Silly Supremacy
The surprisingly fierce battle for Silly Song Of The Year has a new, unexpected leader: Lee Jung Hyun's "V." People who've been following electronic dance music in Korea from the beginning (i.e., no one who reads this blog) know that Wikipedia has its head heading up buttward in saying that in 1999 Lee introduced techno to Korea and to Asia.* Nonetheless, it is fair to say that she is held in esteem as an actress and singer, at least by our trusty Wikipedian. And she is held in esteem by me as well (who first heard of her last week), as she leaves the wobble and the wash behind for a trot two-step with 1940s razzle-dazzle vocals filtered through a helium balloon. Orange Caramel, are you paying attention.**
Here is where she commenced her assignment as ambassador of techno:
In other silly news, Wassup is creating consternation among those who want Wassup to twerk more, those who think no one should twerk at all, and those who think Korea's Monarchy Of Twerk is ruled by Min and Minzy and everyone else should leave the premises. Beyond the tease of twerk, the track is strong on its other merits as well, is hip-hop to its dance-pop core, has a credible playground vibe, has zero chance of being a hit, and makes no effort to sound Korean.
*I know nothing about the history of electronic dance music in Korea, but this is just not plausible. We're talking about a musical form that was taking shape in 1981 and was spreading round the world a half-decade later. Maybe she introduced techno to the Korean pop charts, but even there I'm skeptical, given that Chuli & Miae hit with the house-techno-freestyle hybrid "Why You" back in 1993.
**YouTube commenter ioasabi2in1 perceptively opines "This music instrumental is like Romanian songs instrumental....," the Romanian little circle-hop rhythm being one of the sources I identify in Orange Caramel's terrific "Lipstick." Also, note that this isn't Lee Jung Hyun's inaugural performance as a helium doll on the crest of chaos, though she's pulling the music together better than she had on Joolae.
Click to viewHere is where she commenced her assignment as ambassador of techno:
In other silly news, Wassup is creating consternation among those who want Wassup to twerk more, those who think no one should twerk at all, and those who think Korea's Monarchy Of Twerk is ruled by Min and Minzy and everyone else should leave the premises. Beyond the tease of twerk, the track is strong on its other merits as well, is hip-hop to its dance-pop core, has a credible playground vibe, has zero chance of being a hit, and makes no effort to sound Korean.
*I know nothing about the history of electronic dance music in Korea, but this is just not plausible. We're talking about a musical form that was taking shape in 1981 and was spreading round the world a half-decade later. Maybe she introduced techno to the Korean pop charts, but even there I'm skeptical, given that Chuli & Miae hit with the house-techno-freestyle hybrid "Why You" back in 1993.
**YouTube commenter ioasabi2in1 perceptively opines "This music instrumental is like Romanian songs instrumental....," the Romanian little circle-hop rhythm being one of the sources I identify in Orange Caramel's terrific "Lipstick." Also, note that this isn't Lee Jung Hyun's inaugural performance as a helium doll on the crest of chaos, though she's pulling the music together better than she had on Joolae.