I’m an American multistan that grew up watching Max on Rags and How To Rock. I was never fully into him to explore more of his music that I haven’t heard because of other people. But I will say, I always thought he seemed genuine about his passions. So I will say it’s too early for me to call him an opportunist. But it’s too late for me to call him a genuine artist now.
Someone else who remembers HTR! I loved MAX and saw him talented he was for a long time and just seems very passionate. I really hope he is genuine about his working relationships with Kpop artists because I want to them all to succeed!
same! i knew of max before but from his songs like gibberish or lights down low back in 2016. i recently rediscovered him from this collaboration with yunjin and it took me some time to relealize that their the same max lol. i do believe that now he's using kpop's popularity to his advantage but this isn't the first time i've seen this happen. but i hope that his at least respectful to the ppl he collaborates with as its the bare minimum.
I also know him from back then and I kinda feel like he was promised more fame, but no one really caught on to him so he was unfortunately dropped by whoever managed him 🤷🏼♀️ he saw a chance with kpop collaborations and did it and let’s be real, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s the industry. They aren’t friends doing music together, they are colleagues 🤷🏼♀️ and in the end he’s American. He most likely has the mindset that he’s better than people from other countries, which is sad, but if you grew up that way, it’s hard to blame you for. So him acting like he needed jump on the kpop train might as well was just a play to avoid being seen weak. Like "I’ve seen the trend and I need to hop onto it before it’s too late" instead of "I needed to try that route, because the American music market didn’t really care about me anymore"
@@xxheart_breakerxx8732 but that’s the thing, he has formed a friendship with those who he collaborated with at least that’s what the idols believe hence why this discussion is happening. I do believe he was promised more fame also but I do believe that some of it came not knowing how to market him. I disagree with the American mindset generalization. Yes, there are Americans who believe they are better than other countries. But it’s not just an American mindset, it’s a human mindset. A narcissistic one but a universal one. I also don’t think the reason he hopped on the K-pop trend bc of his reception here because even though he’s not mainstream or didn’t see the same success like Miley, Demi, Selena, or Ariana. He’s still doing fine here in America, he has a solid fanbase from what I’ve seen, he has songs that charted. He went to K-pop because he wanted to make more money and get more clot. He’s doesn’t necessarily need anymore, he wants more so when he does songs with K-pop artists his intentions are questionable because it’s obvious he’s doing it for money and clot but we don’t know how transparent and genuine he is with the artists he collaborates with
@@serenitygreene5661 all artists do music for money, that's always the intention 😂😂 if you can make music without having to think about the money aspect, that's a huge privilege. And you act like idols are dumb. Oh, they think they made friendship. Maybe they only act like they're friends now for publicity, too? So in that case, they use him About the American one. I never(!) met an American who didn't think they have to educate me on a random topic because they thought they knew better. Never. Didn't matter the age either. Can't say much about the history of his fame, but to me (since I knew him from rags) he kinda went under the radar and really just popped back up once he involved himself with kpop, but that's subjective 🤷♀️
In every part of the collab with yunjin, they misspelled her name, even in the music video they wrote her name wrong. Which makes me question how much he (and he's team) cares about yunjin. We had to correct him several times, even in Spotify they didn't credit yunjin properly. The least he can do is credit her correctly 😭
One of the genuine collabs I saw was Hrvy and Nct Dream. The song is genuinely good even with barely any promo and Hrvy flew all the way to sk to learn choreo and shoot an mv with dream. He even did so well he blended with the group. If the song did well enough I’d like to think we’d get a special mnet stage.
maybe he is an opportunist. but Hybe is an even bigger opportunist than him. Le Sserafim, TXT, bts English releases, and solo releases have countless remixes and features that none even asked for. if there is someone who wants to capitalize a music it is definitely hybe. I remember in one documentary of TXT and Jonas Brothers collab Bang Sihyuk saying, this song might enter the top 30 or even 20 of Billboard Hot 100. so what is the intention behind this wish? not artistry but breaking into the US market. I think there was the same intention behind the TXT & Annita collab. I took TXT as an example don't get me wrong. I just want to make my point with an example. In K-pop collaboration with Western artists is promoting in the US at least in 90% of the cases.
Well it work, I when to check out who is this txt group doing this high profile collabs. I dont think that they add much of the intricisic flavour of the jonas or anitta in their songs. So sounded for me as just marketing. As is Max with yunjin as just vocalist, but I dont know much about yunjin personal flare outside the gruop.
exactly my thoughts, in this industry everyone’s an opportunist its all about who play that game well and in this whole context of max, yoongi and yunjin collabs i feel like its a mutual agreement to capitalize in their respective industries or they’re just releasing a song together so go stream
it’s not, but at least if you’re going to do so, don’t: a) make it so blatantly obvious and b) present it to an audience full of people with parasocial connections to their faves who will dissect the validity of the collaboration
It is definitely a business, and approaching music collabs as opportunities is certainly not wrong! I mentioned this twice in the video. (4:40 and 10:38) My point is that with these collaborations has to come mutual respect - western artists, at the very least, knowing the names of the kpop artists they work with.
@@coralskpopcorneras if these kpop idols respect the westerners their music is HEAVILY inspired from how many times have we seen or heard kpop idols disrespecting or being racist to black Americans when kpop is inspired by black American rap r&b etc fashion slang etc kpop hasn’t been original Since it’s creation like let’s be Fr you can’t ask for respect but don’t give any now you have kpop idols hopping onto the Afro beats and amapiano trend smh
@@amorelockster1023 then they also need to respect the origins and apologize and show effective change for their racist actions, it’s a two way street, not asking for just for everyone to respect only the idols. people should also respect and acknowledge the roots of where their music comes from as then that creates erasure of valuable history. i was never asking for only respect for only the k-pop idols and I never will, if they are racist, they are racist. and you are right, there does need to be more acknowledgment of the formation of the Korean idol industry and the very obvious western and black influence in k-pop. I understand your point and concerns, however I was not hinting at that.
THE WAY I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS!!! Well it seems like he might want to just gain more access to kpop using his friendship with kpop idols and you know get into the “trend” or the new thing that’s what it feels like,the way he words it
the questionability of whether or not these collabs are even beneficial to the idols to begin with in part is a big reason why people are so easily able to make opportunist allegations. these collabs with smaller western artists is kpop companies trying to build up the repertoire “needed” to show idols validity in making music that parallels what mainstream audiences consume. but all that does is pose so many questions and criticisms as to why a music industry that has gained a global stage still has to prove itself worthy of bare minimum respect and opportunities
This is so thoughtfully put and insightful. I do think that although the kpop industry shouldn't have to prove itself as viable contenders with western pop through collaborations, that and english releases seem to be the only thing American radio respects (and will actually play). And these kpop companies want to break into American radio and the American music industry *badly*
The way that dance challenge has been on my page every second short no matter what Also some of these Western collabs with kpop are kind of random, like jlo and gidle most recently
I really don’t see any problem, he’s a nice guy, he makes good music and featuring popular Korean artists is a way to gain more popularity rn. He’s doing a business venture and making friends along the way. Not everything needs to be looked at through a critical lens. The twitter posts were… ok?? Not that shocking or even bad, the worst ones being over 10 yrs ago. If you have the grace to forgive idols for their past racism and ignorance, you sure can muster up that grace for max, cause his was very lukewarm
And with the whole social media thing: I keep asking recently where are the social media managers or the media training with artists recently as a whole? I know its good that artists all have their personal accounts where they can post whatever they want but on a business side there should be a basic level of pr awareness
You always tackle subjects with such grace, and try to look at different angles. Which is really nice! When D2 dropped I immediately loved burn it, and I still do! But honestly my view of Max has increasingly soured the more I hear about him (it was definitely more his old social media posts honestly). But the opportunistic aspect reminds me of when BTS was really starting to blow up in the US. Different people would bring up their name because they knew it would get a buzz. One form of people taking advantage of the fans dedication to their favorite groups is reaction RU-vidrs, it is VERY easy to tell who is genuine and who is not.
Based on the evidence presented on this video, i believe that Max is *somewhat* genuine with the idols that he works, but mixing too much of his personal and using to capitalize his music is kinda too much....also the posts.....yikes. If y'all don't like Max as an artist or his ways, the solution it's simple: don't stream the music. Now, Hybe: we need talk, if you're going to let your artists collab with Western artists and are so desperate for Western validation (which we know is true), why are you letting your groups be used as mere tools (and also letting them collab with C-Listers and oportunists), yes TXT management team, i'm talking to you.
and now chaewon is doing a collab with tori kelly. i love tori she's such a good vocalist, but you really can't deny that hybe is getting all the western collabs they can. the sentence u wrote abt western validation is so true im afraid 😭.
I honestly don't understand the premise of this video at all. I didn't even know this was a thing. I thought Max's involvement with korean artists was just a meme. As you said his posts on social media while sketch are a separate issue, and the mispronunciations of names is not ok (however, as a westerner who worked in China for 7 years, I often found Chinese names difficult to get right, even with people I was close with. Its a different phonetical system and when you're not used to using different sounds that your language doesn't utilise, it's a legitimate difficulty to some people). I often found kpop featuring western artists as exploitive in general (think Sia, Nicki, cardi b, etc) . They were there for the feature and the name but didn't really make an effort to get to know anything about the group or artist and certainly wouldn't trouble themselves to actually get on a plane to visit in person, or learn their lyrics or know any of their songs, or seek to understand why it's popular in the first place. Max to me just seems like a genuine fan of the music and the genre. If anything he just seems a little over zealous about it-like any one of us would be if we as fans were also artists ourselves. To me he comes across as a fan boy. Its cringy but aren't we all. I just feel like we wouldn't be questioning anyone else's validity if this a western artist simping over another western artist. But because its kpop, everyone is so quick to jump into protect mode. Which isn't that infantilisation? I don't know, I feel like this damned if you do, damned if you dont kind of thing. What exactly is it we want to see from western artist collaborations? How much is too much? What is not enough? This in my opinion is a complete non-issue.
It sounds like Max is just using his friendship with Suga to gain access to the K-pop music industry it seems Max doesn’t care to actually learn anything about the Korean culture
Personally I find this nothing wrong he is a opportunist what’s wrong with connecting with kpop artist and expanding his popularity in korea? Just because he do this doesn’t mean he is a bad person? Kpop stars also make tiktoks and meet/ collab with western artist (that’s how I knew about TXT since I been a long time fan of Anitta and she had a collab with TXT and make some tiktoks) that was before I became a MOA now I am a MOA, a Army and Dive
plss bc kpop idols are doing the same with the western industry but thats not a problem to you guys is it? kpop idols have been doing this since the dawn of time so why is it a problem if max does it? 😭
I haven’t watched the video yet(but will), but I grew up being aware of Max and I can tell you that he has been always a sort of opportunist when it comes to music. He was big on that one song cover music youtube channels back in the day. I’ve seen him on tour opening with Fallout Boy and Hoodie Allen. I’ve seen him do collabs with other people too. I think he’s the type of person to throw everything at the wall and continue to do what sticks and so far it’s the kpop stuff that has really gotten his name out there all things considered. I never really liked him just due to the lack of identity of his music because of him jumping around all the time. You can’t deny his talent but there has always just been something a little off about him. That’s just my opinion.
I can definitely see your point. I’ve been familiar with him since his Nickelodeon show. And while I’ve known who he is for that long, I’m not certain he was very massively popular except for short bursts. I could be wrong because I didn’t closely follow his music. But I wonder much of that throw shit to the wall to see what sticks was him trying to survive in music? Again, I’m not saying he’s not an opportunist. After watching the video and reading the comments, im not too sure honestly. And you could be right that he was acting as an opportunist there. But I also think it’s possible he like many artists just wanted something of his out there and wanted to survive and do well. Like we all do in our jobs, especially with creative ones
So you don't like artists unless they 'stick in their lane' and don't develop, try new things. mmmmm never heard of the term Artist Development of expanding your skill set. Artist who continue to do just one thing soon becoming boring and lose a fan base. A fan base are what buy concert tickets, buy and stream an artist music. Are you trying to deny him his right to branch out, try new things, explore, grow? Please don't box artist's in it's not right.
i think the problem with max is he doesn't have his own identity and keeps collabing with other people instead of growing his music individually to have a solid fan base. At first i didn't even know who was max untill his collab with yunjin came out.
@@eileencritchley4630yes he should collab with other artists whenever he likes to but just relying on collabs and other people for ur growth is just being lazy af.
i didn't realize stans were so critical of Max, like you mentioned he's definitely not the worst offender. he has at least tried to make an effort into learning more about the artists he works with as opposed to some people that just record a track and send it through their label (collabs are far easier to achieve than people might realize) but yeah capitalizing on a kpop fandom is always a factor to consider. otherwise, personally i don't take mispronunciations that seriously because I'd give korean artists a pass for mispronouncing western names even if they did collab. each language has their pronunciation tendencies different people are used to, nothing wrong with defaulting to what you grew up with. i feel like instead of boycotting his music just correcting him should be sufficient, no? -update i wasn't reading the tweets that came up and was just listening I totally understand why someone would want to boycott his music now lol
Honestly what bothers me so much is that the majority of kpop fans who don’t like him don’t like him because hes around their idols… not because hes racist? And like… HEAVY on racist lol. Like we KNOW a lot of kpop fans hate black and brown people, that is WELL known, but to see them tolerate it against East Asians too (the very same people they idolize) is even more insane because I just can’t fathom how its so tolerated and disregarded.
@@brennathecatlover4360 and as someone “bitching” (which by the way criticizing a PREJUDICE isn’t bitching, it’s a deep issue that should be handled with care), I’ve never stanned BP or BTS, so what’s your point? If you wanna out YOURSELF as someone who openly disregards racism as a topic, that’s fine, but don’t include the rest of us in your mess, yeah? Thanks.
@@Saladfork1929 no I’m just saying I’m sure the people that bash him like kpop groups that have done similar stuff. It’s no secret kpop fans will drag a western artist for doing something but their kpop fav does it and it’s crickets
ikr, they try to act like all Kpop stars are immune and can be prejudiced to anyone that doesn't look like them, and even when they do get called out. They don't get cancelled or the consequences are never severe as Western artists/anyone who doesn't meet the status quo
My whole thing is is that I feel like K-pop fans a lot of the times really want to defend their artist and protect them especially army. They will always try to find anything about a person either if they’re interviewing BTS getting to know BTS they always try to investigate that person And because of Max history on the Internet, they see him as a bad person, and he is not worthy to be friends with Yoongi and because of that now they dislike him. On top of that him promoting the song that’s what every artist does even K-pop artist so when we see K-pop artists do collaboration challenges with other artists, are we gonna call them opportunist as well? because I love seeing the challenges with other artists because I’m seeing two groups that I like interacting with each other. Max is doing the exact same thing, so why is it a problem for him to do it when other idols are doing it? him not knowing the culture he’s attempt to learn the culture and he’s learned Korean. He’s learned yoongi rap for the song they have together. So he’s attempting to learn and I seen someone else in the comment section and said the same thing your idols don’t even attempt to learn to call other peoples culture or another language and you guys don’t say anything, but because Max is not attempting to go fully deep into another culture. You guys have a problem with it. I also feel like a lot of people don’t like him just because he’s popping up on their for you page and they’re seeing a lot of him and what I’ve noticed a lot on social media is that people would hate you for literally no reason because social media has changed, you can do anything and someone is not gonna like you. I literally seen a comment saying they don’t like him because they keep seeing him and he’s dancing. and they don’t like his smile. That is the reason they gave on why they don’t like them and that is not a good enough reason so him getting hate from K-pop fans I feel like it makes sense because anybody that gets close to any K-pop idol they immediately get hate because K-pop fans do not like that someone else has access to their favorite person. The K-pop fan industry has changed so much over the years that some people don’t even like other idols interacting with each other because they feel that the other idol is getting to interact with their favorite person. Some fans don’t even like group members interacting with each other so it does not surprise me that K-pop fans don’t like Max.
Exactly! Anyone who has any interaction with idols, especially BTS, the fans think they need to do a full background check on from birth until now. I've been a kpop fan since 2009. It used to be fun. Fans could listen to a song and just enjoy it. Now, fans think they have to dissect EVERYTHING about it and if any part of it doesn't fit exactly what they want, they have to throw it away and send hate. They assume that everyone that isn't their favs are just out to use idols and the fans. How quickly ARMY forgot AHL where Bighit dropped BTS in L.A. and used Warren G and Coolio to give BTS "credibility" in the hip hop world. Especially when Bighit was a tiny, no-name company at the time, and BTS were just 7 random kids from Korea. It wasn't like Warren G or Coolio were benefitting from that interaction. But BTS getting a better understanding of the birth of hip hop and making connections with hip hop legends absolutely DID benefit them and Bighit. And let's be real. BTS came into that environment not understanding the culture. And they absolutely said and did things that were offensive and that they regret and wish they could take back. No one is going to be perfect 100% of the time. Now, all these years later, BTS aren't naive anymore and they have enough pull in the kpop industry to be able to make their own decisions. If they want to collab with someone, they should be able to do that whether the fans like that person or not. No one is forcing you to support if you don't want to. I've been ARMY since 2014. Have i loved every single song they've put out over the years? No. Do i think every musician they've ever worked with had "pure" intentions when working with them? Nope. Do i think BTS know which musicians are only in it for the "clout?" Yep. People forget. BTS are the ones actually WORKING with these people. Not just seeing social media posts. They're actually meeting these people and have real life contact with them. Unless BTS themselves come out and say they regret working with someone or they feel uncomfortable, etc I'm going to assume they are aware of people's intentions and they want to work with them anyways. ARMY (and kpop fans in general) need to come down off their high horse and stop making everything so serious. Listen to a song and either enjoy it or turn it off. If you don't like a musician, don't support them. Don't listen to the collabs with them. Don't interact with them on social media. No one is forcing you to be here.
@@krisaissosmart No we don't we are happy for BTS member to work with whoever they are comfortable with what we don't like are those who then insult BTS like a certain American who won't mention who downright snubbed BTS and took him years to even apologise eg only just did it while they're doing their service. We'll now have to wait and see just how real that apology is.
@eileencritchley4630 You say that ARMY want BTS to have the freedom to work with whomever they want. But the second they do, half the fandom feel the need to do a full background check on that person and bring up everything that person has ever said/ done in their entire life that might offend someone and throw a massive temper tantrum and try to get that person canceled. You are literally SABOTAGING BTS' ability to do collabs because they're already getting a reputation for having a toxic fandom. Was it Wale that backed out of a second collab because the fandom trashed him and said he was just clout chasing? I can't remember if it was him or someone else. It sucks for BTS that half the fandom has taken it upon themselves to actively RUIN the reputation BTS has worked so hard to get as actual serious musicians. They're grown men. They do not need random strangers on the internet to baby them and act like they are incapable of standing up for themselves. If they want an apology for something, they're more than equipped to handle that without you stepping in. Stop infantilizing them. You're not their mommy and they don't need you to hold their hand and confront the bullies for them.
@@krisaissosmart I doubt those that do that are even BTS fans more likely the pretend one's that are only following to create issues. There are a number of those group on Twitter that are very well organised they pretend to be ARMY but are you are in fact part of the anti's who are only out to course trouble. It's really is disgusting behaviour. To even go to all that trouble when they could be actively supporting the groups they are really fans of instead of wasting their time pretending they are ARMY and attack BTS and ARMY from the inside. Talk about spies in the camp but unfortuantly it's what Kpoppies do. The only real person ARMY are not happy with is Jason Derulo (sp) because of the way he treated BTS. He finally apologised after they all started their military service in fact he did it in France while on tour just a over a week ago.
I really think that the word ‘hatred’ is being thrown around way too loosely. I doubt anyone truly HATES Max, it’s more like an uneasy feeling or dislike.
Let me ask this One of the bts guys did a song with erykah badu Listening to the song, Do you really think they ever met? Or even had a conversation? Like most instances in music, His people asked her people for a sample, She laid down the track and gave it to them. There you have it
@@p0rnany0ne i agree with you, but there is a difference between faking knowing a lot abt kpop and just drop the sample and go. they didn’t make a lot when she dropped the sample, max made 23718 versions of blueberry eyes and talked abt yoongi 24/7
Tbh, most artists want to make it out there, they want to be known. Why do fans seem pressed on Max making collabs with K-pop artists when K-pop group themselves have been doing collabs with western artists too? Double standard I see. (I’m a k-pop multi-stan, so l’m not biased to any side) I am merely confused. BP did a collab with Selena & Lady Gaga, Jungkook & BTS did a collab with Latto and many other artists. But why aren’t their fans asking if they’re ‘genuine’ for said collabs? Max does the same thing and albeit he might seem ‘annoying’, he’s just doing promotions. He’s promoting his music. There’s no harm in it. Let’s not be toxic now.
you might think I am overdramatic, maybe I really am. But most of the time western artists x K-pop groups(soloists) collaborations for albums or over singles do not seem genuine to me. It always seems like either Korean or Western artists are trying to break into another music market. Only some minor cases might be an exception. Collaborations for OST or some other type of music projects are not counted since the intention behind this collab is mainly promo. In some cases, both collaborating artists act like they know each other, they like each other's music and personality meanwhile they can't even communicate with each other freely without the help of a third person. It all seems so fake to me.
I mean you do realize that they might actually like their music and their personality though, even though they don’t speak the same language. Western kpop fans literally do the same. They like their idols music and personality even though they don’t understand korean. Language is not everything you need to feel fond of a person or feel close to them. Especially when something as personal as art/music is involved. Many kpop idols had western artists as their own inspiration, so why would they not feel a personal connection to them and their art just because they don’t speak the same language? That seems like a very narrow minded view of the world and human connections. Nobody knows whats real or fake in the entertainment industry, but to say western and korean artists probably don’t genuinely like each other or their music and enjoy working together because they “can’t communicate without a third person” (which in many cases is not even true, a lot of idols can understand english) is just weird to me.
There is a consensus that Max is an opportunist as if your favs are not willing to take advantage of Western/Black culture every second. At the same time, showing disrespect to the people who created the culture for profit and validation. Babes, Western validations, are essentially the only thing that most of your favorite groups and companies care about. A perfect example of this was a group that completely flopped, the was created off the very notion of "Western validation" & "being an opportunist" Super M. Who's entire purpose to exist was to have the opportunity to break into Western media only so they can get on the charts easily. As I previously stated, charts and Western validation are the primary concerns of most K-pop companies. Even as an Army, I have seen that BTS also cares about these things. Yoongi's initial reaction to Jungkook's 'Seven' was to assume that he would go #1. Jungkook's solo career was solely intended to give him the chance to break into the West and become a prominent pop boy, which he successfully achieved. Like, don't get me wrong, IDC because that's their choice, and I'm happy with any opportunity they get. And it is not like they've lost their touch or stopped making authentic music, but it's obvious (and I'm sure BTS would tell you themselves) that they care about charts and somewhat Western validation. And this is not hateful for all the sensitive K-pop stans who lack critical thinking. Rather than relying on logic, react solely based on emotions and biases.
"There is a consensus that Max is an opportunist as if your favs are not willing to take advantage of Western/Black culture every second" TALK THIS TALK and preach! I do NOT care about this brads music (tho his good looking) and some of the shit he said in the video was pandering, and i do NOT care that he is finessing the kpop industry. They do the sameeee
wtf does "take advantage of western/black culture" even mean???? western and black are 2 completely different things, also give examples??? cause literally what are you even talking about? making hiphop and wearing braids is taking advantage now?
I'm coming at this pretty much from the outside. I became aware of him when I saw that DIVE Studios published an interview with him, but didn't watch it (bc why spend an hour watching an interview with a rando). At the beginning of this video, I automatically interpreted his comments about wanting to get in with BTS earlier is that The Chainsmokers are more famous than him, so maybe MAX wouldn't have enough clout to get a chance to work with them, not that he had to be the "first." The whole "yoon-gee" of it all just comes off as someone trying to pretend he's so close with Suga that he calls him Yoongi, when he clearly doesn't. Even people calling BTS members by their government names when they aren't used for stage names is a pet peeve of mine. Like, who are you trying to impress? The past social media posts are bad. There's not much to add except the fact that he hasn't spoken on them when they've been brought up. The real meaty topic is, what is "opportunism" in a late capitalist world when this is your job? Idols are now expected to ask other idols to do dance challenges with when they may not even know each other just to add hype. Is MAX not doing the same thing? Where do we, as fans/consumers, draw the line at what we deem acceptable in promotions?
I didn’t think of it that way! I suppose he could have meant “getting in on kpop” in that way, but I don’t know if I would entirely believe it, considering the reason why he was speaking about kpop in the first place was because Jungkook had already promoted his song? I agree that Max shouldn’t be at fault for participating in the business side of the pop music industry, as that is a larrrrge component to what kpop is. My only problem with opportunistic ventures into kpop is when the artists aren’t respected in the collaboration, such as the mispronunciation of Yoongi’s name, or recently Yunjin’s name being misspelled in the credit sections of the MV. I’m sure Max didn’t oversee the making of the credit sections, but I think that’s why we also need to take our concerns to the record labels behind the artists
As a Fearnot and not an Army, I knew nothing about Max before Stupid With Love. My read on him is that he tries really hard to do promotion, but I didn't mind because it's mutual. Yunjin is getting exposure in America too. However I didn't really like Stupid With Love as a song so I didn't really stream it beyond an initial listen. And yeah, if people are uncomfortable with Max they should just not listen to his stuff. There's no need to attack Max to defend one's faves though, because Kpop idols aren't helpless and toxicity is bad.
i knew of max before but from his songs like gibberish or lights down low back in 2016. i recently rediscovered him from this collaboration with yunjin and it took me some time to relealize that their the same max lol. i do believe that now he's using kpop's popularity to his advantage but this isn't the first time i've seen this happen. at the end of yhe day this whole music industry is like a business of sorts. but i hope that his respectful to the ppl he collaborates with as its the bare minimum.
As what is now probably an elder emo (terrifying statement), I remember when Max was signed to Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy’s label. This method of making music and promotion was exactly how Decaydance/DCD2 is run. Fall Out Boy had very personal relationships to most of the artists they signed (Panic at the Disco, Cobra Starship, and Gym Class Heroes for specific examples) and it’s a very normal way to do music business in that scene. I would say that Fall Out Boy had some kind of closer relationship to him at one point, but I haven’t kept up with that all that closely in a while. That was Max’s first label after being a Nickelodeon star, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his experience at DCD2 has carried over to his current label and collaborations. I think it feels really strange in kpop because that’s not as common to publicly see. Whether or not it’s “good” or “bad” for kpop or Max, I think time will tell
I don't think he's trying to be racist, I just think he's ignorant... but like also, his actions around kpop idols is not something I have an issue with. I think if kpop idols had an issue with him, they wouldn't have anything to do with him... as a kpop fan, I really don't have big issues with him... his ignorance isn't okay, but like I think he's trying to be better
They wanna act like they know these people their favs collab with more than their favs lmao. And when kpop artists collab with western idols no one complains kpop is trying to get through western validation but that the western artist is trying to get kpop validation when kpop isn’t even close to being mainstream Bts still isn’t mainstream
Honestly I wasn’t really interested in the collab/any of his music so I had no idea this was going on. It kills me seeing the soulless promotions and just lack of respect for other artists involved. Being opportunistic is one thing, but being rude and unmannered while doing so is another thing.
I feel like max does respect kpop but his personality is a little cringe. And from a business stand point he's milking the most out of his collabs. Edit: wow...wasn't aware of his racist past. Ice been a fan of him since nickelodeon. This is really disappointing
For me. I'm ish with the opportunist, Kpop companies have done it too. It still bothers but it does not anger me at all. However, the post of Asian slurs grosses me out. Because he has these friendships he needs to respect their culture and language. Even just a little bit. It expands your mind and gives you something to help relate to them both.
Max might be a rare neutral example of an artist living through art and business equally.. Business life and personal life can be messy to combine when it comes to relationships, but as far as I know there haven't been any huge issues
I mean its buisness. Ur supposed to take opportunities and sometimes yeaj you have to drag it out. And maxx is talented. He been working in korea. Most artists are opportunists to an extent
The only reason I don't think he's a complete two faced asshole is because Yoongi hasn't dropped him. I'm still sceptical about him. To put it simply, I don't like him. Certain behaviors of his have rubbed me quite wrong. I like when western artists are genuinely nice to BTS. But he sometimes comes off as a kissass (and I could be completely wrong) which doesn't sit right with me.
@@Yooniverse35 I’m just saying it’s stupid when kpop fans try to protect their favs from western artists that their favs know better when these idols chose to collab with them and they don’t need kpop fans protecting them
i dont see all western production/songwriting as an immediate red flag but i do wish he at least got his collaborators' names right and didnt market off of friendships that likely wouldn't have formed without dollar signs being involved first
I think the thing with western celebrities is if they’re genuine fans then I love the collab, I mean pink pantheress and troye Sivan are two artists who are genuine kpop fans and I love that and would love to see them collab with kpop artists but this guy gives me the creeps a bit and I do think the song is terrible
I definitely remember feeling a little weird that stupid in love was the only song he seemed to be promoting from a whole album of songs. he even conditioned the song's early release on getting a certain number of uses of the sound on tiktok. on one hand I get it, making it as a musician is hard. but also MAX seems to already have lots of connections and sizable success in the industry that he shouldn't need to rely on kpop virality and fan loyalty that much. i also think I wouldn't mind if he seemed to have a bit more respect for the artists in question. even with the context from the clips I still find him disingenuous... and personally, I did stop listening to the song. I didn't really like his behavior. i also wasn't super familiar with his music, but with the way he was promoting it with yunjin's feature as the main selling point, i also thought she would've had a more prominent feature on the song or that he was primarily a music producer and her vocals were for the entire song. of course, i now understand it's his song and that's totally ok and completely sensible now that i know more of his artistry, but it did feel a bit confusing to Say the least
Yall do realize collabs in general are for a reason and that is crossover clout and money. Like yes sometimes musicians collab bc they like each other and feel like their taste and sensibilities are similar most of the time it’s bc they want to gain an audience with the other persons fan base/market. Max is benefiting but so did and is yoongi and yunjin.
Honestly i never saw an issue with Max making tik toks with other Hybe artists. I just treat it as every other artists having harmless fun. But his past social media posts.... yeah, i agree that is NOT a good look on him.
A thought I want to add: Max making use (for his own gain possible) of the relationships he has to these idols is not entirely just on him. No one can tell me that these idols are so naive and oblivious to not know the implications of a collaboration. They are obviously aware that when it comes to the business side of things, Max will profit from the exposure but so will they. None of them would agree to do a collab if it was only about their passion of music for them. Especially in kpop, the capitalism of it all is the main point, kpop perpetuates so much consumerism that at this point we should all know how much of it is solely about money. And if anybody seriously thinks that Max is purely taking advantage of their favorite idol, then maybe think about what your idol has to gain from this as well (which is not nothing, otherwise they wouldn't do the collab). That attitude towards Max and painting him as the bad guy is so out of touch (on-brand for kpop stans tho) and some of us really need to get out of our delusions instead of just hating someone for taking a good opportunity because you know you would do the same when it comes to furthering your career and being able to cotinue doing what you love. Let's stop pretending like Max is doing something no one would have ever thought to do and get in touch with reality a bit more again. Now as to him mispronouncing the names (which imo could be much worse, believe me), some of those kpop stans can't even pronounce their favorite idols name properly. So if you want to use that against someone, then do better yourself first or consider that for some people Korean names can be very difficult to say, especially if you don't even speak the language. You can't expect a native English speaker to have immaculate pronounciation in a language that is very different from their own. All this might be a hot take but maybe someone will benefit from looking at all the perspectives in this scenario instead of just pointlessly hating on someone. Because a lot of this doesn't feel like genuine criticism but purely like looking for reasons to be a hater while being incredibly delusional and out of touch. You might not agree with me but that's okay, these are just my thought on this. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk :)
I have no problems with it at the end of the day he's an artist and trying to make money and grow.. Monsta X collabed with French Montana so i guess it works both ways
People who fear “clout chasing” artists collaborating with kpop groups don’t realise that collabs are mutually beneficial. A lot of kpop groups want to push themselves more into the west and use western artists collabs to do this.
this is only a international fan bother, in korea no one really knows him or cares. he's just another American artist and no one really pays attention to him they mostly focus on the idol in his video and I haven't seen or heard any radio play or music play from him in korea 🤣
i never really thought anything of MAX collabing with all these idols until now but... I can see it. Keshi isn't a kpop idol but that's who my mind went to when thinking of these collabs. Suga, JK and keshi- i listened to all three of these collabs and they all felt very lackluster compared to what they normally put out. I was actively excited and waiting for the single but when it came out it just sounded like a MAX song with 0 effort and a few lines from Keshi with NONE of his style. Then I realized the other two were pretty similar in formula. I think the only reason i like him is for rags and his song lights down low- which atp was 8 years ago
Max doesn't have a collab with JK. Yoongi had max as a feature for his song Burn it on the D-2 mixtape released in 2020. And in the later half of 2020 (or was it 2021?? I don't remember for sure right now) yoongi was the one to feature on Max's song blueberry eyes
I don't know, I feel like K-pop, just like the mainstream pop music industry where MAX originates from, is not a place I'd go looking for sincerity, not saying it's impossible to be a genuine pop star/idol that writes and composes their own songs, BUT said scenes value more "larger-than-life" presentations and BIG spectacles with BIG personas, and so, most plans involve budgets where several people invest, which means it needs to make a profit along the line, thus we need more events! more concerts! more remixes, albums, etc, that's business. And that's why I don't make a judgement of any idols' character, like one, I do not know them personally, two, I don't need them to mirror exactly my thoughts and preferences, and three, IT'S THEIR JOB, of course collaborations seem opportunistic, it's for them to get some sweet western ears to listen to them and give their groups a chance, wouldn't you also want to have a big slice of the biggest music industry in the world?
Its business. Whats the easiest way to enter the general public? Collaborate with the artists available and maybe a little bit cheap. Lets not act like that Coldplay cosign didn't enable BTS to have more standing when it came to being acknowledged by the Grammys. Most of the labels in the US are very r*cist, but most of the idol companies are signed to them for distribution. And its very hypocritical for calling max r*cist when just a month ago yall wanted to keep kpop korean. This is why Kpop is still taken as a joke, either stick with the program or don't, there are no friends in that industry. Its business 🤷🏾♀️😂😂😂😂. Either support it or dont. But we all know its not the latter.
I had no idea kpop stans have a problem with him. I've been listening to him for year, even before I started listening to kpop. It's possible to both be genuine while wanting to be successful with his music? Trying to learn Korean is a lot more than the vast majority of western people in collabs do, and obviously it isn't expected. Also from what I've seen about his character, he's a genuine person. All of this hate is unnecessary and is a huge double standard when the kpop industry also does collabs and full english lyrics to be popular in the west, which I also have no problem with. Just saying the double standard is kinda crazy. All in all, idrc what y'all think about max as long as y'all keep it to yourself instead of spreading needless hate when there are more important issues in the music/kpop industry
I think the kpop community needs to grow up. Like native Korean speakers pronounce American names perfectly. Stop it, cuz you don't. And everything else being complained about is so childish.
Y'all don't touch me Max, he's a sweetheart and only knows how to make bops. Also, collaborations in music are also *business* All featurings (not only with kpop idols), are done out of interest too. Because, you're investing money on these featurings. You guys just hate everything that is not Korean approaching K-Pop, you see a problem everywhere, and if you can't find it, you will make it up. You can't stop Koreans from making music with non-koreans. If the western market doesn't take k-pop seriously, it's also the result of our fandom's behavior. No one is gonna take us seriously when we act like spoiled brats who won't let anyone else close to our toys. Because yes, y'all are treating these idols like they are your toys. Sorry for the rant, but i can't deal anymore with y'all having a new problem each day, no matter how much i avoid these bs, it always pops up somehow on my feed.
took him 2 weeks to learn a rap, maybe he should have took some that time to learn how to pronounce yoongis name. racism and zionism doesn’t look good on his half
2:05 just to chime in on what you said right here before I finish the video. This can be said for kpop artist that work with anyone outside of korea too. Ya, I know some K artist are actual fans of western (W) artist too. I understand what you mean and I'm not defending W artist but this is how they act with everyone outside of America. This just a well known fact.. especially, in the music industry. They all use each other. What really needs to be talked about is these sensitive fans that think they can run the lives and business practices of idols and companies. This is something The Companies need to start putting their foot down on. It's ridiculous. (sorry for ranting I just get like this when I see people (not you) directing their anger to the wrong things) ALSO, If they really think(which they don't) if MAX wasn't trustworthy would they have let him in collab or be involved in HYBE in general. Just something these so called fans should think about. Either way its a win win situation for MAX and HYBE.
I can definitely agree with kpop idols not being respected by the West and their artists. I'll be honest, kpop blew up last year so hard in the US. Like Stray Kids and TXT were in the top selling artists in the US and not a Grammy nomination in sight for them. Kinda insane to me. I've seen too many interviews in the US with kpop idols where the interviewers know absolutely NOTHING about the artists they're talking to. (I-Pen anyone??) Collaborating with Western artists should be a fun experience for both parties and the fans. Max could be an opportunist but so is HYBE. They're pimping their idols out to various Western artists in search of mass popularity. But this is the nature of music business. I think as fans, you can either interact and listen to these collaborations or ignore them.
It's hard not to think that your favourite K-Pop artist is being taken advantage of by western artists, main because of their behaviour after the fact or their lack of respect toward them. I have never been comfortable with Max's presence in K-pop, and I absolutely think he is an opportunist. Also, I don't think his relationship with Yoongi is that close, seeing him in Yoongi's documentary D-Day, it did not seem that they were that close, not as close as Yoongi is with Halsey. Also I don't rate him as an artist in his own right, as a songwriter he has been far more successful than a solo artist....which I think at this point is even obvious to him.
The vast majority of KPOP collaborations these days seem so disingenuous to me. I don’t feel like two+ artists are coming together to create something new, there’s zero creative vision, it feels like a cash grab on both sides (say what you want about XG, but their remixes felt solid, their producer even does a shoutout on those songs which can’t be said for 99% of song collaborations nowadays.) I definitely think that MAX is getting something from the KPOP industry during this release and is milking it for all its worth, but the KPOP industry is also notorious for using collaborations to carve out a spot for themselves into the Western market. I’m sure MAX knows the state of the music industry right now and unlike before can’t capitalize on factors like iTunes music charts anymore these days.
LOL when the guy called Yoongi, Yooonji I couldn't help but think about that iconic RUN BTS episode when they make Yoongi the new female student and call him Yoonji 😂
I mean even if ppl call him out for being an opportunist, the boy has to make money from his passion so if the only way that definetely worked until now was by featuring K-pop idols then on his songs then why can’t he ??? HYBE are even bigger opportunist bfr plz and nobody deserves so much hate in the comment sections of their challenge 😭😭
HES NOT AN OPPORTUNIST!. Y’all are just bullying this man because of his neck. Like?. The man is promoting his song as he should. leave him alone and delete this. Omg, the ones who’s an opportunist yall not making a video on. Don’t act like there aren’t other who does worst than how he’s doing, let him enjoy the moment.
I don't care about him being opportunistic in terms of business, but the way I cringe when he mispronounced suga's name in the clip dear god. I feel like it says a lot about a person who doesn't try to at least fix their pronunciation to the name of someone he supposedly thinks of as his friend. It isn't that hard. I'm sure suga might not care, but it speaks to Max's inability to shift himself in line with the culture/fandoms he wants to profit from-he's lacking respect for the person and the Korean language lol.
Kpop and Bts isn’t mainstream in the west let’s be real and kpop companies do the exact same thing it’s a business at the end of the day. And people complaining about him being racist also stan kpop groups that have done the same things
I've kind of ignored him, I didn't listen to his collaborations with Yoongi and Yunjin (even though I stan LESSERAFIM). He does look like an opportunist and sounded weird sometimes (the pronounciation for Yoongi... cmon man you can do better it's only 2 syllables) but that's part of the industry as you said. After seeing this, I still dislike him for his past behaviors, especially the comments on Chinese/Asian people threw me off...
the labels literally overwork the idols constantly and you came to say that we need to boicot some dude trying to promote himself in an oportunistic industy, i think kpop have some other more important things to worry about, like the sexualization of eunchae since so long ago, the labels making their idols do plastic surgery and a large list of really bad reputational things that happens in kpop, the first thing some of my friends says me when i show them karina is "but is all plastic surgery" and i the worst part is that they have a point because she have something done, like winter, like giselle, like the 90% of them.
Saying Yunki wrong, but misspelling is ok 😅. Im not Korean, so I say his name wrong when Im talking, my Southern accent can get the best of me. Petsonally someone will always be butthurt over if someone sneezes too loud.
to be frank it's business so ofc in most cases it can be seen as opportunistic for both sides (bc both want to enter each other's market). It's all for clout and money. Very rarely is a genuine thing However i am not that interested in western pop so i would rather have kpop idols doing more collabs with asian artists (jpop, vpop, cpop, etc) but i think i wouldnt mind them either collaborating with asian artists in the western market like Rina Sawayama.
Another thing: I noticed that some of those artists that lately have been collabing with kpop idols are also doing collabs with jpop idols too like MAX and Saweetie Tho those types of things are not exacly new on jpop. For example, many years ago koda kumi had collabs with Fergie and Omarion. It's a way those western artists could enter in the japanese market. i preferred the jpop way of doing it back then bc they was still singing in japanese mixed with eng while i noticed that lately those kpop and jpop collabs are all in english
This is stupid. You're trying to create a problem where there is none. You're looking way too much into it. Your "evidence" is just 2-3 short interview clips. It's out of context. In my opinion, fans are way too protective of their favorite idols sometimes. Every international collaboration is seen negatively, like America wants to get onto the successful Kpop wave. Have you tried to just enjoy these collaborations for once? Also, there's literally nothing wrong with the examples you showed for his "controversial" online behavior. - When something has cheap quality, you say it's made in China because in 99% of the time it is. It doesn't mean everything that is made in China is bad. It's just a common cliché. - Schneider Monkeys is just his fandom name. - I also prefer people who show class and beauty instead of posting nude selfies. - He's literally just excited about his new neighbors and about becoming a father. As I said before, you're looking way too much into this.
Also, do you know how many reactors on RU-vid can't even pronounce their favorite idols names correctly? It's a whole different language and a whole different set of sounds you're not used to pronouncing every day.
“This is stupid” + “you’re looking way too much into this” is such a poor argument to make How is the interview out of context? I included the entire interview sections where he was talking about the subject of Yoongi/kpop “Every international collaboration is seen negatively” - this is way too gross of a generalization to be even remotely true. I really like a handful of international artist collaborations in kpop. As far as “there’s *literally* nothing wrong with his online behavior,” - I don’t know what to tell you, other than not everyone feels that way. You didn’t explain the last post to the right of the Korean neighbors post, which is arguably the worst and most offensive to people in this discussion. Is there really nothing wrong with that in your eyes? I don’t want to get it misconstrued - those posts shouldn’t be held over Max’s head for the rest of his life. People should be allowed to grow and change, but he’s never addresses or showcased a willingness to move on as of right now. I suspect you’re here and commenting for another reason, and I apologize for whatever that may be, but I really can’t glean any kind of constructive criticism to what you have said here.
@choujimi ["This is stupid" + "you're looking way too much into this" is such a poor argument to make.] Well, but it's the truth. There is no problem with Max. He's a good guy and a great artist. You're trying to paint him in a bad light with your video like he's taking advantage of his friendship with Suga. I think you are looking way too much into this and therefore your video is stupid. 🤷♀️ About the interview; I don't see any problem with his statement. He's just saying that he is a fan of BTS and acknowledges their influence in the music scene by saying he also wants to collaborate with them like the Chainsmokers and Steve Aoki, and he regrets not collaborating with them sooner, implying he might not get a chance to do so in the future with their rising fame and increasing collaboration opportunities with bigger names in the western pop industry because of it. Of course you can see the opposite site of it and say he's trying to take advantage of Kpop's popularity, but that's your interpretation. I don't think it's fair to criticize him for mispronouncing Yoongi's name. Korean names are hard to pronounce for foreigners because it's a different language with a whole different set of sounds or vocal combinations you're not used too. Think about how long it took yourself to learn to properly pronounce Korean names. ["Every international collaboration is seen negatively" - this is way too gross of a generalization to be even remotely true.] Okay, let me rephrase that: Almost every international collaboration is seen negatively because either fans don't want their favorite Kpop artist to become westernized or because the western artist does not compare to the level of talent of the Kpop idol/group (in the fans opinion) or because their image/concepts don't match. The general reaction to a collaboration is usually "(Kpop idol) could've rapped/sang that part way better. - (Western artist)'s part is so bad. - He/she ruined the whole song. - Their voices don't fit together." OR "(Western artist) sings almost the whole song. - Why do (Kpop idol group) only get such a small part? - Did they only invite them to feature because (Kpop idol group) has a big fandom and social media presence?". Of course there exceptions from this and I personally really like a lot of collaborations between Kpop artists and Western artist, but I think the general public doesn't. About his online behavior and that post you mentioned: I don't it's offensive especially when you see the other post next to it. His intentions weren't racist in my opinion. It seems like he's just excited about his Korean neighbors and appreciates their pretty shaped eyes. I can see why people might think otherwise about his comment, BUT it's your choice to feel offended by it 🤷♀️ It's the same with white people who wear dreadlocks, but that's another topic. Again, you're looking too much into it. Also, we don't know what the other Twitter user commented to which Max replied with this comment 🤔 I'm curious. What other reason do you think I have for commenting here? Because I just think you're wrong, you're painting Max in a bad light and overall are just looking too much into it.
well i'm an army and whilst i was already not warm on him for all the horrible shit armys uncovered when blueberry eyes hit and what fearnots & other kpop stans are bringing up now - what solidified his desperation for me was when he did a tiktok with CRUSH when rush hour released despite him having nothing to do with either crush or j-hope previously - just the link of hobi & yoongi both being bts members. it was bizarre. he wasn't even working with txt or anyone else in hybe or p-nation at the time he was just THERE for some reason ?
The core of K-pop fans is because they want to assume that they own the Kpop artists. If Yg is friends with Kpop artists, why do fans think they have a say in it. Don't the kpop artists talk about Western Artists, a zillion times and even cover their songs
Sure yeah this seems like opportunilism by HYBE and Max, mostly HYBE, but to what end bc the Western artits they collab with aren't even going viral on tiktok much less charting on Billboard. No one in the states has ever heard of this guy.
I found the guy to be fine. Stupid in Love was kind of campy and cheesy; I found it inoffensive. I rolled my eyes at him liking BTS, which yeah, of course you’re going to like the biggest kpop group in the world. 😒 That is not inherently a bad thing, but if he mentioned a more unknown group or solo artist, I would believe that he likes the genre. That’s more of a me problem. Honestly, I’m more raising an eyebrow at him when it comes to his relationships with kpop stars. Then again, I’m an outsider in this scenario. I don’t know him personally. He could see them as friends or as tools. Only time will tell.
I dont see any problem....kpop fans want ppl to actually LOVE their faves(?))) Thats weird af. You thinking that kpop idols know everything about the ppl they colab with is just as delulu.
I'm so mad he is the one that write Zb1's tital track hhhhhh I'm so so angry I was so exited Im afraid that it will impact them when I wish the best for them he came from no place wtf 😢😭
Ahhhh, yep, this is why I'm not on social media any more. I just don't understand how people have the emotional energy to get angry over something so asinine.
I also thought Max was Asian for YEARS 😭 gotta love the racist twitter phase seemingly every artist tries to hide from now 😭 I wouldn't say he's an opportunist to a fault, just a normal amount so I kinda don't see much value in that side of the problem.
Bruh I don’t see the problem too. Hopefully he’s not trying to take advantage of K-pop’s hype. His posts were bad but honestly not to point he should be canceled. His intention doesn’t give off as malicious from my perspective. Just my opinion.