Full Dish: Cpop you should check out if you like Kpop

Kpop (Korean pop music) is one of the newer waves of music hitting the global board. From groups like BTS, Black Pink, NCT 127 and more making their way into top charts, live television shows, and stadium tours, Kpop is Big.

I've recently done my deep dives into the genre, and have come out with a lot of new music I like! But getting into the sounds of Kpop made me curious about what other parts of Asia were putting out.

Cpop has some good similarities to Kpop, some Kpop stars even have Chinese debuts and produce music in Chinese. The biggest defining differences I can find; as a person who doesn't live in China and can't read Chinese, is that while Kpop does its best to globalize by putting many things in English, Cpop is still mostly found via Chinese. So to help ease the way I've put together a helpful list of starter Cpop to get you excited for more!

1. WayV (威神V)

We'll ztart easy here. WayV is a sub unit of the group NCT. Made up of four Chinese members who have already debuted within other NCT sub units, and three new additions, WayV has a sound that is decently varried, and somewhat resembling NCT 127. They even have the Chinese version of Regular, which 127 has both an English and Korean version as well.

https://youtu.be/irXZve4QRos

2. Nine Percent (百分九少年)

Nine Percent is a group of nine boys. Their group was created via the show Idol Producer, much like Produce 101. Because of how Produce shows go this group will only exist as a whole for a year, and will disband in November (2019). There doesn't appear to be a specific sound for Nine Percent, but they do have some bangers.

https://youtu.be/q7KcaLi2zMU

3. Nex7 (乐华七子NEXT)

Nex7 is made up of 7 boys. Many of them were on Idol Producer as well! Nex7 is still new having debuted in June 2018. I don't think they've found any particular aesthetic or sound yet, and don't have much out anyhow. The song I will leave is on the harder side.

https://youtu.be/DhucI05G1kE

4. ONER (previously BC221)

ONER has four boys in its group. Also a 2018 debut group. I find ONER to have a bit of a softer poppy vibes than the previous boy groups, less impact on the rap and more on the soft vocals.

https://youtu.be/EzUGWfQdkvA

5. Mr. Tyger (Mr·钛戈)

Boy do these boys go HARD. Mr. Tyger is a group of 5 and they seem focused on some intense beats and dance moves. The video linked below is all dance all the time, and they are good at it.

https://youtu.be/Lzzu8TeiL34

6. Acrush (previously FanxyRed)

OH BOY, be still my little queer heart. Acrush is explained best as a boy group, made up of girls. Their style, their sound, their dances, all modeled after typical boy groups. And I am in Love. Look, I'll say nothing more, just look at their glory. (Yes they have softer songs too)

https://youtu.be/VgtVivlEpMg

7. Rocket Girls 101(火箭少女101)

This group of 11 girls was made from the show Produce 101 China. This group is gonna hit your craving for cute girl groups like Twice and Momoland. Their music is fun and upbeat giving a great reason to dance around and just enjoy. (I will make a small note, i didn't link it here but their song Calorie is about weight loss and denying yourself food as a fair warning.)

https://youtu.be/KuMcwwQX0mI

8. S.I.N.G. (SING女团)

Standing for Super Impassioned Net Generation, these girls bring the passion! Their music has tons of old school Chinese influence, especially in the instruments. The music is heavily electronic and super dancable.

https://youtu.be/49d95ni5J9Y

9. SNH48

SNH48 is a group consisting of a varied number of memebers. Based on the idea of AKB48, the group has many sub units and preforms in their own theater. Due to the constant rotating cast of girls there isn't a specific sound to them, however they tend toward the more refined sound rather than electronic or dance pop.

https://youtu.be/ATAKVUjYyWM

10. Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai is a solo artist who has an almost western pop sound mixed into her work. If I were ro suggest her based on a Kpop star I'd say shes comparable to Sunmi. She tends to tackle serious topics in her music, and is firmly herself. The video I have linked is about the struggles of living in society that beats you down and loving yourself.

https://youtu.be/feOq6MWeUXA

So this is the very first post about media and Asian music in general. I hope this has at least piqued your interest into Cpop! Be on the look out for a Chinese HipHop post, coming to you soon (hopefully!)