KPOP, ANYONE?
I've ventured into the world of kdrama, so I think it's about time to do a little kpop. I know some of you are going to roll your eyes at this and walk away. Others might get really excited, hop up and down and yell out something like, "Oppa Gangnam style!" While still others will have no idea what kpop is. And then there are the rare few who will have moved to the edge of their seat in anticipation of hearing about one of their biases (a person's favorite kpop group member).
Before I get into it, I want to give you a little pop quiz (pun intended) to see how much you may know about kpop. I'll start with some easy ones for those less familiar. I will be very shocked indeed if you have no idea as to the answer to the first question.
1. Who is this and what song does he sing?
| Congrats if you answered: Psy and Gangnam Style. You can argue that Psy is the reason kpop has been spreading as much as it has recently, though I must admit, I'm not a big fan of Gangnam Style and haven't heard any of his other songs. |
2. There are only a few listed, but how many of these kpop groups do you know?
| I'm familiar with about 17 of the groups/artists listed here. |
3. Now we'll get to some of the harder ones (at least for those not familiar with anything kpop except Gangnam Style). Name this person:
 |
| Answer: Rain (Bi in Korean). If you don't know kpop, but you still think he looks familiar, it may be because he's also done some acting (both in Korea and Hollywood). His Hollywood films include Speed Racer (2008), Ninja Assassin (2009), and The Prince (2014). |
4. Getting a little harder. What boy group is this? Hint: they've been very big this year in Korea and recently lost a couple of their members.
| Answer: EXO |
5. We'll make this the last question. What girl group is this?
| Answer: Girls Generation |
If you could answer most or all of these questions, congrats! You know more about kpop than most of the world. Now let's get into the more nitty gritty details of kpop.
Kpop first entered the scene in the early 1990's but didn't start becoming popular until the late 90's and grew further in the early 2000's. Many people compare it to the boy band era in America (think along the lines of N'SYNC and Backstreet Boys), though the groups vary quite a bit from their American counterparts. Kpop groups generally consist of 2 to as many as 12+ members, who go through a strict training regiment for years before they debut. Many kpop stars will have started training as early as 9 or 10 years old and will debut as early as 15 or 16 or as late as 20 or 21. They are taught everything from music to dancing, from foreign languages to communication techniques. It is estimated that a recording company will invest as much as $3 million in the training of a single member.
Unlike many American boy band members, kpop group members each have their own specific role in the group be it the group leader, the main or secondary rapper, main dancer, main and secondary vocalist, etc. For example, in the group SHINEE (I'll use them becuase they are a fairly small group), there are five members.
The leader of the group is Onew, and he is also the lead vocalist (most kpop idols take stage names instead of using their birth names).
Jonghyun is another main vocalist (yes, there can be more than one in a group) known for his power vocals, and he is the oldest member of SHINEE.
Key is a secondary vocalist and one of the two rappers of the group.
Minho is the second rapper and he is considered the "face of the group."
And finally, Taemin is what we call the maknae, or youngest member of the group. He is considered the lead dancer and a secondary vocalist.
Kpop groups are not only known for their amazing music, but complex dance choreography. One of my favorite groups, VIXX is especially well known for their difficult choreography. Take a look at the practice video of their song "Voodoo Doll."
Another very popular group you will recognize from the quiz is EXO. They were praised for the dance to their song "Growl."
Another thing kpop is well known for are its strange music videos. Sure, you have the fairly normals ones (the two I showed above are considered fairly normal), but they can get pretty weird. Just take a look at Orange Caramel's "Catallena" and Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby."
There are different things I like about different songs/groups. Sometimes I like a song for the storyline and others I like the visuals or dance. I'm forgiving of some of their weirdness because it either amuses me or I find other parts of the song are appealing enough that it overshadows the weirdness, and sometimes the weirdness is exactly what I like about it.
To end, I think I'll leave you with a few of my favorites. First, I can't go without introducing the first ever kpop music video I watched: Infinite's "Before the Dawn" (another group very well known for their dancing).
The first groups I really liked and became familiar with were SHINEE and DBSK (which later split into two groups: TVXQ and JYJ). My favorite group right now is VIXX (I think I mentioned that above). Also very noteworthy is Super Junior who has gone through so many different phases, I can't keep track of them. I really enjoyed one of their most recent song, "Mamacita." I think what I love most about this group is that they don't take themselves too seriously. They're not afraid to play around.
And I'll leave with just a couple other songs from this year that I enjoyed.
If this is your first exposure to kpop, I'd like to know what you think of it (hopefully it was a positive one). I'm curious to see other people's viewpoints. If you're already familiar with kpop, feel free to list some of your favorite groups and songs. I'm always looking for more music to add to my list.
