What LOONA wants to bring pride to more than anything else are women and it has been very evident in their career. A lot of you may have already heard the phrase “Stan LOONA ” especially on Twitter, and here’s one of the many reasons why it’s necessary.
LOONA (stylized as LOOΠΔ) or 이달의 소녀 (Idalui Sonyeo) which translates to “Girl of the Month,” is a 12- member girl group that has been known in the K-Pop scene for having an unusual and a rather ambitious kind of debut.
In 2016, their agency Blockberry Creative (BBC) decided to debut the groups individually with each of them having their own album before finally debuting as a group in 2018 with their first title track as a group “Hi High.”
It was revealed in MBC FM4U in 2019 when LOONA guested that it cost the company 9.9 billion won or approximately PHP 430,353,000 just to debut the whole group.
Pre-debut LOONA has already made 12 singles and five mini-albums in total.
However, this is not the sole reason why people make a fuss about “stanning” LOONA.
Their debut was phenomenally ambitious and bold, but that’s not everything there is to these girls. What made people love them, even more, is how they address certain societal issues in their music, particularly in their music videos.
LOONA has been pushing women empowerment throughout their careers by giving them a lesson of self-acceptance and encouragement.
Aside from the lore in their MVs which they refer to as the “Loonaverse,” and their notable high-quality editing and videography, their advocacy to represent every LOONAs around the world remains consistent as well.
Starting with the song that made them a global hit in 2019, “Butterfly,” “The title track ‘Butterfly’ contains LOOΠΔ’s irreplaceable unique concepts. Mixing softness with dynamics, the track takes LOOΠΔ to another level with new beats and drops never heard in K-pop before, along with electronic sounds and melody,” as written in their official music video description.
The Butterfly was their first-ever comeback as a group after debuting with the song “Hi High.”
The highlight of the MV was diversity. They featured women from different parts of the world—different colors, faces, ethnicities, and religions.
The MV was shot in various places such as South Korea, Paris, Los Angeles, Iceland, and the US. Butterfly’s purpose was to give encouragement to every woman to speak up, accept who they are—to find their individualities and be proud of it.
The featured women even got to have more, if not the same screen time as the members. This goes to show how LOONA and BBC prioritize their advocacy as much as the members and their music. They referred to this song as a song “For all LOONAs around the world” as indicated in the teaser. In the MV, there’s a significant pause right before the song’s chorus wherein the scene cuts to black. It indicates a meaning that whoever is watching the MV is also LOONA as they see their reflection through the black screen.
A year later, LOONA followed up with their next title track “So What.” The song continues LOONA’s advocacy of empowering women through self-acceptance but this time, it pushes more towards the breaking out of the boundaries and prejudices kind of empowerment as the concept of So What is “girl crush.”
“Through this album, LOOΠΔ wants people to break out of the box, boundaries, and prejudices, showing them not to be afraid to challenge themselves. It is possible to make different waves than you can imagine if you challenge yourself with your passion (BURN), and go forward,” as they described their album on their YouTube channel.
What emphasizes the importance of not being who society is telling you to be, “Being sharp, So What? Being cold, So What? Being fearless, for what? So What?” LOONA wanted to bring a message this time of not conforming to norms and just be who you want to be and do the things you’re passionate about, breaking away from the usual prejudicial “you’re a woman, you’re not supposed to…” phrase.
In the same way as Butterfly, LOONA featured different women in the MV but this time, they chose different women to represent different statuses and passions—ballerinas, hip-hop dancers, and young students. Moreover, they referred to this song as a song “To all LOONAs around the world” as they seek to call them out of their shells.
Lastly, is their 4th title track as a group “Why Not?” Emphasizing individualistic self and freedom, LOONA came back this time with an up-tempo electronic pop song with a festival type of hook.
They wrote on YouTube, “The titled track ‘Why Not?’ is an uptempo electronic pop song, with a story of pursuing freedom and individualistic self. The funky and bubbly bassline reminiscent of the Midnight Festival is impressive. The key change in the song, which started with a charismatic introduction, from the chorus to the witty major, resembles LOOΠΔ who is about to change.”
Why Not? is a celebration of individuality. The song tells people to embrace themselves and who they are as long as they are not stepping on somebody else. Like the two previous MVs, Why Not? featured more women as well.
Did they feature these women dancing by themselves, being free, because why not?
LOONA also introduces in this comeback the “New Moon” in their lore as they referred to this song as a song “With all LOONAs around the world,” looking forward to a world where every LOONA is always together—a world where all are dignified, equal, and worthy of freedom. “The united voices of the girls around the world rings loud and clear ahead of the start of the new moon,” as written in their MV description.
As of writing, LOONA has recently come back with their new album “&” with the title track “PTT (Paint The Town)” that was released last June 28. Their most recent comeback focused more on their lore as they dive in further in the continuation of the New Moon mentioned in the Loonaverse.
LOONA remains to be one of the few groups in K-pop to have consistent advocacy reflected in their music while continuously breaking the boundaries in the K-pop scene.
Check out their stuff now, stan LOONA!
Photo Credit: https://twitter.com/loonatheworld/status/1403366416489795586/photo/1
Source: https://www.koreaboo.com/news/loona-production-cost-spend-food-eating/
