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Fat_Elvis
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: In the ghetto
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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:38 pm Post subject: Kpop is now cool? |
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This is the only conclusion I can draw from reading several credible music sites online. No less a website than Pitchfork has recently run an article on Kpop, and the Elite Gymnastics mixes incoporating Kpop with other music have drawn attention in the music blogosphere. Also, I didn't realise that Diplo wrote a song for G Dragon. Anyway, here's the Pitchfork article here
http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/8700-to-anyone-the-rise-of-korean-wave/
It's all a bit confusing for me as I usually slag off Kpop (although it does have it's moments, including that G Dragon/Diplo track), just wondering what others made of all this. |
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bekinseki
Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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Isn't Pitchfork the official publication of hipsters? And don't hipsters only ever like things ironically?
The number of people outside Korean diaspora and consumers of mindless mainstream music (albeit that is the vast majority of humans) is insignificant. I'm starting to think the Korean government is figuring this out for themselves. |
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The Floating World
Joined: 01 Oct 2011
Location: Here
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Only amongst koreans, overseas Koreans and poorer Asian countires looking for a succesfull Asian country to emulate. Not saying that doesn't count at all, just that it's not a worldwide phenomenon outside of those groups. |
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everything-is-everything
Joined: 06 Jun 2011
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bekinseki
Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Location: Korea
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| The people you should ask if kpop is cool are probably much younger than most of us. This kind of music is factory produced and aimed squarely at the adolescent demographic. If they think it's cool, then it's cool. |
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BananaBan
Joined: 16 Nov 2011
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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| kpop is not cool |
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warmachinenkorea
Joined: 12 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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I come from a real small area in West Tn. I had never heard of any of this stuff until I came to Korea. Most Koreans are surprised that I had no idea of who Rain was.
If it isn't popular where I'm from it hasn't made it into America or possibly onto global stage. |
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everything-is-everything
Joined: 06 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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whiteshoes
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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It's getting cooler. A friend of mine told me his 15 year old son was telling him all about 2NE1. This is a boy in rural Michigan that is listening to it. I asked my friend how the kid got into k-pop. He said he was really in to anime and just started getting into everything Asian. He is not a part of the Asian diaspora at all.
Things have changed a lot since a lot of us were younger. With the internet, and youtube kids can find any kind of music they want to. As someone else mentioned, k-pop is meant for kids.
As a person who likes k-pop, I can say I think it's changed quite a bit. If you look at k-pop from before 2010. It has no identity. Now, there seems to be a bit of a "Koreaness" to it.
Also, I think it's natural as ex-pats to rip on k-pop. Sometimes it feels like they are taking "our" music and doing it poorly, often times with non-nonsensical English. Just remember, this music is not produced with you in mind. |
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The Floating World
Joined: 01 Oct 2011
Location: Here
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| That kid in Michingan is the exception, not the rule. |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| whiteshoes wrote: |
| Just remember, this music is not produced with you in mind. |
You're right. I'd go further and say it's not music at all. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| The Floating World wrote: |
| Only amongst koreans, overseas Koreans and poorer Asian countires looking for a succesfull Asian country to emulate. Not saying that doesn't count at all, just that it's not a worldwide phenomenon outside of those groups. |
It's global. Deal with it.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/07/18/korean-culture-spreads-across-globe.html
Two recent events encapsulated the magic of the Korean Wave. The first was in Paris on May 1. More than 300 French teenagers staged a demonstration in front of the Louvre demanding a second show in Paris of SM Town Live, a K-Pop concert with famous Korean singers from groups like TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee and Girls� Generation.
All 6,000 tickets for the June 10 show were sold out in 15 minutes on April 26.
�For a moment, I was going to cry because I saw that it was full,� a protester told MBC TV.
The popularity of Korean singers has raised the eyebrows of many, even in Korea.
�This is really amazing and surprising. I never imagined that our singers were that popular in Europe,� ASEAN-Korea Center secretary-general Ambassador Young Jai-cho told the Post recently in Seoul.
The organizers bowed to popular demand and agreed to have another show on June 11. Again, the tickets sold out, but this time in 10 minutes through online sales.
Why are some French youth crazy about this distant culture from Asia?
�K-Pop singers are complete artists and entertainers. They can sing, they can dance and they look very trendy. This is the main difference with French singers who mainly prefer to focus on the lyrics and almost never dance. Many of them� don�t really care about their looks,� Maxime Paquet, president of a French fan club called Korean Connection, told Korea magazine last month. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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| whiteshoes wrote: |
| It's getting cooler. A friend of mine told me his 15 year old son was telling him all about 2NE1. This is a boy in rural Michigan that is listening to it. |
I can top that story with these two incidents:
1. I was at a cafe in Pasadena. Heard a white haired guy probably in his late 60s turn to his friend and mention that lately he likes listening to K-pop.
2. A Mexican guy (who would not look out of place waiting in front of Home Depot in the morning if you know what I mean) had a K-pop song as his ringtone.
Needless to say, I was surprised that those two would even know that Korea existed.
Personally, I don't think K-pop will penetrate the U.S. very much. Nonsensical lyrics, horrible accents, and foreign-ness are three strikes against it. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Manufactured pop is not 'cool' in any country, if you're using the world 'cool' in a sense that the music is, creative, emotional, thought-provoking and comes from a desire to play music for the love of music and not just a desire to be famous.
But I guess the OP is misusing the word 'cool' to mean popular. As in lots of people are doing it. The way that teenagers use 'cool'. |
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