It's STAYC's 1st birthday!!

 Yes, this is a fan post. 😜

HighUp also just posted this bonus clip at Youtube!

Happy Anniversary STAYC girls!!! 🎉🎉🎉 As a rule, I only actively join one fandom per K-pop generation, and becoming a SWITH was probably the best decision of them all. 😊 Thank you HighUp and BEP boys for training and putting together such a wonderful and talented team of performers who get better and better with each passing day. 😊 To the SWITH community, let's keep running with our girls 'til the very end, supporting and protecting them every step of the way. No need to engage in fanwars with the immature segments of other fandoms. The talent will speak for itself. 😉 Besides, there's always plenty of room at the top of the k-pop mountain, so there's no reason why we can't be happy for the success of everyone as well. 😁 Keep smiling, growing, and singing beautifully, our dear Sumin, Sieun, Chaeyoung, Seeun, Jayoon, and Yeeun. We fans will always be here for you to praise your success and lift you up when you are feeling down. Don't forget to eat well, get ample rest, communicate with your family and friends, and live your lives in general as much as possible. I believe you are in very good hands with HighUp, and I am praying for your continued success always. 🙏 

- B. Oppa

GRAND UPDATE: STAYC

It has been a really a long while since we put something up here in this space. Numerous comeback eras have come and gone, and new groups have sprouted up all over the place like mushrooms. Though it was never our aim to write about absolutely everything that happened in the world if K-pop, I still feel inclined to fill you in on the news so far about particular groups that caught our fancy, hence the grand update.

 

Yes, this is what they look like now.. Crazy what almost a year's worth of experience can do.. 😲

It is presently less than a week to go before the first debut anniversary of STAYC (debut date: 11/12/20). Since I first wrote about them earlier this year, they already had a pair of successful comebacks, taken home their first music show wins, and bagged a ROTY award.. There's quite a bit of material to cover, so let's get started:

Coming at the heels of one of the most solid kpop debuts I have ever seen (with SO BAD), STAYC then released the viral hit ASAP in April which quickly became a sensation on tiktok due to the catchy chorus and the now-famous "kneading dance"

Yeah, you could smell the tiktok potential from a mile away 😝

However, despite the response and the subsequent boost in STAYC's popularity, ASAP failed to earn the girls their first win on any music show. I would admit that the song did not really appeal to me at first, and I thought that SO BAD was way better. Perhaps I'm not really a fan of hook songs? I dunno. I liked Cherry Bullet's Love So Sweet though, but I digress. 😅

The STAYDOM single contained 4 songs, namely: ASAP, a soulful melody called LOVE FOOL, the TAK remix of SO BAD, and a nifty little B-side called SO WHAT.

Not to be confused with the LOONA title track of the same name 😅

Could they be anymore different? 😅

So at that point in time, STAYC's discography was still quite thin.. a total of 6 tracks across 2 singles, and one of them was a remix. Be that as it may, I noticed that all of these tracks were actually quite good! This is a fresh change from the typical music release where companies and artists stuff their albums with a bunch of filler b-sides just to make the quota. The STAYC girls meant business, and I was overjoyed when I heard that they would be having their second comeback by September..

Needless to say, the trailer got me hyped up!

 

 Seeing the promotional images and video for the upcoming STEREOTYPE album created a lot of buzz among the SWITH community. I personally felt (and worried) that STAYC would go the schoolgirl route that GFriend took, and since they were just finding their identity at this point, being associated with the concept of a just-disbanded GG with millions of grieving fans across the globe is one can of worms that you would like to avoid. Luckily, my feelings were reassured when I heard the audio teasers.. My goodness, these girls can SING! 😲

And the visuals are stunning too! 😍

I mean, seriously, look at these cuties! 😀

 

At last they came out with an EP, this one again containing 4 songs, STEREOTYPE, COMPLEX, I'LL BE THERE, and SLOW DOWN which I now consider as the best B-side I have ever had the privilege of hearing (at least, until the next album comes out 😅). True to form, ALL tracks on this album are bops! No fillers here!!

 

I thought it was incredible by itself as an audio track, then the dance practice dropped, making things a million times better! 👍

SLOW DOWN is definitely worthy of the title track position alongside STEREOTYPE, with amazing choreography to boot!  However, STEREOTYPE is the obvious sentimental choice, as it was recently revealed that the members that the song was given to them by BEP soon after their final selection as STAYC. They had kept this ace hidden up their sleeves for so long, and the payoff was just tremendous! I have never followed a rookie comeback this closely before..

 

The styling for this era was just impeccable

Choreography on point

They weren't shy about having fun in the process either 😅

So yes, STEREOTYPE was an incredible track, with STAYC's amazing vocals, an impressive music video, and tons of promotional support that even landed them a stint on Weekly Idol, where they were more than willing to try their hand at the famous "Random Play Dance".

The STAYC girls have finally arrived. It is definitely going down.. 😎

As the promotional cycle wore on, SWITH were treated to various content releases like the practices and other behind-the-scenes stuff usually (but not exclusively) associated with the STAY:SEE videos uploaded to their Youtube channel. It was among one of these interviews when Isa revealed that they pretended they had won first place in one scene in the MV to achieve the intended effect.

This one 👆

 

Which then made things all the more meaningful when this happened on September 14, 2021, a day that will forever be etched in STAYC history, and in the hearts and minds of SWITH everywhere:

STAYC FIRST MUSIC SHOW WIN!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

STAYC was able to earn their first-ever music show win on SBS MTV The Show, beating out the recently viral and highly addictive Talk and Talk by Hybe girl group fromis_9. Needless to say, the girls were pretty emotional during the encore stage..

As a fan, it felt extremely satisfying to see leader Sumin proudly holding her first trophy 😢

Indeed, the STAYC girls have truly arrived, and they did it just 10 months after debut. I am fully aware that other groups have achieved this milestone faster, but that does not diminish the fact that this is a remarkable achievement in itself. In fact, the BUDDY in me can't help but feel that these girls may be the second coming of GFRIEND to this generation.. Unless you count the "mysterious upcoming super-rookie group" VIVIZ, which already has a packed schedule, a loaded discography, and years of experience, all before even having a schedule or teaser for their debut! 😅 But that's a story for another day. 😜

STAYC later on revealed that they had received an award from Hanteo which certified that the STEREOTYPE album had already sold more than 100 thousand physical copies within the first week of release.

The STEREOTYPE juggernaut didn't stop there, as the girls went on to win at two other music shows, but unfortunately the girls were unable to perform during the said programs and were thus unable to receive the trophy and have their encore stages. These wins were:

MBC Show Champion - September 15, 2021. The above picture was from their appearance the following week (210922) when they were finally able to receive the trophy

 

September 16, 2021 - M Countdown. They don't appear on M Countdown though, so there is no trophy shot. Rumor has it that it's because BEP has beef with Mnet, but I dunno..

But wait, there's more! 

STAYC received the Female Rookie of the Year Award (Next Leader Award) at 2021 The Fact Music Awards

All these accolades, and the year isn't even over yet! 😁

I didn't even include the new endorsement deals and magazine interviews anymore, as that would already take too much of my limited time. 😅 Perhaps at another opportunity then.

It really pleases my SWITH heart that HighUp went the way they did with this promotional cycle, putting the spotlight on STEREOTYPE (which the girls have been itching to perform since debut) that gave them the best chances of coming out on top (which they did 🏆🏆🏆), but at the same time putting adequate emphasis on one of the strongest B-sides that I have ever heard in quite a while (SLOW DOWN). I love how the girls are being managed, and I love how every move seems very calculated and well thought out. Though it may have been tempting to put out an entire truckload of low quality content at the start just for the sake of getting any sort of recognition, they chose to slowly bide their time and build up the fanbase and public opinion gradually and organically. I hope the BEP boys continue along this path, as STAYC seems to be a very strong player in the industry in the years to come.

Furthermore, I would like to commend the choreographers for putting a priority on member visibility rather than forced symmetry. It is as if HighUp said "to hell with symmetry, we want our girls to be SEEN"

I really love the fact that they make it an effort to sing live every time. Instead of seeing it as the artist flexing their capabilities, I look at it as giving the audience an authentic performance that will be unique every time. Please allow me to explain:

Let's face it, nobody can expect any group to always perform live with the absolute same vocals for every stage, especially when talking about idol groups that have such complicated and active choreographies. People get tired and may lose wind while moving, or may be in poor condition due to the lack of sleep from the previous day's schedules, and that's perfectly okay. As a result of their singing live, each performance will inevitably have its own little nuances like a bit of heavy breathing here, or a slight voice crack there, and again, that's totally fine and normal.

As an audience member, I would look at it as the artist being honest with me by giving me the complete performance right then and there, thus making it worth the time (and money for concerts) that I spent to watch them, especially if you get to see the actual stage in person.

A point of debate for some of the (presumably younger) SWITHs is the fact that the girls are not allowed to have their personal phones until they win during a major broadcast program (namely MuBank, Inkigayo, and Music Core). A lot of kids are reacting that HighUp was being too cruel. Well, here's my two cents on that:

This may be my age talking, but it is not really that big of a deal. I'm sure this is part of HighUp's way of protecting the girls from online hate (which is just crazy nowadays, especially for celebrities in korea). The last thing you'd want is your budding artist to suddenly get shocked and depressed because of undeserved negativity. Too many a$$holes online lately. They should be focusing on improving their craft and getting better with every stage, not worrying about what some random nutjob in a dark basement might think. Let us also bear in mind that the maknae line are still minors, and that the members are collectively still quite young. It is very easy to get swept away by your emotions at that point in time.

My guess is that this rule was actually for the long game, and the HighUp people were not expecting STEREOTYPE to blow up the way it did, hence the need to rephrase the rule (some people were commenting that they had already won on some shows, so why don't they still have their phones?). My speculation is that they wanted to give the girls their phones back once they were veterans already (2-3 years?), and would be able to handle criticisms better since they would already have a ton of experience by then (and thus would be less prone to self-doubt).

As an additional note, I seriously doubt that Sieun's dad, having so much industry clout, would just sit idly by if he felt that his daughter (and 5 other adopted daughters apparently) was being unfairly deprived of something essential for contact with the family.

The longer I stay a SWITH, the more I am confident that I chose to support the right group of this generation, and I find myself excited while waiting for what they would come up with next. 😏

*For the sake of stanning simplicity, I have chosen to align myself totally with only one fandom per generation. I still support the other artists, but only the selected would be able to command my full attention.

- B. Oppa

Rookie Watch 2021

Been a bit busy at the hospital lately, so it was kinda difficult to fnd time to make in-depth posts on particular groups. That being said, there has been a spate of awesome debuts and comebacks lately, and I find myself actively stanning so many groups as a result.😜

Here are the superstar groups that have caught my attention (in order of personal importance and emotional investment):

- STAYC (스테이씨)

- Tri.be (트라이비)

- Weeekly (위클리)

- Purple Kiss (퍼플키스)

I opted to leave out powerhouse team LOONA since I don't consider them to be rookies anymore, and they will get their own post eventually. ITZY is already higher up the totem pole as well, but I don't really stan them anyway 😅

Hopefully I will be able to find more time to write in the coming weeks.

- B. Oppa

STAYC girls, it's going down!!

 One of my biggest regrets in my K-Pop history is that I have been unable to stan my favorites from the beginning. I had unwittingly missed the narrow window of joining the GFRIEND fandom early on, even though T. Noona had already presented it to me on a silver platter. 😓

 

As a result, Sad Eunha is sad.. 😅

I admit that I am a big sucker for stories of organic growth and development, so I decided that I would not let another opportunity to stan a worthwhile group (from debut) to pass me by. Admittedly, the process is now made a little easier with some companies (particularly the more enterprising, smaller ones) revealing the abilities of their soon-to-debut trainees months before the actual debut stage. A couple of prime examples of this would be  365 Practice from RBW (now renamed as the still-to-debut Purple Kiss), and the Highup Girls by High Up Entertainment who eventually made their debut as power rookie group STAYC (스테이씨; Seuteissi, acronym for Star To A Young Culture).

Despite the fact that they had put out some of the aforementioned predebut content, I admit that I only came across their teaser videos shortly after the release of their first title track entitled So Bad.

 

It's definitely going down 😎

When I first heard and saw the MV for So Bad, I thought to myself that "Dang, THIS is how pull off a proper debut for a girl group!" It veered away from the tried and tested formula of going for the totally sweet and innocent concept (see SNSD, GFRIEND) but didn't swing wildly the other way either by going full-on girl crush (see BLACKPINK, ITZY) or ultra sexy (see Nine Muses) from the very beginning. Instead, they seem to have found a solid middle ground wherein they could plant their flag safely. Oh, and it helped that the debut stage performances weren't sloppy either (Sorry T-ARA 😅)

I wouldn't say that it's just a safe song, but it is definitely a SOLID song. Riding the current retro wave, the song starts off by giving this very 80s synthesizer music vibe, something that is also reflected in the Tron-like visuals seen in the CD box (and throughout the MV as well).

 

Yup, very much 80s..

Although the line distribution is unbalanced, the title track gives listeners a fairly good sampling of each member's different vocal capabilities. The most surprising was the very deep vocal tone (? not really a music guy, sorry 😅) pulled off by their maknae, J. 

J = This young lady.

The discography is still understandably slim though, since the  single only contains a pair of songs: The aforementioned So Bad, and a slower, more melancholy track called Like This.

 

Not to be confused with this 👆 Wonder Girls song of the same name 😅

Kpop insiders may argue that despite being from a small company, the girls are geared for success from the get-go, since they are the first girl group created by legendary K-pop producer duo Black Eyed Pilseung, who were the masterminds behind such awesome tracks like APink's Dumhdurum and a number of widely successful songs by a group  called TWICE, maybe you have heard of them? 😅 No wonder So Bad is just so good! 😜

Despite my positive response to the MV, i was still a little apprehensive whether I should follow this group or not. All that changed when I watched their live stages, and man, they were AMAZING!! These girls seem to make it a point to sing LIVE. No matter the imperfections, they are not afraid to go in microphones on, and rock the stage with minimal background vocal support! 😲

It's just a shame that they were not invited to the year-end events.. but then again, their debut was a little late in the year.. Hey, wait a minute! Aespa had their debut much later but still got invited.. I smell an unfair bias.. 😒, but more on that some other time..

After a round of music show appearances, the STAYC girls were hard at work, making various variety appearances and interviews to present themselves to the public. Then the new year came, and with it, was a performance by STAYC that I feel was nothing short of legendary...

Much to the delight of my SONE heart, STAYC did an epic cover of SNSD's Way to Go (Himnae), and being true to form, they did it with LIVE vocals!!! It was just incredible that they could dance that energetically while singing that well! I wasn't absolutely perfect, as you are really expected to pant a bit while singing and dancing at the same time, but that it what made the performance so special, and more importantly, so REAL!

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better,  STAYC came out with an acoustic version, as well as a remixed version of So Bad in a more sultry tone and with a powerful dance break.

It seems that STAYC has all the right fundamentals to make a solid push towards superstardom in the years to come. They have a solidly talented and highly visual member lineup, a very supportive and successful CEO/producer team with a lot of clout in the industry, and even an officially-named fandom this early on in their carrers, although I don't think I'm actually ready to call myself a SWITH just yet. The name still needs to grow on me a bit. 😅 I am now looking forward to their inevitable first comeback sometime this year (hopefully), and maybe get a hold of their official lightstick when it comes out. 😁

- B. Oppa

Further down the rabbithole..

Picking up where I left off in this previous post, my exposure and awareness to k-pop idols grew exponentially when I was exposed to variety shows. I was well on my way to becoming a hardcore SONE (Girls' Generation fandom name, pronounced so-won), and thus began gobbling up whatever content I could get my hands on. Variety show appearances are a good place to start getting to know your favorite idols because they can show their funny or dorky sides, as well as those ubiquitous "personal talents" which would supposedly further endear them to the public, often at the risk of humiliating themselves in the process. 

So I watched them, and did I watch a LOT! 😜 But among all of these, one show made quite an impact on me and opened my eyes to the wonderful world of multifandom:

Invincible Youth (Season 1) had a basic premise (from my understanding) of taking representative female idols from different groups and letting them live in the countryside on weekends doing local chores, all the while creatively promoting their respective groups. It had a good mix of veteran and rookie idols that featured Narsha (Brown Eyed Girls), Yuri and Sunny (Girls' Generation), Hara (KARA), HyunA (4Minute), Hyomin (T-ARA), and Sunhwa (SECRET). Take note that they actually had TWO members of SNSD on the show, which gave it ample firepower to rule the airwaves during its timeslot.

I guess the show was really effective in its role in giving these idols a platform to promote their groups, because I eventually found myself looking them all up and wound up becoming a fan of most of them (Sorry BEG and SECRET 😅).

 

Shows like this seem to have more potential impact for rookie groups (at the time) like T-ARA and SECRET, as it was their chance to put their teams on the map. Episode after episode, you would find Hyomin tirelessly making a fool out of herself in order to gain screen time and generate buzz for T-ARA. I wish I could say the same for Sunhwa, who had the unfortunate reputation of always being edited out. 😜

This really pulled the trigger on my sense of fandom and soon I was also a member of the T-ARA internatinal fansite Tiaradiadem.com, which further unlocked more fandom content for me to spazz over. 😅

Although I have confined myself to actively stan only SNSD (and T-ARA later on), I managed to delve into the different active groups at the time, thus creating a healthy mix for my K-pop appetite.

After a couple of years of actively fanboying, I had identified myself as a SONE, and whatever the hell the male T-ARA fans really called themselves (I'm sorry, but calling your fandom QUEEN's just won't cut it for the dudes 😜).

I guess that pretty much sums up my journey down the rabbithole. Will be delving into specifics from this point on. I honestly can't wait to get certain stuff out of the way so I will be able to discuss more current content, especially since this is the first time I will be stanning a group from debut (STAYC girls, its going down!😅)

- B. Oppa