Posts by frala19
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The way I see it, someone here sinophobic to the point of not wanting to consume Chinese entertainment is likely not going to consume kpop or most Asian entertainment content
And I'm telling you that that's simply not true. You're trying to apply rationality to something that is inherently irrational. There are plenty of people who love a lot of other Asian media, but are vehemently anti everything Chinese.
I'm curious where you live, not that I'm asking. What I'm describing is very widely understood in my social circles. -
But the thing is, the vast majority of Americans have made it clear they can't tell the difference and don't really care to learn them
It's not about whether they can tell she's Chinese by looking at her. It's about after learning that she is Chinese, deciding to hate her. You think sinophobia in South Korea is bad? It's worse in the US.
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That doesn't matter here...?
It absolutely matters. Anti-Chinese sentiment is at an all-time high. It's pretty well known the vast difference between how westerners view something if they think it's Korean or Japanse vs if they think it's Chinese.
There's a reason we can buy Samsungs and not Huaweis, Hyundais but not BYD.Personal example: I worked on a show recently that changed the source material from a story about a Chinese immigrants to Taiwanese immigrants.
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He's kind of the epitome of the idea that charisma and "star quality" are way more important than tangible skills. But anyway, he was never celebrated for his singing, moreso his rapping and songwriting. As for why the people in the clip are having full body orgasms from him dicking around, it's because that's just how celebrity works. Everyone knows him as a musical genius, so they don't want to seem like they don't get it. At this point he could record himself spreading feces all over the microphone and people will say it's a masterpiece. Reminds me a lot of Kanye. Incredibly influential and visionary musician, but nobody kept him in check, and look where that got him. I don't think it'll happen to G-Dragon though, as I don't think he has as much of a massive chip on his shoulder. But I guess we won't know until it does.
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You don't have to necessarily sell out and compromise your musical identity to succeed in the West
BP released the same type of songs they've been releasing since debut and succeeded.
And NewJeans achieved massive success in the West while staying true to their core concepts and musical identity as well.
I guess the conundrum would be the fact that both BP and NJ naturally appeal to Western audiences, while aespa's natural strengths and concepts as a group may not.
Would Taemin-Identity and SooYoung consider that a fair statement and assessment?
That was what I meant. I think their fanbase and popularity can and will grow, but aespa's concept and music style is not one that generally appeals to the mainstream in the west. Maybe that can change, but I think there's a pretty low chance it'll happen.
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I think it's possible if that's what SM wants, but I hope not for reasons others have already mentioned. The reason I like Kpop is because it dynamic and experimental in a way Western pop simply isn't. Not to mention, I abhor how Western labels operate. Perhaps I'm biased because I work in the US music industry, but artistically, it feels worse than Korea. I'm one of the many who lost interest in BTS's music after 2019, so while I'll respect the decision if that's what they choose, I'll probably end up losing interest in their music as well.
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I don't know that there is a notable difference nowadays, tbh, and there's a reason for that. But from maybe late 3rd and early 4th gen this does seem to be true. Modern exceptions aside, we can see from the earlier gens that it is entirely possible for both boy and girl groups to sing live while doing choreography, so I haven't really given this topic that much thought, but I can theorize.
Female idols are generally expected to be as thin as possible, without much visible muscle, whereas male idols are are more celebrated for being muscular, meaning they can actually eat. Sometimes, I feel like some girlgroup members are going to faint everytime they perform live, as they are pushing way past their energy capacity, since all they ate all day was an apple and three ice cubes. There's a biological element, but I think more importantly, these companies can and will invest as little as they can get away with. As others have mentioned, visuals are important in boygroups too of course, but historically, it does kind of feel like the only thing many people care about in female idols is their looks. Not to mention that ageism impacts women way more, meaning the window of time that they can milk as much money as possible from female idols is much narrower. Unfortunately, this means they just end up being more disposable, and agencies would rather just debut good looking stan attractors without any regard for their longterm career.
But it's happening to boygroups now too, since it's almost unheard of for an entire group to resign with the agency they debuted under. Risk is higher, and therefore investment is lower which is reflected in the fact that trainee periods are overall getting shorter. While some have argued it was always this way, it's never been more true than now--where attention span is at an all time low--that the industry has just become a disposable idol factory pumping out dancing monkeys turned glorified influencers. -
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Since this thread turned into BP vs LSFM vs the artists formerly known as NewJeans, I think it is interesting to discuss why LSFM got so much more criticism for their vocals. The overall vocal skills of all three these groups are around the industry norm. Nothing notable, and I don't think it's clear to say any one of them are particularly far better than the other. Yes, it's obvious by now that Hybe doesn't prioritize in depth vocal training like SM does, but neither does YG, JYP (exceptioning NMIXX), or most other companies. SM is really the standout, and so there's no point in using their groups as a baseline.
However, there is a reason that LSFM, BTS, and some other Hybe groups in particular share the same criticism and it's rooted in the style that Hybe has chosen, which tends to release songs that require vocals with forceful delivery in keys that are way too high for the majority of the members.
BP and NJ don't need standout vocals because their music doesn't require it. Their songs are comfortable for them to sing. (though I will say Jisoo shouldn't be singing the same range as Rose, and is not utilized to her full potential, but that's a whole other conversation). If their songs are more flattering for their voices, they will obviously sound better.
So to circle back to the original prompt, Lisa sings well enough to fill her role in BP. I do agree that as a solo artist, her singing skills (or lack thereof) become more apparent, but at this point it really doesn't matter. She has her fans, and I don't think most of them are pretending she's an amazing singer. The ones that are are obviously delusional, but isn't that 99% of Kpop fans? -
NJZ LSFM BP fans arguing about vocals is like fighting for last place.
This is just kpop. Your favs are perhaps marginally better or worse than each other. Let’s all move on and not be annoying.
Not only that, but arguing between the weakest singers of the respective groups. This is a very strange discussion.
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As far as official remake with MV and everything, aespa's Dreams Come True.
As far as unofficial:External Content www.youtube.comContent embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy. -
She's a serviceable idol singer.
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None of them have said the n word yet (that we know of).
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There's no one easy answer, obviously, but I think there's something that's built into the beginning of your statement, that I have a feeling should be considered further. Higher profit margin =/= better state financially. HYBE and SM have much higher revenue, so you can really only compare JYP to YG, and I think everyone knows YG has been tanking.
While we don't have all the details about where the money is going, I'm willing to bet that HYBE and SM spend significantly more on marketing. Whether you want to call it payola or whatever else, the fact is, spending money on visibility simply works. There's virtually no such thing as purely "organic" popularity in entertainment, especially not pop music. Obviously, it's not everything, and idols need to show something extraordinary in order to get people to stay, but even as someone who follows Kpop primarily for the music, I recognize that what we're being sold first and foremost is an image (and this goes for almost all popular entertainment).
It must be considered that for those of us posting on a forum like this, we are way more tapped into the industry than the average person, so our perspectives are very skewed. Even so, I think I can loosely use myself as an example, as I got into Kpop around 2017 or so, then didn't actively follow anything from 2020-2024, and "returned" to following halfway through 2024. During that "hiatus", I still absorbed some information through friends/social media/advertisements. While I don't live in South Korea and cannot comment on what's going on over there, I live in Los Angeles, and specifically in Koreatown, and I can tell you that I was not aware of NMIXX's existence until I started actively looking into Kpop again, nor did I hear a single peep about ITZY. What I did see and hear about was NewJeans, aespa, Le Sserafim(Ive less so, but I certainly did hear the name Wonyoung a lot) and even Kiss of Life. I saw their faces plastered on billboards and products in stores, heard their music in cafes and restaurants. Perhaps you can say they were visible because they were already popular, but I would argue that--while that is partially true--the reverse may be equally if not more true: They became so popular because they were visible. While it has always been this way, it's never been more true in the past few years where visibility is everything. The attention economy is at an all time high, and if we're not being constantly reminded something exists, we're going to forget about it unless we are already super passionate about it.
Long story short, while there a multitude of factors, I am of the belief that the primary reason is that JYP does not invest as much in pushing the visibility of their groups. I'm not here to argue the details or the ethics of specific methods, but outside some outliers, I think the results generally speak for themselves. -
I'm going to be pedantic for a moment and state that there is data to suggest that both queer and neurodivergent people are statistically overrepresented in entertainment, but whether or not it is enough to offset the "probably" is unclear and unlikely.
This data aligns with what I would personally expect anyway. As an autistic person myself, performing is something that has always come naturally to me since I feel like I am always performing to a degree, and it was fun and easier to perform without worrying about whether it felt "true to myself".
I think it's fine if people relate to specific artists, and speculating in private is probably mostly harmless. But yeah, making a definitive assumption can be problematic. -
Considering Yoon is often seen as one of the US's main lapdogs in Asia, the CCP is very much anti. China already has stated it would like repair it's relationship with SK now that he's gone. I wouldn't think the US is willing to give up SK that easily, but at the same time the current administration seems to not mind alienating them.
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