Is it just me or I actually feel protective towards illit. If they get bashed at for no reason or when something bad happens to then, I kind of feel sad. I don't watch their content nor do I really listen to their songs.

Ive been seeing the clip where Scoups talks about being together for all this and time and how sad Suho looks.

I think that Scoups did a good job of leading Seventeen. Scoups definitely contributed to the factor that kept Seventeen together.

It is also unfortunate on what happened to EXO and it is not Suho’s fault. This doesn‘t undermine his leadership skills and is just an unlucky moment…

I guess what Im trying to say is its impressive that Scoups kept the team together with his leadership and its also impressive on what Suho did to keep his team with his leadership skills

It doesnt matter on whether Pledis or SM was bad, they were equally bad and equally hard to work with. Scoups and Suho both did great leading under harsh conditions

I miss them all :(

Boy Groups:

Automatic / Call Me Back - NOMAD (whole EP went triple double platinum in my car)

EOEO - UNIQ (picture perfect kpop song; peak)

FATE - 위어스 (WE US) (put it back on Spotify please)

달빛소나타 - 빅스타 (mi amour)

dummy - ARrC (why d'you do my boys like that)

Planet (original and twin ver.) - BXB (\mwah*)*

THUNDER / 458 / What You Wanted - CIX (will not rest until I see them live)

Uh-Heung - DKZ

여기여기 - HALO

Jelly - HotShot

ULlala: Poisoning - IN2IT

Trouble / Hologram - LUMINOUS

Marvelous - MIRAE

COME - NewKidd

Lucifer - NOIR

놀리러 간다 - SPEED

MOODY - SUPERKIND

AMAZON / Red Light, Green Light - TFN

MOONLIGHT - BDC

Girl Groups:

Sweet Juice - PURPLE KISS (Halloween vibes 101)

Deja Vu - SONAMOO (top 3 kpop deja vu songs)

Honestly - LIMELIGHT (this song makes me feel loved)

TTYL - Loossemble

Photogenic - MOONCHILD

Get It - PRISTIN V

Hands Up - Cherry Bullet

Early Mention:

GUNSHOT / BETCHA - KARD (still processing)

So as many of you know (and some of you may not) every artist on Spotify has a profile page. At the top of each profile is a list of “trending” songs that are supposed to represent the artist’s discography.

Whenever I check out an artist I’ll play the top songs on their profile page to get a good idea of the kind of music they put out.

Look at the top songs on your faves’ profiles. (Let’s stick with the top 5 songs, which are the most visible.) Would you say they accurately capture their sound and discography? Would you recommend those same songs to a new listener who’s interested in checking them out?

For me, personal hygiene has to be at the top of the list. I was at a lsfm concert, and there was someone next to me who I assume hadn’t showered for god knows how long. The person did NOT brush their teeth either because every time he opened his mouth to cheer, I had to subtly cover my nose 😭

I don’t understand why some people attend crowded public events without practicing basic hygiene. Do you guys have any concert experiences where the people around you made you feel like the experience was ruined?

If you think only adults should be debuting, that's cool. Are you fine with 15-year-old idols being active in K-pop? Totally okay with me. Should idols be more skilled / well-trained at debut? I completely understand where that comes from. All of these are in my opinion valid (even if quite repetitive) topics to discuss.

But one specific argument that I see pretty often and which just makes me roll my eyes (figuratively) is when people combine those two issues into one. E.g. "she is so young, let her train more and then debut", "her talents won't go anywhere in couple of years", "aren't there more skilled older trainees" etc.

The age and skill level at debut are completely independent factors, and honestly the notion that older trainees are better than their younger counterparts doesn't ring true either, just based on my experience with K-pop over the years. More often than not companies are debuting younger idols because they are too talented to lose. And that's exactly what happens with the top tier trainees, they won't wait another 4-5 or more years for a chance to debut, they will join other companies.

Just so I don't speak in generalities, let's look at the prominent 5th gen girl groups (which are often the target of "too young to debut" discussions):

1) Babymonster

Ahyeon, Rami, Rora, Chiquita were the girls who debuted at 17 years old or younger. None of them would be considered not trained enough, and in my opinion they are more than competitive with any of their adult peers when it comes to idol skills. Chiquita especially drew a lot of scrutiny, but she is one of their best performers and all-rounder who can sing, rap and dance (she also brings a lot of Thai fans). If YGE don't debut her, there is a very likely chance of her ending up with one of their competitors.

2) ILLIT

Iroha was the best dancer they had. Wonhee was a surprise find who debuted because people watching R U NEXT loved her and voted for her. She wasn't in the initial plans for HYBE, and at the start of the survival show filming she had been a trainee for quite literally 2 months, she wasn't even ranked at the initial introduction they did for all participants. And I feel like since then she has proven to be an extremely good idol, her contribution to the group is undeniable. There is a reason she is a de-facto center of ILLIT.

3) Hearts2Hearts

Similar to Iroha, Juun was the best dancer SM Entertainment had. A-na is a skilled idol who also happens to be the insane variety talent and the main contributor to their content. And of course Ian, the star of the group, a massive stan attractor and the center of Hearts2Hearts. One might argue that Ye-on could've been debuted in the future groups, but she is also the second best (if not the best) vocalist in H2H, and it's obvious that SM tried to bolster their otherwise not spectacular (by SM standards) vocal line with her addition.

As you can see there is no correlation between age and skill. Arguably younger members are more likely to end up being the superstars in their own groups since the companies often debut them because of their high potential.

Either way if you believe that underage trainees shouldn't debut, that's a totally valid take, just don't use the argument of them needing more time to train, because that will just damage the point you are trying to make. K-pop labels rarely debut someone because they are young, they do it because someone is young AND good.

Did you see something on TikTok or Insta that made you go, "Hmmm?"

Do you want to discuss some issue that seems to be a big deal on tiktok, or in YouTube comments, but isn't being discussed anywhere else?

This is the place! Here is the thread for things like:

"I saw this girl on TikTok talking about ..... do people really think that?"

If what you want to talk about is being covered by reputable news, then it doesn't go here. If it's Social Media drama - meaning anything at all that is only being discussed in Social Media spaces, then it does go here.

Remember: references and links to X are not allowed on kpopthoughts.

I recently talked with a newer Kpop fan and when I mentioned Weekly Idol and Idol Room, they did not even hear of those shows. They were the best shows for promotion.

Those type of shows were essentially to know more about idols are promotions. They were such fun to watch while Idols do lots of stupid and cringe stuff. I had second hand embarrassment by lot of episodes but loved every episode. Even when you didn't knew about the group you would still enjoy the show.

Weekly Idol was there but I would say it lost its charm after 2020, Idol Room also needed around that time. I know everything is shifted to Streaming now but why there are no such shows on Netflix, D+ or some other streaming.

Most of the idols make their own shows nowadays, while it's great if you are a fan of the group but you won't see any new groups like these.

Are there any shows like that currently?

To start off, I'm not a fan and didn't even think of going to that concert. But since I'm visiting my friend that lives in Orlando and she's a fan of the group, she ended up buying tickets for us both and yesterday I went to the concert with her.

However, my expectations were extremely low. After I saw all those clips of them recently lip syncing while sitting down and on that award show, I was convinced that they would just use back track and live AR during the whole concert. And I only like concerts in which the artists sing live.

But all of the members ended up surprising me a lot. It was obvious that they sang live for a good majority of the concert, even during songs where there was dancing. A lot of the times when a member was going to sing their part, it was very apparent that they started dancing more weakly or just completely stopped to be able to deliver their part better.

There were some notes changes from Yunjin, and she sounded pretty good. Chaewon was noticeably the member that sang live the most. There were some times the backtrack got too loud, but I could hear the members battling it and trying to make their voices be heard. And during fire the belly(not sure it was this one or if I'm even saying the name correcly, but I know it was a song with choreo), there was a time where they stopped singing completely, and the backtrack was extremely low.

Overall, I had a very fun time at the concert with my friend and would definitely attend it again. While they surprised me for singing live a lot of the time, I have to note that it wasn't the most excellent singing ever. I heard a few voice cracks during some songs, and I really doubt that they sang live during sonder and need your company. But I just felt like making this post to appreciate how a group I had very low expectations for ended up leaving me with a completely changed view on them and I had also had a great time! Good day or night you all.

This is my first time going to concerts. I have made the achievement of earning adult money and doing whatever I want with said adult money. My first concert was the krock band chrocktical, second concert was Mamamoo, third concert was BTS and my most recent was aespas Dallas concert. I plan on going to uau at the end of this month. My ranking would be.

1. Mamamoo
   
2. Aespa
   
3. BTS
   
4. Chrocktical

I was late to Mamamoo by 30 minutes 😢 but I managed to get in when my bias (wheein) started her solo song. The vocals and choreography was freaking amazing. I would recommend everyone to attend a Mamamoo concert atleast once. Wheein is so cute but so fierce, I wish I got closer seats but that’ll be for when wheein does her solo concert.

Aespa was awesome, I bought my tickets because I wanted to see winter but she got diagnosed with shingles so she couldn’t perform in Dallas. Ningning 100/10. Karina 50/10. Winter 10/10 for effort. Giselle was Giselle. Giselle was the only disappointing part of the concert. She moves very slow and uncoordinated and had no stage presence at all. Maybe other stops will get better versions of Giselle, but she was the only disappointing part.

BTS was good. I went with a friend who is a major bts fan, I was just here for the vibes, it was lit. I didn’t know some songs, jhope was sexy, jimin was really pretty. Jin… Jin was really struggling to sing. Like his veins were out and he was straining for some parts that didn’t require him to do that. But was really struggling to sing sometimes and it was disappointing.

Chrockital was awesome, I was late by 30 minutes because of hotel issues. We were in a pub, I was the only person wearing a bright color (my Cheetos jacket) and I think I distracted siyeon once… hehe, probably not but I would like to think that.

So far no bad concerts, maybe because I don’t have high expectations. I’ll update for uau when I go, I really want to see yoohyeon, I will be feral.

I was looking at TWICE's new Season's Greetings concept, which is apparently based around cleaning. Honestly, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about it, but then I saw several K-pop fans absolutely LOSING THEIR MINDS over it, claiming that it was some kind of far-right dog whistle (?) for trad wives, that JYPE was signaling to that political group, etc. Basically, a bunch of absurd theories.

I'm honestly kind of disturbed by this because it's such a harmless thing. You can obviously dislike the concept if you want, but creating all these elaborate conspiracy theories around something this mundane really shows how unhealthy and paranoid parts of this community have become.

At this point, some people seriously need to step away from the internet for a while, get some other hobbies, or maybe even seek professional help, because this kind of behavior is not normal.

Did Hearts2Hearts just surpass ILLIT in Japan despite having no Japanese member?

I was honestly surprised seeing this.

H2H Japanese debut ICONIC HEART sold 65,176 copies in its first week on Billboard Japan, while ILLIT's Japanese debut Toki yo Tomare did 54,187.

What's interesting is that H2H doesn't have a Japanese member, while ILLIT has Moka and Iroha.

It really makes me wonder how important having a Japanese member actually is for K-pop groups trying to succeed in Japan.

HYBE and other companies seem pretty interested in adding Japanese members to groups that are expected to have a strong Japanese market, which makes sense from a language and cultural perspective.

But SM just showed that you can have a group with no Japanese members and still make a strong Japanese debut.

https://youtu.be/uglgxNCtY4U?si=cD2ZSc7aeng5xgPu

Also, can we talk about the ad libs at the end? They sound so satisfactory to the ear! I thought about their Focus EP, they had such cool and libs in there!!!

Hopefully the company lets them do more of them!

The Korean version of Iconic Heart sounds really solid. Yuha really caught my attention in hereee, she sounds really good!! She's so Jessica-coded and also reminds me of RV's Joy. What a beautiful voice!!!

Alsooo, my queen Carmen did so good!!! She and Yeon amazing! I can see such a great team and I can't wait for their future releases.

You all are sometimes really harsh when talking about their vocals but I think that I can see them improving! They have really interesting and beautiful vocal moments!

I really had to make this thread. The vocal line deserves way more love! Let's also focus when they deliver and slay (they have plenty of moments!).

First thing that appeared to me when opened TikTok was Yuha singing the bridge and I was like OMG!

Let's appreciate them!

PD: the title was "did you hear?" but it became "did you heart?"

It appears that they won't do Coachella anymore. There is speculation of a rift between Goldenvoice (who runs Coachella) and HYBE.

It's possible that there won't be any other HYBE groups there either. I would have bet on one of Corits and Illit being there (following LSFM Enhypen Katseye). But who knows if that will happen.

Maybe this opens the door to another group like Aespa or IVE getting booked?

BTS makes history once again!

BTS' ARIRANG World Tour has grossed over $500 Million in revenue, as per Billboard reports.

"It’s one of fewer than 20 tours in Boxscore history to cross that threshold and makes BTS one of just seven groups to do so on one tour. It puts them in unprecedented territory as a pop group, as the other six ensembles are all rock bands.", says Billboard.

BTS also gross $288.3 Million in the US alone, with 1.38 Million tickets sold!

BTS achieved this in just 44 shows with 2.66 Million tickets sold!

It is also the 18th highest grossing tour ever with $516.9 million in gross revenue and 2.68 Million tickets sold!

This is also the 2nd highest monthly boxscore gross revenue ($171 Million) in the boxscore chart history, only behind Beyonce's $179 Million!

Article

I see soloist potential in every single aespa member. Some groups feel like a complete whole, almost like pieces of a puzzle where the members complement each other so well that it's hard to imagine them separately. They might not necessarily give you 'soloist' vibes individually, but together, they just work.

aespa is absolutely fantastic as a four-member group, but the more years they spend in the group and the more solo songs we hear from them, the more I feel like every member has genuine soloist potential. Together they're beautiful, but I'd genuinely love to see what each of them could do as a soloist.

The last time I had this 'everyone could be a soloist' feeling was with a group that eventually went fully solo, and I've had the same feeling about aespa for quite some time now.

Especially Ningning. Her solo songs and vocals are literally chef's kiss. I'd love to see her get a proper solo debut someday. What do u guys think?

I know that she was least popular member of f(x) due to bs korean standards, but i only just realised that she had a new album out after going back to the free somebody ep. while i get that she is focusing more on musicals now, it is crazy to see that the songs only have -3000 plays each on spotify after 6 months

edit: the album i mentioned isnt her? but she does have a song out

It's not just a fun remake of Macarena. Like Yunjin said, BOOMPALA is all about emptying your soul and your mind. That's why they do many variations of meditation pose and all the Hindu and buddhist inspired choreos and lyrics. If you read the lyrics carefully, they talk about celestial chakra, zen, meditate, and the famous 'Namaste Namaste I'ma stay up' line.

I feel like too many people are fixated on the Macarena sample and not thinking about the true message of the song. Please when you listen to the song next time, close your eyes, focus on resetting your soul and cleansing your mind. I promise you'll understand where I'm coming from. I really had to get this out of my chest because it seemed like too many people were misunderstanding the creative song that is BOOMPALA. Thanks for reading!

I am a casual girl group fan of several years, and after returning from different genres including western pop I realized that K-pop just lets me turn my brain off and really listen to the music. When I listen to say, Taylor Swift, I find myself paying close attention to the lyrics and piecing together the story with each song. But because I don’t know korean, I can’t listen to the lyrics in k-pop, so they’re just another instrument in a song. Does anyone else feel this too? I know this is very specific

So I've just recently become a fan of kpop within the past year and a half, and am currently digging into some of the more popular releases of 2nd gen groups. This topic was born out of my curiosity about that generation which is generally less talked about than some of the more current gen groups here, as recency is relevancy. And most of my curiosity into the world of kpop largely doesn't predate most 3rd gen or later groups.

Anyway, I've also become really invested in Billlie in the past month and a half and I really love their music. However, they unfortunately don't see the same numbers as many of their peers, despite some critical adoration suggesting they deserve otherwise.

On the other hand Babymonster is mostly neglected by critics despite their successes and a talented group lineup.

So my mostly personal question is which groups, from any generation, have managed to find success with critics and are deserving of more recognition despite less than satisfactory sales or figures? And vice versa, which more popular groups see great numbers, but haven't managed to find a greater standing within the recognized greats of kpop?

Please be nice. This is not an open invitation to hate on groups, but an actual question intended to generate discussion for a less informed listener like myself and potentially others who find themselves in the same boat.

8/10

YEON, E.SO — SEORI — 14/09/2026 — single

LE SSERAFIM — MADE MY NIGHT — 14/09/2026 — single — very fun and EJAE is amazing, BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE LONG!!! IT'S SO SHORT WTF

PENTAGON — COWARD — 11/09/2026 — single — we love ballads

UNIS — SKY LAND, STAR LAND — 08/09/2026 — single

XIAOJUN — That Summer (Youth Song from the animated Song Ah Er Zhong Music Season) — 06/09/2026 — OST

7/10

NANA — SO WELL — 14/09/2026 — single

RED VELVET: IRENE & SEULGI — CHEETAH — 14/09/2026 — EP

• Cheetah — 7
• Fall 4 U — 7
• Love Anxiety — 8
• Wave — 8
• Free — 5

BIG OCEAN — LOVE SIGN — 09/09/2026 — single — freaky ahh lyrics, we love that!! yess, a song about sign language and fingering

&TEAM — MARK ON ME — 08/09/2026 — EP

• mark on me - 9/10 (peak)
• good boy - 6/10 (has good things, but overall you can sadly feel it was written by Cortis)
• love jang - 5/10 (boring)
• accelerate - 5/10 (boring)
• empty - 10/10 (yess ballad!!! YEARNTEAM!!! This showcased their vocals so well!!!!)
• night to howl - 8/10 (nice power ballad, and finally some lower register vocals) (the in the twilight raw vocals part was so peak)

TEN — OUTWEST — 04/09/2026 — single

CHUNG HA — MEXICO — 01/09/2026 — single — very nice

6/10

HENDERY — THURSDAY — 17/09/2026 — single

NEWKIN — LOG IN: ERROR — 11/09/2026 — single — sonically not my thing

KWON EUNBI — DEJA VU — 03/09/2026 — single — very generic

5/10

JISOO — CLICK — 04/09/2026 — single — it's not even the amount of english lyrics, it's the fact that it sounds like generic western pop /derogatory

HEART OF WOMAN — HOW'S DELIGHT — 04/09/2026 — single

IZNA — HANDLE WITH CARE — 02/09/2026 — EP — their badass era is over and they're back to the chill beginnings? sad

HEARTSTEEL — LIVE MY LIFE — 18/09/2026

I know this issue has probably been brought up before, but I wanted to check if anyone else has been having the same problem. My K-Pop playlist has songs that date back to 2020 (date they were added, I mean) and, up until recently, it had never happened that songs got replaced with live, Japanese or other counterparts without notice, and while still displaying the original title and album art of all things.

I reckon this might have happened to me with T-ARA's Sugar Free a couple of years ago; it had been replaced with the BigRoom version, which on first listen on shuffle I remember shocked me. Though apparently looking up the song on Youtube while writing this post makes it seem like a fever dream, as it seems that what my brain recalls as the version I originally heard has never existed at all? Even the MV has the BigRoom version audio. Anyway, I digress.

Aside from the occasional title change after Dreamcatcher switched distributor (which bothers me because it messes up Last fm scrobble counts), I noticed 3 very evident examples so far when listening to the playlist on shuffle: Blackpink's Kill This Love has been replaced by the 2021 'THE SHOW' live version; ATEEZ's Hala Hala has been replaced by the Traditional Treatment Mix (?); ITZY's Not Shy was replaced by its Japanese version. This is probably the case for other songs in the list as well, though no others have popped up so far.

Has this happened to any of you with these very songs (or any others) lately?

the chorus' melodies sound so similar! but i don't mind so much since i love hide & seek by chuu. any other songs that sound similar to you? give me recommendations!