Katherine Does K-POP

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Kick Back” by WayV

(Yes I know that WayV sings in Chinese and is not *technically* K-pop, but I still want to talk about them a bit.) After a 2020 filled with nothing but highs for NCT, WayV is the first unit to kick off what’s sure to be another jam-packed year. Though I’ve always felt they’re slightly underrated compared to the other units – probably because SM didn’t officially treat them as part of NCT until several months ago – I’m proud that they’ve been continuing to build a solid discography. They consistently release good music, and their latest single “Kick Back” is no different.

Katherine’s K-pop Recap: March 1 – 7, 2021

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

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Why Why Why” by iKON

I always feel so bad for iKON. Even though they’re from a big company and have more advantages than others, they’re still treated so badly. Their career has had a lot of highs and lows compared to other groups who debuted around the same time. And while those highs brought great things, those lows came with serious blows. It’s a sad story, and YG has basically acted like they were an afterthought in the past year or so. I’m not even a big fan, but still I find it immensely frustrating. Thankfully, it seems like iKON is looking to turn things around in 2021. First, Bobby released his solo album. Then, they joined the cast of Kingdom. And now, they’ve made their first comeback in over a year. Like I said, I don’t follow iKON regularly – especially since their music is not always my style – but I was quite curious about this newest release.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Get Away” by VERIVERY

Like many idols I’ve been writing about recently, VERIVERY is a group that I know of but don’t know well. I watched their first music video back when they debuted, which I found pleasant but a little young for my personal tastes. And I enjoyed seeing them on Road to Kingdom, but for some reason never got around to watching anything they released afterwards. I think it was I held off on listening to most post-show music so I could write an analysis to finish up my recaps… but then I got distracted and delayed my recaps, and I never ended up checking out some of those comebacks. (Sigh.) So basically, I haven’t really looked at anything VERIVERY since watching Road to Kingdom. Given my feelings about most boy group songs so far this year, I headed into “Get Away” anticipating another reaction along the lines of, “It’s nice and well-done, but it’s not for me.” I was incredibly happy to discover that this wasn’t the case at all.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Fireworks (I’m the One)” by ATEEZ

I feel slightly embarrassed to admit it, but I genuinely don’t know ATEEZ that well. I could tell you the names of about three members, but I couldn’t correctly identify them in a group picture. And I’ve listened to all their songs at least once, but I only really remember a few. It’s seriously to that extent. It’s wild because I hear about ATEEZ everywhere and I know they’re so popular, but I just keep missing my opportunity to get into them. It seems like every time they had a comeback that I’d have liked, I had something else going on. I’ve felt low-key guilty about this for a while, so I’ve decided that my lack of ATEEZ knowledge ends in 2021. Since they’ll be appearing on Kingdom, a show I most definitely will be watching, I thought I’d take the chance to check out their latest comeback.

Favorites of 2021: February

While January had more releases than I expected, February marked a return to those more typical winter months that are slower for K-pop. While I generally liked most everything that came out, nothing really held my attention or strongly suited my tastes until about halfway through the month. I usually have lots of favorites during times where there are lots of comebacks, but the same few names kept popping up over and over for February. And I was surprisingly mostly into solo music, which was a nice change of pace since that isn’t really common for me!

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Beautiful Beautiful” by ONF

One of the main things I took away from Road to Kingdom is that ONF is insanely talented yet criminally underrated. Luckily, it seems like their appearance on that program has started to pay off. Since I’m late to the party as always, I can tell you that ONF just won their very first music show trophy for “Beautiful Beautiful” and it was 100% deserved. And I’m not just saying that just because I’ve been waiting for them to get a win – I genuinely like “Beautiful Beautiful,” and I think it’s absolutely delightful.

Knee Jerk Reaction: “Tail” by Sunmi

Sunmi’s solo career has been absolutely flourishing over the last several years. She always delivers catchy as hell songs filled with her own eclectic flair, truly marching to the beat of her own drum. “Tail” fits right into that unique musical world she’s built for herself post-JYP, but it also reminds me of the music she released when she was starting out as a soloist. It has the same sexy and alluring vibes as “24 Hours” and “Full Moon” – especially with the bold choreography – but it’s even more daring, and I’m totally here for it.

Review: “Don’t Call Me” by SHINee

Let’s all stage whisper together, everyone: “SHINee’s back.” (Well, they’ve been back for over a week… but I’m behind as usual.) It’s been a long two and a half years as most of the members fulfilled their military service, but one of South Korea’s most popular 2nd generation groups has finally returned with another fantastic album and title track. And though all us SHINee fans know all too well just how much time that hiatus lasted, this comeback honestly makes it feel like they were never gone. “Don’t Call Me” is a powerful single that highlights all of the skills SHINee has become famous for, and it makes it abundantly clear they mean business.

Katherine’s K-pop Recap: February 22-28, 2021

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