Category: Topic Tuesdays: Music

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!

A little disclaimer before we begin: I know I’m a couple of weeks late and my opinion on this boy group probably doesn’t count at this point, but I really wanted to share my thoughts regarding one of the most highly anticipated debuts in the Kpop industry this year.

So, for all of my non-Kpop viewers, let me give you some background on how the Kpop industry works.

The music industry in South Korea is definitely different than how American music industries work. For starters, American artists are usually signed under a record label are guaranteed some sort of exposure or music being made; Kpop idols take years to build up. KPop artists before they debut are trainees within entertainment agencies, and just because they get accepted into an agency doesn’t mean they will get the chance to debut right away. Some trainees are just luckier than others, but some trainees don’t get the chance to debut until years after they became trainees. For example, TWICE’s Jihyo was a trainee under JYP Entertainment for 10 years before she got the chance to debut. Of course, then there are situations when you finally get your chance to debut, but the turnout of your debut isn’t as successful as your company expected it to be. It’s one of the reasons why a lot of already debuted idols (i.e Victon’s Seungwoo & Byungchan, UNIQ’s Seungyoun, IM’s Hangyul, UP10TION’s Wooseok & Jinhyuk, Fromis_9’s Gyuri and many others that I cannot think of right now) go on popular survival shows as trainees: it’s their second chance at success as idols.

Although there are dozens of Korean entertainment agencies and although many of them are well-known for creating successful Kpop groups and soloists, the top three entertainment agencies that are guaranteed success no matter what comes out of there are SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. SM Entertainment homes groups like Girls’ Generation, Red Velvet, EXO, NCT (U, Dream, 127, and all the other sub-units), SHINee, and f(x). JYP Entertainment homes groups such as TWICE, ITZY, GOT7, Wonder Girls, Miss A, DAY6, 2AM & 2PM. Lastly, YG Entertainment holds groups like BlackPink, iKON, 2NE1, BigBang, WINNER, and even soloist PSY, famous for “Gangnam Style” (He actually now runs his own agency called P Nation).

Now that you have a good idea on some of the background behind some of Kpop’s biggest names, let’s get to the meat and potatoes, shall we?

SuperM. Man, do I have a lot to say about this new boy group. 

SuperM debuted earlier this month after being announced last summer as SM Entertainment’s new Kpop project group. The purpose of this new “supergroup” was to pretty much create the next big thing in western culture; with BTS’ huge success in the United States and opening the door for third-generation Kpop internationally, many other agencies are now trying to mimic that success with groups of their own. For example: TWICE went on a four-stop North American World Tour during the summer, Blackpink has been on various daytime & nighttime talk shows to promote their music and United States appearances (like Coachella), and many other boy groups from other companies are traveling to the United States in hopes of exposure.

SM Entertainment is known as one of Kpop’s biggest successes within the second generation of the genre, and although their groups are still successful within third generation Kpop, the competition is just becoming too real, and they are slowly becoming the third biggest company out of the big 3; like seriously, TWICE is breaking records left and right and are possibly the biggest and most successful girl group of all time, which used to be SM Entertainment’s very own Girls’ Generation about a decade ago.

So, with that being said, I’m not surprised that SM made a decision like this one.

Again, I’m not blaming any of the members of SuperM, and quite frankly they are doing this because they follow what their company wants them to do; I’m pretty much exposing the fact that SM Entertainment took the easiest route of success and “debuted” well-known Kpop idols in a group together in order to target the American audience.

SuperM is a seven-member boy group consisting of members within three other SM groups: SHINee’s Taemin, EXO’s Kai and Baekhyun, and NCT’s (127 & WayV) Taeyong, Mark, Ten, and Lucas. If you’re a Kpop fan, you’ve probably heard of these groups, and these members of their respected groups; these three boy groups are wildly popular and have a huge following in South Korea, and even internationally. 

So, of course, it would make sense that SM Entertainment would put together a group of all famous well-established idols and target the American audience for just a quick success-rate.

This is where I have a problem:

There are thousands of trainees in Korean entertainment agencies that are fresh, young, and talented. They work hard and they train hard in hopes of their agencies seeing their potential to debut in new projects, and it really does sadden me that SM Entertainment doesn’t have faith in their trainees to debut a new group all-together or promote their already successful boy groups internationally. It also pisses me off that SM Entertainment only gave this opportunity of expansion to male idols when really it’s a female Kpop group we need in the United States to blow up. Maybe the American music industry isn’t so accepting of girl groups due to their cutesy image & the US really only acknowledges “girl-crush” groups, but still – SM Entertainment could’ve easily debuted a badass vocal Kpop girl group that could shut the American music industry down. 

But nope: try to recreate the success of BTS with already famous idols because it’s an easier way to success.

I probably wouldn’t have been so salty if their debut single wasn’t so… awful. First of all, it’s barely considered Kpop anymore when the entire song is pretty much an English song with four or five Korean lyrics sprinkled in there. Again, I know it’s targeting international audiences, but it still is a Kpop group; native English speakers in America didn’t fuck with Kpop because it was cool; it was because of the music!

The debut single is called “Jopping“, which is the words “jumping” and “popping” put together. Don’t get me wrong, it’s catchy and I think it slaps, but for an anticipated supergroup like SuperM, a concept in Kpop that hasn’t been done before might I add, it was just underwhelming for a lot of people.

This is why I believe this group was put together for a guaranteed success that required no actual work on the company’s part.

What SM should’ve done was to either push their existing groups (it’s not like they are failing anyway) to transition them overseas, or create a Kpop group with trainees that fit this overall concept; get some Korean trainees who could be the face of the group when promoting in Korea, get some foreign trainees (Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Korean-American) that can represent the group in their respective countries, and definitely have some of these members cater to English speaking audiences by having some fluent English speaking members in the group.

What I’m saying is that talent is talent, and I can only imagine how much work it truly is being a trainee to potentially an idol in South Korea. It looks difficult, it looks exhausting, and I bet you that many of these trainees who are still young as fuck are sacrificing being away from their families in order to follow their dream of becoming a Kpop idol.

BTS didn’t have any special members to make them famous in the US.

So in conclusion, in my opinion, I probably wouldn’t care to follow this group and their activities because here’s my very unpopular Kpop opinion: I don’t really like nor know these guys or the groups they come from. Of course, I’m a nobody, and if you want to “stan” them, go right ahead – these idols deserve the love they get from their fans! I just hate that the company decided to make a move like this in order to obtain more success and money from international fans, especially in the United States. I mean, how does a Kpop group from South Korea under a South Korean entertainment agency doesn’t promote, perform, or tour in South Korea? If anything, it’s immensely important to become a big deal in Korea first: if you blow up in Korea, you then blow up in all of the East Asian countries (and China) surrounding Korea – it’s happened for every single Kpop group I’ve been following. 

But hey, what do I know? I’m just Kpop trash.

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!

So, we’re doing something a little different on the blog today. Today (as in the day I am writing this) is Thursday, July 18th. I say that because it’s pretty important to point out that this section of this post is before the official results of the final lineup on Produce X 101 is revealed, and before that happens TOMORROW (8pm in Korea, so roughly about 7am in NYC), I wanted to share my ideal lineup, as well as the predicted lineup that I feel will most likely be revealed tomorrow.

Before we start, I would like to give a little background on the Korean survival show. Produce X 101 is the fourth installment of the wildly popular Produce series. Season 1 put together girl group IOI, season 2 put together boy group Wanna One, and season 3 (which was called Produce 48) put together girl group IZ*ONE. With that being said, this season was now looking to put together a boy group! This season, like the last season, played around with the rules of the show a bit, which was interesting considering many of its viewers were beginning to predict how these final line-ups were going to look like under the old rules, which was just simply Produce 101. In Produce 48, the trainees were a mixture of both Korean trainees under Korean entertainment agencies, as well as Japanese idols under AKB48, a popular company in Japan. This season, although has some global trainees in the show, is known for the X, which is the unknown position. In other words, the top 10 boys at the finale will debut no matter what, but they are debuting 11 boys. In other words, 11th place at the finale would normally be the one to debut, but instead, the X boy is the person with the most votes in the entire season will be the one who debuts. You’ll understand later on.

With that being said, this is my ideal top 11 boys:

1. Wooseok (aka Wooshin in UP10TION) seems like a strong face to become the center of the group, not only because he has already debuted in a group, but he has this aura about him that makes him the perfect center for these boys. While being on the show, he has played the center for some of the performances throughout the season, so seeing his willingness to stand out and be a center has been proven.
2. Yohan has been a favorite of mine ever since he sang a song with wheelies on at his first evaluation in episode 1. He’s cute, he’s funny, and he’s improved so much throughout the season; it’s crazy to think that this was a boy that only trained for three months prior to the show. He’s proven himself time and time again that he’s flawless at everything, no matter what he does. He’s definitely debuting.
3. Hyeongjun has also been a favorite of mine since the beginning because he just had that idol appeal to him. Although he was showcased as a shy kid who didn’t want to dance for the judges during his evaluation, he’s definitely proved himself to be an all-concept type of guy. I’m glad that Korea sees something in him because I was truly afraid he was going to be eliminated early on. Plus, his iconic “OWW!” during the Finesse performance was behind cute.
4. Dongpyo, our PDX101 center for “X1-MA“, is the cutest thing and he has stood out since the first episode. His personality, aura, and looks remind me a lot of IZ*ONE’s Yena, and I hope Mnet portrayed him that way because he was no doubt going to debut. As of lately, his ranking has been going down, and as of now, he sits at 12th place, which is concerning because I feel like this group will feel empty if Dongpyo isn’t in the final lineup. I also believe he’s center material for the final lineup because he is that cutesy, yet sexy concept switcher. I mean, his Believer performance was… out of this world. I hope he debuts in the top 10!
5. Seungwoo (a member of VICTON) was someone that I believe flew under the radar until just recently when he got more screentime. As of the top 20, he is the oldest contestant on the show (he’s 25 in Western age, but 26 in Korean age) and he just oozes in both sex appeal and overall likability. He has one of the most amazing voices on the show, and if he debuts, I believe he would make an amazing leader for the group. His high-note in “U GOT IT” is just mesmerizing.
6. Jungmo was someone I thought wasn’t as popular as he really is, but he’s been in the top 10 for most of the season with the exception of is ranking currently, which is 15. He’s definitely someone that’s interesting; because he is widely popular, he will most likely be the X boy that debuts. His accumulated votes as of now rank him as one of the highest, so if every single boy that has more votes than him debuts in the top 10, he will be the X boy.  I would prefer him to be one of the top 10 boys instead of the 11th because second after him would be Dongpyo to debut if he doesn’t rank in the top 10, but needless to say, he’s debuting. Probably.
7. Dohyun as our maknae please! He is the fiercest 16-year-old ever and I believe he would be a great addition to the group because of his rap skills and versatility. He was also another person who was under the radar until he got put into the top 10 throughout the season. He definitely started to stand out for me when he rapped for the position evaluation in episode 6.
8. Yuvin (a member of MYTEEN) is a pretty damn good vocalist if you ask me. He has a lot of color in his voice, he’s able to control it well and be stable due to his experience, and he does have pretty good stage presence. In the following weeks, his ranking has fallen and I believe it’s because people are becoming less interested in him, but I still hope he makes the group and becomes a main or lead vocalist!
9. Wonjin is such a humble and hard-working trainee, and it saddens me that he hasn’t been ranking high like he was at the beginning! I hope he gets to debut with this group because he has color in his voice that a lot of the trainees don’t, and it would be nice to have someone in the group that sounds a little different. Plus, he’s hella funny! Also, I believe he has the potential to be the leader of this group as well because he is so hard-working!
10. Tony has been my absolute favorite since the beginning and I’m so shocked and happy that he has made it to the finale of the show. Although I don’t think he’ll be debuting (not a lot of people are rooting for him because of lack of screentime and being lost in the rankings), I feel like he would be a good fit for the group. Being the only foreign trainee left on the show, I feel like he would be a good representative for the group for the international fans, and even fans in Asia (since he is Chinese). I feel because they want this group to be global, it wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t a foreign trainee in the group! Tony is such a hardworking trainee, he speaks perfect English (like perfect fucking English) and he’s cute! I hope he debuts in the top 10!
11. Mingyu will debut. No doubt. He’s the Sakura of this season. He can do no wrong to voters, and even though he isn’t anything special, he will debut due to his popularity. I feel like he has a lot of room to improve and if he does debut he will, but I don’t see anything special about him. He’s just… there. But, he is a very hard worker and he’s always ready for a challenge!

Prediction Line-Up:

1. Yohan
2. Wooseok
3. Mingyu
4. Jinhyuk (became popular & currently high-ranking. Fire ass rapper!)
5. Seungwoo
6. Eunsang (another popular & high-ranking trainee. He’s okay in my opinion.)
7. Hyungjun
8. Dohyun
9. Seungyoun (a trainee I wouldn’t mind in the lineup!)
10. Junho (another popular trainee I don’t care for.)
11. Dongpyo

Let’s see what happens tomorrow!

July 20th, 2019:

Hello! Saturday Liz here, also known as “the Liz with tears in her eyes as she’s writing this”. I just finished watching the finale of Produce X 101 and my god was it a roller coaster. There were twists and turns, and tons of tears cried from everyone watching, but for the most part, I am happy with the lineup of this new boy group, X1!

Lots of familiar faces, huh? I’m a happy camper, even if some of these members were not in my ideal top 11, I actually do like most of these boys in this lineup. The official rankings and positions are as follows:

1. Yohan (OUI) – Center, Sub-Vocalist, Lead Rapper
2. Wooseok (TOP Media) – Lead Vocalist
3. Seungwoo (Plan A) – Main Vocalist
4. Heongjun (Starship) – Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer
5. Seungyoun (Yuehua) – Lead Vocalist, Lead Rapper
6. Dongpyo (DSP Media) – Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
7. Hangyul (MBK) – Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist
8. Dohyun (MBK) – Main Rapper, Maknae (Youngest in Group)
9. Junho (Woollim) – Lead Vocalist
10. Minhee (Starship) – Lead Vocalist
11. (X) Eunsang (Brand New Music) – Sub-Vocalist

It’s sorta crazy how I predicted 9 out of 11 members of the final line-up, yet I was still shocked to read the final rankings yesterday morning when they were first announced. (Funny story: I was at a job interview looking at them) Anyway, I really do like the line-up of this group more than I did when Produce 48 announced the members for IZ*ONE. I feel like for a group that will be promoting for 5 years (the longest in the Produce series), I’m very excited to be a fan of these boys. I’m so glad that Dongpyo made it into the final line-up the most; he was always one of my top picks and I think he’s going to do a great job in this group. I’m also quite content with Yohan as X1’s center; he truly is the face of the group and even this season of the Produce series. Plus, he deserves it so much.

Of course, I am devastated for Yuvin and Wonjin the most out of the top 20; they were both visibly upset after the announcements and it’s a shame that their talents will not be showcased in X1. Of course, Yuvin will be back in MYTEEN with other Produce X 101 trainee, Kookheon, and I hope their group will now gain more fans and fame now that they were on the series. The same goes for Jinhyuk; although I bawled my eyes out when he was sad he couldn’t debut with fellow UP10TION member, Wooseok, I just know that UP10TION will now get the hype and love from fans of the show. As for the Starship boys left who didn’t debut, I hope that they could possibly debut in a cutesy boy concept within their company; they were all so incredibly talented and well-loved! 4 out of the 5 made it into the top 20 after all! As for my first-ever pick, Tony, I hope he has gotten the recognition he got being on the show and possibly start doing some solo work within his agency and become the global star he’s bound to be!

I know a lot of the fans of the show came up with a concept that the first season of Produce girls who ranked 12th to 19th place (I believe) did after the show; it was to become a group within the eliminated trainees. This fan project for the Produce X 101 boys is called BY9 (Be Your Nine) and I’m honestly all here for it and hope someone takes the opportunity to debut them as a group.

I was very surprised to see that Starship’s Minhee was announced as a member of X1. He was never in the top 10 during the season, and he was always just overshadowed by everyone throughout the season. I believe him becoming the main vocalist for the concept evaluation saved him in all honesty. I wasn’t that surprised to hear that Woollim’s Junho and MBK’s Hangyul made it into the final line-up; they both had a lot of fans and support throughout the season. This was also Hangyul’s first time being in the top 10 in the season, and I’m happy that he’s in the group! As for Junho, well, maybe I’ll get to know him better when he debuts in X1.

As for the X member, I was shocked to hear that it was not Jellyfish Entertainment’s Minkyu that was the trainee with the most accumulated votes. He was always in the top 10 throughout the season (although I don’t understand why) and was wildly popular for his visuals. He was hard-working, yes, but I’m not that upset that he didn’t debut. If anything, he should leave his company to try to debut with someone else. It’s no doubt he will. I’m quite happy it was Eunsang that debuted as the X member; he was also a good vocalist on the show.

It’s just very interesting to see how straight-forward the results were this season. Last season, a lot of people were upset at the lineup for IZ*ONE just because a lot of them were just visuals and not that talented. I had my favorites and was upset when they didn’t debut, but to see how successful IZ*ONE is now and to see the improvements of those questionable members, I can’t see them being anything else than what they are now.

And that’s it for Produce X 101! I’m excited to see what next year has to offer in the Produce series, as well as being introduced to all of the female trainees waiting to debut!

As for now: X1 hwaiting! ❤

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!

Many of you know that I’m a huge KPop fan, and most of the music I listen to nowadays is just straight up KPop music. I’m not the only westernized person to enjoy the music; KPop has now made its way into mainstream media and millions of people listen to it as well. Because of this, it has changed the KPop industry tremendously; companies are working twice as hard to put out new groups and music in hopes of becoming as big as “the big 3”, and KPop idols are now looked at through a microscope even more than they were before.

Like any industry, there are issues that occur and questionable things that happen behind the scenes. There have been reports of some idols becoming sick and overworked to the point of fainting on stage, idols (especially women) are losing so much weight to fit Korea’s obscure beauty standards, and these idols are really giving up their freedom to pursue their dreams of becoming KPop idols.

In recent weeks, TWICE member Mina has been taken out of appearances with the group due to health reasons, and while most fans thought it was just a temporary illness and she would return for their tour, JYP Entertainment realized a statement that due to Mina’s “sudden extreme anxiety and insecurity while performing on stage”, she will not be attending the remainder of the world tour, which is definitely sad for a lot of the international fans that are attending the tour dates scheduled for later this month. At their most recent tour stop in Singapore, the members were visibly saddened about Mina’s absence.

Because we don’t have any more detail on what’s to come with Mina, fans of the group are a little on edge. What’s going to happen? When is Mina coming back? What happened to even cause such a reaction anyway? It worries a lot of fans because members leaving temporarily due to health reasons is one thing, but there are a lot of incidents where members permanently leave the group due to these health reasons, and they fear that with time, this will be the same fate for Mina. While I personally don’t believe a departure from any TWICE member is coming anytime soon, I do believe that it was right for the company to pull her out of activities for her mental health, and although a place like South Korea may not hold mental health to the same value we do here in America, it’s important to talk about it and to bring awareness that these idols are not robots, and even through their smiles, they can still be hurting.

To the people commenting on this situation with “sudden extreme anxiety doesn’t just happen”, it actually does. Sure, it may not happen overnight, but anxiety happens to all of us on different levels. We may be fine one week, but then we’re anxious about something the following week, and sometimes, that anxiety just doesn’t go away. We don’t know how long Mina has been fighting this anxiety; just because she appeared to be fine on previous activities following up to this, it doesn’t mean that she didn’t get off that stage and didn’t have an anxiety attack.

Mina, being known to be one of the quietest ones of the group, could’ve been fighting anxiety all their life, as well as any other member of TWICE and any other idol in the KPop industry. Training in a company for years with no real answer whether you’ll debut or not is anxiety-inducing within itself. These trainees question whether or not they are good enough to debut, they’ve been torn down for most of their career and wonder if they are capable of fitting the shoes of their seniors in the company. If these trainees do get the opportunity to debut, who’s to say they aren’t anxious to see how long they will last as a group and how many comebacks they’ll actually get the chance to have? Many of these idols and trainees probably deal with anxiety but are too afraid to show it because of mental health being looked upon as a taboo. 

Be sincere to your favorite idols in the KPop industry. Don’t try to automatically blame a company for lying or covering up something even more severe, because anxiety IS severe and it could happen to anyone, even to someone as successful and well-loved as Mina. If you are attending any of the US tour dates later this month, let TWICE know that you support them no matter what and you care for them and you have Mina in thought on that day! Be the support that sadly many of these idols don’t have in their personal lives. Be gentle and be kind to anyone that you admire; they are also human too.

Get well soon, Mina. I hope you fight through this & come back stronger than ever. Mina 화이팅! ❤

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters from Liz!

So, two weeks ago, I published part one of this KPop music favorites thing showing you some of my favorite “veteran” KPop girl groups. Since KPop as a genre is practically exploding, many new groups are debuting, and some of them I instantly fell in love with!

So, since we all know how long the other letter was, let’s get straight to it!

IZ*ONE:

Like I mentioned in my last post, I was highly invested in the popular survival competition show, Produce 48. In a nutshell, this season of the show introduced Japanese girls under AKB48, a wildly popular Japanese with dozens of girls, with Korean trainees in hopes to form and debut a global girl group. With nationwide voting, the top 12 trainees formed IZ*ONE, a temporary girl group that debuted in October 2018 with their first mini-album, Color*IZ, and will be promoting for 2 and a half years. The 12 members (in rank order from the show), are Wonyoung, Sakura, Yuri, Yena, Yujin, Nako, Eunbi, Hyewon, Hitomi, Chaewon, Minju, and Chaeyeon. I really do hate that after their contract is over, they all go their separate ways. These 12 girls work so well as a group and really have the potential to be as big as other veteran girl groups.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: While watching the show, it was really hard to decide who I liked the most. There was another trainee who I wished had the opportunity to debut because she had such an AMAZING voice, but when she didn’t, Yuri and Yena were easily my favorites. Yuri (which as also on “Idol School”; the show that formed fromis_9) has crazy vocals. I’m actually glad she didn’t debut until now under IZ*ONE because she’s now main fuckin’ vocalist Yuri, and she’s honestly my favorite main vocalist in any girl group I like. Yena also has some amazing vocals, but her rapping? Lit. Plus, she was so funny on Produce 48, so I’m really glad that she got the opportunity to debut. Both of them actually!
• Bias Wrecker: I don’t really know! If I had to pick a third favorite, I think I’d have to pick Chaewon. She’s such an underdog in the group, but she has some of the best vocals in the group as well. On the show, she wasn’t showcased as much as the other groups who debuted in IZ*ONE, but she quickly won the hearts of viewers, and I believe her vocals for “Into The New World” proved her spot. Also Nako.
• Favorite Comeback/Album: Since they are more of a rookie group, they don’t have a wide range of discography. With that being said, their recent comeback title track has been in my head every day since it came out. The concept for this comeback, “Violeta“, fits them so well as a group!

Cherry Bullet:

Cherry Bullet is a rookie girl group that debuted in January 2019 under FNC Entertainment. I first heard news of their debut when YouTube recommended me their cover of Girls’ Generation’s “Into The New World”. It was sung live, as they danced, which impressed a lot of viewers for their abilities to do both. Also, I quickly realized that Haeyoon, a contestant on Produce 48, was now set to debut in this group, which I was happy for! She was best known for her vocals on the show, and ultimately ranked #19 at the end, which isn’t bad! I’m just glad that her company saw her potential for debut and decided to do so. Cherry Bullet consists of 10 members; in age order, they are Haeyoon, Yuju, Mirae, Bora, Jiwon, Kokoro, Remi, Chaerin, Linlin, and May.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: I haven’t seen much of the group since their debut, meaning I haven’t seen them on variety shows or anything since they debuted, so I don’t really have one. The only member I know is Haeyoon due to Produce 48. Once they have more comebacks as a group and promote more maybe then it will change!
• Bias Wrecker: Out of all of them, I really am starting to like Chaerin a lot more because she has some amazing stage presence. Plus, I think she’s so pretty! Again, I hope when they have another comeback, I’m able to get to know them as a group more!
• Thoughts on their Debut: Their video game concept for the group is so cute and fitting to their image and group, so I hope they can incorporate that into most of their comebacks! The song at first wasn’t that catchy to me, but the chorus was what made me listen to it more. The more I played it, the more I liked it! Their debut title track is called “Q&A“.

ITZY:

I was excited to hear that JYP Entertainment was debuting their first girl group since debuting TWICE because, let’s be honest: TWICE is so widely popular, we all wondered how the new girl group would live to those expectations. When their reveal video came out, we were all shocked when it revealed that ITZY was a girl-crush concept group, which TWICE isn’t. This even further the excitement to see what this girl group would be like, and man: I wasn’t disappointed! In age order, ITZY consists of 5 members: Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna. Many people were happy to see Chaeryeong in the lineup for this girl group; she (as well as her sister, IZ*ONE’s Chaeyeon) was on the show that created and formed TWICE as a group in 2015. I’m very happy that both of them finally got to debut because they are both crazy talented: Chaeyeon’s vocals, Chaeryeong’s rapping, and both of their dance skills.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: Choosing one for this group is extremely hard, mainly because they are all so unique in their own way, and honestly I never had a girl group where I liked all of them just as much as the next. If I had to pick, though, I think it would be Ryujin. She’s such a badass looking girl, and she totally fits ITZY’s concept the best (I mean, she’s the center for a reason!) Although her talents weren’t showcased as much as I would’ve liked in their debut, her aura, and stage presence is just out of this world. I hope to hear her rapping skills more in their next comeback!
• Bias Wrecker: I think if your bias isn’t Yeji from the start, then she’s going to be your wrecker. Yeji is so fucking talented; she really was JYP’s secret weapon. She’s a great dancer, great vocals, and could rap. She also makes a great leader for the group! Many people were blown away by her in their debut since she had most of the lines in their debut song, “DALLA DALLA“.
• Thoughts on their Debut: Many people didn’t like the debut song (or expected something completely different), but the song was instantly catchy to me! The concepts and visuals were nice, and I believe all the girls fit the concept well! Their B-side track, “WANT IT?” is something so different than anything I heard considered KPop.

EVERGLOW:

Everglow is a 6-member girl group that debuted in March 2019 under Yuehua Entertainment. This is the same company that IZ*ONE’s Yena was a trainee under, and represented them during her season of Produce 48. Along with Yena, two other trainees also participated in the show, Sihyeon and Yiren. Both trainers made it quite far until their eliminations within the final rounds before debuting IZ*ONE. Because I knew these two trainees during Produce 48, I was interested to see just how they were in this new group, Everglow. At first listen, the song doesn’t sound that great, but it gets addictive quite easily! After watching some of their music show performances, I started to really enjoy their song, concept, and style!

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: Although they are a fairly new group without any variety show appearances just yet, I could tell that my bias is definitely E:U. She’s the member that sticks out the most to me; with her platinum blonde hair and her more foreign features, she’s not that hard to miss. She’s considered the main rapper of the group even though she didn’t rap that much in this debut, so I hope she gets her time to shine when they decide to comeback in a couple of months!
• Bias Wrecker: Although I don’t think this member will ever “wreck” my bias, I do really like Mia a lot as well. She’s the main vocalist in the group, so she sang for most of the time in their debut track. But! When you watch her performances, she definitely has undeniable stage presence, and it’s definitely something that I believe many of her fans enjoy. Also, her pastel purple hair was everything in this debut.
• Thoughts on their Debut: One thing I’m starting to see within the Kpop industry is that a lot of these newer girl groups are starting out having the same concept, which is “girl crush”. Maybe that’s the trendy concept nowadays, but Everglow’s debut was another girl crush concept in 2019. Maybe Yuehua Entertainment has a reputation of being more girl crush-like, but the concept overall suited the girls well. I wonder if this is going to be their signature concept, or they wanted to start off with a bang, but either way, I like them & I hope they do comeback in a few months!

And that’s pretty much in! I hope all you Kpop lovers give these girls a chance as they are just beginning their journeys as idols and are finally living their dream of debuting!

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters from Liz!

One thing you should know about me is that I’m a music lover. I love listening to music, singing music, and pretty much just enjoy myself with my favorite tunes. What you may not know about me is that within the last month, I’ve been really into KPop, also known as Korean Pop. As mentioned in a couple of my past music related posts, I shared the story on how I first got introduced to KPop: being in the laundromat with my mother watching the music videos of TWICE’s “Knock Knock” and “Signal“.

Since then, I started to become more interested in the KPop music world. I began to expand my horizons with other girl groups (boy groups aren’t really my thing) and South Korean competition shows (of course with English subtitles). As the year went on, I started to find myself being more excited for KPop comebacks than the American artists I normally would listen to. A year later, I’m officially KPop trash.

So, if you’re into KPop, then maybe we have some similar favorites and biases! If you aren’t a fan, well maybe you could give it a try and listen to some of these girl groups and see if you like it!

First and foremost, we’ll start with the first KPop girl group I ever listened to:

TWICE:

TWICE is a South Korean girl group under JYP Entertainment. They debuted on October 20th, 2015 after the wildly successful survival competition show, Sixteen, which put the group together at the end. In age order, the members are Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Since their debut, they have released quite a few albums both in Korean and in Japan (which they debuted in during the Spring of 2017). As of today, they have 6 mini albums, 4 special repackaged albums, 1 full-length Korean album, 1 full-length Japanese album, 2 complication Japanese albums, and 3 Japanese single releases (excluding “BDZ“, which was promoted for their full-length album). They are notably the biggest girl group currently in Asia, and it truly shows through their fandom, ONCEs.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: Jeongyeon. When I first got into TWICE, my bias changed a lot while I was getting to know them as artists and “idols” on variety shows. When I started to listen to more of their B-sides on their albums, I’ve realized that Jeongyeon can sing her motherfuckin’ ass off. Her position in the group is Lead Vocalist, which in other terms is more so a lead singer. With Nayeon as Lead Vocalist and Center and Jihyo as the Main Vocalist means that sometimes Jeongyeon is the one that doesn’t get that much recognition on the title tracks, but in all honesty… Jeongyeon is the best singer out of all of them. I’m happy in their more recent comebacks, she’s been getting more lines and opportunities to shine, so hopefully, we do get to see more of Jeongyeon’s killer voice.
• Bias Wrecker: Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung is seriously the only member in the group that’s all around a good performer. She’s the Main Rapper of the group, and she’s damn good at it when she’s given the opportunity to show her skills on tracks. She also is the Twice member that writes a lot of the B-sides of their albums (along with Jihyo). She also can sing and dance really well, but the thing that makes Chaeyoung a lot of people’s bias wreckers is that she’s versatile with the many concepts in KPop. Out of all of the members, she’s the one that could pull off the girl crush concept very well, as well do well in TWICE’s more girly, cutesy concepts.
• Favorite Comeback/Album: TWICE’s 5th Mini Album, What is Love? was literally their best comeback and mini album in my opinion. The whole concept of What is Love? was so cute and colorful, and most of the songs were really good! All of their albums are pretty good, but this album was definitely the one that all of the songs were equally as good as the title track.

Blackpink:

If you haven’t heard of Blackpink, then you’ve been living under a rock because they just broke YouTube’s record of fastest views upon debut. In simpler words: they are a force to be reckoned with. Even with only a couple of digital mini albums and repackaged singles in Japan, they are pretty much the queens of the girl crush concept. Debuting in August 2016 under YG Entertainment, the Blackpink members consist of Jisoo, Jennie, Rose, and Lisa. Personally, their global success not only stems from South Korea, but the fact that most of these girls are from different countries around the world. With Jisoo born and raised in South Korea, Jennie studied in New Zealand for five years, Rose lived in Australia before moving to South Korea, and Lisa was born in Thailand. Their success also stems from the fact that it breaks the boundaries that girl groups are known for in KPop. These aren’t “cute girls”; they don’t make cutesy concepts because it doesn’t fit their style. Many foreigners who see KPop as being just cutesy and girly are surprised when they hear four girls singing in westernized-styled music in Korean.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: I don’t really have a bias in this group because there are already so little girls in the group. At first, I really did like Jennie because her rapping skills in “Boombayah” is crazy. Of course, after I got to listen to the girls more and see on shows and such, I really did fall in love with all of them equally.
• Bias Wrecker: Although I don’t have a bias, I sometimes feel like Jisoo makes me get a bias. She has such a unique voice and she has such an amazing personality on variety shows. She’s also kinda considered as the underdog in the group at times because when they first debuted, there were areas in her performances that needed more improvement than the other girls. Now? She’s fierce and strong!
• Favorite Comeback/Album: Although I didn’t listen to their music before their DDU-DU-DDU-DU comeback back in June 2018, I think my favorite comeback of theirs was As If It’s Your Last. The song showcased a lot of different styles of music, and it also showed more of their girlier side? I don’t know, to me, it showcased a lot of their abilities and a wide range of vocals (and raps).

Fromis_9:

Fromis_9 is a relevantly a newer group in KPop, and it wasn’t until their recent comeback that I started to really like them as a group. Fromis, which is the Korean translation of “promise”, but also the group name means “from is”, which also means “From Idol School”, another survival competition show that formed the group together. The group debuted in January 2018 with their first mini-album entitled, To. Heart and they are represented by Stone Music Entertainment. The members consist of Saerom, Hayoung, Gyuri, Jiwon, Jisun, Seoyeon, Chaeyoung, Nagyoung, and Jiheon. I first heard of the group when I was watching Sixteen and participant, Jiwon, was also in the running to debut in TWICE. When she was eliminated from the show, I did hope that she would debut in a group one day because she had a really unique voice from other Korean singers. Also, Gyuri participated in the popular survival competition show, Produce 48. The biggest surprise to the other 96 participants was that she had already debuted in a group yet she was participating in a show for trainees who’ve yet to debut. Although Gyuri didn’t go on to win a spot in Produce 48‘s temporary girl group, she did go back to Fromis_9 and is still a permanent member under them.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: Gyuri. While on Produce 48, she had a really good personality, and she had a pretty, strong voice! She also has a contagious personality, which I wish she carried out more of that while being in Fromis_9!
• Bias Wrecker: This is kind of hard because I feel like the more I watch their performances and variety show appearances, it changes. Recently, I think Chaeyoung is my bias wrecker because she is the ultimate clown in Fromis_9. Plus, her look for their latest comeback was so bomb; it just made her stand out from the others a bit more.
• Favorite Comeback/Album: Although I tried to listen to their older discography from earlier in the year, “Love Bomb” still remains superior. The song is catchy, the concept was cute and colorful, and I believe they are heading in the right direction with their group! I hope that same energy stays within the group, and I hope the group lasts long; there are so many different groups now and the competition is intense. So, I hope they do big things!

Girls’ Generation:

Such an old photo of them, but hear me out. Again, if you never heard of this girl group, then you’ve really been living under a rock. Girls’ Generation debuted in August 2007 under SM Entertainment. Their debut was monumental in KPop history because, at the time, girl groups weren’t popular at the time. Their debut title track, “Into The New World”, took KPop fans by surprise when these girls sang in unison, live, and danced some hard choreography. They quickly began to get success in South Korea, and by 2009, their hit single, “Gee”, became a worldwide hit. The original nine members in the group were Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. In 2014, Jessica both left SM Entertainment and the group, which left the 8 members to make new music, which also did pretty well. Their last comeback as an eight-member group was in August 2017, which celebrated their 10 year Anniversary. By the end of 2017, Tiffany, Sooyoung, and Seohyun left SM Entertainment to pursue solo endeavors and in 2018, the subunit Girls’ Generation-Oh!GG (which consists of Taeyeon, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, and Yoona) debuted with their single, “Lil Touch”. As of 2018, Girls’ Generation has released… a lot of albums: fulls, minis, Japanese releases; a lot.

Personal Favorites:

• Bias: Although I actually like all of the women equally in all honesty, I think I like Tiffany the most because of her story. She was born in California and auditioned for SM Entertainment in the U.S, which then scouted her to South Korea at 15 to be a part of this girl group. Although she is Korean-American, she had to learn the language, the culture, all while being under the spotlight in a highly anticipated girl group. She also just has a very contagious sweet personality, and she can sing her ass off. As of now, Tiffany is a solo artist in the United States, and she just released her first EP, Lips on Lips. 
• Bias Wrecker: Sooyoung. Sooyoung is the clown in the group and has the personality for acting and variety shows. She does a lot more acting nowadays, but while in the group, she made almost every MC laugh out loud for her jokes and snarky yet playful remarks. I also believe she’s just so pretty; her concept for their Holiday Night album was so cute! Sooyoung with short hair and a tan is a mood.
• Favorite Comeback/Album: Although I haven’t personally listened to every album they released, my favorite comeback was in 2013, all nine members, with the song “I Got A Boy“. That song tried something different for the first time in KPop, and even though at the time it was weird and unheard of, it’s now a style that many girl groups in this generation adapted either for their own title tracks or b-sides. It was also showcased a more mature version of the girls; most of the group were in their mid-20’s at the time, and as the grew, their music did. To me, this comeback pretty much proved that these girls could fit any concept and it was always natural for them to adapt to the many concepts they tried out in their run. They are iconic for a reason!

 

That’s it for now! In a couple of weeks, I’ll be back to talk about some of my favorite rookie groups at the moment, so stay tuned for that!

 

Hey, guys – welcome back to TNTH!

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve spoken about music on this blog! In all honesty, there just hasn’t been a lot of great music out for a while, but boy did October come through with some goodies!

Like old times, I’ll be talking about some of my favorites, and my own personal Spotify playlist will be linked at the bottom!

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Continue reading “October 2018 Music Favorites! 🎃” →

Hey guys, welcome back to TNTH!

Since my last installment of this series, a lot of great music has come out, and I mean a lot. I mean, I actually liked Demi Lovato’s Tell Me You Love Me album so much, I wrote an entire post about it.

Like every post related to music, you can follow my Spotify playlist containing these favorites, as well as the many other songs that I play on a daily basis.

Without further ado, here are my Top 5 favorites as of right now!

1.) “Love So Soft” by Kelly Clarkson

It wouldn’t be a music favorites post if I didn’t include my girl, Kelly! “Love So Soft” was released on September 27th, the same day her upcoming album, Meaning of Life was announced. This song is definitely a different sound from her previous work. There are noticeable back vocals, brass instruments, and a sass that wasn’t in her music for a long time. Her pop-rock anthem sound she’s known for isn’t on this song, yet this song is a banger for sure. Clarkson described this new album as “a grown-ass women record”; one she’s been wanting to make ever since she won American Idol 15 years ago (yes, let that sink in). Personally, I feel like this is the music she’s meant to sing. Maybe 13 years ago when “Since U Been Gone” as a major hit, Clarkson belonged in the pop-rock mainstream world. With a voice like Clarkson’s, she belongs in the same category where you find Adele and Sam Smith. I feel like this upcoming album is going to show us how music is really made.

2. ) “Lonely Night” by Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony’s self-titled album was released a little over a month ago, and since then I’ve been listening to some of my favorites non-stop. Particularly, my favorite out of the album is “Lonely Night”. It’s a typical song you will find on a Fifth Harmony album, but the harmonies on this song slay. No shade to Fifth Harmony as a fivesome, but the harmonies between these four ladies blend extremely well. Their voice ranges are so similar to one another that you are able to have these women harmonize without hearing that one distinct voice. I believe Camila Cabello has a very different voice from a lot of singers in the industry, so again no shade. Back to the song: it’s sassy, the chorus is something you don’t expect from a Fifth Harmony song, and it’s just catchy as hell.

3.) “Hurry Up!” by Superfruit

At first, this song wasn’t a favorite; it definitely had to grow on me. After a while, it became my instant favorite off of their second installment of Future Friends. The chorus is definitely one that will get stuck in your head (I’m currently singing it as I write this), and the music video to this song will make you dance. Again, Scott & Mitch are making such great music outside of Pentatonix; some of which you don’t get to hear in mainstream music anymore. It definitely gives you a taste of what’s currently in music, and what used to be…

… Hey baby! I’ve never been in love! But I wanna be, I wanna be, so hurry up!

4.) “Irvine” by Kelly Clarkson

I don’t know if I ever mentioned this song on TNTH before, but this is notoriously my favorite song of all time because this song comes back into my life at different points in my life. This song was on Kelly Clarkson’s album, My December, and she once said that this song was written at the lowest time in her life, particularly writing this on the bathroom floor at a venue in Irvine, California during her Breakaway Tour. Since 2007, I identified with this song and it relates to a lot of moments in my life. This time, though, the song came back into my life because I stumbled upon it on Spotify under Kelly Clarkson’s artist profile, and every time I listen to this song, I end up harmonizing with it. The song is spooky enough as it is with its somber lyrics and minor chord guitar playing. Harmonizing with it just makes it ghostly.

5.) “He Like That” by Fifth Harmony

Okay, so this song was released on the same day Fifth Harmony was released, and at first, I thought was song was completely mediocre and something that Fifth Harmony was notoriously known for: being sexy women talking about having sex. After a while, the song grew on me because it’s kind of one of those songs where the lyrics are so simplistic, you just remember them. So I can’t lie, I sing this song at the top of my lungs whenever it plays. Also, I can’t help but yell “I GOT THAT PUMPS IN THE BUMP AND YOU KNOW YOU WANNA TRY IT” whenever Dinah Jane sings it with perfect pronunciation.

Seriously, what’s the world without music?

 

-Liz. (: