Kpop Social Night Returns with KPSN Podcast Festival 2021!

Marking their second year as considerably the largest virtual podcast convention centered around K-Pop, Kpop Social Night (KPSN) hosted a slew of great creatives and podcasts for KPSN Podcast Festival 2021! In addition to a “meet the hosts” segment, all the podcasts and speakers involved also either had a live recording or a pre-recorded show for attendees to enjoy. But that’s not all! July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and KPSN Podcast Festival once again paired with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to raise funds on mental health. Together with all the podcasts, special guests, sponsors, and attendees, the event either contributed to the fundraiser or made it a point to highlight mental health awareness during their session. Additionally, The Kraze did their best to attend all events but unfortunately could not capture the entirety of the event. 

Day 1: Featured Podcasts & Talks 

Kpop Korner - Himbos of K-Pop

Kpop Korner is the first K-Pop podcast out of the Middle East, centered in Dubai, UAE! They discuss all aspects of K-Pop, from the history of bands, current events, and comebacks, to discussing K-Pop events within the Arab world. Their featured live session was titled “Himbos of K-Pop,” a popular topic that discussed the most buff, yet softest, male idols everyone loves.

The Krazecast (That’s us!) - K-Pop Horror Stories

Our very own Roxy and Jay joined the podcast fest fun with our organization’s sponsored podcast, The Krazecast! Returning for their second year, the hosts often discuss articles published in our magazine or on our site, and this year dove into anonymous K-Pop horror stories submitted both by the staff and the general population on social media. Keep an eye out for the episode; it’ll be out as an official episode this week!

Producing K-pop - Producing K-pop Talks The Stereotypes

Producing K-pop is a podcast co-hosted by our staff writer Sara (better known on the internet as Young Ajummah) that focuses mainly on song production, writing, and choreography. The show focuses on the behind-the-scenes elements of K-Pop for a deeper look into the musical genre. The live chat “Producing K-pop Talks the Stereotypes” is not in fact about stereotypes, but a producing group that has quite a few K-Pop fan favorites under their belt.

COMMNTD Podcast - Tiering Tropes

COMMNTD Podcast is a four-host podcast that covers multiple different facets, such as Asian dramas, movies, music, and video games, as well as the everyday life of 20-somethings. Their featured episode showcased tiering regular K-Drama tropes, which caused quite the discussion since an agreement had to be made between the four hosts.

The Kpop Wind Down

Hosts Edyn, Ni, and Mira are fans that just want to chill with K-Pop at the end of a long day. The Kpop Wind Down joined the event this year to vibe with chill K-Pop and K-Hip-Hop songs, discover new groups, and talk about their faves. For something comforting and calming after a rough day, sit down with this podcast!

HALLYU CAN EAT - K-Pop Generations

HALLYU CAN EAT is a three-host podcast that boasts differing longevities in the K-Pop fandom space. Chuck, Stephen, and Allen Mark discuss weekly new releases on their show. For the special KPSN episode, they each chose a song representative of one K-Pop generation and discussed the reasoning behind the choice.

Daebak City - Korean R&B Chat

Daebak City is another podcast spearheaded by our staff writer Sara, and is a podcast held on Aewen Radio monthly. The podcast features a heavy focus on Korean R&B and hip-hop. The special KPSN episode featured a talk of some of Sara’s favorite K-R&B artists and tracks, and is a great resource for those interested in exploring outside the K-Pop only sphere.

The Certified Noonas - The K-Pop K-Drama Pipeline

Certified Noonas is a four-host podcast that discusses K-Pop and all facets of Asian dramas, including Korean, Japanese, and Thai shows. The featured live session for KPSN featured a discussion of the K-Pop to K-Drama pipeline, from idols turned actors to the legendary “where did you start?” question for all fans.

Ask Me About Kpop - The Year in K-Pop - 2001

If you’re a history buff, Ask Me About Kpop is your go-to spot for the history of K-Pop. Hosts Shannon and Angelica are a great resource for more information on K-Pop in general, and in their special KPSN segment they took a deep dive back into the K-Pop world 20 years ago, in 2001.

The Kpopcast - How to Give Your Podcast a Professional Sound: Free audio production tools and techniques

DJ and podcast host of The Kpopcast, Peter Lo held an open-forum session for those who are either wanting to start a podcast or looking to upgrade and improve their skills in production and overall quality to give a more polished and professional feel. Peter opened up the floor for attendees to ask any questions or concerns that they were having, and gave insight on some do’s and don’ts that will help in the long run.

The SHINee Print

If you’re a SHINee superfan, then you definitely need to tune in to The SHINee Print. Run by hosts Mars, Kat, Tara, Hazel, and Mira, the podcast brings together SHINee superfans that have tons of knowledge on the group. For the special KPSN episode, the hosts discussed SHINee’s 13-year discography album by album, including the solo albums too!

Girlz With Fun: A BTS Podcast - BTS Q&A

Girlz With Fun is a BTS-centered podcast by ARMY for ARMY that covers all BTS related news and events happening within the fandom. For their first feature at KPSN, the hosts prepared a BTS question-and-answer/quiz session, covering anything and everything the audience wanted to know regarding the K-Pop supergroup.

+82 Khiphop

+82 Khiphop is as stated: a K-Hip-Hop focused podcast that dives deep into the goings-on in the K-Hip-Hop world. While the show did not have a live session, they joined in on the “I own a K-Pop business!” panel, which involved interviews and tips for running a K-Pop business from industry pros.

Not Your Average Netizens - The 2014 K-Pop Rewind

Not Your Average Netizens is a podcast dedicated to South Korean entertainment, with a goal to be informative and to have an open and mature discussion, and is made up of netizens all around the world. For the final show of day one, the hosts took a trip back to 2014 for a walk down K-Pop memory lane in one of the most memorable years in K-Pop.

Other Workshops

Fun fan games in the lineup included “Hallyu Jeopardy,” “Poorly Explain That Video,” “Astrology & K-Pop,” a dance workshop for TWICE’s “Alcohol-Free” with Ky27, and “Virtual Random Dance” with DJ Innaseoul. There were education panels as well, including “Defining K-Pop” hosted by Road to Hagdom and “I own a K-Pop business!” sponsored by Payne Points. The featured special performance came from Love X Stereo to round out day one!

Day 2: Featured Podcasts & Talks 

Kdrama Kraken Podcast 

Kicking off day two, Kris from Kdrama Kraken held their session titled, “You Know What We Did Last Summer: A Brief Primer on Korean Dramas and How They Saved Our Panasonic.” Teaming up with Crystal from Transformation Attack, they discussed which dramas helped them get through the pandemic and had the live audience play in a bias versus bias game to create the ultimate super group of talented acts composed of actors, actresses, and K-Pop idols.

An Album A Day (A3Day) - Great Moments in Production & Delivery 

Ashley, also known as Multifactedacg and the podcasts An Album A Day and A3Day Sister Show, brought back her fan-favorite series, “Great Moments in Production & Delivery.” Although Ashley has taken a step back from this series, it’s always a good time as she breaks down some of the greatest moments within the anatomy of a release. Ranging from Stray Kids’ “Gods Menu” to the vocalization of TWICE’s “Fancy,” viewers were treated to the little minor details of a song that one might have noticed before. 

Dramas Over Flowers - When Dramas Ruin You for Real Life 

Saya, Anisa, and Paroma come together as Dramas Over Flowers, a playful nod to the hit K-Drama, Boys Over Flowers. In their session, the ladies take a deep dive into some of the healthiest relationships found in K-Dramas. Some of the relationships included are the bond between the male characters in Hwarang and the relationship of Gong Yoo as the Goblin and Lee Dongwook as the Grim Reaper in Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (also known as Goblin). The trio discussed what made these relationships so special as well as how they have helped them take a look at their own relationships. 

Our K-Pop Fangirl Life - Build Your Own K-Pop Life 

As first time guests for KPSN Podcast Festival, hosts Vicky and Nikki brought a fun and audience-driven game for those in attendance to let loose and enjoy. This particular game let the audience choose between six different options to help shape their imaginary life as if they were a K-Pop idol. From categories such as figuring out how long one would be a trainee and what kind of concept would they be a part of, to budding romances with other idols, the game was a treat to play for attendees. 

Kpop Critical - Poorly Explain That Video 

How well does one really know all the music videos in K-Pop? The hosts of Kpop Critical also brought a game for the audience to play along with. Featuring a panel of other podcast hosts, such as Our K-Pop Fangirl Life and Stay At Home and Binge Podcast, and audience members, Kpop Critical’s session was all about trying to guess the K-Pop music videos based on a very poor description of them. No doubt, no one was going to make it easy, but what fun would it be if it was right? 

Alexis Hodoyán-Gastelum - It's time K-pop recognizes Latin America/Es tiempo que el K-pop reconozca a Latinoamerica

Alexis Hodoyán-Gastelum, alongside Carlos Solares, held a session on how Latin America is often overlooked when it comes to K-Pop. Both brought out strong points in that there is a huge number of fans of not only K-Pop but also K-Drama and how it’s much larger than most presume. From selling out venues to how K-Pop/K-Drama is consumed in Latin America, both hosts drove in the point that it really is time for K-Pop to be recognized as a powerhouse market. 

NYC Kpop Queens - All About The Bias 

Saying it loud and proud of who your bias is in K-Pop is standard as a K-Pop fan. The hosts of NYC Kpop Queens come out with who their biases are and open the discussion of how one picks their bias (bias wreckers included, although sometimes they just make the decision for you) and theories of why fans choose certain idols as their bias. 

J.Ventinilla, MPH - Mental Health Forum: The AAPI Perspective 

Our very own Jay spearheaded a session for KPSN, this time focusing on mental health in the community. Since the donation of the event goes towards NAMI, this session was a great way to open up the discussion about mental health amongst attendees. The session had an open forum type of atmosphere, where attendees opened up about their own mental health struggles and offered advice on how to cope when issues came to the surface. It was an open and honest discussion where many felt safe to share their thoughts and find comfort in others that had similar experiences, and was overall a great experience for healing.

106 & Seoul 

As one of the last podcasts of the night, 106 & Seoul played comeback catch-up in the happenings of the K-Pop realm. From discussing what their current favorites are to talking about what’s going on in K-Pop, 106 & Seoul sat back and hung out while the audience chimed in. 

Yoonha Verse 

As a special guest and first-time guest to KPSN Podcast Festival, Yoonha Verse got candid about her music career. Interviewed by Cy White, viewers got the chance to discover singer-songwriter Yoonha Verse and get to know her on a more intimate level as well as see how she fared in the “Song Association” game with Cy. 

Other workshops 

Day two also consisted of fun games, such as the final “Hallyu Jeopardy” rounds, Ky27 holding their dance workshop for BTS’s “Permission To Dance,” as well as The Kpopcast’s DJ Peter Lo taking the festival stage as a common ground for all attendees to jam out to some great K-Pop hits (not to mention he did this all while putting his youngest child to sleep in a carrier). To close out the night, rock band Harry Big Button performed and also made a live appearance in support of the festival. 

Closing Thoughts 

All in all, it was another successful year for KPSN Podcast Festival, filled with great moments and content for everyone to enjoy. Attendees and special guests alike all agree that they can’t wait for the next event. At the end of the two-day event, a total of $737 was raised for NAMI, exceeding their $500 dollar goal. This amount does not include the portions from the ticket sales as well as contributions by sponsors. A big congratulations to KPSN Podcast Festival 2021 and its organizers, sponsors, special guests, and attendees! 

The fundraiser is still open for those to donate until the end of July. Please visit https://solo.to/kpsnfun to donate to NAMI today. At the end of the fundraiser, the total donation amount will be released.