(Okay so I thought this was going to be posted on the 5th because I set Tumblr to automatically publish this for me but I guess that isn’t working? Anyway here are some thoughts on KARA and the newest member Youngji.)
So Youngji was recently chosen to be the new KARA member. With the departure of Jiyoung and Nicole, KARA will now be a roster of Gyuri, Seungyeon, Hara, and Youngji. I’ll admit I didn’t catch much of the audition process (at all, actually) but the placement and timing is really what I wanted to talk about.
As someone who joined the Hallyu Wave in late 2009, this is the first experience of being introduced to a new member in a staple group. I was a little late to the TVXQ and Super Junior shenanigans, though I was still too uninformed to really make note of. I shared the mentality that when first introduced to the new trainees / prospects, why didn’t DSP just make the new group with these girls and keep KARA as 3. I mean honestly, aside from transition vocals and some subpar rapping, that’s all that Jiyoung and Nicole’s roles filled from a music standpoint. Youngji doesn’t need to be a killer vocalist with Seungyeon and Gyuri still around, and KARA’s music could do without rapping to begin with. Something also of note is that Youngji’s DOB is 1994, which means she’s the same age as Jiyoung. I think it may have been a little awkward if anyone younger than her was chosen (which essentially left her and Sojin only) with such the age gap, but other groups have done that before (2NE1).
Probably what bothers me the most is that this member addition is coming after such a long period of stasis. The last time new members were added was 6 years ago (Hara and Jiyoung) to replace Sunghee. Now again, this was all before my time, but having such a disruptive moment after the stability of the group (after they have established themselves as a top tier girl group) really fogs up the future. I know most netizens and K-netizens were torn but they’re all crazy anyway so I’m not going to bother comparing schools of thought. But overall it just seems like a questionable decision to (a) add a new member at this point, and (b) have that member be from a selected pool of trainees who could easily be their own group. I think 3 or more members used to be in some project group that was disbanded?
What about Nicole and Jiyoung? Nicole’s been showing off some practice videos of choreography and the like. If the girl is going down the path of a dancer, good for her. I still value vocals the most, so I’d be pretty excited if she worked on that a little. Less rapping, more singing, honestly. As for Jiyoung I’m pretty sure the girl has disappeared off to London to become a [s]wizard[/s] student I wish them nothing but the best, and will for sure keep up with Nicole and her exploits assuming they’re good.
KARA’s music as a whole has been a little inconsistent for me since I discovered the group with “Lupin”. “Damaged Lady” and “Pandora” were good, great even, but “Step” and “Jumping” weren’t as well received. If Youngji’s addition to the team means a shift in the right direction and more solid releases, then I’m all for it. But for now I will remain neutral until given evidence to believe otherwise.
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