June 25, 2013
A few weeks ago, Girls' Generation's future was the topic at hand on this short and unconventional series "The Future of Idol Groups", me, predicting and explaining the possibility of fame after disbandment one-by-one and putting the 9 girls in order from least to greatest. Likewise, on this article of YG Entertainment's leading girl group, 2NE1, I will state my prediction of the possibility of fame after disbandment, ordered from least to greatest.
Falling in last place is 2NE1's maknae, Minzy. She can dance the best in the group, she can sing the best in the group... heck, she even has pretty amazing stage-presence... but I just don't know what she can exactly do after 2NE1 disbands. Dance? Similarly stated in the Girls' Generation edition for main dancer, Hyoyeon, I haven't seen people have famous careers in dance alone. Sing? She sings pretty well yet, has two obstacles standing in her way:
1. She's still has yet to hold their solo debut (she's actually the only member of 2NE1 who has left to do that!)
2. Let's be honest, Minzy isn't exactly matching Korean beauty standards... without that, is her singing talent that great to make up for her lack of visuals?
3. Lastly, even if she did have a solo debut, I would expect it to do the poorest out of all of 2NE1's solo debuts... for what reason? I don't know. It just seems like out of all of them, she has the least overall presence in the group regardless of the fact that she has the most talent.
In third place is the unnie who's not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good, CL. Having her solo debut with The Baddest Female only a few weeks ago and all-killing despite the overall deficit of the song, she proved that she could hold a music career without the other three 2NE1 girls at her side. Regardless of her placing in such a low spot, I think she has a much greater chance than fourth place's Minzy, her biggest tools being her large fan base and of course, her charisma.
After a pretty hard decision, 2NE1's visual, Sandara Park, placed in second place. She can sing pretty meh, she can dance pretty meh... but, she is pretty. Not to mention, she already had her 2NE1 solo debut which topped charts as well as prior to 2NE1's debut, she was a arguably successful actress in the Philippines, having two career paths she could choose from.
Lastly, my 2NE1 love Park Bom places first place. Even though she is my 2NE1 bias, I placed her in first because I actually do think she has an extremely large chance of becoming a solo singer after the disbandment of 2NE1. Her previous solo songs, You & I and Don't Cry (which both left me sniffling after watching the videos), both all-killed as well as the song she featured in, I Had an Affair. And although every time we see her she looks worse and worse, I have no doubt in my mind that she could definitely be the next Baek Ji Young.
In addition, I'd like to end with their future as a whole. With YG Entertainment's management hints as well as their video "Future 2NE1 (4 Years Later)", it seems somewhat evident that they're not planning to keep 2NE1 around for much longer. Debuting in 2009 with their unexpected song, Fire, which made them skyrocket to fame almost immediately, 2NE1 has been together for four years already, and this year in 2013, them, being proudly able to proclaim themselves as one of Korea's top girl groups. With my guess, 2NE1 will probably last 2 more years before fading out or going their own separate ways, mostly because:
a) As said in the Girls' Generation post, they are females. Of course, they're not females whom men tend to fetishize over due to their tough-girl concept, but they are females who may have future goals, dreams and aspirations towards the future... don't understand? you can look at b for further clarification.
b) Park Bom and Sandara Park are either 30 years old or are almost in their 30's... meaning, they'll either have thoughts of settling down soon or have thoughts of leaving the group and pursuing a solo career. Usually, girl group members who're near their 30's or have members in their 30's (for example: Brown Eyed Girls) aim towards a sexy and mature concept because it's appropriate for their age, but being that the 2NE1 girls are still mixing themselves with the cute, tough and basically juvenile/teenage image, they have to begin expunging themselves from that... the conflicting ages making it somewhat hard for them to follow through on that.
Furthermore, I expect at least 2 girls from 2NE1 to remain in the spotlight, the others, fading into the darkness.
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In addition, I'd like to end with their future as a whole. With YG Entertainment's management hints as well as their video "Future 2NE1 (4 Years Later)", it seems somewhat evident that they're not planning to keep 2NE1 around for much longer. Debuting in 2009 with their unexpected song, Fire, which made them skyrocket to fame almost immediately, 2NE1 has been together for four years already, and this year in 2013, them, being proudly able to proclaim themselves as one of Korea's top girl groups. With my guess, 2NE1 will probably last 2 more years before fading out or going their own separate ways, mostly because:
a) As said in the Girls' Generation post, they are females. Of course, they're not females whom men tend to fetishize over due to their tough-girl concept, but they are females who may have future goals, dreams and aspirations towards the future... don't understand? you can look at b for further clarification.
b) Park Bom and Sandara Park are either 30 years old or are almost in their 30's... meaning, they'll either have thoughts of settling down soon or have thoughts of leaving the group and pursuing a solo career. Usually, girl group members who're near their 30's or have members in their 30's (for example: Brown Eyed Girls) aim towards a sexy and mature concept because it's appropriate for their age, but being that the 2NE1 girls are still mixing themselves with the cute, tough and basically juvenile/teenage image, they have to begin expunging themselves from that... the conflicting ages making it somewhat hard for them to follow through on that.
Furthermore, I expect at least 2 girls from 2NE1 to remain in the spotlight, the others, fading into the darkness.
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This is a great series. The analysis is spot-on.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that in a couple of years, the number of active K-pop groups will probably be a third of what it is today. The market is just way too saturated.
I personally like how busy K-pop has been the last couple of years (with a comeback or debut to look forward to almost every week), but I just don't think it is sustainable. There will be a lot of out-of-work idols pretty soon.
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with that! Before 2010-2011ish, there were groups that debuted and rose to at least a decent level of popularity however now, there are way too many groups that are debuting that no one even gives a shit anymore and brushes them aside almost automatically.
Exactly, I like how songs are released frequently (even if songs have been slacking this year, at least there's something new!) but with groups getting greedy and venturing out to Japan (which is starting to get anti-Hallyu), America (who doesn't give a shit about Hallyu) and more, I really doubt that the K-Pop we know NOW will last more than five years... at max.
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I DONT WANT THEM TO DISBAND!!! HOW ABOUT GIRLS GENERATION???????? they are almost 30 also....oh come on... they didn't even have solo albums yet...hmf.they just pose the future 2ne1 because they are going to compete in SM and JYP
ReplyDelete...I never said I wanted them to disband? But disbandment is unavoidable for any K-Pop group whether it's Girls' Generation, 2NE1, Miss A, Crayon Pop... everyone.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see the SNSD one, it's right here: http://kpopranter.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-future-of-idol-groups-girls.html
hmf you mis understand. That's my OPINION only....i didn't say it's you'res. for me it's too still early for them. i know that sooner or later their band will really disband. But i just so hope that it will be so far away from now...much to early. that's what i meant.
ReplyDeleteSo I am going to disagree here. I personally see CL being first then Sandara then Bom then Minzy.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with disagreeing--everyone has their own opinions xD. I understand why you think CL, Dara, Bom and Minzy in that order... tbqh, I had a really hard time doing this post because to me, Dara, Bom and CL have extremely close chances of staying in the limelight and there's an obviously huge gap between them and Minzy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Minzy.. she's really talented yet, she's outshined in the group. I hope YG will be able to develop her talents more and that she'll have a solo debut or something.. activities???
ReplyDelete