It has been a busy year – both in life and for boy bands! But even though its been a while, I am still here to give you my thoughts on what is hot, what is not and what is in-between.
SEVENTEEN: First off, my most favorite boy band – SEVENTEEN. I have gone from baby Carat to full blow Carat after my concert in almost a year ago. They have done A LOT in 2023 and some say, may even be surpassing BTS in terms of popularity! While I like both, I think you can tell where my bias is! Most recently, they released their tenth extended play album FML on April 24, 2023 – with two lead singles Super and “F*ck My Life”. And can I just say Super is one of the best songs of the decade?? It is my FAVORITE upbeat dance vibe of the year. If you haven’t yet – watch the video!
TAEMIN IS BACK AND SHINEE IS BACK! After 18 months, our favorite SHINee maknae is back from his mandatory army service! And we all know what that means….SHINee is BACK! On June 26th, they released their eighth studio album, Hard, along with the lead single with the same name. Unfortunately, it looks like SHINee with be down to 3 members for the rest of promotions and the tour for this album as their leader, Onew, has some medical issues and will be taking time to rest. We wish Onew a speedy recovery – and are keeping our fingers crossed for a North American leg of the Hard tour soon!
BTS updates: With two members in active military service (Jin and J-Hope), the rest of the members are working on their own projects before they also head to the army within the next year. I know there has been a ton of music coming out – RM’s solo debut Indigo; Jimin’s solo debut Face (featuring the absolute HIT, Set me Free Pt.2); and Jung Kook’s solo single Seven. But what I REALLY want to talk about is Suga. As you all know, I have been a Suga/Min Yoongi/Agust D fan from the beginning, and over the last year without BTS Suga has done a lot! Of course we have to talk about his third release as Agust D, D-Day – it is an absolute masterpiece featuring collabs with J-Hope, IU, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Woosung. There are so many hit songs on this album, but I have to mention Huh!?, Haegeum and People Pt.2. All AMAZING!!!
But one of the other super surprising things coming out of the BTS “break” is Suga’s YouTube show Suchwita. On this show, Suga hosts special guest in a talk show style – but also shares drinks with the guests as they chat. The guests get to bring the drinks – some alcoholic and some not, but all episodes are fun! My favorites are of course the BTS/SEVENTEEN crossover episodes featuring Hoshi and Woozi. Give them a watch – what do you think about the show?
Honorable mention: Steezy dance reaction videos – One of my favorite things to do lately is watch some of the AMAZINGLY talented Steezy dancers react to some of the K-Pop videos. So fun to see professional dancers react to, and LOVE, other professional dancers work. Check out this one below – super fun and of course featuring my favorite boyband, SEVENTEEN.
The Chatty Enthusiast 