Line Has Thoughts

KATSEYE. Image: HYBE x Geffen Records / KATSEYE official website If you'd asked me a while ago whether KATSEYE were K-pop, I probably wouldn't have thought very hard about the question. HYBE is involved. They went through an intensive training programme based on the K-pop trainee system. They dance. They have the choreography, the performance focus, the fandom culture. They're on Weverse. They've promoted on Korean music shows. They certainly look like they belong in the same general universe as K-pop. So... K-pop. Obviously. Except I'm no longer convinced it's that simple. This whole rabbit hole started because I kept seeing KATSEYE referred to as a K-pop group, and something about it bothered me. Not because the members aren't Korean — K-pop has had non-Korean idols for years. Not because they mostly sing in English — established K-pop groups release music in English, Japanese and other languages all the time. It bothered me because KATSEYE weren't ac...

If you’ve found your way here, welcome. This is Line Has Thoughts — a place for K-pop, fandom, music, media, culture, and whatever else happens to get me thinking. I’ve loved music and storytelling for as long as I can remember, and somewhere along the way, I found K-pop — and it stuck. Not just because of the music, but because of the feeling. The energy, the escape, the spark. And maybe the comfort of knowing you’re not alone in needing something to hold onto. K-pop will probably take up quite a lot of space around here. I’m fascinated not only by the music and artists, but by fandom, the industry around it, the way we talk about it, and the stories we collectively decide are true. I like questions. Is something really as obvious as everyone says it is? What do we actually know, and what have we simply assumed? Why do we talk about one artist differently from another? When does an opinion quietly turn into a “fact” because enough people repeat it? Those are the kinds of rabbit ...