Idols have often blessed us with so many catchy choruses and memorable lines that simply add to the entire K-pop experience. Yet we can’t deny that the best part about some of these lyrics has got to be the amazing wordplay these artists send our way. Puns, metaphors, and hidden meanings, there is a little bit of everything to stimulate the mind.

Here is but a sample of many K-pop lyrics that have introduced witty wordplay for your entertainment.

1. WINNER’s Song Mino – “Fiancé”

My woman, I’ve realized now

Woman, you’re my blue bird

Song Mino has proved his wits time and time again through his lyrics, be it as a solo artist or for WINNER. In this title track, the idol refers to an old play called “The Blue Bird” where a couple of siblings are looking for a blue bird, which represents happiness, but they realize it’s been their own pet bird all along. Likewise, Song Mino refers to the woman who is with another man as his blue bird – his happiness.

2. MAMAMOO – “Aze Gag”

Handsome Buddha ~ Buddha handsome (sounds like put your hands up)

Yes, this song earned a spot here fair and square. This is perhaps one of the most pun intended tracks that has been featured in the K-pop scene thanks to MAMAMOO. The beauty of the puns here is that it’s basically a Korean Q&A sponsored by dad jokes. This video explains every mentioned reference.

3. Tablo feat. Joey Bada$$ – “Hood”

Where I’m from “Han” is the name we gave to struggle and pain

This river runs through our city like it runs through our veins

To us it’s the one thing above all things; money, love, gods and kings

It’s what’s driving us be it ahead or insane

In all fairness, Tablo deserves an entire feature dedicated to his wording prowess both as a soloist and as a member of Epik High. This verse introduces the “Han” concept, which describes a nationwide feeling of oppression in the face of overwhelming conflict. Then its meaning doubles in reference to the river of the same name that represents the blood running in Koreans’ veins in a way that either motivates them or brings them down.

4. Jessi – “Numb”

All my tears are liquor going down down
I don’t give a damn how it looks right now
I just wanna drink ’til I go dumb dumb
So I can’t just forget that I’m numb numb numb
Throwing up all the emotions

Jessi has always been vocal about her emotions to the point of basically drawing a vivid picture via her lyrics. Such is this example where she beautifully combines the state of crying with that of heavy drinking as well as the draining aftermath one feels after a long session of experiencing both.

5. Zico – “Behind The Scene”

Not feeling too well today
Just hoping I’ll catch something
As I throw the bait of inspiration

Zico’s lyrical game is one for the books. In this track, he tells the background story of his struggle as an artist. He proceeds by contrasting the state of being unwell with his lack of “catching” a source of inspiration for his music, completely twisting the cold/flu reference for a sickness metaphor to put his idea across.

6. CL – “HWA”

The mugunghwa has bloomed
You better hide or I’ll find you

Given that this special line was repeated many times throughout the song, it deserves a worthy interpretation. Mugunghwa or Hibiscus syriacus is the national flower of South Korea, also known as the Korean rose. Naturally, CL refers to herself as the Korean rose who has bloomed via her comeback. Aside from meaning of flower, “Hwa” also means anger and disaster. This definitely explains why she is asking people to hide.

7. BTS’s RM – “Trivia: Love”

I’m just a person, person, person
You erode all my sharp edges
You make me
Into love, love, love

RM has been known for his lyrical wits ever since the Bulletproof era, and he still amazes to this day. Perhaps one of his most popular and equally heartwarming drafts is the part where he describes how love has eroded his edges as a person. This is a reference to how “love (사랑)” and “person (사람)” are spelled the same in Korean except for the last letter in each word.

8. BIGBANG – “Zutter”

My bank account is like a pool table, so many balls

G-Dragon has plenty of punchlines up his sleeve, and this is just one of many. In this clever line, the BIGBANG member refers to the wealth that he’s saving. The pronunciation of the Korean word for “ball (공)” also hints at one of the two ways to say “zero (공)” in Korean. So basically, he’s telling us about all the zeros that make up a generous sum of money in his bank account.

9. MONSTA X’s Joohoney – “Psyche”

I wanna be like Michael (Jackson)
But I’m not a moonwalker (Moonwalking)
Cuz I’m always moving forward

Joohoney always throws punches through his diction, and this one is no different. This song is fueled with confidence, and this subtle nod to Michael Jackson’s signature dance while he states that he keeps moving in the opposite direction is indeed a smart lyrical move.

Which K-pop wordplay is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

Esmee L. is a Moroccan lively dreamer, writer, and Hallyu enthusiast.

The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for individual boy group members!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, communication, and community awareness indexes of 653 boy group members, using big data collected from February 20 to March 20.

BTS’s Jimin topped the list for the 27th consecutive month with a brand reputation index of 6,488,864 for March. High-ranking phrases in his keyword analysis included “ARMY,” “Filter,” and “Grammy Award,” while his highest-ranking related terms included “grateful,” “experience,” and “surpass.” Jimin’s positivity-negativity analysis revealed a score of 83.24 percent positive reactions.

ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo held onto his spot at second place this month with a brand reputation index of 5,978,646.

Meanwhile, SHINee’s Minho rose to third place in the rankings after enjoying a whopping 221.41 percent increase in his brand reputation index since February. Minho’s total score came out to 4,963,529 for March.

Finally, BTS’s Jungkook, V, and Suga claimed the next three spots on the list at fourth, fifth, and sixth places respectively.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS’s Jimin
2. ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo
3. SHINee’s Minho
4. BTS’s Jungkook
5. BTS’s V
6. BTS’ Suga
7. BIGBANG’s G-Dragon
8. EXO’s Chanyeol
9. BTS’s Jin
10. BTS’s RM
11. BTS’s J-Hope
12. SHINee’s Taemin
13. SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu
14. SHINee’s Onew
15. Super Junior’s Kim Heechul
16. EXO’s Kai
17. EXO’s Baekhyun
18. Super Junior’s Kyuhyun
19. DRIPPIN’s Cha Jun Ho
20. NCT’s Jaehyun
21. DRIPPIN’s Hwang Yun Seong
22. NCT’s Doyoung
23. Super Junior’s Eunhyuk
24. Ciipher’s Hyunbin
25. DRIPPIN’s Joo Chang Uk
26. MONSTA X’s Kihyun
27. NCT’s Jungwoo
28. ONF’s Hyojin
29. Super Junior’s Leeteuk
30. Ciipher’s Tan

Watch Cha Eun Woo in his latest drama “True Beauty” with subtitles below!

Watch Now

Source (1)

The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for individual boy group members!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, communication, and community awareness indexes of 653 boy group members, using big data collected from February 20 to March 20.

BTS’s Jimin topped the list for the 27th consecutive month with a brand reputation index of 6,488,864 for March. High-ranking phrases in his keyword analysis included “ARMY,” “Filter,” and “Grammy Award,” while his highest-ranking related terms included “grateful,” “experience,” and “surpass.” Jimin’s positivity-negativity analysis revealed a score of 83.24 percent positive reactions.

ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo held onto his spot at second place this month with a brand reputation index of 5,978,646.

Meanwhile, SHINee’s Minho rose to third place in the rankings after enjoying a whopping 221.41 percent increase in his brand reputation index since February. Minho’s total score came out to 4,963,529 for March.

Finally, BTS’s Jungkook, V, and Suga claimed the next three spots on the list at fourth, fifth, and sixth places respectively.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS’s Jimin
2. ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo
3. SHINee’s Minho
4. BTS’s Jungkook
5. BTS’s V
6. BTS’ Suga
7. BIGBANG’s G-Dragon
8. EXO’s Chanyeol
9. BTS’s Jin
10. BTS’s RM
11. BTS’s J-Hope
12. SHINee’s Taemin
13. SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu
14. SHINee’s Onew
15. Super Junior’s Kim Heechul
16. EXO’s Kai
17. EXO’s Baekhyun
18. Super Junior’s Kyuhyun
19. DRIPPIN’s Cha Jun Ho
20. NCT’s Jaehyun
21. DRIPPIN’s Hwang Yun Seong
22. NCT’s Doyoung
23. Super Junior’s Eunhyuk
24. Ciipher’s Hyunbin
25. DRIPPIN’s Joo Chang Uk
26. MONSTA X’s Kihyun
27. NCT’s Jungwoo
28. ONF’s Hyojin
29. Super Junior’s Leeteuk
30. Ciipher’s Tan

Watch Cha Eun Woo in his latest drama “True Beauty” with subtitles below!

Watch Now

Source (1)

The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for male idol groups!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community indexes of various boy groups, using big data collected from February 13 to March 13.

BTS topped the list for the 34th consecutive month, scoring a brand reputation index of 10,922,131. High-ranking phrases in the group’s keyword analysis included “HYBE,” “Billboard,” and “talk show,” while their highest-ranking related terms included “surpass,” “donate,” and “award.” BTS’s positivity-negativity analysis also revealed a score of 87.52 percent positive reactions.

NCT held onto their spot at second place for the sixth month in a row, scoring a brand reputation index of 3,721,997 for March.

Finally, SHINee rose to third place in the rankings after seeing a staggering 91.50 percent increase in their brand reputation index since February. The group’s total score for March came out to 3,212,374.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS
2. NCT
3. SHINee
4. SEVENTEEN
5. EXO
6. ONF
7. THE BOYZ
8. MONSTA X
9. ATEEZ
10. ASTRO
11. Super Junior
12. TXT
13. BTOB
14. TREASURE
15. Stray Kids
16. KINGDOM
17. Golden Child
18. GOT7
19. BIGBANG
20. INFINITE
21. SF9
22. WINNER
23. Ciipher
24. MIRAE
25. PENTAGON
26. TVXQ
27. 2PM
28. ENHYPEN
29. Boyfriend
30. SECHSKIES

Source (1)

On February 26, Seungri’s eleventh hearing at the Ground Operations Command’s general military court in Yongin took place.

The hearing was about the charges of prostitution mediation and special violence instigation. In September 2020, Seungri was indicted on eight charges: purchase of prostitution services, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes, violation of the Food Sanitation Act, habitual gambling, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes. In January 2021, the military prosecution also indicted Seungri and Yoo In Suk on an additional charge of special violence instigation. Seungri has denied all charges except the violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

On February 26, the court heard witness testimonies and evaluated the presentation of evidence.

Regarding the charge of special violence instigation, the military prosecution stated that Seungri had been at a drinking establishment in Gangnam in December 2015 when he got into an argument with two customers (“A” and “B”) who had opened the door to his private room. Seungri mentioned the incident in a group chat with Yoo In Suk, who sent over a gang member (“C”) he was acquainted with. C, who was also indicted, then threatened the two customers A and B in an alley behind the bar.

One of the pieces of evidence presented in the February 26 trial was CCTV footage. In the video, Seungri is talking with an actress in a private room at the drinking establishment when A comes in and speaks to them. B is also visible in the hallway outside the room talking to Seungri. Jung Joon Young, Choi Jong Hoon, and Yoo In Suk, who were members of the same group chat, also make appearances in the CCTV footage. According to the military prosecution, the car that appeared in the CCTV footage in the alley behind the bar belonged to gang members and Seungri could be seen talking to the people who got out of the car.

Seungri’s lawyer said, “This drinking establishment was one that Seungri went to often. He had a celebrity with him, so he asked for a private room. He was alone in the room with the actress when A, whom neither of them knew, suddenly opened the door and came in. A was drunk and kept giving inappropriate looks toward the actress in front of Seungri. Seungri was not happy with the situation, but he smiled and tried to calm A down. Even when B came in looking for a fight, he continued to speak nicely to them both. Eventually, feeling uncomfortable, he and the actress decided to leave.

“The person he contacted was not a gang member but someone who was in charge of providing security for celebrities. That person has been indicted, but not for special violence and instead for driving without a license. The person who has been charged for special violence instigation appears in the video, but Seungri has never spoken to that person in his life. I have been informed that that person has also said that he was called not by Seungri but by someone else.” The lawyer also denied that Seungri had contacted Yoo In Suk about the incident.

Also during the February 26 hearing, Jung Joon Young, who was part of the group chat, appeared as a witness. Jung Joon Young is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for aggravated rape. He was questioned for over an hour each by the military prosecution and Seungri’s lawyers. He testified that he first met Seungri at an awards show in Hong Kong, and that he had got to know Yoo In Suk through Seungri. He said that he had not been in contact with Seungri recently.

In response to most of the questions asked by both the prosecution and the defence, Jung Joon Young said that he did not remember because it had been a long time since the events had taken place. The prosecution asked if he had witnessed prostitution mediation and solicitation while attending parties with Seungri, Yoo In Suk, and other acquaintances, particularly Japanese acquaintances, during the Christmas season in 2015. Jung Joon Young showed that he was aware that prostitution had taken place when he testified, “I was aware that the woman in charge of an adult entertainment establishment, whom Seungri was acquainted with, was sending female prostitutes.” Jung Joon Young also indicated agreement when the prosecution asked if he had been aware that the rate for the prostitution had been over 1 million won (about $900).

Seungri’s lawyer asked how he knew that a “gift” mentioned in Yoo In Suk’s text message after a drinking party referred to a female prostitute. After a moment of hesitation, Jung Joon Young replied that he thought he had heard it from a KakaoTalk conversation with “Kim,” a merchandiser for Club Arena and a close friend of Jung Joon Young, but that he could not clearly remember the details.

About the charge of special violence instigation, Jung Joon Young testified, “I don’t remember clearly, but I believe that we had agreed to meet in advance for an end-of-the-year drinking party. I remember the victim (“A”) said that he was Seungri’s senior classmate at school and complained that he had not been given a private room while his junior classmate had. Seungri was not in a good mood and I think that he was angry. I think that was because the victim tried to grab Seungri by the collar. But I don’t know the exact details of what was going on.” Jung Joon Young added that he had heard sounds of cursing and shouting from the parking lot, but continued to say that he did not really know what happened.

Seungri’s lawyer emphasized that Jung Joon Young’s testimony could be inaccurate and asked the witness questions like, “Isn’t it possible that you do not remember all the things that took place in the group chat?” and “Isn’t it the case that you often skimmed past the messages in the group chat because you were busy with your life as a celebrity?” In response to the lawyer’s question, Jung Joon Young confirmed that Seungri, Yoo In Suk, and the other members of the group chat had spoken only about business in 2015, around the time that the Japanese investors had been invited to parties, and had not directly mentioned prostitution.

The court stated that more witnesses will be called and that at least 10 witnesses were scheduled to testify in April.

Source (1) (2)

Top Photo Credit: Xportsnews

Dispatch has reported that BIGBANG’s G-Dragon and BLACKPINK’s Jennie have been in a relationship for a year.

In their report, Dispatch shared that they had witnessed G-Dragon and Jennie meet secretly. According to the outlet, the two celebrities’ often had their dates at home.

Dispatch explained that G-Dragon had a personal parking lot and a private elevator for his penthouse, which Jennie was able to use without having to verify her identity.

According to Dispatch, Jennie’s normal everyday schedule was to visit G-Dragon’s home once her activities were over for the day. She would then return home and then repeat the same schedule the next day.

Dispatch stated that G-Dragon and Jennie’s relationship is a widely known secret within YG Entertainment and that Jennie’s manager takes her to and from G-Dragon’s house. Sometimes, G-Dragon’s manager would take her instead.

On January 31, the day of BLACKPINK’s online concert “THE SHOW,” Dispatch spotted Jennie leaving G-Dragon’s home in the morning and heading to the concert venue. G-Dragon’s car was also found at the venue, according to Dispatch.

A source close to the two artists stated to Dispatch, “Quite a lot of people at YG have noticed their relationship,” adding, “Jennie’s mother is also aware of her relationship with G-Dragon. She’s thankful that he takes special care of her.”

In response to the report, YG Entertainment commented, “We can not confirm anything about our artists’ personal lives. We ask for your understanding.”

Source (1) (2)

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The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for idol groups!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community awareness indexes of various idol groups, using big data collected from January 20 to February 20.

BTS held onto their spot at the top of the list with a brand reputation index of 12,665,136 for February. High-ranking phrases in the group’s keyword analysis included “fandom,” “DNA,” and “ARMY,” while their highest-ranking related terms included “surpass,” “release,” and “donate.” BTS’s positivity-negativity analysis also revealed a score of 84.77 percent positive reactions.

BLACKPINK maintained their position at second place with a brand reputation index of 9,603,520, while NCT rose to third place in the rankings with a total index of 5,878,851 for February.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS
2. BLACKPINK
3. NCT
4. SEVENTEEN
5. IZ*ONE
6. GFRIEND
7. (G)I-DLE
8. TWICE
9. MAMAMOO
10. EXO
11. Oh My Girl
12. Red Velvet
13. SHINee
14. Lovelyz
15. aespa
16. APRIL
17. woo!ah!
18. BTOB
19. TREASURE
20. MONSTA X
21. Golden Child
22. THE BOYZ
23. 2PM
24. Girls’ Generation
25. ITZY
26. fromis_9
27. Dreamcatcher
28. WJSN
29. Super Junior
30. BIGBANG

Source (1)

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