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Would Kep1ler's Bahiyyih be popular without her brother?


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Before I say anything I just want to assert to all of you that I am not here to hate on Huening Bahiyyih, her brother, or her fans. I sympathize with her from the hate that she receives from a subset of GP999/Kep1er fans and I denounce all forms of harassment aimed at her or any other member. This thread is not meant to bash her - I just want to have a discussion about how all this came to be! ❤️ 

Since the beginning of GP999, Huening Bahiyyih immediately garnered a lot of buzz from being TXT Huening Kai's sister. TXT is one of the most popular 4th gen boy groups and are the successors of BTS under HYBE. Even items remotely linked to BTS or TXT members get a huge amount of attention - whether its an article of clothing that one of the members wore or a book that one of the members has read, it ends up selling completely out of stock once word gets out. Even something like RM's off comment suggestion of having a 1.5x size ramen package has the ability to influence the decisions of a multi-million dollar company and impact manufacturing and marketing. Yeonjun got ~3-4 million followers within a day of opening Instagram literally yesterday. It's no surprise, then, that being the sister of one of BTS or TXT's members and competing on an idol competition show would rake in HUGE amounts of attention, interest, and support. Since the beginning of the show, Bahiyyih had a jumping off point that many of the other trainees did not have. For better or for worse, she had access to a platform and a following that many other girls did not. Sure, other trainees came from past competition shows or were notable former trainees at big companies, but they had very little exposure prior to the show and did not have the hot buzz that Bahiyyih got/has. We've seen this previously with other idol siblings - for instance, even before f(x) debuted, Krystal received a huge amount of attention for being Jessica's sister, especially since f(x) debuted at SNSD's heydey in 2009. 

Bahiyyih had a relatively strong start to the show in the K group, but throughout the show, her ranking fell to a mid to low placement. In fact, she was almost eliminated at one point in the competition (I believe it was Episode 8, where she was P24 and right above the elimination cutoff). She consistently placed outside the top - and it was only at the very end that she shot up to #2. This was probably due to her cult fan following due to being her brother's sister, the change to a 1-vote mechanic causing all the K-group trainees to rise from Korean voters (esp. since Korean votes were worth more), and IMO - because she received an outpouring of support from i-fans in response to the hate she received from some  GP999 fans.

The reason why I think she's had an increasing amount of i-fan support since that last episode (separate from her cult following from the beginning) is because i-fans started to see something in her - themselves. Most Kpop fans are teenage girls - there's absolutely nothing wrong with that of course, and I also acknowledge that Kpop fans come in all ages and genders - but it's simply a widely accepted fact that the majority of Kpop fans, whether for girl or boy groups, are female, and are likely between the ages of 12-19. From my own experience, most of these fans are not "popular" in real life (hell, spend a day on Stan Twitter and you'll quickly be able to infer how fans are like irl). My theory is that they see themselves in Bahiyyih, who has that sort of same "underdog" image as Yeri from Red Velvet or Giselle in aespa - they're not the standouts of their groups in terms of Korean beauty standards or talent, which encourages support from people that sympathize with them. Bahiyyih is arguably one of if not the weakest vocalist, dancer, and overall performer in Kep1er. She's still awkward on stage, and she also unfortunately doesn't fit Korea's narrow beauty standards as much as other half-white idols have (e.g. her brother, Somi, Vernon).

She's not a particularly good performer, is racially ambiguous, is a little awkward, and is not conventionally "beautiful" to Koreans - and so she's become the self-insert for many i-fans, who see her as being someone that they perceive as achievable. They can be like her because they probably already possess aspects that she does. irl, they're probably not "popular" at school, are "quirky" but not in a particularly attractive way, and might not be conventionally attractive either. Bahiyyih being racially ambiguous also allows non-Korean or non-Asian fans in particular to see themselves in her, making her the ideal self-insert.

All this attention - from her brother, her cult fans, from i-fans, AND even from her haters - results in a huge amount of buzz around her name. That's also the reason why her fancams have at least 5x more views than any other member's thus far...

But that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY. THANKS FOR WATC- lmao jks. But seriously though, please don't send hate to her (or me). These are just my thoughts ❤️ and I'd be interested to know what you all think!

 

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Judging from the past survival shows the answer would be no, you need either the pedigree or the overwhelming talent to get in, just being a bit interesting or relatable wouldn't cut it, there are no precedent

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I don't follow this idol or group but certainly, being popular is more than having a popular relative.

Krystal might have been introduced to some as Jessica sister but the girl got her fandom due to how she was as an idol
On the other hand, Mir couldn't grap on popularity unlike his sister Dara


 

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11 minutes ago, krystalized said:

I don't follow this idol or group but certainly, being popular is more than having a popular relative.

Krystal might have been introduced to some as Jessica sister but the girl got her fandom due to how she was as an idol
On the other hand, Mir couldn't grap on popularity unlike his sister Dara


 

Just to correct. Mir isn't Dara's brother. Thunder is. 

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1 hour ago, jeong jaehyuns boyfriend said:

it's simply a widely accepted fact that the majority of Kpop fans, whether for girl or boy groups, are female, and are likely between the ages of 12-19. From my own experience, most of these fans are not "popular" in real life

Not gonna talk about Bahiyyih, but i find it "interesting" to see kpop fans continually refer to themselves as loser teenage girls and then get mad when an idol calls kpop kidzbop. Like choose one

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Both of them only got in kpop cause their dad has money. It wasn't because of their "talent" (of which is questionable). Its because of privilege.

No one else finds it suspect all 3 of those siblings were in kpop? thats no coincidence. 

Her brother is actually the least popular member in his group. So his sister is just lucky his group was part of the company that housed BTS

I respect Somi so much more because she actually has some talent and wasn't riding on anyone's coattails. I can see why knetizens were more welcoming to her than this girl.

Edited by Walmart Goddess
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No. Idk why you got clowned, that was actually an interesting take. But ultimately I would think that connection and money plays the biggest role.

What would be interesting is to see Giselle in a SM survival show that allows international voting. It would be easier to test this 'relatability' theory.  Since she isn't a sibling of anyone famous, and it wouldn't be a company support thing if it's a SM only show (like sixteen).

I don't want this to be rude, but for sm standards, objectively she doesn't have a skill that particularly stands out. Her dancing is weak, another contestant Karina can rap like her or better, and there's plenty of vocals. Some of the traditional visual contestants would get a pass for their lack of talent. Now, how much of the international votes would she reel in out of relatability? Would be interesting to find out.

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2 hours ago, Walmart Goddess said:

Both of them only got in kpop cause their dad has money. It wasn't because of their "talent" (of which is questionable). Its because of privilege.

No one else finds it suspect all 3 of those siblings were in kpop? thats no coincidence. 

Her brother is actually the least popular member in his group. So his sister is just lucky his group was part of the company that housed BTS

I respect Somi so much more because she actually has some talent and wasn't riding on anyone's coattails. I can see why knetizens were more welcoming to her than this girl.

Somi only was popular because she was a JYP trainee (the only one from the big 3 then) on Produce 101 and plus her prior fanbase of Sixteen (though not all trainees became popular, let's add luck in that format). I have never seen or heard anyone say they like Somi's voice or dancing particularly. They like her music and find her pretty & quirky yes. That JYP trainee from Produce would have been popular too if he didn't get kicked out and pulled from the show.  Somi certainly isn't a Chungha but more a Sunmi when it comes to talent. Meaning the bar isn't that high but not to low. Bahiyyih if she trained more could definitely be on par with Somi "talent" wise, she just is not. Give Bahiyyih some time and she'll be on Somi's level "talent" wise.

Edited by Nev Schulman
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2 hours ago, Nev Schulman said:

Somi only was popular because she was a JYP trainee (the only one from the big 3 then) on Produce 101 and plus her prior fanbase of Sixteen (though not all trainees became popular, let's add luck in that format). I have never seen or heard anyone say they like Somi's voice or dancing particularly. They like her music and find her pretty & quirky yes. That JYP trainee from Produce would have been popular too if he didn't get kicked out and pulled from the show.  Somi certainly isn't a Chungha but more a Sunmi when it comes to talent. Meaning the bar isn't that high but not to low. Bahiyyih if she trained more could definitely be on par with Somi "talent" wise, she just is not. Give Bahiyyih some time and she'll be on Somi's level "talent" wise.

But you do actually kinda finalize her point. Bahiyyih was popular & had advancement even before 999. Somi had to audition & guest star on many shows to get into an company. She build her fanbase by herself without need nor help from a family member within the industry.

 

And I do agree. Bahiyyih wouldn't be where she is if it wasn’t her brother & family's money. Honestly I don't even think she would be in the top 15. Tbh, she is not outstanding enough to catch anyone's attention.....Somi has the personality & was a good group center.

Edited by loveablejoy
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7 hours ago, jeong jaehyuns boyfriend said:

That's also the reason why her fancams have at least 5x more views than any other member's thus far..

...or her cult brother fandom & her fans constantly stream her videos to prove a point. 

Don't underestimate kpop fans.

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16 minutes ago, loveablejoy said:

But you do actually kinda finalize her point. Bahiyyih was popular & had advancement even before 999. Somi had to audition & guest star on many shows to get into an company. She build her fanbase by herself without need nor help from a family member within the industry.

 

And I do agree. Bahiyyih wouldn't be where she is if it wasn’t her brother & family's money. Honestly I don't even think she would be in the top 15. Tbh, she is not outstanding enough to catch anyone's attention.....Somi has the personality & was a good group center.

I am not proving their point. If Somi was not from JYPE she definitely wouldn't have stood out because if that were the case Guinn Myah would have made GP999. Sure her quirky personality helps (just like Sunmi) but we aren't going to act like she's similar to Chungha were her talent in singing and dancing is what made her popular because we know it isn't. Somi was on TV before but if that would have helped her she would have made it to Twice.

I do agree that Bahiyyih has no personality that stands out but Guinn Myah did and she only stood out to the judges and not the general public. 

Somi wouldn't have made it if she wasn't from JYPE. Simple. So comparing Bahiyyih to her as if that did not play a role is straight up denial. Bahiyyih had her brother and Somi had a company and a popular TV show where Twice came out from, success was pretty much handed to her + a wee bit of luck. I agree her personality does help but let's be honest, that wasn't one of the main things that made her popular.

 

You guys act like Somi had it going on from the start because of herself and not a major company she was in...and we know that isn't true lol

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the thing is bahiyyih had no screentime or storyline during the show, you cant say mnet pushed her as their favorite because she wasnt at all. homegirl is just a blank paper, pretty? yes, charismatic? no. she just debuted because her brother's fans mass voted for her + korean people mass voted for the korean girlies during the finale

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No. But is she the only idol who debuted thanks to family connections ? Again, no.

And for the self insert part, many other idols are benefitting from it too, especially foreign ones. There's this theory out here that if BP is so successful it's partly because they embody this fantasy of beautiful wealthy socialites (like Gossip Girl did for TV once). Shipping is also hugely popular in Kpop and it's been known that shippers often project themselves in X member of a group by shipping them with the Y member they're attracted to.

21 hours ago, Nev Schulman said:

Somi certainly isn't a Chungha but more a Sunmi when it comes to talent.

Talent isn't just vocal and dancing skills when you're a solo artist. Sunmi isn't the best singer or dancer but she has written and produced most of her songs, performed challenging choreos and has a heavy hand in creating her concepts. I'm sure Somi would be flattered to be compared to her.

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On 1/8/2022 at 10:33 AM, Nev Schulman said:

You guys act like Somi had it going on from the start because of herself and not a major company she was in...and we know that isn't true lol

Being a jyp trainee helped a lot but i think you underestimate somi's image a lot, Somi is a great american teenager representative, the type who could have been a disney teen actress, she's not an exceptional person but she's entertaining to watch, she has presence that can't really be ignored. In sixteen i remember people calling her out for being whiny, that's excellent, being able to make people react to you makes you somebody they have an opinion about.

Bahiyyih is not the same in that way, she could have been playful about her situation with her brother there were lot of possibilities to gain popularity from it, comedic siblings quarrels is always looked upon fondly by public but she was embarrassed about it.

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ok so i have no opinion on her in GP999, but i won't lie, my initial interest in her was because of her brother. but personally i've always been more of a GG stan, and i really love kep1er so far, so i already have separated her from her brother. but i can understand why people would be upset about her, theres always a lot of talk after the debut of an elimination show group. 

i recommend watching the studio choom wa da da performances/fancams, i think if you are on the fence about her its a cute and energetic performance worth checking out. 

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I stan TXT, but I didn't give 2 shits about G999 cause I'm not interested in survival shows in general (even with Sunmi - one of my ults - being a judge there). However I checked Kep1er's debut and a few performances. And what got me keeping an eye on Bahiyyih isn't the fact that she's Kai's sister, it's all the hate she's getting. With people always hating on her saying she's untalented, ugly, and all sorts of nasty stuff, she ends up catching my attention the most cause I want to see if the hate comes from a real lack of talent, but in the end I kept watching her and I don't think her performing skills are lower than the average idol. She's also quite pretty and her voice doesn't sound bad either.

The hate is also what makes her popular. If some people didn't spend so much energy bullying a teen because she happens to be a relative of another idol and because she "doesn't fit the korean beauty standards", I think she'd be way less popular. But with people acting so aggressively against her, the people that had just a little interest in her might have ended up hardcore stans because they felt like it wasn't deserved and that "must protecc" feeling you can end up developing for your favs sometimes.

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