Hot take: if their songs had the same lyrics but R&B instrumentals, y’all wouldn’t hate them nearly as much

Maybe I’m biased since I went from not understanding Gnarly to absolutely adoring it, and am also an enjoyer of hyperpop in general. But within all the discourse about how terrible their songs are, how they’re all garbage and the lyrics suck and the production sucks and everything sucks, there’s one constant I keep seeing: “Why won’t they just do R&B?” “R&B would be perfect for them!”

It just feels like the problem is less that the songs are irredeemably bad (make no mistake, they definitely deserve a much better discography and Geffen is doing them dirty for the most part) and more that a girl group that’s not doing R&B is breaking your brains. It’s not even just limited to Katseye: I see this sentiment all.the.time during discussions about girl groups. it always circles back to being so desperate to pigeonhole them into R&B (or at the very least pop/R&B) because they have good voices and…..there’s precedent for it?? I truly can’t wrap my head around it.

Do I think Katseye’s music is worthy of their talent right now? For the most part, absolutely not. But with the uproar over the leaked songs (DEMOS, mind you. Like some of you guys are forgetting that they are DEMOS. There‘s a high chance it will not sound the same when released) and one of them, Pinky Up, seeming to be true, I finally feel like it’s a good time to express this. I truly am so tired of some fans being so close minded. With better lyrics, more updated and fresh production, and most importantly the girls having WAY MORE creative input, I honestly think they really could suit a more brash, experimental, hyperpop-adjacent sound. Hell, with everyone constantly complaining about how they’re “laughingstocks” and “jokes” now, such a unique concept would actually set them apart from an otherwise oversaturated genre and possibly position them as a super innovative group!

In short, it’s fine to not like their music or the direction it’s going in. But this is just a thought I wanted to put in a few people’s heads: give the new song a chance. And also just try to see a vision beyond the same stuff people keep trying to push onto girl groups. (And before someone comes for me I am also a huge R&B fan so this isn’t me knocking it by any means. I’m just saying that if they do decide to do something else, I’d actually be really happy and I’d hope their other fans are too)

Anyways, rant over.