Managing Military Enlistments in a Changing K-pop Industry
The Hallyu industry has an inherent brake in its system: mandatory military enlistment for all able-bodied men aged 18–35. In 2018, the maximum ag…
Tag: Monsta X
Music & Lyrics: God Save the Queens
There’s something special about the idea of queens. Often thought of as one half of a pair, queens have long captivated the mind as an all-too-rar…
Music & Lyrics: Rain
The soothing sound. The distinctive smell. The cool feeling. Rain is such a sensory phenomenon that it’s almost impossible not to have our emotion…
Monsta X Bare Their Teeth with “Alligator”
K-pop already has its fair share of wolves, gorillas, lions, cats and butterflies. With Monsta X’s latest comeback, a powerful armored reptile can…
For Your Viewing Pleasure: Shades of Azure
Welcome back to another installment of For Your Viewing Pleasure, where we take time out of the week to curate a set of photos from the K-pop lan…
Side B: A Deeper Side to Monsta X
Monsta X are the bad boys of the K-pop world, or that’s how I like to think of them. Among all other boy groups, Monsta X has a very masculine ima…
The Submerged Meanings of Bathtubs in K-pop MVs
You might have noticed a common, albeit peculiar, trope in many K-pop MVs: the presence of a bathtub. They come in various sizes, shapes, and fill…
Monsta X Channel Their Inner Monster for “Shoot Out”
Monsta X have always explored dark concepts accompanied by rock and trap-based music. They definitely have a formula when it comes to their MVs: they f…
Monsta X Grows Their Popularity with “The Connect” Concert
Monsta X is a fairly new K-Pop group that has been quickly building their American fanbase since their debut in 2015. They have participated in KCON tw…
Music and Lyrics: Holding Out For A Hero
Heroes are a fact of life. They exist in every culture, every language. After all, heroes are the foundation of storytelling—they’re the person we all …