RAVENS members call out double standards in KPOP and their agency for lack of interest.
RAVENS members SungHo and Romeo called out their company and the standards they have to mold to in KPOP while having an interview with Rolling Stone.
The boys said while they had a tour scheduled and were practicing hard for it, HYBE hasn't apparently been giving the boys any attention when it came to their problems. SungHo mentioned that he had suffered a throat problem while rehearsing and when he stayed home the next day, the company called him and scolded him for not showing up even with his infection.
"The funny thing is," he said, "this is the first time I've heard from them in three whole months." He mentioned how the company had a meeting where their leader, Jae, wasn't allowed to be there, making him the only leader who didn't attend, nor be in the loop about new company guidelines. Romeo then went on to add that the company didn't send anyone to help them when they were locked out of the rehearsal rooms.
Out of all the members, Romeo has been the most vocal about his disappointment in the company, saying that they only care about the "shiny new toys" that they obtain through their big name.
The two also went on to mention that they weren't even sure if the group could even DO the concert as they hadn't got confirmation about anything.
When it came to the question about kpop standards, Sung-Ho mentioned how stupid it was that the girls had to fight harder to prove themselves while all they had to do was pull up their shirts and show abs and they had fans
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✰ || THE BAKERY is the fourth mini album by SNS, released by SM Entertainment on March 29th, 2021. It is available both physically and digitally, and features six songs, with “Apple Pie” being its title track. SNS promoted “Apple Pie” from March 30th to April 17th, also holding special stages for b-side tracks “Cherry on top” and “Stupid Cupid”. The girls were able to bring home 6 music show wins over the promotional period. They appeared on multiple variety shows and advertising campaigns, held four virtual fansigns, and held an online concert called “SUGAR DELIGHT”.
ALBUM PREVIEW // COLOR CODED LYRICS
✰ || TRACKLIST
APPLE PIE
STUPID CUPID
GIRLS LIKE US
BLUE
CREME
CHERRY ON TOP
✰ || ALBUM CONTENT
one disc + photobook (72 pages) + two random photocards out of eight + one out of six random member folded poster + one unfolder poster with tube + one out six random circle card + one out of six random recipes by yuri + one out of six random receipts with a message by a member
✰ || SALES + ACHIEVEMENTS
this album was such a fun and fresh start to spring
critics and the public ate up the concept and overall presentation of the album
some people had strong opinions on the title track and thought it shouldn’t been switched with one of the b-sides
but overall it was a hit
Apple Pie” debuted at number 1 on korean music charts, it stayed in the top 3 until the end of their promotion cycle
“Cherry on top” debuted at number 5 on korean music charts, it stayed in the top 10 until the end of their promotion cycle
“Stupid Cupid” peaked at number 9 on melon
“Girls like us” peaked at number 12 on melon
“Blue ” peaked at number 27 on melon
“Creme’ peaked at number 43 on melon
the “Apple Pie” mv got 19.5 million views in the first 24 hours
"Apple Pie” received 6 music show wins
✰ || PRODUCTION
"Apple Pie” was written and produced by sm’s in house production team, with only the smallest bit on input from mika
“Stupid Cupid”, “Cherry on top”, and “Girls like us” were all produced and heavily written by mika under the pseudonym m.ka
"Blue” was completely written and produced by piper. it was originally going to be released on her soundcloud but she decided to lend it to the mini
“Creme” was produced by m.ka and partially written by yuki
✰ || APPLE PIE STYLING
the outfits were so quirky and cute, very different from their previous concepts
not a single outfit ever feature pants, they were always in dresses or skirts
the addition of aprons were the most popular accessory options and were featured in over half of the outfits
if they weren’t in apron based dresses, they had sweets covering their body or looked like they worked in a candy shop
aprons, big bows, fluffy tutu/skirts, bright pastel colors, stockings, etc were the most prominent accessories
the girls were usually wearing their designated color in some way
all the girls had different shades and styles of blonde hair for both the mv and most of their first week of promotions
yuki bleached her hair for the first time ever in her life and got rid of her signature thick bangs, rocking a ashy blonde to pink ombre
mika and josie cut their hair short for the first time in their careers, as well as cutting cute whispy bangs
yuki was the first member to dye their hair, going a pretty shade of pink and debuting it on the 3rd
mika was next, showing off a vibrant orange bang look on the 5th
yuri went a mint green on the 7th and josie went a heavy blue on the 9th
piper dyed her hair a dark vibrant purple that featured magenta thick highlights on the 12th
soyee was the last one to dye her hair, going ashy blonde that faded into a multitude of rainbow colors on the 14th
✰ || ERA HIGHLIGHTS
first mini under sm!!
fans had a lot of anticipation for this mini considering it had to be pushed back due to piper’s injuries
she was good to go physically by their comeback stage but that didn’t stop sugar babies from showering her in love and concern
the concept and styling for this comeback had similar vibes to red velvet’s red side, orange caramel, and wjsn chocome, which a lot of fans from each group enjoyed
the comeback stage was decorated to look like a huge cupcake factory, it was so extravagant for no reason we love it
the merch for this omg!!!
they release cute little aprons that were color coordinated with each girls and featured their signature along the ribbon tie
they also dropped baking starter kits that were designed around the girls and the mv :( it was so cute :(
sm gave them their first solo online concert!!
the girls had so much fun performing and interacting with fans, even if it was through a screen
they can’t wait to go on a world tour once the pandemic is settled and over :(
mika kept up her youtube channel show called ‘sugar plum slumber party!’. this time featuring members of wayv, exo, suju, and snsd
their vlive channel was heavily active, each girl was live basically everday they had so much fun
yuri got her own vlive+ show called “yuri! let’s bake!” and it was the cutest weekly baking show known to man. a sns member guest starred each week and they all had so much fun :(
yuki and piper once again had major tension which caused a lot of concerns with fans
piper avoided the topic at all cost when it was brought up and yuki just shrugged it off by blaming it on “roommate drama”
sm created a pop up “bakery truck” outside of the sm building that sold sweets and treats that the girls love
every once and a while, the girls would work a short shift within the food truck and meet with fans :(
overall a good era concept and chart wise but a lot of tension could be felt behind the scenes
— WILDEST NIGHTS is the third studio album from girl group BLACK ROSE. It was released on September 3, 2020 under SM Entertainment. The group promoted title track “Feel Good” and b-side “Friday Night” from September 4th to September 27th.
— TRACKLIST
Feel Good ( inspo )
Friday Night ( inspo )
Girls ( inspo )
Maze ( inspo )
Sequence ( inspo )
Full Moon ( inspo )
What Ya Do ( inspo )
Only One ( inspo )
Universe ( inspo )
— ACHIEVEMENTS
“Feel Good” did averagely good on the charts, peaking at number 5 and maintaining its position in the top 20 for the rest of promotions.
The album itself sold around 89k copies and the music video for “Feel Good” currently has 20 million views.
The song received two music show wins.
Was nominated for album of the year at several award shows but didn’t win anything.
— ERA HIGHLIGHTS
Nothing too exciting actually happened this era, it was just good vibes.
Everything was party themed for this concept and it was all about having fun.
SM pretty much let them just relax and do what they wanted with this comeback, they were more focused on communicating with the fandom this time.
Yewon started a little miniseries on the group youtube channel where she just posts three minute videos of her cats.
Bitna started doing gaming nights on their vlive every week.
Each member opened up their own personal instagram account and some even made twitter accounts.
The girls were allowed to talk more liberally with Rosettes and it wasn’t uncommon for them to reply to comments and tweets.
Someone started a rumour that one version of the album had PCs of the former members which made Rosettes buy out that version completely until they realised they had been played.
A lot of interactions with Jinx, who were promoting at the same time as them.
Rosettes adopted the girls and started calling them Black Rose’s little sisters.
They had so many special stages this comeback!
A lot of them were just the album b-sides but they also covered f(x)’s Four Walls, SNSD’s Mr. Mr. and Red Velvet’s Peek-A-Boo during their last week of promotions.
When the girls teased a repack coming by the end of the year the fandom went crazy.
It would be the first time they had three comebacks in a year and Rosettes could not have been more excited for what was to come!
— STYLING HIGHLIGHTS
Hime had black hair with a lilac ombre.
Hyebin had black hair.
Sera had dyed her hair a bright blue and cut it short.
Aejung’s hair was blonde, having grown a lot from the last era.
Yewon’s hair also stayed blonde, often coloured with different highlights for performances.
Yuna had a deep red hair colour.
Juliet’s hair had faded from its red and was now a strawberry blonde.
The styling for this era was definitely... something.
It was either joutfits or hideous patterns, no in between. On one stage it was both and let’s say that neither the girls or the fans were particularly happy with the outfits.
It was super colourful though, almost every girl had been dressed with each colour of the rainbow by the time promotions were done.
Summary: Majesty was determined to find a loophole in his contract so that he could be with Bom again without risking ruining his family financially.
Featuring: Majesty and various members of 2FOLD and DIVIN3.
Mentions Bom of @starlightoffical
Majesty was in a daze as he went through the routine for the millionth time that day. He was drenched in sweat, his hair a mess as he stared intensely at the mirror. 2FOLDS latest comeback was playing and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of anger as he focused on the music. His heart was broken and his mind had gone numb at that point.
Mr. Ho noticed how distracted he had been during practice the weeks prior and it had caused issues for the group. They had to restart numerous times when Majesty messed up the choreography because his mind was wandering to Bom. He had been late to a few vocal recording sessions because he had been out on dates with her. Nearly half the artists at the company were in relationships yet he seemed to be the only one who couldn’t manage his time better. Granted, his group hadn't been very active save for some members doing small solo projects.
So when the CEO brought up his breach in contract, he was given the option to either break up with her or face crippling debt. Since he was a minor when he signed it, his parents co-signed. That meant they would also take on the burden of the debt. There was no way they’d be able to handle it - they had given up a lot to send him to Korea to achieve his dreams. His family was fairly poor as it is and him being a Rookie meant he earned peanuts.
Majesty had a plan but it was going to be tricky to work around it. First, he needed a good lawyer. Jaeyoung was willing to help him but that would take time since they had to scour every little bit of that contract to find a loophole.
He froze mid-dance, staring at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t stop thinking about Boms face when he told her - a brief flash of panic in her eyes before she quickly composed herself, being the stoic person she was. it just reminded him how much he admired her even more with her ability to keep cool and confident.
“Hyung, you need to take it easy!” A voice spoke up which startled Majesty. He spun around to see Siwoo standing in the doorway, a look of concern on his face.
“I don’t want to.” Majesty huffed, getting even more annoyed as their comeback song droned on. It reminded him of Bom. He helped write the lyrics for it and he had her in mind, of course.
"You're going to pass out of you don't take a rest. Have you eaten anything today?" Siwoo was normally the jokester and him and majesty were known as "dumb and dumber" because of their foolish antics when together. But seeing his member and best friend like this worried him.
Majesty shrugged, groaning as he stalked over to the stereo and turned the song off. Siwoo pouts as he watches him. "I'll treat you to dinner. Please, Hyung? She'd want you to take care of yourself."
Majesty didn't answer at first, only staring down at the ground as his chest heaved, his hands pushing back his sweat-soaked hair. "Fine." He sighs, turning to grab his things.
"Good Hyung!" Siwoo chirps happily. "But first, you take a shower. You smell like crap." He says with a chuckle as he playfully punched Majesty's arm. That got a laugh out of his Hyung to which Majesty then put the younger boy in a headlock. The two laughed before Siwoo wriggled free, groaning as he smiled. "Now you got armpit sweat all over me!" He whines as wiped the side of his face.
"That's what you get for making me smile. I'm supposed to be in badass brood mode right now." Majesty mumbles as he wipes himself with a towel before whipping Siwoo on the thigh with it.
✮ — BOOK OF MAGIC is the third mini album from girl group JINX. It was released physically and digitally under HJK Entertainment on November 11, 2020. They promoted title track “Psycho” and b-side “Cantabile” on music shows from November 12 to December 6.
— TRACKLIST
Psycho ( inspo )
Cantabile ( inspo )
Impulse ( inspo )
Kingdom Come ( inspo )
Midnight Walking ( inspo )
Rainbow ( inspo )
— ACHIEVEMENTS
“Psycho” was Jinx’s first big hit! The people loved this song and it even reached number 3 on music charts.
The album sold around 118k copies and the “Psycho” music video currently has about 75 million views.
Jinx’s first win!! They received three in total from M Countdown and Music Core.
The girls won best new female artist at the MAMA Awards!
— ERA HIGHLIGHTS
Jinx breakthrough era!
Charms found it to be the right mix of both their dark and light concepts whilst still intertwining their storyline into it.
“Psycho” put Jinx on the map vocally, a lot came to praise them on how well they sung on the track and on the album.
They did an online concert for their comeback showcase performing all their songs so far.
So much content for their b-sides, dance practice videos for “Cantabile”, “Impulse” and “Midnight Walking”.
Live singing videos for “Kingdom Come” and “Rainbow”.
The video for “Rainbow” was fun and featured the girls giggling and playing around as they sung and the video for “Kingdom Come” was so gorgeous with them in crowns, dressed as royalty.
The album sales this era increased significantly after someone found out that there was a hidden track on the physical album’s cd.
The hidden track was “Day & Night” and was later released onto streaming platforms for those who couldn’t purchase the album.
They started up a little vlog segment on their youtube channel where they posted five to ten minute videos of their daily life!
During a fansign a Charm asked Blue if “Rainbow” had any meaning behind it and she said it was written for their LGBT fans!
A lot of people were super happy upon hearing that and many came to praise and stan the girls for their support.
Overall, this era has been the peak of the group so far with lasting praise from the public and a rookie of the year award to top it off.
— STYLING HIGHLIGHTS
Jinx’s iconic hair era okay
Blue’s hair was black.
Yue had half black half blonde hair.
Miran’s hair was pink.
Jiyoon had her infamous bright ginger hair.
Rosie bleached her hair blonde for like two minutes and then spent most of promotions with dark hair again.
Styling was very classy, almost entirely black and white in colour scheme with lots of textures.
Lace, fishnet, feathers, you name it.
It was a very pretty era for their styling with cool braided hairstyles and dark makeup with shine and pearls.
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TITLE: In Your Eyes
WORD COUNT: 1,048
CHARACTERS: Kang Myungsoo & Park Sungho
WARNINGS: Age gap, manipulation, tbh it’s mostly just a lot of implied shady / creepy behaviors so proceed with caution. If anything else needs to be tagged more specifically please lmk!
SUMMARY: An insight into the beginnings of Myungsoo’s unhealthy relationship with his manager, Park Sungho.
A/N: This is kind of a prequel to their 'relationship', takes place predebut/early debut days. There is nothing super outright here yet (aside from Myungsoo's blatant crush), but it’s still a bit toxic/predatory so be warned.
This was the first time Myungsoo had ever been inside Sungho’s office alone. It was really the first time he’d truly been alone with Sungho at all. And so now he was sitting here, in one of the strangely uncomfortable chairs, feeling slightly awkward and out of place. Maybe it was the contrast of his pink cardigan to the dull colors of the space, or maybe it was the silence hovering over the room.
Sungho’s office seemed neat and put together, Myungsoo had always liked that about it. Myungsoo was often someone who thrived when things were in order, he needed it. He needed structure. However, what he didn’t like was the lack of color or the rug that felt akin to one you’d find in a waiting room. What he liked least of all---was the strange painting behind Sungho’s desk. It seemed to be the only outstanding color in the space, with a terrible depiction of watchful eyes. He hated it.
Sungho was talking to him, he knew this, but he wasn’t listening. Instead his gaze was trained on the painting behind Sungho, those stupid eyes glaring at him. “What is that?” Myungsoo says, almost abruptly.
“What?” Sungho turns his head to see where Myungsoo’s eyes were lingering, “the painting?”
“Yeah, it’s creepy.” Myungsoo is often hyper aware of his lack of filter, but it rarely does much to stop him. “I don’t like it.” Sungho looks slightly baffled, like he’s unsure what to say to that. Myungsoo realizes that maybe insulting your new manager’s decor wasn’t exactly --- polite. “Sorry,” he mumbles.
Sungho shakes his head, “it’s fine,” he says lightly. “Not everyone has the same tastes.”
“Do you really like it?” Myungsoo questions, glancing at the painting again and grimacing. He then looks back at Sungho, “it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable?”
“There’s more meaning to it than you might think,” Sungho says simply. “And in any case it’s just a painting, it’s not like they’re real eyes.”
“A deeper meaning doesn’t make it any less unsettling,” Myungsoo retorts. “Or any less ugly.” Sungho looks surprised at his words and now Myungsoo wonders if he’s put his foot in his mouth. “No offense,” he forces out an awkward laugh.
Sungho chuckles, “you’re quite the art critic.” He shifts a little in his seat, “maybe sometime I can show you some other pieces, see what you do like.”
Myungsoo shrugs, “that could be cool. Hopefully your taste extends past --- that.”
“It definitely does,” says Sungho. “For now though, maybe we should discuss what you actually came here for.”
Myungsoo liked Sungho, a lot. Sungho took an interest in him, made him feel cared about. He made him feel good about himself, special. Sungho was mature, handsome, and well put together. Myungsoo admired him.
Myungsoo knows this isn't ideal, crushing on someone older than him, and especially his manager of all people. But he couldn't help it, he liked Sungho. He just did.
He'd jump at any excuse just to have a moment alone with him, he almost felt childish. But being around Sungho made him feel different and he liked that feeling. There were moments too, fleeting moments where he believed that maybe Sungho just might like him too. He doesn't know if it's truly something he should hope for, and yet, he can't help but to.
Right now, he's standing in Sungho's office. It was a rare occasion for him to be in here, especially alone. He still liked it, the tidiness of it all, even in spite of his grievances towards the rug and the painting. And he liked being near Sungho.
Myungsoo was standing there waiting, waiting for Sungho to look back up at him. For his attention to no longer be on the screen of his laptop. "Did you need something, Myungsoo?" He still doesn't look up quite yet.
Myungsoo doesn't really know why he's here, he thinks maybe he should have at least come up with a decent excuse. "I wanted to ask you something," he says. And it's not entirely untrue, Myungsoo has a lot of questions, he always did. But especially about Sungho.
"Must be important if you came by my office just to ask," says Sungho. He still wasn't really giving him his full attention and it only served to make Myungsoo feel even more embarrassed. "What is it?"
Myungsoo realizes he doesn't have a good question to ask, nothing to warrant a visit at least. But he doesn't want to just stand there silently, doesn't want the quiet to simply linger. And so he just asks what comes to mind: "Will you tell me more about yourself?"
Sungho looks up finally, “what is it that you want to know?”
Myungsoo shrugs, “I don’t know, what’s your life like?” Sometimes he was just curious about what Sungho was like outside of being their manager, the kind of people he knew and kept company with.
Sungho laughs, “my life is mostly working and just keeping busy otherwise.”
Myungsoo frowns, “you don’t have any hobbies? Or friends...no dates?” He was always just a little too inquisitive for his own good. Sungho’s eyes fall on Myungsoo’s face, there’s an intensity behind them. Myungsoo doesn’t know if he likes it or if it made him more nervous than anything else.
“Why are you so curious?” Sungho asks, brow quirking.
“I don’t know, why can’t I be? I just want to know more about you.” says Myungsoo.
Sungho looks at him, almost like he’s looking him over, assessing. There’s a curiosity in his own gaze. “I’ll tell you whatever you want,” he says. “But --- only if I get to ask you some questions of my own.”
Myungsoo honestly feels a bit strange under Sungho’s gaze sometimes, under his watchful eye. But he still couldn't ever bring himself to look away. It almost reminded him of the first time he’d ever been alone with Sungho, here in his office. The painting, still hanging on the wall. The eyes he couldn’t look away from no matter how they made him feel, no matter what they might’ve meant. Except he wants this, he wants Sungho’s eyes on him.
“That sounds like a fair deal to me,” Myungsoo says.
SOLAR (솔라) is an eight membered coed group under STARMAKER ENTERTAINMENT, that debuted in april of 2019. their concept, best described as a sort of space themed video game with a cyberpunk twist, contrasts slightly to their music, which takes inspiration from mainly retro synth pop sounds. however they’ve cemented themselves as rookies in the industry.
debut date ;; april 26 , 2019
members ;; yua , eri , milo , leda , dal , posie , mj , orion