It’s that point of yr once more! Whereas December is stuffed with year-end countdowns, I like to have a look again at a few of Okay-pop’s greatest businesses throughout November. Earlier than studying (particularly in case you’re new to the weblog), it’s useful to know that my grading focuses most closely on music releases and the way comebacks are managed and delivered to followers. Scandals and non-musical components can definitely impression an company’s grade, however the greatest standards will at all times be the music itself. Following SM Leisure, YG Leisure and JYP Leisure‘s evaluation, it’s time to dive into HYBE Company.
As standard, the ideas beneath are my very own and aren’t aware of any insider info. There will likely be loads of subjective critique.
The Good
The much less immediately an artist was concerned with HYBE, the stronger their 2024 work tended to be. I’m speaking primarily about subsidiaries Pledis and KOZ Leisure, and much more particularly about TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR. These two teams have outlined the yr for me, releasing nice music that thrives on distinct id and a transparent imaginative and prescient. These two components should not as frequent as it’s possible you’ll assume in Okay-pop for the time being, and ought to be celebrated.
TWS had a killer debut yr with regular promotion, glorious releases and a genuinely huge hit. Plot Twist will go down as certainly one of 2024’s most iconic tracks – a uncommon feat for a rookie boy group. In the meantime, BOYNEXTDOOR have continued to develop their very own quirky catalog. They’re genuinely some of the idiosyncratic idol teams working at the moment and I see this concentrate on individuality paying off in the long term. Their mentor and agency-head Zico additionally launched a strong single this yr, managing to get BLACKPINK’s Jennie on the monitor with him.
Talking of subsidiary businesses, there’s little doubt that Seventeen had a robust yr. I haven’t been a fan of most of their 2024 music, however they’re legitimately the most important Okay-pop group on the planet proper now, spawning the same fever as BTS did earlier than they went on hiatus. It’s nearly intimidating how common they’re. Pledis Leisure should simply be thrilled. The subsidiary’s solely woman group fromis_9 additionally discovered sudden success with their most up-to-date album. Supersonic has exceeded expectations.
With most of BTS at present serving within the navy, Massive Hit’s fortunes rested largely on TXT. The group continued to promote effectively in 2024. Well, Massive Hit additionally pre-planned hiatus-era tracks from a few of BTS’s members and is now efficiently navigating post-enlistment work with Jin. To this point, so good… a minimum of commercially.
Shifting onto BeLift Lab, this subsidiary noticed features in 2024. ENHYPEN are actually outselling different teams on HYBE’s roster and have executed a very good job reaching out to world markets. ILLIT was an out-of-the-gate success, with debut monitor Magnetic driving excessive on the charts all yr lengthy.
HYBE’s different woman teams continued to chug alongside. NewJeans nonetheless loved a ton of success regardless of a raft of behind-the-scenes points and LE SSERAFIM made worldwide features with some high-profile performances overseas. International group Katseye additionally seem like doing effectively, paving the way in which for a brand new form of Okay-pop-adjacent profession.
In the meantime, over in Japan boy group &TEAM are shaping as much as be a strong pressure. Their gross sales nonetheless lag behind the nation’s greatest male acts, however the music has typically been robust.
On a non-musical stage, HYBE does an ideal job selling its artists. As a fan, it’s good to have a lot materials to freely watch on YouTube. The truth that lots of its artists have their very own weekly present is insane and retains their hype going even between comebacks. You possibly can undoubtedly really feel the funds of an enormous company.
The Dangerous
Whereas a lot of my favourite music of 2024 got here from HYBE artists, the company as a complete was an enormous previous mess. As you understand, scandals don’t issue closely into my grades, but it surely’s not possible to disregard the a number of messes HYBE discovered itself on this yr.
Mess one was the NewJeans/Min Hee-jin scandal, which noticed the NewJeans artistic director preventing with HYBE in a sprawling energy wrestle too huge to recount right here. Suffice it to say, this battle may very effectively sideline or fully dissolve one of many trade’s hottest woman teams relying on how issues prove. On the very least, it’s put a stain on many alternative entities and clearly affected the trajectory of the company. It even pitted HYBE’s artists in opposition to each other, with a transparent NewJeans vs. ILLIT sentiment taking maintain.
Mess two spawned from mess one, involving a leaked inner audit from HYBE’s “Weekly Music Business Report.” This included derogatory feedback about different businesses and idols, revealing a toxicity that raised severe considerations concerning the tradition inside HYBE and the company’s energy inside the trade. It wasn’t a superb look for an organization that many have accused of working as a monopoly. Above all else, it was merely a gross and cynical peek behind the scenes and made followers query how a lot of HYBE’s success was really natural.
Musically, HYBE was most accountable for the “beige” music development I’ve been complaining about for a lot of the yr. Other than teams like TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, who’ve particular, distinctive musical views, a lot of the company’s artists launched watered-down, truncated music that was factory-designed to offend nobody. However if you search to not offend, you turn into unable to thrill. I by no means would have anticipated Okay-pop to embrace an “easy-listening” expertise, however lots of HYBE’s 2024 singles really feel designed to fill house on a playlist and exist comfortably within the background.
NewJeans and ILLIT launched flat, repetitive music that sadly went on to affect the complete Okay-pop trade. TXT and ENHYPEN had been drained of a lot of their musical character, delivering shadows of former glories. Even BTS members fell into an grownup modern realm far faraway from the visionary work of their previous. In the meantime, LE SSERAFIM sought to copy world tendencies however eliminated most of the idiosyncrasies that make these tendencies so satisfying. Two-minute songs missing a bridge grew to become normalized. Manufacturing smoothed over vocalists’ particular person quirks. Music credit usually revealed dozens of cooks within the kitchen, making it not possible for the music to harness a selected perspective. Even veterans Seventeen, who had an extremely profitable yr, discovered themselves mired in ho-hum materials.
General, it’s tough to grade such a sprawling company. I nearly need to dole out completely different grades to completely different divisions of the corporate. There are components that may get an “A+” and plenty of components that may earn an “F.” When every part’s mixed collectively, it evens out within the center for me.
What I’d prefer to see in 2025:
- No extra beige! Give us music with shade, chunk and distinctive concepts
- Much less mess, extra innovation
- Much less concentrate on worldwide tendencies
- Some kind of decision for NewJeans
- Profitable runs for TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, my favourite acts from the HYBE roster for the time being
Earlier years: 2023 // 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017
