Katherine Does K-POP

Knee Jerk Reaction: “In the Morning” by ITZY

I’ll just come out and say it: I love ITZY so much. Normally, it’s pretty hard for me to get into a group that’s so much younger than I am – I’m a full decade ahead of oldest member Yeji – but I enjoy their music so much and I find it totally irresistible. I also have a soft spot for them because they debuted right when I moved to Korea, so all of their releases are connected to specific memories of my time living here. “Dalla Dalla” was the soundtrack of my first month, “Wannabe” got me through a lonely month of self-isolation (thanks COVID-19), and “ICY” and “Not Shy” were some of my favorite songs of the summer. Plus a ton of my students absolutely adore ITZY, and it’s been fun to bond with them over that. So basically, I was eagerly anticipating their comeback with “In the Morning.”

Knee Jerk Reaction: “GRATATA” by HOT ISSUE

Though I constantly say I’m not looking to pick up any more K-pop groups, I’ve been curious about HOT ISSUE’s debut. So far this year, I’ve written twice as many posts for male artists as I have for female artists. Therefore, I’m genuinely excited to see another girl group arrive on the scene. I’ll admit, I did have some pre-conceived notions because I heard they were created by one of the co-founders of Cube Entertainment… and they just so happen to share their name with an iconic song by Cube’s very first girl group. (That would be 4Minute, who was active from 2009-2016.) Whether that’s coincidence or not, I feel like it was kind of unfair to name them that since it’s somewhat burdensome. Thankfully, their debut will help them take a solid step towards establishing their own unique group identity.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Ugly Dance” by ONF

It’s been a long time coming, but ONF is FINALLY getting the attention they deserve. After receiving their first ever music show win with “Beautiful Beautiful” in February – a major milestone achievement – they’ve made a quick turnaround and released “Ugly Dance” as their repackage single. While I already liked it from the start, I’m finding my interest is rapidly growing every time I listen again. It’s just so fun, funky, and addictive! So I highly recommend checking it out, but it comes with a warning: it WILL get stuck in your head.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Drunk-Dazed” by ENHYPEN

I’m honestly so behind with ENHYPEN that it’s not even funny. I didn’t have time to watch I-LAND when it aired last year, so I decided I wouldn’t spend too much time on them until I did. (I like watching survival shows because it helps me get to know a group better.) Per usual, I put it off for way too long… so they’ve just made a comeback and I still have yet to watch a single episode ^^”’ And now I have a problem because I don’t want to know too many details about ENHYPEN ~~because I’m pretending I’ll have enough time to watch I-LAND soon~~, but I also know they’re rising in popularity and I don’t want to miss out. I debated about whether I should watch “Drunk-Dazed” or wait, and my curiosity eventually got the better of me. So here’s my reaction, but please keep in mind it’s from the perspective of someone who genuinely knows nothing about them.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “CLOSE” by AB6IX

For some reason, I just don’t click with AB6IX like I do with other groups – and it’s driving me nuts because I REALLY want to. I’m familiar with most of the members because of Produce 101 and Wanna One, both of which I was very invested in, and I truly want them to do well and be successful. When they made a comeback with “Stay Young” in January, I wrote lots of nice things about it and I genuinely meant all of them. However, I also knew I’d listen to it for about a week and then switch to something else… and that’s exactly what I did. This cycle has happened for every single one of AB6IX’s releases so far: I think it’s nice, I listen to it for a short period of time, and then I move on. I do like their music, but I just haven’t had that one song that I absolutely adore – the one that pushes me from “casual listener” to “fan.” To be honest, I’m not really sure if “CLOSE” will be that song for me. However, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Katherine’s K-pop Recap: April 19-25, 2021

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

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Scared” by P1Harmony

Welcome to another edition of me reacting to a boy group I know next to nothing about! P1Harmony is the newest group from FNC Entertainment, which is basically the only thing I know about them. I have no idea what any of the members’ names are, and I couldn’t even tell you how many guys were in the group until I hunted down a feature image for this post. So seriously, we’re basically starting from scratch here. Though I did listen to their debut song “Siren” back in October(?), and I still remember the chorus of that pretty well -which is pretty notable because I definitely have not listened to it at all in at least four months. So, I was very curious what P1Harmony’s first ever comeback would look like.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Inside Out” by NU’EST

YAY NU’EST IS BACK! I feel like I’m not as vocal about them on this blog as I should be, but they’re genuinely one of my favorite boy groups. I have a particularly soft spot for them because I followed their Produce 101 journey so closely. Watching them go from a little-known group on the verge of disbanding to respected veterans of the industry was truly an amazing experience that I’ll remember forever. If you go all the way back to my 2017 posts, you’ll see that my Produce 101 Season 2 recaps are basically just a long chronicle of how attached I got to them – particularly to JR. So while I might be more low-key about my fondness for NU’EST, you can bet that I’ll be around for every comeback no matter what.

Katherine’s K-Pop Recap: April 12-18, 2021

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

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Atlantis” by SHINee

SHINee’s back… a lot more quickly than I expected! After waiting two and a half years for “Don’t Call Me,” we’ve gotten “Atlantis” in just under two months. Yay repackages! If you’ve read my previous post about “Don’t Call Me,” you’ll know that I REALLY loved it. It was easily my favorite song of February, and it could possibly be my favorite song of 2021 so far. But since I spent a LOT of energy on that comeback, I was concerned I wouldn’t reach as high a level of enthusiasm this time around. (I usually need some time to rest and recharge.) Thankfully, that’s not the case! While it’s true that I still personally prefer “Don’t Call Me,” there’s a lot about “Atlantis” that’s just classic SHINee – and I love to see it.