Disappointing
2
By kihoslisp
I’m gonna preface this by saying that I am a Monbebe since 2019. Monsta X is the only group I care about. **I am not criticizing the guys I am criticizing Starship**
I knew when Starship announced the digital album that it was going to be disappointing. No physical albums, no photo cards, no posters, no standees, no merch, no collectibles. And the fact that it’s our 10 year anniversary and this is how it’s being celebrated? I can’t emphasize how disappointing this is.
I would rather have the guys do a livestream, have some cake and play games. Actually I would love even just a new single released for the 10 year anniversary! And then the guys can release a mini album later on and have the physical copies with collectibles and do promotions on music shows and things.
That being said I tried to stay positive and recently I even got excited thinking about the new music. Of course Starship only advertised that the new album was released on Korean streaming services, no mention of Apple Music or even just saying it’s available on all streaming services. And then when I figured out that I could listen on Apple Music and even YouTube I realized that it was just some old songs “re-recorded.”
I respect and appreciate the effort by Shownu to record all these songs. I’m not sure if the rest of the guys had to re-record their parts or additional parts too or not, so if they did shout out to them too! But listening to my favorite songs listed on this digital album- Beautiful Liar and Lone Ranger- I was even more disappointed that I couldn’t distinctly hear Shownu. I listened to the entire songs start to finish and did not hear him clearly, the only time I recognized his voice was for the backup vocals with Minhyuk. I don’t want to be too harsh because idk if one of the guys produced and arranged this album, but the way it was produced Shownu and Min’s voices seemed to be blended together to make an ambiguous sounding vocal.
It just feels rushed like Starship just threw something together to make some money. Meanwhile most fans kiss Starship’s feet and fall over themselves praising mediocrity. *Starship’s mediocrity NOT the guys!*
Also leading up to this I’ve felt really disrespected as an international Monbebe. International Monbebes are the biggest part of the fandom yet Starship treats us like second class citizens. Every video uploaded to the YouTube channel does not have English subtitles on release or even release day. All the promotional content and merch is directed to domestic fans. Is my dollar just not as valuable as the domestic won? Also the weird and uncomfortable Monmukgo series, entirely based on making the guys spend their own money to do activities and creating awkward and uncomfortable situations for them to endure.
Besides Monmukgo and a couple appearances on others’ YouTube channel, Starship has wipes its hands of Monsta X. They refuse to spend any money on the guys and are too focused on debuting 2 more groups. Starship treats Monsta X like irrelevant old men, ever since they enlisted. And when the guys were released Starship barely went through the motions of caring for them.
I love these guys and I know what they’re capable of. I’m tired of “yes man” fans and lazy management taking advantage of the guys.
