Comments | koganbot: We're famous for not having talents, though

koganbot

We're famous for not having talents, though

Oct 22, 2012 14:00

Here's HyunA displaying her Pikachu voice (segment begins 26 seconds in), anticipating how a year later she tells Psy he's just her style. But what's striking me now about the clip is Jihyun saying, right at the start, "We're famous for not having talents." I can't tell if this is just a quick quip, a "talent" merely meaning a special side ( Read more... )

grace slick, sistar, britney, hyuna, crayon pop, 4minute, snsd, jefferson airplane, language studies

Comments 21

koganbot October 22 2012, 20:17:58 UTC

Oh yeah, and a supposed source at Cube Entertainment "revealed" that the snakes in the "Volume Up" video represent the sort of online Netizens who direct criticism and hateful comments at girl groups - though given Gayoon's gentle handling of the snake, Mat and I were skeptical that that particular metaphor is actually dominant here. As Sigmund Freud once said, "Sometimes a young woman continuously caressing a snake in a K-pop video is just a young woman continuously caressing a snake in a K-pop video."

koganbot October 23 2012, 05:41:03 UTC

Later on the T@xi show Jiyoon calls her mom on her mobile, and one of the T@xi guys, mostly joking around (but the response has a serious edge), takes the phone and asks her about negative comments that people make to her about her daughter Jiyoon.

askbask October 22 2012, 23:14:00 UTC

Hyuna's now got the second most viewed k-pop music video on youtube. I was hoping this would translate into 100 million views for 'Bubble Pop' and 'Trouble Maker' as well, but no such luck, and it (probably) won't mean a Billboard hit for her either.

Thoughts on Ice Cream (cream cream cream cream)?

People on youtube are saying Sohyun is the guest rapper on 'Very Hot'. I haven't found proof of that but it's possible.

Credits: Lyrics: Hyuna, Riwo. Composer: Riwon, Hyuna, Shinsadong Tiger. Production: Shinsadong Tiger. Only appearance of the Tiger on the EP.

askbask October 23 2012, 09:21:34 UTC

It's funny that Baskin Robbins is such an established brand in Korea that '31 flavours' is a recognized pop reference. I think it appears in another recent k-pop song as well. Maybe this slogan is common knowledge in the US as well, but it's not in Norway. Lots of outlets on the streets here in Seoul anyway.

askbask October 23 2012, 06:04:56 UTC

4Minute have followed up 'Mr Teacher' with 'Travel Maker', which is similarly loosely structured.

koganbot October 23 2012, 15:10:46 UTC

HyunaA's hair is in what I think of as a more likely Gayoon color, and Gayoon's hair is in what I think of as a more likely HyunA color (if the phrases "likely hair color" and "unlikely hair color" can even be said to apply to HyunA; I suppose that green and silver would be unlikely: she's yet to experiment with the unnatural-anywhere-on-this-planet parts of the rainbow that glitter and punk introduced in the '70s).

I've so far watched very few clips of Mr. Teacher. I gather that the - very flimsy - "structure" of Mr. Teacher was that every now and then, interspersed with the ongoing shenanigans, the director or producer or someone (a Ms. as often as a Mr., I think) would ask 4minute a sociocultural question that they'd try to answer.

[I've listened to Melting once and of course have opinions but for at least this minute I'm going to hold off trying to articulate them.]

arbitrary_greay October 23 2012, 21:11:45 UTC

"Talent," (gaenggi) as far as I've experienced watching K-variety, refers mainly to imitations. Usually of a celebrity, drama character, or animal, but I've seen someone's "talent" be an impromptu patter in the style of tv home shopping channels.

I vaguely remember that displays of dancing or martial arts have not been referred to as gaenggi, but skills.

I don't think people who slut-shame Hyuna care that she screams at chickens, so it doesn't seem like it's the image switches that cause any unease. Her performance demeanor is the only one they consider. Besides which, the image switch is a staple of idolling. Every single-group/idol fan proudly proclaims that their bias is the most charismatic/sexy/hot on stage and the most dorky off. Antis never attack that they act dorkily in variety. Rather, often they get hate when they act too much like their performance modes (arrogance and/or aloofness often being demanded of them by the music genres they perform) outside of it and come off "rude."

koganbot October 25 2012, 18:04:35 UTC

Thanks. This is useful info and makes sense, though it doesn't necessarily support my attempt to find reasons to gallantly defend 4minute as I imagine them soldiering on in the face of a contemptuous world (a world that is rewarding them very handsomely; at least a part of the world is)I nonetheless would assume that "we are famous for not having talents" resonates with all the times that they or other idol girls get trashed as talentless, as compromised, unless and until they've demonstrated respectable chops in some respectable endeavor (even if in this instance what's being referred to is comic mimicking, which isn't part of the respectability convo ( ... )

askbask October 26 2012, 05:55:03 UTC

Depends how strict you want to get I guess. SNSD's Jessica is known for being an 'ice princess', aloof and arrogant. That has earned her antis, but also lots of commercial interest. Of course she's not actually arrogant in public, she's nice and friendly and pleasant in many settings, but may talk a bit less, smile a bit less than your average idol. Her sister Krystal in f(x) has gotten a lot of flack for being arrogant, like several actual articles with quotes from insiders saying she acted like a diva on the set of some commercial or photoshoot, or that she was rude on a tv show, but at the same time the sisters are more often pitched as being 'cold girls' in a chic cool way ( ... )

koganbot October 26 2012, 06:17:34 UTC

"They remind me of the cheerful girls with strong egos in Jane Austen's novels."

Thread 10

askbask November 11 2012, 02:01:40 UTC

Great video. Jiyoon takes us on a tour of her office where she's making music (and gives us a sample), but also talks well about her members and herself.

Also on the channel other members, haven't watched yet.

koganbot December 2 2012, 07:30:30 UTC

I love where she describes Jihyun as the feminine one: "She even likes feminine songs" (implying that the rest of them don't).

Has any music written by Jiyoon been released? Wikip writers are inconsistent about including song credits for 4minute. All I found for Jiyoon was co-lyricist on "Badly" and "For Muzik (Intro)."

askbask December 2 2012, 12:48:37 UTC

I don't think she has, but seems serious about changing that. I expect we'll hear something soon enough.

Watching it again, what specifically makes her quickly say 'but we don't sing songs like that' about Britney Spears?

koganbot December 2 2012, 15:05:31 UTC

Yeah, that struck me too, and I don't know the answer, since she neither said how Gayoon's voice or style resembles Britney's (which never particularly struck me; Gayoon can go a lot louder than Britney, and she and Jiyoon seem to be the ones responsible for wails and long notes) nor what she thinks a Britney Spears-type song is. "3" isn't much like "...Baby One More Time," even if they were both co-written by Max Martin, and "Everytime" isn't like either of those, and "Gimme More" still different from all of them. Is it that 4minute aren't as slutty as Britney sometimes is? Aren't as delicate? Aren't as wanton and destructive? Aren't as bouncy?

"Hot Issue" is more Latin freestyle than anything Britney's ever done, and of course has group chants and interplay, but I can still imagine Britney on it.

I wouldn't say that BoA, for instance, is a Britney-style singer, but as you know BoA's actually released a song co-written by Britney (the Britney version finally leaked this year, having landed originally on In The Zone's cutting-room ( ... )

Thread 5