Divas’ big match shakes up K-pop in October

October is a bountiful month for K-pop.

The ‘common denominator’ is that they are from or belong to a top girl group, and are top stars whose every move is a hot topic. Hyori Lee, Sunmi, and Jennie are making a series of appearances with new songs. Blackpink member Jennie returned to her ‘shining solo’ after 6 years with ‘You&Me’ on the 6th, Hyori Lee released ‘Hoodie and Shorts’ on the 12th, and Sunmi released her self-composed song ‘Stranger’ on the 16th. are announced respectively.

The release of their new album, which is also the protagonist of the ‘Invincible Legend’, is adding to the fun of watching by creating an unexpected ‘Empress Big Match’ in October. In addition, it provides a rare opportunity to ‘simultaneously listen’ to the still-in-progress success stories of representative first, second, and third generation K-pop idols.

Regardless of the competition for rankings, they are issue makers who have attracted attention with each song they release, and it is of great interest to see what kind of fresh impact they will bring to K-pop. While the new songs of Hyori Lee and Sunmi, as well as Jennie, who had previously released an offline version of ‘You & Me’ through the Blackpink World Tour, have been kept under wraps, the ‘girl crush’ charm that they have been pursuing in the same context as if it were different is the charm of the three members. Both ‘Diva’s’ appear to be valid.

The ‘female solo strength’ phenomenon, which can be said to be a notable point in this year’s K-pop landscape, is expected to become more prominent with the comebacks of Hyori Lee, Sunmi, and Jennie. The diva craze in the first half of the year, which only slightly slowed down in the fall but was close to a syndrome, included Blackpink Jisoo in full bloom with ‘Flower’, Jeon Somi with ‘Fast Forward’, and Hwasa with ‘I Love My Body’. It is a ‘joint work’ of.

Meanwhile, the trend of the Empress becoming a mainstay of the stage has also spread to the global popular music market, where K-pop plays a major role.

Taylor Swift, SZA, and Doja Cat are representative examples. Taylor Swift, who has become a representative icon of North American pop, won 9th place, virtually the ‘all-time winner’, at the recently held global music awards ceremony MTV Video Music Awards. An example is that it swept over 10 major categories.

Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com