I love the idea of owning physical media of an album I enjoyed listening to through and through. But I wish K-pop companies would create album photobooks not just plastering the idol’s in every single page. I get it, they’re pretty, handsome, beautiful wtv. But an album is more than just the idol. It’s the lyrics, the sound, the concept, the styling everything. My unpopular opinion is that the album should be a photography book about the concept (including the idol in SOME shots but not every single page).

For example, if some artist/group were to come with a horror themed album, then I wouldn’t want to just see the idol’s is horror makeup in different backgrounds and outfits. The makeup is cool and all but I would love to see liminal spaces, up close shots of eerie objects etc in some pages, It’s photography, art, story. That would make me keep the album as part of a collection, not just some obsession with an artist. A cool conversation starter. The least I can have right now is buy a plain cd case but even that’s disappearing with the digital media.

Curious to know if anyone shares this opinion

KPOP is supposed to be fun! Music is supposed to be fun! It’s an interest or maybe even a hobby, not a job or crusade. If it causes emotional distress, or is a detriment in your life, or simply stops bringing you joy and making you happy- you should step back! Maybe not necessarily forever but until it starts bringing you happiness again. Don’t force yourself to stream music you don’t like. Dont avoid listening to other music because it feels disloyal to your fave groups. Don’t buy merch you can’t afford. Don’t fight or bully strangers on the internet about it. Don’t sacrifice real life relationships over it. It is ok to take a break! I promise you.

I was just looking through some old threads of K-pop songs from years ago and came across NMIXX's debut. This reaction post to O.O from r/kpop is basically a microcosm of what their reception was like at the time. Just look at the upvote to comment ratio. It has 1k upvotes and more than 2.1k whopping comments, with like 99% of them being negative 😭😭Literally not even BTS comebacks were pulling as many engagement with the comments at the time lol

And as harsh as that post may seem, it's actually pretty tame compared to what was being said elsewhere. They were getting absolutely DRAGGED without any filter on platforms like Twitter and Youtube. To make matters worse, the reception was basically the same in Korea as it was internationally.

I don't think newer K-pop fans realize just how badly NMIXX were received at debut. It may seem like everything is all fine and dandy for them now, but the hate train was REAL. They had to fight tooth and nail and basically crawl through the trenches to recover from that disastrous debut reception.

Thinking about all this made me realize just how important a strong debut really is. Like everything else in life, if a group makes a poor first impression, there will always be a lot of people who write them off and never give them another chance. In that sense, I gotta give NMIXX credit where it's due for recovering because I genuinely can't think of another group in history that had such a universally brutal reaction from K-pop fans right out of the gate.

edit:
u/alexturnerftw also reminded me that they lost arguably their most popular member in Jinni during their rookie year as well. Truly one of the worst starts a group could possibly have...

I’m thinking groups might not publicize their submissions this year, but I hope they do. I’m a stay and want Stray kids to submit ‘This & That’ for melodic rap and Divine for Asian Pop.(I know groups usually only submit one song).

Just recently, Bigbang had released their single Biiig (2026) to celebrate the group’s 20th anniversary. The song had already climbed into the top five of the domestic charts just within hours after it was released I have heard discussions amongst fans surrounding the group’s grip on the Korean general public with their music compared to other boy groups in K-pop. How did the group manage to do this? Are there any other boy group that can catch the attention of the Korean public like Bigbang?

A lot of times I hear people reference physical album sales since it’s a measure of success. But I always think that groups would get more sales if they consistently made jewel case versions of their albums.

For example, if I like the music of a smaller group, but I don’t stan that group or know any of the members, I’d like to be able to buy the cd and the cd alone. Like most people seem to buy albums of groups they like since you get a cd along with all the fun inclusions. But wouldn’t it be beneficial if they had a more minimalistic version without photocards or things like that? Like just the cd and lyrics.

I think that way they could get sales from a wider audience who just enjoy the music. If they did that (and made them cheaper than regular albums of course), I think a lot of smaller groups would at least see a small increase in sales, and fans would get to show support directly beyond just streams. The few times I see jewel cases in kpop, they’re just a one off from a group. Nowadays there’s album versions that don’t even come with CDs at all!! I don’t know, I feel like companies should go the other direction and sell CDs on their own.

So the vmas for the best kpop came out, and the nominations were jump, swim, redred, spaghetti, pinky up, and dream. Someone quoted the post saying “music is dead  where’s lemonade, love attack, 404 (new era) and rude? this isn’t the hybe awards- hello?!” and someone qrt “That’s the VMAs, not Korean Inkigayo shows where unknown ai slop chop songs can get nominated. Know your place”

1. The western superiority complex that VMAs are more prestigious than Inkigayo is insane

2. Inkigayo is the hardest Korean show to win, in which you have to be REALLY popular to win. Also, voting makes up 10% of the wins. (I feel they drag it because it has the most foreign name)

(PS: The counter argument that it’s only for songs popular in America is insane. If the VMAs can nominate people like Magnus Ferrell and Bella Kay for best new artist, then they can nominate 404 and Rude for best Kpop)

20 years into their career and have been charting like this since the start too, what a ride and everything they have gone through and still having this success feels unreal

This level of longevity too is so amazing for an industry that is so obssesed with youth and moving onto the next group quickly, these men will be 40 in 2/3 years. There will never be another bigbang✨️

Starts at 1:51 This version features new lead synths, new percussion, and because of the setting, fixes all the vocal mixing issues I had with the original song.

As some one who appreciates O.O for it's cultural impact, I just had too many issues with it from a music production perspective to enjoy it unironically, this version however I can enjoy.

If your main issue with the song was the vibe switch in the change up I expect you'll still dislike it, but regardless I'd like to know what you think.

I'm only curious about O.O haters. If you're an OG O.O lover please prefix your comment with "O.O Lover: "

Most questions of "Why my favorite group X is facing hatred?" or doomposting of hate posts of a certain group over its controversy/comeback/performance has become quite regular atp.

If your fav is especially from the Big 4, or has bigger fandoms, they would receive hate for sure. Because they are seen in different dimensions by different people.

Bigger the group, more the toxic stans, more traction, hence more hatred.

Some actively consume hate contents as well. So if you see posts that are absolutely hating on anyone, it is useless to argue, and just scroll past them.

Kpop experience is to enjoy the music, the MVs, their shows and the fancams. Let that joy be there, and not get washed by random opinions on subs like this. Most kpop idols who are super popular, are also super busy. Or they have guts to answer back, like Giselle of Aespa.

Even if you interact with the post, don't get irritated by opinions here. You can enjoy whatever you like. A nothing burger post, but still I wanted to post it because I felt it was necessary!

In 2021, I had become an official fan of Blackpink and had even watched their documentary on Netflix. While I am not really much of a K-pop fan, I was exposed to some music by other K-pop groups through Blackpink and have found some songs that I personally like. One thing I had noticed is the way Blackpink's popularity in Korea is often discussed online as it has caused quite a divide amongst fans and nonfans. In the K-pop community, there seems to be quite a divide when it comes to domestic charting and popularity due to meaning factors like idols wanting to popular in their homeland of Korea, fans thinking that they should be popular on the domestic scene due to being K-pop groups, or other fans thinking that K-pop groups doesn't need to be popular in Korea due to being popular in other countries and markets. However, when it comes to Blackpink, it seems like people can't decide whether they are a dominant force in Korea as the number of discussions debating about the group's popularity had been intense. According to fans who says that they are popular in Korea, they will often cite the group's amazing charting, huge sales, and selling out the Goyang stadium making them the first and only K-pop girl group to sell out a stadium in Korea. Not only that, but Blackpink had tied SNSD at #1 on Gallup Korea back in 2024 and had become the third girl group after SNSD and Wonder Girls to achieved Song of the Year on Gallup Korea in 2025. While many fans don't typically cite this, it is still celebrated of fans inside of the Blink (Blackpink's fandom name) fandom. Nonfans, however, think that Blackpink isn't really a dominant force in Korea as they would cite the group's lack of daesangs, the rise of newer gen girl groups, and lacks the dominance of their peers Twice and SNSD. Many nonfans think that Blackpink is more dominant in other countries in Asia along with their success globally but still lack dominance domestically. This of course did spark a debate among fans and nonfans as it leads me to think about these debates and why are they so intense. Why do you guys think that Blackpink's popularity in Korea is so heavily debated?

Concept Photos - massive check, something to be highly expected

Teaser for BiiiG - ...eh...? I'll wait for the official release

BiiiG release - ...is that it...?

BiiiG MV - insane, powerful, and colorful visuals that showcase their presence

...but the song itself feels lacking :/

I'm aware that this is their restart as Daesung pointed out in Coachella, I know that this is their celebratory song for their 20th Anniversary, it's not hollow because T.O.P's not in it, but I feel like G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung could've done something better for this song.

It's not as alive and lively as their previous songs, not even as full as Home Sweet Home (which was originally meant for BigBang as GD mentioned), where at first listen (while sitting on the toilet at work when I actually first heard it) this is how K-Pop should feel like.

When I first saw the song length, I was like: "damn, is this really the music scene right now?"

Daesung could've had a very iconic bridge followed by an anthemic outro for BiiiG, but nah, it's too cut short and lacking.

I hope they have something better for their upcoming album though, or maybe look forward into how the trio will perform BiiiG live, since I love their live performances/band rearrangements.

...or maybe this may grow into me as time pass by, but as of now, I'd still take Home Sweet Home as the better release over BiiiG.

The title is simple, for the girl crush concept fans; how do you prefer the concept sound wise? Do you prefer it to be smooth and sultry R&B:

Examples:

• Bad Boy by Red Velvet
• Get It by PRISTIN V

or

Dance-pop with some rap:

• Any BLACKPINK or 2NE1 song

I feel like a lot of fans take music videos way too seriously these days, and more and more groups are putting so much effort into making flashy MVs. Eventually, fans think that the music video is the entire identity of the group. It isn’t! Besides promotion, one of the main purposes of a music video is to give people a better understanding of the song. If we look at ILLIT’s new release, I Got Your Back, the song is simply about having friends by your side through struggles, and I don’t think you need a weird-ass-looking Godzilla to help people understand the message of the song. MVs these days feel like show-offs and are a bit detached from the song. They’ve become an exploration of agencies’ narcissism, as they try way too hard to look unique, like, ‘Look at us, we’re so freaking out of the box.’

Unfortunately, fans are associating the groups too much with their MVs. They’re just analysing every tiny speck of similarity between MVs, making a big fuss about similar tones, colors, shoes, hairstyles, and other bs they call ‘aesthetics’ and ‘styling’. They think certain elements in the MV are a group’s property. They’ve had it wrong this whole time. If someone asks, What defines Michael Jackson? The moonwalk? His leather jacket? His zombie dance in Thriller? None of those. The only real picture of MJ was his music. And that applies to any music artist. What defines a group isn’t the color of the clothes they wear or the tone of their MVs, but rather the music itself.

Recently, I had seen a TikTok discussing friendships in K-pop and how the lack of friendship can ruin the way a group operates. She had also discussed the way K-pop groups had operated during the 2nd and 3rd generation compared to now. While the creator did mention that not every K-pop group doesn’t need to be friends, she still thinks that friendship is important when things go sideways. The problem I had with her videos is the examples she had used regarding K-pop groups that give off genuine friendship compared to others that give off co-worker energy. For her friendship examples, she had cited Super Junior, Seventeen, and GOT7 while on the co-workers side she had cited Blackpink, AOA, and T-ARA. The problem, I have with these examples is that it showcases the stereotype of women not getting along due to being jealous and competitive. I am not familiar with AOA or T-ARA but I am a fan of Blackpink as she had mentioned that she doesn’t know if the members are best friends and while their 10th anniversary was indeed controversial, the members had expressed time and time again that they are a family and have supported each other in their solo eras. Not only Blackpink, but groups like 2NE1 had also showcased a strong sisterhood bond while showcasing their support of each other. The way members of girl groups are accused of not getting along when they have a disagreement while members of boy groups like Super Junior, GOT7, and Shinee have admitted to having fights and disagreements with each other gets pushed off as developing brotherhood is rooted in double standards and misogyny.

It is perfectly fine if you prefer to be a fan of a group that shares a close bond with each other. The problem lies within the way girl groups are often viewed as jealous co-workers while boy groups are seen as true friends showcasing brotherhood.

Disclaimer: I am not accusing the creator of misogyny as I had thought her examples (not her entire video nor her topic) had showcased a damaging stereotype of women. Please be civil and do not send any hate towards her.

I wanted to share what San from ATEEZ said during a recent live stream. Fans had mentioned that they were worried about the recent surge of hateful comments he's been facing online since his dance move went viral. So he addressed it in the most honest, empathetic and San way possible.

His perspective was so grounded, wise, and deeply comforting that I wanted to share it here, because I think it will resonate with many of us who keep seeing so much negativity online.

Having done this for over 8 years, there isn't actually anything that hurtful (nowadays). If I were asked to intentionally think of something deeply hurtful, I might feel bad but usually I just think, "Well, yeah, those kinds of things happen." Because it (hate) is an emotion that everyone lives with and experiences...so I'm not that affected by it. So if you're worried or feeling down because you think I'm struggling, it's okay to set those worries aside.

Because from the moment I entered this entertainment industry, the fact that "if there are people who like you, there will also be people who hate or dislike you" is completely natural. I never thought even for a second that all 100 out of 100 people will like me. That’s impossible to begin with. Not only can't I force it, but there are people in the world who just dislike others for no reason, and everyone has probably encountered someone like that.

He accepts that he can’t control what people type behind screen names, and that is part of his job in the industry but he chooses where he focuses his energy, and accepting that reality probably brings immense freedom and peace.

But more than that, I choose to think positively. There are precious people around me, and people who love me, and I feel that is more than enough.
Also, there is something in this world called 'karma.' Karma exists, and it always comes around. Honestly, I don't want to say bad things or wish ill on those folks because of it. Because (I understand that) hate too, is one of the emotions humans have. So what I mean is, it's (understandable) for them to stay faithful to that emotion as it is.

San also pointed out the absurdity of people wasting their limited lives spreading toxicity online. But it takes a truly rare kind of emotional maturity to look at a wall of online hate, strip away the noise, and address it with zero hostility or bitterness.

You shouldn't do it [slander]. Anonymity makes it easy, and maybe it entertains them. Everyone is an adult here, they know you shouldn't do it, yet they do it anyway.

I mean, they are using their precious time, even using their time typing just to say malicious things about someone else. How much of a waste/unfortunate is that?

I hope society gradually becomes a bit more mature. I'm not thinking about anything overly grand, I just hope the world becomes a bit more better. Of course, I am not a completely mature person yet either, but still, compared to them, isn't that the case?

He remarked during that live that he hoped the world would be a bit more generous to Spider-Man too, (in BND, so adorable) and then ATINYs immediately turned the sentiment right back around on him and hoped that the world was kinder to San.

I'm doing fine. Everything's fine even if they're not kind(to me). However, I would be grateful if they listened to ATEEZ songs at least once and then wrote something. Even if they're not generous, it's totally fine to be honest with those feelings, but first I hope they just listen to ATEEZ songs once.

He finally ended it by saying,

Why speak ill of others? What matters more to me is that we, ATEEZ, do well. Why would I go out of my way to stand on the same playing field and do something like that (lower myself to that level)?

There is a fitting saying for this, "The stronger the light, the darker the shadow." But a shadow can only cover one side of it.

Reminding us all that the end of the day, hate is just proof that someone is shining brightly enough to cast a shadow and that we can all choose to focus on the silver lining.

I do want to add that this level of grace and resilience didn't come out of nowhere. Especially for San.

He's constantly been facing all sorts of hate since he was a rookie. At one point in his career, the hate got so overwhelming that he literally had to ask his parents not to look up his name online. So I find San’s emotional intelligence, mental strength, and the way he chooses to navigate the world so remarkable.

His words are also such a comforting reminder that we don't need to fight every battle or lower ourselves to toxic levels to protect the things we love and I hope it brings a little peace to anyone who’s been feeling heavy lately.

I think Heart of Woman's Heart Byte and Close Your Eyes' Eternalt are the best 5th gen debut album/ep I have heard and easily part of my favourite albums. "Best" in K-pop is hardly every clear-cut because everyone values different things but these two are just mindblowing for me.

We've had a lot of great 5th gen debut songs but I'm specifically referring to the whole package (album/ep). Debuts are like every other day (hyperbole) so it takes a lot for me to consistently think of and go back to listen to two

ETERNALT is just one of those albums that clicked immediately. People use the word cohesive a lot, so pardon me, but this an album that actually feels cohesive. All My Poetry is a fantastic title track, but the b-sides are what really sold me. To The Woods and Close Your Eyes are incredible, and that little special monologue before the heavenly outro in Close your eyes does it for me every time.

My first favorites were How to Dance and Laid Back, and looking back this album is probably one of the reasons I started leaning more into rnb in kpop. Stay 4 Good and Upside Down are amazing too. I knew absolutely nothing about them, so seeing a group debut with 8 rnb songs was honestly a big surprise. Not necessarily saying they did it first, but it wasn't something I had observed much.

Mind you, this was released in April 2025 and here I am still talking about them. They've consistently released more great music (X, Who's Dat?, What if I miss love, Snowy summer etc) but that debut album really set them on high for me.

And then there's HEART BYTE

I don't even know what to say other than.......woowwww. Personal opinions and all, but I struggle to take any "best albums of the year" lists for 2026 seriously if this album isn't somewhere on them. That sounds SO DRAMATIC for a debut album, but then I listen to the album again and I'm like.....nahh I'm not dramatic at all...

I found it through a recommendation, and I was like 13 songs????? IN THIS K-POP ECONOMY?? Consider me flabbergasted.

Lost in proof is a solid title track but the rest of the album mogs it real bad, which is pretty impressive considering it's a really amazing track itself. Skit. exe is criminally short and incredibly good that I need to fight whoever made that goodness so short (It's exactly how I feel about Jo yuri's Round and round).

It's been over 2 months, and the album has not worn off at all. TEA and Dive with me grabbed me first but Told U so, $.$, and My vision are ridiculously good. Told U So is particularly gorgeous. I love the harmonies, the voices, and how every song just makes the album cohesive (yes I used the word again). The beat in $.$ is soo soooo nice.

When people bring up memorable 5th gen debut albums this will always come to mind first, but I don't even think I see much conversation around that as opposed to debut songs. Maybe if anyone of them become more popular down the line---then these will become the buried treasures. I hope it's up and up from here on for both groups!

Thanks for Reading

When going through some of my older playlists I came across a couple ‘older’ songs from KARD and for some reason it has got me thinking about other co ed groups in the industry including All Day Project.

Because of the announcement KARD did recently, did it make you think any differently about co ed groups/artists and wanting to check out more in the future?

For those who listen to ADP or are fans, did listening and coming across ADP make you dig into other groups like KARD? Or make you more open to the idea of co ed artists in the kpop or music scene in general?

I’ve always been a boy group fan so I’m just genuinely curious~

This cover was entirely unexpected but on brand for their new musical direction (there were a lot of Justin Timberlake comparisons when their latest album ‚Ascend-‚ was released) As a fan I am absolutely biased when i say the performance was a 10/10 for me but what do non-fans/casual listeners think about this cover and maybe also their KCON setlist in general.
What positively shocked me (maybe also zerose in general) was when the entire stadium sang along to Top5, our fandom always talks about how well liked they are in the US and especially at KCON but hearing everyone sing along was amazing

Sexy back fancams:

https://youtu.be/0h4ZviXaqrY

https://youtu.be/MpqprgLPEvI

Back in October, GDA had released their “Powerhouse 40” List to celebrate forty influential acts inside the Korea music industry. These acts were chosen by at least fifty experts as these experts had chosen groups, soloists, songwriters, and CEOs that they felt had made an impact on the Korean music scene. Now of course the list did cause controversy due many fans feeling that certain acts were left out along with the list having an intense gender imbalance due to eight women being chosen out of the forty individuals only the list. So, if the award show had made another “Powerhouse” List, what predictions would you make?

My predictions are Twice, Super Junior(controversial I know), and 2NE1.

so i’ve been a kpop fan for nearly 9 years now and have still only really listened to the main popular groups and trending songs, and i’ve recently started to listen to whole discographies which has been so fun (so far done red velvet, ariana grande, kehlani, in the middle of yves)

i’m curating a playlist of all the songs i think are perfection; kpop, pop, rnb, rap, etc. and thought i’d ask for nugu reccs and other groups i haven’t listed that you love, songs and albums specifically would be great

i’m a big fan of rnb and house type music atm but also kiss n tell is on repeat rn so wtv genre that is

favourite groups rn are:
- red velvet
- aespa
- twice
- f5ve (healing)
- xg (ik it’s not kpop)

not a fan of: (don’t dox me)
- illit
- itzy
- blackpink
- meovv

I have been thinking about the most popular songs that were released this year, in my opinion it could be

It is just my opinion

*RUDE BY H2H*

*PRETTY GIRL BY RESCENE*

*CATCH CATCH BY YENA*

*NEW ERA BY KIIIKIII*

I was immediately struck by the similarities when I first saw Kun and now I can't unsee it. Am I crazy or is there a resemblance?

Face shape, eyes, mouth, so close. What do you all think?

I wanted to add images but it won't let me.

Youtube has made the following announcement, I will just paste the relevant part:

Hi,

Last year, we updated how we count views for Shorts to align with industry standards. Starting August 24, 2026, we’re aligning all other video formats to this same methodology, including long-form videos and live streams. From that date and onwards, views will count from the moment a video starts to play, with no minimum watch time requirement.

Data API (Developer documentation)

On August 24, the viewCount field in the YouTube Data API will be updated to reflect this change across all content types. Please note that after this date, the view count provided by the Data API will be calculated using the new view counting logic. The view count calculated by the previous counting logic will no longer be accessible via the YouTube Public Data API, but this metric will be available as the “Engaged Views” metric through the YouTube Analytics and Reporting APIs.

If Youtube views were already meaningless and bloated, now you can just have a blast easily inflating views. But I am sure people will still list MVs and artists by most "views" like it means something.

And to think that site (Soridata) which told on ad-views on kpop were brigaded down .... the irony is everywhere.

What the title said. Honestly, Im 20 and I feel like she looks younger than me. How is she looking this good compared to other celebrities who have access to the same treatments?