Posts by FoReveries

Hot Damn, HYBE are unstoppable in their march forward!

I can agree with a lot that's being said in this thread, except for one theme: that Big 4 groups are apparently untouched by shade and disrespect.

I can't even count the gazillion times that Big 4 groups are called has-beens or flops after disappointing charting or album sales or anything else that can be downplayed or shaded: TWICE are being called flops every single time their comeback doesn't chart well, Red Velvet have been declared DOA every comeback that didn't chart Top 5, and Aespa have been shaded to oblivion as soon as their songs didn't hit Next Level-level of success.

And those are just a few of the many, MANY examples where Big 4 groups were talked down into the ground and their successes trivialized.

Reality is, Big 4 groups aren't spared from the disrespect, hate and shade that non-Big 4 groups get, to the contrary they'll even get more heat and bashing by company antis and stans of other Big 4 competitors.

It's just that aside from the added heat, Big 4 groups will often have a larger fanbase and active fans (hardcore stans, company stans and casual fans) who will be vocal and come to the defense of those Big 4 groups.

I've said it again and again, and will keep saying it: Seulgi is one of the few true chameleon queens on stage, a great performer who can adopt any concept and make it her own to the point it fits her like a glove.

I think it's really very simple, the reason why: Cube isn't a Big 4 company, so (G)I-dle and other Cube groups will never get the exposure and inbuilt fanbase that Big 4 groups will get, which means they'll always tread on shakier grounds.

For the same reason, I think that Cube groups like CLC and Lightsum really would have been able to make it big, if they would've been part of Big 4 companies with all the Big 4 advantages and privileges that comes with it, like the promotional force and creative resource backing that Big 4 can offer - at least to a larger degree than Cube can.

Despite all that, I think that (G)I-dle had imo the most interesting chain of debut year songs of the past 7 years, with maybe Newjeans as sole exception. And they did manage to have a huge crawl back comeback after their unfair scandal, which was impressive.

It's only a shame that Soojin wasn't around anymore to profit from it too, as she deserved it too.

I'll admit that I haven't heard that many live vocal performances from GFriend's subvocalists. Still, I think that it's Red Velvet of these two groups, even if I had heard more GFriend's vocal performances. For reasons explained more below.

Quote from tzuwi

honestly the sub vocalists of gfriend and rv are overrated. i hear people say that all of gfriend/rv are the best vocalists. it’s true that yuju/wendy and i’d even argue seulgi too are some of the best third gen vocalists but the other members are kinda weak.

there are only two groups (that i know of) where the group is perfect vocally, by that i mean every member is at least average and no weak singers. and that is snsd and mamamoo. 5/9 members in snsd are main vocal tier which is incredibly impressive for such a large group, and the remaining members are above average or average singers. 3/4 members of mamamoo are main vocal tier and the other 1 is a stable lead vocalist even tho her specialty is rap.

I kinda agree and disagree.

To be frank, I haven't heard GFriend and RV vocals and subvocalists be praised that abundantly and excessively to the point that they can be seen as 'overrated'. In fact, I think it's the more opposite and in RV's case it's almost to the extent as how SNSD and Super Junior were masssively underrated and put away as 'talentless visuals' and even ridiculed when objective vocal analysts mentioned they wanted to give a Super Junior vocal analysis a shot ('why would you even want to analyse the mediocre vocals of that zero talent group?') on sites like this one.

For RV too, I can't count the many times in previous years that RV vocals and vocalists and their vocal talents were dismissed and trivialized, on this site too, and ignored when talking about top tier vocal girl groups of 3rd gen ('oh, it's just Wendy that's strong, the rest are forgettable'). Completely forgetting that Red Velvet are one of the few girl groups that sound truly (and effortlessly) amazing when singing live, and that even the RV subvocalists sound good live and know how to harmonize impressively.

Which, honestly, should come as no surprise that RV as a whole are a top vocal group of their gen: SM has always had an intense focus on delivering strong vocalists and have their entire groups sound great while singing, which is partly due to SM's impressive vocal coaches and vocal coaching they invest in. SNSD, DBSK, The Grace, SHINee, EXO... RV is just 1 SM group in a lineup of strong vocal groups.

Quote from Popper-of-Ks

You should really be more considerate and give us a warning next time. I was drinking something when I read the part about SNSD having no weak singers. If I had made it to the "5/9 are main vocal tier" part without spitting it out, I probably would've already choked to death.

Respectfully disagree here.

You might hate or dislike SNSD or SNSD members however you like and not like how SNSD's vocals sound - what vocal color or tone you like is after all a matter of personal, subjective preference. But it's a matter of fact that SNSD is a top vocal girl group and that their entire vocal line is easily as good as and better than the majority of main vocalists of 2nd gen-4th gen girl groups, vocal technique-wise. And even their subvocalists can still sing and harmonize well live.

Like said, just like every company of the Big 4 had their particular talents and strengths they focused on for their groups, vocals and harmonizing were the traits that SM focused on when it comes to their groups, especially in earlier gens.

I wasn't a big fan of 2NE1 (due to Blackjacks and YG stans... ), but even I have to admit: 2NE1 and 2nd gen were Teddy in his peak era.

His songs were really epic and brilliant, and I feel that compared with those, Teddy either became either lazy and repetitive or lost his inspiration and creativity starting from 3rd gen onwards.

Also, while I like Blackpink as a group more than 2NE1 and feel that 2NE1 and their talents were vastly overrated, esp. by YG stans, Blackjacks and bandwagoners, I gotta say that their concept and impact were overall stronger: their 'swag' flavor of girl power were impressive, especially on stage.

So I'm going for 2NE1 for this one.

Quote from butterbutterfly

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this was honestly so good

spoiler alert! they won

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Currently working through my backlog of notifications Thanks for this one, hadn't seen it yet!

It really is a great song, so chill and smooth

Quote from bangmenah

I feel like Viviz is Mago Gfriend personified into a group and thats good because it was a PEAK concept

Agree!

I feel like Viviz is how GFriend would have been, if their MAGO comeback would've gotten the success it deserved and if GFriend would have been able to continue in this direction as a group.

Quote from OnceMidzy4ever

Sure, Wendy is not Whitney Houston, but believe me, she is closer to Whitney than LSF main vocalist to Wendy.

Quote from David33

Wendy is no Whitney that's for sure, totally different singer, and there's reason why people say Solar is the Korean Whitney Houston.

Pre-debut vs Years later! For the record, even Solar is not close to WH, but she's probably the closest in the Kpop Idol business. THIS should be the standards, honestly, and she's just one example, I could mention many others, too, like EXO.

Well, Wendy actually did do a truly outstanding Whitney Houston song performance here:

I agree though, it'd be great if live performances and outstanding vocalists would be more prevalent, or at least more common than it is now, in this 4th gen era.

Bad encore stages to me fall under the category storm-in-a-teacup drama: something that K-pop fans and netizens fuss about, but really isn't worth all the fake outrage or hyper attention that it seems to get every time.

Doesn't mean that I don't have my preferences: it saddens me, and I really mourn the loss and almost-purposeful discarding of skills and strengths that used to be core values in the earliest gens like 2nd gen - like variety skills, and being able to dance and sing live in a stable way at the same time and still be able to dance and sing great.

And I really love it when K-pop artists are able to confidently, visibly enjoy themselves but still go all out and also adlib or vary their song lines, like in encores or other live occasions.

But I also recognize that those are things that just aren't a main focus anymore in the past years. Nothing ever stays the same, the world keeps changing and that also applies to K-pop. It is what it is. Every era has its pros and cons, its strengths and weaknesses, its horrors and beauties.

There's pre-LSM/KWANGYA songs and post-LSM Aespa songs that I like, just as there are songs pre and post that I'm indifferent about.

I think it's great when there's some larger vision behind the song, comeback or concept of a group. It can give some added layer and richness.

The idea of an SMCU was definitely interesting - however, the idea of it was in hindsight better and more tantalizing than the actual execution of it, that sometimes really shined despite all the flaws, but other times just wasn't it and fell short.

SNSD and Super Junior. 2nd gen was peak variety era, with lots of great variety idols and strong variety talented groups - but of all those, SNSD Super Junior still took the crown as variety kings and queens.

After 2nd gen, variety became far less a focus or idol criterium to be good at, sadly enough. GFriend and Mamamoo were still entertaining to watch though.

I really like the song and the MV, it's great that she's taken a different musical direction with her 2nd album and that she doesn't stick to only ballads.

To me, she may even go to harder rock, I'd love to see her do something like Taeyeon did with 'Devil's Cry'. But I just love all her performances, regardless genre. Her energy, enthusiasm and singing artistry makes them a joy to watch and listen to.

I think that in an idol scene like K-pop, it's extremely important.

Having that member that it's the visual, or stan attractor, or center (like in the AKB48 groups) and being really great at it, it can help lift a group's popularity and the public's attention and awareness of the group to a higher level and increase and bind its fanbase significantly.

Oh nice, thank you ! I hadn't seen that one yet :)

Quote from Dreamer95

The "IT girl" thing literally arose at the peak of OncexBlink fanwar around 2018 when Twice was clearly dominating Blackpink in Korea in all areas and blinks needed something to latch onto like global popularity and individual popularity. So it started the trend of "global group", "local group" and the famous "IT girl".

What is an it girl? Literally everything Jennie was, the term was coined so that it fits Jennie but not any Twice member. At first it was just "popularity", "going viral" but since Nayeon, Sana and Momo would frequently go viral a gatekeeping mechanism had to be invented. So the last element was added into the mix "having brand deals". Why? Because everyone was aware of the way JYP handles Twice and everyone knew Twice would never get solo deals.

Then people started giving the term to other non Twice idols that fit the description like Irene or Hwasa.

I was there the whole time watching this thing evolve. It was nothing but a term invented purely to elevate other groups over Twice in a way and now seeing 4th gen stans embrace it and apply to their faves gives me a weird feeling.

Like not all groups are operated in a same way, stop latching onto dumb terms

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'it girl' discussion fights were already happening regularly in 2nd gen era way before 3rd gen times, with idols like Yoona, Suzy, Dara as some of the main targets.

But I agree that the whole 'it girl' discussions became even more excessive and idiotic in 3rd gen times.

There's several things in K-pop that make me facepalm the hardest, among them the neverending storm-in-a-teacup 'scandals', dating drama and the hyper biased discussions about stage presence and 'it girl'.

Especially when it feels like those elementary school fights about 'it girl' are only held on sites/forums like this, always by the same few people and 99% of the times only to weaponise and appropriate 'it girl' classification as a means to promote their own bias or to shade other idols that aren't their bias. You don't really fool anyone, people

Psycho and HIP are the no. 1 and 2 in this list of 6 for me, so I'm going for 3rd gen.

I haven't had the time to listen to all of them yet, only 2 next to the title track, but I Wendy going for a different sound than her first album, I'm all here for it

Looks like she's also going to do the tour of shows and performances this comeback, I love it!

I appreciate all her performances, her voice and outstanding vocal mastery truly elevate songs to a higher level, whether it's her own or her group's songs she sings or those of other artists.

But what I love most of all is how she just radiates her enjoyment and playful, almost casual singing excellence in all her performances