Category: FEATURES

The most underrated, poorly treated, and seemingly hapless SM Entertainment group of all time—these are the words used to describe the group f(x). It seemed that once Sulli quit the group to focus on an acting career in 2015, the company sort of lost the appetite to promote the group, only giving them one official comeback (the flawless 4 Walls) in 2016. SM practically abandoned them to “focus on solo activities”. 

Things started getting weird for the group because after 4 Walls in 2015, as they were not given any proper comeback, except for a digital single All Mine, which was released on the SM Station singles platform. Coincidentally, 2016 also saw the notable rise of SM’s other girl group Red Velvet, as 2016 was the year when they completely shrugged off their image as SM’s black hole group and cemented their commercial success with Russian Roulette in September that year.

f(x) performs 4 Walls for KBS’s Music Bank K-Chart

Was f(x) forever playing second (or third) fiddle?
Sounds familiar, right? Yes, what happened to SHINee and EXO have eery similarities to f(x) and RV. So, would it be safe to say that the long Red Velvet hiatus of 2020 to August 2021 can also be linked to the aespa’s next-level success, pun intended? But we digress; that’s for another day. 

But when you really think about it, it may seem that f(x) was, to put it bluntly, more or less an afterthought for most of the group’s existence. For a very successful group with title tracks that consecutively chart either on top 1 (Nu ABO, Pinocchio (Danger), Pinocchio, Electric Shock, Rum Pum Pum Pum) or 2 (Hot Summer, Red Light, 4 Walls)  positions, it was baffling to everyone why it took seven years for the group to have their fandom (MeU) named and their lightstick released. We can only imagine that coming behind the Nation’s Girl Group Girl’s Generation automatically hands them a whole level of pressure, but it is just unfortunate that f(x) had to be always treated by the company as a great backup. They were great, but still, it felt like they were a backup.

Nu Abo official MV

And if that’s not enough, Sulli passed on in 2019. 

f(x) Now

So, what has happened to the girls since their wishy-washy departures from SM Entertainment?

It was somehow confusing when Victoria declared in September 2019 that her contract with SM has expired and the company said on the exact same day that they were still under negotiations. Nevertheless, as with other Chinese SM idols (e.g., Super Junior-M’s Zhuomi, EXO’s Lay), Victoria has been promoting mostly in China since 2016 (which is weird because SEVENTEEN Chinese members Jun and The8 have been promoting in Korea nonstop since their debut in 2015 until last August). This April, SM and f(x)’s leader finally officially ended their relationship.

Meanwhile, Amber announced on September 1, 2019 that she was leaving SM and re-sign her contract with Steel Wool Entertainment, the American company that SM has agreed to partner with when it came to her solo activities as early as 2018. Since her departure from SM, she has released two albums,X and y?, as well as Mandarin versions of her singles for the past two years. She was also a mentor on the fourth season of the Chinese version of Produce 101, titled Chuang 2021. Victoria was also a mentor in the 2020 edition of the program.

Luna signed with Humap Contents for her solo activities after her SM contract expired in 2019. In February 2021, Luna established her own entertainment agency, Grida Entertainment. She has been busy with stage musicals.

Finally, Krystal stayed with SM until August 2020, with her departure from the company made official, as well as her signing with her new agency, H& Entertainment announced in October. Since leaving SM, she has starred in the Korean drama Police University with former B1A4 member Jinyoung and Cha Taehyun (who happened to have worked with Victoria in My New Sassy Girl; It’s the 2016 sequel to the 2001 monster hit My Sassy Girl, which also starred Cha Taehyun). She is also set to lead the Chinese film Unexpected Love. 

Is f(x) Still a Thing? 

All four members may have moved on from SM Entertainment well, but one thing these members are still not clear about is their group’s disbandment. True, SM has never announced the group’s disbandment, but then the company has been very dicey when it comes to updating everyone about the status of their idol groups. As late as April this year, Luna appeared confused in an interview when people referred to f(x) in the past tense when she herself said that the group has not been officially disbanded.

But the thing is, when SM practically ignores your group for years (since after 4 Walls’ release, to be exact) when all of you were still signed with them, how can you expect the same company to give you the time of day when all of you are not in their stable of talents anymore? 

It would be great to see the four reunite for an album or even just a single perhaps, but then, considering SM’s indifference to the group and the Korean public’s uncomfortable regard of Victoria’s patriotic views (Victoria stopped her H&M endorsement after the brand raised objections of the Chinese government’s use of forced labor involving the Uygur minority in the country’s cotton plantations in Western China), counting on that reunion might turn out to be Waiting for Godot. 

Featured image: f(x) 4 Walls official MV. SMTOWN/YouTube

MONSTA X’s Kihyun has just performed an amazing cover of Tom Grennan’s “Little Bit of Love”. The gorgeous rendition has captured the attention of the original artist who is totally loving it!

Kihyun’s latest cover is once again a song that shows off his unique and versatile voice. The video for his “Little Bit of Love” cover features the MONSTA X main vocalist at the beach. However, it isn’t a sunny day and the winds appear to be moved by Yoo Kihyun’s emotional singing.

MONBEBEs were also moved by the “Little Bit of Love” cover and wanted to make sure Tom Grennan heard it. One MONBEBE tagged the English singer-songwriter in their comments and amazingly, Grennan retweeted it with his reaction to the rendition.

Tom Grennan was clearly impressed with Kihyun’s performance. The “Let’s Go Home Together” singer liked it so much that he shared it in his Instagram stories. This allowed his own fans to hear the MONSTA X vocalist’s emotional rendition.

But could this mean a possible collaboration? MONBEBEs and Tom Grennan fans would truly appreciate it. Hopefully, the two powerhouse artists will work together on a project soon.

https://twitter.com/starshipkr/status/1435612525450592263

This isn’t the first time that an international artist was pleased with Kihyun’s cover of their song. In April 2020, the MONSTA X vocalist sang his own version of Imagine Dragons’ “Natural”. The band loved the cover and drummer Daniel Plazman even left a comment on the tweet.

It’s great to know that Kihyun still has time to work on a cover despite being very busy. MONSTA X are currently preparing for the next comeback with the single “One Day”. The upcoming comeback will be the first for the group after leader Shownu’s military enlistment.

MONSTA X’s new single “One Day” will be released on Friday, September 10, 2021.

Featured image: MONSTA X Kihyun – Little Bit of Love. Photo: OfficialMonstaX/Twitter

SEVENTEEN has gifted their beloved CARATS a gift one year in advance: All thirteen members renewed their contracts with Pledis Entertainment (which is now under HYBE) a full year before their seven-year contracts expire. That means no fears for CARATS of the seven-year curse!

To celebrate this, here’s a SEVENTEEN music video quiz for you to get your observant CARAT on:

2015: Adore U
Who was driving the convertible Seungkwan was in when he sang his first lines?
a. Joshua
b. DK
c. Jeonghan
d. He was driving the car himself.

2015: Mansae
In the scenes where the boys were playing basketball, who was beside the girl and watching everyone else?
a. Wonwoo
b. Jun
c. The8
d. A guy who’s not an SVT member.

2016: Pretty U
In a scene where the boys had a food fight, who was squirting mustard?
a. No one, they were using ketchup
b. Mingyu and Wonwoo
c. DK and Joshua
d. The8 and Vernon

2016: Very Nice
Who was the first member whose chest exploded with confetti?
a. Joshua
b. Seungkwan
c. Dino
d. Trick question: the confetti came from their hands.

2016: Boom Boom
The group’s operation, whatever it was, was nearly foiled because:
a. Seungkwan slept through the alarm, so they had no getaway vehicle.
b. Jeonghan cooperated with the police, revealing their plans to them.
c. Clumsy Mingyu stepped on a tile that triggered the alarm.
d. No one listened to DK’s escape plan.

2017: Don’t Wanna Cry
Who was the only member who filmed scenes in a laundromat?
a. Dino
b. Woozi
c. Hoshi
d. There were no scenes in a laundromat.

2017: Clap
What did Wonwoo din with a machine in the offices of Spoecialized Visdeotape Technology, Inc.?
a. He threw it in a tank full of water.
b. He hit it with a baseball bat.
c. He used it to play a VHS tape.
d. He clapped into it, obviously.

2018: Thanks
Who was the only member who danced in the restaurant?
a. Jun
b. All members, actually
c. DK and Jeonghan
d. The performance team

2018: Oh My!
In the scenes where the members are floating in the clouds, which member uses binoculars to look for Woozi, who’s only a few feet away?
a. The8
b. Joshua
c. Mingyu
d. Woozi, looking at his reflection in a mirror using binoculars.

2019: Home
In a room full of lampshades, who turned on a single lampshade that may have also turned on the other lampshades as we saw all the members in the room?
a. Seungkwan
b. S.Coups
c. Woozi
d. No lampshade was off.

2019: Hit
When The8 sings the line, “굴레를 벗어나 to the top” (break away to the top), he is actually on top of
a. A pile of boxes
b. Monkey bars
c. A CGI-added planet Earth
d. A stage

2019: 독 : Fear
What did Jeonghan do after the countdown timer showed 0:01?
a. He sang a high note.
b. He ran.
c. He danced.
d. He smeared his lipstick.

2020: Left & Right
Aside from “The early bird catches the worm,” what is the other saying behind Seungkwan as he veered off into the middle of nowhere after his false start in the Do Your Best oval track?
a. You can do it.
b. Time is gold.
c. Left and right, rip it, rip it.
d. Youth can change everything.

2020: Home;Run
Who was the last member who actually held the diamond in his hands? Hint: He threw it away after holding it for a second.
a. Seungkwan
b. The8
c. Jun
d. Woozi

2021: Ready to Love
What was written on top of the bus on Vernon’s background and Dino lay on while singing his line in the second stanza?
a. “I’m ready to love.”
b. “I want to be more than friends.”
c. “I dream of love.”
d. “I’m obsessed with you.”

Answer key

2015: Adore U
Who was driving the convertible Sewungkwan was in when he sang his first lines?
C. It was Jeonghan with what looked like a Rachel from Friends bob driving

2015: Mansae
In the scenes where the boys were playing basketball, who was beside the girl and watching everyone else?
Wonwoo was beside the girl while everyone else (except Seungkwan who was in the sidelines) was playing basketball

2016: Pretty U
In a scene where the boys had a food fight, who was squirting mustard?
d. The8 and Vernon used mustard.

2016: Very Nice
Who was the first member whose chest exploded with confetti?
Joshua was first, followed by Seungkwan, then DK – twice.

2016: Boom Boom
The group’s operation, whatever it was, was nearly foiled because:
c. Mingyu, being Mingyu, stepped on a tile that triggered the alarm.

2017: Don’t Wanna Cry
Who was the only member who filmed scenes in a laundromat?
Only Dino was sitting on top of a row of washing machines.

2017: Clap
What did Wonwoo din with a machine in the offices of Spoecialized Visdeotape Technology, Inc.?
He hit it with a baseball bat.

2018: Thanks
Who was the only member who danced in the restaurant?
Only Jun, though DK and Jeonghan sang in the same place.

2018: Oh My!
In the scenes where the members are floating in the clouds, which member uses binoculars to look for Woozi, who’s only a few feet away?
c. Mingyu looked at Woozi who was like a foot away from him with a pair of binoculars. Why? Beats us.

2019: Home
In a room full of lampshades, who turned on a single lampshade that may have also turned on the other lampshades as we saw all the members in the room?
Seungkwan turned on a lampshade, then the scene cut to a room full of lampshades with all members sitting.

2019: Hit
When The8 sings the line, “굴레를 벗어나 to the top” (break away to the top), he is actually on top of
Monkey bars

2019: 독 : Fear
What did Jeonghan do after the countdown timer showed 0:01?
He smeared his lipstick from his lips across his cheeks.

2020: Left & Right
Aside from “The early bird catches the worm,” what is the other saying behind Seungkwan as he veered off into the middle of nowhere after his false start in the Do Your Best oval track?
d. Youth can change everything.

2020: Home;Run
Who was the last member who actually held the diamond in his hands? Hint: He threw it away after holding it for a second.
Seungkwan. Later, jun was a diamond in an alley and Woozi smashed the glass protecting it with a baseball bat, although it was not seen whether they were able to take the diamond.

2021: Ready to Love
What was written on top of the bus on Vernon’s background and Dino lay on while singing his line in the second stanza?
d. “I’m obsessed with you.”

Whos’ excited for the group’s October comeback? Here’s hoping we can still see Jun and The8 on the music video and hear them on the song, although they will not be able to promote with the group as the two SVT members have come home to China to be with family and promote as solo artists until December.

Featured image: SEVENTEEN TTT. Photo: pledis_17/Twitter

It used to be that entertainment agencies have “slave contracts” with their talents, holding them under their care for as long as they want. With idols starting to realize how inhumane this treatment is and taking legal action like SHINHWA in 2003, Hangeng in 2009, and JYJ in 2010, entertainment agencies, particularly SM Entertainment, have taken action by making their contracts more friendly towards idols and shortening their contracts from the usually ambiguous effective dates to very precise terms, usually at seven years for the initial contract, after which both parties have an option to extend the contract every three years.

This prevailing arrangement has caused a lot of movement among idol groups and soloists in the company’s illustrious history. Here is a rundown of the status of the various idols who started their careers in what used to be the country’s largest entrainment agency, SM Entertainment.

H.O.T.
If you are a fan of TV’s Reply series, you would know how huge H.O.T. was. Unless you’re more of a Sechs Kies fan, it could be argued that the late 1990s was dominated by the group. That was, until 2001, when Tony, Woohyuk, and Jaewon were not able to come to an agreement with SM on the terms of their contract renewal. Thus, the group was officially disbanded in May 2001, causing a wave of protests in front of the SM HQ and the company’s behavior towards inactive groups – since then, SM Entertainment has never officially disbanded any groups on their stable.

H.O.T performs Candy for MBC TV in 1997

Kangta and the group’s leader Heejoon actually re-signed with SM after the March 2001 debacle, although the latter left the company after finishing his military enlistment. The three who left formed jtL which enjoyed success until 2003, in their new company, Yejeon Media the year they didn’t renew their contracts with SM/ Although all five members are still in the entertainment industry, only Kangta, who already happens to be a creative director with SM, is still active as a singer, having just released songs to commemorate his 25 years in the music biz. Woohyuk and Jaewon are more focused on running businesses while Tony and Heejoon have successfully shifted into careers as television personalities.

SHINHWA
As mentioned earlier, SHINHWA was among the first group to actually bring SM to court. This all started when after the release of their album Wedding, SM offered contract renewals to everyone, except Dongwan. All members then chose to re-sign with a different company, but this also started their long-standing legal battle with SM, as then SM head Lee Sooman prohibited them from using “SHINHWA” in their activities outside his company. It wasn’t until 2014 when the courts finally rule in their favor, allowing them to use Shinhwa for their company as long as they will continue as a group.

A few seconds into the song and one can recognize it’s SHINHWA’s T.O.P. (Twinkle Of Paradise)

The group has not disbanded and all members are still active in the entrainment industry. Their last music release was in 2018 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and they also held a 21st-anniversary concert the following year. All members have released solo albums and all of them have also established a career on television as reality and variety show personalities, Dongwan and Eric have also acted in numerous TV dramas. The two were also embroiled in a social media exchange (yea, the two of them fought), which fortunately was resolved in March this year.

S.E.S.
SM also found massive success with their three-member girl group, S.E.S. From their debut in 1997 until their official disbandment in 2002, Shoo, Bada, and Eugene competed against DSP Media’s Fin.K.L for dominance in Korea’s girl group scene. Shoo continued with SM until 2006, while Bada and Eugene signed with other agencies. The three reunited in 2016 and released a 20th-anniversary album, complete with a reality show and a reunion concert. Bada has continued with a career in music and has also appeared in variety and talk shows, while Eugene has been killing it with her role as Yoonhee in the top-rating The Penhouse: War in Life.

Another 90s K-pop culture icon, S.E.S, performing the easily recognizable I’m Your Girl

BoA
Then, there’s BoA.

BoA is BoA. She’ll always be my (and everybody else’s) number 1. Still signed with SM (now on her 21st year), still releasing amazing tracks, still a top endorser being pursued by just about any brand of any product, and still appearing as mentor or judge in reality survival shows. She’s set to appear as a judge in the dancer reality contest Street Woman Fighter.

Just by looking at this list, one thing is for sure: SM Entertainment sure has an eye for finding great talent.

Featured image: BoA on SBS Nightline. Photo: boakwon/Instagram

For K-pop fandoms, expressing and proving their love and support to their idols is a top priority. Aside from streaming their group’s music videos non-stop and making sure they have bought as many copies of their albums as possible (got to complete all those collectible photo cards for all members, after all), one concrete way of making fans and idols connect is through music show wins. After all, in order for a song to win in a music program, it needs to do well in music charts: sales, downloads, streams, and even radio airplay, as well as—depending on the music program—a good dose of fan votes.

Carats, the SEVENTEEN fandom, has been quite successful in making SEVENTEEN win in these shows. Let’s see how successful they have been since 2016, when the group first won for Pretty U. Take note that Music Bank Show! Music Core, and Inkigayo are the three major music programs since they are broadcasted on free TV, while The Show, Show Champion, and Mnet’s M Countdown are shown on cable TV.

Music Bank (13 wins)
Among the three free TV music programs, SEVENTEEN has been most successful in KBS’ Music Bank, where they have managed to snag 13 1irst place trophies, including two for their most recent Ready to Love comeback. They won their second triple crown for Home the day after they first won it in M Countdown. Their other eight #1s include wins for BOOMBOOM, Don’t Wanna Cry, Clap, Thanks, Oh My!, Fear, Left & Right, and HOME;RUN.

Show! Music Core (2 wins)
MBC’s Show! Music Core is one of the more complex music shows, as they have, since 2020, been tinkering with their criteria every three months or so. SEVENTEEN has won twice in Music Core for Home in 2019 and Left & Right in 2020.

Inkigayo (2wins)
SBS’ Inkigayo is probably the most difficult music program to win in, with its chart system directly connected with the official national Gaon Chart. SEVENTEEN has won two Inkigayo trophies, the first time for Home on February 3, 2019, and the second time on November 1, 2020, for HOME;RUN.

The Show (2 wins)
Since The Show is shown on SBS MTV, a lot of purists claim that having a win here is not really that big a deal since the audience is mainly composed of those who have cable TV only. Moreover, the show’s chart system depends on 15% of votes on Starpass, SBS MTV’s app where fans can vote for their bias’ release.

SVT has only won twice on The Show, on its May 30 and June 13 episodes for Don’t Wanna Cry.

Show Champion (13 wins)
Show Champion broadcasted by MBC Music has been the most generous music program to the boys, with 13 wins since 2016 when they won for two weeks in May with their 2016 release Pretty U, and just recently in their Ready to Love comeback. They also won once with BOOMBOOM (Dec 21, 2016), Clap (Nov 15, 2017), Thanks (Valentine’s Day 2018), Oh My (July 25, 2018), Left & Right (July 1, 2020), and HOME;RUN (October 28), while they won twice for Don’t Wanna Cry (June 7 and 14, 2017), and Home (January 30 and February 13, 2019).

M Countdown (10 wins)
The boys also have a pretty impressive record in M Countdown, MNet’s signature music chart program. Their M Countdown record is pretty similar to their Show Champion one, although their first win in MNet was with BOOMBOOM, they didn’t win for Thanks and Clap, and they only won once for Don’t Wanna Cry. They won for Fear on September 26, 2019 and got their first triple crown for Home earlier that year.

A note on Very Nice
So, SEVENTEEN has pretty much a consistent record in winning music show #1s for almost every comeback since Pretty U, which means the groups has only not won anything for the two releases before Pretty U (which are Mansae and Adore U), Hit and the absolute banger Very Nice.

Hit is understandable since it didn’t even chart that well and the album it was in, An Ode, was not promoted as effectively. But Very Nice? The song that until now, many (including this writer) considers as one of the group’s best songs ever? For music shows, it sometimes boils down to the competition. During the month of July, when Very Nice was released, songs that dominated the charts and won the music programs were Taeyeon’s Why, the Wonder Girls’ Why So Lonely, and alas, Navillera by music show “monsters” GFriend, a song that went on to win 14 music show trophies, including three triple crowns in The Show, M Countdown, and Inkigayo.

Obviously, music show wins are not an absolute measurement of a song’s success, but I’m sure you’ll find a Carat somewhere in Caratland who hasn’t gotten over this missed opportunity.

With rumors abound that the group is staging another comeback before the year ends, here’s hoping that Carats will have more opportunities to support SEVENTEEN by giving them more music program wins.

Featured image: SEVENTEEN TTT September 1, 2021. Photo: pledis_17/Twitter