Giving Rookies a Chance

In this day in age of K-pop, you have your staple, mega-idol K-pop groups (DBSK, SNSD, Big Bang, KARA, 2NE1, U-Kiss and the like) and then you have your normal idol groups (Dal Shabet, Rainbow, Teen Top, Chaos, AA, etc) and in between exists a great divide. It is surely no secret that mega-idols reign supreme on music shows, on music charts and in awards ceremonies without so much as batting a pretty eyelid, sweeping the floor of rookies clean out of the running for any inkling of glamorous success. Now, the superstar idols of today were of course rookies once too, and have come a long way in securing their ranks among the most highly celebrated groups in K-pop through plenty of blood, sweat, tears and schedules. However, even as our favorite big shots continue to soak in the limelight and as we continue to fund their success by means of emptying out our wallets for repackaged albums, posters, and keychains, you may find it well worth your time to remember the little guys once in a while, for it is in their hands that lies the real future of K-pop.
I’m talking, of course, about rookies. To be completely honest, it wasn’t until this new year that I took a fancying to rookie idols. Before then, I loathed the coming of rookies, plugging up the pop scene with mediocre music and poor attempts at recreating trends already accomplished by the bigger and better idols that stood above them. It sincerely frustrated me: just think about the sheer number of rookies groups that have popped up on the scene within the past year, and consider all their feeble attempts to rise up in status in the world of idoldom.
It is almost too easy to despise rookies groups. And not simply because of their antics on the idol scene, but also because of their status as rookie. As a well-weathered fan myself, it used to seem beneath me to waste time with rookies and rookie music, especially when my favorite idols were already pumping out chart-topping autotune crack-tastic nonsense. But there comes a time in every fan’s life when all your favorite idols are not promoting, are away in Japan, or something of the like, and suddenly, you are without your music. For me, this was the moment I turned my attention to the rookie sphere, and to put it shortly, I have never been the same. There is a certain charm to watching rookies grow and excitement watching them succeed. So please, before I digress, sit back, relax, and let me argue the case of the rookies.
Top Five Reasons Why You Should Give Rookies An Honest Chance:
1. A Breath of Fresh Air
There is a reason you keep your K-pop playlist on shuffle during your commute home, on the way to school, or during your routine exercise. While we’re always going to have love for our favorite idols and their music, there comes a point where enough is enough. Listen to the same songs over and over again from the same artists and you’ll stop registering the music and eventually tune out. Rookies, on the other hand, are the perfect opportunity to recharge your K-pop senses. Depending on their entertainment company and their grass roots concepts, rookies can come fully equipped with unique sound and plenty of attitude.
Take for example Block B‘s “NalinA.” Sadly overshadowed by a controversy involving Block B shortly after its release, “NanlinA” it is a high energy song complete with interesting choreography and a wide array of vocals to keep you hooked. If you’re bored of the usual pop-centric approach to rookie boy-group music, turn your attention here.
Another great new song from a rookie group that is turning heads is VIXX’s “Super Hero.” Rallied together as the six finalists from Mnet’s reality show Mydol, VIXX’s first official release “Super Hero” is surprisingly addictive for a song from the typical rookie pop grind.
2. Eye Candy
New rookie groups also mean new faces, and that is why it is the second most important reason when it comes to loving rookies groups. Now we all have our biases (and hell I have an eternal bias lover, as I like to call Jun.k) but let’s be honest here: it doesn’t take much pushing to blush in front a fresh new face from across the computer screen.
Idols are always going to be pretty and prim and perfect, but there is no better way to spice up your bias love life than with a pretty new rookie. This year, Hello Venus’ Lime and her cute minty locks stole my heart, all the more because she is also a rapper. NU’EST’s Baekho only had to swing a sword around to dubstep backtrack to attract my wandering eye to his debut teaser and BAM–I was sold.
3. Real Talk
Though some rookies may stick to the books and remain cool, calm, and collected 100% of the time to maintain their idol image, there are some that break barriers. Rookies often tend to be nervous and excited enough for themselves as up and comings, and are captured in plenty of candid moments that can reveal their honest humor or shyness, or other such traits that may eventually simmer down in the grand scheme of their careers as idols. These looks into rookies lives allow for a connection to be a established–seeing them vulnerable also makes their struggle relatable, at least to some degree, as they are still young people. It’s one way fans connect with the idols they grow to love long before those idols rise to stardom.
Here is B.A.P. leader Yong Guk‘s pre-debut interview about his anticipation and excitement for the B.A.P. project to come to life. Normally a leader with a tough, bad boy exterior, he breaks down for a moment reflecting on this rise to fame. (Starts 22:02)
4. Reality TV
As long rookies are still hot on the scene, they’re going to do a lot of self promotion. This usually involves the group getting all the members together to feature in reality program that stars the rookies themselves. These shows provide an inside look into the group’s beginnings and its dynamic. Members are often forced to complete outrageous missions or go about on team-building activities that allows fan a look into their real, interactive personalities off stage. As seen above, B.A.P. had Ta-Dah! It’s B.A.P. to document their pre-debut story.
The likes of B1A4, who are currently condoning cheating with their latest aegyo-ridden “Sleep Well, Goodnight,” was featured in MTV Match Up alongside Block B back in the day, and more recently was the focus of Sesame Player. These programs are often rather mindless, but are also the source of much laughter, and laughter has a funny way of making fans like us fall in love with idols. Plus, with plenty of rookies roaming around, there is plenty of reality TV to pick and choose from.
5. Raw Talent
The great rookie wave brought with it an onslaught of mediocre idols that sing with bland voices and perform robotic choreography. However, odds are there lies more real talent out there than we take for granted, and our ignorance for rookies due in part to their sheer numbers also mean that there is talent being readily overlooked. Of course, when the cream of the K-pop crop is out promoting their music, rookies stand no chance in out shining who we know to be the best of the best.
But that doesn’t mean we give up on rookies altogether. If you dig deep enough, you may actually be surprised at what you find in the great rookie sphere. Consider SPICA: B2M Entertainment‘s latest female quintet. SPICA is a dazzling array of vocal talent that won’t leave you disappointed, and their mature sound and concepts set them apart from most rookies on the scene at the moment. When it comes to delivery, these girls mean business. Check out their latest haunting title track, “Painkiller.”
So if you have abstained from getting to know the many rookies that flood the K-pop scene, it may be high time you become acquainted with the talent creeping up behind you. Sure, it is daunting trying to remember who is who, and keep track of all these random group names, but in the end, a dip into the rookie sphere may prove more fruitful than you think. While it is all fine and dandy and cotton candy to love and rock out to your favorite superstar idols, don’t forget that there are rookies on the pop scene with great musical capacity and stage charisma just dying to get your passing glance. And for all we know, a handful of rookies will one day replace the ranks of others at the peak of the idoldom hierarchy; so passing up a rookie may very well mean passing up a real-time underdog story. At the end of the day, rookies only need an honest chance to prove themselves worthy of pop-scene glory. The question remaining, however, is will you give them that chance?

HelloVenus Releases Debut Mini Album and MV!!

 

   Say ‘hello’ to the debut effort of Pledis Entertainment‘s rookie girl group, Hello Venus! Hello Venus’ teasers introduced a concept that sits at the intersection of cute and elegant. Sure, the girls are all smiles and charm, minus the clichéd “cute” duds like school uniforms and bloomers.  Groups like Girl’s Day and A Pink have the “little sister” thing on lockdown, so it’s refreshing to see “cute” done different and well, without having to put post-high-school-graduation ladies back into blazers and pleated skirts.
   And now that the mini-album and music video are out, will they live up to expectations?

  The MV for the title track “Venus” ran straight to Cute-ville with no local pit stops. The video is peppered with bright colors, young love and quite a few cameos from fellow Pledis artists. I will say, while I enjoyed watching it and couldn’t help smiling a few times at the onscreen antics, there were more aegyo expressions and gestures than I would ever want to play a drinking game to. This MV probably contains every idol selca (self-captured photo) pose you’ve ever seen – no joke. Anyway, the teaser photos prepared us for soft and pretty, and the music video delivered lively and fun. Check it out:

HELLO VENUS – “VENUS” MV

 

Coming To a Stage Near You!

   There hasn’t been a whole lot of room for new girl groups this year with the hundreds of not so good boy bands that have debuted recently. There is hope though! All that is going to change next month when two of KPop’s well-known labels unleash new girl groups onto the KPop scene.

   GM Contents Media (sister label of Core Contents Media; home of T-ara and Davichi) is set to debut a new 7-member group called Gang Kids sometime next month.  Meanwhile, Pledis Entertainment, home of After School, K-Diva Son Dam Bi, and rookie boy band NU’EST, will launch the six-member Hello Venus on May 9th.
Both groups are already two of the most buzzed about of the year, and with their debuts both set for May, there’s going to be a lot of fun and friendly competition over which group does better, and which group actually is better.
So, let’s take a look at our two contenders!

 Gang Kids

   Our first contender is Gang Kids! Really?? Gang Kids? Well so far we know that the group is made up of three actresses, two models, and two trainees. They’re currently being overseen by CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo, who you may know as the evil genius behind T-ara. They’re much older than your typical rookie group. Five of the girls' ages have been confirmed with the eldest coming in at 29, the youngest 22, and the other three three somewhere in-between.
Gang Kids’ first single is produced by Shinsadong Horang (Hit songs for B2ST, 4minute, T-ara), and CCM has made the hefty claim that the song is, “an upgraded version of Roly-Poly and Lovey-Dovey with a mature concept.” On top of the musical comparisons, the group will also follow in T-ara’s footsteps by releasing a ridiculously long music video for the song, which was shot with T-ara in Europe and comes in seven different parts. My gosh that's a lot of parts..
   There’s been a lot of criticism about the group’s name ‘Gang Kids’ since it was first announced, and they’ve already become a bit of a laughing stock across the KPop blogosphere. I despised the name at first too, but now it’s really grown on me, kind of. It’s not supposed to be taken so literally, and given the group’s bad girl, rough-around-the-edges look, I’d say that it’s just about capturing the rebellious nature of youth and never letting go of it — even when you’re pushing thirty like some of the Gang Kids are.
    Gang Kids have really caught my interest so far. There’s a big opening in the KPop market for more older female groups like Nine Muses and Brown Eyed Girls, so it’ll be nice to see some actual women debuting with a mature concept, rather than the typical young girls who like to play grown-up. I’m not expecting Gang Kids to be terribly talented on the music front given their backgrounds in modelling and acting, then again singers become actors and models later on, but I think they’ll follow T-ara by being very conceptually strong, which should definitely prove interesting.
    The biggest problem with Gang Kids is that they could end up being too similar to T-ara, just like EXO is to SHINee/Super Junior/TVXQ, so hopefully Kim Kwang Soo has something exciting up his sleeve to set them apart.

 Hello Venus

   Let’s take a look at Hello Venus (stylized HELLOVENUS). The six-member group has already been courting major media attention after being officially billed by Pledis as After School‘s ‘sister group’, as well as by unveiling a very eye-catching teaser photo. I have no idea what the exact image they’ll debut with will be, but the concept in their flowery teaser picture reminds me a bit of A Pink combined with BoA’s arty look for the Hurricane Venus album. It’s unique, distinctive, and I love it.
    So far we know that three of the Hello Venus members are 19-years-old, and that one is 24. Three of them were Pledis trainees who featured on After School’s Virgin album under the name Pre-School Girls (I always wondered who the hell the Pre-School Girls were!), and the other three are actresses from a different agency who were picked up by Pledis to join the group. Also, Hello Venus’ leader Ara, who was one of the Pre-School Girls, almost joined After School instead of E-Young at one point! She was featured on the After School’s Happy Pledis single-album back in late 2010.
    There’s no specifics details on Hello Venus’ first single yet, but according to reports, it’ll be a dance song helmed by a famous producer. Ooh interesting!
One of the most interesting aspects about both Hello Venus and Gang Kids is that half the members of each group are actresses, and not wannabe musicians, dancers, or artists like you’d expect. Given the huge success that T-ara has had by having half of their members being popular actresses, Eunjung, Jiyeon and Hyomin, it could be that many new groups are now trying to repeat the winning formula.

 (Screenshot of Eungjung as Baekhee and Miss A's Suzy as Hyemi in Dream High)

   So many boy bands have debuted recently, and only a few like B.A.P. have actually impressed me, so it’ll be nice to get a break from all that with some new girls to listen to. Both Pledis and Kim Kwang Soo have put a lot of money into their respective new groups, as well as a lot of time and energy on pre-promotion, so I’m expecting BIG things next month. Especially since CCM seem to have learned from their prior mistakes with Co-Ed, 5dolls, and most recently, SPEED, not that I don't like them, they do have some good songs.
So, which group do you think will do better? And which one has captured your interest the most? Gang Kids or Hello Venus!