I will be honest and say that I am not the intended audience for this album. I can recognize what their messaging is and celebrate that, but a lot of the songs sonically missed for me. And that’s where my point of this really comes in.
I would not classify myself as an ARMY. I would not ride or die for BTS.
But they are doing something interesting with their message. As a music fan, I am moved by what they’re aiming for. Songs like Aliens and Normal are so representative of the conversations I’ve had with my dad about living in the U.S. and what it means to him to be a part of his unique blend of cultures.
The way they built the album to have a very obvious part one and part two separated by a culturally significant bell that has such a unique resonance is interesting. They’re pushing the boundaries of where they came from and where they’re heading.
But as fans of music, or even fans of the group themselves, you don’t have to understand it. You can say, it’s not for me and go about your day.

Music is not going to land for every person every time. If your favorite group makes a perfect record every single time, they’re either repackaging the same message or they’re stuck in a creative loop of what sells. Isn’t it boring to have everything the same or perfect? To be human is to do things that aren’t perfect or polished. That’s what makes art so interesting and impactful. I think that fans of K-pop get lost in the product they are selling, the human personalities created to emotionally appeal to people, and lose the essence of what K-pop is. A music genre.
For us, white American K-pop fans, we need to take steps away and recognize that not everything is for us. Especially art.

I wanted to touch on aspects of discourse that I felt were valid, but again, I am not the authority on any of this. This is just my opinion.
Their promo left a lot of people incredibly confused. Especially with how much they alienated part of their black fan base by whitewashing Howard University in their promotional animation of the real-life historical event that allowed for 아리랑 to be recorded and preserved. Yes, the person who organized the project was a white woman. But Alice Cunningham Fletcher was allowed to bring that all together because of the inclusive atmosphere of Howard University. Her research and preservation would not have been welcomed at other universities at the time. The basis of HBCUs is the preservation of black culture and identity. To choose to represent more white people on that campus is to allow for the whitewashing of the event. Howard University’s campus would not have looked like that. Yeah, they told viewers from the top that it was not historically accurate. But this made viewers question why they felt it necessary to do so. As someone with a degree in history, I was confused and disappointed. This, coupled with the title track featuring a white woman, who did an amazing job, btw, we love Lili Reinhart in this house. It all just left a sour taste in my mouth.
When the album was released, and they discussed their inspirations and influences, it made more sense. They’re highlighting their own stories and interruptions. That is represented by more white people, I guess. Who’s to say, though? It probably was not intentional, just not something they focused on or cared about. Disappointing but not surprising.
These aspects made me not receive songs like FYA well at all and contributed to the album not making sense to me. But as I said earlier, it’s not for me to understand.

(I’m not going to comment on who they decided to work with because my own morals do not align with the people they decided to work with. I will just say, I stand with Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and Congo, and wish to see that reflected in the media I consume. It’s obvious they have differing ones, and it is what it is.)

There’s an obvious answer here. It’s dying1
It’s speaking. Because someone somewhere will hear you. Even if you can’t hear their reply.

I struggle to keep that in my head. It flies away when I attempt to engage in fan spaces or post on my personal Instagram. In person, I struggle to open up. My body seems to think interpersonal communication is like being held hostage.
Learning how to communicate what is in your head is not easy. It’s actually harder than being a U.S Marine2. When it comes to trying to build connections, online or in person, it’s so much easier to say nothing at all about yourself.

But saying silent, posting nothing when you feel passionate about it, doesn’t allow growth at all. It’s something I learned while doing floristry. Fresh-cut flowers can handle a certain amount of pressure. Roses can be bent into wonderful, complex shapes, and carnations can be fluffed like tissue paper.
Humans can handle a similar amount of pressure. The petals of your identity can’t unfold without tension. To be known is first to be challenged. It’s hard with the different sets of weights that were each given to us by the soil we were grown in.
Something I’ve learned in life is how similar plants and humans are. We are souls, and just our physical bodies vary. Some flowers thrive in harsh desert conditions with limited available nutrients. Some people learned how to cope with a lack in their core nutrition, mentally and physically, and thrived despite it.
That’s probably enough with the flower references.
Was anyone else the strong, adult-like child who caretakers didn’t have to worry about?
I’ve been spending more time with my older brother recently, and it’s brought up a bunch of complex icky feelings from our childhood. Being the eldest daughter but not the eldest made me feel like I had to work overtime to prove my worth. And I’m talking from the first time I spoke until very recently.
I’ve always tried to prove my worth without risking my authenticity being rejected. I’ve unfortunately always been grossly intense and the party pooper. Number one, “Well, actually!” kind of gal.
Now that’s translated into people I’m closest with finding me rough and abrasive. The thorns of my vulnerability draw blood. But I am not evil. I am not mean. (At least I keep telling myself this)
For the people who matter in your life, the scars are worth knowing the you that does not show up 100% of the time. Opening up is not comfortable. Its a constant process of self-discovery and rejection. If you’re risk-averse, it can feel not worth the trouble. But what really isn’t worth the trouble is to shrivel behind a glass case. For the whole world to watch the slow degradation of something so unique and wonderful is another kind of torture.
There is barely any real point to this. Other than to make someone out there feel like they are worth the trouble of being known. I still have yet to find those who would find my thorns worth the pain. But that doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen. Something something, every rose has its thorn vibez over here.

I am the oldest I’ve ever been, I am the youngest I’ll ever be again. So many people will give you the advice that you have no idea where you will end up, so just trying is enough. I struggle with that. I see very little return to feel like my attempts are heading somewhere. Is that why everyone is either in Japan or running marathons? To feel like there is fruit at the end of their labor?
I feel like there is a giant loading screen across my life. I’m unable to see the future pathway for me. But there is always a beautiful sunset to enjoy and a new favorite song that I haven’t heard yet. Maybe that’s the key to resisting the call of the 27 Club.

I’ve tried to quantify my sexuality for as long as I can remember. Getting the label right to explain to others who I am and who I’d be interested in seemed to always escape me, but it was vitally important to those around me. Eventually, I had to get over the definition, get some better friends, and actually start getting out there. In an effort to raise more awareness for the beautiful complexities of sexuality, I’ll share my journey and where that has led me in honor of National Coming Out Day. Just because we have an authoritarian dictator and a thought police does not mean queerness goes away.

When I came out in the 8th grade, I had the biggest crush on a very nice girl. The banter was great, and we loved the same TV show. She unfortunately was not into me. But it was serious enough for me to finally come out to my parents. So there I was, after school and rifling through my mom’s closet. My parents sat on their bed watching an F1 race, focused on the match they’d most likely already seen.
“Mom, what do you wear on a date?”
“That depends on where you’re going. And who you’re going with.”
Something I hope is obvious to you, reader, is that I have always been theatrical. The world has always been my stage.
When I walked out of their physical closet and my metaphorical one, I expected a happy acceptance. I got one from my dad. I thank my lucky stars that he seems to be one of the only non-homophobic Korean-Americans.
My mom, on the other hand, was shocked. It threw her. Despite the many stories about how queer people, especially drag queens, taught her everything she knew about doing her makeup, I did not get the reaction I had wanted.
Eventually, she came around. It wasn’t that she was unsupportive; she just had never seen it coming from me. But it did feel like rejection at the time. She is now one of the proudest parents of more than just one LGBTQIA* child. Really, she brags about me all the time when people bring up anything remotely queer. I love my proud and supportive mother.

The problem I faced throughout my teen years was the labelling that comes with it all. I had originally intentionally just let the world around me know I was really into other girls. Not specifically saying that I was a lesbian. But I knew I could never tell anyone that I was Bisexual. There was a specific bi-phobic energy in popular culture and internet culture. It felt very “Pick one or the other.” But Bisexual never really felt right either. So when asked, I would label myself as a lesbian. Until I got into high school. The strangeness of really enjoying the company of boys and thinking I was attracted to them never quite escaped me as a teen. So even as a self-identified lesbian, I had high school boyfriends. Because I never knew how to fit within the labels.
As I left high school, I remained just as confused. I had a hard time differentiating
between attraction and friendship for girls. I didn’t know what either really felt like or how to tell. It didn’t help that only boys seemed to be interested in me. I had a lot of work to do confronting myself and my sexuality. So, despite my roster containing a lot of cisgender he/hims and a lot more she/hers, I kind of gave up labeling myself. If I was interested in someone, I was going to pursue them.

I started saying I was rated E for Everyone.

Until I went to therapy and worked through those feelings of confusion. I had read the lesbian masterdoc and had been well-versed in the multitude of labels in the community, but without a deep understanding of myself, I was lost.
It wasn’t until I realized, after a really hard therapy session, that I used attention from men as a form of self-harm, that it clicked. But it didn’t mean that I wasn’t attracted to cisgender men. I just had to readjust and be more intentional when choosing a partner. To act not out of desperation, but out of intentionality. It’s a really hard lesson to learn. But thankfully, I’ve been working hard to get through it.
I can now proudly say that I don't discriminate about who I’m attracted to and who I want to partner with. That usually does not include men. But it doesn’t exclude them either. I am solidly queer.

It’s hard to reconcile with this. Women are usually really not into me when they find out that I’m queer. The ones I’ve been lucky enough to be partnered with just don’t get it. And that’s okay. The thing about labels for sexuality it does not have to make sense to anyone except for you.
I have no idea who I’ll end my life with or any expectation of the people I will love throughout my life. I will simply love and be loved in return. And freeing myself from the expectations to follow the heteronormative guidelines of dating to marry, regardless of gender, helped me actually find my label and some peace.
I love dating women. The connections that two women in a romantic relationship have are on another plane of existence for me. It’s something sacred and ancient to me. I haven’t seriously dated men as an adult before. It’s always been casual, but that doesn’t take away the possibility of something beautiful coming from a relationship with a man. And neither of those statements excludes gender non-conforming people. The rainbow of gender presentation is just another viewpoint for me to enjoy the company of another human romantically. Like I said, I’m rated E for Everyone. And we do not accept TERFS in this household.

Sexuality is a journey; not everyone will feel comfortable with one label their whole life. And that’s okay. There are a million lives to live in the short time we’re on this earthly plain of existence. The here and now will not be the only time we will live. The echoes of those who paved the way live inside each LGBTQIA* identifying person. We carry on their struggles as they are our own.

Happy National Coming Out Day. If you’re out and proud, congratulations. If you’re not, don’t worry. Your time will come whenever you are ready. Just don’t let the label and your closest people keep you locked in the closet. Loving freely is the only way to save each other during these unprecedented and dark times.

Thanks for reading.

I’ve seen one too many videos of today’s teens romanticizing being a teenager during the tumblr era. I have decided to use my knowledge to help you not become a tumblr girl. I’ve loaded up a playlist from my teen years and will reopen my old wounds to make sure NO ONE repeats this era. Because if just one person can benefit from hearing how dangerous the tumblr days were, it’s worth it.

Playlist link:
Apple
Spotify
Youtube

Disclaimer: a few cancelled bands are on these playlists. Viewer discretion is advised.

The rosy lens teens view tumblr with, to someone who experienced it, is horrifying. Not only do I have long-lasting health issues because of the culture and my own family history, but I also get to watch young people romanticize it while in recovery. Because the things I did to myself as a teenager have become a lifelong battle.

I was born in 1998, so that means I’m unc, I guess?
I was a freshman in 2012 and with a graduation date in 2016, the prime age to be a teen on tumblr.com. The visual side of tumblr was everything to me. It’s something I’ve kept to this day. (Hello, degree in mass communication) I will curate a vibe to the minute detail just because it’s fun and visually appealing. The aesthetic defined me as a person. Because who was I without what I looked like?

Not only was I lucky to go to high school before OpenAI was created, but I am also one of the lucky ones who was a teenager during a relatively peaceful time in America. Ignorance was bliss for teens.
Despite the panic of the world ending in 2012, I just wanted to make some memories. To say I did something with my friends and post about it on my tumblr. To me, if it wasn’t documented on my phone or a camera and posted somewhere, it didn’t happen.

I opened my tumblr account in 2011, but only posted my Every Word Is Capitalized Like Panic! At The Disco poetry that was so angsty no one would ever want to revisit. I was a preteen who was bullied in person and online by my friends. My appearance was regularly picked apart…(pizza chest, or three months pregnant, y’all get to pick). The horror that was a Truth Is video on Facebook still haunts me to this day. These things pushed me off of the social networking web pages where I actually knew people and into the ones with more anonymity.

It wasn’t until early 2012 that I finally used tumblr to its full potential. I had always been into ‘emo’ music like My Chemical Romance and Paramore, and tumblr had introduced me to ‘bandom tumblr’. Home of the pop punk scene and experimental female artists that shaped me as a young teen.

I’d like to think I owe everything to Marina (and the diamonds), Sky Ferreira, THE Ms. Hayley Williams, and Halsey. But nothing compared to the obsession with the pop punk bands. I concluded my time as a loyal member of many fan clubs, but the 5sos fam held a special place in my heart. I still love their music today. My bias is Calum.

I had spent hours customizing my theme and curating a specific aesthetic: gay, depressed, music nerd. To say I was obsessed was an understatement. I’d managed to rack up 1,700 followers and felt like Jesus himself. I was proud of my little corner of the internet. It was my escape. A place that felt like, at the time, somewhere safe. It’s funny now recalling that safety. It couldn’t have been further from the reality of being an attention-seeking teenager. (You do not know the horrors of a kik account.)

A lot of this story is fun. I won’t lie and say that it was 100% a bad time. I feel lucky to have been born when I was. tumblr taught me queer and feminist theory, reinforced my love for everything under the sun, and most importantly, made me real-life friends.

When I moved from my extremely conservative small town to a bigger suburb outside of a large liberal city, my guidance counselor asked me if I was gay. She was the faculty advisor for the Gay-Straight Alliance and would love to have some actual out queer kids in the club. Thanks to tumblr, I had been out for a while. Seriously, the queer education I got was something people can’t even pay for now. This led to me meeting people my age who accepted me from the get-go. I still keep in contact with one of them, and I’m thankful for her friendship after all of these years, despite everything. They introduced me to One Direction and then subsequently 5 Seconds of Summer.

That’s how I found myself skipping class to sit outside on a very cold February morning to watch the She Looks So Perfect music video drop. I had a $0.75 coffee from 7/11 to keep me warm. Four teens huddled together to watch the music video on someone’s laptop.
My blonde hair was swept into a greasy, near-perfect scene kid bang. I shivered wearing my dad’s jacket, a flannel, jean shorts, tights, and my all black vans. An outfit I had carefully crafted on Polyvore the night before. In hindsight, the music video is kind of boring. But as a teenager, it was groundbreaking. Soon, my blog morphed into a 5sos stan account.
I got to connect with other girls.

Girlhood to me wasn’t defined well before this period of my life. To me, having a group of girls that I spent most of my time with was new. I hadn’t gotten to connect in that way before. Most of the girls I went to school with, whom I called my friends, genuinely disliked me and reminded me of it constantly.
The definition of girlhood for me turned into fangirling over musicians, playing Just Dance, and stealing Bud Light to mix with AMP energy drinks. I still think this was disgusting. Staying up all night and sneaking into our high school field to drink and hang out with boys, and taking aesthetically pleasing photos, was how we spent our summers. We begged a friend who had a car to take us to get frozen yoghurt that was across the street from the Urban Outfitters for the aesthetic. I still remember after-school watch parties for American Horror Story Season 3. When FOUR by One Direction was leaked early on tumblr, we all sat in my friend’s living room and listened together. The only prom I attended was held in a hotel event space for the LGBTQIA kids around the area. I remember dancing with a friend and her older brother to Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore ft. Ryan Lewis. I think we left after an hour. When Blue Neighborhood by Troye Sivan dropped, I spent a good hour crying on the phone with a friend about Heaven.

These days are my rosy days. The highlights. The moments that feel fuzzy and like I had a community of girls that loved the same things that I did. But these moments lead to the breakup of friendships, weird dynamic changes, and too many crushes souring everything. Being a young queer girl who understood that I was attracted to other girls but craved attention from boys made for a confusing time.

It’s funny because despite these rosy memories, I know I was hopelessly bored. There were so many times when it felt like nothing was going on, and weekends that were spent alone at home. No drunken ragers or any drama. Because we were still teenagers. I was a part of the school’s choir, so I had to actually do boring tasks to maintain GPA eligibility. Being a teenager was just as boring as it is now. I think I acted out much more because of my boredom.

The person I am today was directly shaped by these things. I would not be the person I am now. That does not mean it was all about the good things that come from being a fangirl and being in my teens during a peaceful time in American history. I spent the entirety of my teens in the trenches of an undiagnosed mental illness paired with being a chronically online teen. And I attribute a lot of that to my addiction to tumblr. I had a warped sense of sex, identity, and friendships. So much of my life has been directly informed by my behavior as a teen. This is the part of the story that is hard to read. It’s hard to write. It’s like opening my soul and giving it back to the world.

BIG TRIGGER WARNING FOR EATING DISORDERS, SELF-HARM, SUICIDAL IDEATION, AND UNDERAGE DRINKING FROM HERE ON.
988 lifeline

A piece of the tumblr life was the pro anorexia agenda on that website. To engage with the sides of the site that I did; it was inescapable. It’s truly a miracle that I’ve lived this long. Which is funny because I so very much did not want to live this long at 16 years old.

I was a loyal member of the low self-esteem, pro anorexia, and self-harm content. I would scroll the tags for hours, wishing, praying, dreaming. The first time I participated in self-harm harm I was 13 years old. My family history of depression was really doing a number on me. My control issues resulted in a hyperfixation on what I looked like. Controlling how I looked completely consumed me.

Both of my parents had a complex relationship with food, and we were a food box and food stamp family. My parents were busy, and even though they did their best, my teens were lonely and isolating. This led to extremely disordered eating, constant attention-seeking online and in person. I started restricting myself at 13 years old. The craziest part is that NO ONE noticed. No one noticed if my fat percentage was smaller, if that pair of shorts fit looser, if my hip bones showed more. No one cared. Because they didn’t know how much I was screaming on the inside. I didn’t reach out to anyone. Until my body started screaming for help.

To this day, I still struggle with the lasting effects of having an eating disorder. It is no joke. Please talk to someone. Verbalize it in any way you can. I for so long couldn’t bring myself to. The shame and guilt for not wanting to be alive threatened to eat me alive. My parents were working so hard to give me a better life. And I didn’t think I was worthy of any of it.

I spent hours seeing the romanization of anorexia and bulimia on tumblr. Characters like Cassie from Skins were #goals. All the models or influencers that I saw were thin. Everything was thin on tumblr. And it was directly affecting my really vulnerable and impressionable mind. I was bullied for my body from an early age in person. It changed how I saw myself completely and made me soak up the aesthetic of the slow death that is eating disorders. Because when you are restricting and forcing your body to go without sustenance, you turn into a walking corpse. Slowly disintegrating. No one ever mentioned how gross you smell. The smell of death clings to you.

I started losing my hair at 16 from how much stress I was putting my body under. My teeth are forever damaged and impacted by the restriction.

I was lucky that when it did become noticeable to my parents, they helped me through it. Their help and the Oregon Health Plan saved my life. I was 15 when things changed for me. It was looking up, despite the depressive hole that lingered.

Unfortunately, 16 was an even harder year for me. I had just traded methods of self-harm instead of actually continuing therapy. 16 was the year my friends and I entered our ‘party era’. I had engaged in teen drinking every chance I got. I saw so many aesthetic photos of friends drinking together at parks late at night and became obsessed with the images. I needed a photo like this. Proof of my ability to be cool. It became a compulsion. What do you do when you are sad? Drink! What do you do when you’re bored? Drink! Going to your friend’s house? Drink! Sneaking out in the middle of the night? Let’s drink!!!!!!1 XDDDDDD
I was forever changed into someone I don’t think I ever really knew.

This habit was something that followed long after my teens. I started blacking out at 18 years old. And the thing about blacking out is that if it happens once, you will do it more and more. And you will not be able to keep yourself safe when your friends abandon you. I was a worse friend and an even worse human; I don’t entirely blame them now. I, too, would want to abandon the girl who is screaming and crying and throwing up everywhere because someone didn’t want to kiss her.

I’ve been sober now for almost 5 years.

To be on tumblr was to see unregulated sexual content. I was shown so much porn in a way that changed my brain chemistry. I’m not an advocate for porn bans or anything. I believe in porn for all, if it’s safely and ethically produced and distributed. Teens having access to porn affects brain development.

The specific brand that my side of tumblr was into always involved bruising. As a person who bruises easily, I felt represented in a small way. But I can’t stress how much this affected how I related to people, my own age, and the creepy guys I hung around with. If bruises were beautiful to me, the pain of getting them was worth it. It was a new high to chase.
I was a really changeable person, as most teens are. My sense of identity was shaped by the things I saw and was told. And having parents that were too busy to care made tumblr and my friends the prime source for what was right and wrong. Sexual relationships were a tool to get attention. But it was never the attention I was actually craving.

No teen should be having the kinds of relationships I had. While others called me a slut and meant it negatively, I genuinely thought that was a compliment. It is not a compliment. Being sexually active as a teenager who read Fifty Shades of Grey because all of my friends were was a recipe for incredibly scary situations. It sent me straight into the arms of a predator that got off on inflicting pain. And I thought it was worth it for the aesthetic photos of the bruises. Abuse is not an aesthetic. Abuse is not love.

No one five years older than you should be interested in you as a teenager.

It does not matter how lonely you feel, how pretty they are, if they have something you want, YOU are a teenager. They are an adult. It is creepy for them to be pursuing you. There is a reason they’re attracted to teens. They are pedophiles.

If it wasn’t for my only age-appropriate boyfriend asking me out repeatedly, I don’t think I would have left that situation. Because of that inappropriate relationship, my sense of self became defined by my sexual activity. If I wasn’t doing something sexual, I was not doing enough. If I wasn’t living the life that gave me the best aesthetically pleasing photos, I was not living. Again, I had such a heavily warped sense of self. This bled into my friendships.
My friends did not deserve the treatment I gave them. The kind of things I did were destructive on purpose. I used sex and the desire I could muster out of others as a weapon. Anyone with a crush on me was collateral damage in my little world of destruction. I felt awful and tried to use people to fill the void. I was 17 years old and was using my teenage body to destroy every friendship I managed to hold onto. My relationship with girls was somehow even more toxic than the boys I used to try to feel whole. Partners were toys.

The aesthetic I was trying to embody was the toxic ones that Lana Del Rey exemplified in her music. The toxic one that was never without a partner, well-loved despite the toxicity. I turned everyone around me into a villain, despite being the villain myself.

I dropped out of high school because of how anxious I was. My mental state was so irreparably changed. I got my GED and refused to look back and reflect. I tried to pick up my pieces, but instead just put them back together backwards. I was still hanging onto the aesthetic of tumblr and was still hanging onto the power I felt I had occupied during that time. I didn’t fully dive into what I did during my teens until I went to therapy full-time in my 20s.
I turned 18 in 2016. Because of my own actions, my small bubble of girls disappeared. I started hanging out with new people. I went to college parties, and I don’t remember any of them outside of the videos I still have. Yes, the parties were amazing, if you liked dancing in a basement that smelled like vomit, stale beer, mold, and whatever Victoria’s Secret body spray was popular. The desperation clung to me like a haze of radioactivity. I was the easy friend who was just given to the odd man out of whichever group of guys we were with.
I need to reinforce that my experiences delayed my development. They made it harder for me to connect with people as an adult. The holes in my memory are only filled by the thousands of pictures and videos on my hard drive from that time.

I don’t want another girl to go through something like this. Not in the world we live in 2025. I know there will be. History repeats itself, and everyone has to learn these lessons for themselves.
I just wish when I’m scrolling TikTok, the girlies talking about how cool the 2010s were to be a teen know; It was cool. And it was just as boring as your teens are. No one thinks they’re getting everything they want as teenagers. I definitely chased a dream life just as much as teens do now.
I see the beauty in the nostalgia the algorithms feed you. It was beautiful. But beauty shouldn’t cost young people their bodies, minds, and lives. And the 2010s were full of teenagers damaging themselves. I know that hasn’t stopped, but maybe hearing from an elder Gen Z, you’ll learn to protect yourself and your friends.

I’m no stranger to a Tomorrow X Together tour. I’ve been able to catch them on all four of their tours in the U.S. This concert has an energy unlike any other tour from the five-piece K-pop group (or any other group from any other genre).

Fresh off the heels of a contract renewal, it’s palpable how involved the members of Tomorrow X Together are in the stages of their setlist. Their artistic fingerprints are on even the smallest details. From the opening to the solo stages and the encore, each section has an obvious THEM energy. Something that can only be done after years in the industry. On their fourth tour, it’s obvious that after a year and a half, this is Tomorrow X Together entering a new era. One written by themselves specifically for their fans.

Something that stood out to me was the songs that fans knew every word to. And it seemed not to be only the title tracks. Songs like Love Language stood out as the crowd overtook the mics. Most of the time, when fan excitement peaked was during songs that had high participation from the members of Tomorrow X Together. It made me excited to see that amount of fan love for their participation reflected in future projects. In an industry where the standard is not artist-led production, MOA seems to prefer it.

The concert opens with high energy, backed by some of America’s best up-and-coming dancers. The members hold a cheeky energy that teases the crowd into action from the first glimpse. They give off an energy of, “Hi! We’re here! You missed us, right? Let me hear how much you missed us!” The excitement from fans is infectious from the beginning. I’m a pretty low-energy person, but it is impossible not to scream along with every other fan in the building. The professionalism oozes off of the quintet with all of the relaxed energy of true veterans in their field. Something that is unique even amongst the most seasoned performers and stems from their obvious affection for the stage. As they state in their most recent title track, Beautiful Strangers, they “do it for love”.
My favorite moment of my experience at the Los Angeles date of their tour was the fan chant during No Rules. It seemed like the entire stadium full of 20,000 people knew their names and were making the entire neighborhood near BMO Stadium know them, too. In fact, during the entire concert, it seemed like we could hear all 20,000 of us singing along.

It’s obvious how thoughtful the entire tour staff was in creating an experience for fans. Part of the magic was the stagecraft. I’ll think about the confetti falling during Song of the Stars and Take My Half for the rest of my life. They left you feeling something at every corner of the setlist. A new surprise to move you to your feet after each break.

It felt like the entire stadium was a norebang.

Despite the running theme of American fans not being very good at singing in Korean, at this concert, it did not matter how good the fans’ pronunciation was. The good energy allows for everyone’s inner child to come out and play with no sense of perfectionism.
If you do know the lyrics, you’re able to heal certain pieces you didn’t know needed healing. Performances like Bird of Night and 0X1 = Love Song brought me such peace that I was speechless. Hearing the new arrangement of Crown, their debut song from 6 years ago, before Beautiful Strangers gave you a feeling of the enormous task of cultivating the group that is Tomorrow X Together. Their struggles, separate and apart from the group, were so clear in this section of the concert. You didn’t need to have been on the journey with them in real time to watch their growth. They were showing it right on that stage.

The members of Tomorrow X Together solidified who they are in the process of becoming through the solo stages. Each person has their own unique and very separate identity outside of the group sound.

Yeonjun stood out as the theatrical and moody one. Ghost Girl’s set design, paired with the creepy choreography that the dancers effortlessly pull off and Yeonjun twirling alone down the stage, gives a distinct impression of who Yeonjun is as an artist. He’s doing something different and interesting. To me, it was reminiscent of Orpheus and Eurydice of Greek myth. Yeonjun seemed to play a version of Orpheus descending the stairs into the underworld that is lined with skulls, followed by spirits of the undead. It translated into a stage that fans of darker concepts fell in love with.

Soobin brought out a levity that is hard to achieve with Sunday Driver. It had an upbeat attitude that just screamed, “Come play with me!”. Pairing Soobin with two dancers just having fun on stage brought the mood up while rainbow confetti was sprinkled in the air around fans. As a long-time fan, the performance showcased exactly why fans are so drawn to the leader of Tomorrow X Together. He’s so fun to watch that you want to dance too.

Beomgyu sent shockwaves out into the stadium with his powerful performance of Take My Half. The richness and depth of his vocal tone seemed to coat the crowd in a dream-like state until the final powerful chorus kicked in. The siepa tone on the screens washed into bright technicolors as Beomgyu’s strong vocals rang out, echoing around the Stadium. Arena rock is not how I would have described Take My Half from just listening to the song, but after hearing it live, I can only compare it to the greatest hits of the era of Stadium Anthems that I grew up listening to. The performance showcases what Beomgyu is the best at: sincerity.

Taehyun’s performance of Bird of Night is in my top five favorite performances from him of all time. Despite my own personal connection to a song about not sleeping well, it managed to tell another story on stage. He has my favorite voice of his entire generation, but something about the magical elements of his stage and minimal choreography made the experience stand out the most. Despite the minimal stage effects, his star quality carried the visual aspect enough to bring out a sincerity that was reflected in his airy vocals. It carried the pieces of fans on the back of wings to a place of peace and rest.

Kai has matured into an artist who can pull off sexy without it being vulgar or overly in your face. A sophisticated sexiness that tells a story. Dance With You reminded me of going out and seeing the hottest people on the planet and wanting to make a move. And the performance brought exactly that energy. The dancers brought out their own sex appeal in a complementary way to Kai’s shy and sensual vibe. As a long-time fan, I was blown away by it. The lighting, coupled with the different levels and chair dances, made me feel something entirely different from any other solo performance. I was genuinely proud of his achievement in pulling off that concept.

A way that the fans got to connect was an actual sing-along section. I think this really brought back the idea that we, as fans, are experiencing something together. And it’s a rare and beautiful moment to give to fans to have on each tour stop. Something that fans can say only happened at this one show.
Another element of uniqueness is the encore. Throughout the show, the members were constantly reminding fans that if we don’t ask for it, we wouldn’t get an encore. Even after the encore was over. We all stayed glued to our spots until the lights came up, hoping for more.)
They played it perfectly to segway into the English version of Cat and Dog. A song that was a perfect fit for the constant affectionate teasing by the members. The barking was so loud, the videos from outside the stadium are something else. Other groups have protest or love songs, MOA have Cat and Dog. And I don’t think American fans would have it any other way.

Tomorrow X Together can make each show feel like its own universe. A separate moment from everything else happening in the world. No matter what could happen outside, right then, the people in that venue are letting their inner child out to play with 20,000 others. It takes years of experience to get to that level of artistry. The magic they create together and separately is unique to them and their team. Each previous tour’s best elements were reflected in the design of Act: Tomorrow. It felt like a stopping point to remind U.S. fans that there will always be this time with each other. Despite how long it might be until we see each other again, we all had this moment where we came together as one.

In so many ways, I feel that as a fan, I’ve gotten to watch the five members grow as artists, and what’s always shocked me is how committed they are to not only the craft of their jobs but also the concept of building a Tomorrow Together. Folding that into their personal ethos as a group would not have been easy. But they make it look natural and effortless. It makes me believe that there will be a tomorrow in which we are together again.

Track 1: Leo (You are the sun) - kate the dreamer
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I have to be out of the door before the sun has fully settled in the sky. It’s bright, and the pinks that colored the sky faded hours ago. The 15-minute walk to the first bus I get on feels like this song. I wave hello to the neighbors who are going to work, I watch the birds jump from one shelter in the trees to another, and pet the neighborhood cats in my mind’s eye. (I have three cats; they would murder me if they smelled another cat on me.) This song soundtracks my daily activity of noticing the things that make my neighborhood nice to live in. It’s something gentle to wake your mind and eyes up to the beauty that can be found outside, even within a concrete hellscape.
Track 2: Superstition - HalfNoise
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To liven up the journey, the funky tones of this song mimic all of the movie intros of the 1970s. Something about the bright orchestral tone brings together my idea of commuting into the city center during the late spring and early summer. Phoenix is always hot, and this song brings the cheery vibe necessary to get through the hotter days of the year. This song brings some nostalgic whimsy to the playlist and just makes me feel like the main character of a movie.
Track 3: Paris City Jazz - Bellaire
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To continue with our theme of sunny days, Jazz is never the wrong answer to a commute on a train. The house beat mixed with brass instruments brings a mellow and again movie-like quality to the playlist. (You’ll see that a lot in these playlists) The early rap scene influence ties it together with the song later on this playlist. Not to mention, it’s the perfect BPM for walking and minimal enough to read a chapter of whatever book you promised yourself you would read.
Track 4: Odyssey (Featuring Mad Keys & Christopher James Talio) - Iman Jordan
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Iman Jordan has had a crazy career. Songwriting for some of the biggest names in the industry. His work on Desperado made him one to watch for me. His song Deliver, written about the Palestinian resistance movement and the overall political turmoil we find ourselves in today, won a Grammy recently. He’s a talent who has had a long career so far, and his music just keeps getting better.
Odyssey finds its sonic home on this playlist. It’s an upbeat attitude to let yourself lead your life with love that makes me feel light and comforts me when the DOOM™ comes creeping in. Sometimes we all just need that reminder and a beat to step on our way in life.
Track 5: Image - Magdalena Bay
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The album this song comes from was, in my opinion, the best release of 2024. Matt and Mica were so intentional with each component of the album, and Image is no exception. The song counts down in real-time with the album run time. Absolutely genius.
This song was my companion on many walks around the downtown Phoenix area. It’s the perfect weirdo anthem for the changes we embrace about ourselves. My favorite moment in the track is 2:47. The beat kicking in on Oh my god is life-changing. I am incapable of not dancing a little when this is on.
This song concludes the daytime portion of this playlist. In my head, there is a distinct vibe shift between before work and after work. Image ends perfectly with walking into your building, ready to reanimate the capitalist slave that lives inside of you.
Track 6: Boring - Alice Lee
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I feel like a sim with the creative trait working in the business career after work. It did not matter if I was doing a creative job or not. After work, I'm tense and bored. This song was found on TikTok. So maybe you’ve heard it. I think it perfectly describes the feelings of a 20-something-year-old struggling to adjust to the system.
It’s a balm to the pressures of trying to act like an adult when you’ve only been on for less than a decade. Things are weird and hard. But that’s where songs like this come in. When I play this, I feel the weight of not being far along enough in my career lessen. It will inspire and remind me to check into what community events are happening that day and how I can help out my community. Sometimes you just need another person to tell you life is boring, and you’ll feel fine.
Track 7: Cow Killers - Chris Casey
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This song was a gut punch. How is this person not a major-label artist? Oh yeah, because they talk about black history in an unsanitized way.
If you’re interested in history, this is a lesson you’ll already know. The struggle for equity among races in America is stacked against any black person. Even the richest of them. This song brings up the history of white slave owners turning the skin of their enslaved people into various things. I’ll link to the Jim Crow Museum about this.
The comparison of cops, the modern-day slave catchers, to cow killers is a perfect metaphor to relay the modern struggle that stemmed from the history of white people consistently treating other races as inhuman.
I know people don’t listen to lyrics, nor do they want to be reminded of the history of this country, like in Hey Ya! by OutKast, "Ya’ll don’t wanna hear me, you just wanna dance." So if you’re just here to vibe, the song does a great job of being dancy enough to ignore the lyrics. The catchiest lyric that I think would be insane to hear an entire crowd in Florida sing is
"Well, it could be a lot worse ‘cause you could always live in Florida".
Something about it makes me giggle.
I’ll be eagerly looking out for Chris Casey as he puts out more music.
Track 8: BIDDI BOMB (featuring Verde, Amon the MC & DJ JG) - The Neighborhood Kids
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This group is my pick for the next NPR Tiny Desk. I like to describe them as the revolutionary and Gen Z Black Eyed Peas with better old-school beats. Their vintage vibe and flow feel like an anthem for the end of the 2020s in the US. The lyrics hit hard. Specifically,
"What’s our business always in the Middle East?" A question I’m sure most of my generation has asked. This is bringing back the hip-hop of the West Coast I grew up listening to. It has a nice beat that’s perfect to walk to and a lesson in each bar. For me, the Neighborhood Kids are the ones to watch.
Track 9: Stick of Gum - Nemahsis
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This song was my companion on my summer vacation. If you are flying anywhere, this is the perfect airport and take-off song. This Palestinian artist has inspired me heavily recently. She was dropped from her label because she is a Palestinian. A group of people who have heavy influence within the music industry has made it their mission to erase artists like Nemahsis because of the ‘potential PR nightmare’.
Nemahsis is worth that trouble. It’s been a while since a song like this has come out. Despite the song being about Palestine, listeners can vibe along to the infectious hope from the track.
Track 10: Binz - Solange
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Consider this song a treat, an interlude to less anxiety-inducing times. The last couple of songs might get you down or inspire you on your commute home. This song is bound to get you in a happier mood. From here, we’ll enter another time separate from the political landscape. Remember, there is no resistance without hope. Imagine yourself, however you get around, with the sun shining and wind, and your dreams coming true before your eyes.
Track 11: Intimidated (Featuring HER) - Kaytranada
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On my commute, there is a river that the light rail crosses, which this part of the playlist lines up with. This song fits the mood of the next half perfectly, a hopeful confession that time is limited and there’s no reason to wait to go after what you want.
Track 12: Home - BTS
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Despite the controversy of HYBE Labels, this song will stay on my playlists for commuting. After a long day, RM’s monologue in the beginning echoes my inner monologue. By the end of the song, I’m sure you’ll see why this song stays on my playlists.
Track 13: Trangazing - Sam Wills & Honey Mooncie
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Have you ever seen someone out in public who is visually your type? Then you start to think about this person and who they might be. This song is perfect for that hypothetical moment.
Track 14: Forty-One Winks - Tomorrow X Together
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If you know me, I can’t function without listening to a Tomorrow X Together song daily. Luckily, they have a song for every mood. This one is perfect for the commute home. This R&B track is Tomorrow X Together's excellence. The lyrics describe moments when language is not universal but music is. This song is smooth and uplifting and became one of my top listened-to tracks of 2024, despite it being released in November. TXT is my favorite K-pop group because of songs like this. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s quality. With writing credits from Jordan Sparks and Lucky Daye, it’s the perfect song after a long day.
Track 15: Crazy World (Featuring Dizzy Fae) - Kim Tee
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A love song for the end of the world. Or just a fun song to listen to when you need some hope that love is all around in your friends.
Track 16: Saturn - SZA
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Ya know what? SZA is right, this can’t be life.
Something about a SZA song can make you feel hopeful despite how sad the lyrics are. On this Grammy award-winning track, the questions that most of us have had about life come alive in a glittering atmosphere. If you’re an overthinker, this one is for you. And for me. A floaty song to round out the winding down of your commute. Maybe the sun has set or is setting, and you’re feeling sobered by the length of your commute.
Track 17: Sinking Boat - Infinity Song
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In a similar ethos to Saturn, this song speaks to the dismantlement of the world we grew up in. This sibling quartet gives us a song to dance to at the end of the world. Why worry? Just do whatever, it’ll all work out eventually.

Here we are at the end. With the bass line fading out, I hope this playlist opened your mind up a little. Thank you for joining me on my commute.