Talking about something as culturally impactful as Kpop is
like opening a jar of Nutella and only eating one spoon. It’s just not
possible. I’ve been thinking about ways to breach this topic since my last post
about Kdramas and I finally figured out a way to start: I really only know
about the boy groups. Have I heard the girl groups music? Yeah of course, but I
don’t watch the variety shows, the interviews, or the different TV mini-series
dramas following the groups like I do for the boys. I think those things (variety,
etc.…) is the main difference between Kpop stars and Western stars. Since Kpop
stars are more open and participate in a variety of things, you get to see them
laugh, cry, and participate in a healthy amount of bromance with their band-mates on Youtube on countless videos. I think the way they present
themselves even though on the shows I know it’s not completely them (obviously,
variety is an exaggerated more outgoing version of their true selves), I still
get pulled into their antics and appreciate all of their craziness. The more I
get to know a person, whether it’s a celebrity or in reality, I fall in love
with them. Usually, platonically. Also, these shows portray the group as a
whole and you see the different friendships and how well the members work
together/annoy each other. Most importantly, you see how hard they work for the
music and the music videos.
In Western music, I definitely appreciate the music, but to
me the artists are foreign. I look up to them, but I don’t really know them. In
a way that’s not a bad thing because if you think about it, these kpop idols
must have no privacy. I don’t know if this a hard fact, but I’ve heard and in
many cases this true(company-wise) that idols are aren’t allowed to date
because of their fans. Also, they have to maintain a certain image. On top of
that, the insane training these companies make their idols go to before debut
or maybe not even debut because the trainees don’t know is truly gruesome. For
example, Infinite mentioned training from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning.
That’s 19 hours a day of training! Of course, they are one of the best, if not
the best, Kpop dance group. They are insanely synchronized. One of their
signature moves that they pioneered in the BTD (Before the Dawn) music video:
the scorpion dance. It’s truly mind blowing. Getting back on topic, you’ve got
wonder if all that training is necessary. Is there a more humane way to create
the idols where they aren’t sleep-deprived and stressed? Or is that just the
norm? Kpop is a hard business to crack into and they’re so many groups that
debut every single year, it’s hard for them to all make it. My question is:
Does the training make a difference? I would love to hear anybody’s opinion on
that question. If you have a viewpoint, don’t hesitate to comment below :)
So another important thing to mention is the companies.
Basically they’re different entertainment companies and they train and carry
their artists to debut (you don’t have to train in the that company to debut as
in you can train in one company and debut in an another). The companies create
the groups. They put the boys or girls together. They usually pick the image,
the music, and their name. Of course, many artists are singer-songwriters and/or
composers and have a say in their music, but very few artists show of their
individual craft from the get-go. The big 3 companies are SM, JYP, and YG (however,
if we’re looking at notable/popular artists Cube and FNC should be included as
well). These companies (not all) not only hold kpop groups, but also soloists
and actors. In fact, many idols double as actors. Interestingly, a lot of
members in idol groups also go solo while remaining in the group. In Western
music, the notion is that if you go solo that the group has broken up, but
that’s not the case here. Talking about interesting things, most groups will
release new music every single year, but not albums. Rather they’ll release
min-albums which can range from anywhere from 5-? Songs. Sometimes a group will
release a mini-album and an album in the SAME year. Just for example, let’s
look at Adele who released new music after 4 years in her new album 25, but
she’s still as popular as ever. Like I said before, if the competition is
stiff, so if you don’t release music every single year, there’s a feeling in
the kpop entertainment industry that you’ll be forgotten. Another thing that
seems like almost a given for kpop artists is age. Some start out as young as
15 and most range from late teens to early 20’s. I don’t think I’ve yet
encountered an old Kpop artist. The closest being approaching/early 30’s in
idol groups.
Who’s in them? Well I can’t name everybody, but I’ll name
the most popular for the top 5 biggies. (Bolded=girls and *s for solo)
SM: Super Junior,
Girl’s Generation, Shinee, Exo, Red
Velvet, TVXQ, BoA*s
JYP: 2PM, 2AM, Got7, Miss
A
YG: Big Bang, 2NE1,
Winner, iKon, Se7en*s
Cube/ACube: 4 Minute,
A Pink, B2ST, BTOB
FNC: Ft Island, CN Blue, AOA
Do you have to be in a big company to be popular? Honestly,
no. Infinite is part of Woolim. Seo In Guk(soloist/actor) and VIXX is part of
Jellyfish. BTS is part of Big Hit Entertainment and B.A.P. is part of TS.
However, I’m sure it helps if your sunbaenims (elder predecessors) are popular
because then you’d get put on the map much quicker.
It would be really hard to name all the groups I love
because there’s a quite few or all the songs because again the amount of music
released is insane. So instead, I’ll just the name the songs I’m currently into
right now aka played them too many times on Spotify: (in no particular order,
keep in mind some of these songs are old because I’m still discovering Kpop)*in
song-artist form* apologies for any spelling name mistakes in advance!
Pricked- Winner Minho and Taehyun
Still Alive-Big Bang
Congratulations-Day6
Cold Love-CNBlue
60 Seconds-Sunggyu(song from solo album,leader of Infinite)
Blind-B.A.P
Go Crazy-2PM
Mirotic-TVXQ
Danger-BTS
All for You-Seo In Guk and Eunji(from Apink)
Beautiful Liar-VIXX LR
Error-VIXX
Bad-Infinite
Good Luck-B2ST
Promise-Exo
Wow-BTOB
Now-Troublemaker (Hyuna of
4minute and Hyunseung of B2ST)
Oh Yey-MBLAQ
Face-NU’Est
Mamacita-Super Junior
Ring Ding Dong- Shinee
