[Misc] The Late Report: February 2021

I nearly forgot that February is a short month, so uh...anyways! Here's some stuff. Fuck you Blogger and your impossible-to-format bullshit. The inconsistency is driving me bonkers.

The Big Bully Blitz

February's Kpop news theme has been the plethora of bullying accusations being lobbed like candy. Some names include but are not limited to: Loona's Chuu, Seventeen's Mingyu, Stray Kids' Hyunjin, and Hyuna. All I have to say on the matter is a simple "yikes." Bullying is an entirely different beast in Asia so the only hope I have is that the truth comes to light.

Interesting Comeback Stage

Remember this track? "Black" was great and now many years later, we get a comeback performance of a different variety. Kpop's newest power couple has been born with Big Bang's G-Dragon and Black Pink's Jennie. I'd be lying if I said I remembered other famous Kpop couples, but this is definitely one of the strongest pairings to memory. Surprisingly, there's only a seven year age gap between the two. I guess it's more that I thought G-Dragon was older than 32 (turning 33 this August). Good for both of them.

SHINee - Don't Call Me

Don't. This song is awful. It sounds like the type of shit that EXO and NCT would do, and I honestly thought SHINee would be better than that. They had found their stride prior to military enlistment but seems like that's been lost as the younger groups in their company took control of everything. I just can't. More Minho rapping? Get the fuck outta here. Because they're veterans I gave them the respect of finishing the song but damn, I was not happy to do so. Swing a huge miss out of SHINee.

Collection of Miscellaneous Shit

And now a jumble blob of some other things that I noticed. Positive, negative, neutral, it's all fair game. Some German radio show host said racist shit to BTS, essentially calling them the same as coronavirus? I don't think I've ever written the words "career suicide" before but it's appropriate here. A stalker broke into T-ARA's Soyeon's house? That's fucking horrifying and I hope that creep goes to jail. Cherry Bullet and a few others have hosted AMA threads on reddit, which is cool. Luna sets up her own label, that's pretty good. Hopefully she'll see some success. Finally, some comeback news on the horizon, with the likes of Jessi, V, and DAY6 as headliners.

Late Rollin' to a #1 Spot

Brave Girls have had their EXID / Hani moment. Their song "Rollin'," which originally released in 2017, recently hit #1 on Bugs Chart, their first ever. Quite impressive considering that the throwbacks usually can't compete with their modern competitors. Great to see from them, though unfortunately I don't see a rise to superstardom in their future because the group is too unstable. Regardless, a win is a win and the song is quite good, despite the awkward pronunciation. Anyway that's all for today. Until next time, whenever that may be. Stay safe and healthy.

[Review] Solji - I'm Here With You

The end of this blog is near. Kpop as a whole has never been further down on my list of interests, and keeping up with releases and that nature. Combine that with the continuous frustration of Blogger's bullshit means it's unlikely I make it to the nine year mark. We'll have to see what happens. Regardless, I promise to keep y'all in the loop no matter the situation.

[Review] 9MUSES - Drama (Revisited)

"Drama" came out a little over five years ago, and it was yet another rebranding of 9MUSES who had suffered through their most dramatic roster shift yet, losing Sera, Lee Sem, and Eunji. Some pillars remained like Hyemi and Hyuna, while new members Keumjo and Sojin made their debuts.

• The song itself is quite good. "Drama" is carried by the pretty vocals of 9MUSES, with Kyungri and Hyemi at the top of the list. There's a variety of structure in the song and all the members do well in filling those roles out. Having said that, "Drama" is rather bland and while the "only you~" hook is catchy, nothing else really makes this song unique, per se. Past releases like "Wild" and "Glue" had a signature 9MUSES sound to them, and while this song is most like "Dolls," the chorus is not nearly as powerful and the rapping is too segmented to be very effective.

Slightly contradictory comments everywhere in this paragraph. Bland chorus but pretty vocals, segmented structure but quite good. In present day I simply revere the older catalogue too much to have much appreciation for "Drama" like this.

[Misc] Thought Corner: Goodness Gracious GFriend

Oh yeah, we're definitely in the endgame now. It is what it is, but let's talk about GFriend briefly. Um. They're dumb. Really fucking dumb. Photos with a Nazi mannequin? Saving said photos as "Kitler?" That ain't it. Like at all. I don't care what kind of excuse you have, that shit is inexcusable. These members aren't some doe-eyed babies either. Maknae Umji turns 21 this year. Even if we were somehow in a bizarre alternate timeline where the Korean education system taught absolutely nothing about WWII history, surely a Hitler-inspired nickname would have raised some flags? No? Okay then. Later GFriend, it's been real. I think I remember some vague news from a few years back about BTS also being under fire for some Nazi-related shenanigans and it's pretty baffling that we're seeing something similar surface again in modern day. Of course there was some half-baked apology and whatever but yikes man, yikes.

[Misc] The Late Report: January 2021

January is over and despite my lack of attention, there have been some interesting releases this month. Whether it's a preview of things to come or the rest of the year will deviate wildly, remains to be seen. Hope everyone has had a good (or at least better) start to their year than both myself and or last year. Stay safe out there. But then why are you "out there?"

Hyuna - I'm Not Cool

As I've said before on this series, not every song that makes it here is good. Hyuna has always been hit or miss with me and this time, she's struck out on three pitches. I just...don't like anything presented here. Some commenter on reddit said "the song isn't that good but Hyuna just makes it work." To that I say, "what exactly did she make work?" The structure is all over the place and I legit couldn't stomach a full second listen. Also this video thumbnail do be hella uncomfortable.

[Review] IU - Celebrity

Well this is eerily similar to how last year started, as this early release from a female solo act is the most exciting thing I've heard so far. Granted, I definitely have not heard much but that's what star power does for ya. IU is coming back with an album and released "Celebrity" ahead of time. Will this song hold up at the end of the year, like Younha's "Winter Flower" before it?

[Misc] Heartbreak

Well, as if this year couldn't start any worse, my cat passed away earlier this week. My family adopted her about 14 months ago and I'm just...depressed. There's really no other word for it. These last five days have bene a gray blur. I didn't have energy or interest to write about Kpop when the year began and I certainly don't have any of that shit now. I'm sure I'll be "back to normal" in a week. Life's tough. Cherish your pets.

[Review] Girl's Day - Something (Revisited)

Despite my best efforts, here is some writing about writing of an old song. I will soldier on this year and we'll see how far things go.

• So with that said, I’m going to go ahead and review the “Something” that didn’t have me cringing, although I was first concerned on how Girl’s Day and TVXQ would be releasing a lead track with the same title. I’m pretty sure Girl’s Day is the first group to have pieces reviewed for a third time, which is impressive given I only discovered them last year.

Girl's Day were one of the most hype girl group discoveries across my many years of Kpop, and so the instant infatuation led to multiple reviews. Also, I wonder about the other various occurrences of groups releasing a song with the same title.

[Misc] Thought Corner: Kpop Hopes In 2021

It's been tradition over the last four years to start the blog off with this type of post, so despite less attachment to the Kpop world, here we go. Linked is another SM rendition of "Hope" with their current roster, and man... It feels me with equal amounts nostalgia and depression seeing all the people who are no longer there. Heechul (and Sungmin) not there. Taeyeon and Taemin the only representatives of their groups. EXO with just Kai and Baekhyun. No f(x) at all. NCT members are like 40% of the entire present roster, and I'm pretty sure there are more of them that aren't in the video. It's crazy seeing the evolution and passage of time within a company, and in general. No BoA is omega cringe, but at least Kangta was there at the end. Anyway that's enough of that. Now let's look back at what I looked forward to during January of 2020, before the world-shattering events.