Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pest2]

why do all these kids asian countries including korea like music invented by black people and try to act like black people but theyre still racist and if they saw a normal black man walking down the street toward them, they would turn the other way and run for fear of being robbed..?

[jkelly80]

So it's basically Will Smith-style hip hop. Which sucks. Especially Mc Mong and Big Bang. That bubblegum shit was played out 15 years ago.

[Mix1]

clutching/grasping at straws:
1. to try any method, even those that are not likely to succeed, because you are in such a bad situation.
2. to try to find reasons to feel hopeful about a situation when there is no real cause for hope.

Taste in music is all relative, so enjoy your music, but don't expect many non-Koreans to be very impressed with stuff that has already been done for years, AND sounds like a mash-up of blatantly copied bits and pieces of other songs done by other artists. Granted, that's what most hip hop music is anyway, so it's hard to claim any sort of originality when this is the case. But you don't hear whites trying to argue that Nsync is so great and revolutionary and that everyone should respect white rap and/or hip hop and expect to be taken seriously, and that's where the grasping at straws comes in.

Anyone of any color, race, or creed can do any type of music. Convincing others of its merits is another issue, and is not always easy to do. That probably has to do with racial/cultural bias and less than with the music itself. For better or worse, there are certain cultural expectations grafted onto some music genres, but that doesn't mean they can't be overcome. Still, imagine an Amish family starting a Death Metal band; don't think people wouldn't be skeptical (and that is putting it mildly).

One issue is that hip hop originally was a counter culture and revolutionary thing. The lyrics were brash and rebellious, and sometimes just downright fun. That is practically the antithesis of many aspects of Korean culture, where blandness and homogeneity tend to reign supreme. So no wonder many balk at Korean hip hop, not only does it seem rather fake to many, but practically counterintuitive. Can Koreans make great hip hop? Sure! We've seen how well they can copy things. But it's also about how it hits the listener, and due to the language barrier, it's really only going to really move Koreans, while most others will just be scratching their heads.

It's great that Koreans love their music, because for many of them, these sounds are new and exciting. But for most of the rest of us, these sounds have been around for some time and are really nothing special.

On the positive side, that Tasha song was good. I think seeing the lyrics in English helped it out because her story is compelling. I think a lot of the negative bias comes from the language barrier.

But the negative bias against Korean hip hop also comes from knowing how Koreans love to copy trends, and also knowing how the average Korean tends to feel about blacks (and foreigners generally) in the first place. So to copy an art-form that is predominated by people who are often looked down on by the average Korean tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth. This makes it very hard to look at it with an open mind.

As for breakdancing, Koreans are definitely impressive!

[Mix1]

Just for kicks, imagine a black Country and Western group who originally came from the inner city, yet suddenly started dressing like cowboys and even singing and speaking with a country twang. They name their group the Black Stallionz.

They buy some horses and ride around the sticks, and film their videos on a rented ranch in Texas. All their lyrics are about how great they are at bull-riding and roping, even though they've never even done it.

Then, over time, people in African countries see some of the Black Stallionz videos and begin copying the black country group. They copy riffs written by the original country greats, and the general African populace think the melodies were mostly made by African musicians. Country and Western clubs and saloons start popping up all over African countries, and rodeo becomes popular.

Cowboy hats, boots, and tight wrangler jeans are aggressively marketed and begin appearing in fashion magazines and on some select African celebrities. One week later, almost every young, hip African male is dressed like a cowboy and yelling "yeehaw" and spitting tobacco on the ground.

They have dreams of buying pickup trucks with rifle racks, but only the elite sons from wealthy families can actually afford them. The Black Stallionz country group who started the trend is now famous in Africa, but are flabbergasted why nobody else can take them seriously. They learn new riffs, and even get around to making some decent down home country music. They end up being good musicians and love country music with all their hearts, but they never break out of the African music scene and then blame the rest of the world for their lack of international success.

What's the moral of the story? I don't know, but isn't it all just a little odd?

[RACETRAITOR]

What is most telling about Korean hip-hop is that You_are_a_seed_foot_nom defends it. Therefore, it must suck.

[flakfizer]

I cannot believe someone came to the defense of this stuff by mentioning MC Mong.

[uberscheisse]

[cj1976]

Hip-hop and rap are fine music forms but what is the deal with wearing your strides (pants to you North American folks) halfway down your thighs?
There's no way that can ever look good. If you are one those people, please realise you look like a clown.
I saw an African homey in Itaewon dressed this way, and I politely informed him that his trousers seemed to be falling down. I was just doing him a favour but he looked at me liked I was mental.

[Justin Hale]

[visitorq]

Music doesn't have to be cool to be good, but Korean 'hip hop' is not only laughably pretentious and uncool, but saturated with nothing but zero-talent hacks. It's embarrassing to see.

Back home I remember seeing phony rappers around at parties and that in uni, and amateur as they were they still put the "skillz" of Korean rap "stars" to shame...

[ddeubel]

A few cool songs in there....

I put together a quick playlist. This is the way to highlight/share youtube....thought I'd share this app.

http://www.veewow.com/playlist-yf-Korean-Hip-Hop

DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

[komtengi]

[Mix1]

[red_devil]

[RACETRAITOR]

It is obvious that certain genres carry certain themes. Could you imagine a hip-hop song about growing up on a farm, or a country song about aliens and vampires, or a punk song about having a high salary? Yeah, it could be done, but it would take additional talent to pull off.