WHAT IS WRONG WITH HYBE?

You must have heard that a man's greed is the bridge to his destruction. But, in this case, a conglomerate's greed is the bridge to its potential downfall.

If a 2024 K-Pop fan had told a 2013 K-Pop fan that the CEO of the rookie group BTS's label, BigHit Entertainment, would one day found a company called HYBE that would become K-Pop's biggest music company, they would likely have been ridiculed and called a lunatic. Yet, Bang Si Hyuk did exactly that, using his industry connections and BTS’ global success to build HYBE. But it seems like the faster this company rose to success, the faster it’s headed towards its doom.

During the National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee audit on October 24, it was revealed that HYBE keeps a weekly “music industry report” which circulates among the company’s executives. While keeping an industry report is a typical practice, HYBE's so-called “music industry report” was anything but typical.

This 18,000-page report, of which 20 pages leaked online, contained sentences — sometimes entire essays — about SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and various other labels’ idols, critiquing their skills, appearances, viral marketing tactics, and more. From body-shaming Stray Kids members to labeling VCHA a “school talent show group,” for some unknown reason mentioning NCT's m/m fanfiction, the document made the i-fans look well-mannered by comparison.

Even HYBE's own groups weren't spared. The documents revealed the company’s anti-Palestine stance and frustration with anti-genocide advocates, as well as with ENHYPEN’s Jake for showing support for Palestine.

One of the pages described how HYBE executives suggested using SEVENTEEN Joshua's "dating scandal" (that was proven false) to boost sales of Weverse membership kits. The most infuriating part of this situation is that, while Joshua faced immense hate and even death threats from delusional "fans" and haters, causing him immense mental distress, HYBE remained silent, issuing no statement to condemn these extreme reactions or to protect their artist.

Currently, HYBE artists are facing backlash for something they had no part in. On October 29, SEVENTEEN's Seungkwan took to Instagram to share an emotional yet powerful response to the entire situation, full translation can be read here. The part that resonated deeply with fans and artists alike was:

“You don’t have the right to easily intrude on our narrative. Not just us, but other artists as well, we are not your items. I hope you don’t think you can use and enjoy us as you please.”

HYBE is a multibillion-dollar company that will, unfortunately, recover from this scandal. However, the people most affected by this atrocious "music trend report" will be those who had nothing to do with it.

Hence, we urge you to treat every idol with kindness and respect, whether you’re a fan or not.

This Week’s Notable Achievements

• BlackPink in your area AND on top of Spotify’s most-listened artist list! With recent solo global hits like “Mantra” and “APT.”, Jennie and Rosé are gaining more listeners every minute and are currently at 38.5 million and 35.5 million respectively. This makes them the top two most-listened K-pop artists on the platform, ranking 91st and 111th globally. Followed by BTS in third place at 211th most listened artist on Spotify with 25.9 million listeners.

• TWICE's 5th World Tour, "READY TO BE," has officially become the best-selling and highest-grossing tour by a female act in Japan's history, with 10 shows in the country. The tour generated 61.7 million USD from the sale of approximately 721,000 tickets.

• The self-producing idol group SEVENTEEN has become the best-selling album artist on Hanteo and Circle Chart history, selling over 25 million and 40 million albums respectively, following the release of their 12th mini album, “SPILL THE FEELS.”

Upcoming Tours, Events, & Performances

• South Korea’s beloved band DAY6 has added six more dates to “FOREVER YOUNG,” their 3rd world tour:

  — 01.18 Kaohsiung

  — 04.06 Sydney

  — 04.09 Melbourne

  — 04.12 Auckland

  — 04.16 Los Angeles

  — 04.19 New York

• SHINee’s Taemin has announced 14 stops in America and Europe for his first-ever world tour, “Ephemeral Gaze.” Though ticket sales information is yet to be released, here are the dates for his recently added shows:

  — 01.04 Macau

  — 01.28 Mexico City

  — 02.01 São Paulo

  — 02.04 Santiago

  — 02.13 New York

  — 02.16 Chicago

  — 02.18 Houston

  — 02.21 Oakland

  — 02.23 Los Angeles

  — 03.04 Helsinki

  — 03.07 Frankfurt

  — 03.09 London

  — 03.11 Tilburg

  — 03.12 Paris

• Following their successful sets at Glastonbury and Lollapalooza Berlin, SEVENTEEN is scheduled to headline Tecate Pa’l Norte 2025, one of Mexico's most-attended music festivals, on April 4. The lineup also features The Chainsmokers, Justin Timberlake, Fall Out Boy, Olivia Rodrigo, and Charli XCX. Tickets are available on Tecate Pa’l Norte's official website.

The More You Know:

• Astro’s Cha Eun Woo and Park Eunbin from “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” are set to charm audiences in the upcoming Netflix superhero comedy K-Drama “WONDERfools”. Set in the “doomsday-fearing year of 1999,” the story follows a group of quirky townies who gain superpowers and defend the peace of Haeseong City. The series is expected to premiere in 2025.

• On November 1, PLEDIS Entertainment announced their new CEO: Kim Yeon Soo, also known as “SEVENTEEN’s father,” who has worked with SEVENTEEN since their rookie days and was previously the company’s Vice President.

  The new CEO stated, “I will prioritize our artists and fans, working hard to create content through which people can genuinely enjoy entertainment.” This shift in management has SEVENTEEN fans hopeful for better treatment for the group.

• Following their recent remix of “Mamushi (Remix) [feat. TWICE]”, JYP Entertainment announced that TWICE will collaborate with Megan Thee Stallion on their upcoming lead single, “Strategy”. This means the idol group has now worked with Megan Thee Stallion not ONCE, but TWICE.

Our Favorite Music From This Week

NMIXX Lily's recent statement, “Listening to music is not enough. Some songs, I want them in my blood,” encapsulates our feelings for almost all the music released last week.

“Guess who's back? / It's your boy G.D.” After a 7-year hiatus, G-Dragon has finally released his track "Power" — a song centering around the concept of the "Übermensch," a term coined by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, referring to someone who creates and commands rather than follows and obeys. It's both a bop and a diss, shutting down haters who got too comfortable in his absence. It can’t get more G-Dragon than this.

THE BOYZ's 18-minute album “Trigger” is definitely 18 minutes well spent. The first track, “Bite Back,” despite not being the title track, stood out the most. With its choir intro, addictive beat, and specifically Sunwoo’s verse “Yeah / Exploding mad, now with a little more edge / Narrowing space, fatal that threatens you” had our jaws on the floor. Another track that managed to get the same reaction from us was “Slip Away,” with its groovy vibes and husky vocals, as Juyeon said, “There are no rules / It's gonna be sensual.”

Solar being the main vocal of MAMAMOO already set high expectations, and she delivered perfection. Her recent track "Love Letter" is heartbreak, winter, and nostalgia packed into 3 minutes and 10 seconds. It’s so beautiful, it will make your heartache.

Have you ever wondered if J-Pop, Ballad, and R&B had a baby together, what it would sound like? Well, wonder no more, because STAYC's “Meant To Be“ is exactly that. The only way to describe this song is that it sounds like the last summer afternoon before school starts and you're gathering the courage to confess your love to your first real crush.

“DRIP“ by BABYMONSTER proved to be the earworm of the week. Despite the lyrics being somewhat corny—”I'ma set a goal, I'ma eat that lunch / Baby, so cold, get that ice cream truck” — the song just works! Plus, Ahyeon's part in the bridge, “Get back up / Now watch me do it all again,” made us rewind the song at least five times.

Last week was clearly the week of DRIP, as along with BABYMONSTER, Kep1er also released their track of the same name on the same day, and it's equally addictive but for completely different reasons. The smooth beat, the members’ mellow vocals, and the water-dropping sound effect in the background make this 2-and-a-half-minute song feel criminally short.

Lastly, Jamie's “Bad Luck,” where she wishes bad luck to her ex (whether imaginary or real is still under debate). With her confident, sassy vocals, addictive beat, and equally catchy chorus — “Wish you bad luck, bad luck / Just take it, what you've done” — “Bad Luck” is the perfect breakup song for women who made the mistake of giving their precious time to inadequate men.

Next Week’s Comeback Schedule

Sunday, November 3, 2024

• N/A

Monday, November 4, 2024

• TOMORROW X TOGETHER: 7th Mini Album “The Star Chapter: SANCTUARY”

• MINHO (SHINee): 1st Album “CALL BACK”

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

• SUNGJIN (DAY 6): 1st Album “30”

• YESUNG (Super Junior): 6th Mini Album “It's Complicated”

• EPEX: 2nd Album “Youth Chapter 2: YOUTH DEFICIENCY”

• ToTh6y: 1st Project “Wolf”

• The FIX: 3rd Digital Single “TiCKi-TA”

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

• DOYOUNG (NCT): Track “시리도록 눈부신”

• MISAMO (TWICE): 2nd Mini Album “HAUTE COUTURE”

• Heize: 9th Mini Album “FALLIN’”

Thursday, November 7, 2024

• VIVIZ: 5th Mini Album “VOYAGE”

Friday, November 8, 2024

• N/A

Saturday, November 9, 2024

• N/A

— Javeria Yousuf

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