#smcu styling

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(throwback) 2021 Winter SMTOWN [SMCU EXPRESS] — Poster

[jiminjeonging]

hi this is what I thought about what happened back in early 2021 2022. I became MY in DCT era so these are the things I noticed and why K called almost every girl jagiya which I said I would tell you as anon. I'm sorry if there are timestamp errors or typos

I think Winter started being distant in 2021 we can see in this video

https://youtu.be/cAOP3sckZx8?si=c8FxiCRzKWum-Pfj

we know Karina calling Winter as puppy cuz she's so cute

yet if we look clearly Winter wasn't enjoying when K treated her like a small puppy

aslo what's in aespa bag video filmed around feb 2021

https://youtu.be/xUEKF5FNmPQ?si=EhcoEynKRszRUlS0

W did sulking cuz K ignored her present and K said "why does that matter, I just need to use it often from now on"

at that time W really admired K (maybe even had a puppy crush on K) so when K said that she got sad and sulky

as we know Winter want to look like a cool smart idol not cute and lovely kid. She said on bubble that she started to choose her own hair outfit styles starting from Next Level Savage era

2021 was the year Winter was beginning to build her strong idol image

In Next Level behind the scenes Winter seemed she was not in friendly mood with Karina yet K massaged her shoulders and tried to joke with her saying "camera looks like her grey and black

but W didn't like it 😂

around 2021 Nov DCT

as we see Karina kneltndown to Winter for a mistake which was unnecessary

https://www.tumblr.com/luckyluvlavender/769199395226959872/around-2021-nov-dec?source=share

It might be other cases happened between them behind the screen.

at Coachella Apr 2022 Winter still acted sulky with Karina also she didn't like obvious fan service on screen so when aespa did Instagram live she told Karina "not to be too obvious" when K called her jagiya on screen 😆 later we see K called every girl jagiya 😬

***********************

What I knew from tarot reading video from 2022 on YT was W did really quarrel with K and she saw Knas her rival . Maybe she didn't like to be called a puppy, not wanting to be seen in public eyes as a cute kid, weak idol . She was building her image as hexagonal ace idol persistently.

***********************

The way Winter kept distancing herself from the group members especially Karina. She said something like I don't want to express my inner thoughts in past years

Karina was taking care and acted softly with Winter in 2022

W sent video on bubble K talking to her "it's love" on K birthday

For Karina she didn't like Winter isolating herself so she tried to reach to her, talk to her saying jokes and teasing her but Winter still acting cold

on aespa anni day 2022 when W read comment "Yu Jimin I love you" the girl was so surprised she couldn't even speak a full sentence after that

In late 2022

When W cried on synk road I think that the time K overprotective mood was sky high

maybe she realized she love LOVE Winter

When jiminjeong did Instagram live in Dec 2022

we see K openly flirting with W still W trying hard to ignore K stares

***********************

Winter sang Yours at SMCU 1 Jan 2023 with Chanyeol and Mark

after airing smcu at midnight Karina sent selca with Winter on bubble

I'M YOURS

YOU'RE MINE

THE SECRETS OF THE WORLD

(someone was possessive )

***********************

Karina was so bold and straight forward telling she love her I think from Winter pov K was just teasing her and flirting for fun fan service on screen

***********************

(also W did acknowledged her feelings for K in rookie days in my opinion)

Idk someone remember there was a TikTok video at the airport? Winter stopped smiling when she saw K waving to one male fan in the crowd

***********************

Karina is sun sign Aries also venus sign. She likes to chase when W was sulking and distancing she already determined to love Winter 🫠

as we guess there were many things happened between them 2023 on tour especially after chuseok

they talked about wedding on jp national tv and hard launching eo with gf tiktok

now Karina saying she found her best partner

and Winter looking forward to their 80s days 🥹🫶

I hope they can get married and travel together the world

hiii thank you for your thoughts and this long ask🫂🫂🫂 i kinda don't agree with some of these stuff though, i don't think mj started to become distant in 2021, especially during forever era. her not wanting to be called puppy or her not liking the massage( she said she liked it a second later) is not her being distant its just her being whiney and playing hard to get😭😭 she acted like these during those times:

also that part from dct is not that serious too, jmj pretended to hit ningning after she made a mistake while they were filming for armageddon mv. they just joking around like that because they want to get off work early and dont want any setbacks so i dont think its serious. i agree with you on jagiya thing though, it became a group thing as the years went on as aeri called other members jagiya too. my thoughts on 2022 here:

[lighthailstorm]

updated k-pop masterlist:

i made a few new playlists over the past week or so...

*note: most if not all playlists have the songs in release order. also some of these are incomplete bcs i forgot to add some artists or i haven't heard all the albums yet. my bad, we're working on it down at headquarters.

girl groups:

aespa: all my fav songs from these girlies so far

fifth gen girlies: songs from the 5th gen girl groups that i like. includes a lot of ive, babymonster, badvillain, etc.

fourth gen girlies: songs from 4th gen girl groups (that don't already have their own playlists). includes itzy, g-idle, everglow, izone, etc.

le sserafim: my fav girl group of all time, me thinks.

new jeans & illit: shared playlist for these two groups bcs they honsetly don't have enough music individually to make a seperate playlsit (in my opinion) and their style of cutesy girly music goes together well.

nmixx, change up!: my fav nmixx songs (i haven't listened to the new album yet, so it still needs to be updated)

third gen girl group gallivanting: just third gen girl groups. this is technically under construction cuz i need to add blackpink (reluctantly). but so far it has red velvet, gfriend, aoa, etc.

TWICE!: all my fav songs from them and some of the classics

boy groups:

ATEEZ: my fav ateez songs

bullet proof: all my fav bts songs and the popular/obligatory ones.

enhypen: all my fav enhypen songs

fourth/fith gen guys: a bunch of songs from misc. fourth/fifth gen groups (that don't already have their own seperate playlists) includes the boyz, OnlyOneOf, Xdinary Heroes, RIIZE, etc.

nct dream: all the songs i like from them

nct 127!: my fav subunit for sure.

stray kids!: all my fav stray kids songs plus some of the classics

third gen guys: third gen boy groups (not including the groups that have their own playlist). it has exo, shinee, got7, seventeen, etc.

txt: my fav songs from my boys.

wayv!: technically c-pop, i know. but idc i'm putting them here.

soloists:

chung ha: my homegirl fr

mark lee!: my real life HUSBAND. i could never be normal about him.

tae tae: my taemin playlist cuz he's one of my favorite solo artists

TEN: i love ten DOWN. so it's only right that i have a playlist for all my fav songs that he's put out so far.

setlists:

dominATE: setlist for stray kids 2025 tour that i'm gonna see this summer!

towards the light: will to power!: the setlist from the ateez tour i saw last year in august

walk the line: setlist for ehypen's 2025 tour that i'm gonna see in august!

based on a song:

it's like a polaroid love: songs that give me the same vibses as polaroid love by enhypen.

just the two of us...moonstruck: songs that have the same vibes as moonstruck by enhypen (which might be my fav enhypen song ever)

genre/misc:

glitter pen pop: really cutesy and girly girl group songs

ho anthems (kpops version): self explanatory title.

k-iconic: kpop songs that i consider iconic.

k-latin: a collection of kpop songs that have some sort of latin influence, whether that be in beat or lyrics

k-noise music: songs that sound like either i'm on acid or the idols were on acid when they made it. it just sounds weird, but good.

(k)POP: general kpop songs from groups/soloists that i (mostly) dont already have seperate playlists for. OH, and the songs are very pop-sounding for the most part.

k-throwbacks: any kpop songs from before 2018. (1st - 3rd gen)

k-spooky (not szn): kpop songs that sound spooky

(k)r&b: songs that are more r&b than pop

(k)rap: rap heavy kpop songs

k-food: kpop songs that mention food or eating. either in the title or the lyrics.

k-ballads: korean ballads, simple as that.

k-animals: all kpop songs that i could think of that mention animals or reference being animal-like in some way. through extensive research i found that most kpop idols want to be wolves for some reason.

smcu: stands for SM Cinematic Universe. it's basically a bunch of collab songs from random idols in SM. it's basically just a home for NCT units that didn't make the cut for their own playlist. also has superm and GOT the beat.

summer bops: kpop songs with summer vibes.

global groups:

*to me if u got trained under the kpop system and ur under a kpop label ur basically kpop idc what language u sing in, hence why i'm putting them here.

XG!: all my fav songs from my girls so far

[pinkbloodinc]

smcu visual themes: doubling/doppelgänger

the lore around doppelgänger (bad luck, battle to the death) is also regularly present

[hyuck-xix]

seulgi in "beautiful christmas" mv

[chaerybae]

they just became one of my ult groups

[dailyexo]

[TRANSLATION] EXO - 220821 Official EXO-L Japan website update: “『SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠HUMAN CITY_SUWON』が終了！” (“‘SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠HUMAN CITY_SUWON’ has concluded!”)

"8月20日（土）に韓国・水原(スウォン)ワールドカップ競技場で『SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠HUMAN CITY_SUWON』が開催されました！ 全世界にも生中継で配信され、世界中のみなさんに魅力溢れるパフォーマンスの数々をお届けしました！

EXOからは、スホ、シウミン、チェン、D.O.、カイがソロステージを披露♪それぞれ個性あふれるステージで魅了しました^^

まず最初に登場したスホは「Hurdle」を披露！ステージを走り回りながらパフォーマンスし、ロックなステージをお届けしました！"

Translation: "‘SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠HUMAN CITY_SUWON’ was held on 20 August at the Suwon World Cup Stadium! The concert was available for global streaming, thus allowing fans from all over the world to enjoy the festivities!

From EXO, Suho, Xiumin, Chen, D.O. and Kai, each performed solos!♪ Each of the members got to show off their unique charms!^^

First up was Suho performing his song ‘Hurdle’! Our sparkling leader sang and walked around the stage for this rock-styled song!"

"そしてチェンは「Beautiful goodbye」をしっとりと歌い上げ、その世界観にグッと引き込まれるような歌声を披露してくれました♪"

Translation: "Next was Chen with ‘Beuatiful Goodbye’. He sang with all his heart, pulling at the heartstrings of all who watched on. ♪"

"D.O.は椅子に座りながらラフな雰囲気で「That’s okay」を披露♪パフォーマンスの途中には、会場のみなさんとコミュニケーションを取りながら、はにかんだ笑顔をみせていました^^"

Translation: "Following Chen was D.O. who sang while sitting down for a casual performance of ‘That’s okay’.♪ During the song, D.O. made eye contact with fans and showed off his bashful smile. ^^"

"カイは、「Peaches」をパフォーマンス♪パワフルかつ甘い魅力が溢れるステージをお届けしました！"

Translation: "Our next member to perform was Kai, with ‘Peaches’! The song showed off his powerful stage presence and sweet charm!"

"そしてシウミンは「Serenity」をパフォーマンス！ダンサーのみなさんと息の合った、美しく息をのむようなステージを披露しました♪"

Translation: "And last but certainly not least was Xiumin with ‘Serenity’! He performed in perfect synchronisation with the dancers and fans; everyone shared a wonderful moment together!♪"

"ステージを終えたメンバーの集合ショットも届いています！ 「EXO-L-JAPANのみなさんへ届けます！」と伝えると、「“Ｌ”マークで撮ろう！」と話し合って、ギュッと集合♡！手で“L”のマークを作ってカメラに笑顔でポーズしてくれました^^"

Translation: "At the conclusion of the concert, the members gathered together for a group shot! ’Show this to EXO-L-JAPAN!’, the members said and then added, ‘Let’s make an L!’. What a cute picture! ♡ The cameraman captured the L and the members’ beautiful smiles!^^"

"そしてついに！来週8月27日（土）～29日（月）には、東京ドームで「SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠TOKYO」が開催されます！ 日本でのステージに向けて、メンバーも気合い十分に準備中！

みなさん、楽しむ準備はできていますか！？^^ 次は「SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠TOKYO」でお会いしましょう！"

Translation: "And get ready for the next stop on the SMTOWN tour coming up next weekend, on 27-28 August, at Tokyo Dome: ‘SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠TOKYO’! The members are excited to take the stage in Tokyo!

Are you guys ready for next week!?^^ Let’s meet again at 'SMTOWN LIVE 2022：SMCU EXPRESS＠TOKYO’!"

Photo links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Credit: translation, dailyexo.tumblr.com, Source: Official EXO-L Japan.

[dojae-huh]

What do you think about SM's music now that LSM is forced *unbeknownst to him n. news. naver. com/article/001/0013739483* to leave his position as producing director? Do you think Lee Sung Soo could do a better job?

Link

Heh, how would I know? Let's wait and see.

I've come across an interview of a music producer on SM's singing style, he said that it should be credited to Yoo Young Jin. There are many people beside LSM in SM who have worked there for many years. LSM is more of a visionary who dares to do new things and looks far ahead, like the SMCU thing that although has a not very well-done beginning in the future will allow for movies and comics and singing AIs (like Naevis). The image, the search for producers, finishing of tracks is mostly done by others.

One thing that made me relieved about the news about the restructuring is that they promise to continue making profit from music production and music publishing. SM isn't branching into other fields forgetting singers.

A few solo singers (Key, Teamin, possible others like Seulgi I don't know about) went their own way and proved to be right with their choices of music.

Lee Sung Soo worked as A&R for a very long time, and he is LSM's pupil. He was the one to look for gather all those foreign producers (I suspect Dem Jointz as well). There is Kenzie. They should carry on the legacy for some time.

Also. The announcement might be for the show? To pacify the shareholders who are afraid LSM is too old and has too much power? but LSM will continut to be the consultant anyway?

[sakuchiko]

[PRESS]

 The Story Of ReVe is SMCU's 1st comic about the birth and growth of Red Velvet's 'catalyst' ReVe in a lyrical and lovely atmosphere, based on Red Velvet's diverse concepts and very own imaginary world. Next parts will be released on the 10th and 11th. You can see on Instagram what was been released so far of the fairytale-like concept and storytelling which melted together various elements that appeared in Red Velvet's music videos and album artwork, providing a unique type of fun.

The Story Of ReVe is written by Kim Aromi, who also wrote LINE's Brown & Friends storybook, and illustrated by DD Kang who worked as an animation director for Nickelodeon's Random! Cartoons and contributed their warm art style to this project. This is a prelude to the comeback!

naver.me/ID1EBYOf

[kwangyadetective]

🔭 The Visions: Miracle

A theory post of WayV’s Miracle Track Video for NCT2021. Honestly this is just a collection of my thoughts and observations.

Looks like the Visions are having a meeting, the eye is often found in their MV. I mean they are the ‘vision’, if we take it literally. Ten also has a lot going on with his eye, but again, this is possibly just a symbol for the unit.

I just noticed that each member has an object or two in front of them. Hopefully this is accurate.

Yangyang - possibly sand but the color looks so pale as a sand, it looks white

Ten - Two glass, I can’t see very clearly but at least one is filled with water.

? (H or K) - white small branch of a tree

Xiaojun? - A cube

? (H or K) - An oddly shaped object, looks like a traditional tiny pot? yea you can just look at the picture.

Looks like they’re summoning something not gonna lie

People have been mentioning that the wave pattern looks like Kwangya. To be honest even I don’t have a definite idea of how Kwangya looks like. I did consider that SM took inspiration from waves from Fairlight CMI, but to be honest, I’m blaming on SM for this one. I also thought that Kwangya is an open space, sandy like a planet but has floating objects. That’s what’s shown from Kangta’s Free to Fly and many other videos like SMCU the origin. Again, I’m blaming on SM for this.

Again, waves. As for me, it still reminds me of the Fairlight CMI but who knows what others have in mind.

There is a pendulum in the video. In the most basic and easiest understanding, a pendulum is used to measure the acceleration of gravity in geo-physical surveys (thank you Wikipedia) but it’s commonly known to be used to regulate the movement of clocks. I’m not going deeper yet.

Waves again, this time from the sea. I mentioned in my YearDream Seeing Myself in a Dream post, the sea and water possibly represents or IS ether. Its the medium that connects everyone. NCT Dream also had water in the place they were dancing in the Track Video; perhaps all of the Neos are connected at this point. This is after NCT2020, if we relate this to the last YearDream video (Resonance), everyone should already be synchronized and connected.

This scene reminds me of Neoplasticism artworks BUT the ones including circles using my art student brain. But honestly I don’t think that’s the point. It would be cool though if they did because the art movement has limitless patterns and details. But it has 2D shapes and we have a lot of going on with 2D, dimensions, and NewAxis. Though I’m sure there are other meanings to this like the RYB primary color. 

I don’t think I need to show it but there are 2D drawn scenes.

with NewAxis, 2D (Dream) > 3D (Reality)

Floating objects (branch and chairs) the pendulum has something to do with gravity? I wonder if its connected.

There is a scene of Hendery with a tall ladder behind him. Don’t ask me what it means. Spoiler alert I don’t know but it does reminded me of one scene of Onew of SHINee in Don’t Call Me

You don’t understand how much I struggled to get this scene

Some VERY quick drawn scenes reminds me of Neoexpressionism though less chaotic but still have vivid colors. I’ve been thinking about this but Ten’s art style is very similar to that art movement. Its NEO but I wouldn’t be surprised either if Ten is suppose to be subtly highlighted (well he is an important character). And he had a match with him and blew it. The song reminds me of Paint Me Naked (similar vibes), you can tell that too by how they painted the Miracle title.

Overall,

“Miracle express the feelings towards a dream as a ‘dream revolution’, contain a message to believe in miracles and to empathize through music to awaken everyone’s humanity.”

source

Dream revolution huh. I mean yeah they are like encouraging the Neos to empathize together to awaken humanity. Dream in a Dream to influence Reality. To wake up people in Reality.

PHEw. There’s so much going on here. I’m not ready to interpret what WayV was doing in that circular table and the different objects they held. They’re summoning Winwin I guess

Edit

I might be wrong with the members sitting on the table😬 and saw on Twitter that the objects they had were related to the 5 Chinese Elements. Though I still can’t tell what they’re doing with that. Lets just wait for the lyrics.

ALSO! I think Kosmo was mentioned in the lyrics. Like in Dreaming. I’m still holding on to my theory that the neos are going there but we’ll see

My bad, I mean that one scene with circles and triangles look like Wassily Kadinsky’s

and yes Ten’s artwork reminds me of Neoexpressionism art movement like Basquiat

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(throwback) 2021 Winter SMTOWN [SMCU EXPRESS] — SHINee Ver.

[mysticnotebook]

Song: Dreams Come True.

By: Aespa.

Release Date: 20th December 2021.

Company: SM Entertainment.

Review: Released as part of the "2021 Winter SM Town: SMCU Express", by SM Entertainment, the quartet released a remake of the 1998 hit song of the same name by S.E.S. Aespa gave the dreamy 90s song their twist by adding elements of hip-hop and dance-pop, with a touch of their signature Synth-pop sound, to it while keeping the dreamy nature of the original song intact. The song is soothing and catchy and will surely make you want to dance along with the girls!

The music video is aesthetically pleasing to the senses. It does a great job at taking the viewers on a vivid visual journey to landscapes of different themes and time periods. A magical fairyland, with gorgeous floral arrangements, has been created and the four girls dance and sing together, wearing beautiful sparkly dresses, even sporting dramatic wings, done with the help of special effects, in some scenes. The two other sets reflect a very hip-hoppish and a futuristic style respectively, which go smoothly with Aespa's futuristic warrior-like concept based on technology and AIs.

Costuming is pretty immaculate. From the white fairy-like outfits to a more mature Y2K style of the 90s and 2000s, Aespa presents the right blend of modern and nostalgic fashion.

Through this music video, the group was able to portray a softer side of theirs but that didn't stop their vocals from going off the charts! The four girls are incredible vocalists and in Dreams Come True, they let their vocals travel from low ranged notes to high ranged notes, making the song a treat for both the eyes and the ears! The bridge has to be one of the best bridges in Kpop! The powerful vocals and the instrumental go together so well that you can't help but put the song on repeat just for that one bridge! Winter and NingNing shined a lot with their powerful high notes, especially at the end chorus.

When it comes to the choreography, certain elements of the old choreography of the 90s song has been incorporated with the dance styles that are trending now. The simple moves of the chorus are pretty doable for dancers of any level, making the song more enjoyable to listen to! It gives you the chance to dance along with the girls whenever you feel like it.

The song and music video gives us an interesting insight into how music and fashion have evolved over the years. The Dreams Come True of 2021 is way different than the Dreams Come True of 1998. It is more extravagant and caters to the taste of 4th generation Kpop fans. Overall, Aespa did justice to the song by making it their own while keeping the essence of the original at the core!  It will surely steal the hearts of modern Kpop listeners as well as the ones who listened to this genre of music back in 1998.

Rating: 9/10!

Picture Courtesy: SM Entertainment, Aespa, Tumblr.

[sanstropfremir]

hi hi! YG is up to an odd thing (lmao what else is new) and I was wondering if you had any insight into why. the thing in question: Somi's XOXO incorporates the... like. the hook line? from Jennie's Solo. Somi keeps the lyrics but changes up the melody a little. the reactions to that I saw were along the lines of "that's a sweet tribute to her senior company artists/friends/mentors, etc" - which, true - and that was that, we all went about our business. and then treasure came back - there's more

ok. treasure came back and I was like. why does this line in Yoshi's rap sound familiar to me? turns out, it references a line in Lisa's HYLT rap, pretty much word for word and cadence for cadence. my question is - why is YG doing this? it made sense for Somi, but it makes less sense to me for treasure, and I can't really parse why they might be making it a habit. what are your thoughts? how do I end a tumblr ask? also thanks for reading - ps I love the Woodz and ONF appreciation on this blog

hi hello welcome! i'm not a big follower of yg groups in general so i may not have any new insight really. i noticed it in xoxo and thought the same (that it was a fun lil tribute) and honestly i did not notice it in the new treasure song. i doubt that it has any larger significance like a hinting at a sort of smcu style thing; the two songs don't share any producers or lyricists and yoshi is credited as a lyricist on jikjin, which leads me to assume that it was fully his choice to include the hylt lyric and he probably got the idea from xoxo. it's possible that upper level execs wanted to include the lyric because blackpink is obviously their best known group and treasure are still rookies/bgs in general are out of favour in the gp, so they're grasping at a straw, but i truly don't think it's that deep. idols write goofy lyrics and reference other artists all the time with less or more effectiveness (see mark's iconic jopping verse) and the reason it's a whole line is because they're under the same company so it's not technically plagiarism. it was probably just a coincidence that they were consecutive releases.

[yutahoes]

hAVE U SEEN YUTA’S STYLE ON THE 127 TEASER OH MY GOD

The duality of his looks 😍😍 Waaaah!

Nerdy Yuta is my new religion. 😅 I remember having this smutty virgin gamer Yuta in my drafts which I didn't continue because I cannot see Yuta like that. So yeah... Imagine my surprise when this was shown. 🤭

Also, I have nostalgic feels about this look. It reminds me so much of Wakey Wakey Yuta and I've said it before that it was the MV that made Yuta my bias. 🤗 He also kinda reminds me of Sungchan here, I don't know why. 🙈

This comeback makes me so excited. I hope the concept is connected to their MV because it will be refreshing to see 127 in a brighter concept. But really, who wrote the soc med AU NCT is currently doing? The Day and Night version is so freaking good!

(Also, I've been hooked in the SMCU theories so my brain is rotting lately. Additional was the preparations for class. 😢 I think I need the Computer Science and Engineering major to do the 25 PPTs I need per week. 😂)

[bisexualhobi]

welcome to another episode of SM choosing the worst song for the title track aespa version :)) What are your thoughts?

Aenergy shouldve been the tt, every song in that album is better than whatever savage was. Even the MV was incoherent. It's horrible because if the rest of the album sucked it wouldve been okay but the B-sides are so well produced and the girls delivered it with so much charisma and power but then savage feels so disjointed but not in a good way like next level. The only good thing was the chorus and the lyrics which was rlly interesting since we got to know more about the SMCU.

I agree that the b-sides are better than the title track but savage wasn't a bad song at all imo! it's way better than sticker in every aspect and it definitely served its purpose - setting aespa apart from the rest of the pack. we are witnessing the creation of the aespa print in real time. this is how they're gonna be perceived from now on, a gg that doesn't play it safe and doesn't put out easy listening songs. they're the opposite of the cute concept that most other ggs follow

and tbh savage was the only option for a title track. it was the only one that made sense. aenergy is good but it's not tt material. it's an intro almost for the rest of the album. it's not really something that could have a lot of choreo and it's short and good but doesn't have enough personality to draw in the interest of the public.

it couldn't have been YEPPI YEPPI even though it's a great song because that's not aespa. if YEPPI YEPPI had been the tt then they would be the same as itzy or stayc or weeekly or even twice. aespa is not them so that type of song even though it's a bop it's not daring or edgy enough for them. I firmly believe that sm are betting on aespa setting the tone for the 4th gen big time. and you don't do that by fitting in with the trend, you make your own trend

and as much as I love the vocal led songs aespa are very much rap focused and lucid dream or I'll make you cry are not title tracks no matter how you spin it. they don't have the performance potential that savage, next level and black mamba have

regarding the mv, it actually makes a lot of sense when you have info on aespa and sm universe's story line 😭 it's literally a three part story where black mamba introduced them and the villain, next level showed them waking up from their synk or whatever the fuck and realize something strange is going on and that they need to defeat the black mamba and now savage shows them finding naevis which is like their ally and guide ("we love u naevis" / "that's my naevis you lead we follow") that will help them in their quest against the black mamba jfksjdkfkf. but. I digress. if you're not knowledgeable in any of this then I get how the mv would seem like a bunch of nonsense, but even without the storyline the whole video is fucking amazing, the styling the cgi the choreo 😭 sm didn't get stingy with the budget at ALL

[chr0mematic]

Girls on Top - Step Back mini review

So. Girls on Top. SM’s newest supergroup that dropped out of nowhere. Comprising of Seulgi, Wendy, Winter, Karina, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon and Boa, of course the hype was real.  And now they’ve finally peformed their debut song Step Back @ SMCU EXPRESS! I’ll write down my thoughts cause shit dude.

Instrumental wise, this song had that signature weird and experimental SM beat. Definitely isn’t an easy listen the first time around but I find songs like that to be fun. And y’know, I came into this mostly hyping the Red Velvet and Aespa members, as they are who I’m most familiar with, but honestly Hyoyeon and Taeyeon killed it! Seulgi’s parts sounded quite elegant, and Wendy sounded a little different than usual but it wasn’t anything too drastic. Everyone else did really well too.

Now onto the performance. Loved the aesthetic with the cultish intro, and the outfits. They gave me Everglow vibes for some reason. Choreo was okay, not the most memorable thing in the world but the main dancers really pulled it off anyways!  Also just gonna mention Wendy, goddamn her styling was amazing. Plus, her belt chain was in the shape of a W, standing for wumbo obviously :D

My only gripe with this song is its lyrics. You would expect some girl power shit or something from a group full of SM’s female legends...but guess what we got. A song about fighting over a boy. And the lyrics are oddly mean spirited too..Hopefully next time they get an actual woman to write the lyrics. Cause uh, yeah, this thing was written by an older dude apparently. Wut? Like, normally I don’t even care about the lyrics in kpop, but even this was a bruh moment for me. 

Overall, I liked Step Back, sound wise. Though ngl, I’m sad to hear that Girls on Top will be a rotational unit like NCT, cause this lineup was so damn perfect! But I’ll still look forward to any of their future projects. Also bring back some f(x) members pls :(