music

japanese idols

I first got into idol music back in the days of LiveJournal (~2002). I had been visiting random anime & Asian music websites I’d come across while surfing the web in the late 90’s and eventually found my way to LJ music sharing communities, where I was introduced to Minimoni., a subgroup of a larger idol group called Morning Musume. I was instantly in love. The first idol song I ever heard was Minimoni. Hinamatsuri, which was a double A-side single with a song I liked much more, Mini. Strawberry Pie. From the moment I heard it, I was hooked: I learned as much as I could about this group and became very interested in idols (a term I’d never heard of before, maybe in manga or anime, but never really understanding what it meant) and began following the group and its subgroups new releases. To this day, Morning Musume. holds a place near and dear to my heart… >w<

Here’s a list of some idol groups I’ve followed over the years:

hello! project
morning musume ANGERME beyooooonds berryz koubou c-ute v-u-den buono! milkyway W minimoni tanpopo melon kinenbi
arc jewel
ange☆reve chu☆oh! dolly doll☆elements jewel☆neige lovely☆doll luce twinkle wink☆
codomomental
kaqriyoterror seireki13ya zenbu kimi no sei da.
dearstage
arcana project CYNHN dempagumi.inc ENGAG.ING kyururin to shitemite meme tokyo niji no conquistador
WACK
billie idle BiS BiSH mameshiba no taigun kiss kiss
22/7 26-ji no Masquerade Afilia Saga AKB48 ame no chi, halation appare! artemis no tsubasa #babababambi babymetal band ja nai mon! MAXX NAKAYOSHI bpm15q candy tune cheeky parade cy8er electric ribbon ever! be mayowanai!! fes☆tive fruits zipper gunjou no sekai hey!mommy! houkago princess ichigo milk-iro ni somaritai kamiyado kaze hikaru fukurou kirameki anforent koutei camera girl magical punch line maybeME MEWM musubizm neat and clean NELN notall ototoi friday papipupepo wa muzukashii star fiorenerd summer rocket superbabys the world standard yanakoto sotto mute you'll melt more! yumemiru adolescence

oshi

The term oshimen (推しメン) comes from 推し, to cheer, and メンバー, member; so a member you cheer for (i.e. your best girl). The oshi you cheer for above all others may be known as a kamioshi (神推し), which adds the character 神 (meaning god) in front of the word, which can be used in Japanese to designate something as “the best” (神曲 kamikyoku, or literally “god song” meaning a really good song, for example). A bolded name denotes a member I am extremely fond of, and my kamioshi’s name is in bolded italics with a next to it.

hello! project
morning musume.

angerme

beyooooonds

berryz koubou

c-ute

v-u-den

milkyway

arc jewel
chu!oh☆dolly

luce twinkle wink☆

codomomental
kaqriyoterror

seireki13ya

zenbu kimi no sei da.

dear stage
arcana project

cynhn

dempagumi.inc

kyururin to shitemite

meme tokyo

WACK
BiS

BiSH

Mameshiba no Taigun

22/7

AKB48

ame no chi, halation

artemis no tsubasa

#babababambi

babymetal

band ja nai mon! MAXX NAKAYOSHI

bpm15q

candy tune

electric ribbon

fes☆tive

fruits zipper

kaze hikaru fukurou

maybeME

MEWM

neat and clean

notall

superbabys

the world standard

you'll melt more!

solo idols

korean idols

I heard my first Kpop in 2002 or so, when BoA released her first album. I followed kpop a little back then, but didn’t really get more into it until around 2007 when a friend who also liked hello! project introduced me to Girls’ Generation. I got kind of into it for a while, then in 2011 when the Hallyu wave really hit, I started following groups more seriously.

Since then, I’ve gotten into watching survival shows, beginning around when Produce 48 aired. Since then, I’ve also watched Girls Planet 999 and R U Next? I find that these shows, as problematic as they are, offer an insight into the trainees’ personalities one might normally get to see (since I don’t watch much Korean variety TV…maybe I should get into that?), which gives me a chance to grow fond of a girl, and I usually end up following my favorites even if they don’t debut in the group the show is formed around.

SM Entertainment
aespa f(x) M.I.L.K. red velvet SNSD/Girls' Generation
HYBE labels
illit le sserafim newjeans
apink april ARTMS BABYMONSTER berry good billlie blackpink cherry bullet crayon pop CSR dal★shabet everglow fanatics fifty fifty (g)i-dle GWSN honey popcorn ILY:1 IVE IZ*ONE kep1er KISS OF LIFE laboum lapillus lightsum LOONA loossemble MΛDEIN momoland NMIXX orange caramel pinkfantasy purple kiss rocket punch SAY MY NAME STAYC TripleS TWICE WJSN XG Yellow Bee

bias

I don’t know nearly as much about Korean idol culture as I do Japanese, but my understanding is that a bias is basically their version of an oshi, so it’s your favorite member in a group; the one you’re biased toward.

SM Entertainment
aespa

f(x)

snsd/girls' generation

hybe
illit

le sserafim

newjeans

artms

billlie

blackpink

cherry bullet

everglow

fanatics

fifty fifty

ily:1

ily:1

kep1er

KISS OF LIFE

lapillus

lightsum

loossemble

MΛDEIN

purple kiss

rocket punch

SAY MY NAME

twice

soloists

producers & labels

What follows are some of my favorite producers, composers, netlabels, and collectives. bolded are favorites.

producers/composers/trackmakers

labels & collectives

everything else

when I’m not listening to idol music (about 50% of the time), I’m usually listening to indie or alternative.

singer-songwriters

units

bands

vocalists