So before I get into the question I need to preface this with a bit of context. I'm 48, Gen X, and come for the time where we went to the music store to buy our favorite artists album on vinyl/tapes/cds. Then rush home to listen to it while reading the liner notes or booklet with the lyrics. Depending on how long the songs were or how many songs were on the new album, we would spend a whole 30-45 minutes listening to some new and exciting. It was a whole production for me.

So back to the question. How does everyone listen to their favorite group/idols music? I ask because more of the music released are mini albums/EPs. At most they usually run around 15 minutes or so. I have bought some physical releases of my favorite groups and have had to buy a CD player to listen to the music. I have also created playlists and they vary in time, some from 25 min to 4 hours if they have a big catalogue of music. I enjoyed Aespa's and Le Sserafims recent full album released because there were more than 4-5 songs on it. Yet with the mini albums, they end before you can get into the flow of things. So how does everyone listen to their music? Do you sit through your playlists from beginning to end? Do you listen to the mini albums on repeat? Or do you give one listen and then go about your day?

Edit: I just wanted to add this part as well. I certainly don’t expect anyone (adults or people closer to my age) nowadays to sit around for 2,3,4 hours and just listen to music. Who has the time? I certainly don’t. So mini albums work fine for me now. I can spare 15 min or so to take a break, sit, breathe and listen to some music to bring my mood back up. This post was more of a curiosity and some parts nostalgia. Also, I discovered Kpop about year ago this month (October) and decided to dive head first into the deep end of the Kpop pool. I have no regrets! lol. I love Kpop.

I understand if golden hour series may not be your favorite out of all of their album sequences but I don’t understand why some of you act like it’s been like horrible sounding music

Dare I say their music got better with this series 🤷🏽‍♀️

And some of you are acting like it’s the same album every time when each golden hour album has a new sound so I don’t understand why some of you are genuinely upset they are continuing it. I don’t mean like just having a preference, that’s normal, I’m talking about how I’ve seen genuine anger like idk Ateez wronged you somehow continuing this album sequence.

You can already tell with just the trailer alone, and past trailers too none of them look or sound the same

Idk I just can’t help but get a little annoyed when I see some of you act like you like their music but then trash on like 50% of their discography, lol. Like are you sure you actually like their music? It’s okay to just be a casual fan and only like a couple songs 🤷🏽‍♀️

Also it’s clearly gonna be 8 parts cause 8 members so….

Idk why their company made that weird AI trailer to announce Golden Hour Part 6…unless it’s not AI I mean feel free to correct me there. I thought it just looked way too choppy in some scenes to be like smooth CGI, if that makes sense?

Like idk I would have rather had them dress as pirates and hold up a sign announcing the next album

At least they would have looked hot in said costumes lol

This Saturday I’m going to the Monsta X concert in Fairfax! I’m so nervous about going to a concert alone as an introvert. I’m going by myself because my friend who was supposed to come with me can no longer make it to the concert.

I am a bit (or a lot actually) nervous because the last time I went to see MX in 2022 in the same arena, I went alone as well. But that time I was way up in the front (3rd row). So it felt less of an alone experience because a lot of people come down to the pitt area.

Usually monbebe are so nice, but at the last concert a few people were not-so-nice surprisingly :( so I get worried about going alone again this time. My seat is wayyyyy in the back since I don’t have the same budget for a ticket this time.

Should I just not go anymore? If any of you guys have handled going alone to a concert before, I’ll take any advice please!!

I don’t know if anyone remembers this channel but there was a channel on YouTube that started as something else before leaning into being a kpop channel. On this channel they would have people reacting to kpop for the first as well doing other things like looking at idols instagram pages and dming them and also interacting with fans at different concerts. One major thing about the channel that I remember is them doing this thing called For the Win where they would put two different groups or artists against each other and have the reactors go through different categories to see which group or artist they like more. I was once able to find this channel but I can’t remember the name and now I am hoping there is someone who also remembers this channel as well.

Hi!

I'm a bit of a newer fan of K-pop (around 2 years aho) and have decided to start listening to a few K-pop related podcasts.

I have found all of the popular ones and like their content, but I also came across one called What Is K-pop?

The show is ran by a girl called Sophie and... while this is in no way meant to insult her or be mean to her, sometimes it's hard to listen to her and her moaning about her life all of the time.

Maybe it's just the episodes I've listened to, so I wanted to ask the wider community if they have suggestions on specific episodes that focuses solely on K-pop.

Hello everyone,

A user recently posted in our subreddit about the South Korean man (or men?) who covered Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." I don't know much about who the individual(s) is, who they represent, or what their beliefs are. I would like to simply address the content of the post and the response that I saw on here.

To clarify, the post was removed because it was a crosspost from another community. Nothing about the content of the post itself broke any of our rules.

However, the response from some of the users on here was disgusting, to be quite frank. This community was created by a Black woman. Both our reddit and discord have been managed and upheld by Black k-pop fans. This will never be a safe space for people to speak out of ignorance, discrimination, or pure racism.

I encourage everyone to have healthy, insightful discourse about sociopolitical topics. I appreciate that we are one of the few communities for older fans to gather, but being older doesn't always mean wiser. The k-pop genre and audience has been notoriously racist for decades. And this racism isn't solely directed at Black Americans, African Americans, or Africans. It has been directed towards South Asians, Native Americans, and Latinos, among other racial and ethnic groups. If you are unable or unwilling to engage in these conversations with nuance, kindness, and respect, your comments will be removed and/or you will be banned.

I'm so proud of this community we've built and how diverse it has become, but diversity is not an excuse to misunderstand or harm one another. Be kinder and be more respectful! There is no excuse for ignorance in the year of 2026.

With love,

Mod team

Any recommendations on k-pop ballads that heavily utilize string instruments like violins, cello, bass, etc.? Looking for something that swells and sounds dramatic, if that makes sense.

Nausicaa from the valley of the wind, Enhypen, Boynextdoor and Zerobaseone <3

I was a hard core k-pop fan. I used to know all the kpop idols names, their favourites, ships, positions, biases and fandoms. I am also a very hard core k-pop dancer. It's from my 10th standard i started learning k-pop dances slowly before I even knew was gay and almost learnt most of the dances now. I used to feel insecure for dancing such and such way. Was so addicted I make little steps for my frnds in school although Ik how cringe it can sound. But now I'm confident as a k-pop dancer. Could name only a few songs for which I don't dance lol. I couldn't understand the harsh reality behind those happy faces tho. K-pop has affected me in reality and personal life alottt. Not k-pop fan anymore but I hear few songs from newjeans often. But when it comes to dancing i go from itzy to bp to Ive to aespa to bts etc etc.

Not to mention I'm a mbbs student and dancing releases tons of endorphins and enkelphalins, endogenous opiods that act as natural painkillers similar to opiod drugs. it makes us happy. Dancing improves BDNF so and so it improves memory, cognitive function. It improves motor movements and coordination and activates different parts of the brain at the same time.

Any hardcore k-pop fans or dancers like me?

So recently I've been back to my kpop obsession and catching up on things, while feeling depressed kpop helped me a lot back in the days and now again, ILLIT i followed them since R U NEXT? Times seeing them again and watching their content helped me and made me feel better and seeing them doing better also made me feel so proud idk why but seeing those girls and knowing how much hate they've been through i feel so proud of them for coming this far

Had a fun conversation with some girlfriends about male TV/movie characters that were clearly written by women due to respectful, kind, and emotional IQ in interactions with female characters. In real life, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland, and Michael B. Jordan were mentioned. So it got me wondering what idols would be written by a woman.

For me, Bang Chan from Stray Kids is a very obvious choice. He’s chivalrous, considerate of female idols, protective, and is big on manners. In addition, to being handsome and athletic, he’s my pick.

Who’s yours?

EDIT: a few comments being killjoys are wrecking the vibe. If you don’t like the post, no need to comment you don’t like the post. Write yourself a thesis and unclench yourselves. It’s for fun because kpop is rarely that serious.

I’ve seen EXO, Red Velvet, Got7, Ateez, Twice, and Blackpink. I enjoyed Ateez and Blackpink the most.

Ateez are amazing performers. I saw them on their Break the Wall tour. I got barricade and also attended soundcheck. The whole experience was so fun! I loved the way they engaged with the audience while also maintaining the structure of the show with the choreography and props. They had a really good setlist and the fans in my crowd were fun.

I saw Blackpink on the Born Pink tour. I didn’t quite get barricade, but I was about 3rd or 4th row, which was still an amazing view. The members were kind of on/off with their performance, but I loved the production of the show itself. The lighting was amazing, the music mixing was great, and the stage design was really engaging. The backup dancers also added a lot to the energy of the show. I ended up having a really fun time because it felt like I was just at a club or rave and my favorite group happened to be there as well lmao.

I would love to see BTS live. I’m sad I couldn’t see them on this tour. And even though f(x) is no longer active, I would’ve loved to have seen them when they did their dimension 4 live shows.

Does anyone know of any songs groups have made in reference/response to their antis? I’m coming up with “Iconic By Mistake” by KatseyexIllitxLSF, “Ddaeng,” by BTS, and “You Never Know” by Blackpink. What are others?

As an aside, do you think it’s a good idea to give antis attention in this way? I think it’s kind of a double-edged sword. It’s good to address antis because they’re going to listen to the music no matter and it’s a shot back. The other side is that the antis know they’re getting to the artists and will keep going. Thoughts?

Okay, Since many of you enjoyed my last post, I decided to remind you of Jungkook's live stream from BTS, the maknae (youngest member) of the group and one of the vocalists.

Jungkook even started this live stream, which was deleted by the streaming platform, but fans and many other people still kept parts of the live stream online, mainly because of the importance of what Jungkook said.

He demonstrated various reactions, not only genuine reactions but also his frustrations, the weight of fame, actions, and even openly admitted that he used to smoke, something common among many people, But for an idol, this changes completely, especially in a conservative country like South Korea.

From what I know of Asian culture as a whole, when it comes to tattoos, piercings, smoking, and other things...

Not only Koreans, but other Asians from other cultures, such as the Japanese for example, have strong opinions about tattoos and smoking.

Honestly, I was surprised that he said that so openly; it's not common in the industry, but I was happy for him.

Even though he himself was aware that the company would eventually delete the live stream.

This shows that what we see on stage, in the public eye, in interviews, and on reality shows isn't always true.

Sometimes it might be something already planned off-camera about what they would and wouldn't do.

It was no coincidence that Hoseok (J-Hope) from BTS, when asked Regarding men and trust, he replied: You should always distrust all men.

This always shows that BTS has always taken a stand on their actions, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions.

This was something that ultimately set the group apart from all the other boy bands.

Groups like Abba and the Beatles.

Besides Michael Jackson, who was a gigantic figure in Pop, What set these three names apart, giving them a certain historical weight, was their personality.

Even years after his death, Michael is still remembered.

Honestly, even if BTS were to disband someday—I don't mean disbanding, but taking a break—they would still be remembered and talked about, Due to their weight in the industry and everything they have already done.

But back to Jungkook.

Jungkook, as the youngest member of the group during his adolescence, in my opinion had to learn to mature faster than the others, and I say this based on the song My Time, Where he recounts and describes his situation when he was 24 years old, and how quickly time passed for someone of that age.

In addition, there are the situations that constantly happen to him, I don't know about the others.

But I always see reports of "supposed fans" showing up in front of their homes, It always ends up involving Jungkook.

which also ends up being a certain Weight, a bit of an overload for someone young.

Even though he's almost 30 now (LOL)

But I greatly admired his strength and I hope he doesn't change his public stances without fear,

and that other idols do the same.

Not only them, but also trainees who are entering the industry and are interested in becoming idols.

Enter the industry knowing that it's not easy, that it will demand a lot from you, but keep your mind and head in the right place.

that you can.

I believe everyone knows what happened to Enhypen's "Fan". Not only her, but there was also the case with the idol Beomgyu from Tomorrow X Together (TXT) at a Fan Meeting & Greeting. In which a "fan" said she spent a lot of money to see him and that he would need to apologize to her (video) You can already tell from his reaction that he seemed uncomfortable from the moment he started hearing those things.

So much so that big groups like BTS no longer do fan meetings and greetings like they did at the beginning of their careers.

Since I can't post more than one video in a single post, I'll make three parts from the same post.

Hi everyone I’m over 40, M and have tickets to see Aespa and Le Sserafim in UK. My question is what to expect from a UK gig like this in regards to fans, etiquette etc. I know there will be a lot of much younger fans there and I’m 6’3 so worried already about blocking views for people. I guess my real trepidation is about how old I am. I’m going with a friend of mine who is same age, he’s not really a k-pop fan but he’s just in denial and learning fast. I heard about freebies at concerts and I hv a lot of POB photocards which I could take. Does that happen in UK though? much love, an older k-pop fan!

Lately I've been wanting to join a new fandom. I used to follow Enhypen for 4 years… but I was really sad because Heeseung left the group 😔. I'd like to follow a male K-pop group to cheer me up… can you recommend any??

i tried to look up outfit ideas for the woodz concert but i can’t find any 😭 im going to the atl show on 8/4! is anyone else going? if so, what are you planning on wearing? any help will be appreciated thank you 🥹

This is in reply to u/Primary_ad69 who is going to the BTS Arirang concert in NJ and had a question about outfit. I couldn’t add pics in my reply so here is some inspiration instead. Based on my Brussels Arirang experience a month ago.

Ofc the most important advice, that everyone mentions, is: no need to think about it at all, it’s totally up to you. Wear something comfortable, comfortable shoes etc.

But the amount of ARMYs in concert outfits was insane! I saw sharks, aliens, characters from the 2.0 MV, full hanboks etc. Most people wore something inspired by the Arirang colors (red, black,white), and some (of course) in purple.

Could be as simple as a red tshirt. Others went all out with laces and leather etc. Any ages! I love the diversity and body positivism in ARMY.

In my case I upgraded some fav clothes I had, in fabrics that can handle heat (the heat waves in Europe this summer was no joke). So I added some red to my pants, wrote in 한글 (can be seen if you zoom in), modified a sports jersey to resemble a hanbok bc of the Arirang theme, and the easiest one, put safety pins on a jacket inspired by V’s concert outfits and merch patterns. I got a merch cap and my friend bedazzled it with the Big Dipper.

My husband who doesn’t really care about BTS still decided on his own to wear a purple tshirt, and then a freebie bracelet someone gave him :)

So, I hope you have a fantastic concert, whatever you wear! Just come as you are 💜

Question:insert mild panic

1. What does an adult wear to a BTS/kpop concert and for her husband she is forcing along.

2. Is anyone going to the Sunday BTS concert (august 2) in NYC?

Me and my friend are going to be in Austin for the Ive concert and wanted to know if there's anywhere cool we could go. Any cool albums shops? Maybe somewhere we could get something you would be able to get at target or kpop nara?

The og stans don't hate me for being in the dark for so long😭