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| Especially of this.... |
Even G-Dragon’s comeback barely sustained me. Oh, I’m not saying my ultimate bias has changed or anything. It’s just that his solo albums were good. Good you know, but not life changing. I bought them all and enjoy the songs immensely, but… and I shouldn’t admit this, but when you have to go and find translations on lyrics and then study them to find the true meaning of a song concept, only to see it’s just you know… pseudo-intellectual and all that stuff, that doesn’t really excite me.
I can be a bit shallow, namsayin’? Which is why my favorite song and MV of the recent while has seriously been BIGSTAR’s “Run Run” from back in August.
 |
| Over that way!!! |
What I Love in K-Pop
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| These guys! |
In true Teen Top fashion “Rocking” has an accompanying MV, a Dance Version, and a Dance Practice Version. My actual favorite however, happens to be this Real Cam shot. Something about its tone and the way the camera moves in real time really highlights their stunning choreography and execution.
Why K-Pop Makes me Pause…
BTOB. What happened guys? I was still testing out my Melody instincts from the Second Confession days. I enjoyed my fangirling. I got excited for the comeback. And then “Thriller” happened. Did you just get the bottom of the Beast barrel, left over the “Shadow” set? What’s up with the dramatic concept change? And the abs? What happened to the cute boys? For that matter, what happened to the quirky boys before that? And the serious emo boys before that? |
| I could seriously do without this whole monster concept thing.. |
If anyone, I am disappointed with the constant direction change. I liked the song because you know, I’m a fan. But when a group comes back and you have to stare at it for a few seconds before wondering what group you’re watching, it makes me pause and say… waeyo? What was wrong with them before? There’s not even a progression you can follow here. It just jumps mid-trek and I dislike it. I’m crossing my fingers that they find a niche of their own and just keep working on making good music. They’re all talented (well, most of them are).
What I Hate in K-Pop
Now on to the serious stuff. The part of K-pop that makes me cringe and moan and wonder why the hell I bother to care. I’m talking about fandoms and fandom freakouts and scandals and more scandals and netizens and why I want to burn the net down. |
| What did this precious boy ever do (or not do) to you anyways?? |
Did anyone who follows Kpop manage to skip the whole L dating business? Or Sulli and Choiza? Sulli-bashing in general? Or how EXO sasaengs are the scum of the earth? If you did, congrats. You’ve got more sense than me, because no matter how certain I am that reading “news” worthy articles about celebrities and/or their crazy fans will piss me off, I still can’t shut my eyes and keep from clicking on comments. There are certain things that make me sick to my stomach. Like killing puppies, and dumping unwanted babies in garbage bins, and the knowledge that pre-pubescent fangirls who live vicariously and anonymously on the interwebs are some of the stupidest ‘beings’ on the planet – and knowing this, there’s still nothing you can do about it.
What gets me most is that for me, Kpop is a fun experience. It gives me great joy in life to
A. Listen to exhilarating music that keeps me happy and entertained,
B. Follow my favorite young celebs as they enjoy their career paths,
C. Learn about and slightly partake in a foreign culture, and
D. Write about it, and discuss it with many of the other like-minded people I’ve met online.
I dislike being bombarded with a cross-cultural/generational/logical crap day in and day out. I makes me miss the days when all I cared about in music was you know… the music itself. Kpop has ruined me. The moment you start to care about personalities, the shit gets personal. Even when it’s about idols you don’t have a bias for. It makes you worry about how upset you’ll get the day your bias gets bashed on. Stuff of nightmares…
Why Not All is Lost in K-Pop
Because Block B is finally back. A true comeback. You know, when you think they might never be back, but then they really come back. I won’t get into how beautiful “Be the Light” is because I’m saving all my Block B feels for a special post later this week. :) So here, just enjoy the light. Be. The light.
A Touch of KPop is back! Heee, love this section so much. Aw, you're right - nothing fun this month and even if GD is everywhere, I'm with you on the pseudo-intellectual and frankly, as much as I like him and love BIGBANG (not the different L-words, ha) I'm feeling increasingly annoyed at commentaries on him like he's God. Or in KPop terms, "My oppa can do no wrong!" That whatever he puts out will all-kill (yeah, but everything all-kills these days...) but more than that - that everything he puts out is A+ material. People! He doesn't get it right ALL the time, yunno what I mean? There's nothing wrong with pointing this out - it only means there's more rooms for improvement!
ReplyDeleteOkay end rant... I immediately thought of you when I read about Block B's comeback. I've no clue who they are but I know you lurrrve them so I'm happy for ya ;)
Speaking of all the L=words, yup "luurve" describes me for Block B hehe
DeleteIf there's one thing I've learned from observing the Korean music scene, it's that music isn't really judged on its own merits - once a person or group is big enough or famous enough (which sure, merit and/or just crazy luck and talent also brings) that's what'll end up being a hit. The name and the brand is sometimes more important than the work itself. Kind of sad, but that's just reality.
I think GD is getting too big for himself. He's talented, he knows he's talented, and he knows the world knows he's talented. I swear, he keeps singing about how awesome he is. That's what half of his songs are about. He does have some nice lyrics mixed in there, of course, but when he came out with "swag check" again in Coup Detat, I just gave up on him. That said, I still really liked his album, lol.
ReplyDeleteYay for Block B! I have Be The Light set as my alarm in the morning, I love it and have no problem listening to it over and over again. It was so not what I was expecting, as well. Props to them.
As to the crazy fans... i try not to read the full articles because I just get so sick of the world when I read them. It just makes me irrationally angry, both at the fans and also at the entertainment companies for doing NOTHING to protect their singers. They need to start fighting back against the crazies, otherwise these things will keep happening. They're worried that if they start arresting or suing or whatever, it will look bad for their company. Screw that, SM. Your idols are genuinely traumatised, and you're doing nothing about it. Bah!
It's so easy to end up ranting when you had no intention of ranting, lol. The problem is, there are more bad things about the k-pop industry than there are good things, so it makes it really hard to stick with it. Luckily (unluckily?), the few good things somehow make up for the many bad things.
I love GD and I love his swag, but I wouldn't mind if he put it to rest for a little while. :) Overuse you know. Kind of kills it.
DeleteI agree on what companies ought to to - I think most of the international community agrees. I just wish they'd listen to us haha.
I don't mind the rant! I technically wrote this all to rant too hehe.