1 Let's Talk:K-Pop

So, about when BTS were blowing up I got introduced to Koop. Now, as a guy who planned on staying straight I didn't really want to involve myself with a group of stupidly handsome men... so I decided to introduce myself to a girl group who seemed to have almost quite as much appreciation and appraisal- that was BlackPink.

Initially I thought that their music was alright, I mean it was catchy but not something I would have on repeat. But i atleast wanted to know why they were so popular and also why Kpop also became so popular. Finding that out was extremely easy, I didn't even have to search it up or anything long, it was quite obvious- gorgeous people came together, got their voices trained as well as their skills in dance and debuted. I actually found out from a comment that it wasn't like a group leader who wrote the music, it was the corporation behind them, like YG and bighit- that explained, atleast to me, why much of their music didn't feel as genuine as the members themselves and the effort they put in , rather more molded to be trendy. Not like the legendary songs that are remembered forever, but like the ones people jam to for a few weeks then are replaced by similar songs with a similar presence. BlackPink's songs were mostly extremely similar to each other and built upon the success the last song achieved - and so the reason I enjoyed black pink wasn't really for their music, which is strange -they are a music group after all. I stayed because I liked the members, and they reminded me of some characters from a few novels on this site, e.g. after Jisoo sang Yuki-no-Hana she reminded me a lot of what I imagined Iris Long (Genius Wife is a Superstar) to be like and I always pictured Ning Xi (Hidden Marriage) to be like Rosé. Generally when I find I group that Im interested in, I tend to look for more of their content, in regards to Kpop and music in general- other content would be found in reality shows and interviews. From these clips I found myself enjoying BlackPink, maybe not for their music but for them.

After I BlackPink I decided to introduce myself to BTS, I overcame my hesitation and just went in as many of my friends actually preferred BTS over BlackPink. They were fun, their music was more diverse and much more enjoyable. That only makes sense if you think about it, they have more members and they're all focused on quite equally for the most part so they would have more freedom in regards to their production. Each member is extremely talented and this can be seen by their presence on stage, dance ability and their voice. There really isn't much I can say, I enjoyed them for a while then drifted away from Kpop away for a while, this was until League of Legends Worlds 2018 when I was:

1. Pissed because of how much it got fucked up by Mako

2. Surprised and grateful at the 'blonde guy' and the 'Korean rapper' for saving what was quickly becoming the worst live performance ever

Course, now everyone knows the Korean rapper was BOBBY from iKON. That group was actually the group that made me completely invested in Kpop, at the time killing me and love scenario was up and they were my go to songs for a very long time. Each member had a unique presence and were an absolute joy to watch and listen to. Towards the end of 2018 and during the first couple months of this year they won almost every Korean award, ranging from best song of the year to even best song writer. That really made me proud but also shocked me, I was still under the impression that it was the corporations who wrote and produced all the songs for these groups, thinking back that was actually quite a stupid thought but yeah, so when BI (the leader) won it impressed me greatly. Their songs may not have as much 'pizzaz' as BTS songs, but they were all incredibly unique and catchy.

Am I saying iKON is better than BTS and BlackPink? Yes, that's my opinion but I respect and enjoy all three of these groups.