Saturday, February 6, 2016

Hallyu from the Other Side(Part 2)



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



                                                                                                                                                               

No comments:

Post a Comment