K-pop stans trend weird stuff literally just because they can
New releases from Everglow, GFriend, and BTS
Hello, and welcome to maybe if you stanned, a (bi-weekly now?) newsletter about K-pop releases and fan culture. We’re back this week with new releases from Everglow, GFriend, and BTS, plus some thoughts about why K-pop stans love to trend nonsensical hashtags. On the horizon, we’ve got new releases from Rocket Punch, The Boyz, LOONA (!!!!!!), and KARD coming up within the next week or so.
BTS — “Outro: EGO” Big Hit Entertainment.
Coming Up
Rocket Punch will have their first comeback on Feb. 10
Rookie girl group Rocket Punch debuted last August with title track “Bim Bam Bum,” and they’re set to return on Feb. 10 for their first comeback. We don’t know much about the upcoming mini album other than its title, Red Punch. That being said, “Bim Bam Bum” was arguably one of the best (and underrated) debut singles of 2019. While its up-tempo, tropical house vibe makes it feel initially generic, the pre-chorus and — spoiler — surprise chorus in the middle keep things interesting.
The Boyz are also coming back on Feb. 10
The Boyz announced on Jan. 21 that they were coming back with their first full length album, Reveal, on Feb. 10. A few days later, the group released a lush teaser video for the album itself.
LOONA is coming back in two days.
Get ready for an obscene amount of words on LOONA next Monday, because the group’s third EP, #, will be released this Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. KST with the title track “So What.” The group released a teaser for the title track today in addition to a highlight medley a few days ago. “So What” marks a bit of a stylistic turn for the group, adding to their already diverse discography.
KARD is coming back on Feb. 12
KARD, DSP Media’s four-member co-ed group, is coming back on Feb. 12 with their fourth mini album, Red Moon. While the group’s musical style has oscillated between poppy and full-on trap, their releases are always pretty damn engaging. From the teaser photos that have been released thus far, it seems like Red Moon is going to be a bit more sultry of a release than some of their more recent digital singles like “Dumb Litty” or “Bomb Bomb.”
New this week
Everglow — “Dun Dun,” reminiscence
“Dun Dun” marks six-piece girl group Everglow’s second comeback as a group. Thematically, it’s pretty in line with their previous singles “Bon Bon Chocolat” and “Adios,” all of which feature a heavy, dance-focused chorus drop and are rife with trap influences.
I’ve been mostly upper neutral on Everglow up to this point, mostly due to personal taste. While I’d love to see them branch out a bit on title tracks, it’s undeniable that they have a solid musical and aesthetic identity and are finding success. That being said, it’s hard to not find the group’s releases a bit formulaic — while they sport different instrumental flavors, all three singles are pretty similar stylistically, driven by simple, catchy hooks contrasted by softer vocal moments. “Dun Dun,” however, finds strength by giving rappers E:U and Aisha plenty of space to go off.
“No Lie” is my favorite track on the album, leaning back into the group’s poppier side as showcased on previous b-sides like “Hush” and “Moon.” “Salute” is a Red Velvet-esque girl power track; “Player” is perhaps the most interesting of the bunch that feels like it could have been a title track with a poppy pre-chorus that builds into a brassy drop.
GFriend — “Crossroads,” Labyrinth
I think “Crossroads” is the GFriend title track that I’ve been waiting for. In both instrumentation and structure, it sounds like a classic GFriend song in the vein of “Love Whisper” or “Time for the moon night.” That being said, “Crossroads” feels much more mature, retaining the group’s classic sound while eschewing the innocent concept that built their fame.
“Crossroads” is more melancholy than previous releases; while just as up-tempo, there’s as an element of yearning that comes through in the suspended chords at the end of the chorus and in the song’s hook. With a video focused solely on story rather than performance that brings the members in and out of contact with each other, “Crossroads” feels like some kind of grand resolution. Other tracks on the album like “Labyrinth” carry on the more electronic, poppy sound showcased in the group’s summer release, “Fever.”
It’s part of the greater storyline that ties together many of GFriend’s previous releases, as threaded together in this video released two weeks ago. I don’t know quite enough about GFriend to tie everything together, but the music video and track feel cinematic. Overall, I think this was a really great release from the group, retaining their original style and flavor while also maturing a bit from previous releases.
BTS – “Outro: Ego”
“Outro: Ego” brings rapper and dancer J-Hope onto a solo track reminiscent of his 2018 mixtape Hope World. Full of bombastic flair, brassy hooks, and J-Hope’s signature flow and personality, it’s a stark departure from the other album tracks we’ve heard thus far, “Interlude: Shadow,” and “Black Swan.” For what’s shaping up to be an emotionally heady album, “Ego” is a refreshing closer.
It also reaches back further into BTS’ discography than any other referential Map of the Soul tracks, sampling iconic lines from the group’s debut trailer (“We are now going to progress to some steps which are a bit more difficult.”). “Ego,” however, sticks less to the hip-hop script set in early BTS releases in favor of a brassy, almost tropical house sound.
Above all, “Ego” is just fun. I don’t think I’d encounter a lot of pushback saying that J-Hope is the strongest overall performer in BTS; he’s an incredible dancer with a frankly unfair amount of charisma. The video itself alternates between simplistic and elaborate, almost surreal setpieces including a Kingsmen-esque tailor shop that features a hidden chamber.
Overall, “Ego” is a total bop that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser on the group’s upcoming world tour. Good luck getting tickets everyone, we’re going to need it.
Why do K-pop stans trend nonsensical hashtags?
On Saturday, Feb. 1, ARMYs got the hashtag #AWKJSJFKSJFLA trending in the number one (and then number two for the better part of the day) spot on Twitter. The tag is exactly what it looks like: a straight-up keysmash. It doesn’t mean a damn thing.
Fans were trending the tag in anticipation of the group’s newest comeback trailer, “Ego,” which debuted on Feb. 3. Ironically, #AWKJSJFKSJFLA was trending significantly higher than #EGOTOMORROW on Saturday, with the keysmash clocking in at the top of worldwide trends and the explicit, promotional hashtag hovering somewhere in the mid-20s.
The trend appears to have started with the BTS Charts account, which has just over 570 thousand followers and serves as a primary tracker for chart placement and streaming campaigns. At roughly 11 am Eastern Time, the account tweeted the two hashtags — in context, the keysmash is a clear response to the fact that “Ego” is coming out tomorrow, which… same.
Predictably, ARMYs latched onto the nonsensical hashtag, with the most popular replies to the tweet calling for the fandom to trend the keysmash. In a fandom as large and online as ARMY, that’s… a pretty easy task, especially when it originates with a big account like BTS Charts. Going into the tag itself, there are plenty of tweets coupled with the #EGOTOMORROW hashtag, but many feature only BTS content.
I think part of it too is the fact that K-pop fandoms – particularly ARMY, as BTS is thrust more and more into the spotlight — are very aware of their presence on Twitter and how they appear to other users on the app. I don’t have strict data to back it up, but K-pop hashtags frequently occupy one or more spots on the top 10 Worldwide Trends on Twitter. On major BTS days (a track release, for example), it’s typical to see five or more BTS-related hashtags trending, usually in the top five spots.
In short, K-pop fandom is hyper-visible on Twitter, and K-pop fans are more than aware of that. Combine that with a history of delighting in behaviors like fancam dropping that are generally irritating for locals and whole lot of practice at coordinated efforts like trending tags and streaming music. Suddenly, trending ridiculous stuff that doesn’t even look like K-pop on the surface makes a lot of sense.
Of course, ARMYs aren’t the only fans who delight in trending bonkers hashtags. Back in December, Shawols (SHINee fans) trended #wowoWOOOOAAHHHHdubbidubbidubbidubdubduruWOOOOOAHHdubbidubdubidubdubduruOneBillionViewParty, a hashtag created in reference to a clip from a SHINee concert in which vocalist Jonghyun absolutely wails during “Sherlock (Clue + Note).”
Above all, though, trending dumb shit is fun in a different way than trending an earnest hashtag to promote your favs. There’s joy in doing something simply because you can, and when you’re a fandom as fundamentally large or passionate as ARMYs or Shawols, you have a lot of power online. Although nonsensical tags aren’t framed as explicit promotion, trending them is a flex and way to have fun with other fans just because it’s funny.
Thanks, and until next time,
Palmer