You might have noticed that I labeled this series of posts “Top K-pop Releases” instead of “Top K-pop Songs.” That’s because I believe there’s a lot more to a group’s comeback or debut than just the song. While the music should always be the main focus, there are so many other elements that can shape it. Because I often watched K-pop videos as much as I listened to the songs, I decided to take all these factors into account when making this list. All of the releases that I have chosen are ones that I enjoyed for multiple reasons: music, choreography, music video, or even styling.
Continue reading “Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2018: #41-50”Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2018: Intro and Special Mentions
It’s that time of year again! Starting today, I’ll be releasing my usual set of end of year posts and walking you through my favorite debuts and comebacks of 2018. It was a pretty great year for K-pop, so there was a LOT to cover – but it was great to go back through all of the music that I listened to and the comebacks that I enjoyed. I’ve kept my traditional Top 50 list as always, but I’m also trying something new and adding a different section!
Continue reading “Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2018: Intro and Special Mentions”November Updates: NCT Profile+ End of the Year Plans
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I realize that many people who read this blog aren’t actually from the United States, but I think that taking a moment to be grateful is something we can all relate to. I have a lot to be thankful for this year both personally and professionally, but here on this blog I’m very grateful for all of you lovely followers. It’s been a crazy year, and I’ve found myself with little spare time to make new content. So, it means a lot to me that you still come here even when I haven’t been that active. Now that my busy schedule is winding down, I’m excited to jump back into things!
Continue reading “November Updates: NCT Profile+ End of the Year Plans”That Time I Met Super Junior’s Donghae
Happy Super Junior comeback day, everybody! “One More Time (Otra Vez)” has been on repeat all day in this household, to absolutely no one’s surprise. The timing of this post is actually a happy coincidence, but I’m just going to pretend like I’m super organized and planned this all along. Procrastination for the win So in my previous posts about KCON NY, I mentioned that I unexpectedly came face to face with Super Junior’s Donghae – an encounter that still leaves me slightly dumbfounded whenever I think about it. I was fully prepared to see all of these idols from afar and/or behind a sea of other K-pop fans; I never expected to find myself two feet away from my ultimate bias.
Continue reading “That Time I Met Super Junior’s Donghae”A First-Timer At KCON New York (Part Three): Sunday’s Concert
KCON’s Day 1 concert was amazing, but Day 2 ended up being more memorable for me in the long run. I always laugh when I look back at my phone videos, because there is a HUGE difference between my reactions on both nights. On the first day, I was so starstruck by seeing K-pop idols up close (one in particular) that I barely made a peep the entire time. (I did however, manage to rally for my girl Irene.) Thankfully, the novelty of seeing so many celebrities faded as the weekend went on. By the time I entered the Prudential Center again, I was ready to jump up and down and cheer with the rest of the crowd.
Continue reading “A First-Timer At KCON New York (Part Three): Sunday’s Concert”
A First-Timer at KCON New York (Part Two): Saturday’s Concert
In the years since I’ve discovered K-pop, I’ve been lucky to attend a fair amount of concerts. They’re usually on the smaller side in terms of venues (the downside of being a Western fan), and I’ve always been impressed by how the fans’ excitement makes everything seem so much bigger. But there’s nothing quite like sitting in a giant stadium surrounded by thousands of screaming fans, is there? I thoroughly enjoy going to see any K-pop concert, but KCON New York was an especially magical time. There’s just something about seeing so many great acts in one place – especially if some of them are your faves!
Continue reading “A First-Timer at KCON New York (Part Two): Saturday’s Concert”
A First-Timer at KCON New York (Part One): The Convention
At this point, KCON New York happened a full month ago… yet I still find myself thinking about it every day. There’s so much to share that I’m making several posts, but I think covering the convention is a good place to start! This was the first time I’ve been to such a large scale K-pop event, so I was really looking forward to seeing and doing everything KCON had to offer. Since it was my first time, I decided to give some basic information and my general impressions for people who are thinking of going next year – or for people who already went and want to compare notes!
Continue reading “A First-Timer at KCON New York (Part One): The Convention”
Return From Hiatus!!!
Hello all! Long time no talk! Is everyone enjoying their summer? Do you all love “Dance the Night Away” as much as I do?
As you might have figured out, this blog has been on an unexpected hiatus for the past few months. 2018 has been absolutely crazy, and life threw me some curveballs pretty early on in the year. I actually ended up relocating back to the US, which was difficult because I hadn’t been planning on it… but I’ve also been determined to make the most out of the hand I’ve been dealt. I decided to make a big life change, and hopefully I’ll have some good news to announce here in the near future!
The downside to all these new and exciting changes is that I just haven’t been able to make posts here – and it honestly makes me sad. Last year was really hard for me, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this blog was one of the few good things to come out of it. I had lots of free time because of my visa restrictions in France, and I poured all of it into creating and running “Katherine Does K-pop.” I treated it like my job because I couldn’t have a real one, and it became a way of keeping myself active and focusing my energy. Writing is one of my passions, and I’m just disappointed that I had to step back and rework my plans – even if it was just for a little bit.
That being said, things are starting to settle down in my life… which means that I’m officially lifting my self-imposed hiatus! You might have noticed me quietly updating most of my group profiles over the past month, but now I’m ready to get back to actually posting! Despite the long absence, I’ve been keeping up with K-pop all this time – and I’m so excited to start writing again.
I have lots of things that I want to do, but I want to start things off with some posts about KCON NY. It was the most amazing experience, and I have some pretty wild stories. (Okay, only ONE wild story… but I promise that it’s a good one!) Then, I’ll do some general posts about K-pop in 2018 so far. Hopefully after that, I’ll be able to get my reviews going again – though I think I’m going to tweak how I do those a little bit. I have lots of other fun stuff planned, but I think I’ll keep those a secret until I get back into my routine.
If you’re one of my followers, thanks so much for being patient and coming back. If you’re new here, then welcome and thanks for stopping by! Here’s to a new era of this blog!
Love,
Katherine
Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2017, Part Six: #1-10
It’s been a long and unexpected hiatus (5 months exactly – more on that in an upcoming post). K-pop is a fast moving industry, and most of the groups that I’ve chosen for this post have already made comebacks or are releasing new music imminently. Just waiting on you, EXO BUT, I’m the type of person who tries to see things through no matter how behind I find myself. Leaving this post out would drive me nuts when I’ve already finished all the others. So, please join me on a blast back to recent past as I celebrate the songs that completely captured my heart in 2017!
Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2017, Part Five: #11-20
This is probably the most personal section of my list. I tend to naturally follow the trends, so most of my Top 10 songs were really popular in Korea or internationally (or both). But interestingly enough, this second tier speaks a lot to my more individual tastes. Given the content of half of these songs, you could probably guess where my mind was at in 2017. But regardless of subject matter, these are all good quality tracks. This part of the list contains the music I had a soft spot for this year, the songs that I absolutely loved and listened to constantly when they came out. Though I may have occasionally taken a break or been swayed by comebacks from my bias groups, I always returned in the end. Continue reading “Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2017, Part Five: #11-20”
Katherine Does K-POP 