What do you think about K-Pop?

[terivinix]

I'm not a psychic but I'm almost certain that the "cutesy" stuff in kpop will eventually turn more and more into "slutty/trashy/sexy type".  Sorry if Im not allowed to say those words, but in my experience of the world, it happens to every culture and people group. 

Remember even America in its early pop days also had the "cutesy" phase?  Remember even more recently when cutesy things like New Kids on the Block and Mini pops were famous?  Then they got "out of style" as america became bored and needed things like PINK and Lady Gaga to be more controversial and promiscuous.

It's already happening with kpop as they are slowly getting nuder nuder in the videos when before it used to only be cute little girl dresses and hairbands and frilly shirts.

This. You can see the (d)evolution of pop stars in the West... Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus are prime examples of early-teen cuteness that turned into of-age sexiness and proceeded to increase in promiscuity from there.

I linked BUBBLE POP already but I don't see how anyone could classify that as "cutesy attitude aimed at 12-14 year old girls"... I hope I never see hips move like that toward a preteen.

That sort of thing is already here, and it often results in songs being banned or condemned. The lyrics still tend to be of the PG sort you'd read in an Archie comic, but the dance routines and outfits are getting increasingly promiscuous. And speaking of Hyun-a, I probably already linked 4Minute Slut (aka Mirror Mirror).

Oh, and also, I just read online that 4Minute is planning to have a "comeback" this month. Yes, the cycle has gotten that short.

[Frozencat99]

From what I've been told, BUBBLE POP is about a girl wanting her boyfriend to trust her when she goes out to clubs and parties all night.

I might be mistaken but it seems at least one artist (or at least one song  ) has gotten away from PG13.

[Yegob]

I'm not a psychic but I'm almost certain that the "cutesy" stuff in kpop will eventually turn more and more into "slutty/trashy/sexy type".  Sorry if Im not allowed to say those words, but in my experience of the world, it happens to every culture and people group. 

Remember even America in its early pop days also had the "cutesy" phase?  Remember even more recently when cutesy things like New Kids on the Block and Mini pops were famous?  Then they got "out of style" as america became bored and needed things like PINK and Lady Gaga to be more controversial and promiscuous.

It's already happening with kpop as they are slowly getting nuder nuder in the videos when before it used to only be cute little girl dresses and hairbands and frilly shirts.

new kids on the block were one of the original "tweener" and early teenage bands. Not many people past 16 much less 18 ever took them seriously.

you're right on your other point though. By Korean standards the K Pop girl groups are already "slutting it up" big time, and in fact, this is cited as one of the reasons they've conquered the Japanese market. Their girl groups have way outslutted the J pop girlie bands stuck in the Hello Kitty phase of development and obviously this method "works"   . Personally I approve! 

[Yegob]

I'm not a psychic but I'm almost certain that the "cutesy" stuff in kpop will eventually turn more and more into "slutty/trashy/sexy type".  Sorry if Im not allowed to say those words, but in my experience of the world, it happens to every culture and people group. 

Remember even America in its early pop days also had the "cutesy" phase?  Remember even more recently when cutesy things like New Kids on the Block and Mini pops were famous?  Then they got "out of style" as america became bored and needed things like PINK and Lady Gaga to be more controversial and promiscuous.

It's already happening with kpop as they are slowly getting nuder nuder in the videos when before it used to only be cute little girl dresses and hairbands and frilly shirts.

This. You can see the (d)evolution of pop stars in the West... Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus are prime examples of early-teen cuteness that turned into of-age sexiness and proceeded to increase in promiscuity from there.

I linked BUBBLE POP already but I don't see how anyone could classify that as "cutesy attitude aimed at 12-14 year old girls"... I hope I never see hips move like that toward a preteen.

since K girls don't have much hip to move, the effect is dramatically reduced, effectively neutered. Ditto with Kara's (in) famous "butt dance".

[Yegob]

From what I've been told, BUBBLE POP is about a girl wanting her boyfriend to trust her when she goes out to clubs and parties all night.

I might be mistaken but it seems at least one artist (or at least one song  ) has gotten away from PG13.

i was reading somewhere that one of the famous songs (name escapes me, I'll post it if I think of it) is about one of the girls going out and "hooking up" with different boys at different places (noreabang, club, etc)

[Yegob]

btw. just rewatched SNSD on Kelly Live!...

looked to me a bit better than the Letterman performance.. AND.. now I'm thinking I agree with Teddy Riley, etc... that Boys song is way  more American pop taste suitable than the cutesy  .. "Gee" for e.g.

haven't really kept tabs on evolution of these girlie groups, but their choreography and appearance is definitely less "cutesy" than back in the day when I first experienced it (and then proceeded to ignore it).

it was nice that they got a chance to interact with the hosts a little after the song (that never happens on Letterman for almost all music acts)

all in all, I think a nice "coup" for SM Mgmt.. Good US exposure.

whether that will translate into commercial viability of any sorts stateside  is a different matter. I'd have to bet  no.

[Mountain Crocodile]

I think so little of it I don't find it worthy of discussion.
Just as back home in the U.S. I would spend zero time thinking about or talking about whatever lame, media-contrived B.S. du jour was popular.
I live in Korea but that doesn't mean I need to have an opinion on things that mean nothing to me just because they're Korean.

+1

Well said.

MC

[Yegob]

I think so little of it I don't find it worthy of discussion.
Just as back home in the U.S. I would spend zero time thinking about or talking about whatever lame, media-contrived B.S. du jour was popular.
I live in Korea but that doesn't mean I need to have an opinion on things that mean nothing to me just because they're Korean.

+1

Well said.

MC

we're in the distinct minority.

as the deceased Eazy E rapped when NWA first broke out. in the song.. " a  _itch is a _itch"

"talking about who's !@#@ing who and who's getting fat".

that is the very ESSENCE of news today. It's called "entertainment news" and apparently a huge demand exists for it or else we wouldn't be getting so much of it.

the Korean press is just as guilty if not more. Every day we get "news" that so and so is in a "romantic relationship" with so and so. (aka they're !@!@ing).  This is confirmed and or made "news" by their publicists.

wow.. great! isn't that exciting?

[Rusty Brown]

I don't like K-pop and I don't think K-pop stars are good live dancers. They look alright in videos, but the girls especially can't own a stage like a brawnier westerner. They're too pulpy and demure (a compliment) and they just can't pull big shapes.

Also, on top of not liking the music it's annoying when Korean friends insist that we westerners are crazy about K-pop, despite hearing from me that they're quite wrong. Certainly in the UK, it's almost unheard of.

Lastly, call me old fashioned but I find the transexual look on guys slightly distressing. I've seen some of the boys from my elementary schools wearing bright red lipstick when they're out with their mates after school. When I was at school everyone wanted to look like a nutter, not a transexual.

[confusedsafferinkorea]

I read yesterday of the latest scandal in K-Pop about some promoter forcing girls to have sex with other singers in order to maintain or get contracts. From what I gather that is pretty rife in the industry.

Last Sunday evening, my Korean friend was having dinner with us and he turned my TV onto a channel where there is a competition for girls to get to be a K-Pop star, kind of elimination contest week by week.  My friend is what I consider an enlightened Korea having lived abroad for many years and I was stunned by his adoration of the obviously under-aged girl jiving away on the screen.

If I remember correctly too some of the K-Pop bands have been in trouble (or at least scrutinized) for having underaged girls in their group. Well here is a national TV company actively promoting this sort of thing.  I think it is totally unacceptable, but the doting parents obviously don't. I wouldn't let my daughter go within 10km of a place like that.

I guess I will be called a conservative, narrow-minded person by some of the people here, but anyway that is my opinion given the reputation of show biz here.

[Andy84]

Tayon and Tiffany from SNSD could warm my bed any night  that's my opinion on kpop.

[confusedsafferinkorea]

Here is something from today's KT to support what I said in my previous post:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/04/113_109792.html

Allegations that senior government officials and business tycoons got together with female celebrities at bars many times have recently caused a stir.

An actress in her 20s said that such a thing occurs frequently in the Korean entertainment industry.

The actress, who made her debut more than two years ago, recalled that a TV program director asked her to go to bed with him in return for her appearance in a soap opera.

In an interview with CBS Radio, she said he told her that “I’m willing to make you a Cinderella. Are you willing to do something for me?”

Asking for anonymity, she said similar things occur many times in the industry.

Regarding the alleged rape of female aspirants by an entertainment agency CEO, she said it is no wonder that such a thing took place. “I heard about similar incidents many times.”

She said she was sexually harassed by a business tycoon at a dinner. She said she was told by officials of her entertainment agency that they were going to have a dinner with a Chairman Han.

During the dinner, she said, the chairman touched her thigh.

She said there were a lot of cases in which actresses had sexual intercourse with people in return for “economic assistance.” “I heard that in many other cases, they were given money, a house or a car.”

“Actually, actresses need much money. So, it may be difficult to resist the temptation,” she said.

As to reports that female entertainers served CEOs and senior government officials at bars in southern Seoul, she said, “I hear about that frequently. Some of them used to sit on the knee of the men as soon as they enter the room.”

[alyssa.callahan]

I'm personally a big fan of K-Pop... I just really like the upbeat songs that have a good rhythm.  I also like the voices better than what you might find in pop music elsewhere.  I also really appreciate the fact that the stars behind the music very rarely make headlines for improper conduct or for stupid reasons.  It's like a clean version of other pop music with cleaner singers (generally speaking, of course... there will always be that one crazy).

That being said, there are very few female K-Pop groups that I can listen to for more than ten seconds.  The ones that I enjoy are the no-nonsense women that don't make cutesy faces or noises in their music and MVs.  That just grates on my ears.  I tend to enjoy more male K-Pop groups because they don't make cutesy noises, their voices are more naturally sung, and their MVs contain more difficult and technical dance moves as opposed to the "walking around on heels and shaking the derriere" moves that most of the girl groups do.

But that's just me.   

[confusedsafferinkorea]

I'm personally a big fan of K-Pop... I just really like the upbeat songs that have a good rhythm.  I also like the voices better than what you might find in pop music elsewhere.  I also really appreciate the fact that the stars behind the music very rarely make headlines for improper conduct or for stupid reasons.  It's like a clean version of other pop music with cleaner singers (generally speaking, of course... there will always be that one crazy).

That being said, there are very few female K-Pop groups that I can listen to for more than ten seconds.  The ones that I enjoy are the no-nonsense women that don't make cutesy faces or noises in their music and MVs.  That just grates on my ears.  I tend to enjoy more male K-Pop groups because they don't make cutesy noises, their voices are more naturally sung, and their MVs contain more difficult and technical dance moves as opposed to the "walking around on heels and shaking the derriere" moves that most of the girl groups do.

But that's just me.   

Really? did you look at today's Korea Times and my previous post?

[w4z]

It's the lowest common denominator of music in Korea.  I'd rather listen to an Ajeossi sing at a noraebang.

[newbiek]

Some people are taking this way too seriously. As some of the posters have mentioned it's POP music. It's not meant to be deep, or influential or have a message. I like Kpop for when I need a song to dance to to or feel chipper just like I like other genres when I feel or need to feel a certain way. Most of the music is geared towards teens and preteens, yes, but there are some who do try to be a little different (mainly the older groups). There's no point to bash the whole industry or get upset at all Kpop artists because most of the music doesn't suit your style. If you have a ipod/mp3 player or any music device, just plug in your headphones and enjoy yourself. And if that's too hard, try to look up Korean artists other than Kpoppers who suit your musical styles - there is more to South Korean music than just Kpop.

[cinamon]

Me loves K-pop.  It makes me feel all giggly, jiggly inside and young again.  Boy I wish I was 20 years younger so I can go to the concerts and gawk at the young popstars without feeling like an old perv.

[confusedsafferinkorea]

there is more to South Korean music than just Kpop.

Yes, but it is the only music that is actively supported and funded by the government and they are trying to artificially create the impression that it is the number one music in the world and that everyone wants to visit, live and study in Korea because of it.  The government seems to think that if they pour funds into it then it will be a way that Korea will be the number one country in the world.

I think that is what annoys me the most.

[alyssa.callahan]

I'm personally a big fan of K-Pop... I just really like the upbeat songs that have a good rhythm.  I also like the voices better than what you might find in pop music elsewhere.  I also really appreciate the fact that the stars behind the music very rarely make headlines for improper conduct or for stupid reasons.  It's like a clean version of other pop music with cleaner singers (generally speaking, of course... there will always be that one crazy).

That being said, there are very few female K-Pop groups that I can listen to for more than ten seconds.  The ones that I enjoy are the no-nonsense women that don't make cutesy faces or noises in their music and MVs.  That just grates on my ears.  I tend to enjoy more male K-Pop groups because they don't make cutesy noises, their voices are more naturally sung, and their MVs contain more difficult and technical dance moves as opposed to the "walking around on heels and shaking the derriere" moves that most of the girl groups do.

But that's just me.   

Really? did you look at today's Korea Times and my previous post?

No, I didn't.  But apparently you missed my mention that I was generalizing. 

[cinamon]

Now tell me you don't want to just skip off into the sunset everytime you hear "Dreams come true".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Gtg_CRoY4