My little music reviews

Breaking News: HXG continues to make odd choices while managing their groups

One day I will write about something other than things that HYBE does that annoy me, but that day will not be today. As much as I do enjoy their girl groups, there are a lot of choices they make that do not make sense. The latest of these choices is the winner of their most recent survival show, world scout: the final piece. Sample Image

For anyone who doesn't know - this show was a competition show to find the fourth and final member of HYBE x Geffen's newest global girl group. This group was originally made up of Lexie, Samara, and Emily - three trainees who were finalists on Dream Academy (the survival show which formed Katseye). The show was aired on the Japanese platform ABEMA, and would be looking for a Japanese member to join the group. At this point - the final piece has been revealed as Tobi Sakura. This has been a very controversial choice for a few reasons:

Sakura's singing and dancing skills generally were not as developed as some other contestants/finalists of the show.

Sakura is 16 years old

When it comes to her singing/ dancing ability, I feel that a lot of people are being excessively mean to a child. She did her best, and while I agree that some of the other contestants on the show had stronger performances than Sakura, I don't necessarily think it should be taken out on her that the judges choose her.
What I personally think should have taken her out of the running to be a finalist is the fact that she is 16. When the three established members of the group are all in their 20s, why are we adding in a minor? Sample Image

Especially as the members all live together in a dorm, and HYBE has been marketing the group as a more minimalist and mature group. Considering the treatment of KATEYE's Yoonche when she debuted as a minor, I worry that the group's concept may not take into account the fact that their newest member is a minor, and continue with more mature concepts. I find it generally odd that the other finalist Ayana was not picked to be the final piece and she was also in her 20s, and had stronger vocal performances. I hope Ayana gets a chance to either debut in a different group, or as a soloist. I really enjoyed her performances. I also hope that people stop hating Sakura directly. I don't think she did anything wrong, and she is literally a child. I just personally feel if they wanted to debut her it should have been in a group with people closer in age to her, and a more age-appropriate concept.

what the actual fuck is going on with New Jeans?

if you've gotten this far into my website, you have probably picked up on the fact that i'm a pretty big k-pop fan. specifically, i am a huge new jeans fan. they are the group that got me into k-pop, and genuinly still have some of my favorite music in kpop even though they haven't released anything in YEARS. they only have about three (perfect) releases total. unfortunatly in 2024 the New Jeans members decided to leave their label ador, and have been stuck in a legal battle until November 2025. the situation it VERY messy and convoluted, but the most concise i can make it is:
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in April 2024, New Jeans' creative director/CEO of ador Min HeeJin was audited by HYBE (ador's parent company), and HYBE announced that they were planning on suing Min Heejin for breech of trust. (a case that was later dropped due to lack of evidence)

Min Heejin held a press conference where she denied the allegations of breech of trust. She also accused another girl group unnder HYBE "illit" of being a copy of New Jeans, as well as accusing LE SERRAFIM (also a girl group under HYBE), of blocking New Jeans' debut/promotions. illit and LE SERRAFIM's respective HYBE sublabels both suied Min Heejin for defamation because of there remarks. (the court later ruled in favor of Min Heejin in the illit case)

Min Heejin then stepped down as CEO/internal director of ador.

The New Jeans members set up a livestream without the knowledge of their company, on a youtube channel which did not belong to their company. In the livestream the asked for Min Heejin to be reinstated, and made it clear that they feel they owe her for all their sucess. The expressed that they didn't like how the new management ran ador. One of the members Hanni also told a story about how she had allegedly had an interaction where the illit members were told to ignore Hanni by their manager.

Hanni then appeared at the Korean National Assembly, and told the same story about being ignored. As well as alleging that HYBE employes were anonymously talking badly about the New Jeans members online, and allegedly telling journalists to downplay New Jeans' achivements.

the New Jeans members then sent a ceritification of contents letter to ador, stating that if their demands were not met their contract with ador would be terminated (as in they would hold ador responsible for breeching the contract). They had a long list of demands, and amoung them was asking to have their old team (specifically Min Heejin, reinstated.)

ador responded to this letter, and agreed to allow Min Heejin to return to ador as an internal director, but not as the CEO. about a month after being reinstated, Min Heejin left ador once again.

the New Jeans members held a press conference stating that because ador did not meet their demands, they would be leaving the company, as ador breached the contract. Ador stated the contracts were still valid.

ador filed a lawsuit against the members, to have the court decide whether or not the contracts were still valid

the members then created 'jeansforfree', an instagram account separate from ador. They also announced they would re-debut as NJZ, at complexcon in Hong Kong

ador filed an injunction to block the girls from being able to promote outside of ador, until the contract dispute had been settled. ador one the injunction, and which New Jeans still performed at complexcon, it was done under the name New Jeans with involvement from ador.

New Jeans was in court case limbo for a while after this, making very few public appearances outside of court. One of the most notable appearances being member Danielle's appearance/promotions as an OMEGA watches ambassador.

right before the final verdict of the case was to be announced, Min Heejin announced that she would be starting a new label called OOAK. People speculated that the New Jeans members may join her label, if granted a contract release.

the final verdict found that the contracts were valid, and the members were still contracted under ador. This could mean that ador brought all the girls back, or they could sue the girls again for breach of contract (ending the members contracts, and making the girls at fault).

The New Jeans members lawyers announced they planned to appeal the decision.

the appeal was never actually filied because HYBE announced the two youngest members, Hearin and Hyein would be returning to the company. Three hours after this announcement, Minji, Hanni, and Danielle announced that they would be returning as well. However, HYBE was not included in this decision, and made an announcement that they would be looking into this.

The next day, HYBE announced they would be meeting with the other three members, and their families

about a month later, HYBE announced that Hanni would also return to the group, but that Danielle would not, Minji was reportedly still in talks about a possible return.

HYBE then announced that they would be suing Min Heejin, Danielle, and a family member of Danielle's for causing New Jeans to leave ador

Min Heejin won a large payout from HYBE after a legal dispute over a payout HYBE owed her. She held a press conference stating that if HYBE dropped all legal battles against herself and New Jeans, Min Heejin would not seek this payout. HYBE paid Min Heejin, and continued with their ongoing lawsuits.

That is pretty much the main points of the situation so far, although i did leave some stuff out to keep it as short as possible. Now that you are all caught up, I can talk about what i actually made this post to talk about - Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein were spotted in Copenhagen, and ador announced that they were there with staff. They were seen with camera equipment, and while we don't know what exactly they were there for - the fact that they went with their company makes me think it's probably part of a comeback. The fact that they would comeback is not surprising - they have lost ador a fair amount of money between not putting out new music, lost brand deals, and the court case. The real question is , where the hell is Minji. she wasn't there with the other girls, and we haven't gotten any updates on her status with the company for months? I could see the group coming back without her, if she is still dragging her feet on a return. I just don't understand what could possibly be taking this long. The whole situation is honestly wild, but i also feel it is being dragged out even more, for seemingly no reason.

a quick rant about KATSEYE~
i have been thinking about what my first post on here was going to be, and i was hesitating to talk about this cause it didn't really want to start off with negativity. eveything going on with KATSEYE right now is literally everywhere online.
i honestly have been following the girls for a while, and have been waiting for them to put out a project that i like, because i really want to supprt their music. i feel like their music is catchy but i really only listen to MIA, and sometimes gabriella. they have really great stage presence, they're all super talented and work so hard, and for what? songs that don't really showcase their vocals, and lowkey don't make any sense.
even when they go to finally showcase their vocals a bit in pinky up, the editing/lyrics/backing track was so disjointed that i just actually found it to be unlistenable. which sucks, because the aesthetic and the video was cool, but the dance and the song are just bad i fear.
this is not even mentioning everything going on with Manon. at first when it was announced she should be going on hiatus, i didn't really think much of it. there were obviously some weird things going on with her statement saying she was healthy, even though she was on hiatus for health reasons? but when she put out the other statement saying she was in talks with hxg, i literally started having flashbacks to the New Jeans situation (even though it is literally still ongoing). What makes it even worse is that hxg put out a statement saying she would be returning from hiatus for cochella, and then they chaged their statement, and she didn't actually perform? i fear, she will not be returning to the group.
i would be really happy if she did return, but if not i hope she puts out solo music that is better than what KATSEYE is putting out because they are really getting more confusingly bad with every comeback (even though vocals/performace from the girls is always on point).all of this to say - i feel like if they gave KATSEYE even mediocre songs, they would be topping charts & doing amazingly. someone is really fumbling what could be a solid girl group.

welcome <3
hello! you found my little music blog! i plan to mostly post reviews/talk about artists that i like (pretty much whatever i feel like). check back soon for my first full post,for now check out my albums of the week!

"I'm Not Your Man"
Marika Hackman

I'm not your man is an album I've loved since it came out in 2017. The album very much fits into the 2017-2019ish indie vibe (which I have always been a sucker for tbh). It's very chill and vibey - with very interesting instrumentals. The album is super bright and colorful, but also has really thoughtful lyrics. My favorite tracks on the album are "Eastbound Train", "Time's Been Reckless", and "My Lover Cindy". Definitely give the album a listen if you haven't yet <3

"Fantasies"
Metric

It took me wayy too long to get into this album considering how long it has been out, and how popular the album is. The album is super vibey and sets the mood really well during a night out. I don't know why but I really want to describe this album as having the same energy as a drunk cigarette (not that I am advocating for smoking because it is bad for you, but sometimes a cigarette really rules after a couple drinks). Generally it is in my opinion a criminally underrated album, but that may be because it was big before I was old enough to conceptualize that it was a big album lol. "Sick Muse" and "Satellite Mind" are my favorites from the album, and "Help, I'm Alive" and "Gold Guns Girls" are definitely the biggest songs on the album (for good reason). "Gold Guns Girls" is also in the opening scene of the Totally Spies Movie and it is so cunty jsyk

"A State of Living in an Objective Reality"
Eliza and the Delusionals

I really got into this album during my senior year of high school, and recently rediscovered it. "a state of living in an objective reality" is a dreamy, indie pop ep, that blends really fun catchy backing tracks/choruses, with deep introspective lyrics. it features some really cool guitar riffs, and solid vocals. the worst part of the ep is that it is not a full album. stand out songs include "just exist" and "feel it all (and nothing)".

"Death of a Cheerleader" Pom Pom Squad

I wanted to start off my album's of the week with one of my favorites of all time. "Death of a Cheerleader" is the surreal pop-rock debut album by Pom Pom Squad. The album has super interesting and thoughtful lyrics, interludes, and backing tracks. Truly a perfect album that is super cohesive, with beutiful aesthetics. Stand out tracks for me on the album are "Be Good" and "Forever", although these tend to be the more sad tracks on the album. The best rock/upbeat tracks on the album, for me are "Drunk Voicemail" and "Shame Reactions".