Trisha Paytas Makes K-pop Debut With “Saranghae”

On May 18, American media personality Trisha Paytas released her first-ever K-pop song, “사랑해 Saranghae,” leaving the internet both confused and oddly intrigued. While the Internet star has released a string of singles since 2014, “Saranghae” seemingly came out of left field, as Trisha is not fluent in Korean, but learned enough to sing an entire song in the language out of her love of K-pop. Although many acknowledge that her pronunciation and delivery are unintelligible, others find her efforts admirable and feel the song is much more “K-pop” than actual idol songs these days.

Since companies began leaning heavily into the Westernization of K-pop songs, more often than not, title tracks are largely composed of English lyrics with Korean sprinkled in between – or sometimes, not at all. Not only has this led to a decrease in interest from native Koreans, who feel K-pop is no longer centered around their culture, but it’s also become a nuisance for some Western fans who feel the music is losing part of what made K-pop so appealing in the first place. With Trisha Paytas, however, having “Saranghae” sung entirely in Korean (aside from the intro) was a deliberate choice to make the track feel as authentically K-pop as possible, despite not being fluent in the language.

While at first glance, this seems like a valiant effort to respect Korean culture, it also brings into question Paytas’s controversial past regarding racism towards Asians. Following the release of “Saranghae” and its respectable 200,000 first-day streams, the Internet was quick to bring up the time she created an Asian persona in 2007 named “Trishii,” a caricature of Japanese pop stars. She even filmed a music video where she wore dark face makeup, and received backlash for stereotyping Asian culture. Additionally, screenshots of past posts on her X account began circulating, where she called herself “Ching Chong” and apologized for being bad at English – that was just in 2017. Although people can change and learn from their mistakes, it’s understandable why some would feel like Paytas’s K-pop side quest is inauthentic and tone-deaf, given her controversies. Regardless of the ethical stance on the subject, “Saranghae” is surely turning out to be this year’s most baffling K-pop release so far.

Spotify Introduces “Reserved” Feature For Top Fans

Spotify has officially announced its newest feature called “Reserved,” a fan-oriented system that will hold concert tickets for premium users based on their listening habits, expected to launch in the U.S. first later this year. In a world where music fans are constantly being put through the wringer to access concert tickets through platforms like Ticketmaster and Live Nation, Spotify’s “Reserved” feature is set to address issues like ticket queues, platinum pricing, and resale ticket price-gouging. This means only an artist’s biggest fans, with high enough streams, will get early access to concert tickets before the general sale. While this feature will be eligible across genres, it’s important to question how this will affect K-pop listeners, specifically, as streaming culture has become bigger than ever. 

Over the last six or seven years, conversations surrounding K-pop groups’ popularity and global reach have become less about cultural relevance and impact and more about who has the most streams across platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. And the reason is that those streams count a great deal towards Billboard charts and other measures of success, leading many to stream overnight while they sleep – a practice that’s considered problematic as it inflates the numbers. With Spotify announcing this new feature, many automatically assumed this would only incentivize sleep streaming to become eligible for the reserved concert tickets. However, the streaming service confirms that this is not the case.

“Reserved is specifically designed with [sleep streaming] in mind,” Spotify clarified on X. “Eligibility is based on multiple signals evaluated together, and we monitor for unusual behavior to ensure offers go to real human fans.” While some are skeptical that this plan will go according to plan, it is reassuring to know Spotify’s team has already thought ahead of the problem and is attempting to factor them out. However, others aren’t too happy about this detail, especially considering certain K-pop fandoms rely on sleep streaming and the concept of looping a song or album 24/7. Regardless, the incentive of having up to two reserved concert tickets is undoubtedly going to boost K-pop artists’ streams across the board and, subsequently, their charting positions. But at least now, every fan is presumably on an equal playing field – the more you listen to your favorite artist, the higher your chances of becoming eligible. How it all plays out will be a test in and of itself.

ZEROBASEONE Earns Biggest Streaming Day With “TOP 5”

ZEROBASEONE has officially rebranded as a five-member group with their latest album, Ascend, and its R&B title track, “TOP 5.” While the original line-up made a name for itself across three years of activity, “TOP 5” sees the quintet entering new heights – earning ZB1 its biggest streaming day on Spotify with over 450,000 streams. As much as EDM and house-influenced music are currently having a moment in K-pop right now, on the other end of the spectrum, boy groups in particular are heavily leaning into a 2000s dance/R&B sound lately, and ZB1 seems to have cracked the code for the perfect balance between the two.

With the concept of “TOP 5” being much more sophisticated and alluring than the ZB1’s typical style, many are seeing the members in an entirely new light. In less than a week, the coinciding music video has been making the rounds online with K-pop fans who may have been unfamiliar with the group before, but are now tapping in and calling this one of K-pop’s best releases of the year so far. If time has shown us anything, it’s that fans love when a boy group looks, sounds, and feels like a classic boy band from the ‘90s/2000s era. From EXO’s “Call Me Baby” to MONSTA X’s “Love,” and NCT 127’s “Back 2 U (AM 01:27),” it’s hard to resist a good pop/dance/R&B number. With “TOP 5,” ZB1 is proving that a complete rebrand – especially after the departure of four members – is only as strong as its material and its commitment to the concept, full stop. Perhaps this could be the start of a whole new trajectory for ZB1 that peels back the layers of what they’re really capable of.