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Looking Back at Last Year’s K-Pop Resolutions — Did 2017 Deliver?

k-pop-resolutionsLast year, I wrote up ten k-pop resolutions that I hoped would come true in 2017. Now that we’re in the final days of the year, it’s time to look back and see how I did.

Make sure to read through the original post, first! And check back tomorrow for 2018’s resolutions!


1. The Re-emergence of Legendary Producers

Did 2017 deliver? — No, not really.

While Sweetune had a wonderful year with Snuper, they weren’t particularly active and still didn’t create title tracks for any a-list artists. Yoo Young Jin and Thomas Troelsen were barely active at all. In their place, we had a host of upcoming producers that showed promise, but I still miss the legends.

2. Breakouts for the New Generation

Did 2017 deliver? — sort of

While groups like Astro, NCT and Laboum continued to grow their respective fan bases, I don’t feel that any truly broke out in a huge way this year. Oh My Girl seemed to stall, only releasing one album back in April. Snuper continues to increase sales and perform well in Japan, but remain unknown to the general public. And UP10TION seem to have hit a peak, but need a really buzzy comeback to break them into the big leagues.

3. YG Entertainment Releases that Actually Happen

Did 2017 deliver? — During the first half, yes

Up until about September, it felt like YG Entertainment had truly learned its lesson. Comebacks were happening routinely, with most of the agency’s artists receiving some sort of promotion. But after that, YG just fell off the map. Barring Epik High’s album in October, the agency hasn’t released one single thing beyond their survival series MIXNINE. And poor BLACKPINK, who only managed one track this entire year!

4. Convincing Comebacks for Veteran Idols

Did 2017 deliver? — yes, for most artists

While I’m still waiting for those TVXQ and f(x) comebacks, I was pleased with both Super Junior and Girls’ Generation’s albums. While they each could have promoted more fully, the music quality was high. Even so, 2017 felt like another transition year, with many veteran acts falling by the wayside or not releasing anything at all.

5. An Easing Up on the Tropical House and EDM

Did 2017 deliver? — Hell, no!

It’s funny that I was already complaining about tropical house and EDM this time last year, not knowing that 2017 would double down on both genres. I feel like we’re finally turning a corner after maximum saturation, but this was a resolution that definitely didn’t come true.

6. K-Pop Album Packaging that’s Fun and Exciting

Did 2017 deliver? — Yes

There were a lot of fun physical releases this year, culminating in EXO’s awesome The War: Power of Music packaging. Seventeen also serves up awesome physical albums on the regular.

7. KCON L.A. Getting its Act Together

Did 2017 deliver? — YES!

Pretty much everything I complained about KCON’s 2016 mess was fixed this year. KCON was awesome again!

8. More Double Title Tracks

Did 2017 deliver? — No

YG is still very fond of the double title track promotion, though that often means that those are the only two tracks we get from its artists. Few other agencies followed suit, though.

9. A Ton of Great Debuts

Did 2017 deliver? — eh… kind of?

There were definitely a couple of promising debuts, but with the Big Three agencies sitting 2017 out, it didn’t feel as momentous as 2016.

10. Infinite Re-signing with Woollim — And if Not, Sticking Together with a New Agency

Did 2017 deliver? — Almost

Probably the most stressful thing about this year was that agonizing three-month wait to hear what Infinite’s fate would be. This dragged out contract renewal seemed to last forever. It ended less than ideally, with Hoya leaving the group. But at least they didn’t disband, and I can’t wait to hear what they come up with as a six-member act.

3 thoughts on “Looking Back at Last Year’s K-Pop Resolutions — Did 2017 Deliver?

  1. Pingback: K-Pop New Year’s Resolutions: 10 Things I Want To See Happen In 2018 | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

  2. Pingback: Song Review: Infinite – Tell Me | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

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