K-Pop (The Comeback Thread) Genre • Page 21

i know i mostly stick to idol groups on this thread but i figured id go ahead and share some artists working outside of the idol system that i think are very good.

first off is mid air thief who are one of the most impressive bands ive heard coming out of korea. they take on so many different sounds its a wonder it all works so well. usually i see them compared to grizzly bear because of their base in psychedlic tinged folk music but they do so much more than that. their album crumbling from last year is definitely worth a listen.

xxx is a rap duo consisting of a rapper and producer. the rapper can be pretty gnarly but the real star is the producer who has some of the most agressive and exciting production styles ive heard in korean hip hop, clearly gets as much influence from electronic music as he does from hip hop. their first album which came out last year is incredible and pummeling, they just put out a new one which is great but not as dark.

jvcki wai is imo the best up and coming star in the korean rap scene right now. however her music is very divisive and rightfully so. its extremely auto tune heavy and her voice is mixed so loudly that it can be a little in your face. some dismiss her as pure hype but i find her approach to the "emo rap" sound to be the most best in korea and she is clearly incredibly charismatic. her album enchanted propaganda is where its at, though she also has a collaboration with a bunch of other rappers from this year that has performed really well in korea, and frankly she is the true star of the song.

last thing ill share is byul.org a group (or artist? not sure) that has been around for a while and has been the go to for weirdo kids in korea for a very long time. like mid air thief they handle all sorts of different sounds and go from soaring shoegaze inspired indie to doom and gloom synthpop to some more experimental instrumentals in the span of like 4 tracks.

 

Thanks! Would love more Korean rap recommendations (and related) whenever you have them.

 

sure! so in general the korean hip hop scene can be kind of inconsistent and a lot of these rappers have as many snoozefest songs as they do songs i really like so most albums are a no go but ill include some tracks from rappers i think are worth exploring.

first up are my two general favorites, punchnello is a young dude who doesnt have too much material out but his ep lime is very fun. really bouncy electronic beats with heavy edm influence but also lots of jazz drumming.

my other favorite is beenzino who is more of a veteran. his work like many korean rappers is pretty inconsistent but his latest album as jazzyfact (a collaboration with producer shimmy twice) is very very good. he's been in the military the past two years but he was discharged two days ago so hopefully he drops something new soon.

here are some other tracks i enjoy

 

part 2
also difficult to talk about korean hip hop without mentioning show me the money. smtm is a reality show that pits aspiring rappers against each other and pairs them with influential producers and rappers to guide them through the show. theres a lot of negatives that come from this show such as it being so commercial and the network sometimes intentionally editing narratives to make people look bad, but this show has made stars out of a lot of new faces who would have otherwise not have had too much of a chance to break out and has reinvigorated the korean rap scene. i mention this because a lot of great music has come out of it and a lot of rappers and producers have made some of their best work through the show. here are some standouts

 

Absolutely love Mid-Air Thief. They climbed pretty quickly into my 2018 AOTY list.

Not too well versed in Korean hip-hop stuff personally, but I've really enjoyed most of Epik High's stuff. Really fun to listen to.

 

A lot to explore! Thanks! @StepsInADance

 

back to idol groups, loona's new single comes with a very impressive new mv but the song falls a bit flat for me. the other tracks on the mini are great though, particuarly the last 3. need them to announce dates for that world tour and see if im spending my tax returns on that.

dreamcatcher's new one is fine, i like it more than their past couple of singles but not as much as fly high or full moon. the mini has two really great songs though in "diamond" and "and there was no one left"

 

A bit disappointed that we had heard most of Loona's single in the teasers. I expected an actual chorus instead of a drop, though the "fly like a butterfly" and "winx" parts have quickly been stuck in my head.

 

Digging new Sunmi

ye

 

sunmi song is phenomenal. the txt album is pretty good, already like it more than a lot of bts stuff. although that cats and dogs song is embarrasing.

also the new got7 unit is very good.

 

Jus2's album is phenomenal. I guess I need to listen to GOT7's stuff afterwards

 

their singles are all pretty good tbh. if youre gonna check out an album ive always been partial to flight log: arrival. the song teenager of off 7 for 7 is also a favorite of mine. got7 doesnt really get the credit they deserve imo, one of my favorite bg of the past couple of years.

 

https://www.stereogum.com/2035263/b...fter-being-charged-with-supplying-prostitutes

 

good, about time. all of these accusations against him and his businesses had been stacking up for a while now and its clear that he's always been a creep. its such a shame so many of his very impressionable fans see this only as an attempt by the korean media to destroy their faves career, disregarding the damage he did to so many women. seen a lot of comments comparing this to park bom, gd, and top's scandals but let's be real here, they are not the same thing.

 

im liking new dia. its definitely dumb fun and not as impressive as woo woo. but its very catchy and immediate. dia has become one of my favorite ggs and i really hope more people pay attention to them because they arent in the greatest of positions and are under notoriously bad management.

everglow just debuted which includes girls from p48. the single isnt that great imo but the first track on th single album is very good. i believe they are the first post-p48 group and i think theyre doing a good job of mking them stand out, i imagine yena from iz*one will join this group once that is over.

and umm... here we go again

 

also new Taeyeon

 

I've become friends with some Vietnamese girls in my MBA program that came here to study and last week we talked about different kinds of Asian music, which led us to K-Pop, which apparently is huge there (also, some interesting opinions on music from other Asian countries, but that is another story). Anyway, we started talking about Red Velvet, and they all said that they don't listen to any SM Entertainment groups anymore because that company is so messed up. Is the industry actually starting to face some substantial backlash?

 

short answer: no

unless you're yg who's issues are reprehensible beyond shitty business tactics and are facing issues with investors then you aren't really in any danger. there's always been complaints from fans who are upset at sm for sidelining their talent whenever they deem them to no longer be profitable and overworking their idols but these companies continue to thrive. why exactly theyre impervious to public backlash idk, could be that the general public doesnt really care if someone's career is ended by the company if theyre no longer producing hits and the people unhappy are a small subgorup. could also be that the glorification of "hard work" in societies like korea means that most people are willing to overlook companies overworking their idols to dangerous limits and only complain when the damage is visible and those stories tend to die out pretty quickly.

also i dont want to seem like i am defending the companies and there definitely legitmate reasons to be fully against them. but i have found that within the hardcore fandom fans will blame companies for the most non substantial things. like when snsd last released an album there were tons of complaints about how sm mismanages them because they didnt perform the song on music shows every week for a month. or that red velvet didnt have an official color, or that they hadnt gotten a reality show yet. i think when the fandom focuses so much on the management being evil because of things like this it belittles the actual concerns of their shitty business practices.

 

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to attack you at all, or even really the industry (because I don’t think I know enough). I was just wondering because these girls aren’t especially woke or anything, yet somehow they all agreed on this. It just made me wonder if the, say, questioanle sides of K-Pop were going to halt some of its expansion from the get go.

 

UGHHH FINALLY LISA LOOKS SO GOOD OMG

 

blackpink song is good, not amazing. the video is sick though.