Starlighttracks

Hiii. Welcome to my blog. This is my account to share some of my thoughts and opinions on what's going on in the industry. Some groups I stan along with my bias are

Stary kids: Lee know with Han as my bias wrecker

Bts: V

Enhypen: Jay

Cortis:Juhoon

Le sserafim:yunjin

Twice: Momo and chaeyoung

Every comeback seem to come with the same question: did it break records? Whether it's first day sales, Spotify streams, Youtube views, or music show wins, success in Kpop is often measured by numbers. But should it be?

Don't get me wrong, it's exciting to see groups achieve new milestones. Fans love celebrating those moments. But somewhere along the way, it feels like we've started treating every comeback that doesn't break a record as a failure, even when the music is great.

Sometimes a comeback is about trying something new instead of chasing bigger numbers. Groups experiment with different genres, concepts, and sounds. Those risks won't always become their biggest hits, and that's okay. If every comeback had to outperform the last one, artists would have less room to grow creatively.

Just because a song doesn't become a massive hit doesn't mean it wasn't successful. Success can also mean connecting with fans, showing artistic growth, or creating music that people genuinely enjoy.

Every comeback seems to come with endless comparison to the previous one. If sales are lower or streams aren't as high, some fans immediately call the comeback a flop. But expecting every release to constantly set new records isn't realistic for any artist.

I feel like most of the time I like b-sides more than the actually title track so here are some of my favorites

Blue lips-cortis

Love,older you-illit

The view- stray kids

Telepathy-bts

F*ck my life- seventeen

So let's go see the stars-boynextdoor

Pearlies(my oyster is the world)-Le sserafim

MAMACITA-Ateez

Right hand girl-twice

stealer-enhypen

Tiktok is one of the biggest social media platforms out there, with thousands of people using it. So it makes sense that most Kpop groups are going to have a tiktok account but does it actually help them?

One of my favorite things that has come out of Tiktok is the dance challenges between groups. It's such a fun way to see groups you never expected to interact and it spreads awareness to both fanbases for the new music. Leading groups to get new fans. I also love that this started during Covid giving the idols a more creative way to promote their songs.

Another plus side is smaller groups can reach more audiences. Before Tiktok groups could only rely on music shows or already having a big fan base. Now any clip can go viral and introduce thousands of people to a new group they may have never found otherwise. While going viral isn't guaranteed, Tiktok gives artist a chance to be discovered.

Now while I think Tiktok has added so many great things for the kpop industrial, it also has some negatives to it. First it sometimes feel like every comeback is expected to have a viral moment. Instead of enjoy a comeback, fans and companies offered focus on whether it became a trend. While going viral can be great for promotions, it shouldn't measure how good the group or comeback is.

Some fans have noticed that songs seem to be getting shorter or are built around one catchy chorus. While Tiktok isn't the only reason for this, it's understandable why companies would want songs that grab people's attention faster.

June had, in my option, some really good release, along with some that unfortunately weren't for me.

Starting with boynextdoor, sadly this album let me down a bit. Maybe I just need to give it another listen, but beside 'ddok ddok ddok' there weren't many songs that really stuck out to me. "Viral" was alright just not my favorite by them. I am really excited for their tour to start though.

"Iconic by mistake" Look I was not expecting to like it this much but its so good, yes some of the lyrics are a little...different but honestly its still really good same with the dance I've had it stuck in my head the last few days.

"Back to life" by Han of Stray kids. This was the MV release but this song is so good it might be my favorite Han-pop song and I love it so much. I've added to like all of my playlist and am learning it on guitar.

BTS secret song "come over" came out too. The song is super cute! Just not one that I'm always thinking about, but it's still good.

This is a new one for me but the band Can't be blue release their first full album this month. I discovered them through the song they did with Han and it's now one of my favorite bands. I still need to listen to the album a few more times, but I've enjoyed what I've heard so far.

Hearts2hearts "lemon tang". I'm not a fan of this song. I think its just too cutest for me and not my type of music. The group is so talented and really good at singing but again I just think its not my taste of music.

Evan's debut. I talked about it in a post before. "Ride or die" is an alright song, I don't see why people are hating so much on, yes the choreo is a little weird but the song as a whole isn't bad. Now overflow I'm absolutely obsessed with and can not stop listening to it.

Stray kids "Run it". Look, my ult group is skz so I may be biased but this song was so good. I have a post that goes full in detail about my thoughts but I generally love this song, and the music video is amazing. I'm so happy they're back.

Ateez's new album was okay. Again, just not my taste of music. My favorite on the album is "body" or "mamacita". I do not get all the hate they are getting for this comeback. And can we talk about chase infiniti?? I think we all love her now and she is living every atiny's dream right now.

Being a kpop fan let alone a muiltstan one of the most annoying things in the double standards between girl groups and boy groups. First and for most I'm not hating on any of these people the groups or people I mention I like both of so the only reason I'm saying this is because as a fan of both I thing its crazy the double standards of it.

Lets start with the fact that its ok for the men to be shirtless but the second a women wears something tight or maybe it "shows to much skin" the hate people make the women go through is insane. For example at one blackpink show jennie was wearing a zip up top and bralette underneath when she was performing to filrt with the camera she unzipped her top. Right, to me thats nothing whatever but the amount of hate comments she got and slut shamming was crazy(lets be honest when isn't she getting some hate comments). Then you have bang chan from straykids( which let me add skz is my ult group and I love them with my whole heart) who took off his entire top mid performance and people went crazy calling him hot and that he should do it more. Double standards again because the second a women does it, its wrong.

In dating rumors, for example one of the newest ones is Jungkook and Winter(I don't ship them this is just something I saw) Winter got death threats and people hating on her for rumors that weren't even true but Jungkook on the other got told that he should leave her and that he deserved better. First this is crazy Jungkook is just as much part of this rumor as Winter would be. Also I don't ship them I think this rumor was a really out of pocket one that was really far reached.

Do you guys remember when Irene from Red Velvet mention she was reading the feminist book 'Kim Jiyoung' she got a mass amount of hate for READING A BOOK. People burn her photo cards and merch all because some claimed the book was anti male. Mind you a book, that seems actually really interesting now that I looked at it, this is the same book that RM of Bts read and got praised for by fans. Now looking at both of their fandoms, RM has a lot more female fans which Irene has more male fans so that could have to do with this but it also just shows again the double standard.

So first this started off in a panic because on the Ticketmaster site it didn't have the tickets on there. And after a long call with Ticketmaster they told us they didn't know what to do about it. So for a bit I thought we weren't going to be able to go in which was weird because I had the screenshots of buying them. So after arriving at the stadium early we were able to get the tickets and get in. Now let me add a detail. This was Chicago in the middle of June and it had been pretty nice all week expect for that night it was 92 degrees and my outfit was heavy black jeans and a red tank top. Now was I going to change pants, heck no, the outfit was what I was going to wear no matter what. So yes I was sweating horribly but I wasn't really paying attention to it so its fine. Where I was seated you could the stage behind just a bit but you could see the members getting ready to go up on the platform. There's this funny video of me that my mom recorded when the introduction video was playing and before they showed up but as they were walking to the platform I noticed them and screamed 'Oh my god you can see there heads'.

When they first came on stage I was freaking out not only because they were there but the fact that this was really my first concert and it was finally hitting me that this was it. So the whole concert goes on and it goes pretty well, expect for the fact that this one fan was in front of me. Now I'm hating on her for screaming but she would like high pitch scream when it got quiet and then stop and do it again. Also during Cover me she screamed 'Bang Chan do me' (While her boyfriend was sitting right next to her) I honestly thought it was kind of funny but really weird to do it during that song.

Anyway the concert went great. I think I cried three times one when they came out, the second time was during cinema but who doesn't cry during that song. And the little banners that we got what for youtiful which is my favorite song, and they sung a bit of that which that had me crying really badly. Like I love that song so much I'm planning on getting a tattoo for it. But everyone was super nice and everything worked out amazingly.

So first thing first the beginning with the switch between the members was so smooth and looked so good along with the trumpet sound ahhh its so good already. Chan's outfit looks amazing and I've seen the online stuff of people staying its a one piece is so funny. Also him and Seungmin on all fours is funny to me too because like how awkward is that to film. The chorus is amazing and so is the dance it looks super good and fun to learn. Han looks so good in the music video the curly black hair has me dead. I mean all of them look good don't get me wrong. Lee know in the center and his lines hehe I freaking love him. Chan's little dance break I'm super excited to see what they do with it when they go on tour I'm sure they will make it a much bigger dance break. Hyunjin every time that man is on the screen he owns it and looks amazing doing so. Felix's voice sounds really good and the little 'feel me?" part ohhh they knew what they were doing there. I also really like his outfit. I.N!!!!! Again with them on all fours and him in the paint it looks so good. AND Felix with his taekwondo part I'm so happy he got to do it again and it looks really cool with two of him doing it. Plus lee know looked so good at his little part. The clapping part they do before the final I just know that's going to go crazy on tour. The ending is hands down my favorite part of the song because tell me why I see the song was almost over and went "Huh Changbin doesn't have that many lines and he did rap like at all normally that's sometime they do." but then the rap of 2racha was insane and the lyrics are so good. Because it really talks about how much they have build over the years and even though they have gotten so much they start by themselves and made their own name.

Look I'm well aware that this album came out three months ago. But anyways album ranking.

1)Hooligans. I literally heard the intro of this song and went "Holy shit this is going to be good" I was in shock. And for how much hate people had on it till Jungkook and Jin's part went viral I will never get. This song is good and Jimin's little part of 'this is international.' is literally one of my top favorite parts of the album.

2) Into the sun. When I first heard this I was not on board the auto tune it was defiantly something. But then I kept listening to it and thought it was a really good song its made beautifully. And can confirm its a great flight song I played it when my plane was taking off the other week and it was perfect for the moment.

3) Merry go round. This one I've recently been obsessed with. And the MV if you haven't seen it, it tells, what I think is a lot about there life when they were going into the military. Also idkkk I kept saying it but it sounds so beautiful.

4) they don't know bout us. I think in my opinion this song shows how like only them and army know the connection and why they are the way they are. I mean they started from nothing and nobody besides armys really appreciate that. Also for wanting to be normal instead of these high up idols that everyone expect them to be.

5)Aliens. The overcoming racisms in this song makes me so happy. The amount of hate they received for being Asian when they go to western award shows is the reason this song was made. My favorite is J-hope's part of 'Oh my god, do I look too funny' not only because J-Hope used to get hate about how he looked but so have the rest of them. The fact that this whole song is lowkey just mocking the people who make fun of them for being K-pop is so funny to me.

6)body to body. The beginning of 'I need the whole stadium to jump' yeah that goes crazy at a concert. The song is just a connection of BTS and the fan throughout the concert. And the ending of them playing Arirang, I can't believe that RM and Suga almost did add it in, it keeps the song connected to their roots while sharing some culture with the rest of the world.

7)FYA. This is such a fire song(pun intended I'm sorry). I love how energetic everyone gets when its playing. Its a good hype song while showing that just because they took a break for military doesn't mean anything is going to stop them when they come back. Also the Britney Spears references in the pre-chorus of 'Hit me with it one time' is funny to me.

8) 2.0. First of all the MV for it is super funny and so is the dance its very impressive. I think this song shows that yes their music has changed over the years their not still making the same music they were 13 years or even 5 years ago but no matter what they still are a group and they are growing and changing. Also the confidence that they have knowing that a lot of the industry looks up to them and they deliver ever time.

9) Like animals. The vocals of this song!!! Amazing as usual. My only thing that makes me put it this far down on the list is the guitar part its still having to grow on my. It's very cool don't get me wrong but idk how to describe it something about it is off to me.

10)please. because sometime you have to shallow your pride to stay with someone. And loyalty for one even when its hard and wanting to do whatever it takes to continue to be with someone.

11)NORMAL. I love V's voice in this song not sure why this one but him and Jungkook on the beginning. The lyrics talk about how global fame can be a lot sometimes. With people loving them one day to the next being the most hated people. And how to them they are still normal even if the rest of the world see them as stars they are still normal human beings.

12)SWIM. I like this song and the raps. Plus the dance I'll randomly do but beside that I don't listen to this song that much. The MV though was good. I liked them in the sailor outfits I thought it was funny.

13)One more night. I really like the beat of this one its a really fun song. The only thing is I haven't listened to this one as much. But its still a good song. The lyrics talk about how they just want one more night at escaping their reality.

14) No.29. Ok this is last for obviously reason cause they are no lyrics. I still think this is a cool idea and the meaning behind the bell is very cool. Also when the track list was first release I immediately saw that it had no producers on it and was like yep this isn't going to be an actually song.

Soooo how we feel about Evan's debut. Honestly I liked it but you can tell that in the live he did that he was nervous. Which makes sense cause its his first time doing promotion by himself and I do feel bad cause I see a lot of people talking about him and enhypen and while I'm still don't think its clicked with me he is gone from the group, I think we should let him leave it in the past as much as we may hate it. This is a new chapter for him and new part for his life. I hope he enjoys all the love he is getting and the best for him.

Oh my gosh. I'm so excited for it. And a world tour too which I don't know how their going to do that but I'm all here for it. Anyway this is going to be a good summer. New stray kids in august along with Enhypen comeback. Ateez comeback next Friday and Evan's debut Monday. Plus another Yeonjun solo album. And this is more of a personally thing but I go see BTS in august which I'm obviously very hyped for.

It's been announced that the 2027 Grammys there would be a new category for Best Asian Pop Music Performance. This is a good thing and a bad thing.

On the positive side, this could mean more recognition for artist in Jpop, Cpop, Kpop, and other Asain music scenes that often don't get as much attenion in major Western award shows. It could also give more groups a chance to be invited, perform, and acknowledged on a global stage.

However, there are also concern about what this kind of category could represent. Some fans worry it might separate Asain artists from the main categories rather than fully including them. Instead of competing in the major "general" awards, they could end up being placed into a separate category, which might limit their chances in the biggest award groups.

This isn't a new issue. We first saw this when BTS was invited to the Grammys first in 2020 to perform 'old town road" with lil nas x and then in 2021 when they were up for a award for dynamite they also performed that night. Many people know that the Grammys invited them to draw more people to watch the broadcast but where never actually going to let them win. With BTS first comeback after military service they dominated the charts all across the world and with their world tour are selling out stadiums daily. It no clue that they would be up for Grammys but of course the Grammys board wouldn't want an Asian act winning an American award. So in hindsight this is what the Grammys are doing to make sure they can't win in a category western artist normally do.

That's why the new category feels complicated. On one hand it could create more space for recognition. On the other hand, it raises question about whether it truly represents inclusion, or whether it keeps certain artist separate from the main award categories.

'GREENGREEN' has been out for over a month and I've finally settled on my ranking of the album! First of all this album is so good. You can tell how much thought goes in to making their music and it's clear the members put a lot of thought into each song. They are such a talented group and no doubt will do amazing things.

1)redred, every time this song plays I do the dance doesn't matter where I'm at. It's such a fun song and I love the MV so much.

2) Blue lips, when I first heard this song I wasn't sure but now I'm actually in love with it. And even though to some the lyrics may not make sense I connect to them because this was a dream that they never knew if it was going to happen for them.

3) TNT. The dance, god damn, its so good. And martin's little part in the chorus is so fun to watch. This is a very good hype song that should be played before you go out.

4)acai. It took me a moment to understand the meaning of the song and even though on the outside its just a fun little song, it actually has some meaning behind it. They talk about how to be a good group you have to build the basic of one first but to continue to grow as they get bigger.

5) youngcreatorcrew, I like how this song highlights the fact that all of the members contribute to something in their group whether its vocal, choreographing or making the music piece by piece and that they have fun doing it and are carefree.

6) Wassup, takes a look at how even though they are making it big and living out their dreams it tiring, they are always moving around and on the go but the members are so connected that they share a understanding of what they are going through.