Star Sparkle Blog

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week; I didn't manage to get it finished. :) In June I wrote a K-pop in Public post (dance covers of Korean songs in public places) called Girl Group Classics. It featured dance covers of classic songs by girl groups. You can see it here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/k-pop-in-public-girl-group-classics.html I thought today I'd do a follow-up sharing more girl group classics! :)  [KPOP IN PUBLIC] EXID - 'Up & Down' | DANCE COVER BY T-DOLLS First up, here is a cover of UP&DOWN (also written in lower case) by EXID . They are a  3rd generation K-pop group ( just about ) debuting in early 2012.  After 6 years, EXID announced that they were going on hiatus indefinitely when it came to group activites in South Korea (due to some members leaving their agency  Banana Culture . However, they continued to release music in Japan. In 2022, the girls made a comeback to commemorate their 10th anniversary, going on tour...

Today's video is Thanking You for Breaking My Heart by New Zealand singer Janine  (full name Janine Foster). It's from her new album Pain and Paradise, which was released on 22nd August. I think it's her debut studio album, since she has previously released EPs/a mixtape. Janine started working on the album before the pandemic and then reworked the songs after going through a difficult time, including losing her dad. She called it Pain and Paradise  because she believes that both things can co-exist . Pain and Paradise is a mix of more upbeat R'n'B/pop songs and ballads . It contains 16 tracks, including older singles such as Best Thing (one of my fave Janine songs), Broke Me Down, If I Call, Saved Me and Meet Me, and more recently released songs like Fit and Make You Proud (a song dedicated to Janine's dad). Thank You For Breaking My Heart  (Track 7 on the album) follows recent releases Make You Proud and Happy. It's a gentle song about being thankful for ...

Sorry there was no 2nd post last week; I didn't manage to get it finished in time. :) A couple of months ago I wrote a post about the solo careers of the members of Korean girl group BLACKPINK . It ended up being quite a long post, so as with similar posts, I split it up into two parts. Part 1 covered JENNIE and   ROSÉ,  and you can see it here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/07/blackpink-girls-solo-careers-part-1.html Now here is Part 2 featuring LISA and JISOO. :)   LISA 6 months after  ROSÉ,  the group's main rapper LISA (real name Lalisa Manobal, formerly Pranpiya Manobal) made her own solo debut (the 3rd member to do so). She released her debut single album LALISA in September 2021 .  The single album  became the best selling album by a female soloist at the time and broke the record for the  highest first-week sales for a female K-pop soloist, which was previously set by  ROSÉ (see Part 1). In turn,  LISA's reco...

This week's music video is ARIKE Remix by Kunmie , Simi and Mabel . It's a remix of Kunmie's single ARIKE. Kunmie (full name Oluwabukunmi Ariybi) is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He grew up in the church and stared playing drums when he was 8, later becoming a songwriter for other Nigerian artists. Kunmie has shared that he got into music  during a difficult time in his life  and it helped him to escape from loneliness.  His breakthrough came with the release of Arike in February. It went viral on TikTok and reached No. 2 on the Spotify Viral 50 Global playlist. In March, Kunmie released his debut EP Before We Became Strangers. His music is Afrobeats and Nigerian R'n'B. It has been  described as soulful and filled with Youruba-inspired drum patterns . Watch the music video for the original Arike here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgsa2p0lIPY   Arike is about romantic relationships. For the remix, Kunmie teamed up with fellow Nigerian singer Simi a...

This week's video is INTENTIONS by Nigerian singer Juno  (also written as JUNO). It's her latest single and was released on 7th August. The Afropop/R'n'B song is described as a "mirror to desire, doubt and the silent tension between two hearts". This is the lyric video.     For more Juno check out these links: Music video for Love Life (released last December):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/07/weekly-music-video.html   Lyric video for Love Life (uploaded on 7th August):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnQPlDesX0s  

Time for another instalment in my Asian Groups series! Today I'm featuring Indonesian girl group no na . :)  Note: Currently, Indonesians are going through a difficult time, after the killing of a delivery driver led to protests in several cities , which have spread to some other South East Asian countries. Thinking of people in those countries. :)  They are a 4-member group and were formed by American record label and mass media company 88rising , with 3 of the members meeting at their 2022 Head in the Clouds festival in Jakarta in 2022 and the 4th joining later. Their name (which is written in lower case) comes from the Indonesian word "nona", which means "young lady" or "miss" in English.   no na joined several other Indonesian acts on 88rising, including Rich Brian ,  NIKI  and  Stephanie Poetri . The members are Christy (full name Denial Christian Gardena), Esther (Esther Geraldine Simanjuntak), Baila (Bailia Shaquanda Fauri) and Shaz (full name ...

This week's video is Back Outside by American singer Nija . It's her latest single and was released on 15th August. Back Outside follows Nija's previous 2025 singles- 32nd Floor (released in March) and Heaven (which came out in June). It's a smooth R'n'B song, with laid back vibes. This is the visualiser.    Want more Nija? Check out these posts: Visualiser for 32nd Floor:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/weekly-music-video_23.html Official audio for Heaven:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/weekly-music-video_18.html