Today’s episode is going to be very musically inclined, but we won’t be playing songs because the copyright gods don’t allow such things for podcast mortals like ourselves. 

Listen here:

Regardless, we’ll have a lot of fun with this one, so let’s get to it! Before we start, we do have some brief announcements to share: 

• Our merch store has officially been open for just over a month! Woot! Thank you so much for all of your support thus far. In case you haven’t checked it out yet, the limited edition run items including the “You’re Brewtiful” tote and the Zombie finger heart t-shirt will be available until Nov. 15. We will also be adding more cities to our hangul shirt collection with the next drop, so if you want your city to be included, send us a DM @/mia2kpopshop on Instagram! 
• Check us out on ko-fi! we’re posting some behind the scenes stuff there! You can find the link to it from the linktree in our bio from any of our social media accounts @/mia2kpodcast. 

With all of that out of the way, let’s jump into today’s episode and enjoy some music musings! Let’s start with K-Pop’s newest it boys, EVNNE!

EVNNE

BOYS PLANET was a TV show where 98 contestants competed to be a part of a global K-POP boy group. It premiered on February 2, 2023 and the finale aired on April 20, 2023. 9 members were chosen to become ZEROBASEONE.

On August 3, 2023, it was officially confirmed that Boys Planet contestants Park Hanbin (11), Lee Jeonghyeon (15), Mun Junghyun (29), Park Jihoo (33), Ji Yunseo (41), Yoo Seungheon (16), and Keita (12), would be debuting in a project boy group named BLIT (블릿, Boldly Leaping Into Tomorrow). The group later changed its name to EVNNE on August 9, 2023 due to a potential misinterpretation of the original name. The group will be managed by Jellyfish Entertainment and EVNNE stands for ‘EVENing’s Newest Etoiles’ (stars).

Keita, part of Rain Company, was in a 7-member group named Ciipher which debuted in March of 2021. They have released 3 EPs since, which didn’t make much of a splash within the K-Pop music industry machine. In August of 2023, 4 members of Ciipher left the company. According to the agency, Keita, Hwi, and Hyunbin remain in the company “active as solo artists for the time being, but the team will come back as a whole after a makeover.” Keita is the leader of EVNNE. 

On July 5th 2023, Keita featured on a track with rapper and Boys Planet mentor pH-1 titled “Metronome”, with Harry clearly seeing the most potential in Keita’s rapping out of all contestants. 

Song recommendation: TROUBLE 

BOYNEXTDOOR

• They debuted on May 30, 2023 with their single album, “WHO!” 
• “WHO!” included 3 songs – “But I Like You:, “Serenade”, and “One and Only.” 
• BND has 6 members: Riwoo (Liwu), Jaehyun (leader), Taesan, Leehan, Woonhak, Sungho
• BND is under KOZ Entertainment – headed by Zico. KOZ is under Hybe for anybody wondering.
• Currently, only one position is made public, which is the Leader. 
• First EP, “WHY…” came out on Sept. 4 and it included the same 3 songs as I mentioned before plus “Crying”, “But Sometimes”, and “ABCDLOVE.”
• They want to bring music and lyrics that will resonate with everyone; they’re your boys next door vibes (hence the name). 
• They’re in 2 dorms – Floor 1 – Leehan, Riwoo, Sungho and Floor 2- Taesan, Woonhak, and Jaehyun. 
• Musically, they’re very Zico, think “Summer Rain” and “Any Song” and not like “Seoul Drift” or “Bermuda Triangle.” They don’t seem to have a strong vocalist. I think only Sungho and Riwoo have shown a little of what they can do. This may be because they’re babies but I’m just leaning towards they’re not gonna be a vocally impressive group. This is not to say they can’t sing but just saying they won’t be belting and doing insane runs. Their songs have all been super fun and fit the theme of their name and debut. Out of the 6 songs so far, Taesan, Woonhak, and Jaehyun have writing credits in 4. They seem to be the main rappers of the group. Riwoo appears to be the main dancer.
• Part of the boy groups created by a boy group member. It appears they have more freedom to express their opinions and also, are given opportunities to add to BND image and music. 
• ‘Boyjeans’ moniker pre-debut was unfair. Nobody can do what NewJeans and Ador did. 
• Song recommendation: ABCDLOVE 

More Vision – Jessi & Chungha

Jessi

• Joined MV in April 2023. She left P-Nation on July 2022. She says she was hoping to open up her own label. After leaving P Nation she went on a world tour. The tour created a lot of stress for Jessi. She had issues with planning and many times we saw her take to IG to voice her opinion on the matter and apologize to her fans for the crappy experience at her concerts. To me, it sounds like she had plans and they didn’t go the way she wanted so instead of doing it all herself, she signed with MV and maybe is using her time to learn from Mr. Jay Park himself. 
• Jessi recently opened her own website – jessiofficial.com, which is powered by the same company that created Ateez new fan platform (bemyfriend, co.)
• She is making her first comeback under More Vision on Oct. 25 with “Gum.” 

Chungha 

• Chungha left MNH Entertainment back in April of 2023, when her 7 year contract expired. 
• She had scheduled to release Bare & Rare Pt. 2 as a follow up of Bara & Rare Pt. 1 but with her departure from MNH, it was shelved. In the letter she wrote to fans, it appears that it wasn’t her decision and that without MNH, there will never be a Bare & Rare Pt. 2. She also said her SNS channels were not managed by her so she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to continue using them. To us, that sounds like pettiness from a company losing its biggest star but that’s just us. 
• Chungha was revealed as More Vision’s newest artist on Wednesday, Oct 11. She also opened a new IG account, @/morechunghaplz. 
• We’re excited to see what’s in store for Chungha! 

Song recommendation – look forward to “Gum” by Jessi coming out Oct. 25. and if you want to get a taste of Jessi before MoreVision, check out “Zoom” and “Nununana” and for Chungha check out “Sparkling” and “Dream of You.”

The Rose

• The Rose (Korean: 더 로즈) is a South Korean indie-rock band under their company Windfall and partnered up with Transparent Arts. 
• The band is composed of four members:
  • Kim Woo-sung (vocals, guitar), 
  • Park Do-joon (keyboard), 
  • Lee Ha-joon (drums), and 
  • Lee Jae-hyeong (bass).
• Prior to its debut with J&Star, the band had long been a popular indie group before making its official mainstream release with “Sorry” on August 3, 2017.
• AND THEY ARE COMING TO DO A CONCERT IN MIAMI ON 10/31!!!! MIAMI RISE UPPPPP!!! TELL YOUR WIVES TELL YOUR AUNTIES TELL YOUR EXES!