So far, 2016 seems to be the year of the collaborations. This feels like a somewhat odd one, between CNBlue’s frontman Jung Yong-Hwa and Sunwoo Jung Ah, who is primarily known as an in-house songwriter (and occasional singer) with YG Entertainment. I’m not exactly sure what brought these two together, though Yong-Hwa seems to be … Continue reading
I have great admiration for Shinhwa as a group and love a lot of their material, but for some reason none of the members’ solo output has done anything for me. Unfortunately, Shin Hye Sung’s new song continues the trend. It really comes down to personal preference, because the song succeeds in what it sets out … Continue reading
Fans have been (justifiably) clamoring for a return from Winner after their successful debut in the summer of 2014. Now, it looks as though they’ll be releasing multiple singles and (partial) albums, following the promotional path YG set out for Bigbang and iKON last year. I’m not a huge fan of this release schedule, … Continue reading
I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my life, even a few kpop shows. But even before the show started, Infinite’s tour was going to be different. There’s nothing quite like seeing your bias group live, in person, for the first time. In some ways, it felt like a surreal dream. It took quite awhile … Continue reading
I remember when I first heard of Lucky J in the summer of 2014. It was when they were promoting Can You Hear Me, and among all of the other music around that month, I couldn’t help but think it sounded tremendously American — especially that charismatic female vocalist. Then, Unpretty Rapstar became a … Continue reading
Nugu girl group FlaShe, previously known for their cute releases, have succumbed and crawled down the sexy route. Unfortunately, Lip Bomb is kpop firing on half-cylinders. The song itself isn’t bad, despite sounding like a copy of a Brave Brothers’ track, but the production definitely lets it down. In order to stand out in the … Continue reading
For as insular a world as kpop is, I’m surprised that these cross-company collaborations don’t happen more frequently. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that EXO’s Baekhyun + miss A’s Suzy = $$$. Because of this, the two of them could have sung the phone book and been a major success, which … Continue reading
LuHan’s been releasing a lot of material over the past couple of months, and the quality has definitely varied. The bulk of his stuff has a sparely produced, American hip-pop feel, which isn’t something I naturally gravitate to. Luckily, the strength of his personality and celebrity helps cover some of the qualms that I have … Continue reading
Dal Shabet isn’t a girl group that I’ve followed with any real regularity. I did love their B.B.B. from 2014 but thought last year’s Joker was pretty weak. This year, they’re the first big idol group to make a comeback, though they’re down to a four-piece (there used to be six). They’ve also enlisted super … Continue reading
I’ve watched a handful of Running Man episodes, but not enough to be super familiar with every cast member. Because of this, I come into Lonely Night without any bias towards Gary as a television personality (except feeling that “Gary” is a horribly boring name for one of Korea’s most successful rappers). This allows me … Continue reading
I feel like I need to begin every Infinite review or post by reminding everyone that they are my ultimate bias group, and although I’ll try to be somewhat objective, I’m going to like pretty much everything they do. That being said, Can’t Get Over You is probably my least favorite single they’ve ever released … Continue reading
This track kind of passed me by until recently, but even though it’s not brand new, I still wanted a chance to talk about it because it’s become one of my most-played tracks of the month. For those who don’t know, LuHan used to be one of the Chinese members of EXO. He left the … Continue reading
I have great respect for Jun. K’s work. In fact, his bonkers 2014 single Love & Hate is probably my favorite 2PM-related release ever, solo or otherwise. He definitely has a unique creative sentiment, which sometimes causes him to veer in all sorts of strange directions. Love Letter was originally a Japanese single and mini-album … Continue reading
December (particularly this year) is the time for Christmas songs in kpop. Now, I love me a good Christmas song, but the problem is that they naturally have an expiration date. Luckily, April’s Snowman is more of a winter single than holiday-themed. Despite only debuting a little over four months ago, the girls have already … Continue reading
Lately, I’ve been following the three ex-EXO members’ Chinese output more closely. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag, with (some of) LuHan’s material coming out on top for me personally. Kris was never my favorite EXO member, and he hasn’t released all that much material since he went solo, but even though his … Continue reading
It’s become routine for almost every successful kpop group to branch out into the Japanese market. Oftentimes the sound is quite different from their Korean material, which makes sense because the bulk of jpop is completely different than kpop. Some artists have a pretty stellar Japanese sound (Girls’ Generation, Myname, 2PM, Infinite), while others frustratingly lower … Continue reading
The second of iKON’s singles to be released on Christmas Eve (and presumably their last for awhile), What’s Wrong follows another classic YG template of anthemic rap-rock. This has brought us one of my favorite kpop songs of all time in G-Dragon’s Crooked, and was most recently heard in Bigbang’s Sober from earlier in the … Continue reading
This is iKON’s sixth single in the space of four months. They’ve really been cranking them out under YG’s new promotional strategy of just blitzing the world with singles before eventually releasing an album. On the plus side, it’s allowed the group to show a lot of different sides to themselves. On the other hand, … Continue reading
I know enough about the history of kpop to understand how big of an influence Turbo had back in the early to mid nineties, and what a big deal it is for them to come back after such a long time. However, what I’ve heard from their 90’s output has been difficult to enjoy. Having … Continue reading
There’s a very specific sound that’s become especially popular this year with Korean girl groups. It’s a bubbly, effervescent pop style that emphasizes bright melody and punctuations of synth that act more like guitar stabs. It’s a high energy mix, and one that groups such as Lovelyz and Gfriend have mastered in 2015. For … Continue reading
