I got into BLACKPINK and K-Pop in 2022 with the release of Pink Venom (love that song so much). Since then, I’ve been a girl-group only stan, and now are into about 18 girl groups (21 if subgroups count) and 3 soloists (not part of the aforementioned groups).

My stan list

(in no particular order, but divided by generation)

– SNSD

– 2NE1

– MAMAMOO

– GFRIEND (+ VIVIZ)

– Red Velvet (ult)

– TWICE (ult)

– BLACKPINK (ult)

– i-dle

– ITZY

– aespa (ult)

– LE SSERAFIM (ult)

– NewJeans

– IVE

– NMIXX

– IZ*ONE

– Kep1er

– EVERGLOW

– LOONA (+ ARTMS, Loossemble)

My soloist stan list

(not including all soloists in the aforementioned groups, which I stan as well)

– BoA

– IU

– Jeon Somi

If I had to choose my ultimate soloist, it would be Taeyeon (SNSD). Other group soloists that especially stand out to me (not including those from my ult groups) are Yuju (GFRIEND), Yuri (IZ*ONE), and Yena (IZ*ONE)

My thoughts

If I were to lay out all the thoughts and feelings I felt throughout this (almost 4 years now? damn) journey, it would take forever. I’ve listened to the entire discography (sans BoA, I’ve only listened to her last 3 Korean studio albums and last 3 Korean mini albums) of all the artists I’ve listed above, including all subunit/solo music (not including OSTs.) But I would like to share the highlights.

When it comes to 2nd gen groups (SNSD/2NE1), I tend to not be a fan of their songs from the onset but require a few relistens to fully appreciate them. On the flipside, when it comes to 4th gen groups, I usually enjoy their songs from the first or second listen. (The exceptions are NMIXX, who I feel I didn’t quite appreciate until I relistened to their discography and now love them.) 3rd gen groups are pretty much divided for me in this aspect; BLACKPINK, GFRIEND, Red Velvet & TWICE’s newer music, and MAMAMOO title tracks got me hooked relatively quickly, while TWICE & Red Velvet older music along with MAMAMOO bsides took me a bit.

My ult groups are chosen solely on music, but they are the only groups in which I go out of my way to consume other content for (variety shows, interviews, BTS videos, etc.) I’ve watched a ton BLACKPINK and Red Velvet content (like the entirety of BLACKPINK House, 24/365 with BLACKPINK, Blackpink Diaries, B.P.M., Level Up Project, Eye Contact Cam) and am now catching up on older TWICE content (watched seasons 1-5 of TWICE TV along with Sixteen and Twice TV Special; now on TWICE TV 6); though I have yet to watch much aespa and LE SSERAFIM content, that’s next on my list 🙂

If there were any groups that surprised me the most (in terms of how good their music would be) it would definitely be LOONA and Kep1er; both groups are portrayed in the kpop community as having “polarizing” music, but I honestly felt like both had particularly amazing bsides and didn’t really see the polarizing angle.

The groups closest to becoming my ults at the moment are IVE and NMIXX; IVE has always dropped bangers after bangers but I haven’t been connecting with their bsides as much until recently, while NMIXX was nowhere in this conversation until Blue Valentine dropped and I relistened to their entire discography with a newfound appreciation.

If I had the time to relisten to any of these group’s discography, it would be MAMAMOO; though I almost always fell in love with their title tracks, their bsides didn’t hit me as hard, but I recently relistened to a few of their albums and have changed my tune (Purple + 4 seasons albums + Reality in BLACK is a legendary run.)

As for what soloists (group soloists included) stand out to me the most, Taeyeon would be first on that list, followed by (in no particular order) Jennie, Rosé, Wendy, Seulgi, Irene, Nayeon, Jihyo, Chaeyoung, Yuju, Yena, and Yuri. LOONA was the most recent group I got into, but Chuu and Yves have made their case to be on this list as well 😅.

Speaking of soloists, I’m definitely feeling like I could’ve listened to more, but I really do like the ones I’ve listened to. BoA’s music (from what I’ve listened to) is best experienced when you listen to the full album, with her most recent EP and studio being my favorite (Crazier has one of my favorite aesthetics as of late.) IU’s older music has a really nice nostalgic feel that I can appreciate, while her newer music is really relaxing (her sixth mini, the winning, is elite.) Somi really drops bangers after bangers and it’s a shame TBL doesn’t give her more.

Groups that have the best bsides (imo, not including my ults as they’re all on here) would be NewJeans, i-dle (barring their first two minis), and IVE. NMIXX are really close to this list. Groups with the best title track runs would be IZ*ONE (all of it, really), MAMAMOO (4 season album titles followed by Hip and everything after is elite), and IVE (i can’t really explain this, I just love all their title tracks). Groups I adore for having really cohesive albums are GFRIEND and Kep1er; their music is best experienced when listening to an entire album, as I feel they do an amazing job at expressing a certain vibe through an album. I also have an intense appreciation for EVERGLOW’s early title tracks (though surprisingly, Slay is my favorite by far) and ITZY’s earlier bsides (though Kill My Doubt is my favorite EP, and their recent stuff is amazing as well).

The group I feel shouldn’t have been my ult but is has to be TWICE; i was not a fan of their earlier songs when starting out and thought that maybe they just weren’t for me, but then came Fancy and everything after that and I was hooked. I then just recently relistened to their pre-Fancy era stuff and now love and appreciate it a lot, it has a really nice and catchy nostalgic feel that we don’t really get a lot. I thought I’d hate the cute concept, and while I’m not its hugest fan, I definitely don’t hate it by any means. TWICE is my most recent ult, so I’m the least acquainted with their music and spending a lot of time listening to them.

Other thoughts

(my apologies, I’m just now realizing how lengthy this is getting).

If you were to ask me why I stan or even listen to a grand total of zero kpop male artists, I don’t really have a reason; I guess the closest thing I can give to reasoning on that is that I tried listening to Stray Kids in 2022/2023 and didn’t like it, and simply decided to stick to female artists from there. However, my taste/music preferences have changed a LOT since then, so I may try again.

For where I plan to go after this, I think I’m finally gonna start getting into 5th gen girl groups (BABYMONSTER, ILLIT, Kiss of Life, Hearts2Hearts are first up) as I feel like I’ve been missing out on a lot there 🫠. If anyone has any recommendations or questions, feel free to share! I’m aware this post has been a lot and there’s still a million things I haven’t said, and I truly do love all the artists mentioned but haven’t really got the space to convey that.

If you’ve made it to the bottom, thanks for reading! 🙂