The K-Pop Corner

Jade and I discuss Xiaojun's (Wayv & NCT) solo debut and first mini album Hey, Somebody. We talk about Ten's US tour, the plights of general admission, the over selling of tickets and crowding and debate whether general admission is even worth it. Lastly, we talk about Lee Soo-man's newest groups, A2O Lite and A2O Soul, their viral debut songs and the problematic nature of featuring live, interactive AI Avatars of the underage minors "capturing their looks, voices and speaking styles" so fans can engage with the members.

Jade and I discuss Cravity's newest album, Sonorous, their Louder m/v, and our thoughts on their direction and future. Next we go into great detail about our Monsta X concert experiences, tour stops, and my surprise ultimate VIP experience. Buckle up because we had so much to talk about and process together!

We start off talking about Big Ocean, a unique K-Pop group consisting of three members, all of which are hard of hearing. We talk about their latest single, Love Sign, because it's super catchy and the music video is mature, sexy and beautifully shot. They also incorporate sign language into their choreo as well. Then we briefly discuss some of the comebacks going on, Oneus and Cravity as well as Hendery's recent Cantonese single called Thursday. Lastly, we discuss our upcoming Monsta X concert predictions and manifestations, and give some concert etiquette reminders.

We start with my Omega X concert experience. I was fortunate enough to attend Omega X's concert here in Detroit on a flash sale for $1. I went in with no expectations except to have fun and they absolutely delivered and won my heart! Jade and I go over all the details big and small, and the biggest question of course: who is my bias? Next we discuss all of the exciting new music from Enhypen, SF9 and Monsta X. We talk about the music videos, everything we loved and the things we didn't. Lastly, we talk a bit about other notable K-Pop news coming up and our Monsta X concerts that are finally approaching.

Jade and I discuss new music from Wayv's album, Vision Wings, their M/V and how happy we are to see their Chinese culture brought to light in their title track. We then talk about concept photos from both SF9 and Monsta X, the latter of which brings up the discussion about the use of AI in K-Pop. If Monsta X has used it before in their promos, us fans have never seen it or caught it as blatantly as it was used in The Phase album promo content. Many fans, including Jade and I felt disappointed. AI might be prolific and here to stay, but creative realms that are created and curated by real people should stay human, not AI. It's a slippery slope. Artists should think twice about the harm it can cause and whether they would want AI music to take their place.

Jade and I discuss Wayv's New York concert and their concept photos for their Vision Wings comeback, SF9 and Monsta X's upcoming comebacks and lastly we talk about a sensitive subject so trigger warning. A K-pop fan took their own life after intense online bullying, relentless harassment and death threats from other fans. It prompted a discussion on how toxic fandoms can have deadly real life consequences, what can be done to prevent this in the future and can fans recognize and pull themselves out if K-pop becomes too all encompassing and toxic.

We discuss Wonho's newest album, Core, the music video for his title track, Don't Wake Me Up, and his return to a harder, bangin, dance music. We discuss the beginnings of Wayv's highly anticipated album Vision Wings and their Born This Way concert announcement. We are very excited to see the Chinese roots being included in the imagery. We touch on the Cortis concert discourse going around on socials and what it could mean to fans if more companies started to follow suit. Lastly, we talk about J.Y. Park's newest single, Wet, and our conflicting thoughts on why he gives us the ick, who is the demographic for this song, if a younger group or artist did this song would it explode in popularity or is it because it's J.Y. Park and we're all confused? Endless questions.

Jade and I discuss Kihyun's latest solo album Borderline, his emotional and moving music video for his title track, So Good, and other comeback activities, we talk about Wonho's concept photos for his upcoming comeback, Core, then we catch up and discuss EVAN's highly anticipated solo debut with Ride or Die. Lastly, we touch on some recent K-Pop news like Ateez's Bad, Oneus' new Japanese album and WinWin departing from SM, NCT & Wayv as well as KARD announcing disbandment.

Jade and I discuss Shownu and Hyungwon's unit album, Love Me, our disappointment in some of the repetitive English lyrics and our overall impressions, we discuss Zerobaseone's Ascend album, the first after four members had to leave to go back to their original company, which then brought us to the last group And2ble, who are the 4 members from Zerobaseone that left with the addition of Seungeon, formerly of Evnne. And2ble's Sequence 01: Curiosity, and Zerobaseone's Ascend, ended up being fantastic albums from both groups. Highly recommend both. Lastly, we discuss JYP's Fanonmenon Global K-Pop Festival, the ramifications of having the big 4 in control of a "Coachella" type festival and what it could mean for groups of smaller companies.

Jade and I discuss Cravity's new album ReDeFINE as well as their music video for Awake, Monsta X's Shownu X Hyungwon unit comeback, Love Me concept photos and lastly we talk about some Wayv news. Side note: for the first time ever, we will be on a hiatus for a few weeks while Jade is traveling and I'm moving. We will resume recording episode 121, June 12th, and it will be released the following week. We thank you for your patience and hang tight. We will be back!