k-pop idols, blink twice 트와이스: the corrupt world of k-pop

I just wished Kpop had more actual expression in it. When I listen to these big K-pop songs sure they sound amazing, but it feels like there is nothing behind it.
No connection to the songs they sing, no involvement in most decisions, no personal attachment to the actual genre they're put into, and most of the time I don't even believe what they say. In fact a lot of what they sing about is contrary to the reputation they uphold.
Especially the hip-hop centered groups, I'm sorry I cannot believe you're hard, and tough and 'dont mess with me' when you're literally not living that life.

Does anyone know if the fans speak out in favor of unionizing or other human rights movement type movement for the k-pop members?

Man that is…. Tragic

You'd have a better chance at winning the lottery than becoming a KPop idol.

Thank you for talking about B.A.P and Bang Yongguk... Its so sad what happened to them.

As far as I can make groups are also encouraged to diet and be skinny. I’m 5 9 female and slim but I can beat most of Bts based purely on weight. Only JK and Namjoon are heavier than me. That’s crazy for an adult male and certainly not healthy.

I also want to mention how the competitive side of K-pop is so toxic. Not only with fandoms, but there are GROUPS that dismiss basic manners because a new group just debuted and isn't successful enough, they are looked down. I'm so glad BTS came out with a book talking about this because it's so toxic.

What agitates me is how complex female health is. Any changes to the diet results in a cascade of hormonal imbalances. Not to mention how this is affecting their cycles, and you can bet the execs don't see the value of making allowances for female health.

I wish she could make a video about sasaengs

as someone who studies korean, the pronunciation in the intro made me wince 😭

Really enjoyed your song and ofcourse also your video essay. Awesome work ♥!!

This video needs more research. Has many fundamental flaws. Its statement about Seo Taeji is all wrong. It forgets about korean rockers of 60s, 70s and 80s.

Madisyn mentioned quite a few misinformation. Also some of the jokes were distasteful. And the over exaggeration of some of the facts (especially the one about kpop groups mostly not having good singers) doesnt help anyone. I dont think she did enough research before making this video. Like dont make a video stating strong opinions about something if you dont know much about it!? Also what is that title? so weird.

In reply to the "gay" idols question: Minho and Jisung from Stray Kids are heavily speculated to be a thing. I dont speculate about what might or might not be going on but just the moments they themselves are putting out there...

Yall are weird asf advertising toys on youtbe. Western whores at it again

Black lives matter...fuckin joke

the n word is an actual word in Korea for someone reason

GIRL FRONT THE TASTE!!! STAN LOONA

In the matter of suspected gay idols, yes there are a lot of suspected gay idols but of course they wouldn't dare to come out, but rumors have come out saying that sometimes when a company announces a relationship between idols (usually working for the same company) it might be to cover up for a "gay" incident or when fans start shipping two same-sex idols too much. I used to be a big big fan of k-pop, and one of my favorite groups was Shinee, and I was actively on twitter on the day Kim Jonghyun, one of the members who suffered from depression, ended up unaliving himself. It was a distressing, traumatic and eye-opening moment, he was never confirmed gay but it was suspected as he seemed to be one of the very few celebrities who supported gay rights, and he complained about his company undermining his feelings of depression and keeping him from seeking treatment, so it was all very shady. And even after his death the company capitalized the hell out of it and it was just the most toxic behaviour I've ever seen from the industry while dealing with someone's life like that, and I haven't been able to listen to K-Pop since, all I feel is pity for the idols and the fans that might be unknowingly financing the death of their favorite people just because their industry is designed to treat people like nothing, they might get fame and money but at the cost of losing their entire lives, in more ways than one.

This reminds me a lot of cult mentality. Some infamously known cults have been known to deprive their members of food and sleep to keep them docile and diminish their executive functioning: to essentially keep them under control. It’s very concerning.

All this and the fact that many are minors when they begin as trainees and even when they debut

Another issue in kpop is colourism. The whitewashing done to their photos and videos, not to mention the skin bleaching...

Just seen a video you made about white people “stealing” hip hop culture away from black people yet you are making a video about K Pop? Is that not at all ironic in your mind

It is so disturbing the amount of corruption these powerful industries attract globally. And the fact these babies are being abused physically mentally and spiritually just for a shot to make it big and become idols. It’s sad and I understand there are perks to that type of lifestyle but if it’s not sustainable then why even bother and that type of living eventually any human would break 💔🙏🏽

The dieting section: that is why I absolutely refuse to work-out on a completely empty stomach. I will make sure I've had a sizable meal at least 30 minutes & at maximum 3.5 hours before the work-out otherwise I get a splitting headache & a foul mood (lhangry but more enraged). I also drink a sport drink during the entire work-out, a sip every 5 minutes. I also make sure after my work-out when I return home I eat within 1.5 hours after I finished or have a snack or a can of soda if I'm not hungry
The sleep section: I will always try to sleep 6.5 hours at least, no less

remember to not stream loona !!! boycott pls!!!!!!!

You need A thick skin before debut, after debut and even during seven years and more. Like Boa, G-dragon or Eun Jiwon

I honestly think K-pop isn’t about music💁‍♀️I once compared a K-pop groups to Beyoncé in terms of performance. And K-pop fans were like K-pop idols aren’t artists😂and I agree. They’re so manufactured and have these fake personalities to please their fans sad really.

The saddest part is even if you go through your seven years without success you still have to payback what you owe to the company. Some idols still have to pay for getting trained too

This was such a great analysis. I love what you said about how K-POP is like a factory

i think what makes these diets worse is that fans will follow these and most of them are super young

Can you please tell the name of the producer,!!!! who was talking like can you take singing seriously

Western stays celebrated when Seungmin has his first straight ship 😂

"kpop is a visual genre, sing isn't necessary"
YES, TSM FOR SAYING THAT, IT WAS NECESSARY!
I'm kpop Stan (BTS, stray kids, ateez and &team) and I, sadly, can confirm this.
But ateez?! They are one of the most talented groups I ever seen! I'm talking seriously, just watch only one of their performances, and thei are visuals too! And u can see that they don't have plastic surgeries or excessive Makeup, I mean they are so natural. I love BTS and SKz as well, they are gorgeous and talented. 😌❤️

I think the thing about the industry, which I think also goes to the Western Music Industry, is that it's less about how replaceable the idols are from within their group, but how quickly trends move to make the entire management built on the success of these groups completely obsolete. The moment these idols age out of their target demographic and are no longer hitting with the their fanbase - everyone who revolves around them now has to figure out where to go next. So the easiest way to avoid this is by pumping out as much content as possible. Photoshoots, variety shows, music, performances, etc. Everyone has to be delivering on time and coming up with the next big thing, otherwise someone else working for another group will figure it out first. And this all falls onto the shoulders of the idols who have to keep up with this pace, because all these people now rely on them to deliver first class content. So the reason why these idols don't eat and management doesn't care that the health of their idols is deteriorating is because it's better if they keep working up until they can't anymore, rather than allow them hiatuses which might give room for consumers to find their fix somewhere else.

This lends to the collectivism guilt I think that's prominent in these sort of cultures/communities, that you can't stop because no one else gets to stop, as well this capitalist trap of where - if you're constantly exhausted and working until you can't anymore, you'll never have time to rest and contemplate how fucked up your surroundings are, and how there might be ways to fix them.

In a way this makes Blackpink one of the more progressive groups out of the Kpop industry because they release and perform so little in comparison to most groups, and yet they are able to maintain so much influence as idols lol.

I don't mean to shit talk but a lot of this is outdated

I consider myself a "chill" Kpop fan. I don't need merch, just the CDs of my favourite artists (BTS). Not even into the photobooks. I don't mean that as a diss to "louder" fans. In fact, I have a lot of respect for people who are really outwardly enthusiastic about their artists; it's just not my personality. I love BTS, but I can go months without listening to one of their songs, yet I'm always excited when a new album comes out and really appreciate their authenticity, introspection, and lyrics. In the earlier days of me being a fan, I did so much deep-diving into their history, meanings and references in their music, the storyline running through much of their content, and followed them intently, but now I'm just like "Take your time boys, I'll just be here, waiting, ready to enjoy whatever you feel like gracing us with next. Do you and I'm happy".

Also lol this is the first time I heard about Taehyung smoking at the Grammys and I'm laughing because people are actually debating the ethics of a grown-ass-man choosing to smoke out of the public eye just because the f***ing paparazzi took a snap of him doing it. Are people coming for them because they eat meat, which is also carcinogenic? Or grilling meat, which creates carcinogenic fumes just like cigarettes? Or drinking alcohol during livestreams? Honestly people.

Honestly i find kpop more about performance than actually music and songs. And it is too mainstream meaning it is nothing special.

They look like they are trying so hard to cosplay Black American with a little mix of Latin culture. Which is the saddest thing ever knowing they are only getting praised and recognized for cosplaying everything the furthest from their natural self. Which is embarrassing 😳 But keep doing u 😘💕

some of these comments are whataboutism central

Although most of your points are true, there are always exceptions to everything.

I remember reading that South Korea has pass the law to standardize trainee contract to no more than 3 years and idols contract to no more than 7 years.

I think a lot of these rules are made because it's business and also the fans or extreme fans.

Also note South Korea has a very very lenient sentence to sexual crimes.

The JJY case, he was only charge with distribution of a or several videos not for anything else. Speculation that those rape (being accused of) were real but he was never charged with although he and the members in that particular group chat were somewhat glorifying rape and was discussing who they would want to rape as well. Parts of their group chats were leaked or released to the public.

You mentioned whether any k-pop fans listen to hip-hop artists and I, a BTS fan, do. I actually mostly listened to hip-hop but was always open to different genres of music. I discovered BTS and became an ARMY a year ago. I loved how they incorporated hip-hop into their music because of their genuine love for hip-hop and r&B. Actually, BTS was originally supposed to be a hip-hop group but then they added dance and singing to become an idol group. In their earlier works, they are definitely more inclined toward hip-hop and covered different topics regarding problems in Korean society. They have also given a shout-out to some of their inspiration, which not only includes korean artists, but also a black artist like Jay-Z Nas, J-cole, and many more. They even give them a shout-out in their song HIP-HOP LOVER and have made covers of some of their influences

there is an openly gay kpop idol, his name is holland!

so many kpop fans are upset that she objectively talked about the horrible parts of kpop without padding it with fluff it's
crazy😭people can talk about OBVIOUS corruption and horrible things without being required to include the good parts of a systemic industry

they're giving very much "not all men!!!" like, please

I've been a kpop fan for a few years and being biasedly positive is not helping the idols I assure you😭

I listen to hiphop, rb and kpop😩 we exist ! ! !