• Onew Deep Dive: SHINee’s Hidden Gem

    Onew is one of the five members of 2nd generation group SHINee, along with Key, Taemin, Minho, and the late Jonghyun, and debuted with them in 2008 before debuting as a soloist ten years later with Blue. Here are my credentials: If you’ve ever read my blog before, you’ll know I’m a huge ShaWol (SHINee…

  • Kim Sejeong Deep Dive: Business Proposal To Soloist

    Kim Sejeong, like Chungha, got her start in k-pop through the project group I.O.I., in 2016. After it disbanded she found success working as an actress in Business Proposal and debuted as a soloist with Flower Way in 2017. Here are my credentials: I don’t know Kim Sejeong that well, as I was never that…

  • I-DLE Deep Dive #2/2: Breaking Boundaries In A Broken Industry

    Here are my credentials (again): I’ve been a casual fan since around 2020 and a Neverland since a little after “I Burn” came out. I even used HWAA as the inspiration for an art piece I had due. So none of my criticism I say is an attack on them; I’m being harsher than usual…

  • I-DLE Deep Dive #1/2: Breaking Boundaries In A Broken Industry

    I-DLE (or (G)I-DLE) has been unique for a K-pop girl group since their debut in 2018, both by being mainly self-produced and by not having a consistent genre. Over the years they’ve dipped their toes into tropical Moombahton, trap, traditional Chinese balladry, tango (Señorita), and hip-hop, just to name a few. They’ve sung in Korean,…

  • Lucy Deep Dive #1/2: A Kpop Fan And Her Dad Review K-pop…With A Violin?

    Lucy is the third full-fledged band I’ve covered here, which means that they compose, write, and play instruments. The members are Wonsang (bass), Sangyeop (guitar and vocals), Gwangil (drums), and Yechan (violin), and they debuted in 2020. Apparently, the name Lucy is in honor of a dog that lived close to where they practiced, which…

  • Key Deep Dive: Comedian, Open Book, and Underrated Artist

    Key first debuted with SHINee (which also includes Taemin, Minho, Onew, and the late Jonghyun) in 2008, and debuted as a soloist around their 10th anniversary in 2018, with Forever Yours. Here are my credentials: As I’ve made abundantly clear on this blog, I’m a Shawol, and SHINee are my ult group. I’m a huge…

  • Girls Generation Deep Dive #2/2: The Nation’s Girl Group

    K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Girls Generation / SNSD (Part TWO) Here are my credentials: So, I’m absolutely a fan of Girls’ Generation, although I’m in that weird space where I’m more than a casual one yet not quite a SONE (a full fan), but just like with Sunmi, I have a feeling that this deep…

  • Girls Generation Deep Dive #1/2: The Nation’s Girl Group

    Girls’ Generation debuted in 2007, with nine members: Taeyeon, Seohyun, Yoona, Yuri, Tiffany, Jessica (who left in 2014), Sunny, Sooyoung, and Hyoyeon, and soon became one of the most popular groups of the 2nd generation of k-pop with their catchy retro songs and down-to-earth image. Also, I’ll be using the names Girls Generation and SNSD…

  • The Rose Deep Dive: On The Fringes Of K-pop

    The Rose was formed a bit differently to most K-pop groups, because they aren’t exactly K-pop. They fall more in the category of an indie-rock band, with Woosung doing vocals and guitar, Dojoon on keyboard, Hajoon on drums, and Jaehyeong on bass. They also met organically while busking and then joined a company already formed,…

  • TXT Deep Dive #1/2: Dreams, Chaos, And Everything In Between

    Here are my credentials: yeah…none. I think the amount of TXT songs I know can be counted on one hand, and besides one, they’re all singles. But like with BTS, I’ve been a K-pop fan for four years and I figured that it was about time I make an effort to give them a try.…

  • Sunmi Deep Dive #1/2: Mental Health, Stardom, and Music Video Monsters

    Sunmi first came onto the kpop scene at age 15 with JYP’s Wonder Girls, before leaving the group in 2010 to focus on her studies. She debuted as a soloist in 2013, and left JYP in 2017. Here are my credentials: I would consider Sunmi my favorite kpop soloist, which is tough competition in a…

  • Purple Kiss Deep Dive #1/2: Kpop Meets Jennifer’s Body

    Purple Kiss debuted under RBW Entertainment (the home of ONEWE, Mamamoo, KARD, and Oh My Girl) in 2021, with a dark witchy concept and seven members: Goeun, Ireh, Chaein, Dosie, Yuki, Swan, and Jieun (the last of which left due to undisclosed health reasons in 2022). Here are my credentials: This is actually a redo…