Katherine Does K-POP

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Advice” by Taemin

Once again, I’m super late to the party and am kicking myself for only getting around to writing about Taemin’s latest single now. I promise I didn’t intentionally post this right after his enlistment date (cry); it’s entirely due to my busy schedule and poor time management skills. But I’ll admit it: I’m slightly in denial that we won’t get new music from him for over A YEAR AND A HALF. I feel like his solo music has been such a constant presence in the five years since I’ve become a K-pop fan, and that presence will be sorely missed (cry some more). But if there’s any bright spot to this, it’s that Taemin was able to give us one more great song – and album – before he left.

K-Pop Starter Kit: A Beginner’s Guide (Part Three)

Finally, we’ve arrived at the last of the introduction posts! (I know it hasn’t been too long since Part Two went up, but I say “finally” because I’ve basically been working on these all month.) As I mentioned last time, Part Two was initially supposed to cover different aspects of the K-pop industry – however, I came up with so many that it ended up being ridiculously long. I noticed many of the things I wanted to discuss were about how people interact with and consume K-pop in general, so I decided to take those out and put them into their own Part Three. So, this final post covers K-pop in relation to fandoms and the Korean general public.

Katherine’s K-Pop Recap: May 24-30, 2021

A summary of the news, current and upcoming comebacks, charts and music show wins, and more!

K-Pop Starter Kit: A Beginner’s Guide (Part Two)

First of all, I’m sorry this took me so long to post! I’ve literally been working on it every day for the last two weeks, but I kept thinking of things to add and it just turned out way longer than I anticipated. (SIGH) Ultimately, I just decided to split the introduction into three parts instead of the two I had initially planned. So Part One (which I already wrote) is more focused on K-pop as music and performances, and Part Two (this post) covers different aspects and norms of the K-pop industry. And soon I’ll add Part Three – which kind of also talks about the K-pop industry, but more in relation to fandoms and the Korean general public. I apologize again for not staying on schedule, but at least we can get a bonus post out of it!

Katherine’s K-pop Recap: May 17-23, 2021

A summary of the news, current and upcoming comebacks, charts and music show wins, and more!

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Next Level” by aespa

Though aespa are still rookies, I get the sense they’re poised to become one of K-pop’s next big groups. They exploded onto the scene with “Black Mamba” last year, and people have been talking about them ever since. (Including my elementary school students, which I take as a good sign since they only know the trendiest groups.) No matter what you think about their futuristic virtual reality world or SM giving them AI counterparts and “virtual members,” you can’t deny that their whole concept is incredibly ambitious. I fully admit that I don’t fully understand this universe quite yet, but it ultimately doesn’t stop me from enjoying aespa like I do any other K-pop group. I’m really rooting for them, and I was super curious about their first ever comeback.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Ring Ring” by Rocket Punch

Out of the three girl groups who have made comebacks on the same day this week, I’m the least familiar with Rocket Punch. I know they’re from Woollim Entertainment and that one of the members is a former Produce 48 contestant… and that’s pretty much it. I have listened to their songs before, and I even remember thinking how they sounded good at the time – but for some reason, I only listened to each one once and then never went back. (Why am I like this sometimes… sigh.) So with Rocket Punch’s newest release, I decided to take a good look and really pay attention.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “We Go” by fromis_9

Normally I try to divide my attention between boy groups and girl groups as evenly as possible, but I feel like boy groups have kind of dominated the releases so far this year (in terms of quantity, not quality). So I’m thrilled that I get to write about MULTIPLE girl groups this week, and I’m glad that more of them are starting to make their comebacks. First up is fromis_9, a promising girl group that I don’t know well but check in with for every release. Though their early songs are a little too cute for me, some of their music has a quirky and whimsical side that I truly enjoy. I felt their comeback last year was pretty lowkey and under the radar, so I was wondering what this newest single would be like.

Katherine’s K-Pop Recap: May 10-16, 2021

A summary of the news, current and upcoming comebacks, charts and music show wins, and more!

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Easy” by WJSN The Black

(Note that although I usually refer to this group as “Cosmic Girls” because I feel like it’s easier to read, this time I’ll be calling them “WJSN” to keep consistent with their subunit name.) Just after we got WJSN’s wonderful comeback “Unnatural,” they gave us the surprising yet delightful news that they were debuting another subunit. I was particularly excited because it looked like they were tackling a more mature concept than what the group normally does, and I am always down for that. And as an added bonus, this particular subunit includes my two favorite members – Bona and Eunseo! So I was very excited to see what this new quartet had to offer.