Music Elixir
Eavesdrop on a conversation between two friends about their favorite Asian artists and music and how music is their tonic of life.
Music Elixir
K-Pop and J-Pop contract disputes, documentaries, and industry turmoil
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The tectonic plates of K-pop are shifting beneath our feet, and we're here to make sense of the tremors. This episode dives into the legal drama surrounding NewJeans, who now face potential billion-won penalties for any activities conducted without their agency ADOR's approval. The Seoul Central District Court has spoken, and the implications for artist independence in the industry are profound.
Meanwhile, trouble brews at the top as HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk faces fraud investigations related to the company's pre-IPO phase. With BTS members preparing for their post-military service reunion, questions arise about how these corporate controversies might affect the group's future plans.
But it's not all industry turmoil – we celebrate BLACKPINK members' solo successes, including Lisa's upcoming documentary and her unexpected influence in turning the niche Labubu plush toys into global must-have items. Jennie's generous donation to Seoul National University College of Medicine highlights the positive impact these artists have beyond music.
We explore an intriguing parallel between sports and K-pop fandoms, examining how fans react when expectations aren't met – from Toronto Maple Leafs supporters burning jerseys to K-pop listeners abandoning artists. This conversation frames our excitement for Number_i's upcoming documentary series, which will follow the three members' artistic journey on Amazon Prime Video starting June 27th.
The K-pop landscape may be changing, but we're here tracking every development. Subscribe to Music Elixir to keep up with these evolving stories and join our community of thoughtful fans navigating this fascinating musical universe together.
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DJ Panic Blog:
OK ASIA
Welcome and Banter
Speaker 1Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of Music Elixir, with me Just Sarah and Just Sarah.
Speaker 2Just Sarah, because Music Elixir is Just Sarah.
Speaker 1No, I'm saying my name is Just Sarah, because you always have Ms Panic, ms DJ Panic, dj Panic, ms Panic. So you know, yeah, and I'm just Sarah.
Speaker 2Are you taking that from Just Kenty? No, actually From the song Just Kenty.
Speaker 1I didn't even think of Just.
Speaker 2Kenty.
Speaker 1I've been saying Just.
Speaker 2Sarah for ages. He took it from me. Excuse me, excuse me. No, mackenzie, my boy, he is a Pisces.
Speaker 1Yes, so am I.
Speaker 2Okay. So Miss DJ Panic over here trying to with Miss Sarah's banter over there, Just being shenanigans.
Speaker 1My saltiness, I'm just your sassiness.
Speaker 2Well, okay, anyways. So Actually I'm not salty, I'm just being silly, okay.
Speaker 1I don't know what the gut into me.
Speaker 2The edamame that I fed you. It has extra sassiness.
Speaker 1Edamame with a side of sass. There you go, there you go.
Speaker 2We are very limited with news. That are you know.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's weird.
Speaker 2It's been kind of relatively quiet, which is good. You know there have been some awards. You know, like you were saying you want to talk about the rm, he actually won an award go ahead the american music awards, the amas.
Speaker 1He got the title of best k-pop solo. Yay. So congratulations to rm. Yay, he was up against jimin and other people. Yeah, I just you know. You know how the fandom gets people are like vote for jimin. Vote for rm. Vote for jim. I mean, I'm happy, either way, the the fact that they're still being recognized, exactly considering they're in the military.
Speaker 2Yes, you know, so know so, so congrats to RM, baby Uba doing some things out there.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2I know Sarah and I were discussing that they were going to be coming out soon. Yeah, June is rolling in. I do want a date stamp. Today's date is May 31st and tomorrow will be June 1st.
Speaker 1I know, because everybody knows how we roll we. It takes us a little time between recording to actually get it out there we pre-record this episode so then we can drop.
Speaker 2That's why we do the date stamping, because when you guys hear, this is already a lot of things, some news that happened, you know, some development have happened from whatever we had talked about.
New Jeans Contract Dispute Update
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, oh hey. That's a good segue for the development of something we talked about a while ago okay new jeans. Remember the last time we talked about them they had just had the, the injunction. They weren't supposed to be doing anything exactly, and it was funny because we were like we don't know, you know if they get to keep their name, all of this. And then the very next day after we recorded they were like no, they don't get to be njz their new genes.
Speaker 1They belong to a door, you know I mean, it was just a whole big. Thing exactly but just what in the last couple of days?
Speaker 1right, yeah yeah, some more information about what's going on with the girls. They could get fined up to a billion, one per member. Oh yeah, and I I sort of had trouble understanding because the wording I was like, is it just a flat thing per member or is it per? They were talking about the individual activities that they were doing. So I was like, so for everything they did individually, are they getting hit with a hundred billion? I mean, listen to me, it could be a hundred billion, um, a billion one, or is that just each of them is getting fined that because of doing those individual activities?
Speaker 2so I found an article with all k-pop and they're saying new jeans. Prohibit from independent entertainment activities without a door. Court orders 1 billion Korean won, approximately 730,000 in US dollars. Yep, a penalty per violation. Ooh, ooh.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2Yes, so the Seoul Center District Court has ruled that K-pop girl group New Jeans is not allowed to conduct any entertainment activities independently or through third party without prior approval from their agency ADOR.
Speaker 1I mean, the court has said that you know, yeah, well, I mean, and that was like a month and a half ago that they said that's why they were changing their name, so they can do things, you know, without ADOR, right, that's why they were changing their name. So they can do things, you know, without a door Right. But you know, Neither of us are lawyers, but we were pretty sure you don't get to just decide this when you have a contract.
Speaker 2That's what they're finding out. So this I'm still reading from the article this effectively blocks the group from engaging in any activities without the agency's involvement. On may 30. Well, this is that's why it just happened.
Speaker 2Okay, yep so it just happened yesterday. Uh. So on may, uh, may 30, the 52nd civil division of the seoul central district penalties granted a door request for injunction to preserve the existing contract status and prohibits new jeans from signing separate advertisement agreements. The court states that the members of new jeans may not engage in entertainment activities independently or through the third parties without a door. Ok, so we have said that before.
Speaker 1OK, so so they haven't been fined yet.
Speaker 2They're going to get fined if they do let's see third parties without a door's prior approval or consent until first instance ruling it's made regarding the validity of the executive contract.
Speaker 1let's I want to get to the juicy part.
Speaker 2Validity. Okay, let's see, let's see, let's see. This decision is aimed to maintain the status quo during the ongoing legal dispute between New Jeans and Adore yeah, because this is not going to end Over the legitimacy of their exclusive contract, of their exclusive contract. The court also introduced a penalty clause that requires new jeans to pay 1 billion Korean won to a door for each violation of the injunction. So have they done any? Okay, let me see. The court rules that the cost of the application must also be covered by New Jeans.
Speaker 2Previously, on March 21st, the court fully accepted Adore's request for an injunction that bared New Jeans from entering into promotional or advertisement contracts outside the agency. When the members of New Jeans find an objection to the decision, the court rejected it on April 21st. Reaffirming its earlier ruling not only prevents New Jeans from pursuing independence activity, but also strengthens a door legal position regarding the fidelity of the contract. However, new Jeans continue to argue for termination of the contract, citing a breakdown of trust, suggesting that the legal conflict between the two sides is likely to intensify depending on the outcome of the main trial. So they haven't, so in other words, they haven't done any outside activities. But if they do, they will be fine.
Speaker 1Then they will be fine. Well, it's because they, prior to the injunction happening, they were doing things, and that's what the whole mess was about. You know, they were setting up with advertisers and all of this stuff. That that's what was getting them in trouble to begin with. So right this must be, yeah, their way of trying to keep them in line basically if you're under contract appearing.
Speaker 2There's a second hearing in the main lawsuit between you know, new jeans and adore, scheduled on june 5 wow so that's pretty soon all right.
HYBE Chairman Investigation
Speaker 1so actually this was something I saw. This article that I'm looking at is just from today. We were just talking about BTS coming back, right? Did you see the news that HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk under investigation for fraud?
Speaker 2Oh yeah, I saw that too.
Speaker 1Whoa. Hybe is having some trouble with the whole Adore and New Jeans thing, now this. Hybe is having some trouble with the whole Adore and New Jeans thing, now this. So basically, this is a fairly new story in that BTS's agency, hybe, is facing scrutiny, as chairman Bang Si-hyuk is investigated for alleged fraud and unfair trading. Recent claims have suggested that he misled investors during Hybe's pre-IPO phase, leading to concerns about the group's upcoming reunion after military service. I don't see why what he did should affect them but that's just me.
Speaker 1This was Mint. It's the source that I'm looking at. Okay, it popped up on my Google News feed, so I clicked on the article.
Speaker 2We're talking about them and they're just going to pop up. You know, it just happened.
Speaker 1Right, let me put this on your feed. This is still fairly new breaking, obviously, if it came out today. They're just saying that local media reports say the financial supervisory service is examining claims that Bang misled early investors during Hybe's pre-IPO phase in 2019.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh Investigators are said to have evidence that Bang privately told some institutional investors that a public listing was unlikely. Yeah, wow, yeah, wow, okay, this has been so. They've been investigating him for a few years now. Wow, that's well. I mean, of course, that is how things get found out. They start looking into, especially because Hybe acquired all those oh yeah, smaller groups of labels and stuff.
Speaker 2Well, remember, he was a major stakeholder for SM Entertainment. He took a lot of those shares, you know. And now this you know, I want to.
Speaker 1I'm just reading this it's like yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2Now more is going to come out. Now did you hear that 10, I think it's called Tencent Entertainment or company? They're from China. They are buying a lot of the SM entertainment.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2And cacao and all that stuff. So now there's's gonna be chinese uh, they call it chinese money going out into the k-pop industry. And I know before, before, many, many, many, many. I want to say over 10 years ago there was a big hoopla china didn't want anything with k-pop. But now china wants things with k-pop uh, to make money. So that's, that's something that just heard about. I'm not done a deep dive, but that seems to be like what's going on. It just sounds like k-pop is hurting for money yeah, well, imploding, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Well, this is um back to this news article real quick. They're're saying that neither Hib nor the FSS has confirmed the full details of the case. Both have declined to deny the investigation's existence. So, basically, you know, there's a lot of rumors and things being said. Neither side is saying, well, no, we're not being investigated. But neither side is saying this is what we're being investigated for. You know what I mean, right? So this is going to be one of those like more breaking news, and it's just sort of weird that this also happened on the heels of someone managed to hack JK's shares in the company. Oh no, and we're like selling them off like stole, yeah so it's all his shares.
Speaker 2Is there an article?
Speaker 1on that. Yeah, I, you know, I saw it very briefly. I wanted us to talk about it and then life happened and we didn't get together for a couple of weeks, right, but like it got caught quickly and sort of nipped in the bud. But I remember I wanted to talk about I have no idea where articles are about it, but again interesting that that happened. And now all of a sudden they're like yeah, we're gonna shake down bang pd, for I mean you know, wow yeah, wtf going on and this is it's happened with a lot of companies.
Speaker 1I mean, look at all of the changeovers people leaving companies.
Speaker 2These companies now are hurting for money. I always think they just get too big and then they don't know how to handle it. And then now they're hurting for money well, they spread themselves too thin. I don't know you gave me a face.
Speaker 1You made a look.
Speaker 2No, it's okay.
Speaker 1Wow, what do you mean?
Speaker 2Well, I was like, did I?
Speaker 1just say something wrong.
Speaker 2No, you didn't. I'm just like, I'm just. This is me pondering.
Speaker 1Just so everybody knows, when panic's pondering she looks angry. I was like, what did I say?
Speaker 2No, no, you're fine, you are fine.
Speaker 1You're fine, you are fine, you're fine. It's like hmm well, we were.
Speaker 2I mean, we've sort of talked about this a while back.
Speaker 1We were like what's going? K-pop's like okay falling apart.
Speaker 2You know you and I were really huge in the woo woo and remember that time that I showed you that somebody was actually putting on consignment a bts signed first, you know, cd signed, yeah, and I was like this is an omen. If there's people selling out really precious like memorabilia from their faves, things are going down well, that could have been.
Speaker 1That could have also been something they got off of, like eBay. It may not be a personal memory for them. It might have just been like I'm a collector and I want this. But yes, even so, now being the person putting it on consignment.
Speaker 2Because yeah, it was asked like why are you giving us for consignment? It's like I'm just not into K-pop anymore, right.
Speaker 1I'm like whoa.
Speaker 2But that's like OK, Whoa, it's like I'm just not into K-pop anymore.
Speaker 1Right, I'm like whoa, but that's like. Okay, whoa, like sign copy, yeah, I know, but if she bought it or they bought it from someone else, it's not their personal memory. So this is just someone who's like I'm not into this anymore and I don't want to buy, you know?
BlackPink Solo Projects
Speaker 2I mean it's kind of a pain in the butt to sell stuff online. You know, that's just when somebody's just doing that. It's just like they're done. It's done. I'm thinking also for family, and I love hockey. Big hoopla happened. Okay, I'm going to go talk about this is a different fandom, but it's kind of like similar. It's a different fandom. This is hockey fandom. The Toronto Leafs we were like so rooting for them to like go to the Stanley Cup. They yuff up. The fans were so pissed off that in the middle of the last game they were throwing their jerseys at them, like in the middle of plays, throwing it at the rink, throwing it at the players. I was like that's so disrespectful.
Speaker 1I mean going outside burning their jerseys and I'm like, well, I mean, did the, did the team themselves be like, oh well, we just we're not into dealing with this anymore, we're just gonna half-ass play is this like or is this just? Fans are like fans are angry us. Yes, and that's the problem. Yes, when fans start to think that their sports figures, idols, actors, actresses owe them something, so no, okay.
Speaker 2So, with that being said, the actual leafs. The toronto leaves. No company, not company, but you know. Team said yeah, they said, we understand your frustrations and what you're doing with the memorabilia I mean we'll prefer. If you don't want it, please donate it to us.
Speaker 1Yeah, give it to us.
Speaker 2We do have fans who do want to really want them. So I'm like I'm on. I mean, yeah, it sucks, they lost their season. I mean I was really. I was like finally the Leafs, yay, but I'm not going to. I do have my own jersey. I'm not going to be out there burning it and be like this is most likely. These are fans who have been paying money you know gambling their money and you know, I just I just see that I don't know. This is my opinion, but I mean throwing it.
Speaker 1It's like well, I mean, you know, you want your team to win, yeah, you want you know. Same thing with music. You want your artists to get the awards. Actors and actresses, you want them to get the awards? Yep, but guess what? There's only one winner, yes, okay. So out of all the teams, out of all the musicians, out of all the actors and actresses only one sarah's gonna cry now.
Speaker 2Only one, not my favorite, but it's only one. So yeah, going back to the k-pop, I think we're gonna be seeing, I think, and that's been snowballing. I just when I saw that and I was like why, would why? And I was like thinking, oh no, you know, it's the premonitions. You know these are things are happening. I'm like these are premonitions, these are just. You know, I'm not saying that bts is gonna go downhill, but I'm thinking of the industry in general.
Speaker 1Well, the industry and also again think about how did you feel seeing those Toronto fans throwing their stuff and burning their stuff? You're like what the F.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, I was angry and I'm like that is so disrespectful.
Speaker 1So it's the same thing in fandoms, when you see someone disrespecting your artist or you know, your favorite member or whatever people get. You know there's both sides of it the people who are like, disappointed in it, and the people who are like, what is your problem? Okay, fine, we're all a little disappointed that you know they didn't win or they didn't, but like, why are you losing your mind over?
Speaker 2it Exactly. Of course not everybody likes me, or you it exactly. Of course not everybody like me or you I give kudos to those that that team has actually gone so far this year. I am so proud they actually made it to that part. But now there's others that are just like you know. They're way too invested.
Speaker 1So anyways, but that's yeah, that's how fandoms fans it comes from fanatic, which is people who are like over the top involved, and I mean we consider ourselves fans of things. But like unless my artist or my favorite team or actor, actress, whatever, does something like completely heinous.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, I'm usually like.
Speaker 1You know what I mean. I want them to do well. Well, if they don't do well, I don't damn them for it. I don't say well, why didn't you win the right, the academy award? Why didn't you win the emmy? Why didn't you win the, the grammy, or the billboard or the you know, I mean like I I just don't understand holding it against them exactly for for being in the the mix with thousands of other people. Yeah, I don't know. It's just okay. Again, your team loses.
Speaker 2Lots of other teams lost oh yeah, it's just how it goes. Sarah can tell you one winner the fantasy, fantasy football team over here. Oh my God, my player got injured. My player is down. My player, I'm not doing good, I'm like okay.
Speaker 1Someone got traded yeah.
Speaker 2This is for funsies, right.
Speaker 1Sarah, Actually it's funny.
Speaker 1I think so, it's funny that you're talking about that, because in the middle of our fantasy football season I don't know why it showed up, but I wound up seeing this reel on my Instagram Yep, and it was a little boy having a meltdown about his fantasy football team and it was exactly what I had been saying to you. Only he was in tears. He's like so-and-so got hurt, hurt, it's so, it's so been put on the bench and then he goes and this other guy just sucks. It's like I feel you kid, I, I do.
Speaker 2That's how I feel about my team sometimes you would be like say with me you want to go out with ice cream, or me let's go to L4 ice cream. We feel sad. Oh my God, that was funny.
Speaker 1But like that's. The difference is I'm just like, well, I don't know what to do. My whole team is injured, like this kid was like crying and just it ends with a and so it sucks. They've been grooming this kid like nine years old, oh my god it's like oh my god oh geez, there you go. This kid's been groomed for the football yeah, fanatics, but he's gonna be that fan that's throwing his jersey out on the thing and being like wow, yeah, making bonfires with their stuff. Yeah, exactly, oh, my God Anyway.
Speaker 2Let's go with some happy news.
Speaker 1Yeah, you were saying something about, okay.
Speaker 2Okay, so this one is so Blackpink. Lisa to release a solo career documentary what that's awesome.
Speaker 1As you know, that wasn't the Blackpink I thought you were going to talk about no, but we're talking.
Speaker 2There's another one? Yes, that we can. We'll discuss. So on May 30, sony Music Vision held a content showcase event in Los Angeles, california, where it announced that a new solo documentary film featuring Blackpink Lisa is in production. Yay, so the film will chronicle approximately one year of Lisa's journey following her solo debut, offering an in-depth look into her independent career and creativity, creative vision. The documentary uh will feature various aspects of her life, including behind the scenes footage from the making of her debut album rock star, her first solo performance at kochana, her acting ventures and personal moments spent with her family. Oh, that's cool, definitely. So I don't know how and I'll see if there's any information on how is that gonna come out? Uh, meanwhile, lisa oh, lisa's gonna kick off her 2025 black pink world tour memories what well black pink is going on right okay maybe she's gonna have a you know individual camera following her around during the tour.
Speaker 1I don't know let's see.
Speaker 2Um oh so director sue kim, who previously directed apple tv plus documentary where welcome to k-Pop Idol series, is at the helms of the project. So no, ok, doesn't say when is it going to be released, but is in the making. So that's awesome, so we're looking forward to that. Yay, we do have another news on one of the Blackpink members. Go ahead.
Speaker 1Well, I was going to say, is this the one about Jenny, right?
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Okay, so Blackpink's Jenny makes a generous donation to Seoul National University College of Medicine. On May 30th, the Seoul National University College of Medicine revealed Jenny donated 100 million won which is approximately $72,700, to the College of Medicine's Development Fund in order to help foster warm-hearted talent that will heal the world. This is on Soompi, just so everybody knows. Jenny's donation will go towards strengthening. Wow, the two of us are just not working. Working it with the words today I can.
Speaker 2For some reason I can't, but I don't know. I'm not going easy for you because english is your first language.
Speaker 1It doesn't matter when you're having trouble with the word, I can think of it and say it when I'm doing it, so, anyway. So jenny's donation will go towards strengthening the seoul national university college of medicine's education and research environment, as well as fostering talent with social empathy. Awesome, yeah, the dean of the university their name is kim jong-un said we, we are grateful to Jenny, who has thoughtfully gone beyond mere financial support by becoming a positive influence. Yay, we will help our students grow into leaders with the traits of tolerance, acceptance, empathy, communication, sacrifice and consideration, so that they can live up to the public's expectations. And this is actually through her agency, auditelier. Awesome, oh, wait a minute. Oh, no, no, this is in addition to her company. Oh, okay, okay, that donated back in 2023 as well. So she's done it as her own thing, and now, as the Blackpink Got it Okay, wow, wow as well. So she's she's done it as her own thing and now, as the black pig got it okay, wow, wow. So jenny is just a big supporter of the university of college of medicine.
Kiss of Life's Continuing Controversy
Speaker 2Nice go, jenny exactly, thank you, thank you. Thank you, I mean I'm not in that college, but I mean thank you. I mean somebody's investing in medicine, you know all right, so I have another one for um, this is another lisa. New. Back to lisa. This is from, uh, old k-pop. Now, this is because, okay, black pink lisa's influence fuels explosive demand and pushes the one's niche labub Boo plush toy into pop culture spotlight. You have no idea about the La Boo Boo, right? No, I do not. Good that you don't know about the La Boo Boo. Why do I know about the La Boo Boo? Because family is all about the La Boo Boo. La Boo Boo, la Boo Boo, okay. Moving on. Yeah, la Boo Boo, okay. So keep reading on this article. Recently renowned fashion magazine vogue italia and teen vogue have highlighted the important role played by blackpink's lisa in popularizing the la boo boo plush toy, sparkling a world search and demand and establishing the plush as a must-have cultural icon.
Speaker 1Uh, yeah, so is. Is it just a brand or is it a particular?
Number I Documentary Announcement
Speaker 2labubu, a quirky and adorable character plush originally designed by Korean illustrator Stephen Lee, had a modest fan base before Lisa's enthusiasm and visible endorsement propelled it onto the global stage. Her frequent appearance with labubu themed merchandise and accessories and social media and my social media post live performances and fan events have captured the hearts of millions worldwide. Okay, no, there's another showing pictures of her with her labubu. How she's dressing her labubus? She has small labubus, large labubus, you know. So, according to Vogue, italian and Lisa's influence extends beyond the return of music, seamlessly bringing fashion, pop culture and collectibles. The magazine praised her instinctive ability to spot and amplify niche trends, noting how her endorsement transformed La Boo Boo from a niche item into an international phenomenon, embracing by fans and fashion insiders alike. Uh, similarly, ting vogue emphasized lisa role as shaping global youth culture. Nothing that her passionate promotion of labubu plushies has fueled as an entire fashion has crossed. Yes, true, it's true, because these Labubu things family has three Labubus.
Speaker 1Wow, yes.
Speaker 2And if it wasn't for Lisa, nobody knew about these Labubus.
Speaker 1Well, even with Lisa, I had not heard of Labubus. Good, there you go.
Speaker 2You don't want to know about the Labubus, but I can give you a rundown about the Labubus. The Labubus, but I can give you a rundown about the Labubus. The Labubus was the creator of Labubus loved the Smurfs so he created these monster series. So the Labubus are all one gender, okay. But then they have like a Papa Labubu. He's called oh my God, momokoko I forgot Something, momo something. La bubu. He's called oh my god, momo coco. I forgot something, momo something. Then you have a girl, la bubu, that it was created and there's only one girl and she's pink and has like a heart nose and whatever. She's kind of like supposedly the smurfette okay so it was, you know, a story.
Speaker 2It was niche because it was kind of like um, I want to say cartoons. But lisa got to get into the monster series. She liked the labubus, she started wearing the labubus and now people are like what is that? I need to have one of those. Pop mart is the creator of all these plushies and they come out of china okay, I actually very quickly looked up.
Speaker 1I see them kind of horrifying they have an evil grin yeah, well, that's what I I was like. It's this big tooth, thick grin.
Speaker 2They all seem to be wearing, uh like bunny suits uh, no, those are bodies, and they're not bunnies, they're monsters. No, they're elves.
Speaker 1They say they're monsters. Yes, but they look like they're wearing bunny suits Because their face is inside this furry thing that has ears. I know they're supposed to be monsters, but they just look like weird little creatures dressed in bunny suits to me.
Speaker 2Lisa loves them and because she started supporting her, her love to la boo boo's. Now everybody needs to have a la boo boo barbapapa's, do you remember them?
Speaker 1no, that's what la boo boo. It's reminding me of barbapapa. Okay, they were just these amorphous things and it was a whole family, sort of the same thing, only it was a cartoon series. A long time anyways, all right.
Speaker 2So so the, the labubus, the power of lisa and you know, hey, everybody gotta have a labubu now yeah, well, I was gonna say everything's like out of stock, everything's out of stock.
Speaker 1So, yes, the whole world has gone and bought labubus. Yep, except for the new stuff just coming out yep, you can't get labubus.
Speaker 2Yep, wow no, labubu for you that's crazy.
Speaker 1So what else if we? Oh, no, what? Happened like oh no well, remember we we were talking about um k-con dropping kiss of life oh my god, yeah well on all k-pop. I just saw the headline kiss of life's. Julie makes a third apology for the group's birthday. Live stream controversy.
Speaker 2Girl, you guys are done. No, they're done.
Speaker 1During a recent live stream, Julie took the opportunity to discuss the controversy in more detail and apologize once again for any harm the group's action caused.
Speaker 2They're lucky if they have any fans left. I know right, but I I'm sorry, like we said previously on an episode you have just put a nail on your coffin of, for your interest, for you, for your as a performer, I'm sorry. This group is now done. Yeah, oh, they're maybe not done in korea, but internationally a lot of people take that as an offense. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, and I not never saw the string, so I really can't say much.
Speaker 1But if fans are like, you're not supposed to, you know the whole culture, appropriation yeah, well, they've spent the last two months reflecting on the actions and how they could learn to do better in the future.
Speaker 2Well, it's so funny that you know there's another third apology because supposedly yesterday they dropped a teaser for their new single oh really. Yeah, I'm like girls, are you trying? Are you trying because it's not like I said, maybe korean fans, anything outside that? Good luck yeah, wow, just a third apology yeah, that's like, no, that's like they know very well they have, they bury themselves, they're, they're done, they're done so anyway, sorry, just had to.
Speaker 1I was like, oh no, I saw their name in the news. I was like what? Now, that's a tough thing to live down. Yeah, it really is. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2So I found natalie this is now a translated one, because natalie in japan does not have um, you know english? Uh, it's only japanese. But I found an article that, um, there's gonna be a documentary that follows number I for a year, revealing the unimaginable side of the three members.
Speaker 2Yay, so lisa's doing a documentary, and now number I is also, uh, in the works for a documentary is good, so again, another one. They are being following and documenting things for about a year. Like I said, this is now roughly translated from Google Translate, so please bear with me if things are not said, because, again, natalie Magazine, natalie is only in Japan. So it has been decided that Number Eye documentary, the I, what a number will be exclusively distributed on prime video. Episode one and two will be distributed on june 27th and episode three and four on july 4th. Okay, wow, so. Okay, so it's gonna be on prime video, but will that be worldwide? Hmm, well, you know to be has been very worldwide, have been, you know, giving also international fans uh, uh, music for to listen and then other activities for you know, if you're not in japan, so for us to see.
Speaker 2So, on, number I was announced as a group on Tokyo Dome on October 2023. And since their debut on New Year's Day on 2024, they have been walking a unique path. I is a four-part series that follows them closely over the course of a year, starting on May of 2024, and shows a side of the three members that is unimaginable the glamorous public stage, while searching for their own identity which we have been seeing on songs and also on the way they present themselves. The three takes every production seriously which we have seen, so the docu-series looks at them from perspective of the creators who support them and through newly short interviews with each member, we get a glimpse into how Number I is made. Oh my God, that's so awesome. This is great. I mean we have talked about Noma Ai, you know, being now kind of independent not really independent with the 2B, but they're doing things kind of like their way.
Speaker 1On their own terms. Yeah, exactly With 2B they've been able to experiment, spread their wings and really show who they are.
Speaker 2yes, and we talked about that right on our last yes was it the rants and the last song that we got the?
Speaker 2rants around me and we did psycho, yep, yep which it was, and we're like, oh my god, this is so him, you know it, that's awesome. So you know, when people they're like, oh no, they left the group, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, me, whatever. But you know what? Because you know they they've, you can tell they felt they needed to spread their wings. They didn't feel like a talent, they didn't feel like they were able to be, to be an artist. I'm so, I'm so happy and proud of for them yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1Um. Well, and this is what we're talking about with fans. As much as we loved the group they were part of before, as a group, we are completely impressed, and now fans of them, as who they are now, yep number I, you roll with it. If you like the music and you like the artists, you, you support them exactly for as long as you can for as long as they you know, they still in activities you know yep some wow, awesome so look forward to that, yeah definitely, I think it's.
Speaker 2Yeah, we do have prime, so cool, oh yes, so yeah, so that was saying episode one and two will be on June 27th and then three and four will be on July 4th. Alright, yay, unless you want to wait till all of them are out and then see them all at once, which will be July 4th you know, yeah, we got the deal exactly. Have a party, have a number, I party. Docu-series, documentary, yay, cool, all right, anything else, miss sierra, I don't have anything else?
Closing Thoughts and Outro
Speaker 1no, I don't really think I do either. Just everybody in BTS coming back because they are planning something. Oh yeah, some sort of little gathering get together. So, let's see what happens.
Speaker 2All right On that note. All right. So thank you everybody for listening to this Ransom Rambling Music Elixir Ransom Ramblings. Could you please rate, review and share, share, share and also be kind to give five stars, because we love our constellations.
Speaker 1And also become a subscriber, because you'll be helping us maintain the podcast running and maintain the archive of previous episodes.
Speaker 2Yeah, for some fans out there. They like to go back to the archive, they just go back to it. So please become a subscriber so we can keep those up. You know, please keep all those episodes available for everyone. Please, please All right available for everyone. Please, please, all right, anyways, till next time. Till next time, bye-bye.
Speaker 1Bye-bye.
Speaker 2I mean, we don't categorize us as comedians. Yeah no, we're not.
Speaker 1We're not official like some sort of stand-up, no, no, we just like to have fun, yeah, and hopefully we are entertaining like comedians, because apparently we say funny stuff all the time without really realizing it. I know People are like you were so funny and we're like oh well, we were seriously talking about it, we were trying to be serious about this subject. Apparently, we failed. We were just funny, but that's okay. Cause that's what makes it, like you know, being part of a conversation. As we've said before, you know you're you're listening in or you're, you know, part of it, or whatever.
Speaker 1Hanging out with friends.
Speaker 2These episodes are open discussion. You know some of you have thank you very much part of it, or whatever, hanging out with friends. These episodes are open discussion. You know some of you have thank you very much for participating on some of our discussions. Yes, let's go.