The Greatest Hits: ABOUT

 I was definitely going to wait to start doing this segment. But, I feel like we all need some just comfort vibes.

 There have been thousands of K-Pop songs at least, possibly millions. Estimation was the part of math I was the worst at. But if we have 300 active K-Pop groups and that number has likely gone up, and...half of them release a single a year, that's 150 songs a year. If we start the year SME as we know it was founded (1995, even though the first group that could be called a K-Pop group was Seo Taiji and the Boys debuted in 1992 (they're generally regarded as the start from what I understand although obviously there were the Kim Sisters in the 1950s, who were super cool), which is how YG the Dude came onto the scene and wow, you guys did not come here for a history lesson), that's 29 years of K-Pop. But that's not including mini albums, studio albums, EPs, albums in other languages, singles with more than one song on them, etc., nor is that counting groups that have more than one release a year, nor is that counting soloists, nor is that counting the groups that are no longer active.

That's a lot of music.

I'm a fairly distractible person, as well as having a dice goblin personality and a fascination with the past. Now, obviously, I already have a page for previous year reviews. But do I really want to have reviews just haphazardly scattered all over the place? No. No, I do not. But I also know me and I know that eventually, I'm going to want to take a look at some of the older groups that are no longer active, or are much less active than they were in their heyday. Because again, I love history, and I love looking at context, and I love being able to trace other artists' creative genealogy. It's so informative looking at the web maps like that. As tempting as it would be to take these from the approach of "Are these songs overrated?", that's not what I'm here for. Because that's so subjective that I don't feel entirely comfortable with going that subjective. 

My hope, instead, is to help others discover lost treasures, or remind themselves of those treasures that they may have forgotten. We're now in fifth gen K-Pop (possibly?) and 29 years away from the modern beginning. That's a lot of music and a lot of change in styles and groups the genre has undergone. 

But, once I decided I was going to add in this segment, the question then became "Which group and which song first?" And then I was overwhelmed with possibilities because just picking a group is difficult enough. Boy group? Girl group? Which generation? Do I start with first generation? Do I pick a group with more music show wins? Do I go with a group that a lot of other idols look up to? 

How do I pick one?

Random Roulette Wheels. They're also how BTOB makes decisions and as of the posting of this (20241029), they have a digital single coming out in two days. 

Why does this have any effect on my choices? Because back in my early days of K-Pop, I couldn't spend too much time with NU'EST or I'd be filled with The Rage, and I needed an emotional support group that I could duck into and rest and calm. I had very specific criteria for this group and BTOB was the first one that fulfilled it after four days of research into various groups and fandoms. I have since found several others that would fulfill that criteria, but BTOB was the chosen group and so will they remain as such. I took many of my cues from BTOB and their Melody in learning how to be a K-Pop fan, and I'm still learning, but I try to fall back to Changsub's request that Melodies don't spread hate and instead focus on the good.

Which is why I'm here. It's really hard being a K-Pop fan these days. It seems like every day the last little bit, one company or group is trending because of a scandal of some sort. And as important as it is to talk about those things, finding the good in being a fan is also just as important.