For many years when I went to karaoke/noraebang with friends, one of my go-to's was a song called "The Reason I Became a Witch" by NS Yoon-G/Yoon-ji, now known as actress Yunjee Kim. It's an intensely 2010s song that's very
I was out with a few industry folks last week, celebrating the release of my friend Ilana Kaplan's book on Nora Ephron. A bunch of entertainment and music journalists were there, and someone who I had never met before heard that I covered K-pop for about a decade
Taylor Cross (who also writes under the name Carmen Young) is one of Notes on K-pop's summer fellows. She is a Bay Area-based freelance writer and Crunchyroll News contributor with a passion for K-pop, K-dramas, and intersectional pop culture conversations. She previously wrote a guide for getting K-pop
Bonus newsletter for the week! Because I may not have a chance to write next week, but also because I have a lot of thoughts on my mind. This question, "who protects K-pop stars?" may seem facetious: K-pop stars, at least the ones at the top of the
On October 11, it was announced that RIIZE's Seunghan would return to the group after nearly a year's hiatus, and would perform again for the first time in November. On October 13, he withdrew from the group permanently. The shocking speed of things is somehow not
A little trigger warning right here that Tamar Is Getting Very Personal in this Newsletter. Feel free not to read. I'll be back with normal, a bit more fun programming, next week (hopefully!) In my email to myself about a month ago, I wrote, "Eaj, Elul, and
Taylor Cross (who also writes under the name Carmen Young) is one of Notes on K-pop's summer fellows. She is a Bay Area-based freelance writer and Crunchyroll News contributor with a passion for K-pop, K-dramas, and intersectional pop culture conversations. Tamar: As we all know, ticketing is absolutely
And by life, I mean my phone and computer. I'm infamous among my friends and peers for screenshotting my computer to reveal a hundred-plus tabs open on my browser. What most people don't realize is that I actually have two browsers open (Chrome for general use,
Kimberly Szeto's one of Notes on K-pop's summer fellows. She has been a passionate K-pop fan for over 15 years. She currently works in the AAPI nonprofit space, and is a freelance consultant for other clients. She is hoping to expand into entertainment journalism, with a
Since April, we have witnessed brewing tension between Hybe, the biggest entertainment company in South Korea, and Min Hee-jin, then the CEO of Hybe subsidiary, now former CEO. A very dirty, very public battle has since played out in the court of public opinion, one of several this year, which
Art means something, and the dolphin meme overlaid with the word "shibal" means something especially lately for some K-pop fans. "Shibal," or "ssibal" (씨발), is Korean for F**k, and this happy-go-lucky, Lisa Frank-esque meme overlaid by the curse feels like the exact mood
Katie Doan is one of Notes on K-pop's summer fellows. She is a multimedia storyteller with a keen focus on Korean pop culture. After graduating with a Bachelors in broadcast journalism from California State University, Fullerton, she now works in activism. Tamar: When Katie pitched doing a piece
Sarah Zhang is one of Notes on K-pop's summer fellows. She is a student at New York University studying Media & Communications and Entertainment Business. Tamar: When Sarah pitched this idea to Notes on K-pop, it excited me to learn about how different her perspective is about K-pop
Do you really need a No.1 nowadays? Or do you just need No. 1 fans? A few months ago, everywhere I went I felt like I was hearing the latest music industry buzzword: superfan. The idea of superfandom features in so many press releases that fill my inbox lately.
Sadly, the answer is "stupidly, dangerously, foolishly (and perhaps illegally) easily". When news broke that on August 6th Suga of BTS was caught with a DUI by police in Seoul when drunk driving a scooter and had his license revoked, there was a lot of different sort of
Last night*, a bit after 11:30pm EST and after hours of rain delays, ATEEZ was rushing to finish their Towards the Light : Will to Power New York City stadium show at Citifield. A lot went on that day, with the show beginning over two hours late to avoid thunder
Gen AI is taking off in K-pop, but it doesn't seem like anyone really knows what is or isn't being produced by it anym,ore. A few weeks ago, Woozi of Seventeen publicly denied a claim from an article by the BBC that alleged that Seventeen
A few months ago, I decided to launch a fellowship to give an opportunity to new voices with the first Notes on K-pop Fellowship/Mentorship. A lot of people applied, and it was a struggle to narrow it down, but I ultimately picked some people whose applications stood out. With
In April, the Daily Beast published an article titled "TikTok's Latest Wellness Trend: Starving Yourself in the Name f K-pop." "Pastel pink and soft vignette filters, images featuring thin girls with long eyelashes, and good grades and skin-care products: These are all manifestations in the
There was a press conference yesterday held yet again to air the grievances of an aggrieved party by one of South Korea's biggest entertainment agencies, a repeat occurrence. If you assumed that this was Min Hee-jin holding a third press conference against Hybe, you'd be wrong:
After talking in-depth about his brand for this interview, Jinsol Woo wanted to know which OHT NYC piece was my favorite. I was curious what he thought I'd like, so asked him to choose. Then he did something nobody ever has asked me: do I wear crosses? When
When I first saw the other day that the BBC had released a documentary on Burning Sun, I was a bit on-edge. If you're unfamiliar "Burning Sun" is a catchall referring to several interrelated sexual abuse and criminal cases in South Korea that were uncovered in
This is one of several mini notes, more intimate, random musings. The first music festival I ever went to, I left before the headliners played. It was 2008, and I was too cool (and dumb) for Panic! At The Disco's Pretty.Odd album. Instead, my friends and I
At the 2024 Met Gala, Stray Kids and Jennie represented the world of K-pop, showing up in Tommy Hilfiger and Alaïa, respectively. And, as most good things eventually are, the night ultimately became awash in drama over photographers acting inappropriately, racially stereotyping Stray Kids on the red carpet. A series