Yoohoo and Ahaiii - IVE

 Sorry about the sizable gap between entries. Real life kinda got in the way 😅

I would be remiss if I failed to talk about the super rookie group that took 2022 by storm. Yes friends, I'm talking about Starship Entertainment's sensational rookie girl group IVE (아이브: Aibeu).

Debuting on December 21, 2021, IVE consists of Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Wonyoung, Liz, and Leeseo. At first glance, you already have quite the 1-2 punch here, with 2 members of IZ*ONE bannering the team. Given her valuable veteran experience, Yujin suddenly finds herself thrust into the leadership role, and Wonyoung brings that star power as the group's center. This in no way belittles the others, as they also have much to bring to the table. Being the eldest unnie, Gaeul gives off that sexy sophisticated vibe in a cute package. Rei is the group's main rapper (its always the Japanese ones 😅), Liz has been a revelation as a vocal powerhouse, and Leeseo is an all-rounder maknae.

They kicked things off with their debut single ELEVEN, and boy, it sure didn't disappoint..

When I first heard the opening bars, I immediately knew this would be something different. It had this east asian or mid-eastern vibe to it that I couldn't put a handle on. Anyways, it was such a vocal masterpiece, and the song set a kind of dreamy atmosphere that I found absolutely unique and addicting.

I guess that's why they wound up with 13 wins for this promotional cycle. including triple crowns from all three public broadcast music shows (Music Core, Inkigayo and Music Bank). Not too shabby for a debut. 👏👏👏 Their winning streak began on December 8, 2021, and extended all the way up to February 18, 2020 (source).

The single album consisted on only two songs, and this trend would continue until their third release, but quite frankly, it didn't seem to matter.

A few months later, they came out with their next release called LOVE DIVE, an obvious tribute to their fandom called DIVE. This second single album also contained only two songs. LOVE DIVE and ROYAL.

LOVE DIVE would eventually go on to rack up 10 wins, with yet another pair of triple crowns from Inkigayo and Music Bank. This win streak would again last 3 months from April to July 2022. Then came August..

For their third single, IVE decided to ride the retro wave sweeping K-Pop and put out the "I Will Survive" sampled After LIKE, thus cementing its place as a definitive song for the coming new year.

 I mean, just look at it!! 😅

After LIKE had that retro disco funk that I really loved, and I guess the Korean general public liked it as well, as they were able to get another 14 music show wins! True to form, their win streak lasted 3 months, from August to October 2022, but the song resonated well into the new year.

IVE's styling has been pretty consistent thus far, and they have coined the term "chaebol crush" to describe their concept (source).

So there you have it, 3 single albums, for a grand total of 6 songs (plus one Xmas remake of After LIKE as seen on Spotify). I certainly hope they are not going the Blackpink route of music scarcity, but at least they have been releasing at a fairly constant pace. They have had their fair share of controversies from the get-go, mainly targeting Wonyoung for one reason or another. I won't go into specifics anymore so as to not give those controversies further mileage. I like them as a group, and I like their music, so I will be supporting them with each new release (unless they happen to overlap with STAYC 😝). Will I be joining up as a DIVE though? Not a chance. 😛 They won't need me anyway, seeing as they already have enough loyal fans. 😜 I shall be content in enjoying their music when it takes my fancy.

- B. Oppa

Really really really unnatural, 왜!

This won't be a full-on group profile post, since I have only began to stan them recently, so to the Ujungs out there, please bear with me. We'll get there (eventually).. 😅 Ok, here goes..

Cosmic Girls (우주소녀; Ujusonyeo), also known as WJSN  is a 13-member girl group under Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment. The team consists of 10 Korean and 3 Chinese members, with the latter 3 currently stuck in China due to prior commitments and (presumably)  COVID travel issues. The group has been around since February 2016 when they debuted with 12 members that followed the footsteps of the legendary Starship girl group, SISTAR. Their 13th member (Yeonjung) would eventually be added later that year after her debut with survival show group I.O.I.

I don't really have much to say so far about the group since I have only began to stan them a couple of weeks ago when I heard their latest title track called UNNATURAL.. 

So yeah, that happened.. 😅 It was such an AMAZING track, I guess it reminded me of Apink's Dumhdurum which was one of the hottest things on my playlist as of late. So naturally (hehe), I went and took a gander at the music video..

😲😲😲

It was absolutely incredible!! and the rap by leader Exy didn't feel forced or out of place. It blended seamlessly with the rhythm of the song, and the fact that she was already and excellent rapper to begin with only made things so much better! I think she also resembled my all-time favorite GG leader,  the great mother Sowon of GFRIEND. To add more coincidences, both are named Sojung in real life, and are both '95 liners as well.. 😳

Serious leader vibes here 😳

 

Ah! Now I remember how I discovered them! I was watching an episode of Fact in Star where LOONA was the guest artist (Why Not? promotions), and Exy was filling in for Yves as MC. I thought to myself, "Wow, this tall, well-spoken woman looks so beautiful and glamorous, with an appeal that may seem to rival the great Sowon!". So I looked her up, and later found myself listening to UNNATURAL and eventually falling into the WJSN rabbithole.. 😅 

Upon further probing, I discovred that WJSN's discography is filled with tracks exhibiting the typical girl group vibe, something along the lines of Apink. I guess this is why they didn't seem to stand out much, although as of present count, they already have amassed a total of 9 music show wins (source), including that lone win for UNNATURAL

SBS MTV The Show - April 6, 2021

I am biased towards techno/disco/dance tracks, and I found a lot that suited my taste amongst their discography which already spans 10 EPs and 1 full album. Those that really caught my ear are: Boogie Up (4 music show wins), BUTTERFLY (2 music show wins - Not to be confused with LOONA and Oh My Girl tracks that go by the same name😅), Let's Dance, Yalla, and this incredibly addictive B-side named Babyface from the HAPPY MOMENT album (which, in my opinion, would have made an excellent title track that would have won BIG at music programs).

The girls seem to be making a big push to promote this latest release, with various appearances on variety shows (eg. Weekly Idol) and radio programs, etc. I have binge watched a bit of their older programs/uploaded content (via Starship TV) and discovered that these people are absolutely hilarious!! 😂 Well worth stanning in my opinion, and I hope that it's not too late to hop on the Ujung (WJSN fandom) train.

- B. Oppa