with huiyeon and jian leaving I think fans were searching too hard for an answer that wasn’t there. granted cube was extremely vague in their statement and I too believed both were kicked at first, but the sexy concept theories and other rumors were giving them all the wrong kind of attention. jian shared recently on instagram stories that her leaving was her own decision (and I’m assuming it’d be huiyeon’s too) which doesn’t surprise me at all given how (again) cube was mismanaging these girls from the start. I don’t blame the girls for not sticking around when they had their careers put on hold for so long between comebacks in addition to not having their talents properly utilized. huiyeon should’ve easily made it into the dance line but instead her only position was sub vocal where she’d be lucky to get more than 5 seconds of adlibs per song. meanwhile jian has openly said she never initially wanted to be a rapper and had always trained as a vocalist until cube asked her to rap so she could debut. even after becoming a rapper for them she still got barely any lines or attention. so yes I completely believe that the two of them left of their own accord. it sadly seems like cube is making some of the same mistakes they did with clc except this time instead of adding members they’re losing them. good on my girls though for knowing when to get out of a bad situation. I wish they could’ve stuck around but sending nothing but love and luck to them and our other six lightsum girls. I hope they’re able to see success in their careers
Yeah, being so young they didn’t have as much to lose as the older members. They still have chances to redebut and a long way to improve and sharpen their skills. I think and hope we’ll see them again some day.
True and they damn sure remember how cube did CLC. It was very smart of the young members to leave is so incredibly heartbreaking to see cube ruin this group.
honestly i'm way happier knowing that it was their decision, honestly good for them. i really hope to see both debut again in the future, especially jian since she was my bias.
jian is still so young if i was her older sister (im 22) id be telling her to get out before it turned into a clc kind of situation, and try again somewhere else. she has plenty of time and even tho i wasnt a fan of the group, i hope to see her again :)
Honestly, last year the biggest spike I remember from Lightsum was when they covered TOMBOY at a K-Pop event in LA (I think it was). It wasn't that people were excited about Lightsum, but were more hyped for TOMBOY. It was honestly depressing. Keep in mind this factoring in their comeback last year, but I'll be damned if I remember anything about it. In fact this video is the most I've heard about it since. The irony is that Alive is their best song...
The thing is cube needs to get their shit together as soon as possible. New generation of girl groups just debuted or will soon debut. The last thing we want to see is lightsum having a comeback around the same time with other anticipated groups. Hopefully, more people can see how talented these girls are.
The most frustrating thing with Lightsum compared to like, CLC, is that we just have no idea what the hell is going on. With CLC it was just abundantly clear that Cube didn't give a flying fuck. I wholeheartedly believe that LIghtsum was set up for success much more than CLC or even (G)I-DLE, in terms of concept and budget, but what is Cube even doing now?
Yeah, I agree with Haven. They were debuted to divert attention from Gidle and got a lot of support because they were going to be Cube's next big girl group...then Gidle showed they would remain very popular, and Cube ignored Lightsum.
i need them to have a comeback so badly. i really didnt pay attention to them until i saw them at KCON LA last year and they were so good it blew my mind. alive is a genuine bop that i still listen to today. i made mental note to anticipate their comeback but it still hasn't happened. cube should've gave them a comeback maybe just two months after KCON because ppl would've payed attention. everyone loved their cover of tomboy. its annoying to me because cube simply cant properly manage their groups. that company is only alive by the sheer talents of their artists.
honestly, i see a lot of parallels between lightsum and kep1er -- lack of consistent concept, title tracks that have been polarizing,and successful seniors that they haven't been able to live up to (gidle/izone). these 3 factors really combine into creating a narrative of "flopping" that is so hard to shake off of fan's minds. and as a fan of both im fuckin suffering out here lmao
Yeah, I know what you mean. The thing most frustrating is that Lightsum’s concept is fine as is. It’s their sound that keeps flip flopping. If Cube could just give them a sound/song that’s distinctive enough to them to keep them from sounding like a copy of some other group, they would be set.
Absolutely right on. Although I think VIVACE sounded like an IZ*One track, I do think it was a certifiable bop. Not having a B-side from VANILLA really put them behind the 8-ball to start with. A great take!
Lightsum have a potential to be successful. They already have the talents. Their chemistry is great. They have some recognition within kpop community. What they (or more specifically, Cube) need to do, in my humble opinion, is to have more consistent schedule release & finding the right concept & sound for Lightsum. I believe Alive was a step in right direction. If they went with that concept as their foundation, they will get bigger. Not immediately, of course. But at least they will be in that trajectory. This will require patient & dedication from Cube, Lightsum, & their fanbase to achieve. Unfortunately, & i hate to sound like a broken record here, they are managed by Cube. Cube isn't known to have that type of patient & dedication to let their groups grow naturally, especially if they see their promotion being "unsuccessful" in their eyes. Alive probably wasn't generating the amount of success Cube was hoping for. So, my biggest concern right now is that they gonna pull CLC 2.0 & just revamped the group's concept 180 degree. It's a very risky move & the probability of success is miniscule. But knowing Cube, this is likely what they'll pull on Lightsum next release, IF they get a next release. With all that being said, i'm still somewhat hopeful on this group. Maybe they'll catch a break & their song went viral or something. Maybe not. Either way, i'm still gonna be following them & supporting them as best as i can. At the end of the day, that's the most that we can do as a fan.
After listening to both of your videos, it makes me very proud to be a fan of groups that are slowly making progress. The moment Lightsum debut, I was all for their concept, and what their name stood for. Their music is really fun. It is so cute, but in the most girly way that it could possibly be. Just as you stated, before some people might not have been a fan of their previous songs, but I was. Again, just like you stated before, some people are actually in it for the music in the individuals of that group not just for the numbers and the achievements that they break within minutes or seconds. - There are a lot of underrated or unappreciated or even nugu girl groups that I absolutely love and support. Honestly, it is because of the music and the individuals themselves. Yes it is really hard to be in vested in groups like them because you don’t know if they are going to last or how long they are going to last. During the year of 2022, a lot of those groups disbanded, and some of them did not even make it pass a year. Of course I was sad and I was hurt for the girls and I was hurt for the people like myself who generally are supporting them and are watching their growth take place. But to me, that’s the best part; When you see a group, making accomplishments that are taking their time and showing improvement, and gaining recognition for their hard work and dedication. It is a really beautiful transition. - Personally to me, when groups are already breaking records within seconds or minutes, it feels very fast pace, and I feel as though I did not have enough time to see those achievements and growth to its fullest. Now I am not saying that they’re cheating their way up to those achievements, but it just feels very different for me. Am I still happy that they reached those achievement so fast? Absolutely, but what I have like to see it overtime. Absolutely. - All that I know is that I wish nothing but the best for the girls and I will continue to see their journey until their very last. I follow the other two girls who had to departure from the group and I will also follow their journeys if they themselves choose to continue following their dreams. -❤ Thank you for taking the time out of your day to make a video like this to speak upon LightSum. Not many people speak about them and speak about their story so far.
You’re welcome! And thank you for watching! I just hope I was able to remain as respectful to Lightsum’s journey as possible. These girls deserve the world in my opinion. 😊
could you do something like this for cherry bullet? the structure and breakdown of your videos are amazing and with them recently coming back, lullets are still hopefuly they can rise somehow. there's a lot of videos that point out the obvious but i'd love to hear your input (if you stan them), but their situation is interesting and it'd be cool to make this an ongoing series.
and also it is pretty stupid (if you ask me) to say that cube kicked out jian and huiyeon for being ‘too young for a mature concept’, i mean, a mature concept doesn’t have to be sexy nor suggestive. there you have leeseo from ive matching perfectly to ive’s concept, and i dont consider ive’s concept as cute, in eleven they were even using suits and all that stuff, there is also the girl from lapillus (i dont remember her name but shes a 09’ liner) slaying the gratata concept, and i dont consider it a cute concept either. cube just doesnt know what tf to do with lightsum, and if the group doesnt have a north, it would be almost impossible to success, sadly TT
I actually agree with you here. If that was really Cube’s logic in dismissing them from the group, then it’s flawed. Because yes there are other more mature concepts they could’ve pulled off without having to resort to anything overtly inappropriate. That cover they did for nct dream’s Hello Future is a perfect example. That song is high energy and bright, perfect for something they could’ve done for their own comeback and Huiyeon was in that cover. So if her age (and Jian’s) was their problem, then they could’ve found a way around it if they really wanted to.
I think people are getting too hung up on this theory of cube wanting to change to a mature concept. It was just idle speculation with no proof and we're going on 5 months now with no sign of any concept change. All of their recent youtube videos still maintain a youthful image. At what point do we admit that maybe that wasn't the reason? Obviously their next comeback but I'm just saying.
For whatever it's worth, Jian has said on a couple different occasions during Instagram Q&As that she was not kicked out of the group and that she left of her own volition. Huiyeon has not, to my knowledge, ever spoken about her dismissal.
Yeah that is a good point cuz Yeri was like 15/16 when she joined red velvet ans Automatic was a very mature concept (though it wasn't inappropriate or as full of innuendos as ice cream cake). Unless cube is tryng to have lightsum do Hyuna type videos (like the one where she had girls in dog leashes), their ages probably weren't the issue.
This might be a stretch but I am noticing a pattern that cube gg seem to be only successful if they a principal member like Hyuna and Soyeon to guide the group around. Hyuna had wonder girls clout during debut and it was obvious that she was going to be a great center. Soyeon had 2 mnet survival clout when she debuted and it was so obvious she was gonna eat the stage when she at the center. Not to mention her producing skills is comparable to that of Zico which is why Gidle have managed to slay so hard. In CLC there was no such member while they did well with pepe at first, they slowly fell off. In Lightsum they seem to be struggling to stand out as juhyeon's and chowon's survival clout diminished by the time they debuted and honestly their concept was very generic.
That’s a very probable theory. It seems that Cube groups thrive when they have either someone popular in the group or someone who is a natural visionary that knows where they want to take the group’s career. Cube is much better at scouting and training talent, than they are at marketing them. The only thing I can undoubtedly give them credit for is how much creative freedom they give their artists.
It was such a sin that "i" wasn't promoted. It's currently their most popular song on Spotify and it did that with 0 promo. I also think Lightsum's dancing abilities are very unexplored. They have such great dancers yet no one knows about it.
I’m curious what you think of their choreo video for “i.” It’s not as cute as their other stuff but still high-energy. Frankly, I really like the song and hope they have other releases like it though I agree a cute, high-energy concept (like their “Hello Future” cover) would work best for them as a group.
Personally, I feel that "I" and "Good News" were the best b-sides from their 1st mini, and felt like they should've promoted one of those tracks alongside Alive instead of Q. If Cube's intent is to age up their concept, I hope that doesn't mean that they'll suddenly go dark, and that they'll instead stick to their brighter image. "I" is a perfect song that reveals a more mature side of them while also managing to maintain their upbeat, energetic concept. If done right, they can definitely pull off a title track like I.
Thank you again for the excellent series. It was very frustrating when they didn't get a comeback after they got back from touring the US, because their buzz online was never higher. They'd also gotten a pretty big boost when they went to Austria last year. The only thing they tried to do to capitalize on that was two NFT projects. They had Lyre Music out at Cube last fall (she's one of the writers on "I") and, unless she was working on something for the trainees, then she was probably working on new music for Lightsum. My best hope at this point is that they basically redebut in June. That'd be after BtoB, after Idle and hopefully they can get a full on marketing push. I agree that rebranding them as a full-on dance pop group focused on choreography would be the best bet. Last year, during an investor call, the CEO of Cube said that Idle was going to promote pretty heavily in China, BtoB and Pentagon were going to promote in Japan and Lightsum was going to promote in the US. I don't even know what that looks like at this point, but hopefully it holds true and we see some of that this year. Six members of Pentagon are promoting in Japan, and Idle is positioned to be one of the biggest K-Pop acts in China right now. So cross your fingers for Lightsum!
Oh god Cube... Why would you try to push Lightsum in the US? They don't even have an identity of their own, not to mention how they have absolutely no demand there. I-DLE is already doing good there and people would EAT their empowering concepts + them being a self-produced girl group. Western audiences really appreciate those factors a lot. They should keep developing the concept of 'Alive' more and promote the girls in Korea and other SEA countries (+South America) instead.
@@maaars-lc6og Yes, I wish they would figure out their promotions in SK first, but from Cube's persepective, I sort of get it. Lightsum's actually charted on US digital sales charts and their part of the KCOn tour was received extremely well. Sangah was trending on Twitter during KCon LA (well..."Blonde Girl Lightsum" was trending), so there's probably a sense that they can build off of that. Can they? I think it'd be more likely if they had capitalized last September with a new mini album, but they didn't. But I do think there's something to be said for the idea that you can build an audience outside of the US and eventually bring that back to Korea. Loona started out that way, Dreamcatcher, Pixy is trying to do the same thing right now.
@@matthewhocking3575 These days, it's not uncommon for k-pop groups to chart on US charts (I mean, I-DLE has done it their whole career). But I understand what you mean. I just get worried, bc kpop labels see their artists chart #94 on some U.S chart for one week and rush to push them there, while neglecting the markets that support k-pop the most (and the longest) which are still Asia and like, South America. And like you said, it would've been better if Cube had capitalized on that interest in LS during that time, but their last comeback was almost a year ago. That's ridiculous for a rookie group. Sure, Lightsum could try and build an intl fanbase first like Loona and Dreamcatcher. However, I still think the US is the wrong place to start. So many companies are currently pushing their artists there. Some even partnering with US labels to debut new groups. Like, the market is getting saturated. Cube would need to work overtime to make the girls stand out. And they barely promote their most successful gg (i-dle) as it is. Like, I have NO trust in them. But who knows? Anything is possible.
This video is very well done, I didn't know anything about lightsum other than their title tracks, but yt recommended your video talking about their complicated journey and I really liked it. Keep making videos, because you have a promising future. ♡
This is the dialog we Sumits have been itching for. Thanks for this well researched analysis, I felt the same about lightsum's TTs but when Alive hit they became my favorite group. They have so much potential its frustrating but riveting at the same time. Let's hope for the best for the girls.
This was an beautifully written time line from part one to part two, I loved watching it!! I am not a lightsum fan really, I liked Vanilla, but didn't like Vivace so I stopped paying attention, but I LOVE deep dive videos of a group's career, especially from the insight of someone who is invested in the group. I love your video style!
cube really sucks at making content for them, one of the easiest ways to grift views from kpop stans is to make the group walk around america and eat a pizza or something while they're there for kcon, but they didn't post anything for kcon on their channel
Man I was sooooo up to it because of Chowon and Nayoung and still Cube got to completely destroy any interest that I could ever have. I SIMPLY FORGOT THEY EVEN EXISTEEED!!! A proper mismanage agency is what they are.
Loved both parts of your Lightsum coverage. Nice objective tone on the history of Cube on part I. Multifaceted analysis on part II, well done. "Stuck in 2016" classic. Anyways, thanks to your video I will pay more attention to this group. I like Twice, Izone, and Itzy -- and if Lightsum were to carry some of that aura with them, that's not bad in my book. I hope you're right, and may they catch wave of Oh My Girl and Dreamcatcher. 😊🙏
Cube has a pattern. They're promoting and investing *a lot* on their most selling group/artist. If a group is not immediately popular or is showing signs of losing popularity, they'll drop them. They dropped 4minute to focus on Hyuna's solo, they dropped pentagon after their cb losing in popularity after Shine and edawn's departure, they dropped CLC after gidle's sky-rocketing. Their management honestly made me completely lose interest in any of their artists, I just hate getting attached to a group and seeing their potential being ripped appart bc of the higher heads' greed
with the exception of Gidle and the old ex cube groups, maybe Lightsum will be part of the 3-4 year first win curse (BTOB, CLC and Pentagon), but on the kind of bright side of that curse is that they found the own music, BTOB stop worrying about charts and sales...Pentagon started the same with other people music until one day they started doing the music they wanted..maybe the same will happen to Lightsum, i heard some member are getting involve or at least interest on the producing side...so we have to hope for the best.
Yes, I heard that Lightsum’s leader Juhyeon was the one who’d expressed an interest in producing or songwriting. Last I heard she was letting Hui from Pentagon critique her prospective songs. So maybe things are changing for Lightsum’s music.
OMG this is so sad because I genuinely forgot Lightsum existed until I saw this video title. What is Cube doing?!! All they need to do is promote them properly like they should take notes from Stayc’s company they were marketed so well for their debut and fans grew each comeback.
Thank you so much for these videos. To even think someone talks about Lightsum... I literally posted about the group like a day before part one, after months of not mentioning them... spooky haha... but maybe it's a coincidence since I have their album on my shelf, and It keeps reminding me of them. Anyway, their cute side on debut gave me a lot of hope. It was just like you described "Alive", a perfect mix between cute and girl crush vibes. Something that by now, almost only wooah plays with. I actually fell for Vivace. Finding it similar to an izone song is a huge positive for me and not the other way around. I would 100% be down for this style. My love for the members also grew, with Yujeong getting the spotlight on Vivace, better rap parts (especially for Jian), etc. Alive is actually the one that didn't touch me as much. But I think the TLDR to all of this is just, you can never expect people's reactions. Everything is very luck-based, many kpop fans also care about everything BUT the music, and really, there's nothing we could do about it
As a huge Sumit from predebut era to now, thank you so much for making these videos on them. I’ve been Chowon and Nayoung’s fan since I saw them on P48, so I was super excited to see their debut as LIGHTSUM. Cube’s inability to properly promote them has frustrated me so much considering the potential they have. Their recent comeback along with their b track I proves that. Unfortunately LIGHTSUM has been done dirty by Cube AND bitter KPop fans who use them as hate bait. It’s seriously so disappointing seeing their name trending on social media mostly because other groups’ fans want to smear their efforts or use them to bash on Cube. I greatly appreciate your lovely commentary about these girls, and you’ve earned yourself a new subscriber. Thank you for acknowledging their efforts. 😊🫶🏻
They were my ult group along with tribe when alive came out I was hoping culbe doesn't mess up this time but looks like they did. Anyways i will still support them.
Exactly! If Cube hadn’t been in such a rush to just randomly debut Lightsum, they likely would’ve had more time to put together some proper branding for them.
One thing I feel like they did wrong, at least as from the perspective of a non-fan, none of the members necessarily stood out in the MVs. Especially in Vanilla. The MV looked like a generic MV that any unknown nugu gg would make, no matter the budget. The color scheme, the outfits, the hair, none of it was ugly or bad, but it also wasn't something to remember. With Idle, they already made sure Soyeon would shine the most anyway, she's undoubtedly the most popular and known member. In Latata she had bright red outfits, her own charisma and lighter hair made her easily memorable. With CLC, they managed to make Yeeun shine by having her cut her hair in the Black Dress music video and actually keep that hairstyle. She immediately became known as the "short-haired bob girl" and she still pops up when you search that on Naver. So they kept the bob, made it blonde next cbs, boom, she easily stood out. Can that tactic bring in toxic solo-stans? Absolutely, but smaller groups can still benefit from that. Give them interesting concepts! Give them something to stand out with! For a new group with a small fanbase, it's important to make sure the members are memorable.
That’s a fair assessment. Nothing about their debut was unique enough to them for enough people to acknowledge it. That sucks, but it’s a lesson I hope other companies learn when it comes to debuting a new group.
@@amber_kae Exactly, I do like that they didn't immediately shine a specific member to make her stand out as "the most important one" the way we've seen some other companies do when they get popular idols onto their hands, but they could have done something to maybe make a few members stand out one era, then make a few others stand out the next one etc.
i’m not a lightsum fan, i was there for their debut and subsequent comeback but they simply weren’t my taste. i did like alive quite a lot tho. what drew me here mostly however was just hearing you talk about them and your frustrations as a fan. there’s clearly a lot of love and effort put into these videos and i hope you get big!! edit: my grammar sucks i’m sorry haha
@@amber_kae i really wish they could’ve done something darker this time around…have a light n dark concept like red velvet rip off but i fear their team is stuck on teen crush
7:25 LMAOO SORRY I CRACKED UP HERE 😂😭 So you see, you showed how Lightsum charted on the 8th spot somewhere with a sad profound music in the background... And all I could see was the track on the 9th place named in Russian (but written in Latin) that may be translated as 'I will be fucking' 😭 This is so goofy I-
I really liked huiyeon. She might not have the best vocals, but she knows how to command the stage, which I think is even harder than learning to hold a note. I was really rooting for her. I thought she had a lot of potential to grow as an idol ☹️ I used to be a huge cube stan (since beast), but they’re honestly just going downhill by the year after their founder stepped down.
Also I wanted to support you with another comment and say that you are so pleasant to listen to, and the way you edit and arrange your vid is so pretty as well! 🤍
Thank you so much for watching and for getting a literal cackle out of me with the funny comment before and also for this supportive one. 🥹 I truly appreciate the support and good vibes!
If what you said is true about them possibly kicking Huihyeon and Jian out due to age…..doesn’t really make since because Huihyeon will be a Adult in just a few months…..So it wouldn’t of been that long of a wait and Jian will be a adult next year……
If it is true, then this is Cube logic at its worst. But some people have pointed out that they may have left on their own. So, this was pure speculation on my part.
@@amber_kae yeah I know I appreciate you even coming out with this video…. But yeah I’m just saying I’m my opinion it probably wouldn’t be because of their age….due to Huihyeon won’t be a minor in the next few months and Jian will be a minor until next year.
Also...i don´t know what happend on cube around november or december, i dont remmeber if it was on september or when, but the CEO said publicly that for 2022 Gidle will have a comeback (Nxde) and then Pentagon....and that at the beginning of the year their new boy group will debut...but we all know what happend with Pentagon, there is no news about male group and even there are rumours about a new girl group debut...the only confirm comebacks are Gidle and BTOB, but now oficial dates yet...so i don´t know what happened that made them chage their plan.
Alive is such a good song and their best title track so far it's sad that they haven't released anything since then cause I really like Lightsum their songs are bops. Also Billlie and Rocket Punch are some other underrated girl groups that make great music.
Billie is next on my list of girl groups whose discographies I need to check out. I’ve heard so much about them, loved gingamingayo and recently watched their short film for their most recent comeback. That little snippet of song I heard in there sounded so beautiful, I’m definitely gonna need to find them on Spotify. 😌
What you said at 2:59 was exactly what happened to me with LIGHTSUM. I literally forgot they existed because I didn’t like their debut and there wasn’t any other song to get me hooked to them.
It definitely left more of an impression for sure. At least then people were talking about their music. Wish that conversation had continued during their Alive promotions.
@@amber_kae Omg thank you for responding! Love your channel, hope it grows big! But yeah. Alive was just not it for me. It felt very outdated like it was from at least 7+ years ago. I did end up saving "i" as the only song of that album. And then the long hiatus again just made me give up. I tried my best 😥 About the member change: I don't think it's per se for a mature concept. I think they simply removed the least popular members. If you look at k-profiles you can also see that they were the least favorite out of the bunch. And with the gen 4 favoring smaller groups I think cube did what they needed to do. I pretty much think they were fired due to a lack of popularity. Sadly.
You can tell lightsum didn’t really have a solid plan for their group, almost like they were debuted to shift attention from the soojin drama, or act as a fallback for other cube groups who were rockier at the time. The market is very competitive, and we do see groups get carried by their music like with fiftyfifty or stayc, but lightsum didn’t carve a niche genre, or release any fresh music that people can stick to. There should hopefully still be opportunities to fix this, dreamcatcher found a sound, cube just needs to put effort into giving them good music and a strong identity, it’s especially a shame because the members of this group have great chemistry
Cube debuting a new gg in midst of SJ's situation was what made made check out Lightsum. Vanilla was a pretty standard kpop debut, but nothing outstanding so I wasn't surprised to know that it got mostly overlooked. But I did enjoy Vivace and thought that with Izone's disbandment, they could've continue that elegant and ethereal concept that even groups like Cosmic Girls and Loona weren't doing anymore. But it also didn't do so well, so (as expected) Cube switched it up immediately. 🙄 But 'Alive' was a step in the right direction and hopefully, their future comeback maintain that same vibe. It's always a shame when a group loses members, but I'm wishing for better things to all the girls!
they should've debuted in 2022 with alive for the title, vivace as a bside, scrap vanilla maybe use it for a summer single later on. or have soyeon do the debut. latata and beam-beam were colorful cute and funny debuts and were well-received. they could've also avoided the maknaes situation or let them go beforehand and debut as 6. i always thought the debut was impacted by what was going on with idle too. i think they can still hit, though.
I just found your content tonight and honestly I really love hearing your opinions, I hope you make this a series of "kpop groups on life support". I love how thought-out it is and how informative it is. I honestly didn't know much about Lightsum nor did they really interest me at all but watching both part 1 &2 of Lightsums episodes made me more curious about their future. It also made me hate cube alittle less (I still hate them immensely as a Cheshire (CLC) who got burned & newer Neverland (G'idle) (Soojin makes me sad still)🙏
9:17 “what the h*ll cube was doing???” Oh they were doing HISTORY!!!! Alive is just an amazing song!!! It def got me looking for them in UA-cam. I hope they don’t change this style!!!
Thanks a lot for your support to Lightsum and for making these kind of videos. I started heard and watch some kpop content in 2019-2020 just as a cassual consumer, and I watched the Produce 48 show, Nayoung become my favourite , but she "dissapeared" after the show and even more after she leaves BananaCulture, so I get really happy to see her debuting finally. I had no idea nor consideration about how important is the company/label in the kpop industry. It's indeed frustrating. Anyway, thanks again, I hope we can heard them soon.
You’re welcome! ☺️ I just felt like Lightsum was one of those groups that slipped under the radar and people simply forgot them. Guess I made the video to remind people of their existence (especially since Cube doesn’t seem to know how to do that). Thanks for watching!
I saw them at KCON LA 2022 and they were amazing. The girls were so talented and the Tomboy cover was iconic. Plus one member (I'm not sure which) had so much interaction with my section that my little bi heart exploded. Breaks my heart that Cube is their management. I hear Cube attached to anyone and I get nervous for the longevity of the group. Cube got lucky with g-idle but I don't think they can get lucky again.
Alive was their best song for me. Also i think they wanted to replace gidle as their breadearners by debuting a new girl group amidst their scandal.... Which explains single as a debut
I have been there since debut, and i also got super hype pre debut teasers cuz i recognized nayoung and chowon from pd48 and vivace even hit my izone nostalgia, but what it came down 2 for me losing interest was their content... it was just super boring and im a strong believer in that content converts to sales way more than actual songs. I will still checkout every comeback and love the titles/b sides but thats where it stops for me sadly
"to show a more mature side to them" okay but who decided that XD like, what mature side is there to an eighteen years old? And I'm saying that as an eighteen years old myself, like huh??? Edit: Oh. Okay, hum...what mature side is there to a FIFTEEN YEARS OLD????????
Finally got around to watching Pt II and it was just as amazing! Great job on this! Also, you have waaay more patience than I do lol If an artist releases a song and I don’t like the title track, I’m not even going to bother with the B-sides. There are dozens of KPop groups and only so many hours in the day. If something doesn’t click for me, then I gotta move on 😂👋
Yeah, I know most people don’t look at b-sides, but I’ve always been a b-side hunter 🤣. I will dig through an entire discography to find a song I like if I’m interested enough. I guess I just like to give every group a fair chance.
@@amber_kae I’ll look at B-sides if I want to dive into a group’s catalogue and see if I missed anything. Typically that’ll be after a group’s been around for a few years. I just did Ateez’s last week 🙌 But yeah, it’s rare to look at a mini album/full album immediately if I don’t like the title track unless I get asked to do so 😅
Hey, there’s only so much time in a day, 😌and if you only casually stan a group, I wouldn’t expect you to go out of your way to dig through a group catalog if you have other groups you’re more interested in. I only do it because a good majority of the time I have Spotify on shuffle while at work so it just plays whoever comes up. This allows me to naturally discover new groups without even really trying. Just listened to Cherry Bullet’s newest album this way and found it to be a solid listen.
I think they'll still be able to have their own schedule if they debut so she should still be able to promote in Lightsum. It's more like SM GOT the beat than like a produce group Yeah I hope Ligthsum release after the show
I wasn't interested in LIGHTSUM as all, but when I happened to hear ALIVE on some random spotify playlist, I fell in love. Too bad they are under CUBE :c
Yeah Yujeong's part in Vivace made me love that song. Alive was a grower for me too cuz it's kinda high school musical esque but it's still pretty good.
@15:30 it so bizarre that you think that group with less than 7 members was considered weird during 2nd generation 🤔, especially once Brown Eyed Girls showed up on screen. Personally, I think groups between 4-7 were pretty popular till around 2015, when it seems larger groups became more popular, probably because of survival shows... I am happy that small groups are becoming the trend again, though.
I guess it just feels more common to me now than it did then for some reason. 😅 So many groups (mostly 4th gen girl groups) have debut with the same exact number of members: (G)I-DLE, LESSERAFIM, IVE, Everglow, Lapillus, Rocket Punch, ILY:1 and STAYC.
@@amber_kae Larger groups were definitely a trend for a few years. Especially for boy groups. Thinking about it, Cube even added members to CLC around that time. I remember a few debut groups re-debut with more members around that time like dreamcatcher. I am curious what groups your thinking of that lead you to think that small groups were uncommon until recently 🤔. Even just considering the more popular and representative 2nd gen groups: shinee, 2ne1, kara, tvxq, wonder girls, big bang, 4minute, f(x), miss a, beg, sistar, beast etc. Even going into late 2nd/early 3rd generation: vixx, bap, a pink, gfriend, exid, girls day, nuest, red velvet, mamamoo, etc. I can list so many small members groups. Think that why I was a bit shocked and confused 😅. Like that's not my reality at all.
I'm going to be honest.I'm a summit and 4 me it's OK 4 the youngests members leaving. they are very shy and young and they don't have charisma like the others members.
Hey, that’s fair. Many people had mixed feelings about their departure. Some were upset, others thought it was for the best. I guess the response is subjective depending on who you ask. I wish the girls luck wherever they end up though. 😊
Hi I really like the approach of your videos, I just have a tiny critique: the different videos in the background are a bit much and the constant change is really distracting. I know it probably has copyright reasons and the fact that I watch on 1.25 speed doesn't help but maybe you should stick to stage mixes like other k-tubers or to just Lightsum footage which makes more sense in the context of the video anyway (towards the end it was fine it was just the first part and the beginning of this video). Or a clean background with your animation that you already use in some scenes. Anyway I don't know why you chose this style so maybe there's a reasoning behind it and maybe I'm the only one bothered by it so if that's the case you can ignore this request🙈 I liked "i" and was kinda shocked when I found out they're the sister group of Idle (although that always shocks me since most sister groups are drastically different). I wanna add that Dreamcatcher probably isn't the best example because the concept change was not only a full 180 (we're talking pink & cute to horror rock), but was separate through a redebut. The lineup change only came after Minx, their old group, was unsuccesful. Also they were always consistent, something Cube fails to do: there's just no new comebacks. Dreamcatcher had a very constant comeback schedule, something that is majorly underrated with small company groups but allowed them to grow steadily (that being said nugu groups often can't afford more comebacks or even physical albums). With the "hiatus" of Lightsum nearing a year I hope they announce something soon because although their sales aren't that bad (Dreamcatcher for example did worse their first years), the only thing that can really kill off even bigger groups is not coming back. Yes, this comment might come back to me as I'm always wrong about stuff like this but last year and these first months around 30 girl groups have debuted, there's just no room for experimenting and having a comeback once a year after a lukewarm rookie phase. I really wish them the best, but I'm also convinced that Cube can't handle girl groups. And I don't say this to jump on the hate train, I just think that they really don't know what they're doing. Which is even worse considering CLC and Idle blew up like that which means Cube isn't unlucky or smth, they have so much potential and still manage to fumble it. But LS might also get lucky. New bold concept, a sudden viral hit and they're back. Let's just hope they then don't disappear again🤣
I genuinely believe G-Idle’s success is because of Soyeon. CUBE has had several groups but only 4Minutes and G-Idle are successful. It is these 2 groups that keep CUBE floating. This company is so bad at everything! They don’t have good producers, don’t know how to promote songs, don’t know how to manage the artists.
Lightsum had the worst of both worlds. Being compared to G(idle) and being up against Ive, Newjeans and Nmixx. And also debuting under Cube. I hope they are promoted better.
![[4K] LIGHTSUM - “ALIVE” Band LIVE Concert [it's Live] K-POP live music show](/img/n.gif)
with huiyeon and jian leaving I think fans were searching too hard for an answer that wasn’t there. granted cube was extremely vague in their statement and I too believed both were kicked at first, but the sexy concept theories and other rumors were giving them all the wrong kind of attention. jian shared recently on instagram stories that her leaving was her own decision (and I’m assuming it’d be huiyeon’s too) which doesn’t surprise me at all given how (again) cube was mismanaging these girls from the start. I don’t blame the girls for not sticking around when they had their careers put on hold for so long between comebacks in addition to not having their talents properly utilized. huiyeon should’ve easily made it into the dance line but instead her only position was sub vocal where she’d be lucky to get more than 5 seconds of adlibs per song. meanwhile jian has openly said she never initially wanted to be a rapper and had always trained as a vocalist until cube asked her to rap so she could debut. even after becoming a rapper for them she still got barely any lines or attention. so yes I completely believe that the two of them left of their own accord. it sadly seems like cube is making some of the same mistakes they did with clc except this time instead of adding members they’re losing them. good on my girls though for knowing when to get out of a bad situation. I wish they could’ve stuck around but sending nothing but love and luck to them and our other six lightsum girls. I hope they’re able to see success in their careers
Yeah, being so young they didn’t have as much to lose as the older members. They still have chances to redebut and a long way to improve and sharpen their skills. I think and hope we’ll see them again some day.
True and they damn sure remember how cube did CLC. It was very smart of the young members to leave is so incredibly heartbreaking to see cube ruin this group.
honestly i'm way happier knowing that it was their decision, honestly good for them. i really hope to see both debut again in the future, especially jian since she was my bias.
What’s the instagram of Jian
jian is still so young if i was her older sister (im 22) id be telling her to get out before it turned into a clc kind of situation, and try again somewhere else. she has plenty of time and even tho i wasnt a fan of the group, i hope to see her again :)
Honestly, last year the biggest spike I remember from Lightsum was when they covered TOMBOY at a K-Pop event in LA (I think it was). It wasn't that people were excited about Lightsum, but were more hyped for TOMBOY. It was honestly depressing. Keep in mind this factoring in their comeback last year, but I'll be damned if I remember anything about it. In fact this video is the most I've heard about it since. The irony is that Alive is their best song...
The thing is cube needs to get their shit together as soon as possible. New generation of girl groups just debuted or will soon debut. The last thing we want to see is lightsum having a comeback around the same time with other anticipated groups. Hopefully, more people can see how talented these girls are.
The most frustrating thing with Lightsum compared to like, CLC, is that we just have no idea what the hell is going on. With CLC it was just abundantly clear that Cube didn't give a flying fuck. I wholeheartedly believe that LIghtsum was set up for success much more than CLC or even (G)I-DLE, in terms of concept and budget, but what is Cube even doing now?
idk they were kinda debuted to cover up the soojin scandal while gidle was on hiatus.
Yeah, I agree with Haven. They were debuted to divert attention from Gidle and got a lot of support because they were going to be Cube's next big girl group...then Gidle showed they would remain very popular, and Cube ignored Lightsum.
i need them to have a comeback so badly. i really didnt pay attention to them until i saw them at KCON LA last year and they were so good it blew my mind. alive is a genuine bop that i still listen to today. i made mental note to anticipate their comeback but it still hasn't happened. cube should've gave them a comeback maybe just two months after KCON because ppl would've payed attention. everyone loved their cover of tomboy. its annoying to me because cube simply cant properly manage their groups. that company is only alive by the sheer talents of their artists.
Yes! They’ve been long overdue for a comeback. I need Cube to step up their game.
did not know we were getting a part 2, PERIOD! i already know its about to fantastic
Yeah, part two was planned. Editing just took far longer than intended. 😅
dude how u didn't know iv'e been waiting all this time for this
honestly, i see a lot of parallels between lightsum and kep1er -- lack of consistent concept, title tracks that have been polarizing,and successful seniors that they haven't been able to live up to (gidle/izone). these 3 factors really combine into creating a narrative of "flopping" that is so hard to shake off of fan's minds. and as a fan of both im fuckin suffering out here lmao
Yeah, I know what you mean. The thing most frustrating is that Lightsum’s concept is fine as is. It’s their sound that keeps flip flopping. If Cube could just give them a sound/song that’s distinctive enough to them to keep them from sounding like a copy of some other group, they would be set.
Absolutely right on. Although I think VIVACE sounded like an IZ*One track, I do think it was a certifiable bop. Not having a B-side from VANILLA really put them behind the 8-ball to start with. A great take!
We just need a comeback I’d eat it up even if it was bad 😭
Into the Light was such a fantastic comeback for them - there were no misses for me. I hope they come back soon and get the attention they deserve.
I think the concept you’re looking for is teen crush 😅
Maybe! I just didn’t know there was a name for it. 😆
Lightsum have a potential to be successful. They already have the talents. Their chemistry is great. They have some recognition within kpop community. What they (or more specifically, Cube) need to do, in my humble opinion, is to have more consistent schedule release & finding the right concept & sound for Lightsum. I believe Alive was a step in right direction. If they went with that concept as their foundation, they will get bigger. Not immediately, of course. But at least they will be in that trajectory. This will require patient & dedication from Cube, Lightsum, & their fanbase to achieve.
Unfortunately, & i hate to sound like a broken record here, they are managed by Cube. Cube isn't known to have that type of patient & dedication to let their groups grow naturally, especially if they see their promotion being "unsuccessful" in their eyes. Alive probably wasn't generating the amount of success Cube was hoping for. So, my biggest concern right now is that they gonna pull CLC 2.0 & just revamped the group's concept 180 degree. It's a very risky move & the probability of success is miniscule. But knowing Cube, this is likely what they'll pull on Lightsum next release, IF they get a next release.
With all that being said, i'm still somewhat hopeful on this group. Maybe they'll catch a break & their song went viral or something. Maybe not. Either way, i'm still gonna be following them & supporting them as best as i can. At the end of the day, that's the most that we can do as a fan.
After listening to both of your videos, it makes me very proud to be a fan of groups that are slowly making progress. The moment Lightsum debut, I was all for their concept, and what their name stood for. Their music is really fun. It is so cute, but in the most girly way that it could possibly be. Just as you stated, before some people might not have been a fan of their previous songs, but I was. Again, just like you stated before, some people are actually in it for the music in the individuals of that group not just for the numbers and the achievements that they break within minutes or seconds.
- There are a lot of underrated or unappreciated or even nugu girl groups that I absolutely love and support. Honestly, it is because of the music and the individuals themselves. Yes it is really hard to be in vested in groups like them because you don’t know if they are going to last or how long they are going to last. During the year of 2022, a lot of those groups disbanded, and some of them did not even make it pass a year. Of course I was sad and I was hurt for the girls and I was hurt for the people like myself who generally are supporting them and are watching their growth take place. But to me, that’s the best part; When you see a group, making accomplishments that are taking their time and showing improvement, and gaining recognition for their hard work and dedication. It is a really beautiful transition.
- Personally to me, when groups are already breaking records within seconds or minutes, it feels very fast pace, and I feel as though I did not have enough time to see those achievements and growth to its fullest. Now I am not saying that they’re cheating their way up to those achievements, but it just feels very different for me. Am I still happy that they reached those achievement so fast? Absolutely, but what I have like to see it overtime. Absolutely.
- All that I know is that I wish nothing but the best for the girls and I will continue to see their journey until their very last. I follow the other two girls who had to departure from the group and I will also follow their journeys if they themselves choose to continue following their dreams.
-❤ Thank you for taking the time out of your day to make a video like this to speak upon LightSum. Not many people speak about them and speak about their story so far.
You’re welcome! And thank you for watching! I just hope I was able to remain as respectful to Lightsum’s journey as possible. These girls deserve the world in my opinion. 😊
@@amber_kae They really do. But all anyone can do is listen to their music and suggest it to others.
could you do something like this for cherry bullet? the structure and breakdown of your videos are amazing and with them recently coming back, lullets are still hopefuly they can rise somehow. there's a lot of videos that point out the obvious but i'd love to hear your input (if you stan them), but their situation is interesting and it'd be cool to make this an ongoing series.
I was planning to make this an ongoing series, and cherry bullet is definitely one of the other groups I had in mind.☺️
and also it is pretty stupid (if you ask me) to say that cube kicked out jian and huiyeon for being ‘too young for a mature concept’, i mean, a mature concept doesn’t have to be sexy nor suggestive. there you have leeseo from ive matching perfectly to ive’s concept, and i dont consider ive’s concept as cute, in eleven they were even using suits and all that stuff, there is also the girl from lapillus (i dont remember her name but shes a 09’ liner) slaying the gratata concept, and i dont consider it a cute concept either. cube just doesnt know what tf to do with lightsum, and if the group doesnt have a north, it would be almost impossible to success, sadly TT
I actually agree with you here. If that was really Cube’s logic in dismissing them from the group, then it’s flawed. Because yes there are other more mature concepts they could’ve pulled off without having to resort to anything overtly inappropriate. That cover they did for nct dream’s Hello Future is a perfect example. That song is high energy and bright, perfect for something they could’ve done for their own comeback and Huiyeon was in that cover. So if her age (and Jian’s) was their problem, then they could’ve found a way around it if they really wanted to.
I think people are getting too hung up on this theory of cube wanting to change to a mature concept. It was just idle speculation with no proof and we're going on 5 months now with no sign of any concept change. All of their recent youtube videos still maintain a youthful image. At what point do we admit that maybe that wasn't the reason? Obviously their next comeback but I'm just saying.
For whatever it's worth, Jian has said on a couple different occasions during Instagram Q&As that she was not kicked out of the group and that she left of her own volition. Huiyeon has not, to my knowledge, ever spoken about her dismissal.
Yeah that is a good point cuz Yeri was like 15/16 when she joined red velvet ans Automatic was a very mature concept (though it wasn't inappropriate or as full of innuendos as ice cream cake). Unless cube is tryng to have lightsum do Hyuna type videos (like the one where she had girls in dog leashes), their ages probably weren't the issue.
Cube won’t stick to a concept until they found the one that suits their artist.
I also think alive is probably their best effort, because I really felt like they found their sound in that song.
This might be a stretch but I am noticing a pattern that cube gg seem to be only successful if they a principal member like Hyuna and Soyeon to guide the group around. Hyuna had wonder girls clout during debut and it was obvious that she was going to be a great center. Soyeon had 2 mnet survival clout when she debuted and it was so obvious she was gonna eat the stage when she at the center. Not to mention her producing skills is comparable to that of Zico which is why Gidle have managed to slay so hard. In CLC there was no such member while they did well with pepe at first, they slowly fell off. In Lightsum they seem to be struggling to stand out as juhyeon's and chowon's survival clout diminished by the time they debuted and honestly their concept was very generic.
That’s a very probable theory. It seems that Cube groups thrive when they have either someone popular in the group or someone who is a natural visionary that knows where they want to take the group’s career. Cube is much better at scouting and training talent, than they are at marketing them. The only thing I can undoubtedly give them credit for is how much creative freedom they give their artists.
I just watched part 1 and checked ur channel only to see u have just posted part 2...
I really love the way u lay down ur opinion...
💖💖💖
Thanks so much! 😊I’m glad I was able to entertain and amuse.
U did it gracefully and in the most informative way...
I'm definitely going to check ur channel for kpop issues from now on
🎉🎉
It was such a sin that "i" wasn't promoted. It's currently their most popular song on Spotify and it did that with 0 promo.
I also think Lightsum's dancing abilities are very unexplored. They have such great dancers yet no one knows about it.
Yes, I liked “Alive” a lot, but “I” should’ve been the promoted b-side instead of “Q.”
I’m curious what you think of their choreo video for “i.” It’s not as cute as their other stuff but still high-energy. Frankly, I really like the song and hope they have other releases like it though I agree a cute, high-energy concept (like their “Hello Future” cover) would work best for them as a group.
Personally, I feel that "I" and "Good News" were the best b-sides from their 1st mini, and felt like they should've promoted one of those tracks alongside Alive instead of Q. If Cube's intent is to age up their concept, I hope that doesn't mean that they'll suddenly go dark, and that they'll instead stick to their brighter image. "I" is a perfect song that reveals a more mature side of them while also managing to maintain their upbeat, energetic concept. If done right, they can definitely pull off a title track like I.
I think ALIVE is more teen crush, as in Weki Meki’s concept 😊
Thanks for clearing that up! I knew the concept had a name, I just couldn’t put my finger on what the name of it was. 😌
Thank you again for the excellent series. It was very frustrating when they didn't get a comeback after they got back from touring the US, because their buzz online was never higher. They'd also gotten a pretty big boost when they went to Austria last year. The only thing they tried to do to capitalize on that was two NFT projects.
They had Lyre Music out at Cube last fall (she's one of the writers on "I") and, unless she was working on something for the trainees, then she was probably working on new music for Lightsum. My best hope at this point is that they basically redebut in June. That'd be after BtoB, after Idle and hopefully they can get a full on marketing push. I agree that rebranding them as a full-on dance pop group focused on choreography would be the best bet.
Last year, during an investor call, the CEO of Cube said that Idle was going to promote pretty heavily in China, BtoB and Pentagon were going to promote in Japan and Lightsum was going to promote in the US. I don't even know what that looks like at this point, but hopefully it holds true and we see some of that this year. Six members of Pentagon are promoting in Japan, and Idle is positioned to be one of the biggest K-Pop acts in China right now. So cross your fingers for Lightsum!
Oh god Cube... Why would you try to push Lightsum in the US? They don't even have an identity of their own, not to mention how they have absolutely no demand there. I-DLE is already doing good there and people would EAT their empowering concepts + them being a self-produced girl group. Western audiences really appreciate those factors a lot. They should keep developing the concept of 'Alive' more and promote the girls in Korea and other SEA countries (+South America) instead.
@@maaars-lc6og Yes, I wish they would figure out their promotions in SK first, but from Cube's persepective, I sort of get it. Lightsum's actually charted on US digital sales charts and their part of the KCOn tour was received extremely well. Sangah was trending on Twitter during KCon LA (well..."Blonde Girl Lightsum" was trending), so there's probably a sense that they can build off of that.
Can they? I think it'd be more likely if they had capitalized last September with a new mini album, but they didn't. But I do think there's something to be said for the idea that you can build an audience outside of the US and eventually bring that back to Korea. Loona started out that way, Dreamcatcher, Pixy is trying to do the same thing right now.
@@matthewhocking3575 These days, it's not uncommon for k-pop groups to chart on US charts (I mean, I-DLE has done it their whole career). But I understand what you mean. I just get worried, bc kpop labels see their artists chart #94 on some U.S chart for one week and rush to push them there, while neglecting the markets that support k-pop the most (and the longest) which are still Asia and like, South America. And like you said, it would've been better if Cube had capitalized on that interest in LS during that time, but their last comeback was almost a year ago. That's ridiculous for a rookie group.
Sure, Lightsum could try and build an intl fanbase first like Loona and Dreamcatcher. However, I still think the US is the wrong place to start. So many companies are currently pushing their artists there. Some even partnering with US labels to debut new groups. Like, the market is getting saturated. Cube would need to work overtime to make the girls stand out. And they barely promote their most successful gg (i-dle) as it is. Like, I have NO trust in them. But who knows? Anything is possible.
Lightsum are scheduled to appear in weverse con 2023 so thats interesting. Maybe they will come back before the summer
This video is very well done, I didn't know anything about lightsum other than their title tracks, but yt recommended your video talking about their complicated journey and I really liked it. Keep making videos, because you have a promising future. ♡
This is the dialog we Sumits have been itching for. Thanks for this well researched analysis, I felt the same about lightsum's TTs but when Alive hit they became my favorite group. They have so much potential its frustrating but riveting at the same time. Let's hope for the best for the girls.
I heard about lightsum like once, when huiyeo and jiun left and everyone seemed to like them the most. To me, that just showcases Cubes handling.
This was an beautifully written time line from part one to part two, I loved watching it!!
I am not a lightsum fan really, I liked Vanilla, but didn't like Vivace so I stopped paying attention, but I LOVE deep dive videos of a group's career, especially from the insight of someone who is invested in the group. I love your video style!
Thanks so much for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed! ☺️
cube really sucks at making content for them, one of the easiest ways to grift views from kpop stans is to make the group walk around america and eat a pizza or something while they're there for kcon, but they didn't post anything for kcon on their channel
Man I was sooooo up to it because of Chowon and Nayoung and still Cube got to completely destroy any interest that I could ever have. I SIMPLY FORGOT THEY EVEN EXISTEEED!!! A proper mismanage agency is what they are.
Loved both parts of your Lightsum coverage. Nice objective tone on the history of Cube on part I. Multifaceted analysis on part II, well done. "Stuck in 2016" classic. Anyways, thanks to your video I will pay more attention to this group. I like Twice, Izone, and Itzy -- and if Lightsum were to carry some of that aura with them, that's not bad in my book. I hope you're right, and may they catch wave of Oh My Girl and Dreamcatcher. 😊🙏
Cube has a pattern. They're promoting and investing *a lot* on their most selling group/artist. If a group is not immediately popular or is showing signs of losing popularity, they'll drop them. They dropped 4minute to focus on Hyuna's solo, they dropped pentagon after their cb losing in popularity after Shine and edawn's departure, they dropped CLC after gidle's sky-rocketing. Their management honestly made me completely lose interest in any of their artists, I just hate getting attached to a group and seeing their potential being ripped appart bc of the higher heads' greed
with the exception of Gidle and the old ex cube groups, maybe Lightsum will be part of the 3-4 year first win curse (BTOB, CLC and Pentagon), but on the kind of bright side of that curse is that they found the own music, BTOB stop worrying about charts and sales...Pentagon started the same with other people music until one day they started doing the music they wanted..maybe the same will happen to Lightsum, i heard some member are getting involve or at least interest on the producing side...so we have to hope for the best.
Yes, I heard that Lightsum’s leader Juhyeon was the one who’d expressed an interest in producing or songwriting. Last I heard she was letting Hui from Pentagon critique her prospective songs. So maybe things are changing for Lightsum’s music.
OMG this is so sad because I genuinely forgot Lightsum existed until I saw this video title. What is Cube doing?!!
All they need to do is promote them properly like they should take notes from Stayc’s company they were marketed so well for their debut and fans grew each comeback.
Yes, if Cube would just get it together, they’d likely be much better off.
Your personality shines through so much! ~ great documentary :)
Thank you so much! 😊
Thank you so much for these videos. To even think someone talks about Lightsum...
I literally posted about the group like a day before part one, after months of not mentioning them... spooky haha... but maybe it's a coincidence since I have their album on my shelf, and It keeps reminding me of them.
Anyway, their cute side on debut gave me a lot of hope. It was just like you described "Alive", a perfect mix between cute and girl crush vibes. Something that by now, almost only wooah plays with.
I actually fell for Vivace. Finding it similar to an izone song is a huge positive for me and not the other way around. I would 100% be down for this style.
My love for the members also grew, with Yujeong getting the spotlight on Vivace, better rap parts (especially for Jian), etc.
Alive is actually the one that didn't touch me as much.
But I think the TLDR to all of this is just, you can never expect people's reactions. Everything is very luck-based, many kpop fans also care about everything BUT the music, and really, there's nothing we could do about it
As a huge Sumit from predebut era to now, thank you so much for making these videos on them. I’ve been Chowon and Nayoung’s fan since I saw them on P48, so I was super excited to see their debut as LIGHTSUM. Cube’s inability to properly promote them has frustrated me so much considering the potential they have. Their recent comeback along with their b track I proves that. Unfortunately LIGHTSUM has been done dirty by Cube AND bitter KPop fans who use them as hate bait. It’s seriously so disappointing seeing their name trending on social media mostly because other groups’ fans want to smear their efforts or use them to bash on Cube.
I greatly appreciate your lovely commentary about these girls, and you’ve earned yourself a new subscriber. Thank you for acknowledging their efforts. 😊🫶🏻
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for watching! I wish the girls luck in whenever they do in the future. 😊
A 2 PART VID???? I have a Lightsum Vanilla album that’s actually singed. I loved them so much and Honey and Spice is amazing 🥹
They were my ult group along with tribe when alive came out I was hoping culbe doesn't mess up this time but looks like they did. Anyways i will still support them.
I hate when company debuting the Idol WITHOUT having planning for atleast 2 year activity after their debut.
Exactly! If Cube hadn’t been in such a rush to just randomly debut Lightsum, they likely would’ve had more time to put together some proper branding for them.
One thing I feel like they did wrong, at least as from the perspective of a non-fan, none of the members necessarily stood out in the MVs. Especially in Vanilla. The MV looked like a generic MV that any unknown nugu gg would make, no matter the budget. The color scheme, the outfits, the hair, none of it was ugly or bad, but it also wasn't something to remember.
With Idle, they already made sure Soyeon would shine the most anyway, she's undoubtedly the most popular and known member. In Latata she had bright red outfits, her own charisma and lighter hair made her easily memorable.
With CLC, they managed to make Yeeun shine by having her cut her hair in the Black Dress music video and actually keep that hairstyle. She immediately became known as the "short-haired bob girl" and she still pops up when you search that on Naver. So they kept the bob, made it blonde next cbs, boom, she easily stood out.
Can that tactic bring in toxic solo-stans? Absolutely, but smaller groups can still benefit from that. Give them interesting concepts! Give them something to stand out with! For a new group with a small fanbase, it's important to make sure the members are memorable.
That’s a fair assessment. Nothing about their debut was unique enough to them for enough people to acknowledge it. That sucks, but it’s a lesson I hope other companies learn when it comes to debuting a new group.
@@amber_kae Exactly, I do like that they didn't immediately shine a specific member to make her stand out as "the most important one" the way we've seen some other companies do when they get popular idols onto their hands, but they could have done something to maybe make a few members stand out one era, then make a few others stand out the next one etc.
i’m not a lightsum fan, i was there for their debut and subsequent comeback but they simply weren’t my taste. i did like alive quite a lot tho. what drew me here mostly however was just hearing you talk about them and your frustrations as a fan. there’s clearly a lot of love and effort put into these videos and i hope you get big!!
edit: my grammar sucks i’m sorry haha
vivace is such a good song and it's been in my on repeat forever now, i wish it wasnt paid dust :(
1 year later n 2 members removed they still couldn’t give the girls something to stand out
Unfortunate but you seem to be right so far. 😔
@@amber_kae i really wish they could’ve done something darker this time around…have a light n dark concept like red velvet rip off but i fear their team is stuck on teen crush
7:25 LMAOO SORRY I CRACKED UP HERE 😂😭
So you see, you showed how Lightsum charted on the 8th spot somewhere with a sad profound music in the background... And all I could see was the track on the 9th place named in Russian (but written in Latin) that may be translated as 'I will be fucking' 😭 This is so goofy I-
Okay, that gotta a cackle out of me just now too. 😆 I can’t read Russian or translate Latin very well, so I didn’t notice it. 🤣
I really liked huiyeon. She might not have the best vocals, but she knows how to command the stage, which I think is even harder than learning to hold a note. I was really rooting for her. I thought she had a lot of potential to grow as an idol ☹️ I used to be a huge cube stan (since beast), but they’re honestly just going downhill by the year after their founder stepped down.
It’s sad because they FINALLY found their sound, Into the Light as a whole was a great album with a unique sound. CUBE better not fuck it up AGAIN
To be honest I forgot they existed
Fair enough! They are in desperate need of a comeback. 😔
i loooove these documentary style videos!!
Thanks so much for watching! 😌
Also I wanted to support you with another comment and say that you are so pleasant to listen to, and the way you edit and arrange your vid is so pretty as well! 🤍
Thank you so much for watching and for getting a literal cackle out of me with the funny comment before and also for this supportive one. 🥹 I truly appreciate the support and good vibes!
If what you said is true about them possibly kicking Huihyeon and Jian out due to age…..doesn’t really make since because Huihyeon will be a Adult in just a few months…..So it wouldn’t of been that long of a wait and Jian will be a adult next year……
If it is true, then this is Cube logic at its worst. But some people have pointed out that they may have left on their own. So, this was pure speculation on my part.
@@amber_kae yeah I know I appreciate you even coming out with this video…. But yeah I’m just saying I’m my opinion it probably wouldn’t be because of their age….due to Huihyeon won’t be a minor in the next few months and Jian will be a minor until next year.
thank you for talking about them so beautifully.
You’re welcome! 😊 Thank you for watching!
Also...i don´t know what happend on cube around november or december, i dont remmeber if it was on september or when, but the CEO said publicly that for 2022 Gidle will have a comeback (Nxde) and then Pentagon....and that at the beginning of the year their new boy group will debut...but we all know what happend with Pentagon, there is no news about male group and even there are rumours about a new girl group debut...the only confirm comebacks are Gidle and BTOB, but now oficial dates yet...so i don´t know what happened that made them chage their plan.
Alive is such a good song and their best title track so far it's sad that they haven't released anything since then cause I really like Lightsum their songs are bops. Also Billlie and Rocket Punch are some other underrated girl groups that make great music.
Billie is next on my list of girl groups whose discographies I need to check out. I’ve heard so much about them, loved gingamingayo and recently watched their short film for their most recent comeback. That little snippet of song I heard in there sounded so beautiful, I’m definitely gonna need to find them on Spotify. 😌
What you said at 2:59 was exactly what happened to me with LIGHTSUM. I literally forgot they existed because I didn’t like their debut and there wasn’t any other song to get me hooked to them.
Yeah, that’s likely what happened with many people, unfortunately. That pretty much shows how easily a debut song can make or break a group. 😔
I heavily preferred Vivace/Popcorn. I def feel they were good with the "IZ*ONE" concept and they should've stuck to it while it was still interesting!
It definitely left more of an impression for sure. At least then people were talking about their music. Wish that conversation had continued during their Alive promotions.
@@amber_kae Omg thank you for responding! Love your channel, hope it grows big! But yeah. Alive was just not it for me. It felt very outdated like it was from at least 7+ years ago. I did end up saving "i" as the only song of that album. And then the long hiatus again just made me give up. I tried my best 😥 About the member change: I don't think it's per se for a mature concept. I think they simply removed the least popular members. If you look at k-profiles you can also see that they were the least favorite out of the bunch. And with the gen 4 favoring smaller groups I think cube did what they needed to do. I pretty much think they were fired due to a lack of popularity. Sadly.
You can tell lightsum didn’t really have a solid plan for their group, almost like they were debuted to shift attention from the soojin drama, or act as a fallback for other cube groups who were rockier at the time. The market is very competitive, and we do see groups get carried by their music like with fiftyfifty or stayc, but lightsum didn’t carve a niche genre, or release any fresh music that people can stick to. There should hopefully still be opportunities to fix this, dreamcatcher found a sound, cube just needs to put effort into giving them good music and a strong identity, it’s especially a shame because the members of this group have great chemistry
Cube debuting a new gg in midst of SJ's situation was what made made check out Lightsum. Vanilla was a pretty standard kpop debut, but nothing outstanding so I wasn't surprised to know that it got mostly overlooked. But I did enjoy Vivace and thought that with Izone's disbandment, they could've continue that elegant and ethereal concept that even groups like Cosmic Girls and Loona weren't doing anymore. But it also didn't do so well, so (as expected) Cube switched it up immediately. 🙄 But 'Alive' was a step in the right direction and hopefully, their future comeback maintain that same vibe. It's always a shame when a group loses members, but I'm wishing for better things to all the girls!
amazing video series! i discovered you from part 1 and can't wait for future content
Thank you so much for dropping by and watching! 😁
they should've debuted in 2022 with alive for the title, vivace as a bside, scrap vanilla maybe use it for a summer single later on. or have soyeon do the debut. latata and beam-beam were colorful cute and funny debuts and were well-received. they could've also avoided the maknaes situation or let them go beforehand and debut as 6. i always thought the debut was impacted by what was going on with idle too. i think they can still hit, though.
Now that I think of it, alive is a song that kep1er would do.
It’s the kind of song I wish they would do, to be honest.
I just found your content tonight and honestly I really love hearing your opinions, I hope you make this a series of "kpop groups on life support". I love how thought-out it is and how informative it is. I honestly didn't know much about Lightsum nor did they really interest me at all but watching both part 1 &2 of Lightsums episodes made me more curious about their future. It also made me hate cube alittle less (I still hate them immensely as a Cheshire (CLC) who got burned & newer Neverland (G'idle) (Soojin makes me sad still)🙏
Minors in kpop group just grooming from both the company and fans like this
Did you hear that their preparing for a comeback with a more mature concept?
I have heard. I hope it’s not too mature. I prefer their current brighter concept.
9:17 “what the h*ll cube was doing???” Oh they were doing HISTORY!!!! Alive is just an amazing song!!! It def got me looking for them in UA-cam. I hope they don’t change this style!!!
Thanks a lot for your support to Lightsum and for making these kind of videos.
I started heard and watch some kpop content in 2019-2020 just as a cassual consumer, and I watched the Produce 48 show, Nayoung become my favourite , but she "dissapeared" after the show and even more after she leaves BananaCulture, so I get really happy to see her debuting finally. I had no idea nor consideration about how important is the company/label in the kpop industry. It's indeed frustrating.
Anyway, thanks again, I hope we can heard them soon.
You’re welcome! ☺️ I just felt like Lightsum was one of those groups that slipped under the radar and people simply forgot them. Guess I made the video to remind people of their existence (especially since Cube doesn’t seem to know how to do that). Thanks for watching!
your narration is so good !!
Thank you so much! 🥹
Could you do Weeekly next? Just found you and absolutely love these videos!
I’d love to cover Weeekly. ☺️ Their journey as a group has been an interesting one. I wouldn’t mind delving a bit deeper.
I saw them at KCON LA 2022 and they were amazing. The girls were so talented and the Tomboy cover was iconic. Plus one member (I'm not sure which) had so much interaction with my section that my little bi heart exploded.
Breaks my heart that Cube is their management. I hear Cube attached to anyone and I get nervous for the longevity of the group. Cube got lucky with g-idle but I don't think they can get lucky again.
Alive was their best song for me.
Also i think they wanted to replace gidle as their breadearners by debuting a new girl group amidst their scandal.... Which explains single as a debut
Bro your so underatted u deserve more subscribers period
Aw, thank you so much! 🥹
There was a group at CUBE called A Train to Autumn buried further down then LightSum its pitiful what CUBE does to groups
I have been there since debut, and i also got super hype pre debut teasers cuz i recognized nayoung and chowon from pd48 and vivace even hit my izone nostalgia, but what it came down 2 for me losing interest was their content... it was just super boring and im a strong believer in that content converts to sales way more than actual songs. I will still checkout every comeback and love the titles/b sides but thats where it stops for me sadly
i kept refreshing ur channel to see if u uploaded and when i lost hope u did it wowo
The wait is over. 😆 Sorry it took so long.
You did an amazing job breaking this down.
Thank you so much! 😊
"to show a more mature side to them" okay but who decided that XD like, what mature side is there to an eighteen years old? And I'm saying that as an eighteen years old myself, like huh???
Edit: Oh. Okay, hum...what mature side is there to a FIFTEEN YEARS OLD????????
Yeah, we got a look into Cube’s weird brain with Vivace. 😂
you hear that Piddy, stop looking at the album sales
😆
Love your Analyses and research. just subbed to you after watching part 1 and part 2 is very eye opening 😮
Thanks so much for watching and subscribing! 😊
Another wonderful video essay.
Thank you so much! 🥹
Finally got around to watching Pt II and it was just as amazing! Great job on this!
Also, you have waaay more patience than I do lol If an artist releases a song and I don’t like the title track, I’m not even going to bother with the B-sides. There are dozens of KPop groups and only so many hours in the day. If something doesn’t click for me, then I gotta move on 😂👋
Yeah, I know most people don’t look at b-sides, but I’ve always been a b-side hunter 🤣. I will dig through an entire discography to find a song I like if I’m interested enough. I guess I just like to give every group a fair chance.
@@amber_kae I’ll look at B-sides if I want to dive into a group’s catalogue and see if I missed anything. Typically that’ll be after a group’s been around for a few years. I just did Ateez’s last week 🙌
But yeah, it’s rare to look at a mini album/full album immediately if I don’t like the title track unless I get asked to do so 😅
Hey, there’s only so much time in a day, 😌and if you only casually stan a group, I wouldn’t expect you to go out of your way to dig through a group catalog if you have other groups you’re more interested in. I only do it because a good majority of the time I have Spotify on shuffle while at work so it just plays whoever comes up. This allows me to naturally discover new groups without even really trying. Just listened to Cherry Bullet’s newest album this way and found it to be a solid listen.
your videos are so well put together
Thank you so much! ☺️
now with Sangah appearing on Queendom puzzle, a group comeback seems impossible. i hate Cube....
Sangah is gonna be on Queendom puzzle? I thought they were preparing for a comeback.
@@amber_kae my bet is that they'll release a comeback after queendom puzzle, banking on sangah being in it for recognition.
I think they'll still be able to have their own schedule if they debut so she should still be able to promote in Lightsum. It's more like SM GOT the beat than like a produce group
Yeah I hope Ligthsum release after the show
I wasn't interested in LIGHTSUM as all, but when I happened to hear ALIVE on some random spotify playlist, I fell in love. Too bad they are under CUBE :c
wow this is really like a documentary video
Thank you! That’s what I was going for. 😊
I think I'm the only one who loves VIVACE. I listened to that song nonstop, while I hated Alive at first listen.
You’re not alone. I liked Vivace and I think Vivace as a song was fine on its own. It just wasn’t very unique to Lightsum.
Yeah Yujeong's part in Vivace made me love that song. Alive was a grower for me too cuz it's kinda high school musical esque but it's still pretty good.
I totes agree with only releasing a single song. I miss full albums.
Lightsum has some banger songs.
@15:30 it so bizarre that you think that group with less than 7 members was considered weird during 2nd generation 🤔, especially once Brown Eyed Girls showed up on screen. Personally, I think groups between 4-7 were pretty popular till around 2015, when it seems larger groups became more popular, probably because of survival shows... I am happy that small groups are becoming the trend again, though.
I guess it just feels more common to me now than it did then for some reason. 😅 So many groups (mostly 4th gen girl groups) have debut with the same exact number of members: (G)I-DLE, LESSERAFIM, IVE, Everglow, Lapillus, Rocket Punch, ILY:1 and STAYC.
@@amber_kae Larger groups were definitely a trend for a few years. Especially for boy groups. Thinking about it, Cube even added members to CLC around that time. I remember a few debut groups re-debut with more members around that time like dreamcatcher.
I am curious what groups your thinking of that lead you to think that small groups were uncommon until recently 🤔. Even just considering the more popular and representative 2nd gen groups: shinee, 2ne1, kara, tvxq, wonder girls, big bang, 4minute, f(x), miss a, beg, sistar, beast etc. Even going into late 2nd/early 3rd generation: vixx, bap, a pink, gfriend, exid, girls day, nuest, red velvet, mamamoo, etc. I can list so many small members groups.
Think that why I was a bit shocked and confused 😅. Like that's not my reality at all.
You should join Cube!
No, I don’t think I’d last for very long. 😂
I'm going to be honest.I'm a summit and 4 me it's OK 4 the youngests members leaving. they are very shy and young and they don't have charisma like the others members.
Hey, that’s fair. Many people had mixed feelings about their departure. Some were upset, others thought it was for the best. I guess the response is subjective depending on who you ask. I wish the girls luck wherever they end up though. 😊
It will be pulled within this year.
i spect a massive concept change for their next comeback like they did with CLC
If that is the case, then I really hope they don’t stray too far from their current image.
Hi I really like the approach of your videos, I just have a tiny critique: the different videos in the background are a bit much and the constant change is really distracting. I know it probably has copyright reasons and the fact that I watch on 1.25 speed doesn't help but maybe you should stick to stage mixes like other k-tubers or to just Lightsum footage which makes more sense in the context of the video anyway (towards the end it was fine it was just the first part and the beginning of this video). Or a clean background with your animation that you already use in some scenes. Anyway I don't know why you chose this style so maybe there's a reasoning behind it and maybe I'm the only one bothered by it so if that's the case you can ignore this request🙈
I liked "i" and was kinda shocked when I found out they're the sister group of Idle (although that always shocks me since most sister groups are drastically different).
I wanna add that Dreamcatcher probably isn't the best example because the concept change was not only a full 180 (we're talking pink & cute to horror rock), but was separate through a redebut. The lineup change only came after Minx, their old group, was unsuccesful. Also they were always consistent, something Cube fails to do: there's just no new comebacks. Dreamcatcher had a very constant comeback schedule, something that is majorly underrated with small company groups but allowed them to grow steadily (that being said nugu groups often can't afford more comebacks or even physical albums). With the "hiatus" of Lightsum nearing a year I hope they announce something soon because although their sales aren't that bad (Dreamcatcher for example did worse their first years), the only thing that can really kill off even bigger groups is not coming back. Yes, this comment might come back to me as I'm always wrong about stuff like this but last year and these first months around 30 girl groups have debuted, there's just no room for experimenting and having a comeback once a year after a lukewarm rookie phase.
I really wish them the best, but I'm also convinced that Cube can't handle girl groups. And I don't say this to jump on the hate train, I just think that they really don't know what they're doing. Which is even worse considering CLC and Idle blew up like that which means Cube isn't unlucky or smth, they have so much potential and still manage to fumble it. But LS might also get lucky. New bold concept, a sudden viral hit and they're back. Let's just hope they then don't disappear again🤣
Cube is never great with any groups lol what do u expect after CLC and Pentagon😢
Well, I don’t believe in expecting the worst for any group regardless of how I feel about their company. ☺️
What is the song instrumental in the background at 10:07. I need to hear it please‼️
The song is Lightsum’s “I.” It’s from their first mini album, “Into the Light.” 😊
@lightsoup Thank You so much❤️
@@korikewl0151 You’re welcome!
I genuinely believe G-Idle’s success is because of Soyeon. CUBE has had several groups but only 4Minutes and G-Idle are successful. It is these 2 groups that keep CUBE floating. This company is so bad at everything! They don’t have good producers, don’t know how to promote songs, don’t know how to manage the artists.
the youngest members are too young i hope they can get the chance to debut when they’re older they can still make it
Yeah, they still have plenty of time. Maybe we’ll see them redebut in the future. ☺️
Oh wow I completely forgot Lightsum exist 🥴
Yeah, you’re not the only one unfortunately. 😔
Same sigh
Lightsum had the worst of both worlds. Being compared to G(idle) and being up against Ive, Newjeans and Nmixx. And also debuting under Cube. I hope they are promoted better.
12:33 at the time of their debut*