Skip to main content

Posts

BLACKPINK Girls' Solo Careers- Part 1

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week; I didn't manage to get it finished yesterday. :) I've previously written several posts about the solo careers of band members, ( Fifth Harmony and BTS ). Today I'm focusing on the members of Korean girl group BLACKPINK . :)   BLACKPINK are one of the most internationally successful Korean girl groups (and groups in general, along with the likes of BTS), and were branded "the biggest pop band in the world" in 2020.  The group consists of 4 members-  4 members- JISOO (full name Kim Jisoo, or Jisoo Kim in Western terms), JENNIE (Kim Jennie),  ROSÉ  (real name Roseanne Park/Park Chae-young) and LISA (born Pranpriya Manoban but she has legally changed her first name to Lalisa). Despite JISOO and JENNIE having the same surname/family name (Kim), they aren't related (at least not recently)!  Random fact: Kim is one of the most common family names in South Korea , along with Park and Lee. Some of them may be dist...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Weekly Music Video

This week's video is Do It Right by Em Simmaly . She's an American singer who also models and acts.  Do It Right is from Em's EP Bloom in Violet, which was released in May. Her previous singles include On One, Roll With Me and Replaceable with Jango Flex.  Do It Right is a sensual R'n'B song and the first track from the EP. The music video was uploaded in May.   Listen to Bloom in Violet on Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/6jpDdXrlAPohcrqvf0r2m9 And you can find more videos/audios from the EP on Em's YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@emsimmaly/videos   For more on Em visit these links:  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emsimmaly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emsimmaly YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@emsimmaly/  
Post a Comment
Read more

Asian Groups- Indian Boy Band

Here is another instalment of my Asian Groups series! Today I'm featuring Indian boyband  FIRST5 . :) They describe themselves as India's first next gen pop boy group ("next gen" meaning a new generation). They are like a male counterpart to W.i.S.H , India's first girl group in 22 years, who debuted last year. FIRST5 (also written as First5) was founded in 2023 by Indian singer/songwriter and content creator Aksh Baghla , who held online auditions on his  social media channels. The group consists of 4 members- Yoshi, Tan, Elton and Daksh. Aksh (who is from Himachal Pradesh) was originally part of the band (hence the name "FIRST5) but decided to take a backseat (due to investment and management challenges ) and take on a mentor/captain role for the others. The boys come from Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and Uttar Pradesh but moved to Chandigarh to focus on the group. Inspired by international pop and K-pop in particular, FIRST5 started out by coverin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekly Music Video

Today's video is Love Life by JUNO. She is a Nigerian singer/artist, signed to The Gamma (a media and technology enterprise). JUNO  (real name Joy Dzeremo) made her debut with the single Intentions in August last year. To date she has released two other singles- Love Life and her latest, PIPE ME UP with Nigerian singer-songwriter Ruger . Her music is a blend of Afro soul and Afropop . Love Life is Juno's 2nd single and was released last December. I like the chilled vibes of the song. :)       Also check out the video for PIPE ME UP (released last month):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRh5J0J2F0g   And for more on JUNO visit these links:  Official FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/hearjunoo/   Official Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hearjuno   Official YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@hearjuno     Want more African music? Check out these posts: Afropop Round-up 2022-2023:  https://sta...
Post a Comment
Read more

C-pop Saturday

Time for another instalment of C-pop Saturday, my semi- regular series sharing Chinese music! I've only done one other post this year ( in February ), so this is the 2nd one of 2025. Today I'm featuring C-pop and R'n'B. :)   ELL&s- Elevatah First up, a Taiwanese girl group! This is Elevatah by  ELL&s , who are signed to KJM Entertainment. The group consists of 5 members- 4 of whom were previously in pre-debut girl group SUNNY PARFUM . According to their Kprofiles , they are a sub-unit of SUNNY PARFUM. The members are lead vocalist Ashlee (real name Chan Hsai-chen/Xinchan), Theia (Zheng Yuhsin), Cherry (Chen Chen-wei/Huang Xiuwan/), Rosie (don't know her full name yet) and Shan/Shanshan (Chen Yu-shan).   All the girls apart from Rosie were members of SUNNY PARFUM * ELL&s debuted in July 2024 with the digital single Elevatah. They also released the special single Ride or Die (2024 Remaster Version) last September, a remake of a song originally released by ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekly Music Video

Today's video is ALL I WANT IS YOU by Australian rapper and singer THE KID LAROI . It's a recent single and was released on 6th June. It precedes his latest single HOW DOES IT FEEL? which came out later this month. ALL I WANT IS YOU is a laidback pop/R'n'B song with romantic lyrics. It marked LAROI's  first solo release of 2025 , following his single I know love with his girlfriend Canadian singer Tate McRae (released in February). This is the official audio.   The Kid LAROI fan? Check out these posts: Music video for I know love with Tate:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/weekly-music-video_9.html Video for his newest single HOW DOES IT FEEL? (released on 20th June):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIDRLLVaLlQ
Post a Comment
Read more

Mariah Carey 20th TEOM Anniversary- Live Performances

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about the 20th anniversary of my favourite singer  Mariah Carey's  The Emancipation of Mimi album. I ended up splitting it into two parts. You can see Part 1 here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/20th-anniversary-of-mariahs.html I'm planning to write Part 2 soon. But today I thought I'd share a special live performance that Mariah did to celebrate the anniversary.  In addition to releasing a deluxe 20th anniversary edition of The Emancipation of Mimi (or TEOM for short!) on 30th May (see Part 1 ), Mariah also recorded a live performance of select tracks from the album.  It's called Mariah Carey: The Live Sessions and is presented by MC and musical director  Daniel Moore . Daniel accompanies Mariah on the piano.   The songs featured are Don't Forget About Us, Circles, Say Somethin', Your Girl and We Belong Together. My faves are Don't Forget About Us and Say Somethin', although I like all of them....
Post a Comment
Read more