#yes i listen to music that's not kpop

[hotasfahrenheit]

ran off to Chicago by myself for the first time ever to go to a concert alone for the first time ever, back to my roots and my favourite band, Big D and the Kids Table, that i haven't seen live in 10+ years because they're from Boston and i left the northeast years ago 🖤🤍🖤🤍

get in 💖

[hers-underwraps]

I feel like these two would be k-pop stans

(Also sorry about the shitty image I need more dashi and peso images)

[hercarisntyours]

ot5 itzy is back for real i am not okay I am crying.

[echoesofadream]

Quality of gidles music has declined pretty badly, IVEs last comeback was FINE, staycs latest album was BAD truly, everglows last title track divided the fandom, le sserafim are controversial and hated, itzy kind of fell off still have some loyal fans but lowkey their real last hit was in like 2020. In conclusion aespa are truly 4th gen leaders. Boy groups I dont care about you 

[sluttyten]

yall I want TDS3 tickets so badly 😭 but I don't know who to even go with and I'm not going by myself.... but I'm also seriously thinking I'm just gonna go ahead and try to get tickets on friday anyway

[not-cool-enough-to-scuba-dive]

shuffle your On Repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people ✨

tagged by the lovely and wonderful caroline @lineegrace

Honeywell by Clem Turner

The Devil Is In The Desert by Small Leaks Sink Ships

Boy In The Bubble by Alec Benjamin

Two Hearts by Dermot Kennedy

Run Away With Me by Carly Rae Jepsen

Subliminal by half•alive

Left and Right by SEVENTEEN

The Best View in Liverpool by BANNERS

Open Road by NATI.

Warm Water, Winter Winds by A R I Z O N A

I tag @snyderpretzels21 @rinneyelaine @funkyplantguy @buglite @poeciles @milesmain @routeriver and anyone else if you wanna do it (no pressure tho!!)

(idc if I repeat tag anyone caroline tagged and idc if you already did it. you're my friends and I'm gonna be annoying because ily)

[agendratum]

and everyone gasped

[blizzardfluffykpop]

You sent me an ask so I shall return the favor! What is the most recent Kpop group you’ve gotten into and how did you find out about them? I always love hearing fan “origin stories” lol

Thank you for returning the favor~ That would be The Boyz 🥰💖 I love hearing fan "origin stories" too hehe (This is gonna get long I love them sm)

Anyways I've known about them since debut? I loved Bloom Bloom Pow with my whole heart when it came out and tried to fall for them then- It didn't work. The next time was when The Stealer (TS) came out~ I had watched them perform for Road to Kingdom- because ptg was on the show too- But I really loved TS cb- sm so that I bought the album about 6 mos later with my favorite members as inclusions at the time (Eric, Kevin and Hyunjae). But nothing came about of it even after watching the weekly idol episodes... Then came Whisper era and I ended up biasing Changmin (Q) and loving that song but again nothing came out of it.

(A little backstory is that Changkyun (I.M) got me into Dominic Fike's music-) Thus, when tiktok showed me Juyeon, Changmin, and Sunwoo dancing to Babydoll earlier this year as a dance cover: I fell. And then I finally checked out Watch It~ But Hui had his solo and it distracted me completely from falling further. Then I had gotten sick and decided 'well, what if I watch their content?' And I did... I watched their hello82 interview and their reaction to fanart of them, and lastly their mafia dance. And I loved each sm that I decided to check out more.

It was the first time I had watched their content and wanted to see more. And now, I watch their content almost daily. It's kind of like they revived the joy of kpop for me? My (old) ult of ults has been on hiatus due to the military so it's been stagnant content lately for me. But then they came in like a breath of fresh air- and I simply can't get enough. This month will be 3 mos and I honestly hope I'll follow them for a long time. (I think they're my new ult of ults tbh)

And lastly now here I am as a Younghoon and Juyeon bias (with bias wrecker: Changmin... he's doing everything to be bias again). And with them having a comeback I loved with my whole heart this past month, I think it really solidified them with me. Honestly, I'm so happy with them.

[bittersweetstargazer]

white americans r so interesting bc they'll be like I'm not racist 😤😤😤 and then refuse to listen to a kpop song for reasons that basically boil down to it's not american so I don't like it

[always-a-joyful-note]

Okay but in honour of Artistic Partisan being released on engstars, I'm going to be very self-indulgent and talk about how Hell Screen (source) coded it is. And yes I'm talking about Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story about the (spoilers to come) painter obsessed with art and his beloved daughter who got sacrificed in all sorts of ways (then died) in order to inspire him to paint a scene of the Buddhist hell at the commission of his shady patron.

I mean, maybe it's just me but I think Artistic Partisan perfectly captures that line between obsessive creation and passionate artistry, flip flopping back and forth as the line "si vis artem, para bellum" (play on the latin "si vis parcem, para bellum" if you want art/peace, prepare for war) is chanted in the midst of it all. Like how could that not capture the artist's desire for eternity, longevity, beauty while also having the both threatening but invoking intense melody that gives it that edge of action and danger? It's so Hellscreen in the way that Hellscreen is a very bleak depiction of the battle that is art (with questionable beauty being produced but a definite masterpiece of expression regardless). Yes, the artist wants to live forever but, be warned, because the world of art is not one of peace. It is filled with blood and sacrifice and battles. Artistic Partisan is the warning song (but also a praise, almost, of art), Hellscreen is the story of the song ignored (but still proof of how war really does create art).

Just....man. They went hard on this one. If you want art, prepare for war indeed.

[hexesandroses]

I rediscover kpop every 2-3 months and lowkey get emotional every single time

[fauna-and-floraa]

always interesting to hear people speak about kpop and how often they'll focus in on the fact a group was "put together" by a company and therefore that group is less than or fake or somehow tainted because they didn't organically form out in the wild and I'm like... of all the things you could have contempt about, thats the one you chose? That one?

[bandzboy]

you know what is funny? i saw someone pointing out this on twt yesterday but some people claim that they understand boycotting but somehow… SOMEHOW… don’t understand why hybe needs to be boycotted but this honestly just tells me that these people aren’t even participating in the general boycott and genuinely don’t understand why it is needed at all 😭 which is embarrassing i will say

[match-your-steps]

Ok I always thought the "I am ---" trilogy and the Clé trilogy were two separate things but I've also always been confused by "I am YOU," the featured track from the final "I am ---" album. Like, it's sweet and all, and it makes a little sense (the line "I see myself in you" really clears things up for that one tbh), but it's never really felt like a resolution.

If I think about it, though, the Clé trilogy seems to be another identity-finding journey that centers on separating your identity from others. I don't mean, like, uniqueness, but rather not relying on others for your sense of identity. If I'm right, then Clé is actually a continuation of the "I am ---" albums.

However, the I am WHO album kind of doesn't fit very well here, because the main featured track is "My Pace," which is about not paying attention to like. peer pressure and stuff and doing the things you want to how you want to do them instead without comparing yourself to others. That kind of feels like it fits better with the whole separating self from others thing Clé has going on.

I vaguely remember hearing that the other song they were considering making the main track for I am WHO was "Awkward Silence," which, don't get me wrong, I LOVE that song, but it does not fit the vibe of the album so I'm kind of glad they did not do that, but it's also about not feeling pressured in social situations.

I guess you could say "My Pace" and "Awkward Silence" fit the progression of the "I am ---" albums, in a way, because they're starting to realize who they are, but I feel like they're too far ahead for having a whole 'nother album left. To be honest, I've always thought "Question" fits the vibes the best.

Anyways, I have a sort of theory for how the progression goes and ties together between these 6 albums:

I am NOT - hold on a minute who do I really want to be? what do I want in life? are the things I want really the things people tell me I should/do?

Representative songs: "NOT!" "Awaken"

I am WHO - if I'm not who everyone says I am, then who am I? (starts discovering self a bit)

Representative songs: "WHO?" "Question"

I am YOU - forming a good relationship (of any kind; could be significant other, friend, parent, whatever), or perhaps returning to one. it could be like a new relationship they're very happy with or it could be reaching an understanding with the people they rejected in I am NOT. part of their identity comes from this relationship. a large part of their identity, actually, probably, because like. it's. I am you. uh yeah

Representative songs: "YOU." "I am YOU" "Hero's Soup"

Clé 1: MIROH - whoah guys I'm pretty rad amirite

Representative songs: "MIROH" "Victory Song" "Boxer"

Clé 2: Yellow Wood - wait actually something is wrong? life is not as easy as I thought (kind of like that)

Representative songs: "Side Effects" "TMT" (not gonna count any of the mixtapes bc they're really more like singles that just happened to be released in this album)

Clé: LEVANTER - I defined myself too much by my relationship with this person (maybe the person from I am YOU) and lost sight of what I wanted for myself, so when they left me (possibly in Clé 2) I no longer knew what I to do. However, I now realize this and can take hold of my desires for myself.

Representative songs: "STOP" "Levanter" (most of the other songs carry similar 'I'm gonna do what I want now' sentiments, however, they do not include the same ideas about breaking free as "Levanter" and "STOP," while it also does not in words, the fact that it is pretty close to being the same song as "Road Not Taken" from Clé 2 but with mostly different lyrics indicates a connection to the unsureness of that album with a sense of moving on from it)

From the resolution of the Clé albums, most of their albums follow a trend of confidence, like that in Clé: MIROH except they haven't gone back to an uncertain theme afterward. Not every song is so confident, but there were confident songs in the beginning, so why shouldn't it be the other way around?. Case in point: "Grow Up," from I am NOT didn't start with confidence, but it ended with it, and there's also "YAYAYA" from the album from even before their debut. In TOP, which, yes, is now like 3 years old or something (I'm really behind on their newer albums so idk what most of the songs are but I am literally actively working on it right at this moment) and was for an anime, there's "SLUMP," which was written/composed/arranged by Han and Chan so it definitely fully counts, and it's fully super not confident. Nevertheless, the fact that I knew all the songs up through, like, THUNDEROUS, and still had a really hard time thinking of less confident stuff means there's definitely a trend of confidence since the resolution of the clé albums.

[silverpiwon]

I have to live my truth

[tyrianrambling]

thank you to my sweet sweet gf @glowingplant for tagging me!!! love you!! :3

RULES: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, and then tag 10 people. No skipping!

also, like my gf, i'll go for my big fatty playlist with uh, 5680 songs. that'll be spicy!

Aces - Ruen Brothers

Without U - EXID

The Rhythm King (Bullets Per Minute OST) - Sam Houghton & Joe Collinson

Dunes Were Here (Serious Sam's Bogus Detour OST) - Damjan Mravunac

Over the Hills (Overgrowth OST) - Mikko Tarmia & H. Anton Riehl

Not The One - The Heavy

Lauren Caught My Eye - The Crash

Puzzle Moon - GWSN

The Guardians (Talos Principle OST) - Damjan Mravunac

The Devil is in the Beats (Hanna OST) - The Chemical Brothers

i'm nervous about tagging folks so if there's anybody who sees it feel free to do this yourself <3

also a link to my gf's version bcus i think her music taste bops and a link to my fatty playlist if anybody's curious