Appreciation name a few things you miss about kpop (1 Viewer)

[looloo_2]

this is a post that's like appreciation of the older days of kpop. whether you've lived through these years or not. it's crazy how much things have changed in kpop.

one thing i do miss about old kpop is the set positions in groups. idols used to be "main vocalists" "lead rappers" "sub vocalists" and etc. it made it easier for newer fans who were discovering new groups for the first time to know what a member does the best. now, kpop groups are marketed as being all rounders, with positions like "leader, vocalist, dancer" where they all can dance, sing and rap even though most of the time those aren't their stronger points. we have sub vocalists out here hitting massive high notes like they can actually do that



another thing will have to be the english lyrics in songs. older kpop songs especially 2nd gen and 1st gen had a lot of funny english phrases in them like "if you wanna pretty, every wanna pretty" by kara or "loverholic robotronic" by shinee. they didn't make any sense most of the time, but they worked and they were the highlights of songs. nowadays, most "kpop" songs are in english with little or sometimes no korean lyrics, making those seemingly kpop songs sound more like regular pop songs without the K in them. also adding onto this, it has to be the lack of prolific producers that defined an entire generation of kpop groups. like sweetune, brave brothers and the late shinsadong tiger. they were like the big three producers that worked on some of the most legendary songs in K-pop's history in the 2nd and 3rd gen. now it's like these producers are barely needed nowadays as kpop is so westernized and so very close to standard western pop that it looses its touch. it's a huge disrespect to those producers who shaped the most iconic songs. they have a legacy and they could've been producing bop after bop for many newer groups. i'm sure they still do but it's not the same.



one last thing has the be the lack of point choreography in songs or the main dance move in a song that defined a whole group. think the hip sway from brown eyed girls abracadabra, the butt sway from kara's mr or the shuffle from beast's fiction. these were dance moves that became legendary, not just among their fanbases but among the korean general public, and actual older people who knew about these moves. these dance moves were replicated by a lot of people you'd never think who'd even listen to kpop, like elderly grandmas and grandpas, military men, kids, etc. it made being a kpop fan seem so fun and worthwhile in a way. not to mention popular boy groups covering girl group songs. one cover i'd like to mention is the boy's day cover, a parady of gg girls day. vixx's hongbin, btob's minhyuk, nuest's ren, and aax's seungjin. they covered their legendary song "something" which was a sultry song with an equally sultry concept. they absolutely KILLED it and they looked so beautiful, and looked very convincing as girls, especially ren. they wore heels, dresses and wigs and they matched the styling of the girls day members, modern kpop could never. 💀

 

[eclipsoul]

• retro concepts!! the 2020-2021 sudden wave of synthpop title tracks was literally everything to me since my taste basically consists of 40 year old songs and songs which sound like they could be 40 years old. but also they were all genuinely well produced and let actual vocalists shine instead of just having the talk-shout choruses
• the lack of talk-shouting choruses lmao like i'm sorry but where are the melodies 😭
• groups having mostly adults in them
• idk honestly good music... i just don't feel like we're going to have a song immediately beloved by everyone (like red velvet's psycho for example) anytime soon

i swore to myself multiple times that i'd never "grow out" of kpop because it's a music genre more than anything but yeah kpop just isn't kpopping to me anymore. i listen to the 2010s and early 2020s releases like everyday but the new songs are unlistenable to me.

 

[looloo_2]

• retro concepts!! the 2020-2021 sudden wave of synthpop title tracks was literally everything to me since my taste basically consists of 40 year old songs and songs which sound like they could be 40 years old. but also they were all genuinely well produced and let actual vocalists shine instead of just having the talk-shout choruses
• the lack of talk-shouting choruses lmao like i'm sorry but where are the melodies 😭
• groups having mostly adults in them
• idk honestly good music... i just don't feel like we're going to have a song immediately beloved by everyone (like red velvet's psycho for example) anytime soon

i swore to myself multiple times that i'd never "grow out" of kpop because it's a music genre more than anything but yeah kpop just isn't kpopping to me anymore. i listen to the 2010s and early 2020s releases like everyday but the new songs are unlistenable to me.

no i agree with this. and omg not the talk shouting choruses, omg those are real. 😭 but same here, kpop is not kpopping for me anymore. i'm only 22 years old, and you can say i have technically grown out of kpop, but at the same time, i haven't as i still gladly listen to 1st, 2nd and some 3rd gen kpop.

also, you can tell that kpop nowadays is geared towards younger audiences? like yeah i know that kpop was always meant for a teen demographic, but a lot of kpop groups nowadays are always playing it safe and are scared to genuinely take risks with concepts. that, and the abundance of english lyrics in songs makes modern kpop feel like Kidz Bop. also the amount of minors we have also contribute to this.

also, i feel like the last time kpop has had a genuine viral song was since momoland's bboom bboom, no other song has been able to make that same impact since that song.

 

[centen]

• retro concepts!! the 2020-2021 sudden wave of synthpop title tracks was literally everything to me since my taste basically consists of 40 year old songs and songs which sound like they could be 40 years old. but also they were all genuinely well produced and let actual vocalists shine instead of just having the talk-shout choruses
• the lack of talk-shouting choruses lmao like i'm sorry but where are the melodies 😭

lol for real. My first thought was "songs with actual choruses and bridges and that lasted over 3 minutes with actual content." I'm over this TikTok era of songs where the chorus is just shouting the title, and there are only two verses, which are virtually identical to each other.

I've been listening to some of Secret's old albums given they're coming back, and it's wild how 3 minutes would have been considered a relatively short song. Like their new songs are 2.5 minutes, and their shortest old title track is 3.5 minutes.

There is definitely a turning around toward longer songs that feel like songs (i-dle's Crow is 3.5 minutes and quite frankly, could have been a bit longer), but it's sporadic.

 

[looloo_2]

lol for real. My first thought was "songs with actual choruses and bridges and that lasted over 3 minutes with actual content." I'm over this TikTok era of songs where the chorus is just shouting the title, and there are only two verses, which are virtually identical to each other.

I've been listening to some of Secret's old albums given they're coming back, and it's wild how 3 minutes would have been considered a relatively short song. Like their new songs are 2.5 minutes, and their shortest old title track is 3.5 minutes.

There is definitely a turning around toward longer songs that feel like songs (i-dle's Crow is 3.5 minutes and quite frankly, could have been a bit longer), but it's sporadic.

those two minute songs are so annoying and one of the few things that are causing people to fall out of love with kpop. these songs also lack a bridge and notable high notes. these two minute songs are made specifically for tiktok. it's crazy that people are actually saying that they hate how empty and repetitive the choruses feel now

 

[centen]

those two minute songs are so annoying and one of the few things that are causing people to fall out of love with kpop. these songs also lack a bridge and notable high notes. these two minute songs are made specifically for tiktok. it's crazy that people are actually saying that they hate how empty and repetitive the choruses feel now

It's wild how exciting it is to have an actual chorus and a 3-minute song, lol. Like all that stuff that was just normal 2nd and 3rd gen.

 

[looloo_2]

It's wild how exciting it is to have an actual chorus and a 3-minute song, lol. Like all that stuff that was just normal 2nd and 3rd gen.

like i wrote above, kpop companies doesn't seem to want producers like sweetune or brave brothers or any famous korean producer anymore as they're known for actually producing songs with a beginning, middle and end. they produce songs with bridges and high notes which are supposed to be more than two minutes long. companies know if they produce songs with more than 2 minutes fans would stop listening to the group because of their short attention spans. and by fans i mean the ones on tiktok, which are the main ones consuming those sorts of songs

also companies get international producers to produce and compose songs for their popular groups, which is why when you see the credits for a song the names sound foreign

 

[Selfmate]

variety shows where idols from different companies managed to interact with one another

and just various variety shows in general such as idol room and weekly idol

 

[dark_tranquility]

the psy era

he had some bangers

got me into kpop as well

 

[looloo_2]

variety shows where idols from different companies managed to interact with one another

and just various variety shows in general such as idol room and weekly idol

oh yeah idols used to interact together even from rival groups and they used to chaotic things. too bad things have actually worked backwards and we fans would get pissed off at things like this now

 

[Somnia]

companies know if they produce songs with more than 2 minutes fans would stop listening to the group because of their short attention spans. and by fans i mean the ones on tiktok, which are the main ones consuming those sorts of songs

While I do hate tiktok a lot and just see it as a brainrot app. I think the shorter songs has to do with the streaming stats. I was thinking of the times when I like a song a lot and let it repeat on Spotify, so if you then count if you listen for even 5 minutes, you played the song two times if it's only 2mins and 30 seconds for example. So I am tempted to believe companies make them short so they get streamed more in a shorter amount of time. But that is just my speculation about it.

 

[looloo_2]

While I do hate tiktok a lot and just see it as a brainrot app. I think the shorter songs has to do with the streaming stats. I was thinking of the times when I like a song a lot and let it repeat on Spotify, so if you then count if you listen for even 5 minutes, you played the song two times if it's only 2mins and 30 seconds for example. So I am tempted to believe companies make them short so they get streamed more in a shorter amount of time. But that is just my speculation about it.

that is likely true. the streams = more money so i'm not surprised if that's the case.

 

[RandAlThor]

variety shows where idols from different companies managed to interact with one another

and just various variety shows in general such as idol room and weekly idol

i have missed this since 3rd gen .
the switch to solo group vlive / we verse ect has siloed all acts.

 

[Selfmate]

i have missed this since 3rd gen .
the switch to solo group vlive / we verse ect has siloed all acts.

I'm hoping one day when izone reunites JTBC will show us the legendary missing 3rd episode of izone on idol room lol

 

[looloo_2]

i have missed this since 3rd gen .
the switch to solo group vlive / we verse ect has siloed all acts.

omg i miss vlive. i remember going on there sometimes but ever since they got rid of it live chatting with an idol doesn't feel the same...i guess it also helps that vlive was mostly free and weverse i think you have to pay for it

 

[Pirioca]

lol for real. My first thought was "songs with actual choruses and bridges and that lasted over 3 minutes with actual content." I'm over this TikTok era of songs where the chorus is just shouting the title, and there are only two verses, which are virtually identical to each other.

It's a general problem of music in the Spotify era.

Why Are Songs Getting Shorter? The Streaming Era’s Impact on Music Length

From vinyl constraints to streaming incentives, here's how technology, money, and social media are reshaping the length of modern music.

tosinadeoti.substack.com

Spotify and other streamers only pay artists if a listener sticks around for 30 seconds. If you don’t grab attention by then, you don’t get paid. It’s music’s version of speed dating: impress or get ghosted.

Compare that to the 1980s, when the average song intro lasted 21 seconds. By the 2010s, it had dropped to just 12 seconds; a 43% decline. The economic pressures of streaming have turned choruses into clickbait, and intros into an endangered species.

 

[alo]

sung choruses.

i am quite enjoying this electronic dance-heavy trend kpop is on currently. i just wish it came with nice, sung choruses too sometimes. i still enjoy songs like kiiikiii's 404, aespa's whiplash and lemonade, etc etc - mainly because imo despite the choruses not being sung the beats are killer and i enjoy the vocal delivery (aespa vocal fry and kya deep voice you will always be dear to me). but if one goes back and listens to some t-ara bangers one realises how sung choruses help elevate these songs. if you want to go further back - lee junghyun's wa. if you don't want to go all that back - riize's impossible, for fuck's sake. absolute earworms.

 

[looloo_2]

sung choruses.

i am quite enjoying this electronic dance-heavy trend kpop is on currently. i just wish it came with nice, sung choruses too sometimes. i still enjoy songs like kiiikiii's 404, aespa's whiplash and lemonade, etc etc - mainly because imo despite the choruses not being sung the beats are killer and i enjoy the vocal delivery (aespa vocal fry and kya deep voice you will always be dear to me). but if one goes back and listens to some t-ara bangers one realises how sung choruses help elevate these songs. if you want to go further back - lee junghyun's wa. if you don't want to go all that back - riize's impossible, for fuck's sake. absolute earworms.

OMG I LOVE JUNGHYUN'S WA! her songs are so good.

also, yeah it feels like a lot of people want actual singing choruses back. a lot of people say it's like talk singing or repetitive choruses

 

[lexus]

- Fixed positions in groups
- Songs that are actually 3 minutes long and have a bridge

 

[alo]

also, yeah it feels like a lot of people want actual singing choruses back. a lot of people say it's like talk singing or repetitive choruses

see idm repetition, really. i would prefer a bit of melody to go with it. again, t-ara were the queens of this. bo peep bo peep is easily one of the most repetitive kpop songs ever, but it also has this incredibly catchy melodic chorus
speaking of t-ara, i would say in this current year yena got it right with catch catch. she has explicitly said t-ara were one of her main inspirations for the song, and like. it tracks. it makes sense.
even talk singing works for me if the vocal delivery comes with the right amount of pizzazz and charisma. the vocal fry is what sold me on whiplash when it first came out, otherwise i'd have written it off as an inferior supernova