Kpop’s current situation: Idols are getting more and more saturated, there’s no longer a real ‘concept queen’?
There are hundreds of Kpop idols debuted every year, but it’s really hard to find a group who can bring the unique and charming vibes as their seniors have done before.
The colorful world of the Korean entertainment industry is more crowded than ever. Due to the success of the previous generation idols, many young people have a desire to become celebrities, standing on stages and changing their lives.
The number of idols officially debuted each year is numerous. However, the number of groups having the full elements of talent (attractive concept and music quality) is not as much as before. Even middle level entertainment companies, that already have lots of experience in this field, still cannot make their idol groups famous.
There may be no entertainment industry exaggeratedly attaching to the concept more than Korea. Every artist often has his or her own particular image. At each comeback, the group comes with a new image, which attracts and retains fans. However, time flies, as the concept factor in current Kpop idols’ music products seems to be not as good as before.
Let’s turn over to the 2nd idol generation, as we could see that there were lots of real ‘concept queens’. Girls’ Generation is one of the most successful girl groups that SM has ever trained. Despite the difficult beginning, Girls’ Generation still captured the public’s heart whenever they came back. Their music products were colorful, with new and fresh images, which attracted the attention of Kpop fans. Many hit songs of Girls’ Generation, such as “Gee”, “Oh”, “Run Devil Run”, and “Mr.Taxi”, were highly appreciated both music and visual wise.
The idols of 3rd generation are very active, as many groups set such awesome records in and outside Korea, but none of them really give an impression of a new “concept queen”. Even so, making a new concept has always been the most difficult part for entertainment companies. TWICE, the girl group leading Kpop with their cute, sweet and trendy concept is said to be monotonous with a lack of breakthroughs.
Similar to GFriend, whenever they came back, they disappointed Kpop fans once again because of constantly reusing the old concepts. The group’s achievements are also erratic. “Time For The Moon Night” did quite good while “Sunny Summer” was extremely faint. The girl group BLACK PINK puts a lot of effort into the image and has an impressive music quality. However, the group has not really been flexible in the concept change.
The girl group that has the most unique concept among current girl groups is Red Velvet. However, the Red Velvet girls have a big minus point as their music is too experimental and not close to the public. KPOP fans are now looking forward to 2 unreleased girl groups: one is from JYP and another is from SM Entertainment.
