Hello hello hello! Well a lot has been happening throughout December in the K-pop world and in my world. So I have to send apologies, I didn’t update at all because December is normally an extra busy month for me and this year was no exception.
Christmas and New Year was relatively relaxing and was wonderful, so although I am sorry I didn’t get to catch up with you all, I am thankful for the break!
We had a low key and quieter Christmas than usual but I think it’s what we all needed and it was so wonderful to spend so much time together crafting and playing games and just enjoying each other’s company!
And on Christmas Day, (I know soooo poorly planned) my eldest turned 12! Time is flying so quickly and I am happy but sad. Sad so much time is passing so quickly but excited for the future at the same time.
Enough about my family Christmas, So what about K-pop I hear you shout!
Well it has been an emotional rollercoaster of a month really. I tried to avoid social media for a while because I was very sad about Jins enlistment, not because I don’t want him to go, which obviously we don’t really want them to go but we know they must and I am so proud of him and all the men for wanting to do their duty as do all men in South Korea. I was just a little sad because he was the first and it means its real. Eventually all of them will be going to serve and it was an absolute – that there will be no OT7 concerts for a long while yet.
However, following from Hobis successful solo album, Jin has released a solo single, Joon has released his first solo album and we keep hearing sneaky rumours about the other members activities. As well as continuing surprise episodes of Run BTS keeping us entertained. All in all, its still amazing being ARMY and supporting BTS. And I will continue to do so forever more, even with the sad times, but that just makes the happier times even better.
Just a little hello from me! I know I have been absent the last year or so! Covid took its toll on me mentally, physically and creatively.
But I am back and ready to explore more of the things I love! So basically all things Kpop and kdrama!
Train to London for Eric Nam
However, I’ve decided I want to do a whole rebrand to really showcase what I want my blog to be about – so I am going to close my blog for a short while whilst I prepare my brand new blog dedicated to my journey of discovery (self and all things Korean 😍) – but please do pop back and check it out when I relaunch!
A little sneak preview of my new logo!
I cannot wait to relaunch because we all have a very exciting few months ahead of us! In fact my fun times already started with my first post covid concert (Eric Nam in London) which as soon as the blog relaunches I will be telling you all about!
Please stick around and bear with me and hopefully see you soon! 😍
Tina T (aka Sopey, aka butterfly child)
This is my last post on wordpress and I hope you will join me over on my all new shiny blog – HEART AND SEOUL (https://www.heartsandseoul.co.uk)
So it appears my scheduled posts weren’t posting. Why you ask? Well obviously I decided I had had enough of 2020 and decided to schedule my posts for 2021. 🤦🏻♀️
Anyway, back on track… I know it’s not Monday but this was supposed to be shared last week, so this week you will be getting a two for one deal on music video madness!
Hello Everyone! How was your weekend?
So for this weeks music video madness, we are really pushing the boundaries…. we are venturing out of the kpop bubble. I love music, all music, although I am currently far, far into my kpop bubble so it will come back round to kpop before the end of this blog post trust me!
Onto the video, I love me some Bruno Mars (maybe not as much as my best friend but still a huge amount), and when my bestie introduced me to Versace on the Floor, well I was floored to be honest. It is one of my all time favourite songs ever, and the music video… wow, just wow!
Here see for yourself…
Not only does Bruno Mars shine like the super star he is, like always but Zendaya is stunningly beautiful! The whole video is bathed in sex appeal and is sleek, sassy, sexy and wonderful.
The song itself, might not be the most amazing storyline or carry a serious message but it is smoking hot and does what it says on the can. It is easy listening for snuggling up to your loved one and enjoying a romantic evening or getting right down to the hot and steamy. 😉
Now, onto the Kpop angle – lets go back to last year. I had fallen hard for BTS and enjoyed my BTS bubble. I knew of other kpop groups but I was keeping them at arms length. I didn’t think my heart or bank balance could afford any more kpop groups (my bank balance still feels the pressure but my heart is full to bursting with all my kpop loves, and still has room for more I think). Anywho, there I am, falling into a youtube spiral of music video mayhem (nothing has changed), and I stumble into a Bruno Mars shaped hole and think to myself “ooh, lets find versace on the floor”, and what do I stumble across but Monsta X – a kpop group I had heard of and enjoyed their music but I hadn’t looked too closely before – cover of Versace on the Floor. I think it might have been love at first sight, the vocals, the rap, the dancing…. the leather trousers had no bearing on my new found love whatsoever.
It soon became apparent, that I love music and Kpop is no exception. BTS will always be my ultimate group, as they are just so special to me but I love discovering new groups to love and follow. And yes, I soon stumbled more into the Monsta X world and for a while I was triple biased but soon Kihyun just overtook. His vocal range and beautiful face, just how could you not fall in love?
Are you a monbebe? Who is your bias? what’s your favourite music video? How did you stumble into the monsta x or kpop hole? Tell me your story.
I am currently still in love with the whole English album All about Luv! The songs speak to me as they are somewhat naughty and I just love that. I didn’t think I would love an all English album as the point of liking kpop is the Korean but its turns out Monsta X are just amazing! I listen to most of the songs daily, and I still love them which for me is a clear sign, that the group, the album and songs are winners.
Hi Guys!!! So I really wanted to get back to writing but I always have so much going on and I am a winging it kind of girl in the most part which is fine for our exiting and chaotic life but it does mean I don’t blog as much as I would like … so for my blog I’ve decided I need to set some posts that I will try to post every week.
This works for my studying too. I am learning Korean and at first I was winging that too, but I wasn’t getting very far and I was getting frustrated. So I set myself the task of studying for 4-5 hours between Thursday and Sunday which gives me enough leeway for us to still do all the fun stuff we want to do but I also feel like I’ve done enough studying that I have achieved something.
My plan is to do something similar with my blog. So for Mondays, I am going to discuss a music video my choice, although I am happy to take suggestions and watch some new ones I have never seen before. (This will work well with my children’s target – they would like to start doing reaction videos to kpop music videos too – so figured we could work together to motivate each other. Plus we all love a kpop video)
So for now – welcome to Music Video Monday!
The first video I am going to share with you, is the first video that I saw and it really made me take notice.
Just in case you are new to my blog- I knew who BTS was in October 2018, but it took me a little bit to really take notice. By December 2018, I was already falling down the hole and was on my journey – but I had only seen live videos of them at this point. I saw them perform idol on Graham Norton back in October, but I didn’t truly fall until I rewatched the episode and saw the whole interview with the members in December. I added Idol, Mic Drop and No More Dream to my Spotify playlist and that was that. And then I watched my first music video (discussed below) and after that I just had to know who they were. So I Googled them and you all know the rest of the story as I bet it is very similar to yours… and the rest they say is history.
My first music video I chose was BTS – DNA!
I think DNA is a really good first video for me, as its bright and exciting. The visuals are stunning, the tune is catchy and it just screams TINA look at us! Or at least I think it did. 😆
I had pretty much chosen my bias from the very first time I saw him on Graham Norton but of course, I did not know what a bias was. So when I first saw this, which was the first official music video I ever saw, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him but technically it was before I had a bias, but actually has a bias. You know what I mean.
Look at him… of course he was going to be my bias. He is literal sunshine 🥰
I had heard idol, no more dream and mic drop at this point. So when I went seeking out BTS on YouTube, I didn’t want a song I had already heard. So back in Decemebr 2018… I sought out a BTS song I hadn’t heard yet and just picked one from the thumbnail basically. Back then the BTS channel looked a little different to now, and DNA stood out so in I went….
So, first the music… DNA is a really upbeat and exciting track. Released back in 2017 for love yourself:her and also featuring on Love Yourself: Answer and as of the 1st of June 2020, it has received over 1 billion views. In 2018, Billboard ranked it 49 on the 100 greatest boy band songs of all time.
It has a hip hop vibe but is more than that, it kicks off with a whistle as the members dance in time and it almost has an EDM /hip hop vibe. I now believe you cannot place BTS songs easily in genres. They span so many genres and are much more than just a boy band.
When I first some of the dancing to DNA I was stunned and in awe, and I journeyed further into the wonderful world of Kpop it just keeps getting better and better. But nothing will quite be the same as when I go back and watch BTS videos. The dancing, the choreography, the timings and watching the members dance so in sync still excites me as much as it did on that very first watch.
What was your first Kpop music video? What do you think to DNA?
If you are ARMY, leave me a comment. What was your first bts music video?
Not a kpop stan. What did you think to DNA? Its bright right? And exciting?
See you next week!
BC 💜☀️
Whilst I’ve got your attention, a little bit of a humble brag and advertisement for my friend Beth over at art / pins by kierans mother. Just dropped her first pin design… check it out! Agust D2 Daechwita in red enamel pin 🥰🥰💜
Yes, I have copied my own blog post over from my Butterfly child blog, but it covers both family fun times and my journey into kpop so I figured it was ok to cross post. ☺️
Hi Guys! Lockdown has been a bit tough on the Butterfly family. Well, me actually… 😂 The kids have been amazing, they have taken it all in their stride and have been doing so well with school work, playing nicely together and staying active with Jo Wicks every day.
I, on the other hand, have struggled a little bit, and it’s ok to admit that. I am absolutely fine, and overall we have all done amazing well in this weird situation we found our selves in, but juggling work/homeschooling/life has been tricky and I miss people more than anything. I am lucky I live with my husband and my mum so I do have conversations and people around me, but I am a true extrovert and love the hustle and bustle of groups of people, and busy shops and mostly going out and gaining energy by meeting new people and visiting new places.
Dinosaur world at Torbay (2018)
For us as a family, we love to go out exploring, visiting places, exploring our little part of the world, and further afield when we can. So being restricted to home and the odd dog walks, has been the saddest part for us. I am happy to do it though, as I want my whole family and the rest of the world to be safe and happy but we did still miss adventures.
But rather than be super sad, instead we bought the adventures home and started planning what we might do when we feel safe to start venturing out into the world in this new “normal”.
You know we all love a trip to London. In fact, it’s almost our second home. London is one of my favourite places in the world.
We had planned to go to London in June to celebrate BTS festa and debut weekend, obviously this didn’t happen so we decorated our house and bought London to us. It was a super fun and exciting weekend, spend playing games, listening to music and eating yummy foods.
We did take a really quick to Bournemouth to buy a bubble tea, as it is one of my favourites drinks ever and we had really missed bubble tea. Bournemouth has been hectic and crazy busy so we went on a weekday rather than the weekend to avoid the crowds. We nipped to the bubble tea shop and returned home, but it was oh so worth it.
Over the weekend, we had BTS quizzes, games, our own run BTS style fun times, we had our own birthday cafe event with a BTS purple themed “purple you” mocktail and free gifts designed and made by my wonderful friend Dot’s daughter.
And at the end of the weekend , we even had a “visit” to a kpop store where the kids could choose their (pre-chosen) album I had treated them too. Me and mum had treated ourselves to the 5th muster magic shop and that also arrived in time! 💜💜💜
The weekend ended with a very exciting BTS concert live in our living room, in the form of Bangbang con which we enjoyed with our friends. The whole weekend was amazing! The children had a wonderful time, I had a brilliant time and the whole time spent together as a family being silly and doing fun things was wonderful. It still did make me miss our real adventures but the whole thing was just awesome!
What did you guys do to celebrate BTS weekend? Anything exciting or interesting to share? Let me know in the comments, I’d love or hear what you guys have been doing or buying.
Jeon Jungkook has grown up in the spotlight as an Idol. BTS are now a huge worldwide phenomenon and yet they are all still so humble and down to earth. Being the youngest member and joining at such a young age, you would have thought the fame could have gone to his head, but alongside the other members he is still quirky, funny and truly humble. The other members seem to have a special soft spot for him as they practically raised him. He is close to all the members and equally they all have a lot of time and good things to say about him. In many interviews, it is clear he respects and loves all the members but he definitely idolises RM and looks to him for guidance as a role model.
“I want to become a singer that touches people with his voice, and also to become such a singer that people can without hesitating, proudly and being not embarrassed at all to say ‘I’m a fan of BTS’.”
“Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty, like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom.”
The Rose are a four piece K-Rock band who have unceremoniously jumped into my life and made me question everything in it. Ok, so being dramatic but if you have heard Woosung sing, or have been blessed with seeing Dojoon play the keyboards, or Jaehyeong on the bass and if you had witnessed Hajoon on the drums, if you have seen all of these things you know what I am talking about and if not, its your lucky day as I am about to share some of their finer moments with you.
Debuted in 2017 under J&Star Company with the single Sorry, as a group they are still pretty new to the Korean music scene, but if you are into Korean music and follow other acts/shows you may have seen some of the members crop up in other places previously. But anyway back on track so still a relatively rookie group and I think are quite underrated and having been quite a popular indie group for a while before going mainstream and joining J&Star company but like the quotes about Roses, they may have been growing for a while but it definitely appears as though they are starting to bloom.
I had heard some of their songs before, but didn’t know who they were or that the songs I had heard were even by this group. 🤦♀️ I know, I should hand in my music appreciation card now! My apologies, but once my friend introduced me properly, that was it. I fell down another hole, well in fact I jumped! The first song I heard was Sorry but I didn’t know it was The Rose, but I knew it was beautiful. I did not do any research though, otherwise I would have jumped down this hole a lot sooner.
I have never heard a voice quite like Woosung at all, ever! I love many singers for their vocal talent and you cannot compare them as they are equally as beautiful but there is definitely something special about the way he sings. I believe it’s not just something about his actual voice, but everything about him that draws you in. His stage presence, how he holds the mic when he sings, playing the guitar whilst singing, and lastly his voice is like melted chocolate and marshmallows. And for those of you that might feel like you can’t take it seriously or concentrate because of the language barrier 🙄, he even sings in perfect English and he still sounds beautiful. Here you go, The Rose cover of I love you so bad, thank me later:
Pre Kpop, I am definitely an alternative girl at heart. I love going to Download festival as often as I can with my friends and my rock heart hasn’t disappeared, its just had to make room for some Kpop groups, and just as I thought I had no room left, The Rose have come along to quench my rock thirst and I am here for it.
The group are all really beautiful and yes this is one of the reasons I jumped head first into the hole. Let’s be honest, it helps if they are pretty to look at but they are equally as talented as they are beautiful. And just in case, you think its all about the visuals, here is one of my favourites with just a lyric video, so you want get distracted by the visuals so you can truly appreciate the music.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see them when they came to London but when they come next, I don’t care what I am doing, whether its a school night or even if I can afford it, I will be going! You can be damn sure about that!
To say they have been around independently for a few years now and debutted a couple of years ago now, they are still relatively unknown and underrated. But I think with the new found appreciation for other genres and the language barrier not really being a thing anymore, they will soon get to blossom into the beautiful group we can all see now, and I for one, cannot wait. I would love to see more music by them and would love to see them perform in England.
I will go a bit more in-depth into the members and songs another time, something to look forward too. But in the meantime, check them out. Super talented and some wonderful songs and covers.
Let me know if you went along to see them in London or Manchester, I promise I won’t be jealous at all, well maybe a little bit but I’ll behave. Please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear about it. Also any other bands / groups I should check out.
I’m currently on a The Rose, Day6 and Ateez week, I haven’t forgotten my faves – I have playlists on top of playlists and they all intermingle! I’m an equal opportunist and happily have all of my old faves and new faves playing together. Whats on your current playlist?
The much anticipated super group Super M’s comeback on October 4th was everything I imagined and more. I am loving almost everything about the mini album except for one small little detail: “Jopping”. I just can’t get past the jumping/hopping = jopping thing. It just reminds me of the “making fetch a thing” meme from mean girls. I think I would probably really enjoy the song but I just can’t get past that, so (and please don’t all jump on me) I haven’t listened to it all the way through. I absolutely love Super Car and Can’t Stand the Rain. Also, as a massive SHAWOL, I love seeing Taemin do his thing. Super M for the uninitiated is a group made up of Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from Exo, and Taeyong, Mark and Lucas from NCT. I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us.
What did you all think? Are you on board with “jopping”? I think its just me that can’t get over it. 🙂
Monsta X
It all kicked off in household with Monsta X’s single Someone’s Someone! I liked Monsta X but I was trying to avoid too many more groups, especially as I gave up on going to see these as I was saving money for GOT7 and now I regret this decision more than anything as I have properly fallen down the hole. I was teetering before as I like the music but I was trying to be good, but now I just think sod it! I’m all in.
Go check out the video for Someone’s Someone, I love it!
Oh and whilst you are checking them out, why not have a look at their cover of Bruno Mars Versace on the Floor. I love a bit of Bruno and seeing these men perform was amazing and is what made me fall in the first place.
I do have a couple of biases but I am going to hold off before I elaborate as I’m still relatively new to the fandom and I don’t want to be rash although if any of you follow my instagram you may have seen a while back who my biases might be.
I quite like to see their cute little interactions and follow them on Twitter. You should go check them out if you haven’t. They are just the right amount of cute and sexy all rolled into one.
The comeback schedules are so hard for me to keep up with, I always end up missing something and have to catch up later. But at least I get to join in on comebacks. I am relatively new to Kpop, I will have been ARMY for a year in December and every other group has followed after that, so I am just excited to be here.
Have you all been enjoying the teaser trailers? It was a bit tense for a minute there, I cannot wait for tomorrow for the music video to Find You to drop. I will be at work but I am hoping to get a sneak peak.
What do you think of Someone’s Someone? Are you enjoying it? I am looking forward to the 28th for the mini album to drop.
Stray Kids
I actually really enjoy listening to Stray Kids but I only have a couple of songs on my playlist so I haven’t really fallen yet. But I did check out their release of Double Knot when it dropped on October 9th. I like it and it will be added to our morning playlist as the kids enjoyed it too.
Here it is in case you haven’t had chance to check it out:
I don’t know much about them but as their comeback continues, I will undoubtedly be doing some research, so watch this space.
What do you think? Should I be falling down this hole? I only have about 3 songs on my playlist. What would you recommend?
TXT – ‘꿈의 장: MAGIC’ / 1st Full Album
TXT had there first full album comeback today. My kids love TXT so weer very excited to see the new video today and have demanded I get the album on every download/ streaming service I can. What can I say? We are a Kpop family.
I loved (Run Away) the music video releaseed today. As the “younger brothers” of BTS, I imagine they must feel a large shadow over them and some quite big shoes to fill. I don’t believe they should feel like this though. As they are unbelievably talented in their own right and their music is proving that. It has been quite sweet and innocent as of yet, but they need to establish their music and sound themselves. As we only joined the kpop fandom a year ago, we missed a lot of our now favourite groups earlier songs and comebacks, so it nice getting to witness “rookies” and watching a group from the start seeing how they interact and how their music develops. We cannot wait to watch them grow as artists. My girl especially loves TXT so I am sure you will more from her regarding their comeback.
Did you enjoy the video? Are you enjoying the album?
Special Mention – ooh I am very excited…
Not Kpop exactly, but Kpop Adjacent as we discovered them through BTS.
Arcades ft Ryan Lawrie – RUNNING.
We had sneak peaks on Arcades twitter page and the wonderful guys also asked their fans to help with the music video. We jumped at the chance and it was beautiful. The song is wonderful and has become a staple in our household. I find my girl dancing and singing to it every day, at least three times a day. I love how I am discovering new music all the time now. For a while, as a mu to young children I forgot what it was like to discover new things. I love it.
The lyrics are beautiful and I may have cried a little when I heard it and the music video just makes this feeling even greater. It is a wonderful thank you, memento and just a wonderful video. You can find our little bit at 2:49. But when Luna declared “this was her favourite bit…” It wasn’t the part we were in 🤦♀️ never mind! 😂😂😂
Comebacks I am still looking forward to…
October 22nd – DAY6
October 28th – Monsta X
Sometime in November – HyunA and GOT7
And of course BTS may also be making their comeback at some point in the future.
Hobi has a dog called Mickey and he loves sharing photos of him. He has three solo songs with BTS:- Mama which he wrote for his mum because he felt she could finally be proud go him, Boy Meets Evil and Just Dance. He also has a mixtape Hopeworld and daydream is a beautiful song.
“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness”
Suga has his own Studio called Genius Labs, he has a dog called Min Holly whom he loves very much and in his spare time he likes to sleep, play basketball and games on his phone and photography.
“Life is tough, and things don’t always work out well, but we should br brave and go on with our lives.”
Heart and Seoul 