Monsta X Intrigues (And Confuses) With "All In"

Monsta X is one of those groups that I kind of have a hate-love relationship with, as I'm generally torn between my dislike of their music and my love for the members. They're still fairly new as they debuted only a year ago, but already they've managed to carve out a signature sound that they're making sure of sticking with. EDM-influenced songs with lots of electronic beats and samples in addition to a lot of rapping and instrumental breakdowns has become their thing, and it's honestly not my cup of tea. I've never so far liked their title tracks ("Hero" being the exception although it was actually a follow-up track rather than a title) and although I love watching their variety shows I can't stan them 100%. Now they've come back with "All In" and judging from the teaser pictures it was difficult to make out what concept they were going for, but boy was I surprised when I pressed play on their brand new MV.

Video of the week #23

Day6's YoungK, Jae and Dowoon - Put Your Records On (Cover)



Three out of five members of one of my absolute favorite rookies Day6 performed this amazing cover of Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" on one of their many appearances on radio show Sukira, and I cannot stop replaying the video. It's so simple and casual but everything about it is just flawless. Jae and YoungK both seem much more comfortable singing in English and while both of their voices are great individually their harmonies is what does it more me. Sub-unit please!

More Girl Group Member Departures: Miss A & Nine Muses

Earlier in April this year YG announced that Minzy was leaving 2ne1, which left I think no one surprised considering how neglected she's been all these years (and recently the entire group as well), but little did we know it was going to be the beginning of a new epidemic of female idols leaving their respective groups. Last month Miss A's dancing queen Jia decided not to renew her contract with JYP and thus left Miss A, which was also not a surprise but very sad news. Thinking about Miss A and what they could've been makes me furious because they've been done so wrong by their management, and basically every member that isn't Suzy has been more or less left on their own since her solo career shot through the roof.

Jia is such a multi-talented woman with skills in basically all areas and she seems like really sweet person as well, and I will forever be holding a grudge at JYP for not promoting her better (same with both Min and Fei). For her own sake I definitely think leaving Miss A was the best decision as now she can branch into more fields and areas and most certainly the Chinese market. As for the rest of the group JYP has said that the members will be focusing on solo activities and that there are no plans of a group comeback anytime soon, which confirms to me that Miss A is pretty much done for. They could've been a top tier group and now they're barely a group anymore. This will never not upset and anger me.

Speaking of anger towards a management you can't go a post without mentioning Star Empire and their terrible managing of all of their current groups, one of them being one of my favorites; Nine Muses. This group isn't unfamiliar to member changes and I have kind of been ok with it as it has been pretty unavoidable but the fact that Minha and Euaerin are leaving did come as a shock to me. Back in 2013 the group arguably had their best lineup with nine flawless members, but then shortly after Sera, Lee Sam and Eunji left and my heart was broken. However they later came back in 2015 with another killer lineup and I thought that finally the group might settle but no. Now the balance has been rubbed again and I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. Sure my favorite member Kyungri is still around but it's getting exhausting trying to stan this group as it's always changing its rooster. I guess I'll have to wait until their next comeback but I'm certainly not feeling good about this.

What are your guys' opinion about these members leaving their groups and agencies? Who do you think will be next? What will happen to Miss A?

My KCON Paris 2016 Experience

One of the better events that has come out of the K-pop realm the last five years or so is KCON, a music festival and convention about everything and anything Korean. For the first years it took place only in the US but it has later expanded to other Asian countries like Japan and most recently also Abu Dhabi. It was therefore really surprising that suddenly a KCON in Paris was announced, and with probably one of the best line-ups of groups as well (that and the coming one in LA). My two french friends (whom I met in Korea) and I quickly decided we had to go, and we managed to buy standing tickets to the show, and although it felt like a long wait at the time suddenly it was time for me to fly to France and witness I.O.I, Block B, f(x), F.T Island, BTS and SHINee live in person.

Video of the Week #22

Got7 - Home Run (Selfie Cam Version)



The follow-up song to "Fly" may never have gotten an actual MV, but this ridiculously cute video of Got7 shooting themselves dancing and lip syncing to "Home Run" definitely makes up for it. You all know I love these boys to bits and although I don't always like their music they're just so fun to watch, but this song is actually really catchy which makes this "performance" even better. Also I just have to point out how adorable Youngjae is in this, like an actual ray of sunshine.