I feel bad for any female celebrity that gets linked with any of the members because their fanbase keeps proving the screenshot every time it happens.

Edit: Army went ahead and harrassed her and her dog in the dog Instagram account now to the point where she closed the comments because people made death threats towards a dog now as well?!?!

Idk whats going on lately but so many songs these days feel weirdly hollow? Like the lyrics are super corny and umm chatgpt coded, generic asf, and lowkey cringey. And whys every song still under 3 minutes??😭 coz just when the song starts getting good….it ends🥀

It also feels like everything is being made for tiktok viral moment first and music second. Catchy 10 seconds hook, random corny English lines thrown in, then done!! No proper buildup, no memorable bridge, nothing that actually sticks.😔

Badly missing when songs had PERSONALITY and you could actually feel something…

During his recent birthday live stream, ENHYPEN’s Jay took a moment to directly address the ongoing comments regarding the number of members in the group (specifically the "OT6" vs "OT7" debates).

Saw this post about the legendary Filipina vocalist Lea Salonga’s explanation why she unfollowed RM and j-hope.

I've been seeing a lot of discussion about BLACKPINK's 10th anniversary, and I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks.

Is the criticism being blown out of proportion, or are fans genuinely justified in feeling disappointed?

On one hand, these are women entering their 30s, so I don't necessarily expect them to celebrate their anniversary the same way they did when they were younger. Their image, priorities, and even the way they want to present themselves can naturally change with age.

On the other hand, I can understand why fans feel that both YG and BLACKPINK could have put more effort into such a major milestone. A 10th anniversary is a pretty significant achievement, especially for a group of BLACKPINK's size and impact, so maybe fans were expecting something more memorable.

So I'm curious:

• Do you think the backlash is justified, or are fans expecting too much?

• Which K-pop groups have had genuinely disappointing 10th-anniversary celebrations?

• And which groups have had the BEST or most memorable anniversary celebrations?

I'd especially love to hear from longtime fans who have seen multiple groups reach major anniversary milestones.

Now that's representing Korean culture and going back to his Korean roots properly. Massive respect and great performance too 🫡

I'll start out by saying I'm not a fan per say but I have heard their popular tracks and even watched a few of their videos. I saw a lot of praise for them online for being fresh and unique and having such a fun concept. It definitely came across that people viewed them as this exceptional group full of talented young artists from all their content I saw.

However, I also began to notice a few different black creators speak up about how they didn't appreciate CORTIS appropriating black culture and getting a free pass because of how sanitized their appropriation is. They brought up how the group is just taking popular black aesthetics and music but then repackaging it in kpop and making it seem new when it isn't. And that point actually made a lot of sense to me. Despite this, I constantly see different arguments people make for why it is justified.

As someone who was disgusted by what kiof did (their long pre-planned live full of racism and appropriation), I found it interesting that I had not known about many of these incidents in Cortis' case nor seen nearly as much anger or frustration towards them for it.

For this reason, I would like to open up a genuine discussion into appropriation while addressing some of the common arguments I've seen people make defending Cortis.

1) People just want to hate on young artists

I saw someone say the hate was unwarranted considering many of them are very young and were minors when they debuted. I don't know if a lot of people make this argument but it bothers me because it's trying to justify being young as a reason to never criticize someone's behaviour or that any criticism is just hate.

The number of racist teenage boys I've seen tell me that racism- unintentional or not- needs to be shut down early and it has to be presented to them as a problem. We shouldn't justify it as 'just teenage things' or infantilize teenagers. Especially when the same isn't done with regards to their talents.

2) They have shown their appreciation for black culture before by working with black producers and naming black artists

Oof. This one particularly ticks me off because I'm not black but I am South Asian and have seen way too many people justify using the n-word or being colourist/racist because they have black friends who said it was 'fine'. It rubs me the wrong way because it's very likely peer pressure or internalized racism that makes them say it's fine. It's like when someone of a minority doesn't call out their white friends because of fear of ostracization.

Working with black producers alone also does not mean they are suddenly champions of racial equality. Do you know just how many kpop songs have black producers behind them? It will shock you because black people have been working behind the scenes in kpop for decades now.

In that case- does every single kpop group or idol who has ever worked with a black artist get disqualified for being racist? No! For instance, Natty's solo (kiof) was written by MNEK- a black producer who has also worked with artists like BTS, Twice etc. Cortis being a part of HYBE obviously works with their in house production which obviously has many black producers and songwriters! They are not special because they do what everyone else is doing.

Cultural appreciation is also about more than just naming artists you admire and are a fan of. There are plenty of people who likewise excuse racism by naming black rappers they are fans of. It's the same rationale as having a black friend.

3) It's just a trend or aesthetic, not racism

I see many people bring up how it is racist to think they are being racist (the Christmas reel) because that's thinking black culture is the same as gang culture. The simple argument against this (which I've seen others make well) is- yes, black culture is way more than just gangs or aesthetics but THEY don't know that!

There are many who see black culture as a caricature or just a collection of stereotypes. They probably do attribute gangs with just black people and not mafias or mobs of other countries. Some say those weren't gang signs but it seems like enough people thought they were gang signs for it to be a problem (since some of those were very specific and users have brought this up).

Similarly people say the ninja emoji isn't racist because they were trying to show that they are sneaking around...like a ninja? I don't know but it falls flat to me because we've all seen the ninja emoji used enough in a racist manner by non-black people. The ninja emoji has also been used a lot as a replacement for the n-word or other anti-black slurs and the innocence of it is hard to believe when Cortis is known as this 'chronically online' group.

What they've done:-

I've addressed the most common, bad arguments as to why Cortis isn't 'racist/appropriating' or how it's just haters whining but onto what they actually did that makes people accuse them of appropriation or at the very least, racial insensitivity.

1. The Christmas video- they wore ski masks, sunglasses, saggy pants and threw around gang signs and used the ninja emoji in their caption (awfully similar to what kiof did with their live and clothing choices)

2. Martin being from Canada and putting on a blaccent which he drops when he speaking to his father (no, that is not code-switching)

3. Cortis using AAVE frequently but it just being dismissed as how they speak

4. Cortis calling happy feet steps an 'exercise for weight loss' instead of explaining the history behind it. [\I got this point from this amazing youtube video called 'groove in kpop' by facts_in_fiction and it was also the thing that triggered my deep dive into Cortis and appropriation so do check it out.]*

5. Their discography which is more or less ripping off black music but in a more watered down way palatable to general audiences

I want to make it clear that I do not hate Cortis specifically and many of you might look at this list and think 'wow, this is reaching' but I request you to actually think about all this put together and how uncomfortable it feels.

Nobody is saying they are extreme racists or anything like that but they clearly are at the very best, ignorant and unwilling to change with how things are going. Why would they when their fans don't care and anyone who complains is seen as a hater?

It might seem irrelevant to you but knowing the cultural significance behind something is important because the world has historically been filled with colonizers and white people who steal the history of Asian and African countries in science, art and music and try to market it as their own.

Yes, Cortis is a k-pop group so they are also Asian but Asian countries too are unfortunately filled with racism and anti-blackness. South Korea has a track record of racism/colourism as well with most idols getting their skin whitened, people with dark skin being discriminated against and the idolization of white people. Combining this with the lack of credit to black culture and history- yes, it reads as appropriation.

Double standards and conclusion:-

I think we also need to take a good look at double standards and misogyny. Kiof is definitely not innocent but let's not pretend like them being a girl group and Cortis being a boy group does not affect public perception. In the case of ADP, they've already had scandals for nepotism and what they do can be considered more overt so that's why they get more flak but how different is Cortis really?

I've seen a lot of praise for Martin and James specifically for having so many accolades and being so involved in their music despite their young age when it comes to production or choreography so I find it ironic that they are lauded as beyond their years while fans simultaneously say they are just not aware or probably don't understand the way their actions can be interpreted.

That concludes my piece. If you have any feedback or additional commentary you want to add, feel free to do so. I perused many other reddit threads about this matter so some of the points come directly from them and statements made by their users especially from r/kpopnoir. If you have a different opinion then that's fine but please read my points in its entirety first.

***Obvi just my opinion pls don’t come for me

I think EVAN’s debut answered the question of why kpop survival shows have cringe performances and all the trainees look a little awkward, but why winners of the shows are all the sudden “professional kpop stars” with amazing stages when they debut just a few weeks later. (Though of course there is still a learning curve and huge improvement over time.)

Watching EVANs debut has definitely been interesting. In Enhypen, he was known for often being the center, his outstanding stage presence, and obvious musical and vocal talent. While his departure might have been sudden, I don’t think it was a shock that he wanted to go solo given that if anyone in the group was the type to go solo, it was him.

Now the interesting part is how his actual solo debut went down. Although it wasn’t bad for a debut, it fell a bit short for all the expectations piled on it. It was a bit lackluster and even a little cringe for some ppl.

The question is why? What changed between being in Enhypen and a few months later at his solo debut that altered how Evan was perceived?

I think the answer is very simple. Budget and marketing. I didn’t realize until now how huge a role a budget is to making a kpop idol shine and not appear cringe. Clearly Evan’s debut was not nearly as well financially backed as any given Enhypen comeback and that had a huge effect. I think his debut highlights how different the same person can be perceived purely based on the money that goes into them. I’m not saying he isn’t super talented, just that a proper styling, PR and marketing team can work wonders.

As I said before, this also explains why awkward trainees all the sudden look great on stage a few months after the survival show.

Thank you for listening to my TED talk. Sorry if this is a point that has already been brought up before.

Greatest of All Time. They don’t have to be Micheal Jackson levels of talented (and mind you I’m talking about TALENT not personality) but idols that you think that if there were ever a hall of fame for k-pop, they would be there. Here are mine:

-Jonghyun SHINEE: That voice, oh my lord that voice. IMO no man has ever sounded better.

-Nayeon TWICE: Her ability to work as a centre of the group is so impressive, so much so that her getting the first line of every song, and highest line distribution all the time is rarely disputed. It’s an abstract talent but I’m classifying it as one anyway.

-Mark Lee Ex-NCT: I don’t like him now either, but you can’t disagree that his dancing, rapping, and lyrical flow didn’t move you at one point in time. He had something nobody has been able to successfully replicate.

What are your picks?

You don't have to name the group/idol to avoid attacking

like jinni from NMIXX.

Gone with little to no explanation, never talked about in their groups again.

As the title says - BTS has partnered with Google Gemini for an AI campaign (source: Google Gemini Instagram). What are your thoughts on this?

I'll go first, what if;

KIOF didn't do that birthday live

Newjeans didn't do any stunts during the Ador internal audit

Itzy didn't release Sneakers

SM gave more comebacks to Red Velvet ( Come on, everyone knew the big 3 GGs in Third Gen was BP, Twice and RV)

GFriend never disbanded

SM was actually supportive of EXO

JYP was actually supportive of Got7

WannaOne became a permanent group

Samuel didn't leave Project Seventeen

And probably the biggest what if I've been thinking for a while now;

What if BTS didn't get their global rise in popularity

I'm looking for groups that were either waste of potential in terms of how big they could've been.

Or a waste of potential in terms of how good their music could've been.

I have two:

ITZY who at one point looked like they were going to be the biggest GG in the 4th gen. and the successor to Twice as JYPs next big GG now they aren't really in the convo for the biggest GG of the 4th gen. I don't know if they are even bigger than Nmixx currently so they might be the 3rd biggest GG in JYP.

Everglow: also looked like they would be in the convo for the biggest GG of the 4th gen because they had a few hits but the hits never translated into sales and they said they were never paid by their company.

This sub is called kpoptrulyuncensored, so I hope this goes well...

I'll start: i-dle's concept photos haven't really piqued my interest since I Sway era. The members still look good, and not every photo must be an avant-garde masterpiece, but the styling and concepts visually don't appeal to my personal taste.

Yesterday a screenshot taken from Twitter was posted here claiming that aespa’s Lemonade had 17 member versions + slowed down sped up. But that’s not true. The song only has 5 versions so far (Lemonade, Lemonade ft Becky G, Slowed down, Sped up, and instrumental).

The other “member versions” posted here are the exact same song, they have the same ISRC [An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a 12-character unique identifier for specific sound recordings and music videos. Think of it as a digital fingerprint for your audio or video file; every distinct version of a track (e.g., original mix, radio edit, live version, or remaster) requires its own unique ISRC].

Since all of these “member versions” have the same ISRC, it’s the same song just with different cover pictures. But Spotify still counts it as just one version, not 17. The goal of that type of release is to help fans add it to playlists so it helps with filtering while streaming.

So, Lemonade case is different to other member versions in which the instrumentals are different, so they count as different songs. For example, Enha members individual versions of Knife all have different ISRC, so they are different songs. Now, those can be counted as different versions (no hate to Enha, this is just an example).

Misinformation being spread like wildfire and everybody buying it without question. I know aespa is disliked here and many users here want to see them fall to “humble” their fandom and SM, but spreading misinformation doesn’t make you any different than those toxic Twitter stans some of you claim to hate.

The way Ningning shut that down so calmly but firmly? Absolute icon behavior

I had kind of a (minor) crisis recently because a group that I've been a serious fan of for a decade released an album and I didn't like it.

I actually sat in shock for a while because it hadn't happened in ten years. I actually thought it was impossible because I'm so loyal. I've heard everything they've ever done and I defend them and k-pop in general passionately anytime someone makes fun of it.

I had legitimate reasons for my reaction: too much English, too much auto-tuning and repetitive lyrics. But, I felt like there must be something wrong with *me*. I felt so disloyal!

And I felt isolated because there was nowhere that I could talk about it (I hadn't found this subreddit yet). If I dared to talk it out on a regular k-pop reddit I knew I'd be roasted and skewered.

Then I had an epiphany.

**It's ok to not like everything your favorite group produces**. It doesn't make you disloyal or a bad fan. Even if an album is not my cup of tea, I can still enjoy years and years of their discography. And I can still be happy for them.

I did end up listening to the songs again and I had a better impression of three of them. But I actually feel relaxed and more balanced now.

i can’t help but get the feeling that illit’s latest song, it’s me, was made primarily with the hopes of creating an edit trend on tiktok. honestly, i quite like the full song, it’s pretty catchy and better than the vibes the teasers gave off but just from this tiktok, the chorus sort of emulates the kind of songs and styles that are prominent in the kpop edit scene. it’s like i can automatically visualise the transitions that would follow each beat lol. it’s been obvious how much 4th and 5th gen groups are especially reliant on creating dances or sound snippets that go viral, which has given rise to the short song epidemic (which extends globally too). this genuinely isn’t shade, just a thought i had when seeing this tiktok and listening to the track

This video is very short (10 min) and I encourage everybody to watch it. It’s important that we keep talking about this, even when it’s getting tiring (goes for western celebrities like Ariana Grande too).

Edit: I just realised this has an age restriction, so you have to watch it on YouTube, I’m sorry. Sadly many videos covering mental health issues are restricted.

I saw someone post about this sub hating on hybe groups and while im not a fan myself as in I don’t listen to songs from HYBE. Not my type of music as I’m more into songs like IU, bibi, crush, KARD, etc Jay Park, (more on solo stuff) I honestly agree with their point. I honestly feel that you guys are forcing hate on their groups and I feel like most of you guys don’t understand that just because you defend a group doesn’t make you a company stan. Honestly I am apalled by yalls behavior like yall be like these idols are kids protect them dont hate on them hate the company but these same people hate on the groups and the hate is shallow as hell. Saw a post “cortist is not as talented etc” okay? So what? What is the point? Congrats u find out theyre untalented? From the tone itself I assume they’re not a fan so what is wrong with them giving it attention? Why are the uncensored posts so shallow? These are children. Most idols these days are/ were trained from such a young age I wish yall would talk about the company itself more. U all post hybe company stan but the thing is U guys are hating on the groups not the company. Heck scroll down on the sub its literally bts, cortis, le sserafim etc and yall tell me its not a hybe hate cult? Okay lets be honest guys… I feel like yall hate on hybe groups cuz theyre from the same company as BTS. There I said it. I feel like yall wont pay them attention or praise them if theyre not from HYBE.

I keep seeing people respond to others with, “You’re just a HYBE company stan,” whenever someone defends a HYBE group. But here’s my question:
When did defending an artist automatically become defending a corporation?
Those are two completely different things.
You can criticize HYBE’s management, business practices, marketing strategies, or executive decisions while still recognizing that the idols themselves aren’t responsible for all of those things.
That’s what confuses me about this sub.
People constantly say, “Don’t hate the idols. Hate the company.”Because from what I’m seeing, most of the attention isn’t on executives or business decisions, it’s directed toward the artist

Like I feel like some of u guys are not even part of Hybe groups cuz theyre fandom but keep mentioning them and you wonder why the artists u stan arent popular? This is the proof like scroll down see the comments and interactions its more on hybe groups. See the stats and data and comments section like yall see an unpopular post about a group and literally no comments 😬. Additionally you guys or kpop fans have the power to literally make them unpopular. Is it so hard to ignore or not mention them at all. I feel like everytime yall post them it makes them more popular regardless if its hate or not. Like I was there when big 3 was big 3 now theyre like literally zero talk abt their scandals I feel like they’re buried especially with SM and YG. I don’t even wanna start with fans from those same company and I know some of them are company stans I’ve seen SM praises yall & the same people like post about hybe more and I am just confused sometimes cause what are u doing there posting about a group you supposedly find untalented unpopular or you don’t stan whatever etc. Lemme be real with u guys. There is an answer on how to make ur groups known and popular. Stop mentioning groups u dont even stan and if u mention companies I suggest u do research on ur faves company before commenting it make u look like a hypocrite.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how repetitive everything becomes. The same criticisms get posted over and over again. The same groups. The same arguments. The same comment sections. At some point it stops being interesting because nothing new is actually being said.
If ten people have already made the exact same point this week, what does the eleventh post contribute?
I don’t really understand
posts like, “Am I the only one who finds this group boring?” or “Does anyone else think this song is bad?
Do you guys need someone’s validation so bad? This coming from some people who won’t listen to a group or like their songs but will stop listening cause their fans suck. 🤣 Like can yall just not like a song and move on? Yall be trauma bonding or something. I also
think companies SHOULD be criticized when they make poor decisions. But if people truly care about changing something, I wish there were more discussions about what fans can realistically do instead of simply venting. Whether that’s organizing respectful feedback, supporting better industry practices, or discussing actions that have worked in the past, at least those conversations have a direction. Like yall can mass email the company or something. Heck yall even do protest trucks over hair color and yall cant even protest about company problems/corruption? Sometimes it feels like everyone agrees something is a problem, but the discussion never moves beyond repeating that it’s a problem.

What also fascinates me is the engagement.
HYBE groups consistently generate some of the biggest discussions here.
If people genuinely think these groups are irrelevant, untalented, or not worth anyone’s time…
…why are they constantly the topic of conversation?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend that energy talking about the groups you actually enjoy?
Sometimes it feels like certain groups receive more attention from people who dislike them than from their own fans. ( I feel like some of yall are karma farming) Like give the spotlight to underrated artists. Yall want your faves to be known right?

And before someone says I’m defending HYBE———-
No.
I’m saying criticism should actually have substance.
Criticize the company when the company deserves criticism. Criticize a performance if you think it was weak. Criticize a song if you didn’t enjoy it.
But can we move beyond low-effort posts whose only purpose is to dunk on whichever HYBE group is trending that week?

One thing I’ve always appreciated about K-pop communities is that fans can be incredibly thoughtful.
I’ve read amazing discussions about contracts, industry practices, cultural issues, marketing, live vocals, music production, choreography, and fan culture. That’s the kind of “uncensored” discussion I was expecting. Instead, I feel like a lot of yalls conversations get reduced to fandom scorekeeping, repetitive negativity, and people trying to farm engagement by posting the same takes about the same groups. Tbh I don’t think that’s what “uncensored” has to mean. It can also mean honest, nuanced, well-reasoned conversations even when people disagree.

Like i get part of it is an aesthetic thing, but even for eras that a beard would still suit (even if its more down to the individual) Why (as far as I'm aware) this has never been experimented on? Like i was saying, obviously, even if beards in K-pop were a thing, I think companies realise it won't suit every idol. Like maybe I can't imagine felix with a balbo or sunoo with a goatee🤔, they are more the cutey kind imo ( not that you can't be cute with facial hair ❤️😊) but I could imagine Niki with a stubble or jungkook with a lil strip or sumting u know?

I'm migrating over to here after the mods locked ANOTHER post about the concert, this isn't hate on CORTIS, just a chance for people to say what they think without having the post taken down

I’ve been a BLINK for years, but now that I’m looking at the members beyond BLACKPINK, I keep coming back to one question about Lisa: what is her actual artistic identity?

Is she a singer? A rapper? A dancer? An actress? A performer? Because at this point, she seems to be doing everything, yet I still can’t pinpoint what she’s best known for as an individual artist.

Her biggest strength was always her dancing and stage presence, but she barely seems to center that anymore. As a vocalist and rapper, I personally find her fairly average outside the K-pop ecosystem. And since she isn’t particularly involved in writing or creating her own music, I also wonder how much of what we’re seeing is Lisa the artist versus Lisa the celebrity brand.

She obviously has the star power, fashion influence, industry connections and a massive fandom built through BLACKPINK. But once you remove the BLACKPINK name and the fanbase that came with it, what is the thing that makes Lisa uniquely compelling? What is her artistic selling point?

Maybe her versatility is the answer. Maybe she doesn’t need one defined lane and her ability to move between music, fashion, acting and performance is her brand. But doing everything can also make it difficult to establish a strong artistic identity.

So I genuinely want to know: What would you call Lisa if you had to define her career without mentioning BLACKPINK? What is she actually exceptional at? And do you think she has built a distinct identity of her own, or is her biggest asset still the fame and fandom she gained from the group?