My maybe-unrealistic hopes and expectations for 2022

 I think we can all agree that 2021 was as Park Bom would put it, CACA EN EL CULO. But now a new year is upon us! I hope 2022 will bring lots of good things to you, to ME, to your family and friends... My grades were dismal in 2021 so I hope I'll be able to bring them back up this year, maybe earn money, maybe stop being single... but I'm far too lazy and sad to do any of that so let's just keep wishing and talk about things I can't control instead!! (Just note that this blog post is probably just going to be me asking for new music from various artists)

Spare album, Ms. Ayu?

I've only been an Ayumi Hamasaki stan since like, spring of last year so I really can't pretend that I've been waiting for the longest time for her to release a new album. It's not like she's been depriving TA completely of content either, she released a new best album, 2 new singles, a concert film, and went on tour all in the span of a year. So the lady's been working! Taking that into account I guess it would be pretty selfish to demand for her to start working on a new studio album. She needs to REST! However, I hope that later on in the year, after she wraps up her tour and hopefully takes some time off, she'll start working on a new studio album and I hope that in that new record she'll start taking more musical risks so that a new generation of listeners might be interested in her. Ayu singing in Spanish perhaps? 😭 Until that day... I'll be satisfied listening to Ayu's 100,000 albums, compilations, and singles!

LOONA WILL PROSPER!

2021 was a very eventful year for the Orbz... well at least the latter part of it cuz the first part was really just a lot of waiting. But once Haseul came back, that was when everything really changed:

• Second music show win with PTT (first with Haseul)
• PTT: first entry on Gaon Digital Chart at #134
• Top 5 album [&] which is also nominated for Golden Disc Award
• As well as being the best selling album in their careers so far

And after releasing [&] they later went on to release a unit single with #that man titled "Not Friends", which did surprisingly well considering how it was a unit release and they made their long awaited debut in Japan with the single "Hula Hoop / Starseed ~Kakusei~." I thought Hula Hoop/Starseed was a phenomenal debut in Japan for LOONA and the people over there seemed to think so too as the single managed to make it to the top 10 on Oricon and to the top 40 on Billboard Japan. I wrote a review for this single on RYM so if you want to read it click here. 

For 2022, I want to see LOONA take advantage of their new success in Japan. Ideally this would mean them releasing a studio album because I would just love to hear them create a whole record with songs with the same style or vibe as Hula Hoop and Starseed, and also it would be really cool if we got re-recorded versions of So What and Why Not with Haseul's vocals and new choreo. Alas, LOONA's team is incompetent and we're probably not gonna get a full album anytime soon, so at the very least I hope this year we get ONE Japanese comeback and TWO Korean ones. BBC seems to have been getting slightly better at managing them so maybe they'll improve this year in terms of release frequency.

A normal year for BLINKs please...

YG... I could go into full detail talking about how NASTY and LOW-DOWN this company is but that would require its own post. The way they've been channeling all their time, energy and money into #that rookie boy group which shall not be mentioned instead of focusing on the REAL moneymakers of the company feels so evil to me. I know in 2021 the members were more focused on their solo endeavors with Rosé releasing R, Lisa releasing Lalisa (with the B-side Money blowing up on TikTok), Jisoo starring in Snowdrop, and Jennie being busy with her brand deals, magazine shoots, and YouTube vlog channel. However, I would really like to see more full group activities from the Blackpink girls in 2022. At the same time, I'm also very intrigued to see what the concept and sound for Jisoo's solo debut will be. Although, Jisoo really hasn't been on Korea's good side lately, or anyone who worked on Snowdrop for that matter. What I got from what people were saying online is that there is backlash due to inaccurate representation of Korea during the time period the show is set in. I'm not really well versed when it comes to Korean history or culture so I really can't say anything about the matter, all I will say is that I guess participating in Snowdrop might've not been the best idea for Jisoo and her acting career after all.

Anyways, I just hope this year we'll see more of Blackpink as a group... as a MUSICAL group, and not just a club of brand ambassadors.

AND FUCK TREA- [gets run over by bus]

The Mariah Menu? We want The Mariah Album!

Similarly to Ayu, it's been quite a while since Mimi last released a studio album. Of course, back in 2020 we got blessed with the absolute serve that was The Rarities, but as that was an archival collection of previously unreleased works, it didn't exactly feel like an album and was more of a compilation. Not saying we didn't love it, cuz of course we did! But it's been 3 years since Caution, and I'm ready to be blown away again like I was when I listened to that album for the first time. I did hear that Mariah has been working on new music, which is very exciting, and that she has collaborated with the iconic Brandy which I'm sure whatever they made sounds absolutely divine. I know Mariah always finds a way to give Lambs content, in her own unique, sometimes unusual, ways, so I'm certain she has something up her sleeve for us this year. I just hope one of those things is an album! And a tour, but she already rebuked that idea. ☹

Namie Amuro's pay-per-view music videos

It's Namie Amuro's 30th anniversary since debuting this year and while I am well aware she's no longer a part of the music industry, it would be nice for her team to release her music videos on YouTube in HD cuz most people aren't trying to buy a $30 album just to watch an artist's music videos nowadays. I'm not like most people and I'd still probably buy the album but still, it'd be nice to be able to watch them whenever on YouTube.

Mamamoo is not so Hip anymore

It's looking really bleak for Mamamoo. It honestly kinda makes me laugh how their fans make Mamamoo up to be this ultra-successful group that everyone likes but the sales really aren't reflecting that! This all sounds really shady, but it's just what I've been noticing about the group lately. Hwasa's new album didn't really do too hot, which was a shocker considering how big Twit and Maria were, and the group's recent compilation album was clowned by everyone for having dismal sales. Moonbyul has a new EP coming out soon apparently, so I'm interested to see how it fares. I don't really care to listen to it, I just want to know what the future looks like for Mamamoo cuz neither their group stuff or their solo stuff has been selling spectacularly and with one member not in the company anymore things could get pretty complicated for them moving forward.

IT'S BRITNEY BITCH

Now that Britney is free (yasss) I really do wonder where she's going to take her career now. I really would not blame her if she decided to just retire and dedicate her life to getting married to Sam and taking care of her kids, but she did mention something about new music being on the way and this is exactly why she's just too good for this world. I hope that in her new song she completely annihilates her horrible family. Britney deserves to let the world know everything that she went through all throughout those 13 years she was under that conservatorship.

Jesy Nelson... Who's that? Let's Google.

Another group I think is on their last legs is Little Mix. They did announce last month that they were going on a temporary hiatus, but I do believe this is just going to lead into something much bigger. We all know a hiatus is just a way for a group to disband without having to actually disband. They haven't really been doing all that bad lately, but considering Jesy's departure and how she's been making more noise than them for ALL the wrong reasons, how Little Mix is really the last remaining mainstream girl group from the West, how they've been a group for 10 years, and their new babies, I do have my doubts about how temporary this hiatus is actually going to be. I do wish them the best on whatever they decide to do and congratulate them on their new family members!

As for Jesy, I'm glad she's flopping. She can go to hell, truly.

~

Every new year, it's fun to speculate and think about everything that could possibly happen in the 365 days that make up a year. It's so much time, yet so little at the same time. Anything could happen, and at the same time, anything could NOT happen. I just hope that this year is at the very least, slightly better than the last one. Cuz boy, was 2021 a shitshow or what?

Anyways, thank you for reading my first ever blog post [applause] and I hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy 2022!