im SICKKKK of the way color has faded more and more from kpop, be it styling, mvs, etc. but the hair.. THE HAIR. everyone and their mother is back with black brown or blonde. maybe they feel a little daring and give them a hint of red in the mix. no! i want to see the most neon color you can give me.

i feel like the last more prominent example has been giselle with the pink and it literally became a moment. (i think ive seen someone w skz?? not sure) meanwhile everyone else is stuck to these boring colors. back in my day (💀) i feel like it was super common to have at least 2-3 members with some crazy ass colors. the hairdressers sure loved those pastel tones and neon colors (taeyong im looking at u)

i know i know its better for their hair but if they’re bleaching it anyways… why not experiment with some colors? a dumb conspiracy of mine is some of them like the plain colors cuz it’s easier to stay in public without getting noticed lol. and im sure theres plenty idols, it’s just the percentage has gone down NOTICEABLY and i miss it sm

bring back fun! bring back color!

Just the topic on “sitting” during concerts.

I wonder why it’s so frowned upon to sit and just enjoy the idols do their thing on stage?

I just prefer sitting because majority of the concerts I’ve attended, I went after work.

Lmfao random question what are the songs that really hit different when you're high, rn I'm heavy on illit and tripleS but I need more songs that sound crazy, I would love if ppl actually answered lol

Watching BAD take over the internet recently has been truly amazing. The song’s energy and viral choreography have brought a massive wave of new listeners to Ateez and I couldn’t be happier. If you are one of the new fans who just joined the fandom, welcome!!! You have arrived at an incredible time.

Having been an Atiny for 5 years, watching this level of recognition feels especially meaningful. For long-time fans, seeing Ateez command global attention is not just exciting, it feels like a well-deserved milestone for a group whose defining trait has always been their relentless, non-stop hard work. When looking at Ateez performing in packed stadiums today, it is easy to assume they had a major, established agency supporting them from the beginning. However, the origin of the group traces back to Ateez’s leader or better captain Hongjoong, who was KQ Entertainment's very first idol trainee. He laid the foundation for what would eventually become Ateez, and when the other seven members joined him, they formed a team built on self-reliance, passion, and intense dedication.

What stands out most about Ateez’s journey is that they never stopped working hard. Coming from a smaller company, they did not have access to instant promotions or built-in media spotlight. Instead, they chose to earn everything through pure effort. Their only strength was their incredible stage presence. In the beginning, they built their fanbase step by step, city by city, by touring all over the world. They performed with 100% energy every single time, whether they were in front of 100 people or 50,000 people. Most importantly, as they grew bigger, their work ethic never changed. Year after year, comeback after comeback, their growth as vocalists, dancers, performers, and artists has been undeniable. Every single member has poured endless time into perfecting their craft, refining their skills, and improving with every release.

They never relied on quick shortcuts or rested on past achievements; every bit of growth you see today was built on sweat, discipline, and constant effort. What makes this comeback so satisfying is seeing that years-long dedication finally reflected on the music charts. Achieving #1 on the Billboard 200, alongside strong performances on domestic charts like Melon and global platforms is a massive achievement. Seeing a group from a small agency that literally started from nothing reach the top of international and domestic charts purely through non-stop hard work and performance art is rare and completely earned.

If BAD introduced you to Ateez, there is so much more to explore. Beyond the viral clips, they have created a deep narrative universe through their albums (from TREASURE to FEVER, THE WORLD, and GOLDEN HOUR) that focuses on themes of identity, courage, and freedom. While they display powerful intensity on stage, off stage all eight members are known for being exceptionally humble, grounded, and genuine. The trust and loyalty between them, built through years of overcoming challenges together, is evident in everything they do.

To all the new fans who recently discovered them: take your time enjoying their discography and content. The eight members on stage today have fought for every single step of their progress, and they have earned every bit of success they are currently receiving.

Here’s to Ateez, their incredible growth, their endless hard work, and the exciting journey ahead! 🏴‍☠️🧡✌🏻

I was thinking about this the other day and realized newer K-pop fans probably never had to experience it.

Back then, if a variety show, interview, or behind the scenes video came out, you couldn't just watch it right away unless you understood Korean. You'd wait days, sometimes even longer, for a fansub team to translate and upload it. Then everyone would rush to watch it once it finally dropped.

Looking back, it almost made everything feel more exciting. It also made me appreciate how much time those fansub teams put into making K-pop accessible before official subtitles became the norm.

I really loved Billie's latest full-length album. At first, I was skeptical because the track count didn't seem big enough for what I'd normally consider a full album. But after listening to it from start to finish, I completely changed my mind. It's packed with high quality songs that all share a consistent sound and atmosphere. The whole album flows together and feels like one living, breathing piece of music. Honestly, it feels more like a true full album than some others that have more tracks but end up sounding like a random collection of songs.

That said, I can also understand why their results have been a little disappointing every comeback. They don't really have that one title track that instantly grabs people. Work is a great song, but it doesn't have that one standout moment that immediately hooks the general public. Making a great album is already difficult, but finding that one title track that rises above everything else is even harder.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons too, but at the end of the day, I just hope they eventually get the level of success that matches the quality of the music they're putting out.

I've been wondering about something ever since attending the BTS concert in Paris.

I noticed that the Europe exclusive shirts didn't seem to sell nearly as well as the member shirts or the hoodies. It got me thinking, what actually happens to all the leftover city-exclusive merch?

Let's say they made around 10,000 Europe shirts, but only sold 5k. What do they do with the rest? Since they literally say "Europe," it's not like they can just take them to the next tour stop in North America.

I know some shops buy official merch to resell later, but I can't imagine they're buying thousands of leftover shirts. So what happens to all that extra stock?

I'm also curious about how they decide how much merch to make in the first place. The Paris shows had around 184k attendees across both days. Do they try to keep production lower? Do they purposely make more than they expect to sell so they don't run out?

Just a random thought that popped into my head in the middle of night + I didn’t get any merch since it was pricey beside the lightstick 🥸😭

Yo, these girls have won me over. I was already interested to begin with because of their introduction teasers (the animated one and the 502 error: bad getaway one). But the song just solidified my interest. It went straight into my playlist and it's been on repeat since the moment I heard it. I just watched their introduction vlog on their channel and learnt their names. I really love their energy.

In the mv I couldn't take off my eyes from Hyejin (black short hair). She's got some mad presence and vocals. And Achiraya's rapping hit hard. I was lowkey shocked by how well each of them can rap. I'm really looking forward to their music. Definitely very impressed. The song itself was great too. Totally my style. I don't know how listeners will receive this one but personally this is a solid debut.

Feel free to share how you feel about their debut!

This is just an observation I made which I found sorta funny so I wanted to share and know if others have noticed this too.

When it comes to kpop fans, its clear how important matters of charting are to the fandom. There is this pride when the group you stan, go from relatively unknown/small to good/great heights of popularity.

But I've seen quite a opposite trend when it comes to western fans regarding western music. Often, when a niche/indie artist becomes super popular, there is this certain shift in perception. That suddenly this niche/indie artist has become too mainstream or just for the masses and you often see people moaning about how much they miss the old music.

For example, BTS popularity is seen as a great success for the fandom while Arctic Monkeys (my fav band) when it suddenly went very popular with the AM album, there was always this sentiment among their fans that their old music will always be good and that people who only listen to AM album are not real fans.

If you had to choose three boy bands, your favourite of them all, a sort of holy trinity but kpop bg version of it, to remain on Earth, which ones would they be?

As the title states, I am curious to read all of your guy’s opinions and thoughts about ideal number of members in both a boy and girl group. For me, my ideal a boy group should have about 5-7 members. And about 4-5 members in a girl group. What are your thoughts?

Since its been revealed that Audrey Lane from streetwomen fighter will be debuting as an idol. I have a question, along with Audrey Danny chungg who is a songwriter will also be debuting so are we getting a new coed group? The groups creative director is Lee hae in who was responsible for KISSOFLIFE'S concept and debut success. So do you think this group will be successful? Does ADP have some competition?

We are basically almost 4 months away from mama, and 2 months away for the tracking period to be closed. Wether you hate or not, every year it always becomes one of the top topics for kpop stans and is the most watched award show. As mama comes even closer its only natural for people to start making assumptions like who will perform, who will get nominated, and so on. So, I wanted to make a post asking for your guys early mama predictions.

I know it’s basically impossible to predict what will happen with mama. Wether an artist/group gets snubbed for an award or nomination and who ends up performing this is meant to be a fun post. So, who do you think will attend, your early nomination predictions, and so on.

I literally can’t stop replaying this song, the lyrics are so so catchy, I love the beat and the signature YG group “party final chorus!” AND THE DANCE?!?!?! IT’S SO GOOD! And I think it’s is creative that they made the videos black and white, it feels old, but not like “previous year” old, it feels “nostalgic” old if this makes any sense lol. ITS AMAZINGG SHSJDBJDJD

Edit: I was made aware that CLIK CLAK is actually a title track alongside DRIP… oops HAHAHA. Thanks for correction!

I’ve been getting into more Korean media over the past year or so, watching Kdramas and being more interested in Kpop, and I’ve noticed that so many of their celebrities get involved in scandals or controversies. There are some that I’ve found out about that are upsetting because they’re false, but seemingly derail careers.

Seo Soo-jin from I-dle, she was in the group for a few years, but got hit with bullying accusations that led to her leaving the group. I-dle would then come back with their biggest hits ever in Tomboy and Queencard, whilst Soo-Jin’s accusations were proven false. She came back as a soloist, but under a company that seems to have either no idea, or no interest in actually promoting her. She had her once promising career halted by fake accusations.

Ahn Jae-hyun is an actor that had a highly publicised divorce, in said divorce his wife slandered his name and bled him dry of all his money, even leaving him in debt. Eventually he was proven to be innocent from all the wild stuff his ex wife accused him of, but his career has been pretty much over, at least acting wise. He’s only been in one project since 2019, and at this point instead of continuing his once promising acting career, he’s just trying to make sure he has enough money for when he retires.

Seo Ye-ji is another actress that suffered from bullying accusations along with stuff to do with her abusing her ex boyfriend. The bullying stuff has mostly been proven false, and whilst her relationship with her ex was toxic, it was toxic from both sides, she wasn’t solely in the wrong. The last 5 years of her career have been halted because of nothing serious, and she’s only recently signed with a new company that can hopefully jump start her career again.

With the exception of G-Dragon, because I know about him.

Are there any other male idols that straight men generally like? Someone suggested that straight men may like male idols with more masculine physiques, or just ones that aren’t “pretty boys.” But in my experience, straight men generally don’t care about any male idols, regardless of their muscles or looks.

Hello everyone! Today I had the situation when my mom wanted to make me feel embarrassed, but I got the situation in my hands.

So, basically today I was showing my mom something on my phone and by accident she got out of the app and she saw my wallpaper.

On my wallpaper I have Bangchan without t-shirt (don't think negative about me, I'm not that dirty. I just liked the photo).

My mom was shocked and she asked "Why is he naked?". He wasn't naked 😭

It was the photo that Stays draw, yk. So I liked it and putted it on my wallpaper.

But I didn't get pissed off and I answered "Hm, because he doesn't wear the t-shirt, ig".

My mom didn't find what to answer so she gave up.

I was saved🙏

What would you do in my situation? What would you answer? I really wanna know!

3 years has passed! So it would be interesting to look back to this post that was posted 3 years ago on what it would look like 3 years from back then. https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/rVktq2xN1I

A 2023 post has done the same and we get to look at it during 2026 over here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/wEMGaHuYzt

Now I want to see what happens in 2029. Will also post this in three years!

Currently, there are many things happening in the kpop scene; new releases, new groups, collabs, group achievements, hate trains, company issues etc. Some of these things might be big deals, others might not. Even now, some of those things might be a seem like huge deals now but they might so in the next 3 years

So basically, lets imagine we are in the year 2029, what are some things you'd wish you be able to confidently say by the year 2029.

credit to u/ilovemeeeeee

I'm going to see IVE soon and it'll be my first concert ever other than classical music! I'm so excited! However, I don't know if I should learn the fanchants. I'll be going in Texas in the United States and idk if American fans learn fanchants or if they are big at the American concerts.

Should I learn the fanchants? How big a deal are they in the US? Will I be the only one? Thanks for the advice!

What the title says. There are some of them that really pull it off nicely, but so many times when they dye it back to brown or black, I think "wow, this looks infinitely better than the blonde."

As we’re on the heels of NCT 127’s first comeback in over *two* years, I wanted to make an appreciation post for their ten year anniversary as a group. There have been *many* ups and downs throughout their decade long career but one thing is unmistakable and that’s the impact they’ve had on the industry.

While the upcoming comeback sadly won’t be OT7 as Doyoung and Jungwoo are currently enlisted, 127 has more than proven that they can put on an amazing show in any iteration of the group. From 2023 until now they have promoted in lineups of eight, seven, six, five, and even two (Haechan and Taeyong put on an amazing performance of an NCT U song called “PADO” at the Seoul Jazz Festival back in May which is a song consisting of a seven member lineup) and leave audiences screaming every time. Even at the SMTOWN shows this year hundreds of neobongs could be seen at every stop and even fans of other groups went online to say 127 always got the loudest cheers.

In my personal opinion I think 127 is one of the most balanced and versatile groups SM has ever debuted and I think their discography and performances prove exactly that. There’s never been one song or concept they haven’t killed and made completely their own. Their music may not necessarily be for everyone, but they always give 110% percent in the execution of it- which contributes greatly to the success of their sound and brand. The members all have such a strong identity within and outside of the group which is a huge part of what makes them so unique. Each member who has released music as a solo artists occupy their own lane and have their own demographic. I know so many nctzens who have gone the solo fan to group fan pipeline

Now as an nctzen I could sit here and glaze 127 all day, but what I really wanted to highlight was an amazing compilation of interviews one of the biggest 127 fan accounts, 127CENTRAL, put together for their 10th anniversary. You can find all the interviews conducted here https://nct-127.com/. Inside, 127CENTRAL provides interviews with some of 127’s and SM’s frequent musical collaborators such as Adrian McKinnon, No Past No Future, CALIXTE, Mike Daley, Prince Chapelle, and of *course* uncle of Neo City himself Dem Jointz.

I applaud 127CENTRAL for taking the effort to compile such an impressive and extensive look behind the scenes of 127 and how much effort, talent, and heart goes into crafting their sound. Many of these artists are highly acclaimed and even Grammy nominated producers, and as a music head myself it’s exactly the type of content I love to consume. It’s even more exciting knowing that NCT 127 has such dedicated fans that can even pull off a project like this.

I just want to list a few of some of my favorite pieces of information the interviews provided:

⁃ Lee Soo Man contracted Dem Jointz before 127 had even debuted to work with the group and craft their sound. As 127 is the group Dem Jointz has worked with the most within kpop it’s very eye opening to know he was there from the very beginning. He himself said that Cherry Bomb was created pre debut and that SM strategically releases songs to build up to a (paraphrasing here) “defining moment.” We know this from many other SM artists who have spoken about releasing songs years after they were originally created. Knowing SM had Cherry Bomb in the vault for years before it was released really adds so much depth to the work that went into creating 127s sound and identity. It was all very intentional.

⁃ SM contracted and flew out Dem Jointz (among others) to Korea and held a writing camp specifically for NCT 127 where he worked on dozens of songs for them. This is where tracks like Kick It and Punch were born. He also said Don’t Call Me was another one he worked on for 127 that made its way around SM and eventually ended up with Shinee. DCM is one of my favorite Shinee TTs and while I think it’s a perfect fit for Shinee, it’s still fun to imagine a world where 127 released it. It makes me wonder what other productions of his were initially created with 127 in mind. We know from the producers of EXO’s Artificial Love that it was another song planned for 127.

⁃ Adrian McKinnon spoke about creating Superhuman and how he was surprised SM wanted it for 127 who at the time were releasing darker, heavier songs. It’s almost become fact in how many kpop fans think Superhuman was a Shinee song that was given to 127 when it was one of the songs 127s A&R always loved and wanted for them.

⁃ No Past No Future revealed that 127’s Parade and Aespa’s Supernova came from the same song camp they were at with Dem Jointz. Listening to them side by side I can actually imagine them existing in the same project they’re very complimentary. Aespa has always carried a lot of 127s musical DNA to me and I often find myself wondering how 127 would sound on some of their more experimental songs.

⁃ J. Que Smith talked about the process for 127s 2024 b side “Pricey” and how he had it for years. He even said another company came in wanting the song for their group, but he kept it for 127. He spoke a lot about their identity and It warms my heart to hear just how loved 127 and their musicality is by the industry even if they don’t always get the flowers they deserve. He also spoke about surprised he was that fans often come to SM to see them specifically. He loves to see the relationship fans have not only with 127 as idols but with their music and the creators alongside them.

There’s a lot of other really cool information and trivia provided in the interview that not only sheds a light on NCT 127 and their process, but with other SM groups and the industry in general. J. Que spoke about his work with EXO at times and I just think it’s so cool to get a genuine behind the scenes look at the machine that isn’t media played and sanitized by a huge company. It feels real and organic.

I hope this post convinces some people who maybe have been apprehensive about NCT to check them out! There’s so much good music that and I think the reputation NCT has been given by a large majority of kpop fans speaks louder sometimes. There truly is something for everyone all the units are incredible.

i’m so happy that 127 is gearing up for what seems to be a really incredible comeback and that all the members are so dedicated to each other and hold so much love for the group ♡

This topic came to mind while I was skimming through my favorite Spotify artists and noticed I hadn't listened to EVERGLOW for a long time now (and thus it was now one of my least played artists at the bottom list). And somehow, I started to wonder what made my lose my interest in a group that was once one of my all-time favorites alongside Red Velvet (whom I still listen to today). Apart from everything that went down with their company and the rocky end of their contract, I thought that one of the most obvious factors was that EVERGLOW is a K-pop group that strangely worked as a time capsule from a very specific moment in K-pop when the "girl crush" concept was the most prominent music trend.

In most cases, many groups manage to extend their lifespan by a few years by trying everything and seeing what works. Other groups are luckier, as they are backed by a Big 4 company and have enough resources to weather ups and downs without being discarded right away. However, EVERGLOW debuted under a low-tier company in Korea but a renowned one in China. They were consistent in their sound and concept, which gave them a small fanbase, but still they somehow fell behind contemporaries such as ITZY or TXT because they got stuck in the early 4th gen aesthetic.

Are there any other K-pop groups you can think of that meet these criteria?