Current Favorite Songs for February 2020

I was gonna do my Kpop Crash Course thing today, but I decided instead that I wanted to talk about music that I already knew...and just so happened to really like. We're only two months in, but I actually think this year has been pretty great for music so far. I've tried to do a better job of keeping up with music by watching YouTube compilations dealing with the "top songs of the week" or whatnot and then adding the stuff that sounded good to my Spotify. And I have actually found a lot of stuff that I really like, including these songs! I used to do a bunch of these "current favorite songs"-type posts in, like, 2018. I just want to say that I'm not claiming these are "songs you need to listen to" or anything, because everybody has different music tastes. This is more just a place for me to talk about songs I personally love at this moment in time. Two years or so from now, I can look back and reminisce at what my favorite songs were in February 2020. Maybe I'll still be bopping to them, maybe I'll think they're all terrible, who really knows? But at this point in time, these are my jams, in no particular order.

1. "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd
Even as somebody who's liked pretty much every song by The Weeknd I've heard, "Blinding Lights" stands out. This is definitely the song of his that appeals most to my personal tastes. I'm always going to be a fan of this kind of synth-pop, almost 80s sound. This song kind of reminds me of "False Alarm" from The Weeknd's previous album, Starboy, due to how hard-hitting it is, but as much as I liked that song, I think this one is even better. Every time I hear it, I just want to dance, and dance really, really badly. 

2. "Adore You" by Harry Styles
I really find it interesting how, upon releasing solo material, all of the One Direction boys have gone in completely different directions (pun not intended) with their music, but Harry's solo music has been without a doubt my favorite. I've only heard a few songs from him, but every single one of them has been a 10/10, and "Adore You" is the best one yet. Most of Harry's other stuff I've heard has been more classic rock-inspired, but this song is almost disco-ish? This song is just super blissful and the chorus just makes me want to scream along, "I'D WALK THROUGH FIRE FOR YOU! JUST LET ME ADORE YOU!" 

3. "Physical" by Dua Lipa
Man, with these first three songs, it's clear that I really like songs that sound like they're from the 80s. I've been on the Dua Lipa hype train since she first debuted, but even with that in mind, "Physical" blew me away. This is probably my Song of the Year so far, although we're only in February. If we keep getting high-quality songs like we have in these past two months, then who knows what will become my Song of the Year? Anyways, "Physical" is one of those songs where the lyrics don't really matter because it's all about the beat. It's like a modern disco song, with pulsing bass and some string flourishes that make my heart flutter. I love how she cheekily says "Who needs to go to sleep when I got you next to me?" and then that effervescent, soaring chorus comes in. Dua has described her upcoming sophomore record, Future Nostalgia, as "disco-orientated", "nostalgic", and "feeling like a dancercise class", and if it sounds like this and the also-great lead single "Don't Start Now", then I'll just have to give it a listen. 

4. "everything i wanted" by Billie Eilish

I had said before that "when the party's over" was my favorite Billie Eilish song, but then I heard "everything i wanted" and, well, "when the party's over" is still a gorgeous song, but "everything i wanted" surpassed everything I had heard from her. This song is about Billie having a dream about killing herself and all of her friends turn their backs on her, but then she sees her brother and knows he won't let her do that. This song is so special because it shows how close Billie is to her brother, Finneas, but it's universal in its message. Just the thought of the line, "As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you" makes me want to cry. It's such a simple but beautiful sentiment.

5. "Simmer" by Hayley Williams
I remember specifically saying that I needed to listen to more Paramore in 2018. It's been two years and...I have not done that, sadly. Despite that fact, I still instantly gravitated towards "Simmer", the debut solo single from their frontwoman, Hayley Williams. I've always really loved her voice, and while this song isn't a huge vocal showcase, it doesn't need to be. This song is quiet, pent-up rage. I specifically love the way she says "from a f*cker like that man" with so much sheer disgust. I'm excited for what Hayley does next in her solo career, and I hope that sooner rather than later, I'll stop slacking and get into Paramore. 

6. "You should be sad" by Halsey
I like Halsey a lot, even though she can't really sing and can be kind of pretentious. I just like how bold and unafraid she is and how she publicly supports issues like LGBTQ+ and women's rights and mental health awareness. I haven't heard her new album Manic yet, but I really like what I've heard, including the current single, "You should be sad." At first when I saw the title, I thought it was going to be a really weepy, emotional song, but it's actually a song where she belittles her ex for treating her like crap. The lyrics in this song are pretty brutal, with my favorite being "I'm so glad I never ever had a baby with you, 'cause you can't love nothing unless there's something in it for you." I also like how this song has a country style to it. I don't really like country music, but I unexpectedly really like a lot of the country-inspired pop and hip-hop songs to come out recently. Weird. 

7. "The Box" by Roddy Ricch
This has been the #1 song in the country for seven weeks, and I'm not gonna say it's the best song ever written, but I really like it! It got popular on the app TikTok due to an ad-lib where Roddy Ricch makes a sound like a squeaky faucet. I don't use TikTok (I'll probably get an account soon, because there are a lot of almost Vine-like comedy videos that I'd love), but I've noticed that a lot of songs nowadays get popular off of it, and those songs are usually pretty fun. I like the squeaky sound and I like all the different flows Roddy Ricch uses in this song, especially when he says "Imma get lazy." I also like when he says he's "a 2020 president candidate." Genius says that's a reference to his watch, but I can't help but think this rapper that I know nothing about would still make a better candidate than half the people running. Stellar gets political!

8. "Rodeo" by Lil Nas X ft. Nas

I'm not even sure if I love this song or if I just love Lil Nas X. This man is a national treasure and he must be protected at all costs. He was this kid who literally came from nothing but one day, he decided to make a rap song about being a cowboy and proceeded to rule the world. He got everyone talking with his song, asking "Is it rap?" or "Is it country?", and in the middle of all the discussion and popularity of "Old Town Road", he came out as gay. Just think about it: a gay, 20-year-old rapper made a country rap song with Miley Cyrus's dad and it became the biggest song of all time. I can't help but find that pretty awesome. Despite the fact that his song is pretty much legendary, Lil Nas is still down-to-earth and hilarious on Twitter, promising his fans that "when old town road goes diamond i’m sending all my followers a copy of phineas & ferb season 3 on blu ray" and detailing his travel adventures: "in paris and everybody here has 2 legs just like in america." Although I don't like "Rodeo" as much as "Old Town Road" or "Panini", I must do my duty and stream it because I want Lil Nas to succeed because he's funny. 

9. "Good as Hell" by Lizzo
It's odd how despite Lizzo releasing an album last year, all of her most popular songs are from years earlier but are just now gaining steam. "Truth Hurts" came out in 2017 but didn't get big until last summer, and "Good as Hell" was released even earlier, almost four years ago. It started to pick up traction around last fall and eventually peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. I love this song because it's a girl power anthem, but it's not cliche. When I listen to it, it's like Lizzo is personally right next to me, giving me a pep talk and telling me that I'm awesome. Actually, I don't know if "girl power" is the right term, because I feel like the contagious positive energy this song has is universal. 

10. "ROXANNE" by Arizona Zervas

This song got popular off of TikTok, like "The Box". I actually didn't hear it until not too long ago, but I first knew about it because a kid in my class was always singing it. This is just about the epitome of the "Yeah, it's stupid, but it's catchy!" song. This song is really dumb but it has quite possibly the catchiest chorus I've ever heard. Just reading the word "Roxanne" makes me start singing "Roxanne, Roxanne, all she wanna do is party all night" and it ends up stuck in my head for all of eternity. It's a pretty dumb song, but it's such an earworm that it grew on me. 

11. "Circles" by Post Malone

It felt like in 2018, every time I would do one of these "current favorite songs" posts, I always had a new Post Malone song that I was obsessed with. Honestly, I think I've outgrown a lot of those songs, like "Rockstar", "Psycho", "Better Now", they're fine but not my favorites at this point. I still like Post Malone a fair bit, and I actually feel comfortable in admitting that because he's made a bunch of really good stuff lately. It's like, less hip-hop/trap/rap/whatever you want to call it and more pop rock. This song isn't rap at all, it's more of a chill acoustic kind of song, but it's not boring. The chorus is so good.
12. "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid
This song came out in 2018, actually, but I'm only getting into it recently. I'm not huge on ballads normally, but this song really stands out to me for its cinematic, moody tone. I really like both Billie and Khalid, and I love the contrast between their voices on this song. I actually think Billie does the lower harmonies for a lot of this song, which is surprising because normally, you'd expect the guy to do the lower parts and the girl to do the higher parts. This song was also featured in 13 Reasons Why, a show I liked until I realized how irresponsibly it handles the issues of depression and suicide. But even though I don't like the show at all, I have to commend 13 Reasons Why for having a fantastic soundtrack. Speaking of that...

13. "Teeth" by 5 Seconds of Summer
I didn't watch season 3 of 13 Reasons Why, so I don't know what sort of context this song has in the show or even really how it's supposed to fit at all. Funny thing is, when I was an edgy middle-schooler, I hated 5 Seconds of Summer because I thought they were a boy band trying to be punk, even though I myself had no knowledge about actual punk rock. (And I still don't, but I'm not gonna act like I do.) However, as I've gotten older, I've started to really love a lot of their newer stuff. I'm not sure how to describe their new style. I guess it's sort of synth-bass-industrial-seriously-I-don't-know-what-you'd-call-it, but whatever it is, I'm a fan. This song is so dark and ominous but I really like it. I like the call and response where it's like, "Fight so dirty but your love's so SWEET! Talk so pretty but your heart's got TEETH!" It brings me joy. 

14. "Better" by Khalid
So, when I talked about Twice and their Feel Special EP, I said one of the reasons why I liked that particular EP so much was because it had a night-drive atmosphere. I said specifically: "It's hard to explain, but certain songs just give me the "driving at night in the big city" vibe and it is one of my favorite feelings in music." I bring this up because this song, "Better" by Khalid, is one of the best night-drive songs I've ever heard. The atmosphere this song has puts me in such a tranquil, easy state of mind. Like the other Khalid song I talked about, "Lovely", this song came out in 2018 but I'm just now getting into it. I guess I'm just gonna be late to the party on every Khalid song. But better late then never. 

15. "Stockholm Syndrome" by One Direction
Similar to 5 Seconds of Summer, I hated One Direction when I was an edgy middle schooler. I thought they were just a group of "pretty boys" who made vapid music, but as I've grown, I've realized that they were so much better than I thought. With songs like "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Best Song Ever", they did the teenybopper pop thing incredibly well, but as they matured, their music matured with them and they started making some genuinely fantastic songs. The aforementioned "Best Song Ever" was my favorite One Direction song for years, but it took "Stockholm Syndrome" only a few listens to replace it. This isn't one of their more famous songs, but it 100% should have been a single. It has an incredible chorus and easygoing vibe. Plus I just learned that Harry cowrote this one...yeah, if his amazing solo work didn't solidify my opinion enough, Harry Styles is easily my favorite 1D member.

I don't really have much to say to end this. Next week's post will be on Saturday, March 7, which is my birthday, I'm talking about Pokemon Sun and Moon because I love it, yada yada I've already said this stuff before. With that being said, I'm Stellar in Neverland and I'll see you next week. Peace! 

MOVIE TALK: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Welcome to MOVIE TALK, now in all caps because I feel like it. In this segment, we talk about, you guessed it, North Korea and their history of nuclear weapons!

Obviously, that's total sarcasm. We talk about movies. Maybe we'll talk about North Korea and nuclear weapons if I ever decide to talk about The Interview, but that's highly unlikely because I would be in way over my head. All jokes aside, MOVIE TALK is where I watch a movie, usually one I have never seen before, discuss the facets of it that I find interesting, and recommend it if I feel it deserves one. However, this week, we're doing the 80s classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, because it got added to Netflix not too long ago so I'm going to savor it being on Netflix until they take it off. This is gonna have some spoilers, I guess, so read with caution.




Ferris Bueller's Day Off was directed by John Hughes, who is most known for teen comedy movies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. I've seen all three of those aforementioned movies (as well as bits and parts of Pretty in Pink), and Ferris Bueller's Day Off is easily my favorite of them. There's just something so fun and inviting about this movie. And I was actually home sick the first time I watched it, so I guess it has that going for it, too.

The basic premise of this movie is that Ferris Bueller is a high school student who pretends to be sick so he can go adventuring around Chicago with his best friend, Cameron, and his girlfriend, Sloane. Rumors spread and eventually, Ferris's school and the entire city of Chicago are under the belief that Ferris is dying. Although he has the school administration and his jealous little sister, Jeanie, on his case, Ferris manages to have a day off for the record books.

One of my favorite things about this movie is the fourth wall-breaking Ferris does. After convincing his parents that he is sick enough to stay home and the parents leave, he immediately starts talking to the camera, expressing shock that his parents fell for it and explaining how you, the viewer, can fake an illness like he did. I think the fourth wall-breaking is done really well and is one of the funniest parts of the movie. Another funny thing is the contrast between the normal school day, where everyone is bored out of their minds, and the cuts to Ferris, who is living it up at home, lounging in his yard, badly playing clarinet, and drawing pictures on his computer.

I'm not gonna say Ferris is a great person. He makes up a story about Sloane's grandmother dying as an excuse for her to get out at school and join his adventure. He doesn't listen to Cameron when his best friend tells him not to take his dad's Ferrari out for a drive. His entire character arc is based off of lying. However, being a good person and a good character are not the same thing, and Ferris is a great protagonist. He's played by Matthew Broderick, who plays him with so much charisma you can't help but want to root for him throughout the whole movie. He also has some really witty dialogue, courtesy of Hughes, who wrote the screenplay in addition to directing and producing it. Another character I loved was Cameron, who is a foil and voice of reason to Ferris. While Ferris wants to take risks, Cameron is the one who tries to convince him that his ideas are crazy and wrong. Ferris doesn't ever listen, but damn if Cameron doesn't try.

This movie has plenty of iconic scenes. You first have the roll call where the teacher calls for "Bueller? Bueller?" in that memorable nasally drone. Another iconic quote is when Ferris saves Cameron from drowning and Cameron says, "Ferris Bueller, you're my hero." You have Ferris and Cameron checking out the Ferrari as "Oh Yeah" by Yello (that song that, um...goes "oh yeah") plays. Quite possibly the most famous scene is when Ferris crashes the parade and sings (or rather lip-syncs) "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles. I feel like the whole movie is pretty embedded in pop culture, but that scene in particular is really famous. It's just filled with joy, one of the best scenes of the movie.

So what Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane do on their day off? First, they go to a fancy restaurant- there's identity theft involved, of course. I really like the part when Ferris is monologuing and fourth wall-breaking in the restaurant's bathroom as an old man sits in the bathroom, unbothered. He then realizes that his own father is at this same restaurant, catches a taxi, and just narrowly escapes the restaurant before his father can see him.

They also go to a Cubs game and actually get some screen time on TV. It's funny, because Mr. Rooney, the dean of students, who hates Ferris and wants to get him in trouble, is at a bar looking for Ferris. The TV is on at the bar and you can see Ferris on the TV, but Rooney just so happens to not be watching at that moment. Rooney is the antagonist of the movie, but his constant endeavors to try to punish Ferris are another entertaining element. I especially like when he tries to break into the Bueller's home, eventually going in through the dog door and getting chased by their angry Rottweiler.

This movie serves as a love letter of sorts to the city of Chicago. Hughes said, "I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could. Not just in the architecture and landscape, but the spirit." The trio goes to famous Chicago landmarks like the Willis Tower (well, it was the Sears Tower back then), Wrigley Field, and the Art Institute of Chicago. I went to Chicago over a decade ago, but other than a few passing-through drives, I haven't actually gotten to experience the city since then. This movie makes me want to go and see all the sights in the movie. I hope to go back soon.

Ferris's younger sister, Jeanie, and her character, is another really interesting one. She hates Ferris, jealous of the fact that he manages to get away with everything. When she goes home to assure that he is ditching, she finds Rooney in her house and freaks out because he's an intruder. She's just under a lot of stress and I can relate in some ways to feeling like the overshadowed sibling. Despite her stressing, Jeanie still manages to be pretty sly and sarcastic.

After the parade, they get the Ferrari back after they paid some guys to watch it. Cameron is horrified because the odometer won't hide the fact that they took out the car. He has a bit of a breakdown and ends up destroying the car. Cameron is furious with his father for valuing his car more than his own son, so he takes out his anger on his father's most prized possesion. The characters are also seniors and also talk about what they're going to do after high school, expressing stress and fear that they'll never see each other again. As a senior myself, I can relate. This movie is mostly a lighthearted, fun teen comedy, but I do like how it delves into the more serious themes, what with the themes of parental neglect and fear of the future.

At the end of the movie, Ferris runs home to try to beat his parents and Jeanie home. He makes it home, but not before Rooney can try to get him in trouble. However, Jeanie comes to bail him out. It's nice to see her have a change of heart after the events of the movie. I guess it just goes to say that no matter how mad our siblings get at us, they'll always have our backs. Ferris's parents find their son back in bed as if nothing ever happened, and you're left speechless at how he managed to pull off such a stunt.

This movie is one of my favorites because it's just so much fun to watch. It's not anything super deep or thought-provoking, but it's a thoroughly entertaining movie. I think it's extremely clever and smart, and you're left constantly wanting to know what will happen next. I've only seen it twice, but I can tell it's a movie I'll be able to watch over and over again. I said in the last MOVIE TALK that I likely wouldn't give any movie I was watching for the first time a 10/10, because my favorite movies are always the ones that hold up upon repeated viewings. However, this isn't my first time watching this movie, so I'm gonna give Ferris Bueller's Day Off a 10/10. If you've never seen it before, I really think it's a must-watch, especially if you like 80s movies and/or teen movies. 

Next week, it's time for another round of Kpop Crash Course, the series where I attempt to delve into a musical genre I only partially know. As for the next MOVIE TALK, I don't know when it will be up, nor do I know what movie it will be on. I'd like to keep this going once a month, so it will be up sometime in March. But for next week, we've got kpop, and then I'm gonna talk about Pokemon again because the Saturday after next is March 7th, my birthday, and I can't imagine a better way to celebrate then to talk about something I love so much. I'm Stellar, and I'll see you all again next Saturday, February 29th. 

Stellar

Ranking the Baby Pokemon

Today, we're introducing a new segment on my blog that I like to call Stellar Gets Nerdy. There really isn't much to this segment that you can't already tell from the title: I, Stellar, will be talking about things that can reasonably be called "nerdy". Think of it as like the "Fandom Friday" segments from The Brick Wall, my old blog. Most of that was dedicated to me and my friends being cringy middle schoolers and gushing about how obsessed we were with Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Here is where I'm going to talk about books, movies, maybe some TV, and especially relevant for today, video games.

I'm not much of a gamer, and for the most part, my gaming knowledge is pretty much limited to Mario Kart and Just Dance, although I also like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, even if I can't tell you much about most of the characters. But towards the end of 2018, I started to get into Pokemon. I think my brothers were sort of into Pokemon when they were younger, but I didn't really know much about it until recently. I even missed out on the whole Pokemon Go craze in 2016, when it was the hottest game around. However, I did start playing Pokemon Go a full two years after it first became popular, purely because some friends in gym class were talking about it and I thought it sounded interesting. From there, my interest skyrocketed. I've still never played a real Pokemon game (although I definitely would like to), but I just really like learning about all the different creatures. I like how they have so many different kinds of Pokemon, from the intimidating to the adorable. I like learning about the different origins behind each Pokemon, often rooted in folklore and mythology from different cultures. I like watching the anime and seeing how these creatures act in their own world. I like how they emphasize that even though you can use your Pokemon to fight, above all else, they are your friends, like a pet but even stronger. The world of Pokemon is filled with creativity, imagination, and wonder, and even though I missed out on it as a kid, it makes me feel like a kid again.

A big part of why I like Pokemon so much is because I'm the type of person who loves cutesy things. Pokemon comes from Japan, where a big part of their pop culture is based on cute things, known as kawaii. Because of this, a lot of Pokemon tend to be designed with cuteness in mind, and as a result, we have adorable characters like a tiny, playful blue sea turtle, a pudgy electric Corgi, a singing pink puffball, a spherical owl with a leafy bow tie, and of course, Pikachu. But although the first generation of Pokemon gave us such iconic and adorable characters as Pikachu, Eevee, and Jigglypuff, the developers weren't stopping there. In the second generation, with the games Pokemon Gold and Silver came the mechanism of breeding Pokemon, and with the introduction of breeding came new, smaller, in most cases cuter versions of favorite Pokemon, known as baby Pokemon! And that's what we're ranking today: we're ranking the baby Pokemon based on nothing but my personal preference. But before we begin, we need to establish our criteria for baby Pokemon. I use the ever-helpful Bulbapedia to answer my every Pokemon question, so here is what Bulbapedia counts as the criteria in defining "baby Pokemon":

"Specifically, baby Pokémon can be classified by the following criteria:
-Must be obtainable by breeding.
-Must be the lowest form in a family chain and must be able to evolve at least once.
-Must belong to the Undiscovered Egg Group*."

*Side note, the Undiscovered Egg Group basically means that the Pokemon that hatch from eggs in this group are unable to breed. Of course the babies belong to this group- they're babies. Why would they be reproducing? Bulbapedia also contains a list of the baby Pokemon, and we are going to be ranking the Pokemon only on that list, from my least favorite to my favorite. That's enough rambling, let's get ready for some cuties.

Honestly, if you don't think at least one of these characters is cute...then I don't know what to tell you. Clearly you and I have different ideas of cuteness.

19. Tyrogue

Evolves into Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Hitmontop depending on its attack stat. It's weird. 

Tyrogue is cute, but it's my least favorite because it's so weirdly shaped. I'm sorry, but its body shape looks...almost phallic, and when looking at a baby, my first thought should not be that it is shaped like a certain male anatomical structure. It's also not too special in that it's literally just a purple boy with spikes on its head. The Pokemon world has so much more creativity than that. 

18. Riolu

Evolves into Lucario

Riolu evolves into the ever-popular Lucario, one of the fan favorites from the fourth generation. Although not one of my absolute favorites, I think Lucario is a pretty cool Pokemon, but I'm just not super into Riolu. It's about a 6/10 on the cuteness scale, which is a lot lower than some of the other ones. And I know, who am I to criticize something for not being cute? Well, that's pretty much the entire point of baby Pokemon, so if it's not an 11/10 adorable Pokemon, then I don't really have any use for it. 

17. Magby

Evolves into Magmar

I'm sorry, Magby, you're cute. You look like a cute, sort of apprehensive fire duck. You're also the only fire-type baby Pokemon, so you stand out amongst your friends. But your head is so weirdly shaped! Seriously, what is its head supposed to be? Well, probably coal, seeing as it is known as the "Live Coal Pokemon", but it really just ends up looking like Magby has pimples or tumors covering its head. Poor Magby. 

16. Budew

Evolves into Roselia

The final stage of this Pokemon's evolutionary family, Roserade, is one of my personal favorites from the fourth generation. I love how elegant it looks. I also really like the middle stage for this line, Roselia, for its beautiful flowers and soothing colors. Unfortunately, Budew is just kind of bland for me. It just seems like a bulb with a smiley face and stubby feet. I do think the stubby feet are cute though. Also, I have no idea how to pronounce this Pokemon's name. In my head, I always pronounce it to rhyme with "voodoo", but it might be "bud-ew". It confuses me and I don't like that. 

15. Toxel

Evolves into Toxtricity

After three generations in a row with no new baby Pokemon, the generation eight games, Sword and Shield, saw the debut of Toxel, a Pokemon who is literally known as the "Baby Pokemon". This Pokemon looks like a pudgy purple baby, and it even seems to be wearing a diaper. But honestly, I just don't think this one is as cute as the other baby Pokemon. It's more "ugly-cute" than anything. But on the bright side, I think its evolved form, Toxtricity, is absolutely one of the best Pokemon to come from generation eight so far. It's so badass and punk rock and I love it! 

14. Igglybuff

Evolves into Jigglypuff

Jigglypuff is my favorite character to use in Super Smash Bros, so I'm pretty attached to it as a result. I just think it's so cute when it sings, inflates, or gets angry. Because Jigglypuff is so adorable, I'm not sure why it really needed a baby form. Igglybuff is pretty cute and I like how round it is, but I have to dock it points because I just think Jigglypuff is cuter and has a more unique design. 

13. Happiny

Evolves into Chansey

Happiny involves into Chansey and later Blissey, which are Pokemon known for being extremely hard to take down. The fact that the character Brock also had one in the Pokemon anime also gave Happiny some notoriety. I think it's cute and I like how it seems to have a pouch with an egg, but after Igglybuff and Cleffa, I don't see why we needed another pink baby Pokemon. 

12. Mime Jr.

Evolves into Mr. Mime

Mr. Mime is one of the most hated Pokemon for its unsettling appearance, and I will admit that it's pretty creepy. At first I'd ask why such an unpopular Pokemon got a baby form, but when you actually look at Mime Jr., it's easy to see why. With its little hat and red nose, Mime Jr. is certainly the cutest clown I've ever seen. It seems like that kid that's always eager to show everyone the cool things it can do, and while in real life, showoffs can be pretty annoying, Mime Jr. is quite the charmer. Also, Mr. Mime, despite its name, can also be female. I have questions.

11. Smoochum

Evolves into Jynx

Similar to Mr. Mime, Jynx is another unpopular Pokemon, only it's unpopular because its purple skin used to be black, so it resembled blackface. Despite the controversy, it got a baby form, called Smoochum. And honestly, while I don't like Jynx because of how awkward and weird it looks, I think Smoochum is pretty adorable! I love how sassy she is, and those kissy lips would make Kylie Jenner seethe with jealousy. There are other baby Pokemon I like more, obviously, but Smoochum is such an improvement over Jynx that I have to like it. 

10. Cleffa

Evolves into Clefairy

I don't know what makes Cleffa better than the other pink baby Pokemon, but I like it more than both Happiny and Igglybuff. I think it's because its face is more simple. With Igglybuff and Happiny, it's like they tried as hard as they could to make them as cute as possible, but Cleffa isn't really trying It just is cute. It's also star-shaped, and considering the name of this blog is Stellar in Neverland, that obviously gets points from me. 

9. Bonsly

Evolves into Sudowoodo

Sudowoodo is a rock that disguises itself as a tree to confuse predators, and it is one of my little brother's absolute favorite Pokemon. I think Sudowoodo is pretty cool and funny, but I prefer its baby form. I like how it looks like it's got a flowerpot as a diaper, and I like its dinky little feet. I also really love how nervous it looks in its official art. 

8. Chingling

Evolves into Chimecho

I don't think Chimecho, the wind-chime-like Pokemon, is that impressive, and yet I have a place in my heart for little Chingling. I just think this tiny bell is adorable. It's probably due to the stubby limbs. It also looks like your standard smiley face, like the stickers they used to give out at Walmart. Wait, was that actually a thing or did I falsely imagine something? (Nope, it was a thing. I have no idea why I remember it, but I did.)

7. Azurill

Evolves into Marill

Like Bonsly and Magby to an extent, Azurill looks so unsure in its official art. I guess this makes sense, because it is mouse-like and the word "mousy" means "nervous, shy, or timid; lacking in presence or charisma." I like how Azurill has a giant orb on its tail that it sits on. I'm confused as to why it's not a water type, seeing as the rest of its evolutions are, but it's still cute and funny.

6. Wynaut

Evolves into Wobbuffet

The Pokemon Wobbuffet is pretty well-known due to its role in the anime, where it is a member of Team Rocket and always seems to pop up at the most inopportune times. Due to its popularity, it got an adorable baby pre-evolution in the third generation, named Wynaut. It's so jovial and has a giant smile! For me, the number one cutest thing a character can have is a smile. If you want me to go "aww" at your character, just make it optimistic. That's definitely the case with Wynaut. I also think it's cute how this Pokemon's name is pronounced like "why not". "Should we keep this cute little guy around?" "Why not!"

5. Elekid

Evolves into Electabuzz

This little bugger is shaped like a plug! It's like it's a cute little battery for you to play with! I think this is a great design choice for an electric-type Pokemon. Elekid just looks like the kind of kid that would be running around all the time, filled with energy and hyperactivity. Definitely the kind of Pokemon to keep you on your toes, but one with plenty of benefits. It would be a good friend and fighter. 

4. Togepi

Evolves into Togetic

I like to think of Togepi as the mascot of the baby Pokemon. It's certainly one of the more famous in the lineup due to the character Misty having one in the Pokemon anime. It's incredibly adorable, looking like a hatchling from a colorful egg. Togepi is just a spiky little ball of happiness. It's also pretty cute in Super Smash Bros, where it is one of the many Pokemon that can come out to help you when you grab a Poke Ball. I think its little voice is really cute. 

3. Pichu

Evolves into Pikachu

Pikachu is the most famous Pokemon and the mascot of the series, so naturally it was going to be one of the first Pokemon to get a baby form. Pichu is another one of the most famous baby Pokemon, even appearing in Super Smash Bros. Pichu's appearances in Smash are a big factor in it ranking so high. I just find it incredibly amusing how, when used well, this adorable baby can beat even the toughest of fighters in the game's roster. With his giant head and small body, Pichu is one of the cutest baby Pokemon for me. All of the baby Pokemon are cute, it's kind of the point of them, but Pichu is one of the cutest of all.

2. Mantyke

Evolves into Mantine

I'm not too attached to Mantine, Mantyke's evolved form, but damn do I love this little ray. It's just so cute and happy, and its little grin is adorable. If I was asked to name which of these characters I think is the cutest, I would either go Pichu or Mantyke, which is why they're so high on the list. I also use this Pokemon sometimes when I play Pokemon Showdown (a Pokemon battle simulator) in the Little Cup tier (which is made specifically for the smallest Pokemon). I named mine Skye and it's very cute but also pretty good at battle. But mostly I just love this one for its back design!

It's got a smiley on its back! Isn't that adorable?
1. Munchlax

Evolves into Snorlax

Snorlax, the lazy but lovable gentle giant, is one of the most beloved of the original 151 Pokemon. With its immense size and power yet docile nature, it's also one of my all-time favorites. Despite its popularity, Snorlax didn't get a baby form until the fourth generation. Although I wouldn't say Munchlax is the absolute cutest baby Pokemon, it's still extremely adorable. I love how happy-go-lucky this little fellow is. It's also pretty relatable, as its Pokedex entry for Pokemon Sword states, "Stuffing itself with vast amounts of food is its only concern. Whether the food is rotten or fresh, yummy or tasteless—it does not care." It eats its entire weight every day. I'm sure we've all had moments where we wanted to do that. Munchlax is just a funny little guy and I love that.

So, after ctrl-f'ing my page, I have used the word "cute" 32 times and "adorable" 13 times in this post. I guess that's what happens when you write about baby Pokemon. I'll definitely talk about Pokemon a lot more on this blog. On March 7, it's my birthday, so I think I'm just gonna gush about why I love the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime series. As for the next two weeks, I'll do another Movie Talk next week, probably on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Then on the 29th, I'll do part 2 of my Kpop Crash Course. Of course, it's likely to change, but that's what my plans look like as of right now. So that's all I have for today, I'll see you next Saturday.

Stellar

My Favorite Songs "That White People Get Turnt Up To"

I've expressed in the past that I like looking at music-compilation videos and writing posts about the songs in those videos. The Kpop Crash Course I'm doing now literally gets its song selection from a video on iconic kpop songs! So with all that being said, I saw a video with a very interesting title: songs that get white people turnt, uploaded by a channel I really like watching sometimes called younger days. This should be pretty obvious from reading a few posts, but I'm white. I live in a small Midwestern town where there really isn't much as far as diversity goes. Despite my race, I don't discriminate and I think the world will be a better place once we become accepting of everyone's differences. There are some actions made by white people that absolutely make me embarrased to be a white person, such as, well, everything any white supremacist has done ever, but despite the embarrassment, I still can't change the fact that I am white. And apparently, I'm pretty stereotypically white, too, because I have grown up with and loved a ton of the songs in that video! The concept for this video is just songs that white people always seem to like to hear at parties or when they come on the radio. It's not a deep commentary of racism, and occasionally, these songs can get pretty cringey, but I still would consider some of them to be among my all-time favorites. We're not gonna look at every single song in there, I just hand-picked 26 that I would consider personal favorites. 

1. "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield
I think this song is on here because of the famous Vine where a ginger kid sings it obnoxiously in the car. That's a classic Vine, and this song is great. It's so blissful and uplifting. This song is popular as a graduation song, with lyrics like "I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned" and "Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten", and since I'm graduating this year, it's definitely going to be a relevant song to listen to. When I was younger, I had this Disney movie called Ice Princess on DVD, and this song featured at the end, so I get nostalgic when I hear it. Funnily enough, I think that movie also featured "Toxic" by Britney Spears, another all-time favorite.
2. "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
This song is widely considered to be Bon Jovi's signature song, and I think it's one of the best songs from the 80s. I vaguely remember first hearing it in first grade gym class and always pointing that out to my parents. Mostly I just think it's fun to scream along to and it has one of the best choruses of all time. A few years ago, there was a meme where you'd replace "livin' on a prayer" with a picture of something that rhymes with the phrase. For example:

Lipstick on a pear...

Kitten on the stairs...

Lizard on a chair...

This is a really dumb meme but I love it. 

3. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
This is one of the big ones. I live in a really...um, Caucasian-dominated community...and this song is extremely popular there. I assume that's also the case in other predominantly white towns and cities. It's always the last song to get played whenever I go to school dances, and when it gets played at sporting events, everyone goes crazy. I do think this song is pretty overrated and overplayed, but I still like it. My parents have always really loved Journey, so I grew up listening to their music. Because of that, there are a ton of Journey songs I like more than "Don't Stop Believin'", but it still makes me nostalgic.
4. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys
My main favorite Backstreet Boys jam is "I Want It That Way", which totally fits on this playlist we have going on and is one of my favorite songs, but this will suffice. I don't know a ton about the Backstreet Boys, but they're pretty much the perfect archetype of what a boy band should be. They have the highly choreographed routines, the cheesy ballads, the tight harmonies, and the bops. This song is a 90s banger and I love it. It's a ton of fun, memorable, and just makes you want to dance!
5. "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton
I've never seen the movie White Chicks, but from what I know, there's something in that movie about how this song is "the quintessential white girl song". So yeah, call me basic, but I think this song is fantastic. It's a piano-based song, but it isn't boring at all. The piano work is really nice and the "making my way downtown" opening is iconic. This song is extremely memorable and beloved because it's just so wonderstruck and dreamlike. Terry Crews (who actually played a character obsessed with this song in White Chicks), lip-synced to this song on Lip Sync Battle, and his performance is pretty much exactly what I imagine when I listen to this song. The string section! The ballerinas! The ribbon twirling! It's so over-the-top and I love it.
6. "All Star" by Smash Mouth
It's the Shrek song. Enough said! This song is really popular for being at the center of the many Shrek memes, as it is the song that opens up the movie. Because of its usage in so many memes, I love this song and it makes me happy. I just think this song is really fun to sing along with. That's a trend with a lot of these "white people songs", they're good to sing along to. Also fun fact: we watched Shrek in that leadership class I talked about in the Into the Spider-Verse post I did a few weeks ago. (No, I don't know how Shrek is supposed to make me a good leader.) Unfortunately, I had somewhere I needed to be so I missed the first twenty minutes of the movie, including "All Star" and the "Duloc Is A Perfect Place" song. I was genuinely heartbroken.
7. "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC
NSYNC is the band known for giving Justin Timberlake to the world, and although he has had many hits since he left NSYNC, this is still probably my favorite. (Although "Cry Me A River" is really great too.) This song is extremely aggressive and hard-hitting, which is why I like it so much. It's also really catchy and the choreography is iconic. There's a lot of early 2000s music I don't know, and I'd definitely like to learn more about this era in music, but this is one of the highlights as far as I know.
8. "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire
A lot of these songs are all-time favorites, and this is certainly one of them. This is probably in my all-time top 10. Although these songs are supposedly "ones that white people get turnt up to", I think this song is universal. No matter what your background is, you're instantly in a better mood and feel like dancing when you hear it. The opening lyric of "do you remember the 21st night of September?" is something of a meme. This song is just one of the most joyful and upbeat I can think of. It's impossible to be sad when you hear it. Even though this is an all-time favorite, I don't really have much to say about it, and that's fine. It's not really a song you need to analyze or look at in-depth. I just put it on when I'm not feeling great and it makes me smile.
9. "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley
Yes, I like the Rickroll song. This song is fine as an actual song, but mostly I just like it because of the memes. Is there a more iconic meme than the Rickroll? I genuinely don't think there is. I remember in seventh grade, I went through this period where I would Rickroll my friends every day to the point where they had memorized the URL and whenever I'd try sending it to them, they'd just be like, "this isn't funny anymore!" Maybe it wasn't funny, but I enjoyed it.
10. "All The Small Things" by Blink-182
I don't remember when I first heard this song, but I didn't really think much of it until we started playing it during pep band during freshman year. Blink-182 are one of the most iconic pop-punk bands, and this is their signature song. It's very simple but still really good. I love screaming "say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home" and singing along with the "na na na"'s. It has a bunch of different hooks, all really catchy. I feel like this is the stereotypical pop-punk song, and when I think about the genre, this is the first song to come to mind. My favorite Blink-182 song is "I Miss You", but this is a close second. In other words, I really don't have much knowledge about this band, seeing as my two favorite songs by them are two of their most well-known. But I like this song, so that's gotta count for something!
11. "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
Okay, for those of you who don’t know: this song is about a tormented, psychotic kid who wants to shoot up his school. And yet you’d never be able to tell because it sounds so jovial! Despite the juxtaposition of dark, grim lyrics with a happy sound, I like this song. I think it’s clever how because of the song’s catchiness, it takes you a few listens to realize that it’s from the point of view of a homicidal maniac. The sound is very stereotypical hipster-sounding, but I like it, especially the part with the whistling. Plus, I can even get on board with the lyrical content because the band have stated that it wasn’t written to condone violence and it should be used to start a conversation about mass shootings. Any song that can subliminally start a conversation about a big issue while still being catchy and fun-sounding gets some points from me.
12. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver
I don't like country music at all. It's very commonly played where I'm from, and I just think most of it is garbage. However, even those who say they hate country music, such as myself, have to admit that "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is one of the best songs of all time. Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but I have noticed that even people who don't like country music seem to enjoy this one. If you read the comments, it's filled with people saying that "everyone is gangsta until country roads starts playing", "America thought this song was so good they named a state after it" and "For everyone who doesn't know the lyrics...u should know better, i'm disappointed".
13. "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers
Fun fact, this song stayed in the Top 100 most popular songs in the UK for over 200 weeks. That's almost four years! But I am absolutely not going to argue with that. I wholeheartedly love this song with every fiber of my being. I don't know if I ever will make a list of my favorite songs of all time, but this would probably be somewhere in there. It's about a guy who thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him, and all the lyrics are iconic and have been memed to death. But more than that, it's just really fun to sing along to! It's emotional yet anthemic, just a perfect song all around. I haven't gone too in-depth into the Killers' other work, but I like what I've heard. And at the end of the day, "Mr. Brightside" is a modern classic and I love it to death.
14. "Take on Me" by a-ha
I love this song so much, my god. I love so many 80s songs, but after "Africa" by Toto, this is probably my favorite. Everybody knows this song, which is a classic in pop culture. The main synth line is embedded in pop culture and the chorus is soaring. It's also incredibly hard to sing along to with some impressive high notes, but damn if we don't sing along anyway. It's just a song you can listen to a thousand times and not get sick of. I also really love "Mine Diamonds", a Minecraft-themed parody that is literally some kid with a horrible microphone screaming about Minecraft in his room. It's very loud and obnoxious so I wouldn't recommend it if you get headaches easily but it makes me laugh. Especially when his brother or somebody tells him to shut up and close the door.
15. "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence
This song is so cheesy yet legitimately chilling. I love the contrast between the haunting female vocals and the aggressive rapping. It's a song I grew up with and have always loved. This is a song you play when you want to feel gothic and emotional...or if you want to enjoy some memes. That's right, like so many of the other songs on this list, this song has been made into some pretty dank memes. There's a cover performed by Goofy, as well as mashups with songs like "Uptown Funk" and the aforementioned "All Star". I've also gotten plenty of joy out of scaring my brothers in the car by creeping up on them and screaming "WAKE ME UP" at them.
16. "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners
If "Africa" is my number one 80s song and "Take on Me" is number two, this would be number three. When you think of 80s music, you think of synthesizers, guitar solos, and flashy performers. This song is the opposite of that, being more fiddle and banjo-based. It's really hard to tell what the actual words are, but it's fun to sing along using the method my best friend uses when singing along to kpop: just make sounds that sound similar to what you hear. And even if you don't know the words in the verses, you have to sing along to the chorus. It's so full of joy!
17. "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi
The second Bon Jovi song we have here. I guess white people really like Bon Jovi. This song makes me think of pep band, where we have been playing it for four years straight. I won't lie, I've gotten sick of playing it in pep band, but I still really love the Bon Jovi original. My pep band friends and I have taken to referring to this song as its acronym title "YGLABN", pronounced "ya-glabbin". We'll ask the director what song we're playing next, to get a response of "ya-glabbin!"
18. "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne
I'm sorry, this song is just really fun. The main premise is that the main character has the hots for his friend Stacy's mom. He talks about how he spends a lot of time at her house not because he likes Stacy, but because he wants to see Stacy's mom. I especially think it's funny when he says "But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me." But mostly I just think this song has one of the best choruses ever written. It just puts a smile on your face whenever you hear it. Plus there's a key change! Yay!
19. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" by Panic! At The Disco
I've grown out of my Panic! At The Disco phase circa 2016 for the most part, but damnit if I don't love a lot of their older stuff. No matter how popular some of their new stuff, like "High Hopes" or "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", gets, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" will always be their signature song to me and many others. It is one of my personal life goals to go to karaoke and sing this song. I just think that would be really fun. There are also a ton of really great song mashups of this song on the Internet, mashing it up with songs like "iSpy" by Kyle, "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry, and weirdest and best of all, the Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Although I do have to say that their follow-up single to this song, "But It's Better If You Do" is, well, better. I think that's ultimately my favorite Panic! At The Disco song today.
20. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
According to TheTopTens, this song was voted to be the greatest song of all time by music fans, and, well, there are certainly worse songs that could get that title. This song is so brilliant because it has so many different segments and parts, ranging from a ballad and guitar solo to the operatic part everybody loves to sing along to to the hard rock part to a nice coda to tie things up. I don't even know that many of their songs, but I would feel pretty comfortable in saying that Queen are one of the greatest bands of all time. My personal favorite of theirs is "Don't Stop Me Now", but "Bohemian Rhapsody" is still a masterpiece that deserves all the acclaim. Also, this song appeared in one of my family's recent favorite shows, The Goldbergs. The scene in question is probably the single funniest thing I have seen on that show, which is not an easy thing to be, because that show is hilarious. Just watch it here.
21. "Fireflies" by Owl City
If I were to describe this song in one word, it would be "whimsical". It's about how Adam Young, the guy behind Owl City, imagines a visit from magical fireflies to help him cope with his insomnia. This song is magical and beautiful, I would say. It just makes me feel really imaginative. And it has a meme attached to it, because of course it does. One thing I am learning from writing this post is that white people really love their memes. People like taking this song and playing it at garish volumes or making puns on the opening lyric, "You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies..."
22. "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes
A lot of these songs are ones I'm attached to from playing them for pep band, and this is certainly one of them. It's always a fun song to play because everybody knows it. I genuinely would not believe you if you told me you had never heard this song. Like, have you seriously never been to a sporting event and heard everybody chanting the riff to this song? I really like how this song is really simple with just a powerful drum beat, vocals, and The Riff. This is one of the best and most iconic guitar riffs in history. There isn't even a real chorus, there's just the riff, but that's more than enough. But yet, despite its simplicity, the song still manages to sound larger than life. It's a pep band classic.
23. "Africa" by Toto
My love of this song is pretty much a meme to those who know me. I can be in a really awful mood, but as soon as I hear "it's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you", my spirits are lifted. My dad once told me that Toto were a terrible band other than a few songs, including this one, but I don't care enough to look into their other work, because I would be content listening to just this one song for all of eternity. I just love everything about it, from the iconic synth line to the marimba to that chorus! Is this the best chorus of all time? I don't know, there are a lot of choruses in the world, but my gut tells me yes. This song actually got a resurgence in popularity in 2018 due to some memes, and also because the band Weezer did a cover of it. I will always prefer the Toto original to any cover, but the fact that the Weezer cover exists entirely because a 14-year-old girl on Twitter begged them to cover it is absolutely amazing. Also fun fact: Pitbull made a song called "Ocean to Ocean" for the movie Aquaman in 2018. It's basically a cover of "Africa" with your standard "Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide, dale!" Pitbull stuff thrown in there. It's so terrible but I'm so happy it exists.
24. "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band
Another country song, one that I like more than I probably should. I can't even think of a logical reason as to why I like this song so much, but oh, I do. This song is an anthem for what life is like in the South, with a surprising amount of overlap between the Southern lifestyle and the Midwest. That's probably because I have many people who self-identify as hicks in my small town.
25. "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
I think this may be the epitome of "songs that white people get turnt up to." White people absolutely love this song. They love singing "touching me, touching you" as obnoxiously as possible. They love yelling "so good, so good, so good" after Neil Diamond sings "Good times never seemed so good". And most of all, they love going "BA BA BA" during the chorus. I love this song too. Singing it just puts you in a good mood. One time, my mom was taking my brother and his friend to football practice and this song came on. Once it got to the "touching me, touching you" part, his friend said, completely seriously, "Don't you think this song is kind of...sexual?" I think about that story and laugh whenever I hear this song.
26. "Drops of Jupiter" by Train
From what I've heard of their music, I don't like Train at all. I haven't even heard that many of their songs, but something about the guy's voice just drives me up the wall. But "Drops of Jupiter" is an exception. This song just sounds nice to me and I love the combination of the melody with the wistful background music. The lyrics are weird but oddly poetic. I'm not sure what "Now she's back in the atmosphere with drops of Jupiter in her hair" means, but it sounds nice.

So, those are 26 songs that I love that therefore establish me as a white person. This is kind of a random post but I needed something less lengthy because I'm having a very busy week! Today, I'm going to a dance, where I'll actually be serving on the court, so I'm excited for that but a little overwhelmed. Next week we'll either be doing another Movie Talk on one of my favorite 80s movies, or we'll be talking about Pokemon. I haven't decided yet, but either way, it will be up next Saturday. This is Stellar in Neverland, signing off.

Stellar

Kpop Crash Course: Part 1 of 4

When I first came back to this blog, the first post I made was about the kpop group Twice and their Feel Special EP. My best friend is a really big fan of Twice (or a Once, as they're known), so I got into them because of her. I also got into another kpop girl group, called Blackpink. I liked most of the kpop I had heard, between Twice, Blackpink, and a few BTS songs here and there, but I'll be the first to admit that my kpop knowledge is pretty limited. However, I did say in the Twice post that I really wanted to delve in deeper to the genre, and that's what I'm doing here.

Kpop is, for the unaware, Korean pop music. It's exactly what that label sounds like: pop music performed in Korean, originating from South Korea. However, it's not the same as western pop music and has its own facets that make it different from the pop we usually know. Kpop is known for being very strict, training its performers (called idols) for years in order to achieve perfection. Most often, these trainees are put into groups, with different positions including vocalists, dancers, rappers, and a visual. Kpop takes influence from a plethora of genres, including electronic, rock, hip-hop, and R&B. This genre is known for having eye-catching visuals and highly choreographed dance routines. While it is mostly sung in Korean (although many kpop groups eventually release music for a Japanese market), kpop is famous for incorporating trademark English phrases in its songs.

Although kpop is so much more than just this song, let's look at "Gangnam Style" by PSY, the most famous song of its genre. Although it has a sillier tone than your average kpop song and is sung by a solo artist, which isn't as common as groups in kpop, it still is a good benchmark for you if you don't know much about the genre. It has:
-Influences from other genres, namely electronic and hip-hop
-Eye-catching visuals (the reason why the video was so popular is because of its memorable visuals, from the guy air-humping PSY in the elevator to the dance-off with the guy in the yellow suit to PSY sitting on the toilet for no apparent reason.)
-Highly choreographed dance routine (C'mon, everybody knows the "Gangnam Style" dance.)
-Trademark English phrases (Ayyyy, sexy lady!)

Another thing unique to kpop is how absolutely die-hard its fans are. Just one look on Twitter and you'll probably find more than your fair share of kpop fans. Some elements of kpop fandom that are unique include:
-Fancams. A fancam is a fan-taken video of a group performing, usually with a focus on a sole member.
-Fan chants. To quote Wikipedia: "A unique feature of K-pop fandom is the "fan chant". When an idol group releases a new song, chants, usually consisting of group members' names, are performed by live concert audiences during non-singing parts of songs."
-The concept of biases. In kpop, your "bias" is your favorite member of a certain group. They can be your bias for many reasons, including you like their singing, their dancing, their style, their personality, or anything, really. There's also something called a "bias-wrecker", which is the term for any member who does something to make you reconsider your favorites. Maybe this "bias-wrecker" may end up being your new favorite!
-Fan names. We sort of have this in Western culture, with Beliebers, Directioners, and the like. But in recent years, I feel like these have become replaced with the term "stans". (For example, Ariana Grande fans used to be called "Arianators", but now they're just known as "Ariana stans". The term "stan", for those who don't know, comes from the Eminem song "Stan", which is about a crazed fan of Eminem named Stan.) This is absolutely not the case in kpop, where every group has a unique name for their fandom. Twice's fanbase is called Once, BTS's fanbase is called Army, and Blackpink's fanbase is called Blinks. Sometimes, these fanbases even have signature colors.

Kpop is a fascinating world, and I've done quite a bit of research about what makes it different from western pop, so let's dive into the actual music! I thought it would be a good idea to start my in-depth kpop journey by looking at some of its most legendary songs. I found a video uploaded by the channel hele, called 100 LEGENDARY K-POP SONGS (READ DESCRIPTION), and I'm going to look at all 100 (+1, because the reason why it says to read the description is because hele wanted to mention that they forgot "Growl" by EXO, so I'll talk about it, probably in part 2!) iconic kpop songs. I think it's good to become familiar with the most famous songs of this genre before I do a deep dive into groups and artists. I'll listen to each song from the video, talk about it, and give a score out of 10 based on how much I personally enjoyed each song. I'll do 25 songs in each post (except for part 2, when I will do 26 for reasons I talked about above.), and there will be four parts of this series. At the end, I'll list some favorites and least favorites. So that's more than enough rambling, I promise the other editions of this series won't have as much explaining. Let's talk about some legendary kpop songs, starting with...

1. “Into the New World” by Girls’ Generation (2007)
In the past, when I'd do these "listen to random songs and review them" posts, I'd listen to them out of order. But in this case, I'm actually going to listen to them in the order they're listed, because they are listed in chronological order, and therefore I can see how kpop evolved. Obviously, Korean popular music did not start in 2007, but this is where my video starts. I feel like the title of this song is extremely fitting for my first song, as I'm now going "into the new world" of kpop. This was the first song from Girls' Generation, also known as SNSD, who we will see a lot in these posts. I haven't heard any other songs from them, but this song shows a lot of promise. It's a nice midtempo song and the girls do some powerful high notes at the end. I also loved the key change- I'm always going to be a fan of a good key change. This isn't the best song I have ever heard, but it's a very good starting point for the group. 8/10
2. “Lies” by BIGBANG (2007)
BIGBANG are a boy band we're going to see a lot of in these posts. Before writing, I made a list of all the songs I'm going to be talking about, and I noticed that you don't really see one-hit wonders in kpop. There are a lot of acts, and if they have one hit, they usually have at least one more. This was not BIGBANG's debut song, but it appears to be their breakout hit. It won Song of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, or MAMA, which is basically like the Grammys of kpop. I really like this song. The "I'm so sorry but I love you" part of the chorus repeats a lot, but I like it. I also like the beat, especially with the piano. This song is pretty cheesy with some melodramatic whispering of "I hate love songs", "Why am I crying", and other stuff, but I don't mind cheesy things, if anything I find cheesy songs, movies, etc. entertaining. This is a good song. 8.5/10
3. “Tell Me” by Wonder Girls (2007)
The Wonder Girls were the first group formed by JYP Entertainment, the company that is best known for creating Twice. It seems that they have made more of an effort to cross over to America, even opening for the Jonas Brothers in 2010. Wikipedia also says the group is known for incorporating retro, 60s, 70s, and 80s style in their music. I don't really hear it on this song, which sounds more like 2000s bubblegum. I don't really care for this song. It feels like it's too repetitive and the stuttering on the "t-t-t-t-t-tell me" is annoying. Although this first impression of them isn't my favorite, I don't doubt that the Wonder Girls will have a song I like in their discography. After all, I love retro-inspired music, and if their other songs are more in that style, I will probably like them. 4/10
4. “Mirotic” by TVXQ (2008)
Looking into this, I had no idea what this song title meant, but apparently it means "Magic Spell". (To be fair, my first thought upon seeing this was about how there is a Pokemon called Milotic, but that's probably just because at any given time, I'm likely thinking about Pokemon. God, I'm a nerd.) Whatever this song is about, it's a banger. The beat sounds like an early 2000s R&B party jam. I don't know why but it reminds me of the beat to "Up in Here" by DMX. The chorus is extremely catchy. The boys in the band also do really powerful vocals. This song has a sleeker, darker vibe to it, I don't know how to describe it but I'm into it. Also fun fact: the group's name, TVXQ, is an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi, which translates to "Rising Gods of the East". I love that. 9.5/10
5. “Nobody” by Wonder Girls (2008)

Another Wonder Girls song so soon after the last one. I like this one more than the last one, because it's more memorable and has a more developed chorus. This one does feel more retro-styled, but I might be blindsided because they're wearing vintage beehive hairstyles in the video. I think I like this song more because it allows them to show more sass in their singing. It's playful and flirty. I haven't really been watching the music videos for these songs, instead just playing the songs in the background, but I absolutely love the 60s style they have going on in this video. It's sort of like a Supremes homage, and I love that. I'm a little disappointed they didn't go for a key change after the bridge, but the song is still pretty good. 7.5/10
6. “Replay” by SHINee (2008)
Another name we'll see a lot in these posts is SHINee. The group is affectionately known as the "Princes of Kpop" and is known for their diverse sound, incorporating various styles including funk rock, hip-hop, and EDM. However, in December 2017, their main vocalist, Jonghyun, committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning at age 27. Kpop is known for being a brutal, rigorous industry, one that I can imagine that it takes a serious toll on your mental health. There are quite a few cases of kpop idols admitting to struggling with mental health and even ending it all, and it would be tragic no matter what, but the fact that it happens so often is heartbreaking. I'm a pretty big advocate of mental health awareness and suicide prevention, and I'm also a fledgling kpop fan, so I think it is absolutely important to be more open about mental health in kpop and in general, so that people who need help can get it before their lives are cut short...Wow, we were supposed to be talking about a song, and I sort of went on a tangent, but it's one that is incredibly important to me personally. As for the song, it's pretty good. It's a more R&B style, like something Usher would do. The vocals are strong and it's got a good chorus. I'm going to get quite familiar with SHINee during these posts, and although it's bittersweet because I do know one of them died so young, I think I'll enjoy their work. 8.5/10
7. “So Hot” by Wonder Girls (2008)
After that turn for the depressing, we're back in Wonder Girls territory. This song sees them going in a sexier style, as this song is about how sexy they are. I can't directly translate anything, but the chorus goes "I'm so hot, I'm so fine, I'm so cool" with some Korean mixed in there, and I think there's also a line where one of them says all of the boys love her. Despite the shallow lyrical content, this song is still really catchy. I don't know why, but the beat reminds me of "Heads Will Roll" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a song I like if only for the "dance till you're dead" memes. This is probably my favorite of the three Wonder Girls songs we've looked at so far because I really like how sassy it is. Also, both Blackpink and Twice, my two favorite kpop groups, have done covers of this song. I find that an interesting coincidence. 8.5/10
8. “Abracadabra” by Brown Eyed Girls (2009)
Fun fact, the main dance of this song, known as the "arrogant dance", was also used in "Gentleman" by PSY, one of the few Kpop songs I knew prior to last year. The song reminds me of "Poker Face"-era Lady Gaga, with an electronic pop style and some autotune for an effect. I don't think the usage of autotune necessarily means an artist is talentless. For example, T-Pain is known for using a lot of autotune but if you watched The Masked Singer you'd know he actually has a great natural voice. I think most of the time, autotune is used as a stylistic choice, and that's certainly the case for this song. The girls actually do some pretty good high notes in the chorus. I also think this song has an edgier, more bad-girl concept that reminds me of Blackpink. There's one part in the video during the rap where one of the girls is sitting in an armchair in a white pantsuit, surrounded by TVs and just giving off lots of attitude. That part looks like it came straight out of a Blackpink video. To sum it up, this song is like if you combined Blackpink's fierceness with early Lady Gaga's musical style. I love Blackpink and Lady Gaga, so I would say this is one of my favorite songs I've listened to so far in my kpop crash course. 9.5/10
9. “AH!” by After School (2009)
Just from looking at the name of this group, I was expecting something really juvenile, Disney Junior-style. Actually listening to this song, it sounds dated and generic, but it's still enjoyable. I like the super processed noise after the chorus. I think it's supposed to be saying "ah!" because that's the title, but whatever it's supposed to be, I think it's cute. I also really like the saxophone or whatever it is that appears during the second chorus. This song is not as memorable as a lot of the others I've looked at, but I would listen to it without complaining. 6/10
10. “Bo Peep Bo Peep” by T-ara (2009)
I don't like this. This song is like what I thought kpop was before I actually got into it. The processing and autotune on the vocals makes me understand why people complain about autotune. The melodies are pretty annoying and the chorus is genuinely terrible. It's literally just two notes. Those two notes are also beeping throughout the song and they sound like a migraine. I feel like maybe there's a good song hidden in there somewhere, and maybe the girls are actually pretty good singers, but I can't stand this. I can handle overprocessed pop music, like Lady Gaga (at least early in her career), some Britney Spears songs, Kesha, I can do those, and I'll easily defend those artists. But this is past my limit, far too overprocessed to the point where it gives me a headache. 1.5/10
11. “Gee” by Girls’ Generation (2009)
Okay, this one I actually do kind of know. I was very big into the Fine Brothers and Kids React when I was younger, like fifth grade. One video I really liked watching was the original Kids React to K-pop (because they have since made a lot of kpop reacts. They know what will get them the views!), and in that video, "Gee" by Girls' Generation was one of the videos they reacted to. It's catchy and certainly iconic and a touchstone for kpop, but as a song, I can't really say I'm a fan. It's just too sweet to the point where it's somewhat cloying. It does sort of make me nostalgic, not only because it reminds me of Kids React and fifth grade, but also because the style in the video with the bright skinny jeans reminds me of early 2010s style. But I can't say I'm a fan of the overly bubblegum style of this song. We've got another Girls' Generation song coming up next, let's hope that's better. 5/10
12. “Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)” by Girls’ Generation (2009)
Ah, this is more like it. At first looking at the title and the vaguely Middle Eastern intro, I was worried that this song would be full of cultural appropriation, but I don't really think it is. Granted, I am, of course, white as mayonnaise, so I'm probably not the best judge of whether it is appropriating Middle Eastern culture, but I don't see anything too objectionable. The actual song has a really nice hook and strong vocals, and it's a lot more sophisticated than the bubblegum of "Gee". This is a solid song and I hope that the future Girls' Generation songs I look at in these posts are similar in tone. 9/10
13. “Lollipop” by BIGBANG & 2NE1 (2009)
This song sees BIGBANG collaborating with the girl group 2NE1. Can I just say that I wish we saw more collaborations between kpop groups? Imagine BTS collaborating with Blackpink or Twice. That would probably break the Internet. Despite me being a fan of this concept, I can't say I'm a fan of the song. I don't like the repetition of "lolli-lolli-lollipop" in the chorus and I don't like the beat. And as much as I like the concept of co-ed kpop group collabs, I can't help but feel disappointed that they only came together to advertise the LG Cyon smartphone. This song is just annoying to me and I expected more. 4/10
14. “Mister” by KARA (2009)
So...the video compilation where I found these songs says this song came out in 2009 and Wikipedia says it was released in Korea in August 2009, but at the same time, Wikipedia says it was recorded in 2010 and the video wasn't uploaded until 2011, so I don't know what to put for the year. This song isn't my favorite because it feels quite overproduced, but at the same time, the "la la la"'s are catchy and there is a key change. As I said before, I will always get so much joy out of key changes. This song maybe would have been a 6/10, but the key change makes me bump it up to a 7/10.
15. “Ring Ding Dong” by SHINee (2009)
SHINee round two! I don't know if I would say this song is better than "Replay", but it's still good. I like how aggressive the percussion is. Although the onomatopoeia of the chorus is silly, it's a good hook. I like the different hooks and parts of this song. My favorite of the hooks is the "fantastic, elastic" part. Something about the gratuitous autotune just works for me. There's a lot of autotune here, but it's like I was saying before: it's not because of talentlessness, it's more for an effect. It fits with the style of the song. Between "Replay" and "Ring Ding Dong", I'm finding that I quite like SHINee. I'm only looking at three of their songs total in these posts, so I might have to do more digging into their discography when I'm done writing these. 8.5/10
16. “Sorry Sorry” by Super Junior (2009)
I've actually vaguely heard of a bunch of these groups before writing. I had heard of Super Junior before this, but I don't really know much about them. I do know one of the members, Heechul, is dating Momo, my bias from Twice. I don't really care about that because it's not my relationship to have an opinion about. All I can do is hope he treats her right. But enough of that tabloid garbage, how's the music? Well, I really like the chorus. In fact, I would say this song probably has one of the best choruses I've looked at, because it really sticks in the mind. The melody lines are also really good, and I like the synth riff that plays throughout. I don't really care for the production though. It sounds grainy and dated. This song is pretty good, I just think I'd like it more if the production was more updated. I don't think this style of electronica has aged particularly well. 7.5/10
17. “Bad Girl, Good Girl” by Miss A (2010)
The opening of this song lets us know it was produced and by a group managed by JYP. (For your information, JYP is a person: Park Jin-young. He owns the company JYP Entertainment and serves as manager for its acts. I just thought I should clarify in case somebody reading this got confused!) Some of these videos autoplay English captions showing the translated lyrics, and this song did. From reading a few lyrics, I can tell that it's about telling off a guy who is being creepy and annoying. I feel like a lot of kpop songs by girl groups are about crushing on a boy or being in love, so it's nice to see one dissing a boy. I feel like I'm talking about and praising a lot of these songs for their choruses, and I definitely think this one has a memorable chorus. There's also a key change. This is the third song we've come across with a key change, and can I just say I wish key changes were as common in Western music as they seem to be in kpop? Also side note: In this video, all of the girls have dark hair, except for one of them (I think her name is Jia?) who has pink hair. Whenever I switched back to the video, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I wish I could pull off bright pink hair like that! 9.5/10
18. “Lucifer” by SHINee (2010)
This song was in a YouTubers React to K-pop video I watched a ton when I was younger, along with "I Got a Boy" by Girls' Generation and "Fantastic Baby" by BIGBANG, which we'll get to in part 2. Because of that video, I'm sort of familiar with it from that. I'm a little bummed I'm only going to be looking at three SHINee songs for this project, because all of them are really solid! I love how powerful and pulsing this song is, and the boys all have really strong vocals here. This song has a really strong energy throughout. I briefly looked up a translation for the lyrics, because, unlike that last song, the autogenerated captions are quite broken. I think this song is about a bad girlfriend who they compare to the devil. I think that's maybe taking things a little too far, but who cares, the song is still really good. Also, fun fact that I discovered from reading Wikipedia: Bebe Rexha, yes, the same one who did that "Meant to Be" song a couple years ago, cowrote this song! That doesn't make any sense! 9.5/10
19. “Bubble Pop” by Hyuna (2011)
I think this is the first song I've come across in this post that was done by a solo artist. Kim Hyun-ah, better known as Hyuna, was a member of the Wonder Girls and another group called 4minute, and she was actually the girl in the subway in the "Gangnam Style" video! This was the title track of her first EP, and it's a pretty well-known kpop song, being featured in Just Dance 2017 and even being parodied on Family Guy. The actual song has a cute, playful, summery vibe that is enjoyable, but there's a dubstep breakdown about two-thirds of the way through. I get that dubstep was the trend in 2011-2012, but I don't think the song needed it. But more importantly, this song reminds me of this one Ariana Grande quote, where she said that "bubble" is her favorite word because you can't say it angrily. (I can't find the exact quote, sue me.) "Bubble" is a cute word, and this is a cute, happy song. I just personally prefer less sugary songs. And yet I like Twice...I'm still trying to figure out my kpop tastes, gimme a break! 6.5/10
20. “Fiction” by Beast (2011)
So this group actually isn't known as Beast anymore. They changed labels (going from Cube Entertainment to Around Us Entertainment) and changed their name to Highlight. I would say this song isn't really an aggressive banger like some of the past ones, but it's not a ballad. It's a midtempo song, I'd say. I like the interplay between the more melodic chorus and the chanting of "fiction, fiction" in the hook. Is it bad that I can't really distinguish a lot of these kpop boy bands? It's not that they're bad, I just haven't really noticed any signature sounds or styles from any of these groups. I'm probably just not diving in deep enough. Anyways, this song is fine, but kind of generic, or maybe I'm just ignorant. 7.5/10
21. “Good-bye Baby” by Miss A (2011)
Wikipedia says that the album this song appeared on, titled A Class, had six singles for it. I'm still kind of new to this whole kpop thing, but that seems like a lot, especially for kpop. Most kpop albums, as far as I know, have one single (known as the title track, even if, frustratingly, the name of the album and the single are not the same), and then the rest of the songs are called b-sides. I don't know if I like this song as much as "Bad Girl, Good Girl", but it's still good. I like the electric guitar elements throughout to give the song more of a rock flavor. It's still catchy kpop, what you'd expect from the genre. Also, I've done a little bit of research and I've decided that, even though it probably doesn't make sense to have a bias since this group disbanded in 2017, but Jia, the rapper of the group, is my bias. In the last video she had pink hair, now she has auburn hair in the video for this one. I just really like dyed hair and I wish I could pull off a crazy color. 8.5/10
22. “Hands Up” by 2PM (2011)
Another JYP group I'm gonna look at is 2PM, but unlike the Wonder Girls, Miss A, and Twice (we'll get to them in part 3), this is the only one of their songs that I'm looking at. It seems like in 2010-2011, club dance songs were all the rage. I remember back when I was in third grade and artists like Kesha (back when she still had the dollar sign in her name) and the Black Eyed Peas were all the rage. This song definitely fits into that party club mold, sounding just like a Black Eyed Peas song but in Korean. I'm not huge on that era of party songs (despite my soft spot for early Kesha, but even then, we can all admit that her work from "Praying" onward is her best), so I'm not huge on this. 4/10
23. “I Am The Best” by 2NE1 (2011)
I feel like this is one of the most well-known kpop songs in America after "Gangnam Style" and before acts like BTS came out. It appeared in a Microsoft Surface commercial in 2014, appeared in a (really freaking good, in my opinion) routine on So You Think You Can Dance, and appeared in the Kids React to Kpop video I mentioned earlier, which prompted one kid to call it "The Asian Lady Gaga!" I feel like this song is like something Blackpink would do, although that may be because 2NE1 was with YG Entertainment before they disbanded, which is Blackpink's label. This song is weird and obnoxious, but I honestly like it a lot! That So You Think You Can Dance routine really fits the song and shows how crazy but larger-than-life it can be. Also side note: I should do a post on my favorite So You Think You Can Dance routines. I haven't actually watched the show in a long time, but every so often, I'll go on YouTube binges and watch a bunch of performances from it. 9/10
24. “Mr. Simple” by Super Junior (2011)
The opening of this video featured a jazzy, more acoustic intro. I don't know if that intro is an actual song on their albums, but I really liked it and was disappointed the actual "Mr. Simple" song wasn't like it. The actual song is really processed and definitely sounds like "Sorry, Sorry". You can tell the two songs were made by the same group. I think I prefer this to "Sorry, Sorry", even if the production on the chorus is overbearing. This song has a lot of distinct parts to keep you interested. I like the "blow your mind" part for how aggressive and powerful it is. I feel like the guys' vocals are really processed in some parts, but occasionally, their voices are less autotuned. I wish they weren't as autotuned for the whole song, although I do get why there is autotune. It goes with the style of the song. 8/10
25. “Roly-Poly” by T-ara (2011)
So we're ending this with another song by the same group who made that "Bo Peep Bo Peep" song I looked at earlier and hated. I really hope this song is better, because I do not want to end this post on a downer. This song was the biggest selling single of 2011, and was even made into a stage musical. I wonder what that's like. This song is better than "Bo Peep Bo Peep", but I still don't really like it. The chorus is much better, but the production is still obnoxious, but not in a good way. I do like the instrumental break with the cowbell. I play cowbell when we do the song "Low Rider" in pep band, so I always get a kick out of songs featuring the cowbell. Insert SNL joke here. The rap breakdown that follows is annoying, though. Still, it's a hell of a lot better than their last song I listened to. Shame that I'm only looking at two T-ara songs, because I really hope that I'd maybe find something in their discography that I'd like. 6/10

So after we've looked at those twenty-five kpop songs that are iconic to the genre, let's choose some favorites and least favorites!
Favorites (in no particular order):
-"Mirotic" by TVXQ
-"Abracadabra" by Brown Eyed Girls
-"Bad Girl, Good Girl" by Miss A
-"Lucifer" by SHINee
-"Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" by Girls' Generation
-"I Am The Best" by 2NE1
Least Favorites:
-"Bo Peep Bo Peep" by T-ara
-"Tell Me" by Wonder Girls
-"Lollipop" by BIGBANG and 2NE1
-"Hands Up" by 2PM

In part 2 of this Kpop Crash Course series, we're talking about many of the same artists we discussed here, like Girls' Generation, BIGBANG, and 2NE1, along with artists we didn't talk about here who are no less iconic to kpop, like EXO, Sistar, and f(x). But most importantly, we're talking about what is by far the most well-known kpop song in history, the song that was the most viewed video in all of YouTube for four years, and the viral smash of 2012. That's right, we're talking about Stop Kony 2012. Nah, I'm just kidding, we're talking about "Gangnam Style". I don't know when the next Kpop Crash Course will be out. I had a schedule set up but I deviated from it last week, so now things are kind of messed up and I don't know what will be coming out and when.

Next week will be a busy one. I have a forensics competition (FYI, this "forensics" is not about crime solving, it's more for public speaking and performing) on Monday and a winter dance spirit week all week. In the winter, we have something called Crystal Ball as our winter dance, and it's pretty much a second homecoming as far as dress up weeks, pep rallies, and dances go. Each club gets to pick a senior representative to help come up with a fundraiser for cancer research and to be on the court at the dance. I am the forensics representative, so I'm going to be pretty busy in the next week and in fact, the dance is on Saturday, when I usually post. Because I'll be so busy, I won't really have as much time to write a post, but I have something I've started writing that I'll probably post. It's another music post, but it's a more fun one. That will be out at some point on Saturday, whenever I get a chance to breathe during my getting ready for the dance. I'll see you then.

Stellar