Yeah, Riku's still down with CoVid. I'm actually kind of surprised Mako managed to recover in time, but maybe her disciplined lifestyle paid off in a faster recovery. Last time at KCON it was Rio that fell sick during rehearsal, just before they were about to perform.
EDIT: Regarding this performance, it's nice to hear Miihi have stronger support now when singing Yuki no Hana than she did during her vocal test for Nizi Project Season 1. She's definitely improved.
I mean, the whole point of the compulsory military service for all Korean males in the first place is to have a strong, well-trained militia reserve in case North Korea invades. The government needs to be able to call upon as many semi-professional soldiers as it can, to replace losses in its' professional armed forces, in case North Korea nukes the military barracks and kills the majority of the Korean armed forces. You can't do that if all the people you trained in military service go back to civilian life and never go back for reservist training. They would have forgotten all the skills they learned in the two years of training. So yes, they have to go back for refresher courses and maintaining fitness during reservist training. Up to eight years after their discharge, when they still would be considered in the right age group to be fighting fit. (Old farts above 40 years old are probably considered no longer fit enough for active frontline duty).
I have loved every single pop-rock ITZY song since the beginning, and this one is no exception.
It feels like the spiritual sequel to Nobody Like You (even though they are quite different songs):
Nobody Like You is the start of the relationship, and Boys Like You marks the end of it.
JYP X GOTOE Random Play Dance @ N. Seoul Tower (with SHINDONG) - YouTube
1 hour of people in Seoul dancing to randomly-played JYPE artists songs. (by Park Ji Yoon, Wonder Girls, Sunmi, 2PM, missA, GOT7, TWICE, Nayeon, Stray Kids, ITZY, NMIXX, Rain and J.Y. Park)
Yes but i think you missed my point.
It was mostly to say that it was hypocritical to say love talent or be there for the music but only be interested in popular idols in reality. If I do a poll for the best singer between Ailee, Rosé and Jihyo I'm almost sure that Ailee will come last.
Pls don't get me wrong i don't say they're trash, but for me they're decent/good nothing amazing we've seen better than them. I'm mainly trying to say that talent is everywhere, not just in the big company, and moreover talent is often more outside than in these company. I just try to encourage people to open their mind and discover new things.
Fair enough. I think people can only make judgments on things like talent or skill relative to how much they have been exposed to. Obviously, if you have been exposed to more groups / singers, your judgment should become more refined as to spotting those artists that truly stand out from the crowd. (That's also why music critics exist as a profession - they have to review everyone, both good and bad artists, while fans can just focus on their favourites).
However, allkpop is a fansite, not a music criticism site, so I wouldn't expect too much out of the fans here. So whenever I read things like "this person is SOOO talented!" here, I always read it with the filter of "this person is talented amongst the artists that I have been exposed to so far". It also varies generation by generation - skill levels in general have become higher as training methods of the industry as a whole become more refined and methods are passed down to subsequent idol generations. So the new-generation fans are not entirely wrong to say that the artists of this idol generation are more skilled (different from inborn talent) than earlier generations.
Exposure, of course, is the number one reason why Big4 groups become more hyped than artists from smaller agencies / companies. More people are paying attention to them, because their company has already had a track record of producing successful artists in the past. Plus, large companies can afford to sink more resources into media coverage in general to promote their artists. Indie artists, or artists from smaller companies, often rely more on live promotions (concerts, festivals, busking, etc.), which would not be as visible here on an international website outside of Korea.
Perhaps the fans are genuinely looking for talent. And, having a lack of exposure, their impressions of the first K-pop groups they encountered are already so overwhelming compared to the artists in their home country that they are satisfied with that. That's okay. That's basically a talent comparison between K-pop artists (as represented by their favourites) against the artists of their home country. Even what would be considered a middling-talented K-pop group may already more than the artists the fan had been previously exposed to. (Not to mention, the most enthusiastic of these fans tend to be younger, so it's likely that they have been exposed to less artists just because of their age... and also teens are prone to dramatic hyperbole.)
It is a good idea to encourage people to seek out more artists, to expose themselves more good music. Just keep in mind that not everyone wants to have the refined experience of a music critic - some people just like to be enthusiastic fans. And that's okay too. 
NMIXX singing live in front of BoA to the point where she wants to reserve them to sing at her wedding:
(They also have a discussion on singing technique afterwards)
EDIT: Oh, and this is NMIXX singing their title track completely acapella:
For what it's worth, I ilstened to Ailee since her debut and still think SoHyang is the best female singer in South Korea in terms of vocal technique. It's been frustrating to watch NMIXX title tracks be unsuitable to showing what the group is capable of. I think half the "hype" is actually frustration from fans who can see the mismatch between singer and songs.
Yes. Let NMIXX be the 2AM to ITZY's 2PM, and you would have completed the girl group trifecta for JYPE Korea.
I like this B-side MV so much more than DICE...
Spanish / LatAm-targeted promotions:
Honestly, when I first heard the teasers for DICE and heard that brass section, I thought "Yes, they finally got it! NMIXX is perfectly-suited to be JYPE's answer to MAMAMOO." Jazz-Swing-Big Band initial sound, with plenty of rich vocal harmonies, would capitalise on both the members' limitless energy (huge bunch of extroverts in that group) and make use of their vocal talents well, as showcased from their JYP cover medley and harmonic cover of BLACKPINK's Kill this Love.
If they had done something like MAMAMOO's early performances on Immortal Songs 2, like Flying into the Night Sky, that would have been perfect:
The girls obviously CAN do this style of musical theatre sound, given their cover of Seventeen's Very Nice:
Jazz as a genre lends itself very easily to medley-type songs, so they won't even have to give up the MIXXpop concept. Just mixx up jazz with one of the other genres that go well with it. R&B, funk, soul,... heck, throw in reggae if you want. Since NMIXX also seems to be making efforts to promote to the Latin market, put in some Latin and Bossanova rhythms. MAMAMOO demonstrated this perfectly in their rookie year on Immortal Songs - NMIXX could have done it for their generation.
EDIT: The trouble is, when selecting songs, the A&R team went with beat-centric songs, rather than focusing on the groove and harmonies. You've got great vocalists, why would you waste them on doing stuff with producer-made rhythms instead of showcasing their own melodies or harmonies? Classic case of reading the market, but not understanding the materials you're working with. A good craftsman must not only know what would sell, but also what the strengths and weaknesses are of material they are handling (in this case, the artists they are producing). Focus on what music best suits the artist, not what best suits the market. Let the characteristics of your artists define their sound, even if its' not the most popular niche in the market at the moment.
Nice. Wonder Girls had that title, then IU got it, and a bunch of actresses as well, so it's nice to see the nickname passed on to a new generation of idols.
I mean, High School Musical entranced a whole generation of teenyboppers (and even twentysomethings). And before that there was S Club 7. The market for cute, youthful, wholesome fun music isn't as small as people seem to think it is. Given how much of a role visual media and music videos play in the K-pop experience, it's often better to think of them as musicals, rather than just pure music. Which means you're tapping into the Glee and Hannah Montana and High School Musical audience (and Disney in general). That's a huge market - just ask Bruno (we don't talk about him) and Let it Go.
1. New division (SQU4D) set up specifically to manage NMIXX. So, probably less experienced and younger staff on hand in that new division, than in the other divisions. On the one hand, it's good news for the company backline staff, because it means the company is permitting them to try out new things, and there's a promotional pathway for the ambitious young guns. Which addresses a long-term complaint that staff had initially in the mid-2010s that upper management was stifling the ideas of the younger staff. Now they get to try out their new ideas for how to manage artists, and the upper management has given them the cream of the crop of trainees to debut with. So the first ideas at going off the standard path didn't turn out too well, but the company seems to be still supportive of their new division. Fumbling around a bit and making mistakes is expected of a rookie new division management. They'll get more experienced with time.
(Maybe learn not to put advertising messages into the debut song of your artist, no matter how much Coke Zero pays you. Artistic integrity is more important than commercial tie-ups. NiziU's string of advertisement-tied title track hits is a miraculous exception, rather than a general principle to follow.)
2.
I don't follow them, so I don't know if they are ever invited to variety shows. Has JYP tried to promote them in variety shows?
Promotion and variety shows:
Always nice to see idols get involved in environmental initiatives and campaigns. The stories of her trainee days, comments on MBTI, and wishes for post-contract renewal plans were also interesting. Also liked how she passed the baton to Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung at the end.
Its pretty crazy considering that it seems like alot of disgruntled artists who left the agency was due to lack of freedom.
Im not sure how trust worthy minion as a source is, but he said other JYP artists dont have inputs on their tts.
I don't think minion is very informed about what the members actually say or show about their work processes... Here's some examples from TWICE:
So whenever I see ONCEs complaining about the title track choices, or the styling, or the promotional activities, or even the merchandising and album being lacklustre, and blaming the company for their poor decisions that are sabotaging the members, I just quietly laugh.
Thought this would be a fun couple of videos to share. JYP groups are known for their dance and choreographies, after all. Professional Korean dancers reacting to JYP group choreographies (english subbed):
Hardest Boy Group Choreography:
Hardest Girl Group Choreography:
Sidenote: Here's the video of the backup dancers reacting to and commenting on Nayeon's MV, with English and Japanese subs. (The moment I recognised Serom's distinctive laugh in the dance practice behind-the-scenes video, I went looking for this video and found it was posted four days ago).
I think it's a very SM Entertainment thing... Super Junior's Heechul once said on a variety show (can't remember where the clip came from; Edit: Found the source.) that in SM Ent's culture, they are trained to believe they are the best. Especially after harsh internal competition to debut. So pride in themselves and the brand that the company created for them is a natural outflow of that kind of company culture.
I can see why many fans find that appealing, and pride in following "the best" or "the top" is a big part of the whole approach of marketing that SM Entertainment uses for their idols. It gets reflected in their fandoms as well... fans feel a vicarious sense of pride in following idols who proudly claim to belong to "the best groups". (Regardless of what the actual idols think, that is nonetheless how they are marketed to fans... and over time it becomes a self-perpetuating belief.)
I personally don't see much appeal in that, since I'm much more drawn to the opposite value of humility, but different strokes for different folks.
It's not just the idols alone though. It's the entire Korean entertainment / media / fashion / beauty industry. Idols and musicians are just one facet of the Hallyu cultural media complex, which is just as powerful in Korea as the military-industrial complex is in the U.S. (good luck trying to change American laws on guns in the face of all those political lobbies and pressure groups with vested interests...). Especially since there so much money to be made in the export of Korean beauty/fashion products and services, and entertainment products (drama / music / film / variety), many of whom do not want to face commercial and financial risks in going against what is perceived to be the market-approved standard for beauty.
There's also a related question of Kpop companies having the luxury / power / financial resources to uphold obligations to be responsible for societal influence. Capitalism, classism, and extreme competition are hallmarks of South Korean business culture. For many small and mid-tier Kpop companies, do they have the financial resources to survive if they try to promote idols who have healthy bodies? Can they guarantee their idols would succeed and gain enough influence to set the standard, if they do not match what the market desires? MAMAMOO can barely do it with their outstanding talent. Their predecessors in the 2nd-gen, the Brown-Eyed Girls, adopted plastic surgery in order to gain influence, despite being equally-talented vocally.
Of the Big 3 (or 4 if you include HYBE), JYPE is the one that focuses the most on promoting physical health in their corporate social responsibility projects. SM Ent does more education and community social services, YG Ent focuses more on charity donation and now apparently environmental sustainability. I believe HYBE is also moving towards more environmental sustainability initiatives in their CSR focus (and previously mental health). I don't know what Kakao Ent or the CJ group are doing. But in any case, that means that almost none of the major players in the Kpop industry are vested in promoting a healthy body image or lifestyle, except maybe one. And even then, they are less focused on the psychological elements of a healthy body and more on the nutritional and medical elements.
