22 minutes ago, Pluto6 said:

I-dle have always been in this weird spot where they have been successful, yet never considered among the biggest groups for some reason, despite being successful the longest among 4th gen ggs. It's as if people often treated their successes as temporary, as if they could flop at any moment with the next comeback, even though they kept succeeding for 6 years until this year with Good Thing

I-DLE is a case where they have a significantly less present and way smaller fan base in Korea or I-Fans and relied basically on the GP. They have good albums and good reputation so they can fill them concert.

But apart from Vietnam, China and Thailand where they are absolutely huge and can sell records just about breathing in a microphone. They'd have to pull a 2 all of their career, when one single is for them and the other for the GP since the fan base cannot carry them.

Like the comparison from Korea to China

Top 10 year end all across the board in China.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Xalric

The eatery. 2026 is saved. Thank you, ENGODPEN.

Also YuQi as a solo received 9 Awards

• Top 10 K-pop Artists of the Year (#2)

• Top 10 K-pop Soloists of the Year (#2)

• Top 10 K-pop EP of the Year — Motivation (#2)

• Top 10 K-pop Songs of the Year — Radio (#2)

• Top 10 K-pop Songs of the Year — FREAK (#7)

• Top 10 Game Songs of the Year — COPDD (#9)

• Longest Charting K-pop Song — FREAK (#1)

• Gold Single — FREAK

• Gold Single — Radio

Making YuQi the most awarded artist of the night.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Xalric

Pluto finally changing that side eye Lee Know avi...I'm free of always feeling like someone was silently judging me when I'm about to post in here

1 minute ago, Graffiti said:

Pluto finally changing that side eye Lee Know avi...I'm free of always feeling like someone was silently judging me when I'm about to post in here

The battle I had to go through just to upload this new avi in HD It kept glitching, and I had to reupload it over and over until it finally worked

26 minutes ago, Pluto6 said:

I-dle have always been in this weird spot where they have been successful, yet never considered among the biggest groups for some reason, despite being successful the longest among 4th gen ggs. It's as if people often treated their successes as temporary, as if they could flop at any moment with the next comeback, even though they kept succeeding for 6 years until this year with Good Thing

Griddle don't have an it girl, a member that is popular with the Korean public, that's all there is to it. There is 0 discussion about them on Korean forums. And they are not popular in the US or Japan either, so there is 0 discussion about them here too. Yuqi is popular in China, which is great, it's a big commercial boost, but nobody in Korea or outside Korea cares about what's happening in China.

Girl group -> smaller fanbase, + low topicality in the regions that matter = underrated even if commercially successful.

And since Soyeon is both the brain and the muscle of the group, if she is having a bad day, the group flops, just like that.

I kind of wish Soyeon had left Cube to found her own company to build on Griddle's success and plan their future. But maybe the money is good enough, and they know they won't stick around for long anyway. I think they will disband once they leave Cube, or go on a long hiatus.

Edited December 29, 2025Dec 29 by geniecantstophypeboy

22 minutes ago, Xalric said:

I-DLE is a case where they have a significantly less present and way smaller fan base in Korea or I-Fans and relied basically on the GP. They have good albums and good reputation so they can fill them concert.

But apart from Vietnam, China and Thailand where they are absolutely huge and can sell records just about breathing in a microphone. They'd have to pull a 2 all of their career, when one single is for them and the other for the GP since the fan base cannot carry them.

Like the comparison from Korea to China

Top 10 year end all across the board in China.

Hopefully they will bounce back next year - I have a soft spot for them

1 minute ago, geniecantstophypeboy said:

Griddle don't have an it girl, a member that is popular with the Korean public, that's all there is to it. There is 0 discussion about them on Korean forums. And they are not popular in the US or Japan either, so there is 0 discussion about them here too. Yuqi is popular in China, which is great, it's a big commercial boost, but nobody in Korea or outside Korea cares about what's happening in China.

Girl group -> smaller fanbase, + low topicality in the regions that matter = underrated even if commercially successful.

And since Soyeon is both the brain and the muscle of the group, if she is having a bad day, the group flops, just like that.

I kind of wish Soyeon had left Cube to found her own company to build on Griddle's future. But maybe the money is good enough, and they know they won't stick around for long anyway. I think they will disband once they leave Cube, or go on a long hiatus.

Isn't Soyeoncé very well-known in Korea, though? She also seems very connected in the industry, considering all the collaborations and appearances she's had. She might not be a typical it-girl, but she's definitely among the most famous 4th-gen idols overall

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Pluto6

12 minutes ago, Pluto6 said:

Isn't Soyeoncé very well-known in Korea, though? She also seems very connected in the industry, considering all the collaborations and appearances she's had. She might not be a typical it-girl, but she's definitely among the most famous 4th-gen idols overall

I think she is popular/connected in the same vein a very young Teddy would be popular, she is a producer who makes music. She doesn't have a rabid Korean fanbase like those popular social media influencers in other groups, and she didn't have a big breakout solo gig for the general public to be aware of her, like with many soloists or actors. She would be the equivalent of a B-list or C-list celebrity in Korea atm.

huge day for the people's princesses

1 hour ago, geniecantstophypeboy said:

I had looked up some information the other day, and from what I gather, Hybe has no real legal avenue to stop Newjeans from fulfilling their contract till 2029 then leaving. They can't expel them, they can't force the members who are majors to sign something, and anything the minors' parents sign would be contested and cancelled once they turn 19 anyway. Short of Hybe going nuclear again and doing something illegal, or successfully brainwashing them, I don't expect any surprise.

I wonder what the delay could be from announcing the other 3 are back with ADOR then? I can't imagine the major mess if they really tried to rollout a Usedjeans (would instantly become their name) comeback with new members

are the CORTISol endings happening? Or did HYBE sweep this under the rug?

1 hour ago, Pluto6 said:

I-dle have always been in this weird spot where they have been successful, yet never considered among the biggest groups for some reason, despite being successful the longest among 4th gen ggs. It's as if people often treated their successes as temporary, as if they could flop at any moment with the next comeback, even though they kept succeeding for 6 years until this year with Good Thing

IDLE is entirely organic and it took them forever to reach their status. I was an early fan and I can remember getting excited for 100k and hoping they'd break 20k in Japan. They blew up late and started to get an obnoxious, rabid fanbase on Twitter like all major acts, but the mediocre title tracks kind of humbled them and that's why they're quiet. It's funny because their album sales were still bigger than ITZY and LSF combined, but the Spotify streams silenced the fanbase.

Overall, IDLE is still #1 for Melon streams, #1 for YTM streams, #2 for overall streams, #1 in Chinese digital revenue, #2 for touring, #4 in Circle digital points and #3 overall (for fourth gen female groups).

7 minutes ago, Antunes said:

huge day for the people's princesses

I wish other labels would get as shameless as HYBE. I had two people ask me who "I'll Do It" is this week because they showed up in their autoplay

NewJeans and Blackpink having multiple hits on their debut EPs

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by TheCal

3 minutes ago, Eternium said:

I wish other labels would get as shameless as HYBE. I had two people ask me who "I'll Do It" is this week because they showed up in their autoplay

I always get Illit or Cortisol as the first or second song in autoplayit's so tiring

19 minutes ago, starstruckaj said:

I wonder what the delay could be from announcing the other 3 are back with ADOR then? I can't imagine the major mess if they really tried to rollout a Usedjeans (would instantly become their name) comeback with new members

It's bullying, + Ador have nothing ready, they need time (unlike all the big lies they said in court), + they might be trying to force conditions out of them (say you love Bang Sihyuk or else!)

IP usage is strict, you can't simply remove or add members like you change socks. I wouldn't worry about that.

32 minutes ago, geniecantstophypeboy said:

I think she is popular/connected in the same vein a very young Teddy would be popular, she is a producer who makes music. She doesn't have a rabid Korean fanbase like those popular social media influencers in other groups, and she didn't have a big breakout solo gig for the general public to be aware of her, like with many soloists or actors. She would be the equivalent of a B-list or C-list celebrity in Korea atm.

Soyeon wins in the end as she's probably among the richest 4th-gen idols along with 3RACHA. The revenue from producing is no joke especially in a popular group

17 minutes ago, TheCal said:

I always get Illit or Cortisol as the first or second song in autoplayit's so tiring

The way Cortis are randomly about to have the top 2 most streamed bg songs of the year on Spotify, without ever entering Spotify Global or YouTube charts for a single day etc.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Pluto6

The way IRENE gave us a bop for every season on her mini album!

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Winter:

Anticipating IRENE her FULL album coming in 2026

Crazy how this song has now 460 paks

14 minutes ago, Spears_Stan said:

Crazy how this song has now 460 paks

You know it's a dead year in music, when one song has 1500 pak and another song will have like 800 pak. No competition.

1 hour ago, Spears_Stan said:

Crazy how this song has now 460 paks

And yet only 26M streams on Spotify

15 minutes ago, Toxic Love said:

And yet only 26M streams on Spotify

The numbers this year are so chopped and screwed 😭😭 empty house. Songs by Netflix movie groups obliterating real life K-pop. Rabid fans defending and touting "success" that only exists on botted Spotify and YouTube views. Nothing is matching

I can't believe that fandom is so desperate for sympathy that they're spreading fake weibo posts from nonexistent employees online and ofc the usual suspects in media will parrot the narrative, and won't clarify the truth until the community has used their new ammo to drag NJ. The usual rage bait -> victimization -> NJ smearing