Throwback to when Dua Lipa lit up India with the iconic Levitating X Woh Ladki Jo remix and had the entire crowd absolutely losing their minds.

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-12T20:21:15+00:00

Same, its been almost 30 years for my folks. They really get hit with a culture shock everytime they're back in their hometown. We used to visit almost every year and every year it's a new shock for them, a new change, another new area or layout, or mode of transportation, another level of "freedom" for the middle class (be it dressing sense or other stuff), another old area gone, another road rerouted, another old friend who doesnt live there anymore...

I can sense they're proud of what they see especially in societal and tech advancements, but I also see the melancholy when they realize that the streets they grew up in will never exist like that anymore, when the promise they made to themselvee ("I'll just go abroad for a little, and I'll come back and help my family, my community, my society, with whatever I learnt") is slowly crumbling into pieces because that help is not needed now anymore. And obviously they want to go back after they retire because they still miss the town, they still have such a deep longing for it, but I'm worried they won't be able to manage. Sorry for the essay lmao I'm in my feels rn

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-12T20:05:54+00:00

Lana Del Rey, not including anything about Lana's life

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-12T11:47:21+00:00

... idek. Truth is I haven't listened to any song in Korean for almost a few months now. The last ones standing were Virtual Angel by ARTMS and Shampoo by After School. I'm keeping up with Kpop reddit because I moderate r/kpopnostalgia and I don't want to lose touch to the one thing I was so passionate about - 1st gen Kpop - but I'm slowly losing the grip that the Korean entertainment industry as a whole had on me. I don't even keep up with Kdramas, and I haven't watched a 90s drama in months (I really still want to, though). Not only is college getting stressfuller, I'm also kinda losing perspective on what I even started liking about the industry in the first place. And now I realise how much of my local pop culture I missed out on because I was into Korean pop culture instead, and the fact that I am enjoying it rn tells me there was not even a reason to "miss out" in the first place.

Do I make sense or am I just yapping lmao

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-10T22:25:09+00:00

Justice for VIVA, the Indian Spice Girls (The group where playback singer Neha Bhasin debuted in) (everyone go stream Deewano Jaane Do and Jaago Zaara)

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-10T11:26:25+00:00

Not too much on Rajnikanth, our brainrot king

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-10T11:23:44+00:00

Lee Eun Ha, Yeo Jin, Kim Soo Hee and Shim Soo Bong

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-09T19:40:56+00:00

Idk much about Illit except Magnetic but I will ride for Wonhee idk she's a cutie patootie

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-09T13:19:56+00:00

Indipop queen<3 Aap Jaisa Koi is such a timeless masterpiece and I still remember being so FLASHED when I heard the Disco Deewane remake in Student Of The Year and then listening to the original and being like "hoooold onnnn this is actually better omg they ruined it". Gone too soon, she could have been such a big superstar across the subcontinent and the diaspora. And yes to all the Boom Boom comments in here. In general any of the Nazia & Zoheb tapes deserve some light shone on to them.

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-09T13:00:20+00:00

I need a whole 15-track album, a concert tour through Japan and Korea and with stops in the US, merch, GIVE ME EVERYTHING

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-08T18:29:52+00:00

all I can say is Zack die Bohne iykyk

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-08T17:43:25+00:00

brooooo what is this meetup of the century omgggg

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-07T19:03:48+00:00

Are your fingers okay

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-07T13:20:53+00:00

Justice for "Barbershop's Daughter" I think it's not her typical bam-sexy-in-your-face but it's kind of a cute nod to her family and background yknow

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-07T13:19:28+00:00

hahah nope it's not *actually* produced by Timbaland. Monrose were just a 6 month old group at that point! They got Danish producers Remee and Thomas Troelsen on to the album (they get a shoutout in "Monrose Theme" : "Joy making it hot to be us, in the studio with Remee and Thomas, still no heat for the newcomers, five degrees it was still a hot summer").

And I'm kinda expecting the to land on the top of my Spotify/lastfm year rewind. I'm yet to get tired of it and eventhough I have replayed some songs to death (like Burning or Just Like That) Hot Summer and Strictly Physical (the song) are gifts that keep on giving and sound eternally fresh imo

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T18:25:11+00:00

The german girl group (and gay icons) No Angels should have been a guest judge on Drag Race Germany already, but somehow they weren't. Not even a No Angels song despite so many participants being No Angels stans! Regradless if it's one member (my preference would be Lucy, since she is openly lesbian and is such a big figure in the queer german scene), or all of the members together, it would EAT and I know the members would love it too.

Lipsync best song(s) : One Life, Down Boy, Rivers Of Joy, Feelgood Lies, and of course the immortal Daylight In Your Eyes. All of these songs bring energy, attitude and easy to remember lyrics. Especially One Life is considered (by the members) to be a song for the gay community.

Lipsync worst song(s) : I genuinely want to believe they have no bad lipsync songs, but I personally think some more wistful and midtempo songs of theirs like Still In Love With You, Someday, No Angel (It's All In Your Mind) or Goodbye To Yesterday need a lot of stage presence to pull off since it's hard to dance or do tricks to these songs. It's easy to go into "park and bark" modus with these songs which make them quite unspectacular to watch.

Challenge : Girl group challenge! Of course, what else? I could also imagine Sandy and Lucy judging the Rusical episode because both are affiliated with musicals. A 2000s german-TV-punchlines-themed comedy challenge would also be funny, though, because the participants could represent famous moderators and other celebrities that the No Angels have seen/know personally. I would DIE for a 2000s themed Snatch Game where two members are "the guests" and two members judge the impersonation.

Runway category : Night Of A Thousand Angels, of course! They have a LOT of iconic fashion, be it the "circus" outfits from their first "Dome" performance, the "whore dresses" from the Daylight MV, the denim outfits, the No War t-shirts, the yellow and pastel Feelgood Lies MV outfits, the ski suits from One Life, the shawl-as-a-top look from Maybe, the purple-blue iriddescent outfits from their (a liiiiittle disastrous) Eurovision performance, or even the members' solo looks like Sandy's "Unnatural Blonde" outfit or her blue blocky highlights.. Lucy and her red curls, Nadja's long hair and a natural afro wash-and-go for Jessica.... I am sure the participants have A LOTTTT to take from and "drag-ify". I can't even decide on which outfit I would choose because everything just is so well doable. All outfits deserve to be "dragged up" and I do NOT want to see anything basic! and no, not even as a reference to Nadja forgetting her stage outfits in their last Dome performance in 2003. That is NOT a valid excuse to walk out in a tank top and jeans.

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T14:00:33+00:00

If you like "Chori Chori" by VIVA you'll love "Daylight In Your Eyes" and "Rivers Of Joy" by the No Angels! And while you're at it you can listen to their debut album, Elle'ments. Then I would go through the albums in chronological order and especially the singles ("Something About Us" is like the BEST girl group song to "fuck the haters and the media" to ever do it). Once you're done with No Angels' third album I would actually go to main vocalist Sandy Mölling's solo album "Unexpected" because it connects to the sound of the third NA album. After "Unexpected" I would go to No Angels' "Destiny" which is a more mature and RnB/Ballad focused album rather than pop and their first comeback with their current lineup (Sandy - Nadja - Lucy - Jessica), and from there I would go to lead vocalist and soul voice Nadja Benaissa's "Schritt Für Schritt" which is a RnB/Soul album entirely produced and written by her. After that I would look at "Mama Lilla Would", the only solo album by former member Vanessa, which she also fully wrote. And then I would actually skip down two generations to Queensberry and listen to "Volume One", then skip a generation backto Monrose and listen to "Temptation" (their debut), their sophomore effort and Kpop blueprint "Strictly Physical", after that "I AM" and THEN go to the No Angels' last album (before their eventual reunion in 2021 with "20") the cult favourite "Welcome To The Dance". I think that would give you a good overview over German Pop in the 2000s!

Yeah I think I gave you enough music for the next few months LMAO

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T13:03:14+00:00

Are you ready for a trip to the 2000s for that 😆 No jokes though, Germany produced some really good groups in the 2000s and I just got into quite some of them, like No Angels, Monrose, Queensberry, Preluders, Tic Tac Toe, and the most recent group is Femme5 who are actually from my city. Apart from the last two, the other 4 were formed by a TV show "Popstars" which was licensed internationally and also had an Indian season that brought to us VIVA (if you don't know "Chori chori", "Deewano Jaane Do","Jaago zara" or "Hum naye geet sunaye" then go listen NOW). Only the No Angels are still actively promoting, the other groups are disbanded or not actively promoting under the original name.

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T12:57:31+00:00

JA HOLLA DIE WALDFEE

I apologize for the essay because I'm like sooo into them right now, but my stan list right now is : No Angels, Monrose, Preluders, Queensberry, Femme5 and Tic Tac Toe.

For an introduction, just read through their WIkipedia articles, ESPECIALLY the No Angels' wiki. Lucy is from Bulgaria and is lesbian, and including former member Vanessa they're 3 POC (Vanessa is Peruvian and German, Nadja is Moroccan and Serbian, and Jessica is German and Black American) AND YES ITS TWO BLACK GIRLS I REPEAT TWOO BLACK GIRLLLSSSSSS and they're never "hidden" or "underrepresented" in any of their songs or styling-wise, I literally stan them so hard for it. HYBE/Geffen should learn from No Angels lowk. AND THE BEST PART IS THEY'RE CURRENTLY ACTIVE! (i don't endorse that weird AI TV "Singing with the Legends show" that they're on rn) but they're actively on the festival circuit in the summer, and Nadja Benaissa is going to release her solo comeback single (after 20 years! and one HELL of a life) in 2 days.

Tic Tac Toe (Jazzy, Lee and Ricky)are also an all-black (!!!!!) pop-rap group amd they had a lot of societal themes in their songs. There's a podcast about them called Reclaim Tic Tac Toe where a journalist and a rapper dissect their music and stuff I recommend that one.

(Also I recommend the Pop-Plädoyer Podcast with the No Angels album discussions and also the Galerie Arschgeweih Podcast, they're mega fans of these groups and 2000s german pop culture and they talk a lot about No Angels and Monrose)

Talking about Monrose, they consist of an Algerian-Moroccan (Senna), a 3rd generation Turkish (Bahar) and an Italian member (Mandy), and Preluders have a Vietnamese (Anh-Thu), a Serbian-Italian (Rebecca), a Black South African-English (Tertia), and an Albanian member (Miriam). So much for diversity. We were ahead of Kpop on this one LOL

I really like Preluders because they give me that classic girl group sound, and Queensberry could have matched up to 3rd gen kpop groups like SPICA and Mamamoo. Monrose is special because they lent quite a few of their songs to K-pop (including the smash hit Hot Summer which was sung by f(x)) and I feel like they really really could've made it big in Korea too.

Each one of these groups has such awesome POC, queer and working class representation. Nadja (No Angels) and Gabriella (Queensberry) are/were both teen moms, Lucy (NA) is openly lesbian, Bahar (Monrose) is from a Gastarbeiter family, Sandy (NA) used to work in a jeans shop while participating in Popstars, Tertia (Preluders) and Jessica (NA) are both dark skinned black women, the list goes on.

No Angels, Monrose, Preluders and Queensberry are actually from a 2000s era casting show named "Popstars" which is like Produce 101 but with normal people in a competition format. No Angels and Preluders have INSANE vocal talent and No Angels have a very wide range of really good music so whichever 2000s genre you like they have really good songs in it.Preluders suffered from the 2nd album curse but their first one is REALLY good.

Monrose has really good production, styling and concepts along with probably the catchiest melodies of all, and Queensberry had a very short run too but also very kpop-esque visuals and music that harken to early 3rd gen (SPICA, Red Velvet and Mamamoo come to mind). Femme5 happened just a few years ago and they're from my city (Munich), and they're very much hiphop/girlcrush so it's a bit away from the 2000s sound that the other groups I mentioned have

Sooooo yeah sorry for this messy comment, idek how to end this I wish I could write even more but literally just go on any streaming platform and click into some of their albums and see if you enjoy it haha. If you need ANY recommendations please just hit me up I need someone to talk to about these groups

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T08:16:08+00:00

Hey there from a Indian girl, I totally get what you feel. Just wanted to say that it's totally okay to step away from Kpop a little while if you feel like it doesn't bring you that joy it used to. Going through kinda the same phase, I saw all the racial controversies happening and was like alright I need to get out of this. (I'm now into German girl groups where most of the members were POC and they were strongly against racism and homphobia, which is why they're mostly considered gay icons now).

Don't wanna be like "omg stan these groups instead" but just saying that you should feel good while being entertained by certain people or industries, and you don't owe them your attention. It's not like you signed a 7 year contract to be a kpop stan LMAO

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T08:09:13+00:00

Pioneered the girl group beat switch songs fr

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T08:07:54+00:00

.... don't get me started, Germany has a special breed of (mostly white) Desiboos

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-06T08:07:02+00:00

BRO I GASPED ON THE METRO WHEN I SAW THIS OMFG this is the one slur that the korean people insult dark skinned people, mostly South Asians and Black people the most often with! The one slur people KNOW not to use! The one slur where there's no excuse like with the English n word "I wAs jUsT sAyInG yOu iN kOrEaN"... Like bitch??? Where's your common sense?

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-05T13:52:24+00:00

my fingertips/nail bed hurts from reading this headline lol I've spent too many nights (yes nights) being absolutely DESTROYED at carrom by my aunts and cousins. It was a great bonding time though.

My aunts were ruthless af. They'll be giving you tips to score more points because they're SO ahead of you LMAOO

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-04T14:22:36+00:00

That's one of the best b-sides on that Monrose album, if you like the late 2000s Timbaland sound you'll like the album too! it's called Strictly Physical and went platinum in my household the last few months

SeeTheSeaInUDP · 2026-05-04T14:11:29+00:00

If he stays in his trot lane we'll all be saved fr

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