A little background-I stopped caring about kpop some years back. I was a huge 2nd and 3rd gen stan, my favourite groups at that point were snsd, EXID, CLC, red velvet, exo, some old bts songs and some new twice titles were nice too.
By the time kpop exploded online I got sick of how cultish kpop fandoms were and it distanced me from the genre. Some of the last groups I’d gotten into back then were NCT 127, Loona.
I got back into kpop last year. Over the course of the past year of being into kpop I’ve really liked a couple groups from the new generations. I think this has been defined by a couple of things-
1) Band Identity- a story line, concept, music wise and conceptually
2) Vocal ability
3) Dance as a performance
4) Members that feel authentic- the idols don’t feel as controlled and feel free to showcase their personality
5) Production and arrangement
Since these are all groups I like they’ll be rated between three and five stars. Three means good, but can do better and four mean I need that one thing that will really push it to a five.
- NMIXX– Nmixx stands out in a crowd of groups where its clear that a group of executives have tried to create a formula. The members are insanely talented and genuinely great singers. They seem to have an identity in place-even though that identity does not come from following a genre. There is something also extremely magnetic about their performances, they are very expressive. The group also feels very authentic, but this is something I see in a lot of JYP groups- maybe because of a different culture- where the company does not like idols looking like untouchable gods. On production- to me- they’ve had some hits some misses, but by and large mostly hits (mostly background track and arrangement)
Band Identity- 4
Performances- 4
Vocals- 5
Authenticity- 5
Production- 3
- AESPA– I’ve had more than few complains with their fans who read to me like unwashed losers- specially the male stans on twitter. But aespa has truly stuck to the musical, and storytelling identity they’ve always had. I absolutely adore their vocals. The production is AMAZING. Aespa’s composers, arrangers ano producers need international recognition for the GOLD they consistently make regardless of if the song is a hit or not.
Band Identity- 5
Performances- 4
Vocals – 5
Authenticity- 3
Production- 5
- TXT– I was not expecting to be this shocked by how gold their discography was. I’m guessing there’s a lot owed to the fact that they are HYBE, and the first year of their debut was very much trying to outgrow BTS’ shadow. However in an industry with never changing music styles and executives releasing the next trendy hit- them staying more or less consistent with the same sound is really great. I wish they were challenged more vocally, they sound good enough right now, but you can tell they’re capable of very heavenly vocals. The choreos have had some hits some misses for me, but overall I think we can do better.
Band Identity- 5
Performances- 3
Vocals – 4
Authenticity- 5
Production- 5
- ATEEZ– This was another similar experience as TXT to me, i was not expecting how good that discography was. Ateez to me are a very good example of what I mean by Dance as a performance. The moves are very engaging, and it feel like dance theatre- the gestures seem to mean something, and ancient dance practices and musical theatres did the same thing- music with dance as storytelling. I thoroughly enjoy watching them.
And them making their own music is a huge plus I’m not gonna lie.
Band Identity- 5
Performances- 5
Vocals – 3 (if it was just jongho this would be a 5 star)
Authenticity- 4
Production- 4
5. STRAY KIDS– Boy these guys are REALLY not liked by any kpop stans. Regardless I’ll keep my opinion true to myself. Stray kids are another band that are on par to me regarding dance as performances. Every choreo step reflects what they’re saying, it’ll an extremely entertaining watch! I think outside of seungmin and han, the group is obviously not very vocal focused. Bang chan is a vocalist, but he doesn’t seem to want to make vocal songs. They have a band identity that they’ve generally stuck to- despite a lot of hate, and I respect that. They’re definitely very authentic. On the production- I love that they’re self produced, but they have a long way to go imo. All the tracks feel like 20 separate GOOD songs. The day they relax their production- focus on vocal production, will be the day that I will give them a 5 star on most things.
Band Identity- 5
Performances- 5
Vocals- 2 (if it was just seungmin-5; han-4)
Authenticity- 5
Production- 2
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