Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
I’m still not sure if I’m covering the entirety of Street Woman Fighter 2, barring some huge format changes. I did all of the first season and considering what else is happening in the world of trash TV, I might just go over the noteworthy bits in my spare time. But based on the lineup, there’s a lot of promise for a top season, at least much better than the non-Woman entries in the genre.
SWF2 features eight brand new teams battling for the championship, but if you know anything about this series, just getting on the show will be a huge boost to these dancers’ careers. Top stars in the field like Monica, Noze, Honey J, and AIKI doubled and sometimes tripled their earning value after the first season blew up. And while there’s no HolyBang or Prowdmon participating this time, if you’ve watched even just a handful of choreography videos in your life, some of these names will be instantly familiar.
——
1MILLION is a pioneering dance studio in Korea, perhaps the most famous to the general public due to their YouTube videos and their associations with high profile stars. They’re led by Lia Kim, a veteran choreographer and dance teacher, who has credits like Sunmi‘s “24 Hours” and MAMAMOO‘s “HIP” on her resume. Park Hyerim/Harimu, the leader of AMAZON from Street Dance Girls Fighter, is also on this team.
DEEP N DAP is a team led by former 1MILLION star Mina Myoung, who left the studio in 2019. Myoung has quite a few credits to her name as well, like “All I Wanna Do” from Jay Park, and Red Velvet‘s “Psycho“. There are rumors abound about 1MILLION’s former instructors having beef with Lia Kim and other 1MILLION management, so there’s bound to be some drama to be unearthed on the show when they’re all put in the same room again.
JAM REPUBLIC is an international dance crew led by dance superstar Royal Family‘s Kirsten Dodgen. She’s worked with the top-of-the-top: J-Lo, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and many more.
BEBE is captained by Bada Lee, the beloved SM Entertainment choreographer who has defined the modern era of SM dance. She’s done a ton of of work for NCT and Aespa, as well as training EXO‘s KAI.
MANNEQUEEN is made up of some veteran players, and boasts waacking legend Waackxxxy, who was a guest on both Street Woman Fighter and Street Man Fighter. Also on the team is YGX affiliated REDLIC, who was performance director for aespa and also has a long history with multiple K-pop teams. YOONJI and Funky_Y also appeared on SMF and are famous in Korea’s waacking scene.
TSUBAKILL hails from Japan and is led by Akanen, a star choreographer and backup dancer who has worked for the likes of BoA, Daichi Miura, and SMAP, as well as produced choreography for E-Girls and Happiness, as well as Boyfriend and f(x)‘s Luna.
Wolf’Lo and LADYBOUNCE don’t have any prominent members on their teams, but do have a lasting legacy in Korean street dance and battle, flexing a multitude of styles and perhaps a chip on their shoulders. LADYBOUNCE is the longest running female dance crew in Korea, with over 15 years experience as a unit.
——
The show premiers on August 22nd, with Kang Daniel returning as the host. MONSTA X‘s Shownu is confirmed as a judge, but we’re still waiting to hear about the rest of the hosts.
Time will tell if there’s going to be shake ups with the format, but I’ll at least watch to see the resolution of the Lim Kim/Mina Myoung beef.
