Keeping up with K-Pop

Besties, it is time to talk about more K-Pop in this new, recurring column.

February was an inspiring month for the genre. There were some life-changing releases (I’m only being a tad dramatic), and some that made me reevaluate my entire life choices of being a stan.

While technically being released at the end of January, the new group MAMADOL released their first, and sadly only single “WooAh HIP.” 

The group was formed on the competition show, “Mama The Idol,” and features former K-Pop idols who left the business to become moms. These K-Pop legends thankfully got the chance to be in the spotlight again. 

This single from MAMADOL reminds me of Beyonce’s “Homecoming,” with the horns in the chorus and the fierce vocals throughout. It makes me want to get up and vogue as the non-beat drops into the smooth synth beats for the chorus. It is reminiscent of gay club anthems. 

Another “new” group, VIVIZ, debuted on Feb. 9. For all who do not know, this group contains three ex-members of GFRIEND. 

GFRIEND was a group that I could just never get into, but after listening to their EP, and especially vibing with their title song “BOP BOP!” I have quickly become a new fan.

It is hard to put the excellence of this song into words. 

Recently it has been a trend to release songs inspired by former periods. Most retro K-Pop songs take heavy inspiration from the 1980s; however, this song combines the 1960s and 1970s to create a modern disco song. 

“BOP BOP!” relies heavily on these beats, which help make the song seem consistent. Adding some synth elements to the ongoing bass and piano elevates the vibe. 

The rap meshes seamlessly. With most K-Pop songs, it seems like the rapping comes out of nowhere, but not in this song. In order to make it sound modern, “BOP BOP!” embodies the ’60s influence with the instrumentals, but the rhythm of the rapping is something you can find in any Meghan Thee Stallion track.

VIVIZ’s lead single “BOP BOP!” the group’s EP “Beam of Prism” includes songs “Fiesta” and “Lemonade.” This group is currently competing on the competition show “QUEENDOM,” and I am excited to see more. 

“QUEENDOM,” has an interesting competing cast. While the expected groups Brave Girls and LOONA were revealed, adding the group Kep1er to the mix proves how different this show will be.

Kep1er debuted in January and only have three songs to their name (and two of them are not even good). They also just finished competing on “GIRLS PLANET 999”; it seems too sudden for them to compete on this show, but I will be tuning in nonetheless to support my moon girls, LOONA.

Taeyeon, the host “QUEENDOM,” and a former member of SNSD (Girl’s Generation), released her third solo album “INVU” on Feb. 14. I wish I could shout from the rooftops about how amazing this album is, but it is lackluster. 

Taeyeon has been in the industry since 2007. We know what she is capable of doing, and this album is not a good representation of that. While it is a pretty album to listen to, a lot of the songs sound the same.

This does not stop some songs from being standouts though, with tracks such as “INVU,” “Can’t Control Myself” and “Siren.” They work as nice background music. 

On Feb. 21, STAYC dropped a new EP, “YOUNG-LUV.COM.” The only thing missing from this EP was the iconic “STAYC girls, it’s going down” hook in the title track (even though it is present in the following song after “RUN2U”).

This EP is very heavily inspired by R&B, and hearing this more relaxed side of STAYC was fun. I could make connections to Ariana Grande’s first album “Your’s Truly,” and also Chloe x Halle’s album “Ungodly Hour.” 

When I need to strut it out, I listen to the title “RUN2U.” This song transports you into a high-stakes chase in an action movie. It just makes me feel so powerful, and it is so fun to enjoy running (because we all know I am not doing that).

The B-sides also changed my life. “YOUNG LUV” is this amazing slow rock song with stellar lyrics, my favorite being, “It’s okay if you’re bad at it, do it just for me. Listen carefully, you gotta know that.” 

Honorable mention to “247” and “BUTTERFLY.” You can not go wrong with a single track from this EP. Last time, I forced you all to listen to fromis_9, now you all must listen to STAYC.

While my life changed for the better on Feb. 21, it also changed for the worse. 

NMIXX is a new JYP girl group that debuted the same day. I already had my suspicions, as there was a lot of evidence proving that JYP was stealing concepts from other groups, and the teaser for their song “TANK” scared me off with it being so “freaky fishy.”

The title track “O.O,” was the worst song I have ever heard in my entire life. It opens with random whale calls, then moves into Bollywood-esque instrumentals and lyrics that make absolutely no sense together. 

This is noise music; the lyrics are nonsensical, yet are somehow also a Coke Zero ad — it’s confusing to me too. The song lacks consistency, and I felt like I was on a never ending acid trip. 

The song “TANK,” was surprisingly good even though it initially scared me. This probably is because of the trauma “O.O” caused, but this song had some shining moments. 

Lily, the main vocalist, absolutely nailed her parts, it nearly sounded like an opera. It is a shame a talent like hers is being wasted on “noise” music. JYP, fix this. 

The last song released in February was from the group Billie’s “GingaMingaYo (the strange world).” 

This song is not exciting. It was another retro K-Pop song with synth beats and a build-up to a non-beat drop chorus. Almost expected, but it still is a fine song (the rap is what saved it for me). 

What caught my attention about this song is a fan-cam that went viral with one of the members, Tsuki. She effortlessly went from being so cute (aegyo), to mature, then to silly. All of this happened in five seconds and it is what we need to see more of in some idols.

There is just so much that we get as K-Pop stans every month and March is already looking promising, with Red Velvet, Weekly, and many other groups set to come back. I cannot wait to talk about it all the next time that we keep up with K-Pop — and a reminder, listen to the STAYC EP now.