shinhwa intro + picspam.
In case you've been at least skimming my LJ in recent times, you'll know I've been majorly into Asian pop. I can easily divide my Asian pop favourites into two categories; the ones that are honestly musically amazing (Tank, Mayday, Epik High) and ones that are lovely but don't blow me away with their music - but I love them a lot anyway (Super Junior, Fahrenheit). Shinhwa seems to fit both categories.
So what is Shinhwa, besides something I'm embarrasingly into?
A South-Korean boyband of 6 members that's been together longer than most marriages - over 9 years, 1998-present. Understandably they're enormously popular both in Korea and abroad, in countries like Japan, China etc. They also rock.
This is the story of how I discovered Shinhwa (originally written for the soompi Shinhwa thread), most just boring text.
I discovered them through a somewhat peculiar route, though not too peculiar I guess considering I'm non-Korean, non-Asian and completely clueless about all Asian pop culture were it not for the wonder of the internet. Goong was my first kdrama and through that, I became a fan of Yoon Eun-hye and wanted to see her in more things. I heard about X-Man and my friend coincidentally linked me to the subbed version of the legendary YEH-Eric-KJK Dangyunhaji game. I laughed my head off even when I had very little idea what was going on. My original first reaction to Eric, "Wow, that guy is hot!" *rolls eyes* Yep..
But I kept watching Xman clips on youtube and enjoyed the show a lot, and one of the first regulars besides KJK and YEH that stood out to me was Andy. I just adored his cuteness and his romantic Dangyunhajis and just the way he behaved on the show. He was awesome and hilarious. Forget cutest guy in Korea, I thought he was the cutest guy in the WORLD. Then I get my hands on the subbed episodes of the Germany special, which was the first full Xman episode I saw. It has a very special place in my heart because it really introduced me to Shinhwa in their full awesome. The Shinhwa Dangyunhaji's in the episode just made me laugh so hard and I immediately picked up on how close the band seemed. The couple selection also made me notice them as performers more.. The RicDy fanservice at the acting bits also helped a lot. ;)
Still, it wasn't until a while that I figured I should get into Shinhwa beyond watching them in various Xman bits. My friends who were also getting into a bunch of Asian pop things were all going nuts over other kpop boybands at the time, mainly Super Junior and DBSK, and I was somehow vary of those groups (though I now I also like them a lot). I liked the fact Shinhwa were older, so when they did nutty spazzy things (which they do), it didn't seem like kids on too much sugar - but more like grown-up men on too much sugar. :P I also just liked their looks. Ahem. I honestly had no idea about Shinhwa's music at this point, I just had a good feeling about them in general.
I was a bit intimidated by their long career. I was unsure what I should listen to, what videos I should watch, like where to start with them altogether. Luckily I got to know a Shinhwa fan (zeehondpunk! :D) online and she recommended me I listen to their 7th album. I did and was quite simply put, blown away. It was one of the absolute best kpop records I had ever heard. Simply a friggin' amazing pop album overall.
I was skeptical at first about Shinhwa having rappers - so unused to the idea of boybands having rappers, I guess - but I loved the way they worked in the songs and the mix of r'n'b, hiphop, pop, electronic music on Brand New (the album) was just.. I listened to the record non-stop as it didn't seem to have a single bad song (I'll admit there's one I always skip) and watched a bunch of the videos on youtube (Brand New is such an amazing MV in all accounts, and I also adore Angel and Crazy). So that's how I discovered Shinhwa musically. The more I listened, the more their individual voices stood out for me, and I just quite simply put fell in love with them even more.
Time to picspam because all of Shinhwa is pretty damn good-looking. These pics are *large* and all credited to kimdongwan.net but naturally not hotlinked. They're from the album sleeve of their latest, 8th album (which owns, by the way).
Shinhwa is Korean for myth/legend. Their fan club name "Shinhwa Changjo" means "re-creating the myth". The band has 6 members, three of whom are rappers and three who are vocalists.
Small Shinhwa history; they were put together and debuted under SM Entertainment, currently behind Super Junior and Dong Bang Shin Ki. However, when it came time to renew their contract for SM in 2002, Shinhwa were big enough to try to be on their own wings. So currently they're under Good Enter(tainment), which gives them more artistic freedom and isn't as restrictive as SM. I guess the relations between Shinhwa and SM could be described as cold - apparently they used to live in a really small apartment during their debut days with SM and all this other unpleasant stuff. Our boys are on their own and doing good.
Shinhwa's been around for such a long time, and hasn't disbanded, but all the members have simultanously pursued solo projects, either in the field of producing, acting or singing. So in a way Shinhwa's at a weird stage - not together all the time, each with their own lives and careers, but still very much together, helping each other out, supporting each other. Even when releasing albums at the same time, they're sort of friendly rivals.
Early Shinhwa is ...well, different. I think they only really reached their full capabilities with their 7th album, arguably their best, and continued this with their latest, 8th album. Earlier Shinhwa is more typical boyband, one could argue. Late 1990's Shinhwa is ..well, let's just say you're glad I'm not picspamming them in 1999. :)
Such happiness. Eric, Junjin, Hyesung.
More; Dongwan, Minwoo, Andy.
MEMBERS
Andy Lee, the youngest member - born in 1981 - and my favourite. He's a rapper, and since he went to school in the US, he's fluent in English. I used to find it so difficult to believe he's actually a rapper since his babyface doesn't really fit my ideas of rappers but actually, I quite enjoy his rap bits. He has a nice flow and his voice is really fit for rap. Personalitywise, well, he is just the cutest. Especially on various variety TV-shows, like Xman, where he's a very popular regular. He's done some acting but it's nothing really worth mentioning as, um, he's not extremely good at it. Currently he runs an entertainment management agency called ND (New Dream) Entertainment, helping young talents forward. :)
He's more cute than hot as far as looks go but I swear, the more time goes by, the more handsome he gets. It's almost disturbing. Andy, stop with the hot. :(
Kim Dongwan is one of the three Shinhwa vocalists, and probably my favourite one out of them, even though this isn't to say the others aren't good. I'm just really into the tone of his voice and it's occasionally very impressive (like singing this Alicia Keys song) and his personality ...so spazzy and cracky and goofy. His smile is about the most adorable thing ever. I mean, his Porn CD Incident and mocking Eric's CFs. Just such love. And though I've not seen his dramas yet, I have a good feeling about him as an actor.
His first album just came out. I've only heard 2 songs off it, but the one featuring rap by Andy is really awesome. The other song's MV was pretty lovely, also.
Plus...
Imitating Hyesung's crab dance. Yeah, Shinhwa is a bunch of spazzes. Why you ask?
Eric Mun - also spelt "Moon" sometimes - is the leader of the group, as he's also the most senior. Another of Shinhwa's rappers. Easily the spazziest member, as banana song proves. He is just the craziest there is, I wonder about both his age and mental health at times. But people forgive him because he's just so mind-bogglingly hot. Oh, and he writes lyrics, mainly for the rap parts but also some full songs. He's recently find success in acting, in dramas such as Super Rookie and Que Sera Sera.
Still the randomest person ever, though.
Shin Hyesung is one of the vocalists of Shinhwa and in my personal biased opinion, probably the best one in terms of vocal performance. His voice is just ..guhhh. Lookswise, I'm not that into him but damn, that voice. He just sounds so damn good.
No wonder he has a solo career. He's also in a group called Group S with Lee Ji Hoon (yes, that cute guy from Hello! Miss kdrama) and Kangta (yep, that Kangta).
Park Junjin, the last of Shinhwa rappers, in this post (not trying to undermine his skills or anything). Except this one can also sing! Shock. I'll admit he's the member I know least about, really.
I do adore this Dangyunhaji between him & Andy, though. Oh, and for quite a bulky guy, he's got the moves alright.
Lee Minwoo, the last of Shinhwa vocalists - in this post that is. His solo career as an artist is probably the biggest success in all of Shinhwa solo careers; he's releasing his third solo album under the artist name "M" soon. :)
Most probably the best dancer in Shinhwa. I just love to watch him move, really.
Did I mention he's hot? Because he's hot.
MV's
Graituitously copy/pasted from a post I made earlier, with minor edifications.
Brand New
Best Shinhwa MV ever? QUITE POSSIBLY. At first I thought I would go into epileptic seizure because of the camera movements but then I realized that was just my ovaries that exploded because oh.my.god. Hot hot HOT hotness. And the dancing!!! Squee. I've watched this a million times and heard the song a million times and just. I adore it so much.
Crazy
Fucking MV almost made me cry. I just love the storyline and it's so well-directed and everything. Dongwan!! Junjin!! The girl stuck in between. Oh it hurts my heart. Like a mini-drama of sorts. Awesomeee. Dongwan's acting in this, guhhhh.
Perfect Man
This MV is about Shinhwa being perfect men (I can accept that) and them morphing into another (freaky but awesome) and them giving yellow roses to ...omg watch and find out! My favourite part is office!Andy. I mean, Andy in general owns me but office!Andy even more so. Mmmm business appropriate.
2gether 4ever
I forgive Shinhwa for netspeek in song titles because they.are.so.fucking.hot. Ahem. And this video is awesome. Shinhwa &hearts Shinhwa. So much boytouching and happiness and general Shinhwa cuteness and Andy!face and all those great fantastic things. *loves* It's a tribute to Shinhwa being Shinhwa, their goofy selves, really.
Throw My Fist
Easily the coolest Shinhwa MV ever. Very easily also among the best Asian MV's I have ever ever watched. It's just a damn stylish video with a rocking theme (black'n'white, split screen, contrast), awesome storyline (sort of reminds me of Infernal Affairs) and a great (though predictable) twist. I also love that at some point I'm not sure if Eric and Dongwan would fight or make out. It seriously seemed like it could've gone either way. This is the MV I could show anybody as an example of a stylish, amazingly directed MV.
Winter Story
Here's a weird case. It's 1/4 a tribute to Eric hotness (I approve), it's 1/4 an angsty love ballad (complete with Eric angsty rap where they oddly enough constantly cut to Andy angsting which makes me read all sorts of innuendo into it but anyway), then it's 1/4 behind-the-scenes sort of fun look at shooting an MV and above all, it's a cheesy "we're groovy in the snow with our snowboards!" type of music video. However, mostly it's just FRIGGIN' AWESOME. The Shinhwa pile in the end is a real special awesome. ♥
Angel
It's like the hockey MV, only with Eric and Hyesung (aka love triangle). Massively amazing. Watch out for the twist. I do love MV's with a twist, this one is older than time but is just so works.
MUSIC
Just download their 7th album here. If you don't get into that, you were never meant to like Shinhwa.
Their 7th album is just incredible. It and their 8th are my favourites. Brand New has, well, Brand New, Shooting Star, Oh! (great faster tracks) and Angel, Crazy, Set Free (amazing ballads). It is just so goddamn good. Seriously, go download NOW.
RANDOM
Goofiness, weirdness, random fanservice, just Shinhwa being Shinhwa, simply put.
Shinhwa pile (there's a lesson here - don't feed Shinhwa sugar):
Kiss, kiss, kiss:
Shinhwa in the car:
Dancing in the middle of nowhere for no good reason at all: (That's Shinhwa for you!)
This was Shinhwa. Hope you enjoyed. :)
So what is Shinhwa, besides something I'm embarrasingly into?
A South-Korean boyband of 6 members that's been together longer than most marriages - over 9 years, 1998-present. Understandably they're enormously popular both in Korea and abroad, in countries like Japan, China etc. They also rock.
This is the story of how I discovered Shinhwa (originally written for the soompi Shinhwa thread), most just boring text.
I discovered them through a somewhat peculiar route, though not too peculiar I guess considering I'm non-Korean, non-Asian and completely clueless about all Asian pop culture were it not for the wonder of the internet. Goong was my first kdrama and through that, I became a fan of Yoon Eun-hye and wanted to see her in more things. I heard about X-Man and my friend coincidentally linked me to the subbed version of the legendary YEH-Eric-KJK Dangyunhaji game. I laughed my head off even when I had very little idea what was going on. My original first reaction to Eric, "Wow, that guy is hot!" *rolls eyes* Yep..
But I kept watching Xman clips on youtube and enjoyed the show a lot, and one of the first regulars besides KJK and YEH that stood out to me was Andy. I just adored his cuteness and his romantic Dangyunhajis and just the way he behaved on the show. He was awesome and hilarious. Forget cutest guy in Korea, I thought he was the cutest guy in the WORLD. Then I get my hands on the subbed episodes of the Germany special, which was the first full Xman episode I saw. It has a very special place in my heart because it really introduced me to Shinhwa in their full awesome. The Shinhwa Dangyunhaji's in the episode just made me laugh so hard and I immediately picked up on how close the band seemed. The couple selection also made me notice them as performers more.. The RicDy fanservice at the acting bits also helped a lot. ;)
Still, it wasn't until a while that I figured I should get into Shinhwa beyond watching them in various Xman bits. My friends who were also getting into a bunch of Asian pop things were all going nuts over other kpop boybands at the time, mainly Super Junior and DBSK, and I was somehow vary of those groups (though I now I also like them a lot). I liked the fact Shinhwa were older, so when they did nutty spazzy things (which they do), it didn't seem like kids on too much sugar - but more like grown-up men on too much sugar. :P I also just liked their looks. Ahem. I honestly had no idea about Shinhwa's music at this point, I just had a good feeling about them in general.
I was a bit intimidated by their long career. I was unsure what I should listen to, what videos I should watch, like where to start with them altogether. Luckily I got to know a Shinhwa fan (zeehondpunk! :D) online and she recommended me I listen to their 7th album. I did and was quite simply put, blown away. It was one of the absolute best kpop records I had ever heard. Simply a friggin' amazing pop album overall.
I was skeptical at first about Shinhwa having rappers - so unused to the idea of boybands having rappers, I guess - but I loved the way they worked in the songs and the mix of r'n'b, hiphop, pop, electronic music on Brand New (the album) was just.. I listened to the record non-stop as it didn't seem to have a single bad song (I'll admit there's one I always skip) and watched a bunch of the videos on youtube (Brand New is such an amazing MV in all accounts, and I also adore Angel and Crazy). So that's how I discovered Shinhwa musically. The more I listened, the more their individual voices stood out for me, and I just quite simply put fell in love with them even more.
Time to picspam because all of Shinhwa is pretty damn good-looking. These pics are *large* and all credited to kimdongwan.net but naturally not hotlinked. They're from the album sleeve of their latest, 8th album (which owns, by the way).
Shinhwa is Korean for myth/legend. Their fan club name "Shinhwa Changjo" means "re-creating the myth". The band has 6 members, three of whom are rappers and three who are vocalists.
Small Shinhwa history; they were put together and debuted under SM Entertainment, currently behind Super Junior and Dong Bang Shin Ki. However, when it came time to renew their contract for SM in 2002, Shinhwa were big enough to try to be on their own wings. So currently they're under Good Enter(tainment), which gives them more artistic freedom and isn't as restrictive as SM. I guess the relations between Shinhwa and SM could be described as cold - apparently they used to live in a really small apartment during their debut days with SM and all this other unpleasant stuff. Our boys are on their own and doing good.
Shinhwa's been around for such a long time, and hasn't disbanded, but all the members have simultanously pursued solo projects, either in the field of producing, acting or singing. So in a way Shinhwa's at a weird stage - not together all the time, each with their own lives and careers, but still very much together, helping each other out, supporting each other. Even when releasing albums at the same time, they're sort of friendly rivals.
Early Shinhwa is ...well, different. I think they only really reached their full capabilities with their 7th album, arguably their best, and continued this with their latest, 8th album. Earlier Shinhwa is more typical boyband, one could argue. Late 1990's Shinhwa is ..well, let's just say you're glad I'm not picspamming them in 1999. :)
Such happiness. Eric, Junjin, Hyesung.
More; Dongwan, Minwoo, Andy.
MEMBERS
Andy Lee, the youngest member - born in 1981 - and my favourite. He's a rapper, and since he went to school in the US, he's fluent in English. I used to find it so difficult to believe he's actually a rapper since his babyface doesn't really fit my ideas of rappers but actually, I quite enjoy his rap bits. He has a nice flow and his voice is really fit for rap. Personalitywise, well, he is just the cutest. Especially on various variety TV-shows, like Xman, where he's a very popular regular. He's done some acting but it's nothing really worth mentioning as, um, he's not extremely good at it. Currently he runs an entertainment management agency called ND (New Dream) Entertainment, helping young talents forward. :)
He's more cute than hot as far as looks go but I swear, the more time goes by, the more handsome he gets. It's almost disturbing. Andy, stop with the hot. :(
Kim Dongwan is one of the three Shinhwa vocalists, and probably my favourite one out of them, even though this isn't to say the others aren't good. I'm just really into the tone of his voice and it's occasionally very impressive (like singing this Alicia Keys song) and his personality ...so spazzy and cracky and goofy. His smile is about the most adorable thing ever. I mean, his Porn CD Incident and mocking Eric's CFs. Just such love. And though I've not seen his dramas yet, I have a good feeling about him as an actor.
His first album just came out. I've only heard 2 songs off it, but the one featuring rap by Andy is really awesome. The other song's MV was pretty lovely, also.
Plus...
Imitating Hyesung's crab dance. Yeah, Shinhwa is a bunch of spazzes. Why you ask?
Eric Mun - also spelt "Moon" sometimes - is the leader of the group, as he's also the most senior. Another of Shinhwa's rappers. Easily the spazziest member, as banana song proves. He is just the craziest there is, I wonder about both his age and mental health at times. But people forgive him because he's just so mind-bogglingly hot. Oh, and he writes lyrics, mainly for the rap parts but also some full songs. He's recently find success in acting, in dramas such as Super Rookie and Que Sera Sera.
Still the randomest person ever, though.
Shin Hyesung is one of the vocalists of Shinhwa and in my personal biased opinion, probably the best one in terms of vocal performance. His voice is just ..guhhh. Lookswise, I'm not that into him but damn, that voice. He just sounds so damn good.
No wonder he has a solo career. He's also in a group called Group S with Lee Ji Hoon (yes, that cute guy from Hello! Miss kdrama) and Kangta (yep, that Kangta).
Park Junjin, the last of Shinhwa rappers, in this post (not trying to undermine his skills or anything). Except this one can also sing! Shock. I'll admit he's the member I know least about, really.
I do adore this Dangyunhaji between him & Andy, though. Oh, and for quite a bulky guy, he's got the moves alright.
Lee Minwoo, the last of Shinhwa vocalists - in this post that is. His solo career as an artist is probably the biggest success in all of Shinhwa solo careers; he's releasing his third solo album under the artist name "M" soon. :)
Most probably the best dancer in Shinhwa. I just love to watch him move, really.
Did I mention he's hot? Because he's hot.
MV's
Graituitously copy/pasted from a post I made earlier, with minor edifications.
Brand New
Click to viewBest Shinhwa MV ever? QUITE POSSIBLY. At first I thought I would go into epileptic seizure because of the camera movements but then I realized that was just my ovaries that exploded because oh.my.god. Hot hot HOT hotness. And the dancing!!! Squee. I've watched this a million times and heard the song a million times and just. I adore it so much.
Crazy
Fucking MV almost made me cry. I just love the storyline and it's so well-directed and everything. Dongwan!! Junjin!! The girl stuck in between. Oh it hurts my heart. Like a mini-drama of sorts. Awesomeee. Dongwan's acting in this, guhhhh.
Perfect Man
This MV is about Shinhwa being perfect men (I can accept that) and them morphing into another (freaky but awesome) and them giving yellow roses to ...omg watch and find out! My favourite part is office!Andy. I mean, Andy in general owns me but office!Andy even more so. Mmmm business appropriate.
2gether 4ever
I forgive Shinhwa for netspeek in song titles because they.are.so.fucking.hot. Ahem. And this video is awesome. Shinhwa &hearts Shinhwa. So much boytouching and happiness and general Shinhwa cuteness and Andy!face and all those great fantastic things. *loves* It's a tribute to Shinhwa being Shinhwa, their goofy selves, really.
Throw My Fist
Easily the coolest Shinhwa MV ever. Very easily also among the best Asian MV's I have ever ever watched. It's just a damn stylish video with a rocking theme (black'n'white, split screen, contrast), awesome storyline (sort of reminds me of Infernal Affairs) and a great (though predictable) twist. I also love that at some point I'm not sure if Eric and Dongwan would fight or make out. It seriously seemed like it could've gone either way. This is the MV I could show anybody as an example of a stylish, amazingly directed MV.
Winter Story
Here's a weird case. It's 1/4 a tribute to Eric hotness (I approve), it's 1/4 an angsty love ballad (complete with Eric angsty rap where they oddly enough constantly cut to Andy angsting which makes me read all sorts of innuendo into it but anyway), then it's 1/4 behind-the-scenes sort of fun look at shooting an MV and above all, it's a cheesy "we're groovy in the snow with our snowboards!" type of music video. However, mostly it's just FRIGGIN' AWESOME. The Shinhwa pile in the end is a real special awesome. ♥
Angel
It's like the hockey MV, only with Eric and Hyesung (aka love triangle). Massively amazing. Watch out for the twist. I do love MV's with a twist, this one is older than time but is just so works.
MUSIC
Just download their 7th album here. If you don't get into that, you were never meant to like Shinhwa.
Their 7th album is just incredible. It and their 8th are my favourites. Brand New has, well, Brand New, Shooting Star, Oh! (great faster tracks) and Angel, Crazy, Set Free (amazing ballads). It is just so goddamn good. Seriously, go download NOW.
RANDOM
Goofiness, weirdness, random fanservice, just Shinhwa being Shinhwa, simply put.
Shinhwa pile (there's a lesson here - don't feed Shinhwa sugar):
Kiss, kiss, kiss:
Shinhwa in the car:
Dancing in the middle of nowhere for no good reason at all: (That's Shinhwa for you!)
This was Shinhwa. Hope you enjoyed. :)