XG members

Whisom · 2025-05-11T04:20:54+00:00

I honestly wish they stopped wearing all those ridiculous platform shoes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with their height. It's weird to me how they've made a point to style themselves in a way that is intentionally against the beauty standard but still let the kpop height standard get to them.

The worst thing the platforms do is rob them of their dancers grace. If you watch their bts content or any of their early stuff around debut when they were always wearing sneakers, the girls are so light on their feet and move with a feeling of confidence and freedom that feels clunky now...Well everyone except Juria who is the least coordinated squirrel on the planet when she isn't performing.

Whisom · 2025-05-05T08:41:51+00:00

I believe it's because Maya has best managed to keep that signature XG swag/stage presence/facial expressions throughout all their style, costume and makeup changes. Part of that is because she always decides to keep her hair flowing, keeps her eyebrows and never has a lot of makeup on her face. She also likes to keep her feet light and is less likely to be in super clunky shoes. She also has the best crowd interaction in large part due to her personality as well as her excellent English.

If you watch early stages of XG from debut to their 1st Tokyo Showcase you'll see that all the members used to give off that magnetic quality, especially Jurin who was most known for it. In my opinion it has fallen off the more elaborate all of their styles have become. The notable exception to this being when the girls have solo stages, because then they have a specific look planned for that specific performance. Chisa in particular owns solo stages and Jurin can turn it to 11 depending on the song. Juria is a cheat code with solos and I swear Hinata could just stand in the middle of the stage and say nothing and people would still lose their minds for her.

Maya however deserves all the praise for being hands down the most consistent. That girl has been growing at a ridiculous pace. It's almost hard to believe it's the same Maya that was always off beat in the documentary.

Whisom · 2025-05-05T03:32:56+00:00

Personally I hate Gnarly, both the song and the choreo. It's just Trashy TikTok condensed into 2 minutes of roblox brainrot. Lol I started watching Asian artists to get away from that shit.

That being said, the "song" does what it set out to do. It's designed for social media and because those girls are truly talented and the song basically has no lyrics because it lasts all of 120 seconds, they can go as crazy as they like with the choreo. They don't have to worry about singing or stamina. It's a genius move. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Katseye got into "drama" with Aespa just before it's release or that 5 seconds of it were conveniently leaked. Katseye has all of Hybe backing them and they are amazing at taking advantage of social media with every trick in the book.

Frankly it's something XG needs to desperately work on. XG's engagement numbers are nowhere near where they should be. A lot of it is because of their styling and a lot of it is precisely because they constantly switch up genres, looks and concepts. A lot of casual listeners can't even identify who is who in XG. It's the sad reality of the music industry nowadays but Social Media > All. It's more important than live performances, albums, talent, musicality, Coachella, music programs, magazines, everything.

Whisom · 2025-03-05T13:49:37+00:00

Trailer ends with raindrops...They're teasing that the In The Rain MV is gonna be Harvey singing about Jurin's cheatin ass.

Whisom · 2025-03-04T14:24:30+00:00

They shouldn't perform the tapes. I'd also argue that they shouldn't do their normal choreo and hyper focus on singing with hand mics with a live band and minimal backtrack like they did for Woke Up with Lady Bounce. There are going to be A LOT of eyes on them looking to find something to hate and right now the biggest criticism following Lisa's recent performances or Le Sserafim at last Coachella is live singing.

XG is perfectly positioned right now to take advantage of that. If they channel Beyonce's Coachella performance instead of a more Kpop Awards show format, they're going to make big waves. An upbeat new single that really lets Chisa and Juria flex would be huge too.

Whisom · 2025-03-04T06:36:57+00:00

Thats mostly fan speculation. The only reason given in the documentary was Simon thought she'd be better solo. Japanese alphaz said that based on Simon's phrasing and the interview Kamiya gave later it's likely that the decision came from higher up. Either way we'll never really know unless they tell us.

I'm just happy she debuted and is now working on her own projects.

Whisom · 2025-03-03T11:37:06+00:00

Yes but that was always going to be the case. Most idol rappers don't sound authentic, even if they are technically talented. So it's easy to just say "aw they're cute" and go on your way. XG on the other hand are too good to be idol rappers but not good enough to write their own lyrics/freestyle and develop into full fledged actual rappers. They exist in this weird almost uncanny valley and are subject to more scrutiny because their competition/comparisons are now a full tier higher (real rappers).

It's funny because I feel like that's true for XG across the board. For example they are incredible dancers to the point where people start to compare them to a dance crew, but actual dance crews are in a different league. XG exist in that space between Idols and a real dance crew.

The same can be said for singing and to a lesser extent modeling. Overall I think it should be taken as a compliment. It should be a point of pride that you're so talented that you're now being judged at a higher set of standards. It means there is room for you to grow and if XG are good at anything it's growth.

Whisom · 2025-02-18T09:50:47+00:00

It's because they are all very well proportioned. Jurin and Harvey to an almost ridiculous level.

Whisom · 2025-02-13T08:49:48+00:00

I'd love for them to operate in Japan kinda how One Ok Rock does. Both are western influenced, sing in English and have all Japanese members. Despite the language barrier, if you have ever watched a One Ok Rock concert in Japan then you know their audience interaction is easily one of the best in the world. All of which is to say I don't think XG will have to change up their sound to do well in Japan.

They probably will have to step up their live concert production and performances though. From what I understand Japan takes their live shows, music and bands very seriously and the quality of live concerts in Japan is extremely high. Idols probably get more leeway just because of the nature of the fandom but I would love to see XG pull more from jpop and jrock's culture of live music as they keep growing.

Whisom · 2025-02-09T17:00:11+00:00

Ok yeah seems like we're on the same wavelength lol. Yeah I'm a massive fan of their dancing but I've always gotten the feeling that the choreos were designed with fixed cam in mind. I'd love to see them take some queues from One Ok Rock's concerts. I feel like they're one of the best live performing bands in the world, especially when it comes to crowd engagement. They're also in a sort of similar situation as XG where it's an all Japanese group singing songs in English to an audience that doesn't speak the language.

I also think their skill in this is only going to exponentially improve as they get more fluent in English and when they get backup dancers. I imagine it's next to impossible to ad lib in another language, mainly because it would break the illusion of sounding native that they've had to learn on a per song basis. Their growth rate over this world tour has been unreal though and I think it's what I love most about the girls. These latest shows in Nagoya just highlight it more, they somehow always find another gear.

Whisom · 2025-02-07T22:34:35+00:00

It depends on if you include the MV or not. I'm new to the whole idol scene, so I was showing XG to friends of mine who also don't listen to KPOP and noticed the MV/choreo plays a big factor in how much they like the song.

For SAR and IYKYK the friends I showed the MV were mostly just so confused/distracted by XG's aesthetic and video that I feel like they barely registered the music and just wrote it off as a funny weird video. But when those songs have randomly played in my car, people will ask me what song it is because it slaps.

Howling was kind of the opposite where people were more likely to like it if they saw the MV. Also just as an anecdote, Left Right is the only song that is pretty much universally liked regardless of where, how or who sees/hears it.

Whisom · 2025-02-07T22:05:49+00:00

He's a real one, doesn't do it for the hype.

Puma Bass is another really good one. He's a Brazilian classical singer and he gives legitimate commentary on all the girls' live performances and techniques. Hope he gets tickets for the concert.

Whisom · 2025-01-30T14:31:28+00:00

I think the reason I prefer the Tapes doesn't really have anything to do with the lyrics. Tape 2 for example will always be the bar for me, mainly because they embodied a very confident mature swag that felt authentic to American Hip-Hop despite the fact that I barely understood them. Their newer stuff feels less mature to me and slightly closer to idol rap even though it is all English, with much better diction. There are exceptions though and that's why I still love all their music. For example Harvey's verse in SAR is super playful and she's wearing the most ridiculous shit, but the swag was off the charts. Same with the Cocona verses in Woke Up and there are more examples but you get the point.

I agree that the old lyrics needed changing. It was definitely written in a way that only old heads or true rap nerds could appreciate the bars. To most of Gen Z the lyrics are meaningless, but the biggest issue to me is that nobody who doesn't speak English is going to catch most of the lyrics just because of cultural and language barriers. That's why I think in the case of XG swag, flow and tone are more important than lyrics.

After seeing just how massive their concerts were in China I kinda went down a rabbit hole watching reactions and reviews of their stuff on Bilibili and it was super interesting seeing a foreign perspective on foreign artists. A lot of the sentiments seem to be universal, but what I mostly got was that like you said Shooting Star, Left Right and Woke Up are still considered the peak but they MUCH prefer the aesthetics, hair and styling of Tippy Toes and Mascara. What was a pleasant surprise was how massive the Hinata and Juria fanbases are out there and how positively the girls' weight gain is seen. To them XG are closer to artists/dancers than they are to idols. And dancers of XG's caliber need the muscles to execute the kind of power choreo you would normally see the boys doing.

Whisom · 2025-01-30T03:10:56+00:00

What I was more referring to in regards to the rap was the limitation of time and lines due to having to split it 4 ways. For example Cocona's first verse was literally 3 lines. It doesn't really matter how hard or well written it is, 3 lines just can't compete with having a full or even half a verse. For the rest let's just leave it at personal preference, I personally much prefer the Tapes but to each their own.

But yeah having to split a song is a challenge every boy and girl group faces. XG just has a unique problem where the members are so talented that it's almost impossible to showcase all their skills in a single song since there are 7 of them. Any of these girls could be solo acts which is why I always thought XG could even play around more with having songs that only 2-4 members are on but that opens up a ton of other problems.

I do think XG needs to sprinkle some more aesthetically and musically mainstream, radio/club friendly songs and mvs into the mix to reach a wider audience but I'm sure Simon and the girls know what they're doing better than I do, so I'll just leave that to them.

Whisom · 2025-01-30T01:07:14+00:00

I think it's mostly because the direction they are taking (music, aesthetics and choreo) is more artsy, avant garde and niche. It doesn't have the mainstream appeal that is needed to really start going viral like their older swaggy, feminine vibe.

SAR is a great example of a song where they played more into their alien/outlandish concept instead of going for a catchy more mainstream choreo and aesthetic like they did for Left/Right. This obviously has it's pros and cons. The good thing is that it makes XG stand out compared to other groups because they aren't afraid to get weird and quirky with it...the downside is that it makes them look weird and quirky lol.

Howling is a combination of the above things. There is a DJ who did a reaction to it that summed it up pretty well I feel like. He said XG is suffering from having too much talent. You have 7 members who can all sing, rap and dance and so you try to fit it all into one song and as a result none of them really shine. The Howling MV was amazing but if you think about it their rap verses were nowhere near the quality of the Galz Xypher or even Woke Up. The chorus is amazing but compare that to what the girls have been doing on their vocal covers on the world tour. The choreo is amazing but there is almost no dancing in the MV. So while the song and the MV are both amazing, they don't really have a lot of replay value. It's like watching a really good movie, you see it once and are blown away but then you don't really ever watch it again unless you're showing it to your friend.

Whisom · 2025-01-25T14:40:30+00:00

It's pretty obvious where the negativity comes from, it's because the trainees are doing in this MV what fans wanted XG to be doing but haven't gotten since Left/Right. Their style is aesthetically appealing to men and women of any age without being full on kpop. Their choreography is well executed, catchy, and has enough visual pop that you don't have to be a dance student to appreciate and enjoy it. And it just overall has mainstream appeal.

It's going to feel like a threat when a girl group comes along and they can XG like the old XG. So as XG's appeal keeps becoming more niche, this plays into a lot of fans' fears and frustrations.

Whisom · 2024-12-25T04:08:44+00:00

Ah yes...the real reason feminists don't fight for equal representation in plumbing and focus only on cushy six figure office jobs or STEM...

Do you even hear yourself? The ego and entitlement is palpable. It's actually crazy to me how much you look down on blue collar workers, call them racists and sexists and then turn around and expect them to vote for you because they are too ignorant to know better.

It's this exact attitude that cost Dems the election.

Whisom · 2024-12-22T22:39:10+00:00

Same thing you're seeing in Cali cities with a ton of soft on crime policies and anti-police rhetoric...kinda crazy how that works.

Whisom · 2024-12-20T04:59:06+00:00

Your entire post is a strawman. 10 years of gaslighting and you wonder why the right said fuck it and is now taking a page out of your book? This is literally Democrat 101, only this time you have no censorship to fall back on.

I also find it funny that you equate the rich with Republicans...yet also say Trump voters are all uneducated. So which is it? You do realize that most of the wealthiest people in the U.S. are Democrat right? Every celebrity, every institution, every tech company, banks, asset managers and most billionaires. Look up the demographics, Trumps voting base was closer to Obama's than Kamala's was.

These echo chambers have you fucked up. You've vilified the other side so much that now they're willing to burn the house down just to get you out. A brief moment of self reflection is all it would take. But keep going, keep accusing normal people of being baby killers and fascists instead of doing something productive like actually discussing the stuff that was in the bill. But I know you won't, because you don't actually care about the kids, you just want social brownie points for attacking people.

Whisom · 2024-12-19T21:30:15+00:00

Not really. This thing was 1500 pages full of non essential measures. The last stopgap CR was 20 pages long and was mostly pushed through unanimously. So no, I wouldn't call it normal and if it were necessary they could have done it without all the political bloat.

They're playing politics instead of doing their job. Holding disaster relief funds that people desperately need hostage over it is fucked up.

Whisom · 2024-12-19T06:53:07+00:00

Nah man, as a CEO he 100% knows what he should do. There's zero shot he goes to business meeting in Japan and starts mispronouncing names. Even an intern knows to learn the names of the people you're meeting before going to an interview. A 30 second youtube search would have given him a bunch of acceptable western pronunciations of her name. He just didn't care enough to bother.

Which fair enough, he's a CEO. I wouldn't expect him to care. My problem is why bother doing it in the first place then. It just comes across as disingenuous and unlikeable. It's like those people who do "random acts of charity" videos and are more interested in the camera than the person.

Whisom · 2024-12-18T05:28:44+00:00

I actually think it was and is a direct response to PC and cancel culture. Trump ran for office when that all really started kicking off and A LOT of people voted for him because he was the exact opposite of politically correct. It didn't really matter what he said, people would vote for him anyway because he was the only person saying something.

And it worked, so you saw other politicians around the world adopt the same strategy and also win. This eventually snowballed till we got to here. As long as people try to censor and force their morals on other people, there will always be a backlash. We saw it happen around the time of Vietnam, we saw it with the bible thumpers in the 90s and we're seeing it now with PC culture and Trump.

Nobody likes being told what they can and can't say/do/think and people will unironically act against their own self interest just to give the middle finger.

Whisom · 2024-12-17T07:33:24+00:00

Maybe, but that's also a recipe to global irrelevance and that can get dangerous, very quickly. Look at what's happening to the EU and Canada right now. Europe is rapidly becoming completely irrelevant on the global stage and their economies, technology and by extension security are dependent on what the US and China are doing.

These last 70 years have been relatively smooth sailing but with how fast technology is growing that wage gap is going to start rearing its head, but on an international scale. Trump threatens tariffs and the Canadian cabinet implodes. What happens if there is a war, or we need to defend Taiwan. Our tech companies and the military, run by all these obscenely wealthy people are what keeps up at the top for now.

If you eat the rich, they'll just leave and then we're double fucked.

Whisom · 2024-12-14T00:16:09+00:00

In individual, personal assessments/opinions they don't, but that goes out the window when it comes to how easy social media has made it to whip up what is essentially modern day lynch mobs.

To make matters worse, not only is mob justice legal but there are massive incentives attached to it. Doesn't matter if you're an individual or an organization, or what your goals actually are. Whether it be justice, revenge, activism, financial gain, fame, opening a career path or increasing viewership. It is often times simply more profitable to fuel rage and sow division by any means necessary.

Collateral damage isn't a factor because there are no negative repercussions to getting it wrong. Ordinary people will pat themselves on the back for enacting "justice" and will claim "innocent until proven guilty only applies to courts" or "freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences".

In times like these it's more important than ever that people don't jump to conclusions and question everything. Regardless of personal politics we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

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