As a consumer who listens to K-pop purely for the music, I want to share my honest thoughts on the current state of my K-pop groups. I don’t really care about fandom streaming wars, sales, or parasocial content—I’m strictly judging these groups based on their music quality, concept execution, live performances, and overall group vibes. Here are my raw, unfiltered takes on NCT 127, ENHYPEN, RIIZE, aespa, NMIXX/KickFlip, and &TEAM.
NCT 127
1. Mark’s departure vs. The Vocal Line Mark leaving the group earlier this year was definitely a hit to their brand identity—he was obviously one of the main faces of NCT. But musically speaking? The absolute backbone of NCT 127 has always been their vocal line. Without them, the group’s music direction wouldn’t work. What sets 127 apart from other noise-music/experimental groups is their insane vocal production and complex vocal layering. Say what you want about SM, but their vocal arrangements are genuinely GOAT-tier. No matter how weird or jarring a beat is, the vocalists carry and save the song.
Sticker is the perfect example. If a group with mediocre vocals attempted a track like Sticker, it would have been an utter disaster because the rhythm is so bizarre and unpredictable.
Regarding the latest album (Blingy), the title track felt pretty mediocre to me. Everyone did a solid job, but it clearly lacked that special spark. Interestingly, I didn’t find myself missing Mark on it. However, listening to 127 Million Miles made me realize just how crucial the vocal line is. Given that they are down to 5 members right now, I can’t complain too much, but I’m really hoping for better vocal utilization in the next album.
2. Johnny’s spotlight (A bittersweet victory) On a positive note, this album allowed Johnny to showcase his talents more, including his songwriting on “I mean, it’s about time”. But looking at the bigger picture, it’s honestly sad and frustrating that it took more than half the group being absent for SM to finally give Johnny the screen time and lines he deserves.
3. Yuta’s treatment And lastly… SM’s treatment of Yuta is still as awful as ever. Nothing has changed on that front.
Enhypen
1. The Ni-ki & Mina drama was purely fandom brainrot The situation with Mina was 0% Ni-ki’s fault and 100% on the unhinged fans. Ni-ki was literally talking about a completely different concert, but fans connected dots that weren’t even there, acted totally delusional, and started dogpiling on fellow fans out of pure jealousy.
2. Western fans need to learn concert etiquette (OT6 vs. OT7) Some Western fans lack basic manners. Chanting the name of a former member who is no longer in the group during a live concert isn’t “wholesome.” Culture gap or not, Korean members don’t sit there thinking, “Aww, how heartwarming.” They probably think, “Wtf, am I not good enough? Why are you calling out someone who isn’t even here?”
3. Watering down the Vampire concept to “Boyfriend core” It’s so frustrating how Belift took a cool, unique vampire concept and downgraded it into vampire boyfriend packaging. Honestly, no wonder half the fandom acts like parasocial weirdos—the company is actively feeding into it.
4. Peak ENHYPEN albums In my opinion, their top-tier discography remains Dark Blood, Romance : Untold, and Memorabilia. The tracks were solid and the concept execution felt cohesive.
5. Bad A&R choices in recent eras While their vampire concept imagery, tour visuals, and artwork remain visually stunning, the actual music quality has been declining. A&R’s song selection lately has been pretty awful. Honestly, ENHYPEN would thrive much better leaning into dark synth-pop or mature R&B to match their growing age and image.
6. Terrible music production & vocal over-processing The production choices are getting unbearable with the excessive vocal effects. I get it if it’s an artistic style choice for title tracks, but why heavily process light or romantic B-sides? I just want to hear their natural voices. They also need to utilize proper vocal layering more. Even on tracks with ad-libs and harmonies, the songs often still feel surprisingly hollow, mostly because the heavy filters strip away the depth.
7. Vocal growth: Better, but still average To be fair, their live vocals have improved significantly compared to their debut days. They sound stable live now, but strictly speaking, it’s nothing mind-blowing—just decent and average for the current gen.
RIIZE
1. Great discography, terrible Title track choices RIIZE’s overall discography is actually really good, but their team’s title track selection is honestly baffling. The group’s core concept is supposed to be “Emotional Pop,” so why on earth aren’t they choosing songs that push that Emotional Pop vibe to the absolute max for their main titles? Instead, we get choices that leave me scratching my head.
In my personal opinion, songs like Fly Up and Do Your Dance sound way more like B-sides. I genuinely don’t understand why they didn’t pick tracks like Ember to Solar or Soar as title tracks instead.
2. Current group dynamic Musically and performance-wise, all the members are doing a great job right now. Everyone pulls their own weight—nothing feels lacking, nothing feels extra. Their overall balance as a group feels super solid right now.
aespa
1. Bouncing back from a rough era After the mess of the Rich Man and Dirty Work eras—which I honestly think were their absolute worst, not to mention that disastrous GMA performance—they finally got their shit together starting from the Lemonade album up to Kiss N Tell EP. The girls look like they’re actually enjoying themselves with these last two releases, and it really shows in the quality.
Their performance at Lollapalooza got a ton of well-deserved praise. Their live vocals were super stable and impressive. I really respect that instead of crying or playing the victim for fan sympathy, they took the criticism head-on and immediately fixed their performance issues.
2. The “problematic artist” drama around Giselle, Ningning, and other idols is ridiculous People calling out Giselle, Ningning, or any other idols just for listening to “problematic” artists are being incredibly childish. The world isn’t black and white, and listening to a song is really not that big of a deal. People need to stop nitpicking every little thing and save their outrage for actual, serious issues that actually deserve attention.
NMIXX & Kickflip
1. JYP’s A&R team totally surprised me I have to admit, JYP’s A&R team has been doing an incredible job lately. The music for both NMIXX and KickFlip is genuinely so good. Everything about these two groups hits the mark— vocals, dancing, and you can tell they genuinely care about delivering solid live performances.
NMIXX’s recent albums have really cracked the code. The quality is top-notch now, unlike their debut era which felt kind of confusing and all over the place.
2. JYP’s promotion is still absolute trash As good as the music and talent are, JYP’s promotion strategy remains as awful as ever. I honestly feel so bad for the kids because they deserve way better management and exposure for the quality they’re putting out.
&TEAM
1. Refreshing lack of member drama & great group dynamics It’s been 3 years since their debut, and none of the members have had any major personal scandals—which is pretty rare compared to other groups that start running into drama as soon as they get famous. Most of the petty issues usually just stem from Korean fans overreacting or misinterpreting things lol. The members seem to treat each other really well and show a lot of mutual respect. I’m not sure if that’s partly due to Japanese cultural norms, but their team dynamic is super wholesome.
2. The Rock genre suits them perfectly From what I’ve noticed, &TEAM fits the rock concept extremely well. They execute it flawlessly—their stage presence, execution, and dancing are all top-tier. You can really tell they have genuine passion for what they do on stage.
3. Music production and vocal line (Same issue as ENHYPEN) My main issue with them is the music production, specifically the heavy use of vocal effects—pretty much the exact same problem ENHYPEN has. Vocally, they are solid and meet the HYBE standard, but strictly speaking, it’s not mind-blowing.
That said, I would love to see them try a City Pop genre in the future. Their tracks with prominent vocal harmonies—like Samidare, Illumination, and Accelerate—are absolute gems. I wish the company would lean more into that direction.
These are just my personal opinions. If you disagree, feel free to drop a comment and let’s discuss—no need to be aggressive or toxic. It’s just K-pop, it’s really not that serious. Stop being so parasocial.
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