The K-Pop term "concept" and the subversion of its industry-standard application in @TXT_members' album 'The Dream Chapter: Magic' - a thread*

*) because analysing The Dream Chapter: Magic is far preferable than fantasising the very many ways I can invent torture methods for Lee Sooman in eternal damnation, but anyway...

[what is the "kpop concept"?]

there's no industry-standard definition of the term, but as it is understood, the term refers to a "look" or a "theme" that visually and sonically depicts an idea that an idol group presents each musical release.

the "concept" can go in and out per album cycle or it can be a general idea that a group presents--often, they are presented in binary. for example: a girl group can either go for a "cute and bright concept" or a "girl crush concept".

Various forms of aesthetics are grouped into either "bright" concept (or "refreshing" concept, as often quoted in translations of Korean articles) or "dark" concept. The music generally follows. The 'bright' concept generally helms a bubbly/bright pop music.

Whereas the 'dark' concept features heavy thumping bass and general approximation of angst. In recent years, they often feature beat drops and noisy production. Blaring horns interspersed with percussive instruments.

The K-pop concept doesn't necessarily present a unified and cohesive idea as to the theme of the music or the message it is conveying, but rather serve as a visual shorthand to tell the audience what they can expect. Here's leather, harness and thirty seconds of 'bump bump'.

You know what to expect. You can visualise what the choreography will be like in your head. But these things do not work in adherence to how a concept is typically developed. Here's a message, here's the story, here's the music and here's how I present it visually.

With K-pop concepts, you get the general idea that the concept is first determined through the handy binary guide ("what concept this time? bright? dark?") and then the visual development follows through.

This idea of K-pop concept has for so long permeated how K-pop as a musical and visual genre is discussed even in stan space that when a group subverts the expectations of such idea, the subversion goes through their head.

[The Dream Chapter: Magic - a work in subversion]

Though every single album released by @TXT_members a subversion to this very idea of K-pop concept, The Dream Chapter: Magic is the strongest example as it is often hilariously mistaken as a 'bright' concept.

The Dream Chapter is a trilogy meant to "reach individuals undergoing the somewhat uncertain transition from boyhood through adolescence". The Dream Chapter: Magic depicts moments of magic spent with friends. Through this series, " @TXT_members seek to speak on behalf of--

and reassure their cohorts that they are not alone in feeling anxious about the future".

Key takeaways:
-The Dream Chapter depicts transitive periods in boyhood.
-Magic depicts the moments of magic in friendship
-That the series depicts anxiety of the future as well.

The Dream Chapter: Magic, interestingly, despite being the second in the series, is written as 'the genesis of the journey that they go through together'. The erupting star is meant to depict the eruption of emotions experienced in adolescence.

If you've been here for quite some time, you'd know that the primary confusion of K-pop stans with TXT is that they often are perceived as 'refreshing youthful concept group' (which, if you recall, are industry buzzwords). Often, they are misconstrued as 'bubblegum pop'.

I'd like to clarify that there's absolutely nothing wrong with bubblegum pop or happy music. But there is something wrong with how superficially a group's thematic storyline is misunderstood because of old practice of boxing groups into binary concepts.

The Dream Chapter: Magic is presented in two versions--Sanctuary and Arcadia. I personally think they represent the Dungeons and Dragons terms (Arcadia being a place & Sanctuary a spell).

Here's the thing: even from presentation alone, there's absolutely nothing to suggest that the album presents a certain concept within the spectrum of 'bright' and 'dark'. I suspect, however, because it doesn't adhere strictly to the 'dark aesthetics'--

the album is then falsely misunderstood as a 'bright bubblegum concept', *because no other alternative is presented*. What is a concept if not dark nor bright?

While Sanctuary and Arcadia depict the schoolboys at different times (day & night respectively), both of them do not truly differ in presentation. Sanctuary doesn't depict bright concept, neither Arcadia depict dark concept.

(in pictures: Hueningkai's spreads)

In fact, rather than presenting two diametrically opposed "concepts", the two versions work in tandem to present a full picture of the "reckless adventures*"

(in pictures: Soobin's spreads)

*) HuskyFox's brand identity presentation for The Dream Chapter: Magic

If the album do not immediately make you recall bright or dark concept, it's because the album is meant to portray the full explosion of emotions--which exists in a spectrum instead of binary form. It begins with a story, which can be depicted in many ways.

Rather than seeing Run Away KR mv and Run Away JP mv as two different aesthetics, I prefer to see them as two sides of the same coin. Like the album versions, they're meant to give you a fuller picture of the story.

And here is the crux of the matter: the album evades the K-pop concept simply because in its full, it depicts a spectrum of youthful emotions which cannot be boxed into two labels. A spectrum is a myriad of things which requires nuance. Thus, black and white do merge.

"How do you know the album represents the spectrum of emotions?" Well because the album came with seven stickers in different shapes which represent every single song, all the shapes represent the "magic of youth's emotions*". Guess which song is which :)

*) HuskyFox's Behance

Whoops! There are 8 stickers for 8 songs. I missed this guy

Hint: the pink shape represents Magic Island and the blue X shape represents New Rules :)

At its heart, a TXT album will always tell the story and the story will always be forefront. I'm not talking about +U, I'm talking about the album narrative as a whole. The story and the message are central to the album. The delivery follows the story, not the other way around.

This is how they're able to experiment with genres and visual delivery. Because they are not beholden to the binary idea of concepts. A sad song need not be a ballad with dark visuals. A gentle song about a magic island can be filled with whistles and images of burning island.

Because the story can be interpreted and reinterpreted in multiple ways and they need not adhere to the audience's expectation of neither happy nor sad. Such is the volatility of youthful emotions, after all.

Unfortunately, because the audience has been conditioned to talk about album concepts from marketability point of view instead of how it enhances an album's message or story, The Dream Chapter: Magic's incredible nuance is often lost on the spectators.

(I use the term spectator because I am referring to K-pop stans who spectate rather than actually fully consume the album as the intended audience)

Often, I have to remind K-pop stans who argue on TXT's alleged "bright concept" (untrue, they've never had a standard bright album theme/concept) that the first two lines of Run Away talks of being the only person who is unhappy.

So to talk about K-pop concepts in relation to TXT feels very reductive to me as they've never constructed their album/EP from a certain concept. there is a story that they are telling and the visual narrative follows that story, not the other way around.

They have never associated a certain genre with a certain mood as is often the case in K-pop releases. After all, Blue Hour sounds bubbly but it talks of living in the realm of denial.

So while realistically speaking The Chaos Chapter sounds unnerving, it could in fact be a dream pop album. Who knows? TXT never limits themselves nor box themselves.