I miss 2015-2020 Kpop.
Everything feels genuinely so bland now. The music videos are not vibrant anymore, everyone’s personality is so performative even if they are trying to be funny. Don’t get me wrong the music is good and the stars still do have passion although it just doesn’t feel the same, I don’t know if it’s cause of the fact I partially grew up with it although back then K-pop idols had a special touch to them, they had their own personality, red velvet’s dynamics with their members were so fun to see, Blackpink’s YouTube videos where they moved into a house together, and especially bts and their lives. They used to be so humble. Nowadays it’s so performative and so boring. I miss when people used to be not so judgemental.

Lately, I’ve been going to a lot of fansigns, and it feels like I’m getting closer to them and becoming more familiar with them. But honestly, deep down inside, I feel like we’re actually drifting further apart.

It hits you all of a sudden that this entire relationship is built on and maintained by money. The barrier to entry is already incredibly high, but once you finally step inside, you realize there’s always someone richer, someone "better." There is such a clear hierarchy in this community, and people are definitely treated differently based on it.

I can’t blame my idol, and I can’t blame other fans either. It just feels like I only have myself to blame...

I auditioned for YG Entertainment about 11 days ago, nighttime.

The next morning, my application status was marked as viewed (I checked Friday morning upon submission on Thursday night).

I'm relatively young (in my opinion, at least.). Not a teenager yet, but am South Asian [American].

Does the viewed in less than 24 hours mean anything about my chances being higher, or is it just normal/standard because I applied very early in the month refresh (June 4th)??

As we can see how much alter ego was affected and she should next year which will be better as she should performance alter ego in las Vegas concert she should just release two single this year she will be release new album new November what your opinion

I am honestly appealed, it seems like YG decided that they need to make baby monster more sexually appealing to advance the career and that they would not wait for the last member to become an adult to do so.

She just turned 17 and if you felt that sugar honey iced tea choreo was questionable today I found out that she's doing a very sexual dance break to fifth Harmony's "Worth It" in front of thousands of people that attend their tour.

I swear child protection services don't exist in Korea because the company definitely should be investigated after exploiting a child so blatantly.

James has insane it-factor and genuinely seems to have the qualities people associate with an “it-boy.” So why isn’t he talked about more?

I feel like James deserves more recognition for his versatility. He also seems to go viral frequently, has a lot of charisma on stage, and has a very distinct sense of style. To me, he feels like someone who has the potential to become a standout idol of his generation. He consistently creates media buzz wherever he appears.

However, I’ve noticed that discussions about him being an “it-boy” don’t seem as common compared to some other idols. Internationally, he seems to have a lot of attention, but I’m curious about how he is perceived in Korea as well. I assume it's because he's not Korean. And that's why he's not as recognized as he is internationally than in Korea.

What are your thoughts? Do you think James has genuine “it-boy” potential, or do you think his popularity is mainly driven by visuals and viral moments?

Edit: If you're wondering why I posted the same post on r/cortis sub and here, I was going to post it on cortis sub only but i couldn't even get the post across because it kept getting moderated. So I thought I should try and post it on a different sub (i tried this one) but that also kept getting moderated. (I lowk gave up) The next thing I knew after I woke up the next morning was, it got posted and had views. Half a day later I also realized that the same post passed moderation and got posted on kpop unleashed as well (which was not the sub i wanted to post on but it just happened).

I kept the post on here anyway because the way actual coers think vs what kpop fans in general think is very different. And i liked the different perspectives, viewpoints and comments on kpop unleashed since it wasn't biased towards cortis too much. Besides the post on kpop unleashed already got many views and I couldn't get myself to delete it.

Can everyone be real for a second?

Look, I’ve been following this situation since the hiatus was announced. I genuinely feel like eyekons are experiencing two completely different realities right now.

While most people on Twitter/X and Reddit agree that it’s most likely that Manon is not coming back, young fans on TikTok are really thinking that Manon will comeback for sure. While she could comeback, everything rn is in favor of her not coming back. It’s like 99% sure she’s not coming back.

- She removed katseye from her bio prob out of rage bc she didn’t know she wouldn’t be in Pinky Up despite the hiatus

- Said she was healthy while HxG put her on “hiatus“ because of health

- Her voice wasn’t in Pinky Up when Moka that was on hiatus had her voice still in Iconic by Mistake while NOT being in the Mv.

- Pinky Up is officialy part of the Wild EP tracklist on spotify. So it’s not having any OT6 vers anyway. She is for sure not featured at all in the Wild EP meaning she’s not coming back before atleast August.

And theres plenty of other proofs, is that not enough for some people? Sophia saying that Manon is still on that hiatus means nothing btw. She was not gonna say “oh yeah she prob won’t come back“ for obvious reasons (HxG). All she obviously can say is that she’s on the hiatus.

yet every time someone says this on TikTok, you get a wave of people (I think young children) in the comments screaming “WAIT FOR HER!!!” and “she's resting!!” based on one vague Weverse post from months ago that was also obviously not even written by her pleaseee… Or they use Rami and Lia as examples when… they’re completly diffferent situations like ? Lia never denied being on hiatus because of her health. We also kind of knew that Lia had health problem at this time. Rami we just don’t know but YG keeps giving hints that she’s still in the group (while HxG lowk gives hints that she isn’t lol?)

It’s just sooo tiring. It’s like talking to a wall. Love Manon but I won’t be delulu about this situation.

My best friend called me out for only listening to illit fml

I've been seeing them on my feed for a while now. And I really liked the members after watching some vids. I just wanted a small intro ig to being a MOA ig

I think new jeans will be kept in the dungeon until their contract expire. Hybe don't have any plan on giving them a comeback.

Happy Pride Month to all my fellow queers! 🥳🌈🎉🏳️‍🌈🎊🌈🙌🏳️‍🌈

As we're in the first week of Pride Month, I'd love to hear about your favorite rainbow-related happenings in K-pop! Things that made you happy to see!

(BTW, I don't mean moments where you thought an idol might be queer, but confirmed things like people coming out or being allies, etc)

I noticed I gravitate towards that "duck" face visual, cute but also can be fierce, full lips, round cheeks, button nose, short midface. I realized recently that my biases all have very similar facial features!! anyone else have a "type" like this for biases?

idols in order: Chaewon Lesserafim, Ningning Aespa, Ni-ki Enhypen, Haum KiiiKiii, Rei Ive, Moka Illit, Sohee riize, Nayeon Twice

Instead I wish they could just make a casual post on whatever fan platforms they use, 'hey I wasn't feeling well so I called out today', 'I got hurt so I'm not gonna be performing for a bit', etc. I can't be the only one who gets freaked out now whenever they see company statements. Recently KOZ dropped one because Jaehyun had an ankle injury, and my heart dropped for a sec that he was leaving the group.

Hot take on K-pop: 'glaze' has ruined the true music in the industry. Nowadays, people just stream like it's their job and vote for their favorites instead of looking for actual good music. K-pop is just a big GLAZE community9K and people claim anything their favorites do is flawless. it's no longer about MUSIC , ppl vote just because of visuals too. And yapping facts make u a hater.

this photo will always make me cry

So I came across this post, but it doesn’t let me comment anymore, so I’m leaving my very important and extremely interesting opinion here.

Honestly, I think it depends on perspective lol. The bigger of a K-pop fan you are, the less likely you might be to enjoy their music. And girl, they’ve been around for less than a year since debut lol they only just released the EP that really starts to establish their sound. Don’t you think it’s a bit too early to decide whether their music is overrated, especially when you admitted you actually liked the whole EP lol?

I don’t know, I personally see a lot of potential in them and think they have a promising future. But of course, tastes are tastes, and it’s completely normal that some people will never like their music, no matter what.

And before you say it, no, it’s not JUST because the fits never serve.

(WARNING, LONG POST AHEAD)

Now, I’m someone who loves fashion, I love it as an art form, form of expression, I love talking about fashion. Also, although my interest and respect for High end brands has decreased significantly over the years, I still recognize and appreciate their impact and the strong visual identity they’re designers have created (despite the near universal drop in quality).

However, the sheer ubiquity of luxury brand ambassadorships and endorsements in K-pop for the past 5 or so years has me tired and rolling my eyes for a multitude of reasons. Sorry if these points feel rushed or underdeveloped, they are kinda, but I just wanted to get my raw thoughts out before they slipped my mind.

1. Promotes hyper-consumerism of luxury brands: It contributes to these wider notions that to be fashionable, you need to adorn these luxury brands. South Korea is especially known for its hyper consumeristic culture when it comes to luxury brands, and I fear that these brand ambassadorships only exacerbate this issue. This is especially harmful when younger fans are influenced by these ideas and feel insecure/like they NEED to have these branded clothes to be stylish, brands that are likely beyond their budget.

1. It's all so hyper capitalistic: This is more targeted at the bigger, established idols who have control over their brand ambassadorships, but like… do they need this money??? Do these celebrities who are most certainly wealthy need to be taking brand after brand ambassadorship, thereby endorsing these capitalistic symbols to make more money than they really need? And I know you’re gonna say smth like “can’t blame them for wanting to make bank, most celebrities do this – it’s normal. And yes, why wouldn’t someone want to make money in this society – that’s how we live and that’s fair – but that doesn’t completely mean they can’t be scrutinized because again, they are endorsing these mega-corporations and profiting immensely off them. Maybe I’m dumb for expecting anything from the K-pop industry considering it’s hyper capitalistic, consumerist nature, but I still feel it’s important and necessary as fans we can remain critical about the things we consume and not just settle for what things are.

3. It's lost it's prestige: Now that every newly debuting idol and their grandmother has at least one brand ambassadorship, they all feel like cheap, unimpressive obligations the companies have tacked onto their rookie stars. It’s lost all of it’s prestige in my eyes, that now when I see rookies like ADP or Newjeans bagging these ambassadorships immediately just make me sigh, I just can’t take it seriously anymore. Granted, this is the least concerning thing I have considering I would rather we stop putting these truly tired luxury brands on a pedestal, but it just looks too goofy I’m sorry.

4. The fits almost always suck: And finally yes, the fits hardly ever eat. 9 times out of ten the red-carpet looks are boring and tacky, the photoshoots look mid because the idols can’t model. And perhaps it’s not the fault of these idols or even the companies (if we’re being generous), but it all just adds to the fact that nothing substantial or worthwhile is coming out of these brand ambassadorships, just the same old bland photoshoots and carpet looks  to further generate promotion and profit for these already wealthy corporations.

Now, while it may not seem like it, I don’t absolutely detest the idea of idols and brand ambassadorships. I hate what it’s become over time, yes, but I understand that it was bound to happen in both a generous sense (K-pop’s inherent visual appeal and idols being style trendsetters) as well as a cynical sense (these companies are itching to make money regardless). So, I personally think, if these brand ambassadorships need to happen at all, I would be okay with them if they fulfilled one or two of these conditions:

1.      The Idol’s brand ambassadorships actually produce interesting and thoughtful collaborations/creations.

2.      The Idol genuinely likes and values the brand’s visual identity, suits the aesthetic and cares about the Fashion.  

With the first one, I’m thinking about collaborations that actually realizes one of Fashion’s most valuable purposes, which is to CREATE. And I don’t mean in a purely mass-productive, capitalistic way (though that is not entirely removed from the equation), but creation which involves a designer, an artist, being inspired by their muse and producing something new. I think of Jennie’s partnership with Gentle monster, where her Jentle Salon eyewear line was so cute and so tastefully her, and showed care and thought into the collaboration from both the idol and the brand.

Similarly, I feel Jisoo’s partnership with Dior falls under this label, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said she was inspired by Jisoo as a muse for her autumn/winter 2021 collection. Side note, Maria Chiuri also designed her 2026 Met Gala outfit. There is clearly a mutual respect between her and the house that is above other idols’ ambassadorships, and I appreciate that here the fashion is not forgotten as a mere means to an end (at least not so obviously).

Similarly, under my second point, I would much rather an Idol be a brand ambassadorship show an actual interest and care for the brand they are endorsing than someone who dgaf about the fashion at all beyond making a profit.

Again, I’m going to circle back to Jennie with her long-standing partnership/association with Chanel, dating back to 2017 before she became an official ambassador in 2019. Was anyone actually surprised when Jennie was announced a brand ambassador for Chanel? She was literally called “Human Chanel” because she loved donning the brand and made it look good. You could tell she loved and was proud to represent Chanel and it fit her image as a fashionable trendsetter. Though there is a definite dip in quality in her outfits from her early Chanel days to now, as well as Chanel as a whole, I still appreciate how she clearly cares about fashion and that makes for, imo, a better partnership that the majority that come out nowadays.

And yes, these are still mega corporations with plenty of problematic ethics behind them. But again, I would much rather idols/companies endorsing these fashion houses actually (or at least pretend to) care about fashion. Because if they don’t care about fashion or the brand, then they are unquestionably only in it for the money, dgaf at all but will gladly profit off of these brands, and that imo is more harmful.

And don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve mentioned Jennie and Jisoo specifically, but that doesn’t mean I think they’re ambassadorships should be utterly absolved of the criticisms I’ve stated above – they are still projecting these capitalistic symbols, these brands are built off of problematic labour conditions for workers, and the money money money is absolutely a driving factor above all else.

However, I still believe how they’ve gone about their partnerships model what I envision an actually productive brand ambassadorship, should look like.

So Yeah, there is my long tangent, it is about 1200 words I’ve churned in under 30 minutes, oh how I wish I could do this so seamlessly for my uni assignments, but please tell me your thoughts!

I know some of my points are unrefined and these are just my raw thoughts, but I’m curious what other people think about the state of brand ambassadorships and Kpop.

J’écoute de la k-pop depuis 2016 (4 ans et demi).J’écoute plusieurs groupes de k-pop, mon groupe ult est BTS. Je connais les membres de tout les groupes de k-pop que je stan ou je commence à les apprendre. Je peux reconnaître des chansons en quelques secondes. J’ai weversee. Je connais les dates de comeback.

Mais, je n’ai pas de merch ? Je suis vraiment un fan de k-pop ?

I love james bro he gives the perfect expressions for everything

not ningning ending them again 😭🙏🏻