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M.I.B & 4TEN Shine At The NYC Chuseok Festival

October 15, 2014/in Events /by Tamar Herman

The 32nd New York Korean Chuseok Festival took place on October 11th and 12th in Queens, New York at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Even though it was a traditional festival, there were aspects of pop culture, including performances by Korean idol groups M.I.B and 4TEN, and other Korean celebrities. Local acts also performed, combining the […]

Let’s Discuss: MBLAQ, Failures or Realists?

October 14, 2014/in Features, Let's Discuss /by Tamar Herman

In 2009, MBLAQ and Beast both debuted. MBLAQ was the clear winner –it was the group that Rain had put together; his pet project. Beast, on the other hand, was a group of “rejects” from JYP and YG and failed solo acts. Fast forward to 2014 and the tables are completely turned. With the announcement that […]

M.I.B & 4TEN Shine At The NYC Chuseok Festival

October 15, 2014/in Events /by Tamar Herman

Let’s Discuss: MBLAQ, Failures or Realists?

October 14, 2014/in Features, Let's Discuss /by Tamar Herman

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M.I.B & 4TEN Shine At The NYC Chuseok Festival

October 15, 2014/in Events /by Tamar Herman

The 32nd New York Korean Chuseok Festival took place on October 11th and 12th in Queens, New York at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Even though it was a traditional festival, there were aspects of pop culture, including performances by Korean idol groups M.I.B and 4TEN, and other Korean celebrities. Local acts also performed, combining the foreign and the local, the traditional and the modern, into one festive event.

KPOPme attended the second day of the festival, arriving early on the bright, sunny day. The Chuseok Festival was a whole day event, with families arriving early in the day to enjoy booths set up by Korean companies, ranging from makeup brands to airlines, and some light entertainment, including a rock climbing wall that proved pretty popular, as well as a raffle to win a round trip to Korea. Since winter is coming to New York, many people arrived wearing coats, but the day became sunny and soon everyone was walking around and enjoying the weather and culture. The majority of the crowd was made up of Korean families, but there were numerous foreigners interspersed.

Even though there were people enjoying the festival all day, there was a state of anticipation for the main attraction of the day: the concert. Around 2 p.m., a formal award ceremony began, honoring those who helped run the festival, and at 3 o’clock, the show began.

A local dance team, SJ Team, danced to sultry songs including HyunA’s Red, and were followed up by a local duo that won the previous day’s dance contest. MC Kim Hak Rae took to the stage, entertaining everyone with his comedy, before introducing the first idol group of the day, 4TEN.

4TEN debuted only a few months ago, so not even K-Pop fans in the audience knew the songs that the four member performed. However, their stunning rendition of Tornado immediately drew the attention of the crowd. The song begins slowly before becoming a bass-filled dance track that let members Hyeji and Hyejin exhibit their powerful vocals, getting the catchy hook “oh oh oh” stuck in everyone’s head. Eujin and, especially, Tem’s rapping simply wowed the crowd. Even though they’re rookies, 4TEN’s members are no joke and everyone in the audience recognized that pretty quickly.

: Photo Tamar Herman for KPOPme

: Photo Tamar Herman for KPOPme

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The girls’ had a pretty short set, but performed two of their own songs as well as a flawless cover of Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass. They introduced themselves, speaking in both Korean and English to the crowd. Tem, who is American, expressed how excited 4TEN was to be performing in New York. By the end of their set, the audience definitely wished that it was a bit longer to see more of what the four had to offer.

Following 4TEN was Lee Eun Ha, who was one of Korea’s most popular singers in the 70’s and 80’s. She was a perfect pick for the audience, which was mostly families. One hilarious elderly man even walked to the front of the audience and started dancing to Lee Eun Ha’s songs, amusing both the crowd and the singer.

Finally at around 4 p.m., M.I.B came to the stage, and there was palpable excitement. There were about 100 fans there who been waiting all day for the hip-hop group to get on stage, and the minute M.I.B was visible walking onto stage, those fans went absolutely crazy. Many of the elder audience members also seemed to recognize singer Kangnam from his recent variety show appearances, which are getting a lot of popularity.

: Photo Tamar Herman for KPOPme

: Photo Tamar Herman for KPOPme

5zic, $IMS, Young Cream, and Kangnam started performing Chisa Bounce as the crowd greeted them with loud cheers. The funky hip-hop track set the tone for the rest of their set- even though many people in the family-friendly audience didn’t know the group’s songs, M.I.B was just set on having fun. The members didn’t stick to a tight choreography, but instead moved freely around the stage and had fun. At one point, to the delight of fans in the audience, Kangnam jokingly even started grinding with Young Cream.

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M.I.B then introduced themselves in Korean before heading into G.D.M (Girls. Dreams. Money), Let’s Talk About You, and Money In The Building. Some audience members were wondering if one of the 4TEN members would sing the part of A-Pink’s Bomi since 4TEN and M.I.B are both from Jungle Entertainment, but sadly, none of the members joined in. M.I.B stopped to speak again, and decided to only speak English (but failed at that). Kangnam’s variety show personality appeared again and had the crowd laughing when he brought up the fact that even though he went to high school in Hawaii, he got kicked out so his English isn’t very good.

The group ended the day with Dash (Men In Black,) which seemed very appropriate considering that the Chuseok Festival took place at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the location of the 1964 World’s Fair- which was featured in the movie Men In Black. Dash (Men In Black) was definitely M.I.B’s best performance of the night, combining the member’s witty humor with their talented rap and vocal skills.

Even though M.I.B was supposed to be the last performance, up-and-coming K-Pop cover artist, Arnelle “Elly” Nonon ended the night with her flawless covers, including a fierce rendition of Winner’s Mino’s I’m Him, which she turned into I’m Her). And with that, the festivities ended.

With idols for the younger audience members, comedy and a starlet in her own right for the older audience, everyone was able to enjoy the 2014 NYC Chuseok Festival.

Check out KPOPme’s photos of the 2014 NYC Chuseok Festival.

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Did you attended 2014 NYC Chuseok Festival? Which one was your favorite performance? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear you thoughts and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.

Let’s Discuss: MBLAQ, Failures or Realists?

October 14, 2014/in Features, Let's Discuss /by Tamar Herman

In 2009, MBLAQ and Beast both debuted. MBLAQ was the clear winner –it was the group that Rain had put together; his pet project. Beast, on the other hand, was a group of “rejects” from JYP and YG and failed solo acts.

Fast forward to 2014 and the tables are completely turned. With the announcement that Lee Joon is likely leaving the group, rumors that Thunder (Cheondung) will also not renew his contract with J. Tune Camp, and Beast’s highly anticipated comeback, it’s clear to all that Beast ended up on top. Does that mean that MBLAQ has failed as idols? Perhaps so, but perhaps not also.

What Went Wrong With MBLAQ?

Many things, and nothing. The group has had popular songs, but won few awards. Only Y and This Is War won awards on music shows, while those two and Mona Lisa are the only songs by the quintet to ever be nominated for MAMA awards. Moreover, not a single MBLAQ song achieved number one on Korean charts, although multiple of their albums did gain that distinction.

Lee Joon, Thunder, and G.O have gained recognition for acting, and G.O has gained a lot of attention for his vocal and producing skills. Mir has also become renowned for his rapping skills. MBLAQ members are popular on variety shows and have featured on numerous songs. But as idols, not a single member of the group or a song has made a huge impact. People know the members’ names, but the group has never hit the top tier of idols.

Source: Tumblr via Leyez

In a world where catchy dance songs are king, MBLAQ’s R&B style hasn’t led to major success. Not a single one of MBLAQ’s Korean songs ever placed above fifth on Korean or international music charts. Several Korean songs charted at number two on the Japanese Oricon chart (Your Luv and Baby U), but otherwise, MBLAQ’s songs have never had that “hit” factor.

MBLAQ is well-known, and many people think that means that the group is successful. But a boy band that doesn’t gain recognition for its music is not necessarily ideal or something worth continuing. Lee Joon and Thunder’s desire not to renew their term with the group may be a result of the overall failure of MBLAQ as a musical act.

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Who Is To Blame? Management?

The group is a very clear case of not having one single entity organizing it. MBLAQ did pretty well before Rain entered the army at the end of 2011. Rain’s popularity had been transferred to MBLAQ since debut, and the five members are artistically talented enough to stand on their own feet. But there was always the fact that the group was the five-member version of Rain, with his style influencing the group.

Right before Rain entered the army, MBLAQ’s style changed. Stylistically similar songs like Cry, Stay, Y, Oh Yeah, etc. became Mona Lisa, Hello My Ex, It’s War, Run, etc.

Rain hasn’t touched the band since entering the army; when he came back, Rain went to Cube Entertainment. J. Tune Camp has managed every MBLAQ activity since the end of 2011. Rain’s name is still attached to the group, but his magic touch is gone.

Source: OnePackAB

Furthermore, J. Tune Camp’s parent company, J. Tune Entertainment, merged with JYP in 2009. But J. Tune Camp was left alone, showing that there are some issues with internal management at the company. Without the backing of a stable company, the guys had a lot of activities, but never really focused on being singers. Promotions as MBLAQ have come in spurts, with individual members focusing more on their individual promotions than as members of an idol group.

Five years is a good amount of time to test the waters before some of the members decided that a “career change” may be a better option, and that looks like where we are right now.

Or Maybe We Should Blame The Timing?

With more and more new idol groups every day, the group didn’t really stand a chance. At the time of debut, MBLAQ was heralded as a manly, powerful group that would be well-received in a crowd of girl groups (2009 saw the popular debuts of 2NE1, f(x), Secret, After School, T-ara, and 4Minute, and the super success of Girls’ Generation, Kara, and Wonder Girls). It was the second coming of Rain, and the only prominent rival was Beast, the “reject” group.

But then K-Pop exploded in 2010 with boy groups. INFINITE, Teen Top, DMTN, Led Apple, JYJ, ZE:A, F.CUZ, CNBLUE, and The Boss. By 2011, rookie groups began popping up left and right, male and female, making older idol groups passé.

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Or, Maybe, Nothing?

MBLAQ was supposed to be the next “nation’s idol.” However, the group never had a hit song, because of constant comebacks and the debuts of the next-big-thing. The members are talented, as a group and on their own and they’re well recognized. Their songs have done well, but MBLAQ as a whole hasn’t. There’s no one real reason –company, members, timing, chance –that made MBLAQ an idol group without a single number one hit.

But the members have been going for five years, waiting for that one hit, and it hasn’t happened. Fans are reeling from scandals, but perhaps it is time to accept that K-Pop groups do not last forever. Accepting that is key, and sometimes idols need to transition from idol-dom to celebrity-ship.

Source: Lembas via ABM

MBLAQ and its members are many things –talented, funny, handsome, etc. But they are not one thing: Korea’s top idol group. After five years, it is time for both the group and its fans to recognize that, and MBLAQ’s potential disbandment (or continuing on as a trio/quartet, depending on different rumors) should be applauded.

Idol groups always end; even long-lived groups like Big Bang, Super Junior, and Girls’ Generation won’t last forever. If MBLAQ isn’t as successful as it could be, isn’t it better for the members to realize that now, before they are too old to regret being a second tier idol group? It’s been fun, but maybe it’s a time for a change.

Source: Hello Baby via Tumblr

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