Asian Addicts Anonymous

I should be writing my Melody of Love recaps…but after running around working and doing stuff all day… I had this idea and just ran with it. So, MoL comes tomorrow.

To say that the Korean music industry is inundated with new groups or units debuting is an understatement. It seems that each year there is an increasing amount of new groups or acts coming into the business. The real question is after the influx…how many groups are lucky enough to have the staying power to remain?

Soompi was nice enough to compile a video of all the new unit groups, new idol, groups, and new artists in the male and female categories from 2013. Last year was the year of BOY GROUPS. The male debuts far outweighed the female. How many of these groups do you remember? I can say…I remembered a few of them when I re-heard the songs and re-watched the clips…but there are some acts I know nothing about and can’t even recall having made their debut. How sad! Already, 2014 is shaping up to have lots of debuts, too!

You can check out the girl group debuts here:

I don’t lie, I don’t pay much attention to girl groups. Sometimes the crazy dichotomy of what they do makes me steer clear of them even if they have good vocals. Of course, there is always exceptions to the rules. I am a girl. I do NOT like overly sexy dances and gestures. I also don’t like overly cutesy stuff either, but that is what sells. Blech. Male groups…aren’t as bad in cutesy and sexy department thankfully; however, I’m not a fan of winking in general and I don’t understand lip-rubbing and crotch-grabbing. WHY is that supposed to be a turn on?

Female group debuts that I liked?

Pascol (which started out as a trio and is now a duo) with “Bap Hanbeon Meokeoyo”. Ladies’ Code with “Nappeun Yeoja” (Bad Girl) – they were a little weak at first when it came to singing live, but have been improving. It took awhile, but 2Eyes’ debut song “Ggabuljima” (Don’t Mess With Me) became a favorite of mine. BESTie debuted with the addictive “Dugeun Dugeun” (Pitapat). Their debut MV freaks me out, but Queen B’z with their song “Bad” is pretty good. C.L.O with “Gol GO Meok GO” (Play GO Eat GO). Tint with “Cheosneunae Banhaesseo” (Love at First Sight). Peach Girl with “Yeoumokdoli” (Fox-fur Muffler). Duo Rainy with “Nunmula Meomchworo” (Stop the Tears).

And, and… I’m throwing some solo female debuts that I enjoyed, too. N.CA debuted with “Student Teacher” and Shin Ji Hoon debuted with “Right There”… but music programs say that “Hurt” is her official debut… so I don’t know. The “Right There” came out first. And while it’s not a TRUE debut in the sense that these girls have already debuted as part of a larger group, Exid members formed the duo unit group Dasoni which debuted with “Goodbye”. 4Minute unit group 2Yoon gets a special mention. I didn’t hate 24/7, but must say I really preferred their song “Why Not” more.

The male group debuts are here:

I was surprised that M4M made the list… Yes, Cube put them together and debuted them…but they aren’t active and promoting in Korea, but rather in China, so even though I like them, I won’t include them in kpop debuts.

Male group debuts that I liked? This will look pretty bad when compared to the female groups, huh?

Airplane with the song “Yeoppeuda” (So Pretty). Oddly enough, I found myself liking Egobomb’s debut with “Gajda Beoryo” (Throw It Away). Takers with “Remember Me”. The band ICONIZE with “Naneun Ggiga Neomchineun Ai”. I have this thing…for bands…yeah. ESPECIALLY if they are good! Main debuted with the beautiful ballad “Sarangiral Mal” (Love Is). Pure “Nan-ajikdoneol” (I Still Love You). History debuted with “Dreamer”… NOT a bad song…but I came to like History more AFTER they released their other songs this year. So they get a special shout-out even though I didn’t really love their debut song. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) made a fierce debut with “No More Dream”. I don’t know why, but it took a couple of listens before Boys Republic’s debut “Party Rock” grew on me. I actually learned about CollaVoice after their debut. Thus I had to go back and check out their first song. This group is not really tied to a genre, they are really good. Check out their debut with “Neoui Gyeolhonsig” (Your Wedding). M.Pire with “Neorang Chingu Muthae” (Can’t Be Friends with You). Say Yes with “Neukkimi Joha” (Feel Good). Korean-American band Royal Pirates debuted with the awesome song “Shout Out”.  Honey G with “Baboya” (Idiot). The awesome duo Joy o’Clock debuted with “Chaggak” (Delusion/Illusion/Mistaken – Choose one). Timber debuted with awesome vocals with their song “3 il” (3 Days). ToppDogg with “Mallohae (Follow Me)” (Say It (Follow Me)) – not usually a song I would normally joy, but I fell in love with it. AlphaBAT with “AB City”. Duo Pro C made their debut with K.Will featuring! Check out “Bad Memory” – it’s good.

Did SPEED officially debut with their homage to T-ARA in 2012 or was their official debut in 2013?

These groups I thought were good, but didn’t really stand out or leave a lasting impression. Nothing wrong with them. They have talent, but their debuted paled a little in comparison to other debuts this year. NOM (actually pronounced as the letters which apparently stand for…Not Normal?) with “Nunan Yeoppeo” (Nuna is Pretty). Demion with “Ask Her Out”. Looking back…how could I forget 5urprise? They had very good vocals with “Hey U Come On”. There was also new unit group debuts, too. U-KISS debuted the trio uBEAT with “Isseul ttae jalhae jul geol” (Should Have Treated You Better). ZE:A debuted the unit group ZE:A-FIVE with “Haeojindeon Nal” (The Day We Broke Up) while 100% debuted the unit group 100% V (stands for vocal) with “Toegeungil” (Missing You – literal translation is After Work). Infinite also debuted their first unit group Infinite-H with “Special Girl”.

What debuts do you remember? What groups are you hoping to see more of?