Kpop, Kpop, and Kpop: The Discussion Thread

Why?

i guess it's just personal preference. i thought he was plenty entertaining in gd&top, and those didn't seem as out there. it also might be a friend pointing out how up his own ass he seemed to be getting in michi-go coloring my perception of it, but if the giant shoe fits...

again, at least musically he's consistent, and that's what matters.

Wonder how many people commenting in this thread are actually Korean, or even Asian.

Yeah they can be kinda creepy in their newer videos. They used to be so different too. They really switched to the creepy overbearingly-cute thing. Their songs are still awesome because they are so overwhelmingly cheerful though. Some of the lyrics to their songs are kinda stalkerish though.

Newer style Orange Caramel:

Older style Orange Caramel (much more stereotypical Kpop clubbing music type stuff. This song came out 6 months before the song above):

actually OC started out as the cutesy cheerful subunit of After School. Bangkok City is a complete outlier.

this was their debut song

@onimonkii said:

I was just about to state they came from After School and then somehow relate Magic Girl (the song above) in the discussion but this has already been done by your fine selves. From also watching some Jpop vids they tend to do the cutesy thing abit more from what I have seen so it doesnt really faze me much.

@redbullet685: atm kpop-wise SNSD (girls generation) will always be my goto fave (at least their earlier stuff) but I cant help but love almost anything Kyary Pamyu Pamyu does (but she is Jpop so no video link)

@ben_h: @onimonkii: I think that this MV is the offender which put me off Orange Caramel;

I know that I'm projecting my own sensibilities onto them but I can't get past the cutesy routines combined with the "sexy halloween costume" outfits. Or maybe I'm not projecting and those girls have developed some ways about them that just ain't right!

Edit: @onimonkii: G-Dragon does come across as pretty smug. I don't find it off-putting but I can see why someone would.

Ah yes totally forgot about that one. I always just think of Bangkok Romance and how weird it is compared to anything they have released since.

@mcghee: Y you're kidding right, that shit is fucking awful, mass produced for the young girls of Korea.

"The young girls of Korea" are far too busy being in Kpop groups to listen to music.

@rebgav: Just ignore that piece of shit. All he ever does is troll.

@mcghee: Will do.

It has just occured to me that there is no 2NE1 in this thread. They aren't my favorite group but I think that it's actually illegal to have a Kpop thread without them so;

...and please, don't view these videos if you're not a young Korean girl. I will be checking.

Honestly, I don't like the music much, nor can I understand most of the lyrics, but the production values are undeniably high, and all those chicks are extremely hot, so I appreciate it on those merits.

Buuuut, don't many of them get plastic surgery to dramatically change their faces? I know that's a HUGE industry over in SK specifically, and quite common.

juniel incoming

the latest, pretty boy

bad man

illa illa

I haven't read through all the posts, so sorry if this was posted already, but my favourite K-Pop video of all time is Last Farewell by Big Bang. The transformation from school dork to nightclub pimp is amazing.

Edit: Also at 2:08, it has the dumbest dance move of all time.

The more sensitive side of 2NE1.

As you said, it's a big industry in Korea and apparently quite common. I don't know about dramatically changing their faces though, "westernizing" their looks is probably a bit more accurate.

This came up in an Elle interview with CL from 2NE1 a couple of weeks ago;

ELLE: You have an empowering song called “Ugly,” about not feeling beautiful. Where did that stem from?

CL: It kinda came from me. I was talking to [Jeremy Scott] in the studio. And no one here understands, but they do back in Korea. You know how Koreans are more strict and people from around the world think that being different is wrong. I don’t understand, you’re unique. I love being myself and love people that are themselves and just, you know, “I’m doing me” type of people. I have respect for those people and love for those people but some people don’t understand that. So for me, I’m seen in public so I’m attacked a lot. I was feeling down one day and talking to him. I was like, "You know, maybe I am ugly to those people." So we talked on and on and he wrote that song.

ELLE: In Korea, lots of people get plastic surgery. Do you ever feel pressured to get work done as well—especially as a star?

CL: You know? YG (2NE1’s record label) told me to. They told me to get plastic surgery before my debut. I stood up for myself and said "No, I’m not doing it." Like I said before, I love CL, but I still want to be Chaelin. And if I felt like I had to change I would. But I love the natural way I look. I said no and I’m not planning to.

This is the girl in question;

So, as far as I can tell, Koreans must have much higher "beauty" standards than I do.

On the other hand, what do I know? I wasn't smart enough to embed the song referenced in my own post in a thread full of Kpop MVs. Let's rectify that, shall we?

@rebgav: For the songs ive listened to with 2ne1 I was ready to write them off as not what I would listen to (I like my kpop with super happy beats over the general club beats found in normal pop/club culture). Then you posted Ugly and its pretty good (along with their super natural sounding english chorus) End result is thats a pretty cool song and Il give them another try with other songs.

I like to indulge in kpop every once in a while, specifically Trouble Maker and Girls' Generation's Trick, because I like those songs' style, but I've been having trouble finding more songs of their type, any recommendations you guys could make?

new hello venus just dropped

I've actually enjoyed Korean, Chinese and Japanese music for quite some time. I will not go into my original love of the Four Heavenly Kings. But I came upon Kpop as I was watching KBS programming (dramas and variety shows are so entertaining) and happened to catch Music Bank. Kpop is upbeat, colorful and fun to dance to. For girl groups, I probably like Sistar the best. I do admit I listen to boy bands and male artist more often when I listen to kpop: Shinhwa, H.O.T., DBSK (TVXQ/JYJ), Shinee, Super Junior, Infinite, Big Bang, MBLAQ, TeenTop, K.Will, Sung Si Kyung, Rain, Ulala Session, 2AM and many more. I'm actually more of a fan of the hip hop artist: Supreme Team (and Simon D solo), Dynamic Duo, Jinusean, Outsider, Epik High, MC Sniper, 1TYM, Jay Park and so on... but it all leads back to Seo Taiji and the Boys..

I'm a little taken back by all of the sub-groups recently.

Maybe Miss A's "Touch?"

@onimonkii:

I've been looking forward to this Hello Venus comeback but I'm a little underwhelmed by this one, to be honest. Out of all the rookies, these girls have a great look and a lot of charisma (especially Lime, fucking amazing), but I think this is their weakest single. But I look forward to seeing them perform it on stage. Sometimes a great performance can make me warm up to a song.

yeah, i was just saying how it's nice it's got a bit more oomph than secret's yoohoo, but it still feels lacking, i would much prefer another venus. especially coming out against 4minute and t-ara n4, i can't imagine it will do all that well for them, but it could be a late climber if they really drag out promotions and the rest of may is empty or something.

@rebgav: With make up, you don't need plastic surgery.

new younha

Yeah, with the dark arts that they already have at their disposal there is little benefit to being permanently surgically altered.

@aurahack:

First live performance of Countryside Life! Looks like they fucking nailed it. Great energy and it's good to hear the fan chants going strong.

i made this in 10 minutes last night @ 4am after seeing that.

a short teaser of the new nine muses from last night. it's gonna be a long week

Pretty sure rapper boy couldn't decide whether he wanted his cap to have a front or back peak so found one with both

the rapper is taewoon from speed, if you're curious. they're pretty good if you don't mind guy groups

he was also featured on the seeya's debut track

N4 killed it with their performance, 4minute... didn't.

I don't know what is up with those outfits or those routines. Unless the concept for their new mini-album is "look bad and dance poorly" then they might need a bit of a rethink.

the zombies are even more out of place in the performance than they were in the music video. gayoon was the only saving grace here.

@aurahack: @onimonkii: I blame you two for this thread.

So many fake faces in those videos! Fake face overload!

You're basically discussing the members of the Pussycat Dolls joining and leaving, but the Korean version. No hate or anything but, how is this community not looking down upon this topic as they would topics discussing One Direction's "music" and band news, among other examples?

Just curious, man.

I agree. How weird is it that suddenly Gayoon is the best performer on the stage and looks super-happy to be there? I am not complaining but I do suspect bodysnatchers.

@mcghee why do so many people show up in here specifically to troll you?

also, chrome just tweeted that crayon pop is coming back this month. i hope it's not tracksuits again.

her and jiyoon have always been the best singers in the group, but i'd imagine 2yoon promotions helped with stage presence, as jihyun and sohyun are still practically invisible, and hyuna seems to be phoning it in hard, the cream rises to the top.

Makes sense to me.

It would be nice if they gave Hyuna more to do, or better choreography, or something.

@heatdrive88 said:

@onimonkii: @mcghee: The performance was soooo pro! They have so much energy. I love it. Also hearing the fans completely fucking lose their minds when Areum's solo started was my favorite thing, haha.

Because most of the community is cool and doesn't give a shit.

I was a music snob for many years. I've been down every musical rabbit trail there is. My favorite band is and will always be King Crimson. You know who that is? A whole lot of Kpop is good fucking music. It is not good music because of its complexity or purpose, but because it is fun and energetic. Composer and pianist Hauschka has said that he writes his music for the person that does not want to sit in a dark room, headphones clenched over ears, sweating and pondering music in a deadly serious way. He writes music that is at once complex and accessible. Kpop is that for me. It is stress relief. Those that generally criticize someone that listens to something like mainstream pop music is only trying to stroke their own ego: "I listen to better music than you, therefore I can feel like I'm better than you."

It's sad and a bit pathetic. I'm not interested in boosting egos, just enjoying myself.

Because I'm the OP and randoms are going to aim their bullshit at me. There is actually probably less trolling in here than there might have been because a lot of regular posters know me well enough and like me well enough.

Every now and again I find myself with this song in my head and I'm muttering "buy me a tuna"

another short thing from m countdown last night, hello venus, ubeat, and 15& doing gentleman

jucy of evol is putting out a mixtape called jucy universe i guess. dang.

That was a great performance! Fantastic choreography and charisma.

I'm going to go ahead and skip that 4Minute performance, I think. It sounds like all it would do is give me Milkshake flashbacks.

Lovely song. The video is quite nice, too. I like how the dancing revolves around Younha and the male lead. The ending scene gave me chills.

I agree about Last Fantasy! It's a beautiful work. The video for "You and I" is a favorite of mine.

Performances from Music Core;

Hello Venus

Secret

T-ara N4

This popped up on Psy's channel last night too;