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[Sonic Defender]

Love it (CLC)!
I will admit it, my daughter is a MASSIVE KPop fan and aficionado, and over the years I have come to actually enjoy quite a bit of it. I try to keep an open mind and a 14 year daughter helps in that regard.

 

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Love it (CLC)!...

CLC does some pretty ok stuff. I am somewhat partial to the Cube Ent. ladies though, both current and former. E.g. (G)I-DLE, 4Minute, HyunA, Jiyoon, CLC...

Kpop isn't just for the kiddies anymore... It never really was, but you may not want to tell your daughter that. Even the "girls" of Girls' Generation (aka SNSD) are now all growed up. And many have put out good solo efforts, including Taeyeon, Yuri, TIffany Young, Hyoyeon, Yoona and Jessica Jung.

The same goes for BoA, Lee Hyori, Mamamoo, Red Velvet, Apink, Exid, f(x) (there are a couple tracks by Amber Liu of f(x) on the first page of this topic, and some recent Luna tracks in other threads here), and a number of other artists. So there really is quite a bit for older fans of the genre and pop/R&B music in general to bite into now.

...And I'm probably leaving out many of the better groups and artists, like Jay Park, Gain (of BEG), Stellar (disbanded unfortunately ), Eddy Kim, Sunmi, Ailee, Yoonmirae, 9Muses (in the process of disbanding ), Hyolyn, Jessi, etc.. Super Junior is even still floating around out there somewhere, making some fairly good stuff.

 

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I was slightly (though not completely) surprised to see BlackPink on Colbert this week btw.



I expect that kind of thing from Kimmel, Fallon, and Ellen. But not so much Colbert.

 

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Stellar was probably my favorite female Kpop group before they disbanded. Most of their later videos were on the steamier side.

 

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Two live versions of Stellar's "Crying". SQ is not perfect on either of these, but they're the best I've been able to find so far. So watch the volume.



There's a loud TV logo at the end of this version...

 

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Watch volume.

 

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A couple recent tracks by Yuri...

 

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Watch volume.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Three years ago I wouldn't have known anything about any of these groups, but I know quite a bit about all of them now. I know the subject matter of most of the material is rather simple and sweet (boys and girls falling in and out of love) but the production value is often very good and the videos are quite creative and certainly very artistic. Red Velvet is about to play a show in Toronto and if my daughter didn't have a terrible anxiety disorder we would have gone. She does like Stellar but Girls generation and Black Pink remain her very favourite groups. She did also have a big Exid and 4Minute run, but it is Girls Generation that really moves her. She even taught herself some Korean!

 

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FYI, Sonic Defender, if you get me started on this topic, you may have some difficulty shuttin me up. Because I'm a fan of Asian music in general, in all of its many flavors, including all the SNSD ladies.

As far as current female Kpop groups go though, Mamamoo is probably my flavor of the moment. Followed fairly closely by groups like Red Velvet, (G)I-DLE, Apink, and maybe one or two others. There are a couple newer groups I'm beginning to take a shine to as well, which I may also post at some point.

Bravo to your daughter for learning some Korean btw! Even though I listen to the music on a fairly regular basis, I still know relatively little of the language. It is supposed to be one of the easier Asian languages to learn though.

I recently ran across this tutorial on Korean slang words btw, while perusing some of the SNSD ladies' new vids...



Silhwanya?

 

[Sonic Defender]

That's fine, I think KPop offers some very charming and engaging pieces of performance art. I very much like the video for Hate by 4Minute and of course Russian Roulette by Red Velvet. Heck even Windy Day makes me nostalgic as it was a time when I was with my daughter all the time and we listened to KPop together (often while playing Roblox). So much fun, miss those days. Cheers.

 

[ADUHF]

4Minute was one of the edgier mainstream groups before disbanding. 2NE1 was another good one that also threw in the towel not so long ago. Most of these groups have 7 year contracts, which are often not renewed. That's why there's such a high turnover in the groups. (And one of the reasons that I'm increasingly getting into more solo artists.)

There is also a fairly vibrant underground scene of indie, jazz and hip-hop artists in Korean music, for those who desire a bit more depth and nuance. I don't post as much of that here, but there are artists in both the mainstream and indie camps that I like. They each have their place in my view. I have difficulty getting into some of the rap and trap artists though because of the language barrier.

I compare mainstream Kpop to the American Motown music scene, because there are alot of similarities between the two imo, both good, and also maybe not so good in some ways. Both are/were hit-making factories, which has its upsides and downsides.

Shutting up now.