Reasons you should still get into ASTRO even if you aren’t into ‘cute’ concepts
Many groups that become popular aren’t quite that popular from their debut song, or until several comebacks after that (for example, BTS). Even if you don’t think you’ll like ASTRO’s vibe they put with their title tracks, please give them a chance! For me, when I first watched the onesie practice for Puss in Boots/Cat’s Eye almost a year ago, I remember thinking to myself there was no way I could get into them because their vibe was just cute and I wasn’t into that. I think ASTRO were the ones to make me appreciate concepts like they are doing - the upbeat and refreshing one - and I’m excited to see how they will grow.
So for those of you who were like me and thought cute concepts were gross, here’s how to get into ASTRO:
“I like groups that can do bomb choreography! and I don’t think ASTRO can really pull off stuff like that”
Well let me let you in on a little secret - the reason I initially got into ASTRO was because of their dancing, specifically their covers of:
(Keep in mind, all of these covers were from months before they debuted, and they’ve grown a lot since then)
Just because their current choreography matches up with the lightness of their title songs, it doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of concepts like this.
Recently, they’ve been praised for their cover of SHINee’s debut song, Replay!
“Yes, I suppose they can dance, but I prefer groups that make their own choreography!”
No group is 100% full of members that choreograph. ASTRO does have a member that choreographs: their main dancer Rocky.
Things he choreographed predebut:
You Got it On (Justin Timberlake)
Things he choreographed after debut:
Wall to Wall (Chris Brown)
His “Hit the Stage” Performance
Special UDF Stage “Six-Pack”
Rocky was also on a list of
“7 Choreographers Who Are Dominating K-Pop in 2016”
Choreographers that made the list include:
Blazer Pyo, a choreographer for JYP
Keone Madrid, the choreographer of BTS’s “Fire”
Sugawara Koharu, the choreographer of Taemin’s “Goodbye"
Kyle Hanagami, the choreographer for BlackPink
1 Million Dance Studios, responsible for Kasper who teaches SM Entertainment, Choi Jun Ho who choreographed Taemin’s “Drip Drop”, etc.
Ko Kyungjun, the main choreographer of the DQ Agency Dance Team who choreographed ASTRO’s two title songs, as well as choreo for SISTAR and MONSTA X.
Here is Rocky’s excerpt:
DQ Agency may be responsible for the choreography of both of Fantagio Entertainment’s new boy group ASTRO’s title songs, but one of the youngest members of ASTRO, Rocky, has been making a splash with his own choreography. His dance skills have slowly gained attention and he’s been allowed roles in assisting with the choreography for both lead songs, as well as choreographing the song “Fireworks” off the group’s latest album. Rocky was an assistant choreographer for the SBS Inkigayo Special UDF Stage “Six-Pack” and will also appear on “Hit the Stage” on August 24. Catch Rocky’s choreography for “Fireworks”.
I mean just watch him dance.
“Still, I prefer groups that write their own music.”
Of course, ASTRO are still small and have yet to produce a full album written by themselves, but really what rookie has? The rap line members Rocky and Jinjin have written the raps for their songs, as well as helped write lyrics.
Before they debuted, ASTRO covered SHINee’s ‘View’, adding their own rap to it.
They also did their own rendition of USHER’s Give Me Everything
We have no doubt that one day when they have enough experience, ASTRO will be writing their own songs.
“I’ll wait until they have a reality show to get into them.”
Well actually, they had a reality show predebut!
ASTRO OK! Ready
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They are also in the middle of their second reality show, ASTRO PROJECT: A.Si.A which is about their Asia tour! Here’s the first episode.
“I wish they were in a drama like EXO’s Next Door”
You’re in luck! They also did a cheesy drama, but there’s was before they debuted (which is even on netflix) called To Be Continued.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
“I like groups that really show they care about their fans.”
One of the reasons why ASTRO is such a great group is because they care about their fans so much. They are always tweeting https://twitter.com/offclastro and asking fans to make sure they eat, or ask them to wear thick jackets when it’s cold. When ASTRO went to ISAC 2016, they bought food for their fans and decorated them with hand made drawings of their logo and messages from each member .
All of their music videos have been about their fans.
Hide and Seek - About a girl learning about ASTRO for the first time and becoming a fan, ASTRO thanking AROHA for finding them. The whole song and music video is about ASTRO thanking their fans for finding them and getting into them and supporting them.
Breathless - More abstract than Hide and Seek, but the music video has ASTRO as the refreshing bit of summer that the girl (the fans) can take everywhere with them and feel happy about being with them.
Confession - AROHA ‘creates’ ASTRO, by learning more about them it makes them feel more real to a fan, and ASTRO are always there with fans even if the fan doesn’t see it, and ASTRO want to confess their love for all of their fans.
I’m sure one of the reasons you weren’t going to get into ASTRO was not going to be:
“But they are a rookie group who hasn’t even performed their own concert yet”
because rookie groups don’t typically host solo concerts.
Except ASTRO has.
ASTRO has held 6 concerts so far, and have a 7th one planned.
Their first 3 concerts were titled THANKxAROHA, literally thanking fans in the name of the concert series.
Their next 2 concerts were in Tokyo, Japan. Their management actually only originally planned to have one concert, but it was sold out:
“Astro have proven to be popular once again, confirmed by the additional performances added to the Japanese showcase. Astro’s first performance “first season showcase Tokyo 2016″ comes October 14 in Tokyo, Japan. The show was scheduled to seat 1,300 people originally. More than 8,000 people from the reservation line flooded Fantagio with requests to add performances. The agency added one or two extra performances, equaling 3,000 seats total. This is the first showcase featuring promotions in Japan. Fantagio says Astro plan to perform songs from the albums released so far. Astro has also prepared a surprise with the local fans.”
Their most recent concert was in Jakarta, Indonesia.
These examples don’t really do justice to just how much ASTRO loves their fans, but when you become a part of the AROHA family, you can really feel how much they care.
“But I’m an international fan, and rookie groups don’t really interact with international fans”
ASTRO do sososo much for international fans. “I wish they’d speak english!!” okay first of all idols are in no way required to speak your language. But ASTRO, Eunwoo especially, are working on different languages for the sole purpose of communicating with fans.
Eunwoo speaking english on ASC and for the KCON LA bit
For the overseas concerts they had, they sang in their fan’s native language.
Jakarta, Indonesia - Kesempurnaan Cinta
Tokyo, Japan - Hatenai Sora
ASTRO really try hard for fans both domestically and overseas.
“I like groups that are dumb and wild and silly and savage and fun.”
They have tons of videos of them being ridiculous. Here’s one where they were celebrating the birthday of one of the members and they got him a present in a duffel bag. When they were trainees, they had videos titled “iTeen Play” which were just them and their wild antics and they also have a self-cam called “DDOCA” which they still use. They have now upgraded to “ASTRO Play” which shows their daily dumb lives (these are similar to BTS’s Bangtan Bombs concept).
This is only the surface of what ASTRO has to offer, but even fans who aren’t keen on the “cute” concepts know that ASTRO has so much potential and are capable of so much.
Even if you don’t really like their title tracks or their musical vibes, please support ASTRO!