My pet-peeves in Kpop

Welcome back to another ramble by Sunny where I basically just yap about nothing important ! Today's topic: My pet peeves in Kpop. Now, ever since I got introduced to Kpop in late 2018 thanks to Blackpink and became fully immersed in 2021, I've had quite a bit to watch stage performances and variety shows and fancams and listen to songs upon songs, and these are some of my pet-peeves/'icks' so far in the kpop industry. Some of these I think are unpopular opinions, so keep that in mind and if you don't agree with me: opinions are subjective !

1) When groups focus more on dancing+stage presence than singing

I feel like this one isn't really that far fetched but something kinda annoys me when (mostly) newly debuted kpop groups focus a lot more on intense dancing and stage presence than their vocals, so the vocals in their songs are really quite lackluster (this is in general, no groups in particular). I feel like this is why a lot of kpop groups that debut with mid vocals and a focus on performances tend to fade into obscurity, because outside of watching the performances on youtube, what else can you really do when the music isn't that exciting to listen to ? This isn't to say I don't like watching dance performances, but if that's more of the focus, then maybe being an idol (where singing is included) wasn't the correct career path. Take kpop groups of the past, specifically 2nd gen and 3rd gen. While there definitely have been really intense choreographies, you'll actually find that more simple choreos can get the job done just fine, letting the idol be able to sing well on stage instead of having to rely on a really mid backing track. However, 1st gen kpop had this problem and that's one of my favourite gens so I guess I can't really complain...

2) When a group sings live but the backing track is overwhelmingly louder than the actual singing

This is especially annoying when it's a group that we know fully well can sing perfectly fine and stable on stage, but we can barely hear their actual voice because the backing track is so goddamn loud !! So it either sounds like the idol is mumbling or they have to shout over it. Ngl, imo it also sounds quite bad because you can hear two voices at once, and not in a nice harmony way, but like two voices trying to fight to be the loudest..

3) Extremely close camera work

This is one that I think might be an unpopular opinion because I've never really seen anyone say that they don't like the really close up on stage camera work of nowadays, but tbh I just don't really like it. Fine, if you want a cameraman on stage following the idols around while they perform then you do you, because this isn't particularly new, but it gets to a point when they're all up in their face and you can barely even see the choreo that they're doing ! Yeah, there are different povs you can view like still versions to see the choreo, but idk, it just gets beyond a joke sometimes when i can see the pores on an idol's face....

4) Those modern remakes of 1st/2nd gen songs where the instrumental is incredibly watered down/when no one realises it's a remake and they don't take a second to listen to the og :')

The remakes that came to mind for me are New Jeans' cover of Tell me by Wonder Girls and that new cover of Mr by Kara by that group that I actually don't know the name of. No hate to them, their actual music is fine (atleast New jeans, I haven't heard any of the other group's music), but it's just the covers ! The instrumental of the original song which is layered and upbeat and lively is reduced to a 5th gen carbon copy making it incredibly bland. Idk, ig that type of music isn't really my thing, but I just feel like there's no need to change the instrumental to such an extent. Also the second point, when a newer kpop group makes a cover/remake of a (most of the time) 1st gen song and no one knows the og song and no one gives the og idols credit :') this hurts my 1st gen heart a lot of the time lol

6) When there's more english than Korean 

This isn't to sound like one of those Keep Kpop Korean people, because I'm all for a bit of English in Kpop. Hell, this has been a thing since 1st gen (I'm looking at you, the random discredited guys rapping in english in Baby Vox songs). However, when songs are fully in english apart from one or two korean words at the end of 2 lines per verse, it makes me think that it might as well have just been an English release....  

7) Lack of variety nowadays

This is more about appearance, but the past like 20 mainstream kpop girl groups I've seen have had carbon copy members, all with the exact same long black hair, pale skin, identical makeup, even similar facial features and heights ! I really miss the unique and colourful hairstyles of 2nd, 3rd and even 4th gen because not only could you tell the members apart but it was just really fun and made the group memorable ! Makeup was also a lot more enjoyable, because back then each member had a different style or the makeup was unique and fun. Now, it's quite common for all members to have the exact same makeup style. I'm just sick of seeing that dewy clean girl light makeup glassy skin look everywhere... If we're all gonna have the exact same makeup at least make it bold !

Notable hairstyles of 2nd gen :') wfw

Anyway, I actually don't really like this blog that much but here you go, some of my pet peeves in Kpop !