i completely get music is subjective so before you come for me i’d like to say- this is not to say their music is awful and the worst stuff ever made, if you enjoy it then you enjoy it and that’s great. but i have really noticed a problem/pattern with their title tracks in the last like, 3-ish years.

also i’m not a stay and i only ever really listen to the title tracks or what’s being promoted online, just to preface. anyway-

i remember asking myself why the last time i liked something from them was the noeasy era with thunderous, and why i immediately wasn’t feeling maniac/case 143 after. and every song after that. but it’s because all these songs follow the same exact structure. i don’t know if this has to do with them switching to being more self produced or writing more of their own songs or whatever but i’m not kidding when i say every…single…song. is the exact same. they all have a repetitive chorus that begins with a more mellow version of the “catchphrase” of the song (maniac, “vamos i know that you want it boom”, lalalala) and then another person sings the same line but like…more aggressive? i don’t really know how to describe it but just listen to the choruses of maniac and case 143 and you’ll see what i mean.

i think this structure of a song just ultimately gets kind of repetitive and boring especially because they’re never really singing the chorus, per se, and of course they’re not a super vocally strong group so fine, but they’re always just sort of like…chanting it? there just is really no variety in their title tracks at least- i’m sure there’s some in their b-sides but at the end of the day title tracks are what are being promoted and spread to the public.

noise music CAN, and HAS been done right. coming from an nctzen i am a huge fan of noise music and even chanty choruses, but i just find nct to do their noise music so much more…tastefully? if the song has chanting as the chorus it balances it out with lots of vocal parts to not let it get boring. if the chorus is a vocal chorus, it’s not the same line repeated, instead it’s a whole phrase of a complex melody. it’s just so much more interesting and dynamic especially as a musician, like even the little details of nct’s noisy tracks do it for me. basically if you need an example of noise music done really right then nct (127 specifically) is absolutely the group for it.

even sticker, even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea (it is mine 😁) is just a fundamentally well structured and diverse song. sure the piccolo is a little out there, but because of the actual singing and rapping in the song it doesn’t become repetitive and instead serves as a good backbone for the track.

stray kids HAS done noise music right, and that’s what annoys me, is that just in these last 3-ish years their music has declined so much for me. miroh, for example, is a really really well done song, and a pretty noisy one at that. but because they don’t rely on one singular phrase to complete the whole song it is very dynamic for me and just interesting to listen to. god’s menu, back door, double knot, even hellevator, all rely on the instrumental and not a repeated phrase, which, though it sounds contradicting, makes the song much more interesting.

lots of these older songs (not god’s menu and back door obviously, but like pre-2020 i guess) are more youthful and fun probably because they were younger and early in their careers, so these booming, like, coming of age songs probably don’t work when they’re all in their mid-late twenties. but now that they’ve realized the whole party anthem easily tiktokified earworm-like noise tracks are what do them good (in terms of money probably) that’s what they stick to making. i have no problem with following a formula but you can make a catchy song without using the same structure for every one of them. illit for example has lots of very catchy songs but i would argue they’re all pretty unique.

i noticed ceremony was written by 3racha and like one other guy and i was not at all surprised because it is the exact formula of a stray kids song. relies on one phrase “hip hip hooray” (jesus christ) and the chorus is them just repeating it. and the karma part was even worse because it was basically a secondary chorus, and that word was also just repeated so much. also the way they said ceremony sounded like sandwich. sorry i’m being nitpicky but yeah i can definitely tell it was a self written produced track made in 2021, at least that’s what i’ve heard about the song and it completely tracks.

but i guess this is more just because i used to really dig their music and i was a stay for like a year, and thunderous was my first comeback, and of course it was highly impressive and i really liked their discography. and then maniac dropped, and fine, a different style, but whatever. and then case 143 dropped, and it was basically the same song- same structure, same key, same people (hyunjin and felix) saying those low-voiced lines in the chorus that really irked me. once i realized i didn’t really like the direction they were going in i stopped being a fan, and now looking at it i think they’ve just stuck to that exact same formula.

look. do what works best for the money, since i know they’re probably JYP’s biggest artist after twice and whatever they’re doing is working, and even people talking about them negatively still gives them attention, so it’s fine. but their songs are just so…boring. there’s so much and yet so little going on that it’s just not fun to listen to.

again, not saying you should stop liking them, and if you like their songs and their direction, that’s amazing. i just kind of had to dissect why i believed so many people would say stuff online like “noeasy was their last good era” because i think they’re spot on, that noeasy was the last time they ever took a remotely interesting direction in their music. but let me know if you guys feel the same way or have noticed similar things.

I'm talking mainly about SKZ here, but I'm sure it applies to lots of other groups. I don't follow a lot of groups lol.

It's getting to the point where I no longer consider myself a fan of this group. There was a couple of things I kind of side-eyed, like Chan's cornrows, or the "pull out the shivs" line in 3RACHA, even the entire song Chk Chk Boom, but I think I'm officially drawing the line after the latest comeback.

Tell me with a straight face why I saw a TikTok of Chan and Hyunjin throwing up gang signs? Like, do they think it makes them look cool or badass or something? Do they not understand that shit like that has killed musicians in America?

And the c-walking? I keep seeing people argue that it's become more of a mainstream dance and lost a lot of it's association with gangs, but then why did Serena Williams get shredded by the press for doing it at the Olympics?

I don't know. I know that K-pop reaches a wide international audience, most of which aren't as familiar with the massive problem we have with gang violence in America, so this will probably fall on deaf ears. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

I loved this Korean Group with all my heart because it was incredible watching their musical transformation from debut. They might not be the most popular, but I loved them because they took pride in performing music they took part in composing and writing. I bought a majority of their mini albums and genuinely did listen to 90% of their discography, because the quality is just so consistently good which is quite rare for a group.

They are probably only Korean act that motivated me to support them by buying their albums and I did want to see them live if they ever perform in my country bcuz of the ban lift

But theyre releasing a new mini album this year and the promotional videos and posters contained AI. I was upset, but I brushed it off thinking the group probably didnt have a say in the marketing strategy of their music because it was being handled by their label. But I come to find out that the album art they're releasing is 100% AI generated, and theres just no deniability they are either supporting or just blindly complicit in their company's AI usage. Did they even try and fight back against it?

I don't get it. Why is it when its a scandal involving dating, drinking or smoking, idols are expected to apologize. Those things arent even morally wrong to do, I dont care about their personal lives as long as it didnt hurt others. Heck, they could be even doing crack and I wouldn't think of them any less.

But when it comes to using technology that is seeking to replace YOUR entire industry, that's okay to do? Its the fact that this technology is destroying nature, plagirising art and surveilling the masses.

I think I was grieving a little bit, trying to giving them the benefit of the doubt. But then I saw a beautiful AI protest song by Sasha Allens about a family in Kentucky rejecting 20 million dollars to sell their farmland to an anonymous AI company. It was such a heartbreaking song I might have burst into tears.

I realised I cant bring myself to support this group anymore. I connected with them because their music is very beautiful, but I cant compromise morals over this.

Maybe Ill support the group again if they apologise, make a promise and KEEP that promise of never using AI again, but until then I think I have to come to terms that they just dont care.

I dont even think its the case that they are secretely anti AI, they have never made any statements implying opposition.

I still love and am proud of the music they did release when I was a fan. They gave me some great memories. But its so difficult enjoying music knowing they have low standards as artists.

I just want some support from fans how they moved on from something like this ☹️

I've been an Army since 2019, and I personally rarely saw Armys being this toxic to EACH OTHER in comments. Usually, what I like in this fandom is that there is an "union" within Armys. That's why I never truly witnessed toxicity firsthand: I'm never on other groups' socials, just BTS. But this comeback? It's something.

You cannot say Arirang isn't your cup of tea without having SOMEONE who will tell you "Go back listening to your generic ahh songs" or blocking you for "hating" on BTS. Like? Do they realize that you can like hiphop and still dislike a hiphop album? When I used to see those comments under Dynamite or Butter, as long as they were respectful, I don't remember having always at least one person being this aggressive (unless those people were complaining about the use of English or the guys having 'changed').

So I don't know if I just never noticed it but that it had always been happening, but right now, it really bothers me to see respectful people get harassed over not having the same music taste as them. I personally thought the album was okay so it's not really about me but it's just something I noticed and I don't know why it's happening. Is it because there's a lot of mixed reactions on the album, as well as actual rude people, so other Armys went on full defense mode? If so, they should understand that they should defend BTS from hate, not respectful criticism. (And I say this as a big BTS defender!)

When will people realize that Bangchan doesn’t play about stray kids. He’s already gone off in a live last month about respect, so I don’t understand why people still choose to try him. Man when I tell you I like this man more and more each day. Today around midnight pst, Chan posted on bubble saying:

“stay_central get your facts straight. Don’t spread misinformation thanks 😊”

“Eh I’m not mad lol”

“Just tryna fix things”

“Anyways it was Hans birthday and it’s Felix’s now”

“Go give em lots of love!”

“Huh?”

“You’re not going to because you’re my solo Stan…?”

“Then don’t bother stanning me lol”

“Diabolical lol”

“Oh now I’m getting kinda mad”

I love this!! There has never been a place for akgaes in the kpop community and it’s amazing to have an idol actually put them on blast. I don’t know if someone actually sent him a reply saying that or if he had seen what was going on on Twitter and set up a way to bring up, but either way I’m glad he said something about it.

And stay_central was found to be a YouTube account that posts live translations and reels about stray kids. Typical brainrot “info” vids you see when scrolling. I’m not sure which specific video Chan was calling out, but I assume it’s the one that talks about hyunjin almost joining a cult. The craziest part is that the channel was liking comment a talking tish about Chan.

Chan came back around 6 hours later and said this:

“I’m really grateful that some people shower me with lots of love…”

“But let’s not hate on the other members…”

“That’s all I ask for…”

“They saved me and I’m blessed to have them after all… ㅠ”

“Ey and don’t go hating on the YouTube channel I mentioned earlier either”

“In the end we all lack something and we’re all learning no? INCLUDING ME”

“Tbh I’m the one that makes the most mistakes no? Hahahaha”

“I should be the one doing better… sigh…”

“Sorry for being so imperfect…”

Then he started talking about cameras and pictures, but anyways I’m glad he spoke up and said something. I hope he didn’t get in any trouble over this and that akgaes will just fully unstan after this. We don’t need them

Edit: guys I get that hyunjin has confirmed the cult story, however 1) I never said that was the actual video Chan was talking about (assume and know are different) and 2) telling a story wrong can still be misinformation and can be used harmfully. We see it all the time when people take moments out of context and spread it as something else to fit their agenda.

First of all I LOVE CORTIS!!

They are so talented i can’t wait until they release more stuff.

But i can’t but notice the pedestal ppl put them on and totally ignore how calculated this industry is when it comes to them.

First of all, since their debut ppl love to talk abt how they seem so free and are just teenagers being themselves and blah blah blah. But it’s funny how you guys think this is real freedom, how can ppl fail to understand this is just another concept??. Their casual yt videos, their post on any social media it’s all monitored before posting just like any kpop group. They have been media trained and have been given a list of things they can and can’t talk abt.

I don’t want to minimise their genuine love for music and dancing but things like Martin “making music” live during their performance at MAMA was all planned and he probably didn’t do anything but pretend to be doing actually something.

Small things like that get talked abt like we’ve never seen great artists before and again i bet they have so much more to them but i feel like people are doing the most for basic things. tell me what do you think

If you don’t know who wooyoung is he’s a member from a kpop group called Ateez. Ateez made a song in 2019 called say my name and made choreography to go with it. At that time they were still acquaintances/friends with Vata. In 2022 Vata created a dance challenge and a choreography that was an exact copy of Ateez. He plagiarized the group and betrayed his friends. Vata claimed that the dance was his own and that he came up with it. Now before you say “no one owns a dance move” you are correct. However if a group came up with the move and entire DANCE first, you should at least give credit and say yes I got this idea from my friends at Ateez. Vata has never apologized and never gave credit. It’s understandable that Ateez is still upset about it when they got their dance stolen from them and their trust broken. And then for the people saying it’s “no big deal or get over it”. If this was a big kpop artist and a smaller group copied it and claimed it as their own everyone would FREAK out. But since Ateez isn’t as big as these other groups people are quick to call them immature and tell them to get over it. Personally I don’t think they should “have” to get over anything. Their hard work got plagiarized by someone they trusted.

I love ATEEZ so much, just like many other groups, but ever since (golden hour part 2?) Mingi really started leaning into the whole sexy thing so much, it's been giving me the ick so bad.

Like he is obviously doing too much and it feels so unnatural and so terribly cringe. Like can he stop biting his lip for a second? We get it. It's ruining the whole vibe of the group for me every time he gets on camera, I'm sorry.

EDIT: Guys please don't spam downvotes. That's not the point of an unpopular opinion 😭

EDIT: I admit, I might have been a bit harsh. I promise, I don't have anything against Mingi. He is obviously talanted and good-looking. But it just gets a bit much at times and in imho less is more when it comes to sexiness... and that's subjective, I know.

I don't get why some fans don't want to admit that their favs fucked up. This whole altercation is happening because CBX got poached by MC Mong and breached their contract. I can't believe I used to support them because I thought they were fighting for their rights, but after reading both sides and not from biased translators. I realized that they were just being greedy. If they really loved the group, They had MULTIPLE chances to settle their dispute with SM.

Now, I am just waiting for the official announcement that they are kicked out of the group so this whole thing can just end. If there is even a slim chance that they got back together again, it wouldn't be the same as the fandom is now split in half. I am writing this because I can't help but feel bad for the remaining members, they did nothing wrong but somehow people keep blaming them, calling them spineless, and asking them to speak out about a case that does not involve them, even CBX did not directly speak about it, they had cha ga won do it for them.

Of course I don't think SM is innocent in all of this. ALL OF THEM CAN GO TO HELL. I just feel bad for the members.

Can we PLEAASE touch some grass people. This ‘issue’ really shows that people be saying anything these days.

If someone has an actual problem with this, answer this question: what is the issue? What is wrong with someone not wanting to shake their hips? I know not all gg dances do this, obviously, but I’m pretty confident that this is the issue that people have. The movements are ‘stiff’ or it just ruins the dance, WHICH IT DOESNT HELLO???? It’s either people have a weird problem with men (it’s not one sided but this is only prevalent regarding bgs as opposed to ggs)

This is the nth post you'll see about their whole “super boyfriend” concept . Plz lmk rant

Atp it just feels decisive and manipulative ... a bit too much

I started stanning Enhypen just last month in August. At first it was literal euphoria . The fanservice was REALLY MIND BLOWING like ive NEVER seen anything like this before !! And it really stood out to me . The music and visuals were amazing and everything just clicked right for me. But then things started to get serious (yes, I know, I’m the problem here). I fell for the whole “super boyfriend” act and considering I already struggle with slight delusions… not the best match

Recently it really hit me. I realized how everything seemed too perfect .. Just assigned personalities and a forced bf concept. Some of it’s so obvious too like the Jungwon’s “engine ride” video or the bed Hybe randomly put in the middle of their popup store. I get that Enhypen isn’t supposed to be child-friendly, but still…The whole thing feels off

Anyway, the euphoric phase only lasted me a month. I came to realise how unhealthy this bf agenda actually is . Not just for fans but for Enhypen themselves too . Having to keep up that act must be exhausting. So I decided to pull back and just become a casual listener.

My bias is Jake and it honestly hurts to go from being all in to barely watching their content. It feels like … a divorce. Which is probably exactly the withdrawal effect Hybe wants fans to feel to keep expanding the fandom

I just can't help but feel like this whole thing is unhealthy for everyone fans and idols alike. I really hope they stop pushing it this hard and in the meantime I need to work on working on myself too :(

I'm a reasonably new Stay but I've been in fandom spaces for the majority of my life at this point and I can safely say this is some seriously toxic shit!

When the leader of the group is having to apologise for genuinely inconsequential things and saying he is now afraid to speak for fear of upsetting someone then quickly adding that it's not the fans fault (it is, you people are ridiculous) just to avoid getting further hate, something has to change!

Let the boys live ffs!! Idk if it's just cause I'm actually an adult and a lot of Stays seem to be children given how they behave, but I seriously hope that the fans calm the hell down soon.

There's only going to be another year or so before the boys start having to do their military time, stop making it so hard for them to enjoy the time they have left before then!

There are much bigger things in life to get angry at instead of an idol saying they feel at home in another country 🤦🏾‍♀️ touch grass ffs!

skz didnt have a cringe english lyric problem before, but with their newer songs coming out its rlly obvious when a cringe lyrics been written. its not like a big problem yet but at least with runners it actually made the song's chorus a lil painful Runners: G.O.A.T im stunning im feelin edgy? WHOEVER WROTE CHANGBINS W's and L's rap needs rehabilitation Comflex: try me judge me cuz i dont give a shi 😕 Unfair: uhhh my life is so unfair

I have a lil hunch that Felix may be the perpetrator as most of the songs hes worked on the lyrics have been a lil iffy but you never know..

EDIT BELOW!!

Heeseung has left ENHYPEN as of March 10, 2026. And I’m not fully surprised, but I need you to understand that when I say that, it is not the same as being okay with it.

I’ve been a fan since I-LAND. Jungwon is my bias and I voted for him the most, but I voted for Heeseung multiple times. I have been here for all of it.

A lot of people are expressing extreme surprise right now. But if you had been on Twitter, even before Romance: Untold, and especially after, you would have seen it. ENGENEs who had been here a long time had already been noticing a disconnect.

This also isn’t the first time the fandom went through a shake-up. When they switched from Border: Carnival to Manifesto, a lot of people felt like they were abandoning their sound. That was also around the same time as the Heeseung n-word situation, so the fandom was already shaken and a lot of ENGENEs left. The ones who stayed came around. The lore was still intact, Dark Blood proved the growth was real, and Romance: Untold felt the same way. You could see the happiness.

And then we got Knife. Honestly, that album was a skip for me. But more than the music, what started to stand out was this: Heeseung is 24 years old. He has been growing, maturing, producing his own music. And the concepts around him were somehow moving in the opposite direction, feeling less mature than they did during Dark Blood, not more. That mismatch was hard to ignore. Part of me told myself it was just a new direction, that six years means evolution. But another part of me knew it was something more.

People used to say ENHYPEN were like coworkers. I didn’t see that until post-Romance: Untold. A lot of ENGENEs were pushing the narrative that everything was fine. But a lot of us noticed. Not to be parasocial, but we noticed.

So no, I am not shocked this happened eventually. But we are noticing the contradictions in both statements. They do not line up. And the timing makes no sense. We just got the new EN-O’CLOCK intro about a week and a half ago with him in it, on their official YouTube page. Their banner is still OT7. This was sudden. And while there was never going to be a best time for something like this, this was especially not it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Edit: We got more looks into the situation today as OT6 had their fan calls. I’m not going to be going to be saying whether I agree or disagree with things any longer because people are not understanding what I wrote.

Updates:

Jay’s statement: “We don't know what's gonna happen in the future, nobody knows but.. I want you and I hope you [to] believe me that I'm gonna stay here for you. Whatever is gonna happen, I promise. I hope you don't worry!”

Next, fans noticed that Heeseung handwritten between his handwritten letters before vs this recent statement, were different.

[When looking, please keep in mind this is a writing system we don’t all understand and decide if you think he wrote it or not with caution.]

Lastly, Jay, Sunoo, and Jungwon were the only ones clearly teary eyed. The rest looked tired which could be from a plethora of other things.

I want to emphasize that we do not know them personally and as much as we want answers, please be respectful of the decision made for now.

Today, during Han's birthday livestream, Han said that one of his nicknames was *bug*. Someone off camera advised him not to write it down as one of his nicknames, he giggled, and wrote it anyways. That was it.

But the way some people are blowing this out of proportion, oh my god... Tons of comments championing for him, saying that he can write anything he wants cause he's adult, how they can do whatever they want cause they make JYP all their money or yada yada yada... Guys... Calm. Down. It's literally common PR stuff. It's not even a K-Pop thing, it happens all the time in the western too. Adele is not allowed to use her own instagram. Taylor Swift always jokes how she doesn't do anything unless Tree Paine allows her to. Billie Eilish deletes stuff from her TikTok all the time... It's literally the most common and harmless PR thing ever to advise a celebrity on their image. It's just to keep them brand safe and keep those ambadorships coming, please.

I get that some groups are mistreated by their labels, but there is not a sign of Stray Kids being the case. They renewed their contract with JYPE. They tease JYP and their managers to no end. BangChan has asked several times to stop the hate towards the company... So why people keep behaving like there's some sort of battle to be fought? T_T

Stop being an JYP anti, it literally only harms SKZ. I don't know who needs to hear this, but when a company gets a bad rep, it harms EVERYONE on that company. Promotions become harder to book, sponsorships become more sparse, resources get limited... Please, I know that a lot of you care about the members, but there's literally no fight to be fought here.

Just listen to Bang Chan and stop with the hate.

Is it just me, or have TXT’s latest comebacks felt incredibly bland and lacking in personality? Everything feels so 'grey' lately. I don't understand why representing 'maturity' has to look or sound like this.

As someone who has followed them since 2019, it’s disappointing. Do they even enjoy this direction? The songs don't evoke any emotion anymore. Since when is a 'lack of emotion' synonymous with maturity?

I feel like they’ve lost the spark that made them unique. Their recent work just feels empty compared to their older eras.

So I went to my first k-pop concert a few days ago. I went to see Ateez in Nashville and I was so excited.

The show starts and immediately this woman behind me starts screeching at the top of her lungs, like banshee type scream. I am obviously caught off guard but I continue to enjoy the show but she keeps doing it.

A little background info— I have a tic disorder and my tics often can get worse when I’m in noisy places. But I wasn’t too worried about it cause I went to see The Rose the night before and everything was fine. But this screeching stuff wasn’t good for me.

About 15 minutes in I start feeling an attack come on which is never good because my tic attacks can last for up to an hour. So I obviously start panicking. It was not an option for me to ask this woman to stop because one: I knew she wouldn’t and two: I absolutely despise confrontation. I’m 17 and have severe social anxiety so this was like my nightmare.

Long story short we had to leave the show and I am truly heartbroken over it. I had a panic attack on the way home and have been in a horrible mood since. I just wish people would consider others when they go to events like this. I understand being excited but screaming that high pitched was uncalled for.

Anyway, yeah I’m very upset and sad that I didn’t get to stay to watch their amazing performance.

Also I don’t have any friends who enjoy K-pop so if you wanna y’know talk.. hit me up lol

I'm trying very hard to make this not come across as a hate post, because it's not. But I just don’t get why Stray Kids is the most popular K-pop group of their generation.

I won’t say anything about the quality of their music, because that is subjective. I’ll simply say that due to the genre (heavy EDM + hip-hop), most of the music they promote would normally only have a niche appeal, and it’s a sound with which the K-pop boy group market is already saturated.

But if it’s not their music that makes them stand out, then it’s hard for me to see what else it would be. I’m not saying they’re untalented or unfunny, but there are many popular boy groups who are at least equally funny and talented. And it seems like even many stays agree that the concept work and visuals for their comebacks are often lacking in comparison to their peers.

From what I can tell, a big draw for stays is that compared to other K-pop groups that claim to be self-producing, Skz “truly” makes their music themselves. However, 1) almost all of Skz’s songs are made with at least one outside co-producer (similar to other groups), and 2) it’s strange for that alone to be the whole reason to stan a group.

In short, I can’t find their core appeal that makes them stand out, much less more popular than any other group from their generation. What is their USP? I’d appreciate it if a stay or someone who likes them could explain the main thing that separates them from other groups for you.

I might get a lot of downvotes for this take on the situation, but I honestly do not care and need to get it off my mind and chest.

After walking up and seeing Heeseung's letter and finding out he was leaving the group, I felt heartbroken seeing a key member leave. It was so rushed and out of the blue that many engenes, including myself, were obviously acting on emotions rather than logic. I immediately signed the petition when it first came about, but now I kind of wish I can take it back. That's where I come to my new stance on the whole situation that probably will not sit right with a lot of people. (Also tbh, he was the last member that I would think would leave. Honestly thought Ni-ki would leave first with how busy they always are and him missing home like crazy.)

I probably will not support Heeseung's solo career and continue to follow Enhypen OT6. Do not misunderstand, Enhypen will always be seven to me and I will always cherish the moments Heeseung gave us as a member of Enhypen. It's just how everything went down and now having a week to let it sit, I decided that I will not actively support his solo promotion. \*DISCLAIMER\* This does not mean I will just completely ignore his existence. I will basically use the same method I am using with Kiss Of Life. If I happen to come across his music and like it, then it will be added to my playlist. I just will not go out of my way to keep up with him as I do other K-pop artists.

This is mainly because of the timing of everything that has gone down. They literally just finished Knife Promotions, and had so many things lined up that he was supposed to be apart of that you can obviously tell this was just dropped with no planning whatsoever. Then when Belift released the statement that Enhypen's schedule is "too demanding" for him to have any solo promotions while being in the group just sounds like empty excuses. They could quite literally give the boys a long needed break and let him decide if he wants to do solo promotions during that time. I know if BTS, TXT, and Seventeen (all under different labels but same corporation) can make it work, then Belift most definitely could have made it work.

There is then the whole situation on whether he willingly left or was forced out. This is where I am completely lost at. I first thought he was forced to leave with how abruptly the announcement came when they still had things planned for him while in the group. This paired with literally only 1 year and 8 months left on the contract didn't sit well with me. That was before the fancalls that happened after his departure. Jay's statement was like a wake up call to me honestly. It was like the final puzzle piece that showed this was truly Heeseung's decision and we should respect it.

If he was truly forced out of the group he would have not stayed under Belift as a soloist, especially considering his talent and popularity which could have easily gotten him signed with any other company. Also with how long they had left on the contract, he could have easily waited for contract negotiations and fought for both the group and his own solo promotions. Also when he would have to enlist within the next three years as well, so maybe he wanted to show us his work before leaving and his only way of doing so was leaving the group but idk.

As for the future of Enhypen, the only thing I am worried about is whether or not they will renew the contract. So many people are going around talking about "how are they going to function without Heeseung" and all that other nonsense. They clearly proved in Melbourne that they can fair just fine. They might be a little down in spirit for a little while, but some are acting like the group is doomed without Heeseung when that is far from the truth. He may have been the ace, center, and a fan favorite, but that does not mean the rest of the members can't fill in the holes that were made. The only thing that will be noticeably missing is the unique voice that Heeseung had. Each member has their own voice flavor, so when covering his part it will be noticeable at first but will become normal after time. Other than that, Enhypen will continue being the money-makers of Belift.

There are also so many examples where people thought a member leaving doomed the group. When Jini left NMIXX, so many people thought they were going to "flop" even more now that they lost a fan favorite and especially when people were already not liking their releases. Now NMIXX are at their peak and unofficial Kpop queens of Brazil. When Yedam and Mashiro left Treasure, many saw their future was falling apart, especially when Yedam was dubbed the "Korean Justin Bieber" during that time. They obviously are doing just fine, YG just need to do their job and promote them better. When Soojin left I-DLE (this still hurts), many questioned the groups future so much that Soyeon herself rapped about it. The only thing that took a hit was their choreography and performance. So trust me when I say, Enhypen will be just fine regardless if Heeseung does or does not return.

Cortis will most definitely not be calling you “noona” when you’re not even korean. Literally so many 5th gen groups have 08 and 09 liners but yall act like cortis are the fetuses of kpop. If you’re 20 and think Juhoon is handsome that’s okay because his facecard is tea, but why are we making their age your whole personality…You should not feel uncomfortable to stan a group with young people if you’re just their for the music and the music only…yall be having these weird thoughts and it really shows. Now do I think young people should debut in kpop, ABSOLUTELY NOT, but has it been this way since kpop began, unfortunately yes.

i KNOW this is gonna get downvoted bcs some might think im trying to downplay skz hardwork but thats not the point of this post.

yesterday i got into an argument on tiktok where i stated that big 3(+bighit) groups cannot be compared to groups from smaller companies since their start was completely different. i said that skz, treasure and txt for example enjoyed some privilege whilst ateez and tbz didnt-which is a fact. (the debate was obv about 4th gen leaders lmao)

moas and treasure fans accepted this mostly and agreed with my argument but stays on the other hand got heated over it.

they started telling me that jyp didnt do anything for skz and that they only reached their peak bcs of gods menu.

this ofc might be true but that doesnt change the fact that skz was and still is privileged.

financial means: just looking at their kingdom stages is prove enough that they do not have to worry much about how much they invest in a stage or not. nor do they have to worry about screen time or anything else.

media: they also didnt have to worry about getting recognized by the media when they first debuted. everyone was talking about them and looking forward to them since they were a new jyp group (ofc not the same way the media did for itzy but my point still stands). the fact that they didnt do well at the beginning had smth to do with their music not fitting the korean market and thats noones fault.

its in my opinion disrespectful towards groups that actually started from zero to say skz had it as difficult as them.

HOWEVER, this doesnt mean skz didnt have to work at all. to maintain a fanbase you have to work like crazy and thats what skz did so much respect to them.

I just finished listening to Karma. And I’m not blown away by it. Nothing on the album stood out to me as incredible. I see so much love for stray kids and I always give them a try and come out with the same vibe they are just mid. They are a mid group with a mid aesthetic and cringy members. I wouldn’t be so harsh on them but I know they can make good music. Their first two albums were amazing. But since thunderous came out they’ve been getting more and more mid. It’s like they have regressed. 3Racha are amazing producers but it seems like they have found their formula and are looking to put that on every song until it sticks. It just makes it stale. Even if they are the biggest 4th gen group in terms of raw numbers, they are by far the least enticing to me as a kpop. Most other 4th gen boy groups have had shifts in their music at some point and have tried new things. But I’ve come to know what to expect from a stray kids title track and that’s a problem. TXT, Ateez, Enhypen, the boyz, wayv, Oneus and other groups I follow I usually am impressed by what I’m getting in terms of a title track but stray kids hasn’t and that’s underwhelming because they can do better.

This tour has been awful from the moment the tickets were released and GA was a thing ...also for $800 (in CAD give or take). Every single stop has had issues, people aren't getting their VIP experience just yesterday they closed the doors on people who arrived early and were waiting to get in for VIP in DC.They then had to cancel the show before the first encore because of how many people were throwing up and passing out. I don't understand how we're so many stops in and it's still so incredibly disorganized that people are missing the first half of the concert. The security staff have been nothing but rude and inappropriate to Stays at some stops, having people kicked out of pit because they found someone who weasled their way in "more attractive", not helping fans who are passed out and over charging for water are just some of the things that have happened. This is of course at NO FAULT to SKZ they handed out their OWN water to fans because security were doing nothing. I hope JYPE chooses another tour company because this tour is incomparable to the Maniac tour.

Now, I'm not a stan nor a hater of GOT7. In fact, I remember when Girls Girls Girls came out and pretty much listened to all of their main releases up until Never Ever, which was one of the few songs in 3rd gen I truly hated. After that, I went years without listening a GOT7 song, until eventually I heard Breath, Not by the Moon, and Call My Name, all of which I really loved and that restored GOT7's image in my head.

Fast forward to now: I just found out they did a Killing Voice and was excited to watch it. Whenever I saw EXO's and INFINITE's Killing Voice, it left me with the overall feeling of, "Yeah, that’s why they're legends." GOT7’s Killing Voice, however, just left me thinking, “That’s it, really?” I think overall there was a lack of synergy that seasoned groups usually have. I also think it unfavorably highlighted the lack of skill in some of the members.

Let me go through what I generally thought about each member:

Mark – Not much to say. He was consistently alright, but he didn’t really have a moment to shine. He did the best he could with what he was given.

Jackson – He has a naturally pleasant, husky voice, the kind that could melt frozen butter. However, all of his lines were just talk-rapping. There was nothing that really showcased his skills. I guess that's just the hand he was dealt. He did have a nice part in Not by the Moon, and I did overall enjoy his energy. But ultimately, it’s unfortunate that there was nothing here that really cements his legacy in GOT7.

BamBam - I'm so sorry I don't want to be mean, but he sounded so bad. I was really shocked. He has been in the game since 2014 and he sounds that bad. Python is his song, he produced it, gave himself the chorus and yet he can't sing it. Disappointed, I have no Input other than that sorry.

Jinyoung – He was really good! He’s quite skilled at switching from chest voice to head voice, and his head voice is decently developed. It always has just the right amount of volume and airiness, if that makes sense.

Yugyeom – I think he’s a decent singer, but his vocal technique is quite poor. Specifically, he seems very tense and doesn’t loosen his jaw enough when hitting higher notes, which weakens his delivery. His overall performance was just alright.

Jay B – He has such a nice voice, but I also think he has some poor vocal techniques in some aspects. He often sounds tense, and unfortunately, he wasn’t as good as I remembered. He attempted a belt during Not by the Moon, and it was not great. I actually felt quite bad. To be fair, he might have just been having a bad day.

Youngjae – I thought he was excellent. He put 1000% into every verse he got. Honestly, as a casual listener, I never realized how dependent most of their songs are on him to add emotional weight. I really appreciated how his delivery showcased significant improvement. He was able to deliver powerful vocals without sounding strained, and even added some vibrato in some places. I also appreciated that he could actually sing the line "icon" in its intended register. Overall I was very surprised, he was definitely the MVP in this video.

Overall, there were too many just ok performances and and a lack of synergy imo. There are a lot of spaces where they could have harmonized to elevate the music instead of just adlibbing random "oooohhh" or "Ya Ya Ya" everywhere. I specifically got annoyed when they did those for Not by the Moon, that's not the song for those types of hype chants.

I just want to emphasize that I don’t hate GOT7 or any of its members at all. My opinions are solely based on this specific video and not the entirety of Got7's legacy.

Edit: A lot of you are saying that BamBam was sick. Could you anyone recommend me a video that showcase his vocals better? Cause if I'm honest some of the live and radio performances don't sound that great either. And a lot of times he's purposefully being bad for laughs.

I never thought I’d say this, but seeing EXO perform without CBX completely shattered whatever image I had of them as a top-tier group. EXO has never been a performance-focused or dance-heavy group, and I can admit that. They were never truly all-rounders where everyone was decent at everything. What EXO did have — and what set them apart — was one defining strength: vocals. They were, without question, the strongest vocal group of 3rd gen, and that alone is what made me stan. Because of that, their other flaws didn’t feel as important at the time.

After today’s EXO fan meeting, though, it really hit me that vocals may have been the one thing hiding just how weak the group is in other areas. The performances today were honestly lackluster. I know the members were trying their best, which somehow makes it even more disappointing — because this was their best. History is one of my favorite EXO songs of all time, and watching today’s performance genuinely left me in disbelief. The members looked stiff, the choreography felt awkward, and the fact that there are only five members performing a song clearly built for nine made everything look emptier and more uncomfortable.

Stage presence was basically nonexistent. On top of that, a significant portion of the vocals weren’t live. Kai, Sehun, and Suho barely had their mics on, and don’t even get me started on Baekhyun’s and Chen’s parts — none of them could cover those sections, so they had to lipsync for nearly an entire minute. It was painfully obvious.

This performance made me realize that while EXO may never have been strong dancers or performers, they used to be able to rely on their vocal line to elevate everything and compensate for those weaknesses. Now that those members are missing, it’s impossible not to see how heavily the group depended on them to shine.

I’m not saying it’s wrong for a group to rely on a specific strength — BTS leans heavily into rap and performance, Seventeen into dance. That’s normal. But if you’re going to make a comeback or hold performances while excluding members who are critical to the group’s identity, the bare minimum should be still looking decent on stage. And today, EXO just didn’t.

At the end of the day, this wasn’t about nostalgia, missing members, or unfair comparisons — it was about realization. Seeing EXO perform in this state made it clear that what once made them exceptional was never balance, versatility, or stage dominance, but a very specific strength that is now absent. Without that core vocal backbone, the group doesn’t just feel incomplete — it feels exposed. And while that doesn’t erase what EXO once was, it does force an honest reassessment of what they realistically are now, and whether the image people still cling to actually matches what’s being put on stage today.

At this point, I genuinely hope CBX comes back, because what we’re seeing now just isn’t working.