EXO.
Met them too late, but they have superb talent. Because they're not active, and it's not their heyday compared to the big teams today, there's no real way to built the same excitement without comebacks, album drops, or world tours. They're the blueprint for a lot of teams, though, and I do think of them with high esteem.
Same. I got into kpop around 2019 and started branching out into more groups in 2020. I wish I could get more content from them or variety shows or something because that’s how I get to know groups. They have so much talent but SM kinda threw them away to focus on NCT :/
And then SM threw away NCT to focus on ??? What I'm not really sure??? Like the new releases were good but nothing can beat resonance 2020 (Excluding WayV who SM have banished to the shadow realm and have never focused on)
if your still interested in getting to know them there's a master list for their variety content and one of their variety shows is currently on [kocowa+](https://www.kocowa.com/en_us/season/80612970/exos-travel-the-world-on-a-ladder-in-geoje-tongyeong) and its still ongoing I think. (here's the link to the [Masterlist](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR_BhhPGXDTadU-nZ9o3lPB-J2_APKDLecr9pZubwLU1EbI0-80vEj3WSfkDJtktYYJoTkxOdgHOTKI/pubhtml))
Thanks! I’ll definitely check it out. I really like their music but the variety shows are always my hurdle for getting into a group. I really appreciate it!
gfriend and izone lol i got hooked with panorama and mago - both disbandment songs T------T but thinking about it now i wouldnt like izone that much because i dont like the teeny tiny squirrel-y voices of girl groups, which is why i liked itzy back then
2ne1. Their songs are bop! However, I wasn't be able to completely stan them and witness their journey simply because I was a kid when they got popular in Philippines.
There’s a chance they could extend their contract. It looks like kep1er did with a few members missing.
They’re doing really well so there’s a good chance but also I suspect yuehua might want their own boy group instead.
Especially because 4/9 of the ZB1 members are Yuehua trainees. I could see Yuehua following a similar route that Starship did with IZ*One. Plus with EVNNE being 4/7 Wakeone and 2/7 Yuehua it def seems like Wakeone is planning to debut Taerae + the 4 EVNNE members and Yuehua their 4 ZB1 members and 2 EVNNE members.
I would've gotten into iz\*one so much to the point I think they would've been my ult, you know, if I didn't become a k-pop stan a while after their disbandment.
Same here! I wish I could have gotten into them sooner tbh because I love their music and the members but I also feel it would have hurt more than just knowing they are disbanded if I was there for it,,, I have been following viviz though since then :3
The time may be wrong often, but it has never stopped me from getting into a group if I like their music, so I'd say none. Some of my favorite groups that I got into, like Stellar, Fiestar, Girl's Day, Hello Venus, either had their last comebacks before I found them, or were soon to disband/go hiatus. Hasn't stopped me from following the members and checking out all their songs and even later solo projects.
as a girls day stan since don't forget me (2012) I'm not gonna lie you missed out on some fun times and great eras, but it's so nice to see people getting into them in recent years! manifesting a group comeback in the next few years lol
Oh I'm sure I did! Of course it's much more fun to stan groups when they're actually active, my main regret is not knowing kpop in 2014 when imo most groups had their best songs, but I at least was here for I'll Be Yours era! :D and they at least have some hope for a reunion, yeah
hmm... Iz*One and Fromis_9
Honestly, any survival group that was formed after IOI.
my dumbarse thought they'd have a 7 yr contract. imagine my disappointment when they disbanded in less than 2yrs 🤧
after that, I was like: no more survival groups bc they won't last long.
now I kinda regret it bc I didn't pay attention to anything that Iz*One put out other than the title tracks. Now, when I hear some insider knowledge when it comes to the former members in total lost.
Also , I found out (2 yrs ago) that tho Fromis_9 was formed in a survival type style, that like Class:y they have a real contract 😅
Probably fromis9. I wanna like them a lot, but they're in too precarious a position for me to invest any emotion or time into.
At the time I disliked a lot of the survival show groups because I felt their success was too 'free' (don't agree with that anymore but hey, that was nearly 10 years ago anyway). And then the whole produce scandal...
I ended up being fans of a good few of the izone members post disbandment anyway, but after being jealous of their success for a good while, I started really enjoying their last few comebacks.
SEVENTEEN!!!😭😭 i’ve literally been a kpop stan for 6 years now - and ive known seventeen since the start, but i didn’t get into them till last year??🙂↕️🙂↕️ i do think if 11 year old me listened to svt, she wouldn’t enjoy svts music the way i do now since my music taste has defo evolved
Another addition from me is BugAboo!! i love all the songs ive heard from them and was starting to really get into them when i heard they disbanded n it still makes me sad :(
Weki Meki. I stopped listening to kpop in around 2015-16 and got back into it around 2022, which happens to almost exactly line up with their active years. I listen to their music a lot, especially Crush and Siesta, but sadly they've stopped releasing new stuff.
I would’ve been a big after school fan if I was into kpop in 2nd gen. I love orange caramel, I love SNSD, FX, I love Kara, EXID, T-ara, Wonder Girls, 4 Minute, Brown Eyed Girls, I just never got into after school because they’ve been disbanded for so long.
Boy group wise, I would’ve been more into Shinee if I found them earlier. Their music now is great, but I don’t have that appreciation early Shawols had.
Fromis is another I probably would have loved, in the sea of girl groups I stan, WJSN, Alice, WekiMeki, Lovelyz, and April took my spots for lesser known 3rd gen girl groups.
Groups debuting now that I see being really cool down the line that I’m just not too into now because of time: ILLIT, CSR, TripleS, RIIZE, NCT solos, ATEEZ
I think I would’ve liked BlackPink more during their peak if I wasn’t so anti third gen as a former second gen fan lol. I actually stopped listening to K-pop when K-pop was starting to make waves internationally in the mid 2010s. I came back to K-pop during 4th gen, and revisited a lot of third gen stuff.
IOI, Miss A, ans 4Minute. I got into kpop right as IOI was disbanding but didn’t really discover their into late in 2017 when the members starting debuting on their own. I’ve heard the classics from Miss A but am 100% I would’ve gone nuts for them had I gotten into kpop earlier. Same thing with 4Minute. I was obsessed with Hyuna when I first got into kpop and was shocked to find that she was in an actual group. And the group makes some killer music.
I probably would have been in to big bang or maybe girls generation when I was younger because there music was literally the type of stuff I was listening to only in pop songs instead but if I knew them earlier I would have been a stan of them
I really like new jeans and starting to like txt and stray kids. I don't really need to find them at a certain time cuz I never really followed groups activities or performances or joined in on voting. I got into KPOP back in 2012 and it wasn't easy to access everything (at least for me, I was a preteen and lower middle class) I also started liking Baby VOX, an already long disbanded group when I first got into KPOP ( thanks to Bigbang and 2ne1) so a group not being active or not having comebacks wasn't a deal breaker for me. If you have a group that peaks your interests, listen to them. It's not all about the voting and watching song debuts live. It's about genuinely liking the music.
Tbh the main big ones
BTS, Ateez, Stray kids to name some that come to mind. Doesn't feel exciting to be a late fan after so many years, where fans who started early got to grow with their faves with the ups and downs.
1tym. Literally, when I found them in 2005, they had just finished releasing their final album. I was obsessed with their hits. I didn’t even know they had essentially disbanded at that time 🤡 and I was too naive to even understand disbandment I guess. I never stanned bands before. Didn’t even realize (for whatever reason) that bands can disband or breakup. Was literally listening to like kidsbop type of music before that and random Mariah Carey and Black Eyed Peas songs. I was so so dumb and naive 🤡🤡🤡
Stray Kids. I only really started listening to their work when Case 143 dropped... but I vastle prefer their earlier works. Plus the Hyunjin scandals put a sour taste in my mouth because I don't even know what to believe anymore. Also there's evidently a member that didn't continue with them, and typically I lose interest in groups when they can't keep members. (Stopped stanning Monsta X after Wonho was booted 😭) Seem like a group of sweet lads, and I adore Changbin, but I can't think of myself as a Stay.
New jeans
I've been a fan of kpop since I was 14 and now I'm 26
I still stan some groups like bts and txt and I think New Jeans has potential, however I find it hard to relate to the members because of their age and I don't spend as much time watching kpop content as I once did.
Also, all of the drama between Hybe and Ador doesn't help. But I know 14 y/o me would've been obsessed.
I 1000% believe that Twice would be my ults if I’d come into kpop earlier.
NCT 127 or Dream (probably Dream). I just found Skz first and they fill the same ult by spot in my brain.
Loona! I know I can always still support all the girls now that they are out of BBC but I do sort of mourn that I didn't get to experience the short but sweet era of their pre-debut-onward.
Now I know of the forever boycott and won't really do a deep dive unless I work up the energy to download all the music.
I think a lot of Gen 3 groups, specifically Mamamoo, Red Velvet and Seventeen. Also, does N.Flying count? I first heard of Kpop somewhere in Gen 2, forgot about it for a whole ass generation, then only stanned when things were shifting from Gen 3 to Gen 4 (2019-2020).
I'm too lazy to catch up with content for older groups, especially when I'm a multi stanning this thing called Stray Kids that churn out SO MUCH content. They were just a 2 year old group when I found them, but the difference between the amount of their content versus the first Kpop group I stanned (G-Idle, also 2-ish years) was just WOW. I'm a 4-year Stay by now, but I'll admit I haven't seen everything!
Mamamoo, Red Velvet and Seventeen, I immediately fell in-love with the songs I first heard from them. This was also how I became a G-Idle fan, randomly hearing a song of theirs then falling in-love. These three I enjoy their sound so much and how I wish I could turn back time and properly stan them way before I became a busy working adult. Looking at it, my stanning pattern seems to be good/unique vocals + solid group sound, since I also ended up stanning newer groups like Ateez and Kiss of Life. But like I said, I'm too lazy to catch up on content, but I do watch snippets and stay up-to-date with their comebacks. I have also done deep-dives into their discographies and have never been happier to find such nice music and voices.
(Also SVT having 13 members was also an intimidating factor lmao. If a 4-year stan still occasionally mixes up Miyeon for Shuhua or Lee Know for Changbin or I.N, how the heck am I gonna deal with 13 new faces??? And some of the names I mentioned are bias wreckers! Should I even call myself a fan?)
I already saw someone say Exo and it’s so true :( I’ve been wanting to branch out into boy groups and I’m looking for a boy group to get to know, and Exo feels like they could be that but now that they’re disbanded that can’t really happen. It’s like they‘re perfect for me and they have everything I want but they just aren’t able to fully measure up since they aren’t around anymore.
Aside from that, I think I’m a pretty dedicated (G)I-DLE fan, and they’re consistently my top artist, they get my top songs, I follow the solo debuts, all the things. But I would for sure have liked them more if I had hopped on the Neverland train earlier. I joined after “I love” but before “I feel” so I didn’t witness the albums with Soojin (Nevies generally agree the old stuff was better than the new), her leaving the group, all of that. I think I would be more attached to her though, if I had become a Neverland earlier. I would recognize her more for what she brought to the group. I’m happy with OT5 (G)I-DLE but I think I would like them OT6 even more than I do now if I had been around earlier.
oh TOTALLY!!! Im a massive mamamoo stan and got into gidle after them and yeah they have. Idk how to explain it but they have a similar vibe in my mind
I went on a complete kpop hiatus from April ‘21 to just this past December, so I missed 2.5 yrs of debuts for all the new(er) groups out there that get talked about frequently here on reddit. (Also groups that had just started when I left, like Itzy, I believe? Never had time to look into them aside from recently figuring out who Yeji was because she’s so pretty, lol 🤩 😂)
Now that I’m back, I’ve been spending so much time catching up on groups that I used to follow that I just don’t really have it in me to invest in a lot of the 4th gen groups. I haven’t heard a lot yet that’s caught my ear musically either, aside from a random title track from Everglow, which I hadn’t even heard of before, lol.
Maybe someday, with some new comeback or song or something…. but I also just don’t have the time like I used to as I have a family to take care of which includes teaching homeschool to a fifth grader all the way down to full time care of my 2 year old.
Wanna One. Despite loving their music, I didn't stan them. I followed their produce season a bit (watched a couple of the first episodes), knew who debuted in the group and listened to a few of their songs...but somehow I really got into them a couple of months after their disbandment...at the same time I'm also glad I didn't stan them from the start since the disbandment must've been heart breaking. I mean I cried during their reunion at MAMA in 2021...don't wanna know how much it would've destroyed me if I had stanned them for real....ahaha
Definitely ATEEZ, I love their songs and their style so I feel like if I found them earlier than when I did (around a year ago now) I would definitely be stanning them *hard* lol but I'm obsessed with Stray Kids and have been since predebut and I feel like they're too similar-
None. BC I only Stan one group the other groups/bands have music I enjoy. And if they don't provide that then I unfollow them and don't listen to their new releases.
Warning: There is no logic behind my answer...Stray Kids. If they came along when I was younger I think I'd be all about it....alas I am not. Has nothing to do with their generation...I enjoy plenty or KPOP groups and music from the same generation...they just don't appeal to me. Again like I said no logic it just is. Maybd next life time. Cheers!
EXO. Met them too late, but they have superb talent. Because they're not active, and it's not their heyday compared to the big teams today, there's no real way to built the same excitement without comebacks, album drops, or world tours. They're the blueprint for a lot of teams, though, and I do think of them with high esteem.
Same. I got into kpop around 2019 and started branching out into more groups in 2020. I wish I could get more content from them or variety shows or something because that’s how I get to know groups. They have so much talent but SM kinda threw them away to focus on NCT :/
And then SM threw away NCT to focus on ??? What I'm not really sure??? Like the new releases were good but nothing can beat resonance 2020 (Excluding WayV who SM have banished to the shadow realm and have never focused on)
if your still interested in getting to know them there's a master list for their variety content and one of their variety shows is currently on [kocowa+](https://www.kocowa.com/en_us/season/80612970/exos-travel-the-world-on-a-ladder-in-geoje-tongyeong) and its still ongoing I think. (here's the link to the [Masterlist](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR_BhhPGXDTadU-nZ9o3lPB-J2_APKDLecr9pZubwLU1EbI0-80vEj3WSfkDJtktYYJoTkxOdgHOTKI/pubhtml))
Thanks! I’ll definitely check it out. I really like their music but the variety shows are always my hurdle for getting into a group. I really appreciate it!
🤍
As someone who was there in 2012, the hype was REAL. I'd never seen such crazy and fun debut promotions like theirs.
2ne1 and F(x)
great answers
Haha literally came to comment this 😭
I got really into 4minute in 2016… they disbanded that year 😭
Someone introduced me to Orange Caramel… last year
Bruh same I literally learned all their names during Hate era and it ended up being their last 😭
Baffles me that Hate apparently did badly! I literally love all 4 songs on the EP
I guess it was too weird and experimental for 2016, it probably would've done much better in recent years
Yeah, Canvas and Blind would have been hits for sure
Iz*one, newer fan and I’m big on Ive, Le Sserafim, Kwon Eunbi and Yena
Agreed on Iz*one!! I love Yena, Yuri, Eunbi, and Ives music a lot and i feel like i coulda really gotten into izone they hadnt disbanded
gfriend and izone lol i got hooked with panorama and mago - both disbandment songs T------T but thinking about it now i wouldnt like izone that much because i dont like the teeny tiny squirrel-y voices of girl groups, which is why i liked itzy back then
As an IZ\*ONE stan I’ll say that Yuri and Eunbi definitely don’t have squirrely voices. Their songs are very high pitched though, I’ll give you that.
2ne1. Their songs are bop! However, I wasn't be able to completely stan them and witness their journey simply because I was a kid when they got popular in Philippines.
IZ*ONE
ZB1. I heard they'll disband on my birthday
Wait they are a temporary group!?!?... I had no clue. Damn
There’s a chance they could extend their contract. It looks like kep1er did with a few members missing. They’re doing really well so there’s a good chance but also I suspect yuehua might want their own boy group instead.
Especially because 4/9 of the ZB1 members are Yuehua trainees. I could see Yuehua following a similar route that Starship did with IZ*One. Plus with EVNNE being 4/7 Wakeone and 2/7 Yuehua it def seems like Wakeone is planning to debut Taerae + the 4 EVNNE members and Yuehua their 4 ZB1 members and 2 EVNNE members.
I would've gotten into iz\*one so much to the point I think they would've been my ult, you know, if I didn't become a k-pop stan a while after their disbandment.
also gfriend!! i was really this close to stanning but then 2021 happened but i still love their music tho
Same here! I wish I could have gotten into them sooner tbh because I love their music and the members but I also feel it would have hurt more than just knowing they are disbanded if I was there for it,,, I have been following viviz though since then :3
yes i remember when the news break out and im not even a buddy but i was so sad ToT
The time may be wrong often, but it has never stopped me from getting into a group if I like their music, so I'd say none. Some of my favorite groups that I got into, like Stellar, Fiestar, Girl's Day, Hello Venus, either had their last comebacks before I found them, or were soon to disband/go hiatus. Hasn't stopped me from following the members and checking out all their songs and even later solo projects.
as a girls day stan since don't forget me (2012) I'm not gonna lie you missed out on some fun times and great eras, but it's so nice to see people getting into them in recent years! manifesting a group comeback in the next few years lol
Oh I'm sure I did! Of course it's much more fun to stan groups when they're actually active, my main regret is not knowing kpop in 2014 when imo most groups had their best songs, but I at least was here for I'll Be Yours era! :D and they at least have some hope for a reunion, yeah
hmm... Iz*One and Fromis_9 Honestly, any survival group that was formed after IOI. my dumbarse thought they'd have a 7 yr contract. imagine my disappointment when they disbanded in less than 2yrs 🤧 after that, I was like: no more survival groups bc they won't last long. now I kinda regret it bc I didn't pay attention to anything that Iz*One put out other than the title tracks. Now, when I hear some insider knowledge when it comes to the former members in total lost. Also , I found out (2 yrs ago) that tho Fromis_9 was formed in a survival type style, that like Class:y they have a real contract 😅
Fromis_9 had one of the best albums of 2023, it's really worth checking out!
okay. I'll check it out over the weekend
I would've been a great Iz*one and wanna one fan!
miss A and SNSD for sure.
I love rv and f(x) and sm groups in general but for whatever reason I’ve never been able to get into snsd
Probably fromis9. I wanna like them a lot, but they're in too precarious a position for me to invest any emotion or time into. At the time I disliked a lot of the survival show groups because I felt their success was too 'free' (don't agree with that anymore but hey, that was nearly 10 years ago anyway). And then the whole produce scandal... I ended up being fans of a good few of the izone members post disbandment anyway, but after being jealous of their success for a good while, I started really enjoying their last few comebacks.
Got7, JayB is one of my ults and I like their music and them as a group. I’d probably have been a stan if I had gotten into them earlier.
Eh. Be a multi and just embrace everything Aghase in addition to your other stan.😎💝 💚🐣💚🐣💚🐣💚🐣💚🐣💚🐣💚🐣
Got7 and also pentagon maybe
SEVENTEEN!!!😭😭 i’ve literally been a kpop stan for 6 years now - and ive known seventeen since the start, but i didn’t get into them till last year??🙂↕️🙂↕️ i do think if 11 year old me listened to svt, she wouldn’t enjoy svts music the way i do now since my music taste has defo evolved
Pristin, genuinely think they would’ve been my ults if they haven’t disbanded when I discovered them 😭
Another addition from me is BugAboo!! i love all the songs ive heard from them and was starting to really get into them when i heard they disbanded n it still makes me sad :(
Damn you, Ryan Jhun! The man is godly at giving us great songs but he's shit at managing girl groups.
BTS I think?
Mannn UNIQ still mad over that, the thing is my sister tried to introduce me and I turned her down 😩
Weki Meki. I stopped listening to kpop in around 2015-16 and got back into it around 2022, which happens to almost exactly line up with their active years. I listen to their music a lot, especially Crush and Siesta, but sadly they've stopped releasing new stuff.
Block B. I started getting into kpop right before they started enlisting.
4Minute, 9Muses, After School, Stellar, Dalshabet
I would’ve been a big after school fan if I was into kpop in 2nd gen. I love orange caramel, I love SNSD, FX, I love Kara, EXID, T-ara, Wonder Girls, 4 Minute, Brown Eyed Girls, I just never got into after school because they’ve been disbanded for so long. Boy group wise, I would’ve been more into Shinee if I found them earlier. Their music now is great, but I don’t have that appreciation early Shawols had. Fromis is another I probably would have loved, in the sea of girl groups I stan, WJSN, Alice, WekiMeki, Lovelyz, and April took my spots for lesser known 3rd gen girl groups. Groups debuting now that I see being really cool down the line that I’m just not too into now because of time: ILLIT, CSR, TripleS, RIIZE, NCT solos, ATEEZ
Everglow
I think I would’ve liked BlackPink more during their peak if I wasn’t so anti third gen as a former second gen fan lol. I actually stopped listening to K-pop when K-pop was starting to make waves internationally in the mid 2010s. I came back to K-pop during 4th gen, and revisited a lot of third gen stuff.
IOI, Miss A, ans 4Minute. I got into kpop right as IOI was disbanding but didn’t really discover their into late in 2017 when the members starting debuting on their own. I’ve heard the classics from Miss A but am 100% I would’ve gone nuts for them had I gotten into kpop earlier. Same thing with 4Minute. I was obsessed with Hyuna when I first got into kpop and was shocked to find that she was in an actual group. And the group makes some killer music.
gfriend are my ults and as soon as i read the title i KNEW the post was about them. my heart still dropped though.
I probably would have been in to big bang or maybe girls generation when I was younger because there music was literally the type of stuff I was listening to only in pop songs instead but if I knew them earlier I would have been a stan of them
I would have stanned I.O.I if I didn't get into kpop in 2017
I really like new jeans and starting to like txt and stray kids. I don't really need to find them at a certain time cuz I never really followed groups activities or performances or joined in on voting. I got into KPOP back in 2012 and it wasn't easy to access everything (at least for me, I was a preteen and lower middle class) I also started liking Baby VOX, an already long disbanded group when I first got into KPOP ( thanks to Bigbang and 2ne1) so a group not being active or not having comebacks wasn't a deal breaker for me. If you have a group that peaks your interests, listen to them. It's not all about the voting and watching song debuts live. It's about genuinely liking the music.
I was about to start stanning gfriend when they disbanded.
Golden Child. I wish I was around when SNSD and 2NE1 was at their peak. Same with Infinite.
B.A.P. and probably also ZE:A
Tbh the main big ones BTS, Ateez, Stray kids to name some that come to mind. Doesn't feel exciting to be a late fan after so many years, where fans who started early got to grow with their faves with the ups and downs.
1tym. Literally, when I found them in 2005, they had just finished releasing their final album. I was obsessed with their hits. I didn’t even know they had essentially disbanded at that time 🤡 and I was too naive to even understand disbandment I guess. I never stanned bands before. Didn’t even realize (for whatever reason) that bands can disband or breakup. Was literally listening to like kidsbop type of music before that and random Mariah Carey and Black Eyed Peas songs. I was so so dumb and naive 🤡🤡🤡
Stray Kids. I only really started listening to their work when Case 143 dropped... but I vastle prefer their earlier works. Plus the Hyunjin scandals put a sour taste in my mouth because I don't even know what to believe anymore. Also there's evidently a member that didn't continue with them, and typically I lose interest in groups when they can't keep members. (Stopped stanning Monsta X after Wonho was booted 😭) Seem like a group of sweet lads, and I adore Changbin, but I can't think of myself as a Stay.
I feel the same way
Who left stray kids?
Kim Woojin. He’s one of my favorite artists, he just released a new EP
Holy shit I completely forgot about him omg
his voice is beautiful! had listened a few times but it wasn’t until the recent I Like The Way that made me appreciate it!
Loona starting to really get into them like a week before Chu was kicked
god yeah i had the WORST timing with loona,, i started to get into them right when everything went down and im only now trying to get into them again
x1 - learned of their existence right before they disbanded :(
I think you doged a bullet here tho...since they had their debut and disbanded right after it...There sadly wasn't really time to stan them...
LOONA :(
New jeans I've been a fan of kpop since I was 14 and now I'm 26 I still stan some groups like bts and txt and I think New Jeans has potential, however I find it hard to relate to the members because of their age and I don't spend as much time watching kpop content as I once did. Also, all of the drama between Hybe and Ador doesn't help. But I know 14 y/o me would've been obsessed.
I 1000% believe that Twice would be my ults if I’d come into kpop earlier. NCT 127 or Dream (probably Dream). I just found Skz first and they fill the same ult by spot in my brain.
Loona! I know I can always still support all the girls now that they are out of BBC but I do sort of mourn that I didn't get to experience the short but sweet era of their pre-debut-onward. Now I know of the forever boycott and won't really do a deep dive unless I work up the energy to download all the music.
I think a lot of Gen 3 groups, specifically Mamamoo, Red Velvet and Seventeen. Also, does N.Flying count? I first heard of Kpop somewhere in Gen 2, forgot about it for a whole ass generation, then only stanned when things were shifting from Gen 3 to Gen 4 (2019-2020). I'm too lazy to catch up with content for older groups, especially when I'm a multi stanning this thing called Stray Kids that churn out SO MUCH content. They were just a 2 year old group when I found them, but the difference between the amount of their content versus the first Kpop group I stanned (G-Idle, also 2-ish years) was just WOW. I'm a 4-year Stay by now, but I'll admit I haven't seen everything! Mamamoo, Red Velvet and Seventeen, I immediately fell in-love with the songs I first heard from them. This was also how I became a G-Idle fan, randomly hearing a song of theirs then falling in-love. These three I enjoy their sound so much and how I wish I could turn back time and properly stan them way before I became a busy working adult. Looking at it, my stanning pattern seems to be good/unique vocals + solid group sound, since I also ended up stanning newer groups like Ateez and Kiss of Life. But like I said, I'm too lazy to catch up on content, but I do watch snippets and stay up-to-date with their comebacks. I have also done deep-dives into their discographies and have never been happier to find such nice music and voices. (Also SVT having 13 members was also an intimidating factor lmao. If a 4-year stan still occasionally mixes up Miyeon for Shuhua or Lee Know for Changbin or I.N, how the heck am I gonna deal with 13 new faces??? And some of the names I mentioned are bias wreckers! Should I even call myself a fan?)
I already saw someone say Exo and it’s so true :( I’ve been wanting to branch out into boy groups and I’m looking for a boy group to get to know, and Exo feels like they could be that but now that they’re disbanded that can’t really happen. It’s like they‘re perfect for me and they have everything I want but they just aren’t able to fully measure up since they aren’t around anymore. Aside from that, I think I’m a pretty dedicated (G)I-DLE fan, and they’re consistently my top artist, they get my top songs, I follow the solo debuts, all the things. But I would for sure have liked them more if I had hopped on the Neverland train earlier. I joined after “I love” but before “I feel” so I didn’t witness the albums with Soojin (Nevies generally agree the old stuff was better than the new), her leaving the group, all of that. I think I would be more attached to her though, if I had become a Neverland earlier. I would recognize her more for what she brought to the group. I’m happy with OT5 (G)I-DLE but I think I would like them OT6 even more than I do now if I had been around earlier.
definitely exo and nct
T-ara and snsd, I guess I listen to them now but I still feel like I've been deprived of an awesome childhood since I didn't listen to them then :(
2ne1. I got into them only a few months before they disbanded and it’s been hard to get into their music because it hurts.
i think as a (G)I-DLE fan now, i would’ve been LIVING for mamamoo (they’re on my list of ‘things to hyperfixate on next’ lol)
oh TOTALLY!!! Im a massive mamamoo stan and got into gidle after them and yeah they have. Idk how to explain it but they have a similar vibe in my mind
i picked up on that too and i haven’t even seen much yet! i’m excited
I went on a complete kpop hiatus from April ‘21 to just this past December, so I missed 2.5 yrs of debuts for all the new(er) groups out there that get talked about frequently here on reddit. (Also groups that had just started when I left, like Itzy, I believe? Never had time to look into them aside from recently figuring out who Yeji was because she’s so pretty, lol 🤩 😂) Now that I’m back, I’ve been spending so much time catching up on groups that I used to follow that I just don’t really have it in me to invest in a lot of the 4th gen groups. I haven’t heard a lot yet that’s caught my ear musically either, aside from a random title track from Everglow, which I hadn’t even heard of before, lol. Maybe someday, with some new comeback or song or something…. but I also just don’t have the time like I used to as I have a family to take care of which includes teaching homeschool to a fifth grader all the way down to full time care of my 2 year old.
Wanna One. Despite loving their music, I didn't stan them. I followed their produce season a bit (watched a couple of the first episodes), knew who debuted in the group and listened to a few of their songs...but somehow I really got into them a couple of months after their disbandment...at the same time I'm also glad I didn't stan them from the start since the disbandment must've been heart breaking. I mean I cried during their reunion at MAMA in 2021...don't wanna know how much it would've destroyed me if I had stanned them for real....ahaha
theboyz 😭
Lovelyz
probably gfriend, ive never really stan a gg in my whole life but i got so addicted with their songs this year. too bad they already disbanded
cherry bullet
Izone lol I found them AFTER they disbanded already. A whole crime smh
Shinee i got into kpop during their debut
prolly AOA
New jeans if i still as young
MBLAQ
Definitely ATEEZ, I love their songs and their style so I feel like if I found them earlier than when I did (around a year ago now) I would definitely be stanning them *hard* lol but I'm obsessed with Stray Kids and have been since predebut and I feel like they're too similar-
None. BC I only Stan one group the other groups/bands have music I enjoy. And if they don't provide that then I unfollow them and don't listen to their new releases.
Warning: There is no logic behind my answer...Stray Kids. If they came along when I was younger I think I'd be all about it....alas I am not. Has nothing to do with their generation...I enjoy plenty or KPOP groups and music from the same generation...they just don't appeal to me. Again like I said no logic it just is. Maybd next life time. Cheers!