IS KPOP BABYMONSTER GOOD?? (a needed debate)

BABYMONSTER is a fifth generation kpop group that debuted on the 1st of April 2024. They consist of 7 talented members, Ruka ( 2002), Pharita (2005), Asa (2006), Ahyeon (2007), Rami (2007), Rora (2008) and Chiquita (2009). Before we discuss the main topic, I am going to go through a character rundown with each idol as well as their debut journey, and how they caught netizens attention with their new songs!

Part one: idol rundown

RUKA:

RUKA is the main dancer and a rapper in the dance group. She is Japanese and really caught my eye with how talented she is. She's honestly one of my favourite members because her dance movements are so sharp and I think its quite rare to see a genuine dancer in the kpop industry now. You can see her dances and the other members dancing in their pre-debut show "Last Evalution." She is also the oldest in the kpop group!

Pharita:

PHARITA is is a vocalist and is known netizens to have  a "princess voice." her voice is rlly soft and captivates the audience. She's Known to be a lot of people's bias', but honestly she doesnt stick out that much to me from the rest of the group. The only thig that makes me more drawn to her is her origins, as shes a Thai star from Bangkok. She's fluent in english as she went to an international school.

Asa:

ASA is the main rapper, dancer and a vocalist. Her voice is very distinctive and I appreciate how she is using her voice to its advantage. Shes a Japanese star and stands out from the rest of the group in a good way. Though she is quite unique I would not consider her my bias, But I know that there is someone out there that would appreciate her more.

Ahyeon:

AHYEON is my bias in BABYMONSTER. shes the main vocalist, rapper, dancer AND center in the group. In my personal opinion she has the most impressive voice, her vocal range is extremely high and I love how she is able to use it to its full potential, As many kpop songs now usually dont hit as much high notes without autocorrect. Her voice was especially distintive in their reality show "Last Evaluation," when she sang a cover of Dangerously by Charlie Puth. She's also extremely pretty as well as talented, which I think is great for her! I think she could improve her dance skills more but yet again we must consider how difficult it is to dance AND sing at the same time. shes fully korean.

RAMI:

RAMI is the main vocalist of BABYMONSTER! shes also a popular bias to many netizens due to her strong and unique voice, which also has quite a high vocal range. She stands out to me with her height ( shes 172cm tall), which I love as many kpop idols are on the shorter side, so for taller people to be represented is great! Shes a korean idol.

RORA:

RORA is the lead vocalist, dancer and the visual of the group. Shes been a star since she was very young and trained to be an idol for 6 years, which really shows her dedication to the industry. Shes quite famous and stands out to me with her height (170 cm), and her amazing visuals! shes exactly what the kpop beauty industry wants.

CHIQUITA:

CHIQUITA is a vocalist, dancer, rapper and the maknae of the group. Shes a thai idol and really inspires me as she is born in 2009 ( my age). It's crazy to think how successful she is at such a young age compared to many teens who can barely do anything. I appreciate her hard efforts and inspire to be like her. Shes extremely pretty and in my opinion an all rounder when it comes to dancing and singing. Some netizens suggest she is the best dancer of the group, but I think Ruka takes thats place.

Part Two: whats the issue?

All of these idols are extremely talented, so what seems to be the issue?

Well,YG entertainement, though in their hardest efforts, is failing to make BABYMONSTER rise to its fullest potential. All due to once mistake. Trying to recreate it to be similar to Blackpink. 

Blackpink is the most successful YG group, selling millions of copies and BILLIONS of people have streamed their songs. As they are a third generation group, they are considered quite old and are rumored to disband soon, so I belive YG is forcing Blackpink's aesthetics and group concepts upon BABYMONSTER to make it as similar and as popular as possible. Only that many netizens do not like this and are hating on the group more than ever.

The songs "Sheesh" and "Batter Up" by BABYMONSTER are extremely good, but the soundtrack is almost identical to Blackpink's tracks as well. and the costume concepts are quite similar as well, and though this should not be an issue, people are still getting triggered over this. 

The worse part of this is that netizens are hating on the actual idols, when in fact its not their fault that this is happening as they do not get a say in what they wear or what they sing. I believe people should be more considerate. They are also fairly young, so taking out anger on a bunch a teenagers is just stupid.

I see huge potential in Babymonster. Though they sort of had a rocky debut, their songs are quite solid, their idols have amazing talent, and with the right help, they could be a unique and very strong group. I think we should not judge too harshly for now as they only debuted a few months ago, so who know what will happen in the future.

I recommend listening to them if you havent already, but if you are picky with your music, I say start with Blackpink first as its very similar with less vocal range, so its much easier to identify all the idols.

Thank you for reading, I love sharing my views on music and would love to hear of songs from you all! if you want to continue this topic or would like to discuss somthing else pelase comment <3

- Jassy