K-pop Groups That Hooked Me! Pt. 1

I’m trying to be more picky when it comes to which K-pop groups I listen to, as I don’t want to feel pressured to listen to every new song that comes out. However, there have been some K-pop groups that have really piqued my interest. Here’s my list:

ILLIT: Though I heard ILLIT’s debut EP, I wasn’t very interested in them, mostly because I wasn’t very interested in K-pop girl groups at the time. Coupled with the whole “ILLIT is copying NEWJEANS drama”, I simply didn’t find their concept appealing to me. However, when they’re second EP, I’ll Like You, came out, I was immediately hooked by the aesthetic and songs. Many people, including myself, had hoped that ILLIT would lean into a concept that would really distinguish themselves from NEWJEANS and other 5th-generation K-pop girl groups, and thankfully, their newest EP, bomb, has hopefully solidified their weirdcore magical girl concept.

Baby DON’T Cry: I’m still a bit unsure about them. I liked seeing that Soyeon from I-dle was producing for them, but I’m also a bit adverse to that, even though I liked their debut; their songs don’t sound like something really unique to them, yet, and I don’t want to listen to a mini I-dle. Also, I don’t like how their company is marketing them. Putting teenage girls in itty-bitty shorts is super weird, especially in this day and age. It may have been normal in older K-pop generations, but I don’t know if I want to support a group with a company that doesn’t care about their safety, even if it’s just to get the group more attention. I did become interested in them because of their bold cherry concept, though.

UNIS: I honestly tried not to get into them as they seemed to have very generic music to me. I liked their debut song “Superwoman”, but was otherwise not pulled into becoming a fan. However, “SWICY” has me leaning more toward continuing to keep up with their music. I now realize that I like their musical direction as well as their cutesy and pastel aesthetic. I do hope that they don’t end up sounding like a 5th-generation iteration of TWICE.

AHOF: Originally, I knew nothing about them, and I was very uninformed about Universe League (the survival show that formed them). When they first debuted, I had heard that many people were excited for them, but I still had no desire to tune in. Then, when their debut music video popped up on YouTube, I decided to watch. It’s safe to say I was not disappointed. I’m usually not interested in songs in this style, but this one managed to keep my attention for more than a few seconds. After listening to the other songs on their debut EP, WHO WE ARE, I feel as though I will enjoy whatever music they have coming next.

IDID: Debut’s Plan was the first K-pop survival show that I was ever really invested in. I’ve heard of many well-known survival shows such as I-Land, R U NEXT?, and Boys/Girls Planet. I never really cared about survival shows, and I’m only really interested in the groups that are formed from them, such as ENHYPEN, ILLIT, and ZEROBASEONE. I also thought about whether or not survival shows were ethical (most, if not all, were not). Debut’s Plan was not different from other survival shows except for how it prepared the contestants for all aspects of debuting as a K-pop idol. Since I had watched some of the first episode, I decided to watch it till the end, out of curiosity. I still believe some parts of the show were shady and a bit unfair, but I was not unhappy with the final lineup (except for one person in particular…). My favorite picks that made it to the final lineup were Park Wonbin, Park Seonghyeon, and Baek Junhyuk. Although I will be tuning into them when they debut, I am unsure if I will ever tune into another survival show because of just how inequitable this show was when it came to eliminations, seemingly bending its own rules.

Summer of Service 2025: My Experience Pt. 2

After the 3-day camp, we split up and stayed over in other communities to help with their activities. I was able to go back to my hometown and do a children’s class with some of my friends from Summer of Service. It was a bit difficult because of how unfamiliar the kids were with my friends, but we still managed to have a good class and explore my town together. Afterwards, I had to leave for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (which I posted about earlier!).

When I came back a week later, I was thrust into the Brilliant Stars Summer Camp. As I was a week late, it took me a little bit to get accustomed to the schedule, as there were many rotations, we also had our own study sessions, and we had to keep an eye on the kids, too! Each children’s class was about an hour long, and we usually finished early, but the kids were really into the games we played with them, so it wasn’t too much trouble. Later, the kids would go on to do different activities such as arts, music, and sports. During this time, we had to follow our own schedules of either studying, helping with the kids’ activities, or having our break. Once the camp was over, we made sure all the kids were picked up by their parents or taken back home by one of the staff. Halfway through the camp, I started feeling sick, which made it really hard to participate in different activities. I was able to teach classes, but would have to step back and rest for the rest of the day afterwards. On the last day, we helped the kids prepare what they would share with their parents. My class had one of the kids say a quote, and then they all sang a song. Before leaving, the kids did lots (and lots and lots) of drawing!

Overall, my first Summer of Service was super intense, but also super fun! I was able to strengthen the connections that I had made at previous youth camps and also make so many new friends! I am so grateful for getting to play soccer and serve the community, and just having a great time. If anyone asked me, I would totally recommend that you look into going to the next Summer of Service in your area, as you never know what you might learn or what you might experience! Best SOS ever!

Summer of Service 2025: My Experience Pt. 1

Summer of Service (AKA SOS) is usually about a month long and is a time for youth ages 15-25 to learn about service and to assist in service projects such as children’s camps and natural disaster relief. It is influenced by the Baháʼí faith, which is a religion that believes in the oneness of humanity and the harmony of religion, which enabled us to study the Ruhi books, which are study guides used to teach about one’s spiritual development and service to humanity. This is the first Summer of Service that I have attended, and it occurred in July. I had missed a week of it due to my being occupied in the Washington Journal and Media Conference.

The first week of Summer of Service was orientation. We mostly studied the Ruhi books, prepared for the 2-week children’s camp that was coming up, called Brilliant Stars Summer Camp, and learned more about how we could serve in our own communities. The book that I was studying was Book 5: Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth (A.K.A. Empowering middle schoolers). I also studied Book 3: Teaching Children’s Classes Grade 2, which enlightened us on how to teach children who were a bit older and could handle more complex topics and activities. We were also able to help clean up homes that were affected by intense flooding, as it had been raining all orientation week. It was sad seeing the damage that was done, but the people there were very uplifting and optimistic.

During orientation week, we also had a 3-day children’s moral education camp (or a “practice camp”, in my eyes), preceding the 2-week one. My class was made up of 7-8-year-olds, and I usually handled the story part of the class. I was teaching alongside 2-3 other teachers who all had experience in teaching these kinds of classes, so we did not feel the need to switch up the roles. Though it was difficult keeping the children occupied at all times (especially if we finished class early), it was a fun learning experience. On the last day of the camp, we created a poster based on a quote we had taught the children: “O Friend! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love.” I will continue this post in part 2!

DUH! EP Review/Analysis

I got into P1Harmony at the beginning of their Killin’ It era. After listening to their older music, I can see that Killin’ It was a turning point in their musical direction, as it was their first full album. They still make music in a style that is unique to them, but it seems like they have begun trying something new. I have seen people complain about their newer music not being the same as their older sound and how it sounds a bit “gimmicky,” which I personally don’t agree with because 1. Their newer songs have garnered them significantly more recognition than their older songs did (especially since they were mostly known for memes, which is a pit that many K-pop groups struggle to make it out of) 2. They are genuinely evolving musically (especially their rappers), and I do not believe that they are just trying to do what is popular in K-pop now. From what I’ve heard, they are still P1Harmony, and they are still developing their lore, which began in their pre-debut movie.

About the Title Track

Now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s talk about “DUH!”. “DUH!” features a traditional Hip-Hop sound (the one that sounds like a high-pitched police siren at the beginning of the song). Young Posse also did a similar thing in “ATE THAT,” which drew heavy inspiration from the GTA 5 soundtrack, or in BTS’ “If I Ruled the World.” I especially liked the pre-chorus because it really took you out of the song for a moment and I just really liked the tone and delivery of Theo‘s parts. I like to see the pattern that P1Harmony has started since their Killin’ It era, where they have a specific hand gesture dedicated to each era. I hope they continue this trend because it makes the eras even more memorable to me, and I also think that it’s a creative aspect that I don’t see a lot of K-pop groups doing.

The B-Sides

The promoted B-side of the EP “Pretty Boy” takes inspiration from Afro-beats without sounding too copycat-like or just following trends as other K-pop songs have made me feel (*cough* Smart by LE SSERAFIM *cough*). I also like the message that the song puts out, as it is supposed to speak on the issue of East Asian men being infantilized and fetishized for their “pretty” looks. The song is an expression of confidence and communicates that there is nothing less masculine about a man who is “pretty”. This song is interesting to me because it talks about an issue I have never seen mentioned by K-pop groups and is sometimes even normalized by them. I also like this song because it was mostly written and composed by Keeho, the leader of P1Harmony. The only part of this song that disappointed me was the fact that it was just below the 3-minute mark in length.

“Murmur”, the third song on the EP, reminds me of Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Standards”. It also reminds me of the song “Alright” from P1Harmony’s EP Sad Song. This song gives a message of not caring about what people say about you behind your back or “in the shadows” with lyrics such as “Say it to my face. Don’t act up from the shadows. I know your words are low-grade fake news. No words baby, nothing but a murmur.” Even if you know you have haters, their words don’t matter to you because they’re to scared to say them to your face.

“Flashy” might be one of my favorite songs from the EP, as it uses the signature P1Harmony “everybody sing together” sound in the post-chorus. It is something I hear a lot from P1Harmony, especially in their older songs like “Everybody Clap”, “Black Hole”, and “Follow Me”. The post-chorus really made this song stand out for me. The post-chorus also reminded me of the post-choruses in Pentagon’s Naughty Boy.

Though “Over and Over” didn’t really stick out to me as much as the other songs did, I thought it was still a pretty good song. Like “DUH!”, it also had a magnificent pre-chorus that I could listen to “over and over” again (see what I did there?). However, the chorus doesn’t exactly provide a satisfying feeling after listening to such a good pre-chorus, and maybe would have sounded better if it were sung instead of chanted. Still, I get what the song was going for, and I still enjoy listening to the chorus. Maybe the stuff this song lacks for me has something to do with it being only 2 minutes and 54 seconds long, but I could be wrong.

“Work” may have a chorus, but the song seems to flow like a Disney Land river attraction, taking you in different directions. I don’t think this song would be as good of a title track as “DUH!”, but I would have loved to see what kind of choreography could have been created with it as a promoted B-side. The unique combination of sounds and melodies used in the song allows it to stand out significantly in P1Harmony’s discography.

Closing Remarks

To close this out, I would like to say that listening to how P1Harmony’s music has evolved since their debut in 2020 is so interesting to me, and I would definitely recommend everyone reading this to listen to their debut EP, Disharmony: Stand Out, if one wants to get a feel of how their music may have changed.

Bibliography

“This Is the Highlight Scene P1Harmony Claim Their Moment with DUH!” Tmrwmagazine.com, TMRW, 2025, www.tmrwmagazine.com/en/news/p1harmony-claim-their-moment-with-duh. Accessed 10 June 2025.

“Genius English Translations – P1Harmony – Murmur (English Translation).” Genius, 2025, genius.com/Genius-english-translations-p1harmony-murmur-english-translation-lyrics. Accessed 10 June 2025.

The Will of Fate (9/19/24)

“I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me” (BrainyQuote). Unfortunately for Beethoven, fate is something that is set in stone. No matter what one does, fate cannot be changed. An excellent example of this would be the Greek tragedy Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In this story, Oedipus finds out that he was predestined to murder his father and marry his mother. To escape this cruel fate, Oedipus left his home, Corinth, and found himself in Thebes, where he would soon become king. What Oedipus did not know was that he had not escaped his prophecy, emphasizing that fate cannot be tampered with. 

Sophocles first demonstrates the power of fate when he uses Oedipus as the center of the topic of fate when Oedipus is investigating the murder of the old king, Laius. Teiresias, a blind prophet, tells Oedipus that he was “the murderer of” the old king, “whose murderer” he sought out. Oedipus continuously denies this and calls Teiresias a fraud, even though the audience is given many clues that Teiresias is telling the truth. One of these clues was when Oedipus recalls that he had killed a man not too long ago at a crossroads not far from Thebes. This dramatic irony portrays how there is no use in denying fate. 

A later example of fate is when Jocasta is trying to comfort Oedipus and assure him that his prophecy will not be fulfilled. Jocasta tells Oedipus that humans “have no part” in prophecies and that she will present to him “a short proof.” Jocasta goes on to explain to Oedipus that she and Laius had a similar prophecy where she was told that her newborn son was destined to kill her husband. Jocasta then describes how she and Laius had left the baby to die on a hill so the prophecy would not come true. This evidence would seem to prove that fate can be avoided. However, as the plot unfolds, it is proven that Jocasta was wrong and that the prophecy had not been changed because Oedipus is Jocasta’s son, who indeed killed his father. Jocasta ends up deeply regretting her actions.

At the end of the story, Oedipus has realized what has happened and faces the consequences. His brother-in-law, Creon, tells Oedipus that he should not try “to be master in everything” because the things he “mastered did not follow” him all through his life. Though Creon speaks these words with malice in his heart because of Oedipus’ reckless actions, he speaks the truth. Creon’s words state that it doesn’t matter how prideful one is or how much power one has; no one can be the master of fate.

When one considers Oedipus’s continuous denial of fate and his later being overwhelmed by it, it is apparent that fate controls everyone’s outcomes. Though this may seem irrelevant to real life, many believe that they can control their fates with just one thought. However, Sophocles makes it clear that there is no use running from what has already been ordained. Everything that happens is all up to fate. The best one can do is prepare for what is to come, no matter what lies ahead.

Works Cited

“Ludwig van Beethoven Quotes.” BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc., 2024. 24 September 2024. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ludwig_van_beethoven_564183

WJMC Day 6: Departure

The last day was sad for me because I had to leave my color group and all the great friends I made. I didn’t cry like most did, but I still wish it lasted a bit longer. We had one last speaker, Kalea Perez, we got to read a story called “Maybe”, and watched a video on all our memories there. It was truly a great experience both for me to learn and to make new friends. I am so excited for what the future future holds after this conference! Thank you, WJMC!

Here are my photos of my last day (there aren’t many lol):

WJMC Day 5: Capital Hill Visit

This morning we got to head to the National Mall, but had some unexpected delays. When we finally got there we took a group picture and I even got my headshot taken! Me and my friends took a tour of the Capitol and got lunch in the Capitol restaurant. We proceeded to walk to the U.S. Botanical Garden where we saw many different kinds of plants both from the tropics and from deserts. It’s such a pretty place I could have practically lived there! We didn’t have much time so we started walking towards the Smithsonian where we would meet our busses and got ice cream and Thai tea on the way. The ice cream dripped all over my hand and the Thai tea apparently didn’t taste like Thai tea, but it was still worth it! We then drove back to the campus.

In the evening, we had our WJMC gala where we danced and had lots of good food. I also got to wear one of my favorite dresses!

Here are some pictures from WJMC day 5:

WJMC Day 4: National Press Club

In the morning, we had trouble finding where to go for our color group meeting, but we were eventually able to find the room. We did a newsroom simulation featuring outlets and reporters. I was playing an executive editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. This experience was interesting because I was able to think deeply about what kind of story an outlet would want and how I would have pitched a story depending on what media the outlet wants and what their beliefs are.

We went to Guapo’s Restaurant for lunch. Then we rode to the National Press Club. We listened to the speakers, Carmela Boykin and Chris Cillizza. They talked a lot about growing one’s social media presence and just putting yourself out there.

Once we got back to campus, we had dinner, listened to another speaker, Patrick Money, the Director of Admissions for Freshman Recruitment for GMU, had another color group meeting where we planned for our Capitol Hill visit the next day, and finally had a color group feud, which is similar to Family Feud!

Here are some photos from day 4 of WJMC:

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