Girl groups are dominating K-pop in 2023 – but how are rookie boybands responding?

It’s no secret that, in the world of K-pop in 2023, most of the scene’s focus is on the women. Girl groups are dominating both live performances and releases, be that NewJeans redefining what it means to be monster rookies or IVE and LE SSERAFIM presenting new, imaginative ways forward for showcasing cool confidence in their songs. At long last, it feels like the pendulum of attention has resolutely swung in favour of the ladies, and they’re more than justifying that momentum.

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Just over a year ago, NME complained about the over-saturation of the girl crush concept amongst fourth generation girl groups, bemoaning the lack of originality, diversity and excitement within that identity. In the months since, though, K-pop’s girl groups have shone with refreshing new takes and sounds that thrillingly fall out of step with trends, carving their own path on their own terms.

It’s a turn of events that is much-deserved and brilliantly exciting to see, but one that puts the previously dominant boybands in the scene’s backseat. There hasn’t been a year in recent memory where there’s been less hype for the rookie male groups and, while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does make how those bands are stepping up in response all the more interesting.

Much like girl crush was starting to feel like an over-worn, tired concept a little over a year ago, new releases from K-pop boybands have become increasingly predictable. Alongside big hooks, you can expect EDM drops and wonky, discordant melodies; a wobbly mesh of sounds that feels like it’s about to topple over only to be saved by a juggernaut of a chorus. It’s by no means bad – but it doesn’t exactly capture the imagination in the same way that rookie girl groups’ releases are doing right now.

Of the emerging boybands in the last 12 months, only a handful are really doing something exciting and different; and executing their individual approaches successfully. The Zico-produced BOYNEXTDOOR are, of the current crop, the act with the biggest hype around them and, while that is likely because of the artist behind them, their debut release felt like it justified that attention. Like NewJeans last year, the six-member group felt like it was paying little attention to trends and doing something completely idiosyncratic – in this case, light, bright and youthful pop shot through with wide-eyed, puppyish energy.

In other pockets of K-pop, KQ Entertainment’s xikers made a strong first impression with ‘HOUSE OF TRICKY: Doorbell Ringing’, a mini-album that something strayed into that noisy, wobbly territory, but put enough of a focus on hip-hop to make them feel slightly separate from the pack. The nine-member XODIAC only debuted in March, but their first release, ‘Throw A Dice’, serves up an eclectic mix of noirish R&B, tender piano ballads and more upbeat jams that move in their own lane, while the likes of LUN8 and The New Six mine more ‘80s influences, combining metallic synth-pop with rock and funk.

For every group making the effort to try their hand at something new, though, there’s a boyband still delving into discordance. Both Trendz and Blank2y feel like promising young acts hampered by a dedication to this sound – where once it might have been an innovative style to sit in, these days it feels too tried, too tested, too well-done. It’s early days in any of these groups’ careers and the releases they’ve put out so far are certainly not worthy of writing them off but they’re going to have to pull something a lot fresher out of the bag if they’re going to have any hopes of keeping up with their female counterparts right now.

Later this month, another boyband will debut with the hopes of inspiring excitement across K-pop. ZEROBASEONE, the new group created from the reality competition Boys Planet, are BOYNEXTDOOR’s only rivals when it comes to hype, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to deliver anything near as fresh. For the sake of the K-pop scene as a whole, here’s hoping they can.

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