rolling kpop 2024

Good picks that illustrate how much his sound defined that era. Of course he also produced the last youtube I posted in this thread. He's been writing the Tri.be songs with LE of EXID, hopefully she and others close to him are cared for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbclRNm_ANY

beastie boys mode

^^i like that, even though i still really hate their group name lol

ILLIT - "Magnetic" - HYBE's new girl group that's very much in the same sonic zone as NewJeans (EP is quite good as well though too short at points - whole thing is under 10 mins):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-c_v4gMU

Liking this new Chungha track too - "I'm Ready":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf0_fwHYAbE

Magnetic is good but their pitch feels a little less solid than NJ - or they haven't carved out their own space.

speaking of not being able to carve out their own space... spare a thought for Babymonster, doomed to be a Blackpink clone because YG has run out of ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wA_b6YHjqQ

That's a little embarassing yeah. At least Blackpink didn't totally sound like 2NE1, even though their sound never developed. This is just throwaway BP.

The reliably good and underrated ONF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOR8CUeTJpc

This is solid if not going to set the world on fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey53EQhkLY8

yeah that's fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9nP3qXQA4o

pretty catchy & endearingly weird vocal effects!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phsDrsw-tzc

a more hyperactive version of that one soaring girl group sound

Loving the last few posts, and that QWER track is fantastic. christian horse girl hyperpop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft70sAYrFyY

this isn't exciting in the way that newjeans have been at their best but it's still lovely, i love the little flute touches

It's a very sweet song. There's a ton of mess and power struggle between HYBE and ADOR now so NJ's promotions this year are now quite uncertain.

i think there's another single next month and two japanese singles planned for june still, but yeah i hope all the corporate drama doesn't get in the way of the album that's planned for later in the year.

this isn't all that great but I like it, a throwback to a time when idols could sell a mediocre song on sheer charisma and personality alone. zico still knows his way around a good hook.

also nice to see/hear Jennie clearly having fun outside of YG/Blackpink - probably the most enthusiastic performance I've seen from her in ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfqBQ2XhBCg

For those who miss the big girl groups

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufoKYZXpKg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phuiiNCxRMg

"supernova" is pretty good but lol at the "trans europe express" interpolation that gets dropped in there for just a moment?

that's probably the best aespa single

They've had a good streak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3K0TOvTOno

another good newjeans single

Finally got around to watching the BBC documentary on the Burning Sun scandal that came out a couple of weeks back - I won’t post the link here because it’s harrowing and a very difficult watch, but you can easily search for it on youtube.

It gives a good and clear account of how the story unfolded, who was involved, what they were each responsible for. Disgusting that none of the key offenders got anywhere close to a deserving sentence, and most are already out of jail and attempting comebacks.

I hadn’t known that the late Goo Hara, from KARA, had played a pivotal role in uncovering a key figure in the scandal. Bittersweet but glad that it’s now part of her legacy (along with the Goo Hara Act )

Supernova is the big early summer hit in Korea, plenty of 'PAK's, and with a very SM sound (the short line '누구도 말이야' at 0:38 in the MV is the kind of vocal production and song snippet that basically only exists in SM, like a brief definitive signature) composed by in-house SM producer Kenzie (she's been in SM since 2002, alongside the other main SM producer responsible for their sound, Yoo Young-jin, who left the company last year). Anyway the song is definitely less about following trends and more about insisting on something that's 50% aespa and 50% general SM DNA.

Nayeon’s “ABCD” is an excellent homage to 00s Rich Harrison hits - “Crazy in Love” on the chorus, a brief “1 Thing” interpolation on the dance break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUZttxRcPZw

And for a completely different mood, this new Sunmi single is lovely- “Balloon in Love”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXhbBbe0i-I