Posts by Varenka

  • Idols really have ZERO sensitivity training feat IVE Rei

    Quote from ISaidISaid

    https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTNCewQ2f/


    Because wtf this is 😭

    I feel like that kind of is the type of impression mainstream rap would give. It's not the gangsta rap from the early and mid 00s, but a lot of the mainstream releases that I've heard fit that type of vibe still, so it's probably still her impression.


    If drill reaches Japan, we might see that Hello Kitty "gang gang" on a flopping rival's grave.

  • XG just make bangers don't they?

    XG is good. I love their cyphers that they release, but I can't find those on Spotify. Of the songs on there, I like about four or five of them, which is a good amount for the amount released. It's finally great to hear a group that doesn't sound bad when rapping, and they have multiple members that can do it and are still young, so they will probably improve from now.


    Didn't like their latest release but it's okay. I follow their comebacks expecting to at least like one song.

  • Do you think a 4th/5th Gen GG will ever reach the international heights of BP or Twice?

    No.


    The K-pop bubble is deflating. The international teenagers that grew up during that bubble are now older, and it doesn't look like they're being replaced effectively by the next generation of teenagers. The 1st and 2nd gen groups managed to make a strong foothold in Asia, and K-pop will be able to reliably tap into that market in the future. This isn't a slight against 3rd gen by saying that they couldn't create a foothold for later gens or against 4th gen by saying that they can't live up to 3rd gen, but it's very difficult to penetrate the west. It takes continuous effort and continuous bops and a population that continues to be there each generation. And you really only see that with Latin pop in America and American pop in the rest of the west.


    However, K-pop, like J-pop, will have a niche now. Songs will go viral due to short form video platforms like TikTok. Things will be normalize back, and we'll see K-pop return back to its true level.

  • My admiration for Sakura increased after watching this clip

    Maybe this is my J-pop bias poking out a bit, but I always thought Sakura had placed herself in an amazing position to succeed in all of her groups. While her singing is a let down, huge success in Japan and Korea is difficult to get as an idol, but she has done it consistently and has been at the top with multiple groups. The two fields demand different things, but she has been able to adjust about as well as anyone can. She only has one true weakness on the K-pop side which is singing, but that can be improved upon.


    She's still in her first seven years of her latest group, but I've always thought that she will have a top five idol career when it's all said and done. If Le Sserafim keeps up their success, she will end up in the top five alongside the likes of BoA. Depending on her legacy and possible solo work in the future, I would even place her into a top ten greatest idols of all time list :snuggie:

  • Is Kakao's downfall and Ive's flopping happening at same time just mere coincidence?

    People use the word "flop" too often with top groups. Yeah, IVE and Newjeans have been releasing duds, but they've still done well with their releases. It's hard to consistently match the levels of songs like "I AM," "Love Dive," "Attention," and "Ditto" (some of the great songs of the generation and might go on to be classics if they stand the test of time).


    We should allow groups the space to have dud releases without declaring them flops (dud mileage is subjective). Most groups wish they could "flop" at the levels of IVE and Newjeans.

  • BTS and boycotted brands

    I don't believe that I'm underestimating anything, and you've already reiterated a point that I've already made (that people that support the Palestinian cause don't have the numbers to impact change). Many college students and professors lean towards the left than the right, but that doesn't necessarily mean that students and professor have the Palestinian crisis as something they see worthy of boycotting or divesting from companies that they engage with. From the protests that we see, it's only a minority of students that feel the need to engage in such activities.


    Your post is arguing that it's very difficult to confront Israel and force divestment because of the large hold that they have over companies and elites. However, that doesn't contradict my original argument that Palestinian protestors don't have the numbers to change the courses of companies on this topic. Your post just supports my argument, only adding that it's very hard to get companies and universities to divest, and it would be difficult because they don't have the numbers or the influence.

  • BTS and boycotted brands

    Quote from Owned_by_Irene

    It's a major movement at the grassroots level but extremely powerless compared to the pro-Zionist side. Netanyahu commands a lot of respect and influence with the US government. And Zionism isn't just about Israel but Western powers wanting a chokehold over the Muslim world via Israel and a huge number of Evangelicals, who already hate non-Judeo-Christians, believe that if they support Israel they will go to heaven. The Zionists have the government, religious organizations, corporations, think thanks, media, nonprofits, NGOs heavily on their side. So these boycotts is the most such movement shut off by all sides can do in such situation, even if largely symbolic. It's the least people can do as they watch helpless a genocide happening right before their eyes.

    I do think it's a popular grassroots movements, and it's been able to exert influence locally e.g., Deerborn, Evergreen State College, etc. However, there don't seem to be enough numbers to influence state-level politics in their home country, let alone K-pop artists across the world whose income is primarily dervived on the other side of the world. Back in 2020 during the BLM protests, about 5% of the American population participated in those protests, and those could be argued to have affected no real change in many places or a backlash later on if there were any changes. The Palestine protest seems to be much smaller.


    Even with the enshrined advantage that the Israeli state and corporations may have, there's not enough support to challenge it.

  • BTS and boycotted brands

    The Palestine movement is a minor movement that has an outsized voice: a small population that shout loudly. One of the biggest pieces of evidence for this is that companies that should be receptive to these types of call outs are not. I would say most countries and companies don't guide their courses on solely morality most of the time. They have other incentives. That there are governments and businesses and people haven't changed their actions can only mean that the number of people who care enough to change their behavior aren't enough. Not enough in America, in South Korea, or in most of the world. And where there are enough in number they are not enough in influence.


    And the proof of this is that actions haven't changed.


    In the US specifically, be prepared to see a lot less coverage of the conflict leading into the election, and then it will mostly be relegated to punditry talk once the election is decided. The fact that Democrat congressmen clapped during Netanyahu's speech at the Capitol last week is the biggest sign that the movement is cooked in terms of influence.

  • does kamala harris have a chance against trump?

    She does. She may not be able to win a Democratic primary, but now that she's the nominee (or soon will be), she will be able to compete in a different field. Being unviable in a party's primary doesn't mean that they are necessarily unviable in the general.


    Harris has basically hidden in a basement for the last four years. She's done nothing notable, but she's done nothing wrong either. This means that many attacks that have been sticking onto Biden are unlikely to stick onto her outside of general attacks (e.g., communist, socialist, woke, etc). Coming in this late, she has a chance to re-introduce herself to the nation again and change her image from four years ago, and she also has a limited time to really blunder. If she's going to be able to do that is a different question, but she has a good chance.


    Her focus should be winning appeal the middle voters and try to match some of the concessions that Biden promises the Squad to shore up the flaky youth vote.