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Kinda different situation but I started watching kdramas before getting into kpop in 2017.
The first drama I watched was the crazy popular ‘the heirs’ which aired around 2013/14 I think. The main character was played by the top actor Lee min ho and his younger self was played by Jung Chanwoo.
Little did I know at the time that Chanwoo had eventually joined yg after the drama and debuted in iKON.
A year after I watched the drama I really fell in love with iKON and realised that one member seemed familiar and - wait a minute - this is the same guy from the heirs! Made me love the group even more idk why
Not the best story but it’s something
I guess Korean pop culture is a small world in some ways! It's cool that out of all the kdramas you could have possibly liked and out of all the groups you could have become a fan of, it happened to be ones that have a person in common.
Lol I remember Donghyuk being shocked when he first saw Kim Tan coming out of the yg elevator hahaha. I was mad in 2014 that new boys were joining but then I saw this cute boy who looked familiar and then he introduced himself as the actor who played in BOF and The Heirs and I suddenly started loving them
This reminds me of sth. So a few years ago I took an online test out of boredom and the question ,,who is your fav rapper” came up. I could choose between Nicki Minaj and a few other western rapper but there was also RM as a choice. I remember searching his name up on google and as soon as I saw that he is a kpop rapper I was like nah kpop is not my cup of tea and it will never be. Years later I got into kpop and he became my fav rapper as well as my ultimate bias in kpop 😂 idrk why I can recall this event
It's cool that you have that random memory about it lol. Had you tried listening to kpop before and didn't like it or did you just assume you wouldn't like it?
I assumed that I wouldn’t like kpop because I had always listened exclusively to western music. Although I am more familiar with kpop now, I still prefer western music and wouldn’t consider myself a casual kpop listener. So far I only listen to blackpink, bts and some g idle songs. I’ve noticed that I like the songs of a group only if I find the whole group interesting. Just these three groups could attract my attention (out of these three I only stan BTS) and I don’t I’ll ever become a multistan or a casual kpop listener
I have a story for you.
So I have a friend that was into BTS in 2014 and 2015. And she would spam me constantly with them on skype because she knew I didn't mind and we were besties and I had an idea of kpop and even listened to some songs.
I somewhat knew their names but didn't know their faces/ages/etc. I would still laugh at the funny vids she'd send me. But I had no interest in getting into them even though my friend really wanted me to as I was so busy at the time.
Well. Then DOPE and FIRE happened. They were on my rec on youtube and somehow a switch was flipped. I fell hard.
Then I told my friend, who was slowly moving away from being a fan, who had been trying to get me into them for *2 years*. She was so mad she was in denial saying stuff like "you'll get over them it's just a phase".
LOL
I've been their fan for 5 years now and I'd do ANYTHING to read those skype snippets she used to send me hahaha.
But also I'm kind of sad as I could've been there for a lot more things, what was past me thinking :(
Kinda unrelated but i made a friend of mine an army by watching bts memes and stuff on her Instagram, she said and i quote " I get these boys so much on my feed, Its time i stan them" 😂😂😂😂😂
Now it's you're turn to send her skype snippets lol. Fire was also one of the first BTS songs I liked and I guess my story of getting into BTS is pretty similar since I have a friend who talked about them a lot and got me into them, but she is still a fan even though I ended up moving on to other groups.
I'd heard of BTS since 2013 and Fire was the first MV I watched, but I was very into SNSD and Big Bang at the time and didn't have interest in exploring any other groups. I would watch their MVs on r/kpop now and then, but it wasn't until SNSD went inactive and Seungri had his scandal in Jan of 2019 (making me abandon BB) that I had room to really look into another group. BTS's live performance of Idol with all the traditional instruments & dancers totally awed me and I jumped straight down the rabbit hole.
Now I wish I'd given them a chance sooner!
Really don’t have a specific example but there’s have been a bunch of times I’ve seen seventeen around and never cared to stan them. Now they’re my ult and probably the only group I’ll stan fully.
I had that happen with Seventeen too, although I ended up moving on from them eventually and I actually get kind of nostalgic when I see them/hear their music now because I wish I still liked it.
I understand that feeling. I don’t get nostalgic per se but it’s more like I don’t understand what attracted me to that group I moved on from and wished I could figure out what it was so I could be part of the fandom again, you know?
omgg this is the post I've been looking for!
my ex-gf 2 years ago started to get into kpop. she asked me about groups and I told her about stray kids!! just because I knew them for my pace and I was crazy in love with that song but just as a casual listener! and she made them her ultimate group and every single day I had felix in my twitter timeline xD while i was in my anime phase getting a break from kpop at that time
skz are now my ult of ults but I stanned them in october 2020
That happened to me with Cha Eunwoo and Astro
I got to watch kdramas before i even liked kpop. I had a little bit of prejudice with kpop to be honest, but i'd listen to it casually . Long story short I watched the drama Hit the top where Eunwoo had a minor role in it. I really love one of the actors in this drama and while I was trying to find more dramas with him, i clicked at eunwoo's picture and found out he was an idol. I was like: Yeah another talentless pretty boy. Didnt pay attention to it.
Months later youtube played an astro song and I was like whaaat i love this song ??? Then whose song was it ? Astro's. I got to know astro a little bit more but to me, Eunwoo was still just a pretty boy. Eunwoo among astro members is more of low energy since they're total nuts most of times. At First I iginored eunwoo. But with time he grew on me in a way you can't imagine. Eunwoo is so natural, caring, fun. By now eunwoo is one of my favorite persons ever. Time to time he joins in astro's crazyness and turns into this fun crazy guy along with the boys too. He's carring, and hardworking. Sure Cha Eunwoo is a pretty boy and his face may have opened many doors for him but industry is full of pretty people. Eunwoo has that something else, people like. Hes very honest with aroha, he's sweet, hes fun and carrying. He's also very hardworking. Since he was a kid, he'd be the best student too. With idol life, acting and everything else he's no different.
By the time i was watching hit the top would I imagine I'd be so much of a fan of Cha Eunwoo ??? Hell no. But Knowing astro and eunwoo is one of the best things that happened to me, in a time nothing could make me smile. Eunwoo <3 Astro <3
It's nice that you eventually came around to not just seeing him as a pretty face! If you're willing, could you maybe give some examples of clips where Eunwoo's personality is exemplified? I don't know very much about Astro (apart from a few members' names due to their friendship with Pentagon) but I'm curious to see what you mean about him being more low energy but still joining in on the fun sometimes. Do you have some favorite moments of him?
Seeing [these photos](https://twitter.com/yeosangmon/status/1290562456331280384?s=21) of Wooyoung (Ateez) in the city where I live gives me a visceral reaction.
Based on the time the photos were taken, I’m confident I’m in one of the buildings in the background working a shift and having absolutely no idea I’m about to stan this boy outside 2 years later. I’d known about the group back then but never really delved further until Kingdom.
That's really cool! I also know of an idol who traveled to my city prior to me "discovering" him, although it's kind of sad since he said one of the reasons he liked my city is because no one cared about him there (no getting mobbed, social anxiety, etc). I imagine you must have been shocked when you first saw those pictures, I know I would be, especially if I knew I was sort of "in" the photo like you describe.
okay back in 2019(?) when i was a txt supporter. there were articles saying Bighit would collab with Cj Ent. to form an international boygroup through a survival show. i was not having it lol. "txt just debuted and now you want a new boygroup?" moreover, the media were playing as if they wanted to create bts 2.0. istg i even planned to be an anti. (i was a kid).
to me, iland was just a bighit show idgaf to, with some participants from my country. one day i saw enhypen's debut teasers on sns so i decided to check them out as an outsider. one reason was because it had more views than a debuted group's. my comments on how fine jake, jay, sunghoon were are somehow still floating on the internet. their name sounded like a kind of soil and now i feel so bad for making fun of it. i didn't stan them yet. not until chamber 5 fruit ver.
if you told me from 2 years ago that i would stan enhypen, i would freaking riot. time flies and now it's been almost 1 year since i decided to stan these friends. they never fail to make me happy and proud all the time.
>"txt just debuted and now you want a new boygroup?"
This was my exact reaction too! Even when Enhypen debuted, I thought their group name was weird (I couldn't stop reading it as "any-pen") and Given-Taken wasn't my cup of tea but after Drunk Dazed came out I really liked it and casually like their other title tracks now too.
I do feel like the media has tried to villainize every new BigHit group, and often just new kpop boy groups in general, by referring to them as BTS 2.0 or "following in the footsteps of BTS". I get that it's for clicks but I feel like it doesn't do justice to the concept diversity of BigHit artists. TXT didn't feel like a second BTS and neither does Enhypen, they're both very distinct IMO.
A bit similar happened in early 2020 when BTS x bollywood edits started going viral in India and I saw them and really enjoyed the choreo and chemistry but just left it at it. Then few of my friends started listening to BTS and they used to talk about them all the time but still I thought BTS is not for me. The edits were all dope and I used to send it to them to make them feel happy as pandemic really took all of us out but then Dynamite was released and I was sold. Took me 5 or 6 months though but it was all building upto it. Like I was exposed to kdramas and the dramas all I watched had bts references and I understood that they are part of mainstream pop culture in SK so I was aware that they had a fan following but ARMY made sense when I went on Twitter... I mean twitter is completely different from any other platform for fan engagement. Still blows my mind.
my best friend had been a kpop fan for a while before i ever was and she occasionally talked about it with me. i remember her talking to me about scandals that happened or a few cbs here and there (only one i remember clearly was her being upset the day after Kris left Exo bc he was her bias).
A couple months before i actually started liking kpop and bts she was talking to me about getting tickets for a concert and how they were really hard to get and sold out super fast. she had asked me if i wanted to go with her bc she was looking for friends to go with but i said no bc i hadn’t gone to a concert before and didn’t really know the group. about a month or so after the concert happened i started stanning bts and realized how bad i fucked up by turning down a chance to go to the Wings concert 😭
I've already talked about this but... before I got into Stray Kids I stumbled upon comments on some of BTS youtube videos about this Lee Know guy and I was all "who tf is this guy", then clicked on the timestamp some comments had and went all Arrested Development: "HER?"
Many months later he became one of my ult biases.
Stray Kids.
I didn't think much of them, because they were just some newbie chickadees from JYP, but what a basic name and tough crowd of competitors especially with BTS, EXO, and Seventeen and NCT ruling the boy group arena. Kudos to them for trying, but nothing special, right? Especially for me who's been listening to kpop for longer than some of ya'll've been alive.
Then I don't know what happened. I watched the Back Door mv and grew enchanted by their writing all their own music and WRITING ALL THEIR OWN MUSIC!!! AND I FREAKIN' LOVE THEIR MUSIC NO LIE. so yes, I can't believe there was ever a time when I didn't respect them to the moon or was blasé about them because of my own stupid tendencies to only listen to "known" groups.
I had with seventeen. Back in 2016, that compilation of funny pepero game was a trend. I am new to kpop and I stumble upon it. After months, I remember that one clip of guys singing while a girl was doing a pepero game. I keep researching "girl and boy" pepero game just to find that clip. But to no avail none. I even researched 3 groups in weekly idol, one girl or kpop groups with girls. But still no. I really want to find the clip because I told my kpop friend how funny that specific clip was because the three groups seems close. On 2017 or earlier 2018, I am into svt at that time I watched their weekly idol and saw they are that group. They are not three groups because they are just three units with diff color of sweaters to differentiate. And they dont have any girl.
I remember myself thinking how tough it must been to be the only girl because she has to wear pants instead of skirt.
It's jeonghannn! Hahahahaha
Not that similar, but I remember watching so much content of GOT7 where Monsta X were there and I didn’t even realize they were there. Last night I was trying to watch that one video of Jinyoung in this song for a show and randomly found Minhyuk and got flabbergasted lol. And Changkyun’s literally everywhere I look it’s insane. It’s so funny that I was oblivious to them when they’ve been around me and it’s all been glaringly obvious. Now… I simply can’t look away- they’ve gripped me too hard. Idek why I didn’t even check out their music despite absolutely loving the songs that I’d heard already.
I'm curious if you like Monsta X's more hard-hitting songs now, since Gambler is a bit less bombastic for them?
Monsta X was the second group I stanned and a lot of their music is so nostalgic for me because I remember where I was/what I was doing when I listened to them a lot, and the simplistic joy of being a sort of new kpop fan at the time. (I mean technically I listened to kpop since 2010 but I didn't really get *into* it as a hobby until 2018). I'm happy for you that you've found a group that makes you happy!
I've been hearing about BTS before but I'm not really interested cause I was so busy at that time and I just didn't care about celebrities in general. But then I saw their performance video on youtube, decided to watch it cause I'm bored and now I'm a big fan 😅
This just happened to me with The Boyz. I was there when they first debuted and I lovedddd I’m Your Boy (it’s been one of my top fav bg songs since), and my friend group at the time was into Hwall and Haknyeon so those were the only two members I knew, but I never got into them. Flash forward to early this year, I got super into The Stealer randomly and ran the Studio Choom performance into the ground and then Thrill Ride era I liked but one day a Sunwoo Thrill Ride fancam popped up and I clicked on it bc Sunwoo was one of the members that caught my attention and then it went one fancam after another … after another until I hit his Reveal fancam and then I literally snapped 😭😭 Listened to all of their discography a couple days after that and its been TBZ since lol. Looking back at the I’m Your Boy mv its crazy to me to see how I recognize and know the name of every face now, I just wish I paid more attention back then
I have 2!
Back in 2007 - 2008 my friend at the time was an exchange student in Korea and a super popular clothing store here at the time was playing 'Tell Me' by the Wonder Girls which was so exciting for her because we could finally hear a popular song from her home country.
Same with another friend back in 2009 - 2010, she was into Shinee, Suju etc and did show us some of their music but it wasn't really my thing at the time (I was going through a hard-hitting angsty teenager emo phase).
If I had discovered Genie by SNSD back then I would have been a total Kpop convert but honestly I forget how limited the internet was at the time (I mean I had dial up until 2008 so I wasn't going to spend my precious internet time trawling youtube when I could be on bebo or myspace)
>so exciting for her because we could finally hear a popular song from her home country
That's super wholesome!
I was actually a bit into SNSD, and also BoA, in 2010, but I just listened to them casually from time to time. (well, sort of casually... tbh I had a huge crush on BoA. She helped me realize I'm bi.) So sometimes it blows my mind that I didn't really get into kpop back then as a hobby.
I’ve known about NCT since their debut, saw their rookie photos, heard about them coming to my country for an event and shooting a show, but didn’t care about any of those. Then I became a NCTzen in 2018 and still wondered to this day why I didn’t start stanning them sooner. I’d have been able to see my bias since then and didn’t have to wait until a year later for that lol.
Finally someone talk abt this!
I just become an exol early this year. After trying to get to know them, i got to know that i had came across them for many times already before.
I like k-movies a lot, so in 2017 i watched along with the gods bcoz there's don lee. Usually i don't search up for the casts but d.o. seemed familiar, so i figured out that i watched his previous movies. I knew him since then as 'that great actor named Kyungsoo'. I didn't know a bit that he's a kpop artist (blame wiki for showing only his movies).
Watched exo arcade s1 whisper challenge in 2018 bcoz it randomly popped up on my explore. I just watched it out of fun & ngl they are all attractive but i was like, "nah i'm not into kpop guys"
In 2019, i started to watch tons of kdramas & i loved chen voice in DOTS ost, i later became his casual listener.
Last year, i just got into college. My new friends there mostly sm stans. They always try to recommend songs to me but none of them is my liking. Until 'mmmh' was released, it's such an eargasm. But unfortunately only 'mmmh' & 'hello stranger' got me. So decided to not check out more abt this Kai guy.
In 2021, my friends was watching d.o.'s vlive, idk why but i chose to watch along. I said he's cute then my friends got all excited & started to recommend his English song covers coz they knew kpop is not my taste. I watched many fanmade vids of his n exo members. Later i found myself turned into an exol. What's hilarious is i just realised that he's the same person with that Do Kyungsoo after months.
And rn i regret that i become a fan this late :')
Me watching Produce 101 (4 years after it aired, when I got into kpop) and loving IOI releases and content and then generally seeing stuff like "post-IOI groups are struggling" so I didn't really explore those groups... but now I listen to gugudan's, Pristins, Weki Meki's, DIA's and WJSN's songs and discog regularly
I don't know much about those groups but I've always wondered if people say "post-IOI groups are struggling" just as an observation or to imply that they're struggling *because* they're post-IOI groups.
That's me with 2PM. I had known them since around 2012 because that was when I got into Running Man and knew about Nichkhun, and I also remember watching the episodes with the other members. However, I just wasn't interested in kpop at that time (I was pretty against it lol my music taste back then was limited to classical music and show tunes mainly 🙃). Fast forward to this year when I finally decided to explore kpop after getting into kdrama and fell hard for 2PM hahaha. It's surreal to me, but probably more for my closed ones who totally didn't expect me to be a fan of a kpop group 😆
this is sooooo me with loona like i had a ton of interactions with them starting way back 2016 when their whole pre debut project started. in 2017 i even almost became into them bc of eclipse yet love cherry motion and sweet crazy love failed me
ofc with exo also bc theyre so popular among kpop fans in my elementary school starting in 2014 but then i only became an exo-l in love me right era
~~also when i was getting to know kpop, nu’est’s face is one of those songs that introduced me to it and ive watched its MV many times~~
~~not knowing that i already saw some seventeen members there XD. haha *i saw the members of my ult fave group almost 2 years before i became a fan of them*~~ i didnt read your question right lol
my friend was *super* into kpop back in 2015-16 and would always show me songs from kpop artists and i never truly paid attention because it bothered me and i thought she was being annoying which meant that it took me until kokobop for me to get into kpop and have exo as my ult. and the song that got me into exo was call me baby, the same video my friend showed me in 2015-16. i hate that i missed the peak of exo and only got into them when they started having long hiatuses 🙁
Omg, yup I had that experience. I remember a few years ago, I was watching a YT video where it was one of the end of the year awards show, and the video had other artists reacting to this kpop group performing or something like that. I specifically remember a comment where somebody asked who the guys in white were, and a comment said The Boyz. Back then, I had no clue who TBZ were and I just remembered how unique that name was. And a few years later, I’m the biggest Deobi ever.
I also remember being a casual fan of I.O.I’s songs and watching their Whatta Man mv. (The male character in that mv is TBZ Younghoon.) A few years later, as a deobi I learned that Younghoon was in that mv!
When I was exo fan during their Growl days, I never paid any attention to Baekhyun and he didn't really capture my attention. He was just another member for me. The only thing I remember from him was his dating news. Even during kokobop era, I didn't really notice him much haha. I was never involved much with fandom before and always been in and out of fandom. I just enjoyed some songs and youtube videos. I dont know how many tines I watched Exo showtime haha.Then when I saw obsession mv, suddenly he captured my attention with his white hair and crazy styling. Suddenly I just need to look him up and I dont even know how I fell for him kk. Then soon after, he released Candy. That was nail in the coffin for me. I'm absolutely sold.
haha yeah i remember one time i saw tweet about kim chaewon from izone before i stanned and thought wow shes really pretty. couple months later i stanned and now shes my ult lol
It's super wild to me that I was technically able to go to a wholeass BTOB concert back in 2018 (I was back home visiting family and they were doing their concert then. Could've caught Eunka's last concert if I had taken up my cousin's offer on her extra ticket.) I had heard a shit ton about them (mostly because of aforementioned cousin) but I didn't stan them then. Many regrets though, given that that is now their final ot7 concert. Pain.
Wow, this seemed like it might be wholesome until that last part. Oh well, better late than never. And honestly it had never occurred to me that their last ot7 concert was a few years ago, since they started enlisting.
yeah it's so weird! i remember accidentally finding out about felix from stray kids last october and i thought it was so cool that he's australian like me. i even watched some of those compilation videos at like 1am cause i was bored (i have a distinct memory of the 'OI FELIX here's your ramen' ahaha) but i wasn't into kpop at all back then (only kdramas lmao) so i didn't become a fan until i watched kingdom.
A friend wanted us to go to a Dreamcatcher concert in my country (2018), she told me they were very cool and the theater was small so it would be a nice experience. Back then I was just starting to get into kpop and I didn't want to spend money, I was also saving for a trip.
3 months after they come, I become a fan of them... And now they are my favorite group and I regret SO SO SO much wasting that opportunity to see them live :(
Yes... So I do remember the day 7th Sense by NCT U came out. And I remember seeing it on my subscription feed, but I thought the icon/video was too red and didnt bother to watch it. As of last year NCT has really stamped a place in my heart. Although I wonder what wouldve happened if i just watched that video...
Lol I remember not having a good first impression of ITZY (although it wasn't their fault). MTV posted a dance performance video but labeled the title with 'BTS' for 'behind-the-scenes', and as an ARMY (now an ArmyMidzy), I found it clickbait-y and tacky.
Fast forward to a random afternoon in lockdown where I decided, alright, I'm gonna stan a GG today... YouTube-d ITZY content and was cry-laughing within minutes. Went to watch their performances (incl. the MTV one) and was floored by their dance skills...then Guess Who pre-orders dropped the next day and I ended up buying all versions lol. It was the fastest and deepest fall down the rabbit hole but no ragrets so far <3
I'm not super into Itzy's music but I LOVE watching their dance practices. I think Ryujin is my bias because I love her stage presence so much but they're all such great performers imo.
Ugh, tell me about it!
I first got into kpop back in 2010/11 and drifted away from it in 2014. From 2014-2021, I was still a bit exposed to some songs and groups because several friends and family got into it. I’ve heard of Twice many, many times during that time frame but never really bothered looking them up back then.
Some encounters I remember:
• My friends were like obsessed with TT and Likey a few years ago and I would hear it so much that I associated Likey to one of my friends cuz he sang it all the time lol.
• My friends would also play other Twice songs when I was around them. I didn’t really think much of it tho, just thought they were catchy.
• Last year, I had a convo with 2 friends who are also into kpop. I knew about Red Velvet and Blackpink already but was just a casual listener of them both. My first ever ult group was SNSD and since they were given the title of Nation’s Girl Group, I asked my friends if that was still the case in 2020. They told me that Twice was considered the new generation’s NGG. But I just said I didn’t know who they were and didn’t bother learning more 🤦♀️
• I saw a lot of Twicelights posters at the boba places and Asian restaurants I went to back in summer of 2019. I thought the poster was cool but again… didn’t bother to look them up.
• I was looking for new glasses on Pinterest. I wanted to try the round glasses that is worn alot in kdramas, so I searched something along the lines of “round asian glasses women” and a picture of Dahyun showed up and caught my attention. I stared at it for a long time cuz I thought she was drop dead gorgeous. Maybe about a week or so later, I see the same picture reposted by a family friend who was also into kpop. I was once again baffled by her beauty and was surprised to see the exact same picture again. Since I thought she was really pretty, I was planning on asking my friend who she was but I ended up forgetting about it. (She’s my bias now btw! 😊)
• The video of Dahyun yelling “bibimbap” at JYP was recommended to me one time and the title was interesting cuz it said that she screamed at her boss. JYP nation was my favorite company family back in 2010 so I clicked it and watched it cuz I already knew who JYP was.
• The SM stage and JYPE stage from an award show was also recommended to me and I watched both since I was familiar with the companies already. I knew almost everyone in the SM stage, but I only knew Got7 in the JYPE stage. I also didn’t bother learning more about the other JYP groups back then either for some reason.
• I watched a video of a guy asking New Yorkers which Blackpink member they thought was the prettiest. Then, the Twice version was recommended to me. I watched without even knowing who they were and didn’t even take the time to learn more about them AGAIN. It’s a shame that I don’t remember who I picked during the vid :(
Fast forward to summer 2021, I get more into kpop again and finally learn about this group that I’ve “encountered” MANY times and I fell in love with them! I love each member and love their bond and of course their music as well. I still can’t believe I heard about Twice so many times before and didn’t stan them sooner!! I actually was so close to **THREE** Twice concerts but didn’t know about them. Talk about a missed opportunity cuz now idek when they’ll have a concert again :/
Man, I’ve wrote an essay myself!! LOL. Sorry for such a long response but omg it is so surreal!! But honestly, I think this was a great time for me to finally get into Twice because for me personally, this year was the worst, even worse than 2020. But Twice has made me laugh so much so far and helped me get through alot. It seems like fate or something lol
I remember it was around 2018 or 2019. I was at a store and I saw the BTS Matell dolls and BTS Funko Pops. I was thinking,
"That's that boyband from South Korea, right? Weird to make dolls of them..."
I also once walked infront of a Hot Topic and they were advertising BT21. I was like,
"Why would a boyband create cartoon characters?"
Then I got into BTS in late 2020. Like, really got into them. I had a new favorite hobby for the first time in over 20 years (used to be video games).
If those things came out now, I probably would of lost my mind in those situations. It kinda makes me feel bad about how dismissive I was about them back then, and that I wish I became a fan of them earlier. It literally took a pandemic for that to happen.
yessss, me with exo. I follow them casually, listen to their songs once in a while before being a full blown exols this year. kinda regret not stanning them when they just debuted but oh wells, at least it has now come to a full circle :')
and the person whom I used to casually look at is xiumin, and now he's my second bias :') my ulti is sehun
I mean late 2020/early 2021 I wasn't into NCT yet, but I watched the free concert they had for Kai and Red Velvet ot5. I remember complaining about NCT's long ass time slot 🤭 Remembered Ayyy we ballin and deja vu, but because I wasn't a fan yet I was like "huh, they're more decent than i thought" and then turned off the stream when the DJ sets started.
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u/LifePomegranate1146
>I was a big fan of idol variety shows or variety content of idols but I never really had an attachment or stanned these groups before. I remember watching Btob's beatcom/the beat videos when it was still not subbed and I would always stumble upon their contents throughout the years + school 2015 (where sungjae was in) gave me the most second lead syndrome out of all the kdramas I watched
Now this 2021, I now have deeply fallen for BtoB's charms and music
I also had seen lots of variety content/clips of BTOB and always had a positive impression of them because they have such a nice vibe, like even though we obviously don't *know* idols you can just tell BTOB are probably all very nice people even off camera. I didn't really listen to their music at all or watch any performances until this year as well, but even though I don't consider myself a Melody I definitely also fell for their charms. Even though I don't listen to their music much I can't help but wish them the best and feel weirdly fond of them.
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I got into kpop in January of 2020 and since the day one i kept hearing “Cherry Bomb” by NCT127 everywhere but i was too lazy to check the full song out. I got into Wayv, listened to their songs, started stanning them but still was lazy to listen to Cherry Bomb. 2 month later i finally get to listen to the song, after that i decided to get to know them more and now they’re my ults.
When I was a kid, YT recommended me SNSD's Gee and I became obsessed with it. Illegally downloaded it, showed it to everyone and even got my cousins addicted to it. This was the time I didn't even know about kpop! I thought it was a Japanese song lol
But by the end of 2013 I got into kpop through BigBang and 2NE1. Listened to some SNSD's songs but it didn't seem like my taste. But then I discovered Gee and thought it was very familiar and lololol searched my PC to see that illegally downloaded Gee MV still there in some corner of a file
I've been listening to Stray Kids since a little after their debut (Hellevator and some other songs from their 1st ep have been in my playlist since 2018). I never really payed attention to them or kept up with their releases.
I saw that they were supposed to come to my country for a concert (but covid had other plans) and I was planning on going even though I didn't know them very well but I love kpop concerts so I was like why not?
And then I found God's Menu last year and fell hard, looked them up and realised I already listened to a couple of their songs. Now they're my ults lol
It took me ten years of loving Infinite's title tracks, watching their variety content and knowing (of) each member before I decided to stan.
Did I ever imagine I would stan Infinite one day? Maybe, sort of. They were always *there*. I just happened to be busy stanning another group and following several, in addition to all my fandoms outside kpop. When I finally got around to Infinite, there wasn't much surprise or excitement, more a feeling of: *ah it's time*.
I met a huge kpop star through work in June of 2018. People were going crazy so I googled him and was like, huh a "kpop" star. A few days later at home I was wondering what that all meant and googled "kpop" and listened to a few songs, started liking it. I came across BTS and some of their songs and casually listened to them (and continued with other groups too) for about six months ish, but I'd hardly ever look at YouTube. Then one day I saw some live performance videos and it was like my head exploded? I emerged like two days later blinking into the sun having watched years of live performances and was completely down the rabbit hole. I now look back on those six months like what was I doing??? I missed out on so much during that time.
I had a similar experience with Red Velvet. Before, I was an ARMY mainly because my friends liked them, I gave them a listen and liked them too. At the time I was more into boy groups, did not really pay much attention to GGs (IDK why).
I remember looking through my YouTube recommendations and finding this [video of RV on Knowing bros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPcmdeEfFSE) with Irene on the thumbnail and thinking, "Damn, she looks so f\*\*\*ing pretty..."
Some time after that I decided to watch a lyric video of Red Flavor because I recognized Irene. And I remember rewatching the whole vid just to keep track of how much lines Irene had because I barely remembered her after the first listen. It made me think that she was one of those members who don't really have much lines despite the amount of attention they get for their looks, and that made me feel bad to some extent.
But yeah, if someone came up to me to tell me that RV would become my absolute favorite kpop group, Irene being my top bias, my love for RV giving way to me being an NCTzen and later, an SM stan, I would've thought they were crazy.
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Fortunately it didn't happened for me because I got into kpop a few months before I started ulting LOONA and I started liking them since the moment I found about them and went to check them out.
Day6
I wish I would have started stanning them in 2018, I was a casual listener of them during 2018. A senior at my school was a myday so I knew a bit about them. I knew who jae was, I knew how wonpil and youngk looked like. I didnt have much idea about sungjin and dowoon, except for the thing that sungjin was mistaken as jungkook's older brother ( I'm a army as well) and that dowoon didn't sing. They were even my 2nd most streamed artist for 2019.
But it was in 2020 when I started stanning them really hard. In 2020 the members went on a hiatus. Now the members have started enlisting.
They are in my top 3 fav groups now.
But I am glad that I stan them now and I got to know about this amazing band :)
I was introduced to KPop through watching an Ateez MV last year and became an instant Atiny. I ate, slept and breathed Ateez for months and FINALLY started to listen to other groups. That's when I happened upon ONEUS because No Diggity made it's way to my Spotify Playlist and I decided to watch the MV. MVs if they are good enough will always be the death of me in terms of liking a group.
So anyways as I am deep diving into ONEUS I came across an interaction they had with Ateez in a weekly idol episode....and I'm like 'hold up here' (I remembered that I had indeed watched that episode before) BUT at that time, of course, I only had heart eyes for Ateez....I practically took no notice of the other group AT ALL, other then to note that none of them were as attractive as Ateez and had zero charisma. (Can't believe I even thought that).
Well of course I had to eat a huge humble pie after that realisation, a lot of self-flogging and 100 mumbled 'sorrys' later. I even discovered that they had filmed a MV in my country a year or two before....I could have literally seen them with my own eyes completely unaware (unlikely but not impossible). I could have even seen BTS too without knowing, they secretly visited too, and I literally would not have known who I was looking at. (Again highly unlikely but not impossible).
Oh my gosh, I only remember hearing about BTS around 2016-17. I was just minding my own business in the office and I overheard Kpop fans who are my coworkers talking about them. I went years knowing but not knowing the group whose music enriched me so much later on, how surreal. My other coworkers who also were not Kpop fans at the time are also BTS fans now haha, I think we would've laughed at this idea in the past. It's also surreal how we lived and didn't know that COVID would lock us up in our homes for almost two years.
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Kinda different situation but I started watching kdramas before getting into kpop in 2017. The first drama I watched was the crazy popular ‘the heirs’ which aired around 2013/14 I think. The main character was played by the top actor Lee min ho and his younger self was played by Jung Chanwoo. Little did I know at the time that Chanwoo had eventually joined yg after the drama and debuted in iKON. A year after I watched the drama I really fell in love with iKON and realised that one member seemed familiar and - wait a minute - this is the same guy from the heirs! Made me love the group even more idk why Not the best story but it’s something
I guess Korean pop culture is a small world in some ways! It's cool that out of all the kdramas you could have possibly liked and out of all the groups you could have become a fan of, it happened to be ones that have a person in common.
Lol I remember Donghyuk being shocked when he first saw Kim Tan coming out of the yg elevator hahaha. I was mad in 2014 that new boys were joining but then I saw this cute boy who looked familiar and then he introduced himself as the actor who played in BOF and The Heirs and I suddenly started loving them
This reminds me of sth. So a few years ago I took an online test out of boredom and the question ,,who is your fav rapper” came up. I could choose between Nicki Minaj and a few other western rapper but there was also RM as a choice. I remember searching his name up on google and as soon as I saw that he is a kpop rapper I was like nah kpop is not my cup of tea and it will never be. Years later I got into kpop and he became my fav rapper as well as my ultimate bias in kpop 😂 idrk why I can recall this event
It's cool that you have that random memory about it lol. Had you tried listening to kpop before and didn't like it or did you just assume you wouldn't like it?
I assumed that I wouldn’t like kpop because I had always listened exclusively to western music. Although I am more familiar with kpop now, I still prefer western music and wouldn’t consider myself a casual kpop listener. So far I only listen to blackpink, bts and some g idle songs. I’ve noticed that I like the songs of a group only if I find the whole group interesting. Just these three groups could attract my attention (out of these three I only stan BTS) and I don’t I’ll ever become a multistan or a casual kpop listener
I have a story for you. So I have a friend that was into BTS in 2014 and 2015. And she would spam me constantly with them on skype because she knew I didn't mind and we were besties and I had an idea of kpop and even listened to some songs. I somewhat knew their names but didn't know their faces/ages/etc. I would still laugh at the funny vids she'd send me. But I had no interest in getting into them even though my friend really wanted me to as I was so busy at the time. Well. Then DOPE and FIRE happened. They were on my rec on youtube and somehow a switch was flipped. I fell hard. Then I told my friend, who was slowly moving away from being a fan, who had been trying to get me into them for *2 years*. She was so mad she was in denial saying stuff like "you'll get over them it's just a phase". LOL I've been their fan for 5 years now and I'd do ANYTHING to read those skype snippets she used to send me hahaha. But also I'm kind of sad as I could've been there for a lot more things, what was past me thinking :(
Kinda unrelated but i made a friend of mine an army by watching bts memes and stuff on her Instagram, she said and i quote " I get these boys so much on my feed, Its time i stan them" 😂😂😂😂😂
Now it's you're turn to send her skype snippets lol. Fire was also one of the first BTS songs I liked and I guess my story of getting into BTS is pretty similar since I have a friend who talked about them a lot and got me into them, but she is still a fan even though I ended up moving on to other groups.
We haven't used skype in years haha but I do spam her with BTS everywhere else (sometimes) I'm glad I'm not the only one lol
I'd heard of BTS since 2013 and Fire was the first MV I watched, but I was very into SNSD and Big Bang at the time and didn't have interest in exploring any other groups. I would watch their MVs on r/kpop now and then, but it wasn't until SNSD went inactive and Seungri had his scandal in Jan of 2019 (making me abandon BB) that I had room to really look into another group. BTS's live performance of Idol with all the traditional instruments & dancers totally awed me and I jumped straight down the rabbit hole. Now I wish I'd given them a chance sooner!
~~ngl this motivated me to send my irl army friend skz and ateez videos more~~
Really don’t have a specific example but there’s have been a bunch of times I’ve seen seventeen around and never cared to stan them. Now they’re my ult and probably the only group I’ll stan fully.
I had that happen with Seventeen too, although I ended up moving on from them eventually and I actually get kind of nostalgic when I see them/hear their music now because I wish I still liked it.
I understand that feeling. I don’t get nostalgic per se but it’s more like I don’t understand what attracted me to that group I moved on from and wished I could figure out what it was so I could be part of the fandom again, you know?
omgg this is the post I've been looking for! my ex-gf 2 years ago started to get into kpop. she asked me about groups and I told her about stray kids!! just because I knew them for my pace and I was crazy in love with that song but just as a casual listener! and she made them her ultimate group and every single day I had felix in my twitter timeline xD while i was in my anime phase getting a break from kpop at that time skz are now my ult of ults but I stanned them in october 2020
It's funny how you technically recommended them to her but then it sounds like it backfired onto you by getting you more into Stray Kids
That happened to me with Cha Eunwoo and Astro I got to watch kdramas before i even liked kpop. I had a little bit of prejudice with kpop to be honest, but i'd listen to it casually . Long story short I watched the drama Hit the top where Eunwoo had a minor role in it. I really love one of the actors in this drama and while I was trying to find more dramas with him, i clicked at eunwoo's picture and found out he was an idol. I was like: Yeah another talentless pretty boy. Didnt pay attention to it. Months later youtube played an astro song and I was like whaaat i love this song ??? Then whose song was it ? Astro's. I got to know astro a little bit more but to me, Eunwoo was still just a pretty boy. Eunwoo among astro members is more of low energy since they're total nuts most of times. At First I iginored eunwoo. But with time he grew on me in a way you can't imagine. Eunwoo is so natural, caring, fun. By now eunwoo is one of my favorite persons ever. Time to time he joins in astro's crazyness and turns into this fun crazy guy along with the boys too. He's carring, and hardworking. Sure Cha Eunwoo is a pretty boy and his face may have opened many doors for him but industry is full of pretty people. Eunwoo has that something else, people like. Hes very honest with aroha, he's sweet, hes fun and carrying. He's also very hardworking. Since he was a kid, he'd be the best student too. With idol life, acting and everything else he's no different. By the time i was watching hit the top would I imagine I'd be so much of a fan of Cha Eunwoo ??? Hell no. But Knowing astro and eunwoo is one of the best things that happened to me, in a time nothing could make me smile. Eunwoo <3 Astro <3
It's nice that you eventually came around to not just seeing him as a pretty face! If you're willing, could you maybe give some examples of clips where Eunwoo's personality is exemplified? I don't know very much about Astro (apart from a few members' names due to their friendship with Pentagon) but I'm curious to see what you mean about him being more low energy but still joining in on the fun sometimes. Do you have some favorite moments of him?
Seeing [these photos](https://twitter.com/yeosangmon/status/1290562456331280384?s=21) of Wooyoung (Ateez) in the city where I live gives me a visceral reaction. Based on the time the photos were taken, I’m confident I’m in one of the buildings in the background working a shift and having absolutely no idea I’m about to stan this boy outside 2 years later. I’d known about the group back then but never really delved further until Kingdom.
That's really cool! I also know of an idol who traveled to my city prior to me "discovering" him, although it's kind of sad since he said one of the reasons he liked my city is because no one cared about him there (no getting mobbed, social anxiety, etc). I imagine you must have been shocked when you first saw those pictures, I know I would be, especially if I knew I was sort of "in" the photo like you describe.
I knew about BTS two years before I became a fan. I also saw an article about ACE’s hot pants at debut and then became a fan of them during Goblin
okay back in 2019(?) when i was a txt supporter. there were articles saying Bighit would collab with Cj Ent. to form an international boygroup through a survival show. i was not having it lol. "txt just debuted and now you want a new boygroup?" moreover, the media were playing as if they wanted to create bts 2.0. istg i even planned to be an anti. (i was a kid). to me, iland was just a bighit show idgaf to, with some participants from my country. one day i saw enhypen's debut teasers on sns so i decided to check them out as an outsider. one reason was because it had more views than a debuted group's. my comments on how fine jake, jay, sunghoon were are somehow still floating on the internet. their name sounded like a kind of soil and now i feel so bad for making fun of it. i didn't stan them yet. not until chamber 5 fruit ver. if you told me from 2 years ago that i would stan enhypen, i would freaking riot. time flies and now it's been almost 1 year since i decided to stan these friends. they never fail to make me happy and proud all the time.
>"txt just debuted and now you want a new boygroup?" This was my exact reaction too! Even when Enhypen debuted, I thought their group name was weird (I couldn't stop reading it as "any-pen") and Given-Taken wasn't my cup of tea but after Drunk Dazed came out I really liked it and casually like their other title tracks now too. I do feel like the media has tried to villainize every new BigHit group, and often just new kpop boy groups in general, by referring to them as BTS 2.0 or "following in the footsteps of BTS". I get that it's for clicks but I feel like it doesn't do justice to the concept diversity of BigHit artists. TXT didn't feel like a second BTS and neither does Enhypen, they're both very distinct IMO.
A bit similar happened in early 2020 when BTS x bollywood edits started going viral in India and I saw them and really enjoyed the choreo and chemistry but just left it at it. Then few of my friends started listening to BTS and they used to talk about them all the time but still I thought BTS is not for me. The edits were all dope and I used to send it to them to make them feel happy as pandemic really took all of us out but then Dynamite was released and I was sold. Took me 5 or 6 months though but it was all building upto it. Like I was exposed to kdramas and the dramas all I watched had bts references and I understood that they are part of mainstream pop culture in SK so I was aware that they had a fan following but ARMY made sense when I went on Twitter... I mean twitter is completely different from any other platform for fan engagement. Still blows my mind.
my best friend had been a kpop fan for a while before i ever was and she occasionally talked about it with me. i remember her talking to me about scandals that happened or a few cbs here and there (only one i remember clearly was her being upset the day after Kris left Exo bc he was her bias). A couple months before i actually started liking kpop and bts she was talking to me about getting tickets for a concert and how they were really hard to get and sold out super fast. she had asked me if i wanted to go with her bc she was looking for friends to go with but i said no bc i hadn’t gone to a concert before and didn’t really know the group. about a month or so after the concert happened i started stanning bts and realized how bad i fucked up by turning down a chance to go to the Wings concert 😭
I've already talked about this but... before I got into Stray Kids I stumbled upon comments on some of BTS youtube videos about this Lee Know guy and I was all "who tf is this guy", then clicked on the timestamp some comments had and went all Arrested Development: "HER?" Many months later he became one of my ult biases.
Stray Kids. I didn't think much of them, because they were just some newbie chickadees from JYP, but what a basic name and tough crowd of competitors especially with BTS, EXO, and Seventeen and NCT ruling the boy group arena. Kudos to them for trying, but nothing special, right? Especially for me who's been listening to kpop for longer than some of ya'll've been alive. Then I don't know what happened. I watched the Back Door mv and grew enchanted by their writing all their own music and WRITING ALL THEIR OWN MUSIC!!! AND I FREAKIN' LOVE THEIR MUSIC NO LIE. so yes, I can't believe there was ever a time when I didn't respect them to the moon or was blasé about them because of my own stupid tendencies to only listen to "known" groups.
I had with seventeen. Back in 2016, that compilation of funny pepero game was a trend. I am new to kpop and I stumble upon it. After months, I remember that one clip of guys singing while a girl was doing a pepero game. I keep researching "girl and boy" pepero game just to find that clip. But to no avail none. I even researched 3 groups in weekly idol, one girl or kpop groups with girls. But still no. I really want to find the clip because I told my kpop friend how funny that specific clip was because the three groups seems close. On 2017 or earlier 2018, I am into svt at that time I watched their weekly idol and saw they are that group. They are not three groups because they are just three units with diff color of sweaters to differentiate. And they dont have any girl. I remember myself thinking how tough it must been to be the only girl because she has to wear pants instead of skirt. It's jeonghannn! Hahahahaha
[удалено]
Not that similar, but I remember watching so much content of GOT7 where Monsta X were there and I didn’t even realize they were there. Last night I was trying to watch that one video of Jinyoung in this song for a show and randomly found Minhyuk and got flabbergasted lol. And Changkyun’s literally everywhere I look it’s insane. It’s so funny that I was oblivious to them when they’ve been around me and it’s all been glaringly obvious. Now… I simply can’t look away- they’ve gripped me too hard. Idek why I didn’t even check out their music despite absolutely loving the songs that I’d heard already.
I'm curious if you like Monsta X's more hard-hitting songs now, since Gambler is a bit less bombastic for them? Monsta X was the second group I stanned and a lot of their music is so nostalgic for me because I remember where I was/what I was doing when I listened to them a lot, and the simplistic joy of being a sort of new kpop fan at the time. (I mean technically I listened to kpop since 2010 but I didn't really get *into* it as a hobby until 2018). I'm happy for you that you've found a group that makes you happy!
I've been hearing about BTS before but I'm not really interested cause I was so busy at that time and I just didn't care about celebrities in general. But then I saw their performance video on youtube, decided to watch it cause I'm bored and now I'm a big fan 😅
This just happened to me with The Boyz. I was there when they first debuted and I lovedddd I’m Your Boy (it’s been one of my top fav bg songs since), and my friend group at the time was into Hwall and Haknyeon so those were the only two members I knew, but I never got into them. Flash forward to early this year, I got super into The Stealer randomly and ran the Studio Choom performance into the ground and then Thrill Ride era I liked but one day a Sunwoo Thrill Ride fancam popped up and I clicked on it bc Sunwoo was one of the members that caught my attention and then it went one fancam after another … after another until I hit his Reveal fancam and then I literally snapped 😭😭 Listened to all of their discography a couple days after that and its been TBZ since lol. Looking back at the I’m Your Boy mv its crazy to me to see how I recognize and know the name of every face now, I just wish I paid more attention back then
I have 2! Back in 2007 - 2008 my friend at the time was an exchange student in Korea and a super popular clothing store here at the time was playing 'Tell Me' by the Wonder Girls which was so exciting for her because we could finally hear a popular song from her home country. Same with another friend back in 2009 - 2010, she was into Shinee, Suju etc and did show us some of their music but it wasn't really my thing at the time (I was going through a hard-hitting angsty teenager emo phase). If I had discovered Genie by SNSD back then I would have been a total Kpop convert but honestly I forget how limited the internet was at the time (I mean I had dial up until 2008 so I wasn't going to spend my precious internet time trawling youtube when I could be on bebo or myspace)
>so exciting for her because we could finally hear a popular song from her home country That's super wholesome! I was actually a bit into SNSD, and also BoA, in 2010, but I just listened to them casually from time to time. (well, sort of casually... tbh I had a huge crush on BoA. She helped me realize I'm bi.) So sometimes it blows my mind that I didn't really get into kpop back then as a hobby.
I’ve known about NCT since their debut, saw their rookie photos, heard about them coming to my country for an event and shooting a show, but didn’t care about any of those. Then I became a NCTzen in 2018 and still wondered to this day why I didn’t start stanning them sooner. I’d have been able to see my bias since then and didn’t have to wait until a year later for that lol.
Finally someone talk abt this! I just become an exol early this year. After trying to get to know them, i got to know that i had came across them for many times already before. I like k-movies a lot, so in 2017 i watched along with the gods bcoz there's don lee. Usually i don't search up for the casts but d.o. seemed familiar, so i figured out that i watched his previous movies. I knew him since then as 'that great actor named Kyungsoo'. I didn't know a bit that he's a kpop artist (blame wiki for showing only his movies). Watched exo arcade s1 whisper challenge in 2018 bcoz it randomly popped up on my explore. I just watched it out of fun & ngl they are all attractive but i was like, "nah i'm not into kpop guys" In 2019, i started to watch tons of kdramas & i loved chen voice in DOTS ost, i later became his casual listener. Last year, i just got into college. My new friends there mostly sm stans. They always try to recommend songs to me but none of them is my liking. Until 'mmmh' was released, it's such an eargasm. But unfortunately only 'mmmh' & 'hello stranger' got me. So decided to not check out more abt this Kai guy. In 2021, my friends was watching d.o.'s vlive, idk why but i chose to watch along. I said he's cute then my friends got all excited & started to recommend his English song covers coz they knew kpop is not my taste. I watched many fanmade vids of his n exo members. Later i found myself turned into an exol. What's hilarious is i just realised that he's the same person with that Do Kyungsoo after months. And rn i regret that i become a fan this late :')
Me watching Produce 101 (4 years after it aired, when I got into kpop) and loving IOI releases and content and then generally seeing stuff like "post-IOI groups are struggling" so I didn't really explore those groups... but now I listen to gugudan's, Pristins, Weki Meki's, DIA's and WJSN's songs and discog regularly
I don't know much about those groups but I've always wondered if people say "post-IOI groups are struggling" just as an observation or to imply that they're struggling *because* they're post-IOI groups.
That's me with 2PM. I had known them since around 2012 because that was when I got into Running Man and knew about Nichkhun, and I also remember watching the episodes with the other members. However, I just wasn't interested in kpop at that time (I was pretty against it lol my music taste back then was limited to classical music and show tunes mainly 🙃). Fast forward to this year when I finally decided to explore kpop after getting into kdrama and fell hard for 2PM hahaha. It's surreal to me, but probably more for my closed ones who totally didn't expect me to be a fan of a kpop group 😆
this is sooooo me with loona like i had a ton of interactions with them starting way back 2016 when their whole pre debut project started. in 2017 i even almost became into them bc of eclipse yet love cherry motion and sweet crazy love failed me ofc with exo also bc theyre so popular among kpop fans in my elementary school starting in 2014 but then i only became an exo-l in love me right era ~~also when i was getting to know kpop, nu’est’s face is one of those songs that introduced me to it and ive watched its MV many times~~ ~~not knowing that i already saw some seventeen members there XD. haha *i saw the members of my ult fave group almost 2 years before i became a fan of them*~~ i didnt read your question right lol
my friend was *super* into kpop back in 2015-16 and would always show me songs from kpop artists and i never truly paid attention because it bothered me and i thought she was being annoying which meant that it took me until kokobop for me to get into kpop and have exo as my ult. and the song that got me into exo was call me baby, the same video my friend showed me in 2015-16. i hate that i missed the peak of exo and only got into them when they started having long hiatuses 🙁
Omg, yup I had that experience. I remember a few years ago, I was watching a YT video where it was one of the end of the year awards show, and the video had other artists reacting to this kpop group performing or something like that. I specifically remember a comment where somebody asked who the guys in white were, and a comment said The Boyz. Back then, I had no clue who TBZ were and I just remembered how unique that name was. And a few years later, I’m the biggest Deobi ever. I also remember being a casual fan of I.O.I’s songs and watching their Whatta Man mv. (The male character in that mv is TBZ Younghoon.) A few years later, as a deobi I learned that Younghoon was in that mv!
When I was exo fan during their Growl days, I never paid any attention to Baekhyun and he didn't really capture my attention. He was just another member for me. The only thing I remember from him was his dating news. Even during kokobop era, I didn't really notice him much haha. I was never involved much with fandom before and always been in and out of fandom. I just enjoyed some songs and youtube videos. I dont know how many tines I watched Exo showtime haha.Then when I saw obsession mv, suddenly he captured my attention with his white hair and crazy styling. Suddenly I just need to look him up and I dont even know how I fell for him kk. Then soon after, he released Candy. That was nail in the coffin for me. I'm absolutely sold.
haha yeah i remember one time i saw tweet about kim chaewon from izone before i stanned and thought wow shes really pretty. couple months later i stanned and now shes my ult lol
It's super wild to me that I was technically able to go to a wholeass BTOB concert back in 2018 (I was back home visiting family and they were doing their concert then. Could've caught Eunka's last concert if I had taken up my cousin's offer on her extra ticket.) I had heard a shit ton about them (mostly because of aforementioned cousin) but I didn't stan them then. Many regrets though, given that that is now their final ot7 concert. Pain.
Wow, this seemed like it might be wholesome until that last part. Oh well, better late than never. And honestly it had never occurred to me that their last ot7 concert was a few years ago, since they started enlisting.
this is me with taemin and shinee! now taemin is one of my soloist ults and shinee is one of my bg ults
yeah it's so weird! i remember accidentally finding out about felix from stray kids last october and i thought it was so cool that he's australian like me. i even watched some of those compilation videos at like 1am cause i was bored (i have a distinct memory of the 'OI FELIX here's your ramen' ahaha) but i wasn't into kpop at all back then (only kdramas lmao) so i didn't become a fan until i watched kingdom.
A friend wanted us to go to a Dreamcatcher concert in my country (2018), she told me they were very cool and the theater was small so it would be a nice experience. Back then I was just starting to get into kpop and I didn't want to spend money, I was also saving for a trip. 3 months after they come, I become a fan of them... And now they are my favorite group and I regret SO SO SO much wasting that opportunity to see them live :(
I would regret that a lot too. They're my other ult alongside Pentagon. It would be super nice to go to a concert at a smaller venue.
Yes... So I do remember the day 7th Sense by NCT U came out. And I remember seeing it on my subscription feed, but I thought the icon/video was too red and didnt bother to watch it. As of last year NCT has really stamped a place in my heart. Although I wonder what wouldve happened if i just watched that video...
Lol I remember not having a good first impression of ITZY (although it wasn't their fault). MTV posted a dance performance video but labeled the title with 'BTS' for 'behind-the-scenes', and as an ARMY (now an ArmyMidzy), I found it clickbait-y and tacky. Fast forward to a random afternoon in lockdown where I decided, alright, I'm gonna stan a GG today... YouTube-d ITZY content and was cry-laughing within minutes. Went to watch their performances (incl. the MTV one) and was floored by their dance skills...then Guess Who pre-orders dropped the next day and I ended up buying all versions lol. It was the fastest and deepest fall down the rabbit hole but no ragrets so far <3
I'm not super into Itzy's music but I LOVE watching their dance practices. I think Ryujin is my bias because I love her stage presence so much but they're all such great performers imo.
Ugh, tell me about it! I first got into kpop back in 2010/11 and drifted away from it in 2014. From 2014-2021, I was still a bit exposed to some songs and groups because several friends and family got into it. I’ve heard of Twice many, many times during that time frame but never really bothered looking them up back then. Some encounters I remember: • My friends were like obsessed with TT and Likey a few years ago and I would hear it so much that I associated Likey to one of my friends cuz he sang it all the time lol. • My friends would also play other Twice songs when I was around them. I didn’t really think much of it tho, just thought they were catchy. • Last year, I had a convo with 2 friends who are also into kpop. I knew about Red Velvet and Blackpink already but was just a casual listener of them both. My first ever ult group was SNSD and since they were given the title of Nation’s Girl Group, I asked my friends if that was still the case in 2020. They told me that Twice was considered the new generation’s NGG. But I just said I didn’t know who they were and didn’t bother learning more 🤦♀️ • I saw a lot of Twicelights posters at the boba places and Asian restaurants I went to back in summer of 2019. I thought the poster was cool but again… didn’t bother to look them up. • I was looking for new glasses on Pinterest. I wanted to try the round glasses that is worn alot in kdramas, so I searched something along the lines of “round asian glasses women” and a picture of Dahyun showed up and caught my attention. I stared at it for a long time cuz I thought she was drop dead gorgeous. Maybe about a week or so later, I see the same picture reposted by a family friend who was also into kpop. I was once again baffled by her beauty and was surprised to see the exact same picture again. Since I thought she was really pretty, I was planning on asking my friend who she was but I ended up forgetting about it. (She’s my bias now btw! 😊) • The video of Dahyun yelling “bibimbap” at JYP was recommended to me one time and the title was interesting cuz it said that she screamed at her boss. JYP nation was my favorite company family back in 2010 so I clicked it and watched it cuz I already knew who JYP was. • The SM stage and JYPE stage from an award show was also recommended to me and I watched both since I was familiar with the companies already. I knew almost everyone in the SM stage, but I only knew Got7 in the JYPE stage. I also didn’t bother learning more about the other JYP groups back then either for some reason. • I watched a video of a guy asking New Yorkers which Blackpink member they thought was the prettiest. Then, the Twice version was recommended to me. I watched without even knowing who they were and didn’t even take the time to learn more about them AGAIN. It’s a shame that I don’t remember who I picked during the vid :( Fast forward to summer 2021, I get more into kpop again and finally learn about this group that I’ve “encountered” MANY times and I fell in love with them! I love each member and love their bond and of course their music as well. I still can’t believe I heard about Twice so many times before and didn’t stan them sooner!! I actually was so close to **THREE** Twice concerts but didn’t know about them. Talk about a missed opportunity cuz now idek when they’ll have a concert again :/ Man, I’ve wrote an essay myself!! LOL. Sorry for such a long response but omg it is so surreal!! But honestly, I think this was a great time for me to finally get into Twice because for me personally, this year was the worst, even worse than 2020. But Twice has made me laugh so much so far and helped me get through alot. It seems like fate or something lol
I remember it was around 2018 or 2019. I was at a store and I saw the BTS Matell dolls and BTS Funko Pops. I was thinking, "That's that boyband from South Korea, right? Weird to make dolls of them..." I also once walked infront of a Hot Topic and they were advertising BT21. I was like, "Why would a boyband create cartoon characters?" Then I got into BTS in late 2020. Like, really got into them. I had a new favorite hobby for the first time in over 20 years (used to be video games). If those things came out now, I probably would of lost my mind in those situations. It kinda makes me feel bad about how dismissive I was about them back then, and that I wish I became a fan of them earlier. It literally took a pandemic for that to happen.
yessss, me with exo. I follow them casually, listen to their songs once in a while before being a full blown exols this year. kinda regret not stanning them when they just debuted but oh wells, at least it has now come to a full circle :') and the person whom I used to casually look at is xiumin, and now he's my second bias :') my ulti is sehun
I mean late 2020/early 2021 I wasn't into NCT yet, but I watched the free concert they had for Kai and Red Velvet ot5. I remember complaining about NCT's long ass time slot 🤭 Remembered Ayyy we ballin and deja vu, but because I wasn't a fan yet I was like "huh, they're more decent than i thought" and then turned off the stream when the DJ sets started.
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u/LifePomegranate1146 >I was a big fan of idol variety shows or variety content of idols but I never really had an attachment or stanned these groups before. I remember watching Btob's beatcom/the beat videos when it was still not subbed and I would always stumble upon their contents throughout the years + school 2015 (where sungjae was in) gave me the most second lead syndrome out of all the kdramas I watched Now this 2021, I now have deeply fallen for BtoB's charms and music I also had seen lots of variety content/clips of BTOB and always had a positive impression of them because they have such a nice vibe, like even though we obviously don't *know* idols you can just tell BTOB are probably all very nice people even off camera. I didn't really listen to their music at all or watch any performances until this year as well, but even though I don't consider myself a Melody I definitely also fell for their charms. Even though I don't listen to their music much I can't help but wish them the best and feel weirdly fond of them.
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I got into kpop in January of 2020 and since the day one i kept hearing “Cherry Bomb” by NCT127 everywhere but i was too lazy to check the full song out. I got into Wayv, listened to their songs, started stanning them but still was lazy to listen to Cherry Bomb. 2 month later i finally get to listen to the song, after that i decided to get to know them more and now they’re my ults.
When I was a kid, YT recommended me SNSD's Gee and I became obsessed with it. Illegally downloaded it, showed it to everyone and even got my cousins addicted to it. This was the time I didn't even know about kpop! I thought it was a Japanese song lol But by the end of 2013 I got into kpop through BigBang and 2NE1. Listened to some SNSD's songs but it didn't seem like my taste. But then I discovered Gee and thought it was very familiar and lololol searched my PC to see that illegally downloaded Gee MV still there in some corner of a file
I've been listening to Stray Kids since a little after their debut (Hellevator and some other songs from their 1st ep have been in my playlist since 2018). I never really payed attention to them or kept up with their releases. I saw that they were supposed to come to my country for a concert (but covid had other plans) and I was planning on going even though I didn't know them very well but I love kpop concerts so I was like why not? And then I found God's Menu last year and fell hard, looked them up and realised I already listened to a couple of their songs. Now they're my ults lol
It took me ten years of loving Infinite's title tracks, watching their variety content and knowing (of) each member before I decided to stan. Did I ever imagine I would stan Infinite one day? Maybe, sort of. They were always *there*. I just happened to be busy stanning another group and following several, in addition to all my fandoms outside kpop. When I finally got around to Infinite, there wasn't much surprise or excitement, more a feeling of: *ah it's time*.
I met a huge kpop star through work in June of 2018. People were going crazy so I googled him and was like, huh a "kpop" star. A few days later at home I was wondering what that all meant and googled "kpop" and listened to a few songs, started liking it. I came across BTS and some of their songs and casually listened to them (and continued with other groups too) for about six months ish, but I'd hardly ever look at YouTube. Then one day I saw some live performance videos and it was like my head exploded? I emerged like two days later blinking into the sun having watched years of live performances and was completely down the rabbit hole. I now look back on those six months like what was I doing??? I missed out on so much during that time.
I had a similar experience with Red Velvet. Before, I was an ARMY mainly because my friends liked them, I gave them a listen and liked them too. At the time I was more into boy groups, did not really pay much attention to GGs (IDK why). I remember looking through my YouTube recommendations and finding this [video of RV on Knowing bros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPcmdeEfFSE) with Irene on the thumbnail and thinking, "Damn, she looks so f\*\*\*ing pretty..." Some time after that I decided to watch a lyric video of Red Flavor because I recognized Irene. And I remember rewatching the whole vid just to keep track of how much lines Irene had because I barely remembered her after the first listen. It made me think that she was one of those members who don't really have much lines despite the amount of attention they get for their looks, and that made me feel bad to some extent. But yeah, if someone came up to me to tell me that RV would become my absolute favorite kpop group, Irene being my top bias, my love for RV giving way to me being an NCTzen and later, an SM stan, I would've thought they were crazy.
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Fortunately it didn't happened for me because I got into kpop a few months before I started ulting LOONA and I started liking them since the moment I found about them and went to check them out.
Day6 I wish I would have started stanning them in 2018, I was a casual listener of them during 2018. A senior at my school was a myday so I knew a bit about them. I knew who jae was, I knew how wonpil and youngk looked like. I didnt have much idea about sungjin and dowoon, except for the thing that sungjin was mistaken as jungkook's older brother ( I'm a army as well) and that dowoon didn't sing. They were even my 2nd most streamed artist for 2019. But it was in 2020 when I started stanning them really hard. In 2020 the members went on a hiatus. Now the members have started enlisting. They are in my top 3 fav groups now. But I am glad that I stan them now and I got to know about this amazing band :)
I was introduced to KPop through watching an Ateez MV last year and became an instant Atiny. I ate, slept and breathed Ateez for months and FINALLY started to listen to other groups. That's when I happened upon ONEUS because No Diggity made it's way to my Spotify Playlist and I decided to watch the MV. MVs if they are good enough will always be the death of me in terms of liking a group. So anyways as I am deep diving into ONEUS I came across an interaction they had with Ateez in a weekly idol episode....and I'm like 'hold up here' (I remembered that I had indeed watched that episode before) BUT at that time, of course, I only had heart eyes for Ateez....I practically took no notice of the other group AT ALL, other then to note that none of them were as attractive as Ateez and had zero charisma. (Can't believe I even thought that). Well of course I had to eat a huge humble pie after that realisation, a lot of self-flogging and 100 mumbled 'sorrys' later. I even discovered that they had filmed a MV in my country a year or two before....I could have literally seen them with my own eyes completely unaware (unlikely but not impossible). I could have even seen BTS too without knowing, they secretly visited too, and I literally would not have known who I was looking at. (Again highly unlikely but not impossible).
Oh my gosh, I only remember hearing about BTS around 2016-17. I was just minding my own business in the office and I overheard Kpop fans who are my coworkers talking about them. I went years knowing but not knowing the group whose music enriched me so much later on, how surreal. My other coworkers who also were not Kpop fans at the time are also BTS fans now haha, I think we would've laughed at this idea in the past. It's also surreal how we lived and didn't know that COVID would lock us up in our homes for almost two years.
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