other groups have put in. Plus it aint even true on its face. BTS didnt have a single thing to do with AIIYL charting in Bubbling Under, a Korean song from a rookie girl group that nobody in America knew about with no American promos. And D4 peaking at 55 on the Hot 100, no Korean act has ever charted in this chart as a 2 year old group, yet another Korean song that charted with no American promos (i dont remember the girls even setting foot in the US until late 2018-early 2019 long after its release).


    You can argue that BTS paved the way for certain BGs to promote in the US with successful tours and promo of their own (NCT, SKZ, MX, Ateez). You can argue that they paved the way for Enhype and Txt. But that's about it.

    I think the 'paved the way' thing is something we'll never agree on! And I genuinely get where you're coming from, the fanwars have gotten to the point where nuance is utterly wiped out and the cannons are set to "Complete Generalization" when the phrase is used in that context. You're right, BP legit had attention doing their own thing when they debuted.


    But there's a couple of things here - Kpop had a following in the US in 2016/2017. It was a niche following, it was not even close to mainstream, it was it's own thing, but it was enough to make it worth it for huge groups to travel here, to justify kcon, and it was overwhelmingly focused on Big 3 groups. Big Bang was real real big Within This Niche. So was 2NE1. YG groups have always had lots of western attention in the scene that was kpop.


    BP was not at all unknown, and AIIYL is a great song. D4 has an incredible video, and as other specific kpop videos have gone viral before, it's not outside the history of idol music for there to be some heat for a Korean act bc of a good release. But to the west, D4 was a novelty.


    The Paved the Way argument is about the (attempted) MAINSTREAMING of Kpop. This is where we can disagree forever, but the metrics show that all kpop keywords follow the same graph rise as BTS's. Most of kpop didn't have Twitter, BTS wins the BBMA, suddenly everyone does. Kpop was not a genre to be taken seriously in any way before BTS. This is not BP's fault, but the way BP (whose trajectory has never looked like BTS's) was injected randomly into media about Bangtan was weird and very, very YG. in 2018 BTS was already making massive waves; BP is very unlikely to have gotten the partnerships they did, the Coachilla gig, etc, without BTS's influence. That they were the girl counterpart to BTS was a big push.


    The western media had little to no interest in kpop being seen as anything serious before BTS, and them changing that game had a massive impact on all Kpop acts, including Blackpink. (Psy proved that you can BIG viral and still not be taken seriously whatsoever) Without Bangtan it would have been a fire video or two, the biggest gg in global kpop, real big in Asia, but not seen as a contender. The only thing that would have changed this if YG gave the girls truly contemporary music.


    BP can both be legit successful AND have benefited from BTS's success. These aren't mutually exclusive. They're not mainstream, tho', and I do believe they were seen as a contender for mainstreaming because of BTS's influence on how the west approached korean idol music.


    BTS lifted all of Kpop up - but it's up to other agencies to support their acts to walk the path they cleared. The next act to do it at a level closer to BTS will not look like them (or any Big3 group, with their aging house styles) but will have music that fits the trend and mood and feels different as well.

  • {๐•“๐•ฅ๐•ก๐•—} ๐Ÿœฒ Bangtan Sonyeon: ART

    Quote from ppiper

    NaomiBlue Nooooo

    why are you deleting it >_<
    I love the color pencil you did earlier , I am no good with color pencil ,
    me too! I do use grid so their proportion of face still accurate , I have very limited time to do artwork atm =__= rl sucks!


    also, I really love Yoongi and Namjoon pencil sketch, you really did a great job with their face shading

    AH thank you!!! ;(;(;( I do have an instagram where I post the stuff I don't hate, it's https://www.instagram.com/emilyofthedolls/ ! Do you have a portfolio/place your stuff is?!


    I hear you OMG, RL has REALLY slowed down my art and it makes me sad. What's with this whole need to earn money thing?! :mads:

  • Is this a hard pill to swallow?

    It makes them uncomfortable I think? For 4, 5 years the "BTS aren't as big as ARMY think they are" narrative has been super consistent for a lot of kpoppers, like a chant they tried to spread to new fans, but now it's impossible to make. BTS is just as incredibly popular, if not more so, than we think. All the metrics prove it.


    So now some people just yell about how bragging is bad + try to shame ARMY, because they have nothing else left. :mukbang:

  • WTF THIS IS CRAZY.... BTS'S GROWTH IS CONTINUING TO GROW EVEN in 2021!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Their mainstreaming and domination happens even when they're completely passive and it's incredible?


    Like their growth just has this compound effect due to the quality of their content, music, performance, etc - it takes one small taste, a person goes looking for more, and BOOM at the very least they become a casual fan.


    Now too that other artists have signaled it's 'okay' to like BTS even if you're not a stereotypical type fan of bgs (this sucks that it has to happen like this) or say a dude, the doors are wide open. The stigma is fading as it should.

  • Will a coalition against BTS be viable?

    Quote from Yuckfire

    Hard to tell but I guarantee somebody important in the US is pissed off about this and only a matter of time before they do something about.

    I don't know how close attention you paid for the last 4 years but the labels WERE pissed, and the way they were treated, backburnered, and the other kpop groups they tried to hype shows they saw BTS as a threat. Look at how they're a top three best selling artist in the US and had a top 5 hit but aren't nominated in a single main grammy catagory - the industry was still gatekeeping the hell out of them through 2020.


    Billboard and variety, both industry puppets, were always shanking and underplaying BTS. 'trying to do something about these upstarts" was the name of the game for a very long time.


    That's the old era, however, and now that BH makes UMG & Columbia tons of money and has signed huge deals with UMG (the biggest current player), now they're bound to make huge money forever.


    If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and BH is officially big enough now bc of BTS to be worth joining.

    Quote from Yuckfire

    No need. A Boy band's heyday, no matter how big, last about 5 years. While it could be argued it began in 2016, I personally believe BTS phenomenon began in 2017 so by 2022, they will go the way of one direction and nsync.


    Now if they do last that long, well..

    As amalyas pointed out, that doesn't really work as a parallel.


    One Direction and nsync did not have in-group producers/songwriters/lyricists, weren't famous for their artistry, they each had 1-2 members that were much MUCh more popular than others to the point 2-3 were literally seen as filler, neither were teams of creators, solos were NEVER part of their makeup, their discogs did not get any respect, and honestly they were never seen as 'artists'.


    The closest parallels to BTS truly are the Beatles for that reason. Their ability and future as creators is almost limitless, and unlike the Beatles each one has a credible ability to become independently extremely successful outside their identity as BTS.


    Also the idea they're going to fade when 2021 their numbers are STILL exploding is... entertaining.

  • So far this is the current 4th gen boygroup ranking

    The original ranking actually reads to me as very true in Japan?


    Skz's social engagement numbers are very high - I think if that's taken into account they'd definitely be 2 internationally. Enhypen and Treasure are killing it in Jpn so it's skewed their numbers, but their global brand recognition isn't where TxT or Stray Kids are yet bc they're so new.


    Catching up fast, tho', because of the reality show beginnings. (not a criticism, just an observation)

  • What's the definition of a company stan?

    Quote from bumble-bunny

    Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I mean, I think the original definition of company stan doesn't actually suggest anything horrible, it's well noted that companies tend to have a signature sound. SM has always had similarities within their groups, and it has even specifically been said that the song could have gone to another artist. YG, JYP, and also have similar traits.


    As for the bootlicker, I'm sure there are some of them, however it's just so rude to suggest, and it's so taboo in kpop, that it's lost all meaning and sorta becomes a basic insult if you want to ignore what the other person is saying/write them off. It's a really good if you aren't great at arguing/don't know what to say, as literally everyone hates it, not just a couple of fandoms.

    Agreed! It's kinda a lowest common denominator insult now bc it paints the person as someone who cares more about the company than the individual idols, and tries to shut down the conversation.


    I think it's gotten to the point where it's even become shameful for many to admit they like a house style because of the connotation? (Despite it being completely natural bc of that signature sound you mention)

  • Will a coalition against BTS be viable?

    Quote from paradis

    OT, their labels won't let them, not when BTS makes more money for them than their own full time signed artists do. Columbia Records/Sony's biggest cash cow is BTS. UMG Japan makes so much money off of BTS that BTS were UMG's top 5 revenue generating artist too. And now UMG is in multiple partnerships with Big Hit especially the one to make a global boy group. If BTS continues to be successful, they can hope for some support from BTS' ever growing fanbase for their new boy group.


    So basically BTS is making so much money for the industry and their growth continues to increase the size of the pie for everyone that none of the big labels are gonna try to block them. The music industry benefits as BTS grows even bigger in size. They are a money making juggernaut.

    Beautifully said :froghype:


    BTS can't really be compared to a single fixed country at this point, the analogy doesn't work because their revolution isn't undermining the status quo like the French Revolution was seen to be doing, it's actually making the rich RICHER and teaching them new ways to engage with fandoms and creating long-lasting acts in the streaming era.


    Their whole using artists as IPs so they don't have to be involved in everything but still make money is genius, and other companies are picking it up FAST.


    People didn't want to be saved from music's oppression, they just wanted more authenticity, ingenuity and engagement.

  • What's the definition of a company stan?

    It's mostly the last I think these days? But all definitions seem to work!


    Seems like the original meaning was just someone who tended to like groups from the same company - like I like BigHit production, concepts and music a lot, so I have a big bias towards their groups. That can be true of SM, YG, etc. Pretty simple.


    These days tho' it's often used in the trenches of fanwars both in and outside fandoms, where it's used as an insult to suggest someone is defending an agency blindly and is just a company bootlicker. Tiresome, but as ppl don't want to be seen that way it can be effective like you said.

  • Knets release statement demanding the withdrawal of Mingyu from Seventeen + frustated with the way Pledis handle it

    I'm not a Carat but have some friends who are Svt fans, I didn't know this (or the Hyunjin issue) had blown up so much - surprised there's no statement yet?


    It may actually be the Bighit influence - this is how they deal with bigger controversies and rumors, like with the Nov 2018 issue it took many days before a statement came out because they must have been discussing and researching the best response. Not defending it, as there are pluses and minuses to both the instant reaction and the measured one, but it could be why this is taking forever.