Kpop is my new obsession :)
While I would never say I prefer Korean pop music to American pop, I can see how the former appeals to people. I find myself spewing atrocious Korean as I sing along to some of my newly found Korean songs. I also find myself stalking websites like Allkpop and Antikpopfangirl and Omonatheydidn't and Seoulbeats for updates on the kpop scene. In case you didn't know, the South Korean music scene is saturated with hoardes of boy and girl groups/bands and sometimes it makes no sense to me how one small country can have this many people flooding its tvs. Honestly, even when the West was still in it's boy/girl band stage, there weren't that many groups, if I'm recalling right. I think the most popular ones were Backstreet Boys, Nsync and Spice Girls but nowadays it seems solo artistry is the new in. Tell that to the South Koreans who debut a new group almost every month (an exaggeration but you get the picture) into a scene that is already bursting at the seams with groups. Of course, I'm not complaining about anything (I don't even have a right to) but I'm just saying that for a newbie to the kpop scene like me, it was a bit of a shock. Pop music in South Korea is such that looks reign supreme, even above talent. Most of these groups do have talented members but it's usually one or two members out of the whole group and the talented ones tend not to be as popular as the pretty ones. It's a travesty, I tell ya!
I'm thinking the reason for so many pop groups is that each group has a concept that they try to make their music about. The first example that pops into my head is the group Girls Generation or SNSD (Abb. of their Korean name So Nyuh Shi Dae which means, you guessed it, girls generarion). They have a concept for every song they release. From the cute and girly (the kind of girlishness you'd want to take a shove to) Gee and Oh! to the dark and sexy concept of their Run Devil Run. All three MVs are below:
Click to viewJust so you know, I'm so enamored with this group, it's not even funny. I watch everything they're in including variety shows and BTS videos. And I can't seem to get their stupid songs out of my head. They're, like, so catchy, dammit!!
... Sorry. I'm calm now.Honestly, it boggles my mind how much cutesy stuff Koreans, and for that matter, a lot of Asian countries in general can stomach. I can't ever see those kinds of extreme girly songs ever flying in the U.S. It's not that the songs are bad, not at all. In fact, they fit the standard definition of pop music but as much as I love these girls, I can't watch their MVs too many times. The only other girl group I like is quite the complete opposite of SNSD. They're older so they can work the mature bit to their music a bit. Brown Eyed Girls' Abracadabra MV is one of the more risque music videos out there in South Korea. In fact, it was considered so provocative that the group had to make a dance-only version later on. The two videos are below. Can you tell which one is less erotic?
Other girls groups I know of but don't particularly obsess about are:
KARA
(This group puts the "ute" in "cutesy" even more than SNSD and I can't stand them honestly. I don't hate them but I can't be bothered about them. Unsurprisingly, they're very popular and make up 1/3 of the big three who fight for dominance over all girl groups. The other two are SNSD and 2NE1)
T-ARA
(Another teenybopper group which I only know because of the group's name's similarity to KARA)
2NE1 (pronounced To anyone or Twenty One)
(Apparently, their concept is wacky and weird and with Will. I.Am as a backer/sponsor, I can see how that would be possible. I think they're the only girl band not making use of the cutesy stuff that Koreans seem to favor. At least not as much as most of the other bands. So why am I not raving about them? Their songs don't really catch my attention :(
4Minute
(Heard about them, never listened to their songs, couldn't care less)
After School
(I'm fascinated with this group. Their leader Kahi is the oldest member in any group at 31 in Korea and member Uee illicits very strong polarizing feelings in people. When you like her, you love her and when you dislike her, you really really don't like her. I personally find myself somewhere in the middle. Depends on what day it is)
F(X)
(Can't say much about them since I don't listen to them. They're just as generic as the others)
There are a lot more bands and I could go on and on about them but I'm tired and they're all the same anyway, just change their names.
If you're wondering why I'm not talking about boy bands, it's mostly because I'm not really interested in listening to them. The only Korean boy band I loved was DBSK but they're split up now into two groups of 3 and 2 - JYJ and DBSK, which has only two members left. I loved them collectively as a 5 member band but found that I'm not nearly as into them as I thought if I can't be bothered to follow up on their two groups anymore. Their songs Why Did I Fall in Love With You and Mirotic turned me into their fan but their split didn't do them any favors with me :(
As for other boy bands, I only know them by name and not by songs. For instance, I know of:
Big Bang
2AM
2PM
(Yes, 2AM and 2PM were originally one group once upon a time. 2PM has been slightly more popular than 2AM in the past but 2AM won an award recently that has made them equal popularity-wise)
CN. BLUE/ Code Name Burning Lovely Untouchable and Emotional
(They're a rookie group that I like because of their lead singer Jung Yong Hwa's relationship to SNSD's Seo Hyun. They "got married" in the show "We Got Married". They got really popular because of their portrayal on that reality show. Even I'm a fan :)
MBLAQ/ Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality
SHINee
(I haven't really ever listened to them but I'm guessing they're the guy version of KARA?)
Super Junior
(The group with the most number of members in the world. Period. Even more than SNSD who I thought were a lot with their 9 members. SuJu has 13 members. Yeah, I know. Mind-boggling! )
I'm tired now so I'll quit here. I'm probably sure I'll be back with more on this topic.