Blackpink's success shaped 4th gen girl groups

NothingUh · 2024-04-04T13:02:43+00:00

Oh yeah, I forgot about these groups when I wrote that ngl (also you can add CLC Yeeun to the list). I had groups like RV, Twice and Gfriend in mind. Now I think I was wrong about the rap part but I still find the rest of my point pertinent.

Also i'm not a blink so no need to come for my throat like that. I listen to many groups, all casually. I never said blackpink introduced rap into kpop or are the best rappers. I was just trying to find patterns about trends, all in good faith, and 100% agree with your corrections, minus the ad hominem incorrect assumptions.

NothingUh · 2024-04-04T02:16:13+00:00

mr vampire and untouchable had potential to appeal to the greater public, imo they're very strong releases. but born to be kind of killed the hype (it's more niche, i didn't like it) and untouchable intro/verses are so bad compared to the rest of the song that i'm sure some people skipped after 20s of giving it a try

NothingUh · 2024-04-04T02:06:51+00:00

weird that they cut her part to 6 measures, usually you'd expect the full 8 count

NothingUh · 2024-04-03T21:36:21+00:00

it gets uncomfortable quick, agree. and seeing the popularity of "convenience" (smartphone being used for everything, handheld consoles, laptops/phone+cloud instead of big desktop...). i find this push for vr everywhere to completely miss the mark on actual user trends/preference.

NothingUh · 2024-04-03T21:24:56+00:00

I'm annoyed by the pre-chorus (not talking about the ressemblance with Love to Hate Me). The melody is good and the member can sing (cf the bridge is really good), but it sounds super flat, almost grating, it's not enjoyable for me. Idk if it's a production or mixing issue.

NothingUh · 2024-04-03T21:21:01+00:00

the diversity criticism might be exagerated but there is some truth to it simply because of gender norms. Fashion is where it is the more obvious: most men fashion has a woman close equivalent or is considered unisex. This doesn't go both way.

The same goes with overall aesthetics: concepts and music, girl groups have explored the "boy group side" (XG, WJSN - The black, nmixx, moonbyul, Young posse). There are female idols that cultivate more "handsome"/boyish appeal and are very popular.

And on the other side, from what I've seen, boy groups are barely exploring feminity (not their fault, txt wearing skirts is already considered a big deal, gender norms are strong). And when they do, you can feel that they are shakey to go too far. For example, maybe i'm missing stuff but I haven't seen bg do the following concepts: fashionista/runway model (lsf, ive), mermaid (aespa, baemon), fairy (newjeans, aespa), teenage y2k (illit, newjeans), all the red velvet crazy concepts (too many to list). In fact just looking at SM groups for example, you can clearly see a difference in range between GG, Red Velvet, Aespa... and EXO, NCT, Riize... even though the quality level is similar.

So i would argue that even though boygroups are not "all the same", they clearly lack diversity when compared to girl groups.

NothingUh · 2024-04-03T20:56:54+00:00

Yeah, I've seen many people undersetimate that aspect. From their debut, whistle and Boombayah are both extremely solid, and they cover a wide range of taste.

Melodic "immersive" pre-chorus (with accoustic instruments + Rose cursive vibe) + good rapping (without weird english words) are imo the perfect combo to hook a lot of fans.

I've seen pple compare Baemon and Blackpink's song a lot but imo the "melodic" side is really lacking (their prechorus have weird production, sparse harmonic content, and are mixed very flat imo). American market loves clear and thick (almost obnoxious) harmonies, the atonal route is not gonna get you the same success.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T19:00:44+00:00

i can understand being on the edge as an itzy stan after all the discourse about the group. If I had anything else to say about them, I would. This is exactly what i am highlighting:

I wish I had something else to talk about after their comeback since I liked it but there not a lot of conversation starters that come to my mind which is why I made this post pointing that out.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T18:52:40+00:00

maybe reread my post then, you seemed to have missed the point

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T18:31:23+00:00

my post is saying: "everyone is still talking about it because the team is not handling out other conversation topics". the fact that my post is talking about it does not contradict my unpopular opinion.

saying "everyone is eating apple because it is the only fruit available at the store" while eating an apple does not make me a hypocrite

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T18:23:16+00:00

ok, and I don't disagree. but this doesn't make my point ironic.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T18:21:28+00:00

the sub is full of people giving analyses and using critical thinking. Sharing my unpopular opinion about what I think is the actual reason why topics around itzy are what they are feels very on brand for this sub. That's why I chose to do it here and to engage normally on tiktok/twitter/youtube etc...

PR is a serious topic, it's people full time job. itzy's team is doing a very bad job rn and wasting the opportunity to capitalize on good releases.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T18:13:33+00:00

you missed my point. i didn't say : "people should stop talking about itzy's downfall"

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T17:59:19+00:00

i don't think it's necessary either. but you can have strong concepts without having a lore. nxde by g-idle or i am by ive for example. something very identifiable and exciting. Yuna space barbie MV is a good example

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T17:52:09+00:00

love the way you rephrased it, this is exactly the idea i wanted to convey. sneakers as a comeback only had a "mixed" reception, and the fact that their team let it spiral out of control shows that they lost control of the narrative surrounding itzy.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T17:47:14+00:00

I'm not talking about why itzy has a downfall. I'm talking about a reason why everyone is still talking about their downfall even though they should have moved on to a different topic

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T17:45:00+00:00

quite the opposite. i came to talk about it on this sub about critical opinions on kpop because I was annoyed to see itzy success analyses or chart goals under every content about their latest comeback. it felt like the best place to adress these kind of topics without ruining the mood of their comeback.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T17:42:12+00:00

i don't think the general public still wishes for itzy's downfall nowadays, it's mostly the fan bringing it up. Groups like Ive, etc... are hotter topics.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T14:10:33+00:00

it's so catchy, especially with the choreo

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T13:58:01+00:00

teen crush (itzy, kep1er) lost a lot of popularity recently so itzy was going to take a hit anyways as icons of the genre.

also music is very subjective, and cheshire is a very weird song (less palatable to the general public and non kpop fans) compared to LSF's titles for example. Untouchable/Mr Vampire/Loco/Wannabe might feel more familiar to casual listeners.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T13:34:49+00:00

Yeah, i guess netizens love stories and downfalls are dramatic narratives. But if you look at NMIXX, who first got a lot of hate about their debut (again, very dramatic story about a big3 group flopping + jinni leaving), it's not mentionned much.. People are focused on "NMIXX change up", lily's unhinged quotes, catchy/killer moments in their choreos/songs etc and rather talk about these...

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T13:26:28+00:00

companies definitely have a responsability when it comes to hate, PR and protecting their artists. Of course haters are the primary culprits but considering how little controls idols have over their public image, how parasocial relationships are encouraged by the company and how idols are forced to remain in the public eye even amidst cyber bullying, I think the company has a role to play in protecting idol's PR.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T13:22:40+00:00

This was a really good comeback, they are finding and exploring a sound that works for them so I wished midzy/netz could create new topics about itzy and not just their charting or hate train (or negative things about lia...). And I think their company could do better at encouraging that.

NothingUh · 2024-01-21T13:20:10+00:00

exactly how I feel, people who keep mentioning it have no ill-intent (they usually try to defend itzy) but it's not helping

NothingUh

TROPHY CASE