[Misc] Girl Group Visual Power Rankings

This is going to be a very simple post: it's gonna be a ranking of the girl group visuals. There won't be much explanation, as this is an eye candy piece more than anything, but also is nice because it contributes towards a little "Girl Group Profile" project I'm trying to work on. I only considered the girls listed as "face of the group" with a few exceptions (I'll address them when relevant). I originally had 30+ members but quickly realized that'd be ridiculously unnecessary and whittled the list down to the top 12. I valued how attractive they are, but also growth and consistency (think social media). Since this is pure visuals, group music and popularity, etc. has no weight in this discussion.

12. Hani / 11. Jei / 10. Tzuyu / 9. Hyosung

Hani kicks off the list at #12. Though Hani's main charm is her personality, she has sharp visuals, too. Remember, the rise of EXID was singlehandedly due to Hani's fancam exploding in popularity. Doll-like Jei is next, and even though Cao Lu provides tough competition (I personally like Cao Lu's looks more) there's no denying she is top tier. Chewy Tzuyu makes me uncomfortable putting her on such a list but whatever. She's really pretty and that's all. Hyosung is a member not officially called a visual, but let's be honest: Hyosung is by far the most attractive member in Secret, and the "actual" visual Sunhwa is the least relevant member of her group. Seems like she (Sunhwa) only got the title because she's unfortunately not offered too much else. Hyosung would be the visual in any other group.

[Blog] 2NE1 & Girl Group Roster Changes

I couldn't really come up with a more clever or interesting title. Anyway I wanted to talk about the next "era" of some girl groups. The world of Kpop isn't like the world of esports, where people join different teams every so often, even though that would make Kpop way more interesting. The closest we have to that is just idols signing with different agencies and the like after contracts expire. Over the past year, we've seen the rising stars like f(x) lose members, and other previous titan groups like KARA fall away in disbandment.

[Review] NCT U - The 7th Sense & Without You

We got a double review today! A 2-for-1, doubleheader, whatever you want to call it. I'll be looking at both the digital singles of S.M's newest product NCT. Part of me didn't want to have separate posts just for a debut, and part of me planned to be lazy so I can (possibly) cheat the system by writing less for each song. In traditional S.M fashion, they always alternate between debuting boy and girl groups. With Red Velvet being the previous debut, it's a new boy group. NCT, or "New Culture Technology" is part of the company's new plans to expand business take over the world. Let's see if they can hold up to their sunbae's high standards of debuts.

Quick sidenote: I'm not really gonna talk about the whole subunit concepts and rotating members and all that. It's honestly either the best or worst decision for the group, with plans to promote in multiple countries. Anyways, "The 7th Sense" was the first track released. As soon as the music starts you knew this was gonna be trippy. This choreography is pretty awesome. When you consider that S.M houses dancers like Taemin, Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon, Luna, etc. these rookies have some excellent teachers available to them. The movements are all fluid and flow into the next very well. Rather than focus on synchronization (an S.M strongsuit), there's plenty of individuality and that works with a smaller group like this. The dance matches the instrumental, and all in all this is yet another impressive showing of S.M choreography.

[Review] Oh My Girl - Liar Liar

I'm a few weeks late, but it's been a while since I've last written about a new group. Oh My Girl is a rookie group that debuted last year with "Cupid." Along with their youthful innocence that so many other girl groups seem to have these days, they were also accompanied by a bizarre customs debacle of which they couldn't enter the United States, and "Closer," one of 2015's better (and undiscovered) songs. While their debut was relatively pedestrian and catered to the standard masses, "Closer" was quite special and could help the group stand apart if they continue to release similar music down the line.

[Bonus] Best Of Guilty Pleasures

This topic was an idea that I got while rifling through my library and purging some of the less desirable songs. A few of them made me hesitate, even though there is objectively little reason to. So here we are. Let's first define a guilty pleasure. It's a song that is bad, or one that I consider bad, but I still like listening to it. Now, the important thing to note is that this applies to the entire song. Whether the song is just bad or unbearable has no difference, but a song that has a specific part that is really good can't be on this list, because sometimes it's worth listening to just for that part (or skipping to it, heh). Conversely, a good song that just has a bad section (or multiple, I guess) can't be considered a guilty pleasure either. So for example, I think Secret's "Shy Boy" is pretty bad across the board, and would be in consideration if I liked it (I don't). On the other side, while EXO's "Wolf" is atrocious, the bridge is absolutely brilliant and won't be here. Alright I've rambled on long enough, let's take a look.

7. VIXX - Love Equation

Bubblegum pop songs from girl groups aren't my favorite. So naturally, a bubblegum pop song from a boy group would make this list. VIXX gained notoriety for their intriguing concepts behind their music videos, but "Love Equation" is nothing like that. The 1-2 vocal punch of Leo and Ken show their versatility with this song, showing they can be fun and carefree as much as they can be emotional and serious. Ravi is equally lightearted in his rap and N holds everything together. This is a poster child for happy-go-lucky pop tracks and definitely fits the description of a guilty pleasure.

6. Hyosung - Into You

The inclusion of this song is mainly due to surprise. It's easy for me to say now that I don't think this song is good at all, but apparently I praised it during my review. The complaints are still there: the rap break is gross, and the rest as a whole lacks exciting elements. But perhaps Hyosung's breathy voice and the similar extension from "Goodnight Kiss" was what tricked me in my early listens. With the newly released "Find Me" as her signature solo piece, Hyosung merits a spot with the far inferior "Into You."

[Bonus] Best Of 2NE1

In January we watched KARA come to an end. Now in April, it's 2NE1's turn. Well, not exactly. Minzy has decided not to resign with YG and 2NE1 will continue with Dara, CL, and Bom. I may write a blog post on Minzy's (and 2NE1's) future, since she did (still does, really) have a spot in my heart. For now, I'll take the same path I did for KARA's disbandment, and reminisce on the very best of 2NE1. And no, "I Am The Best" will not be making an appearance on this list, sorry.

7. Go Away

2NE1 dropped a monstrous triple title track thread for the "To Anyone" album, before everyone else started joining the multiple title track bandwagon. At the forefront was "Go Away," the best out of the set and the rest of the album. There's some serious autotune action, but I never found it too overbearing to the point where the song would be unlistenable. 2NE1 has a few songs with that autotune disorder but this isn't one of them. This was a great example of a song with line parity. Everybody contributed (near) equal amounts, something groups of all sizes continue to struggle with present day. Oh and the video has explosions, and 2NE1 walking away from explosions.

6. You And I

It's been an eternity since we've heard from 2NE1, and even more of an eternity since we've heard Park Bom's unique voice. Considering that this was released in 2009, it's understandable some people forget or never knew about Bom's solo career, which started off with this fantastic track. Bom glides through the verses and overall isn't stretching her voice too much. In the few instances she is, she adds harmony to help distract which is good. The song is catchy, and was easily one of the best solo efforts during the 2009-2010 era of Kpop.

[Misc] Bias Power Rankings IV: Spring 2016

Time to drop another Bias Power Ranking! It's more interesting to write these up every few months, as it's both a fun piece and caters to my inner statistical self that loves power rankings. This spring edition features a pair of new faces, and a myriad of shuffles. A change I have made in these rankings is that I will only include girl group members from here on out, meaning with that, we unfortunately won't see the likes of Ailee, IU, and Juniel again on the lists, and Younha will relinquish her #1 spot, as well. In my mind, this lets the girl group members have a more fair fight, instead of worrying about how to take down Younha.

12. Irene (NEW) / 11. Sojin (-2) / 10. Eunji / 9. Choa (+2)

Irene makes her debut on the rankings with her motherly instincts and general gorgeousness. We'll hopefully get to some Visual Power Rankings for shits and giggles but Irene will probably place in top 5 there. Meanwhile, Sojin continues her descent down the ladder. Last time I talked about how I didn't think Sojin would drop below 10th but here we are. Whether she'll suffer the same fate as Suzy and drop off the list remains to be seen. I pray Girl's Day does something soon. Eunji keeps her spot, while Choa swaps with Sojin. These few ranks are all taken by vocalists, so it's really down to the type of music they release and how relevant they are elsewhere to see who can get ahead of the others.

8. Hyejeong (-1) / 7. Hwasa (+1) / 6. Kyungri (-1) / 5. Hani (NEW)

The shuffling may seem trivial and there's probably some truth to that, but the fact of the matter is, only one out of Hyejeong / Hwasa / Kyungri has released anything since this year started, so she is coincidentally the only member to have gotten bumped up a little. Hyejeong is still the lead lady of AOA for me, though Choa is doing her best to catch up, while Kyungri is losing ground against the rise of Hyuna just within 9MUSES. Hani becomes the highest placing girl immediately, taking #5. Let's embrace our Hani oppa and her unstoppable personality that leaves all forms of variety in her wake. She doesn't give any fucks and stays true to herself, which is way more than what other girl group members can say. Plus, she has one of the sultriest voices in all of Kpop (girl groups) and we need to hear it more.

4. Soyu / 3. Wheein (+3) / 2. Bora (+1) / 1. Taeyeon (+1)

Soyu may not be long for top 4, but we'll see what happens when Sistar comes back. And again, hopefully not with a summer song. If variety is the spice of life, then Sistar have been dead since 2014. We need some smooth jams like "Alone" again, pretty please. Anyway, with the "dethroning" of Younha, Bora and Taeyeon both enjoy the slight boost, and now Taeyeon proudly wears the crown of #1 for the first (and probably not last) time. Finally, we have Wheein. I love Wheein. She can do anything and everything, and her stealing #3 is a testament to how much she's grown on me ever since their debut. This is the beginning of a new era, the new trinity of Taeyeon, Bora, and Wheein has taken all control. Bless up.