[Oct '14]
NOTE: this was all written under blind rage by my 18 year old self
Kpop is absolute shit compared to Jpop/J-music.
A thought that always come up whenever I temporarily take a quick visit to the world of J-music.
Last night I went through my W-inds. collection out of boredom and realised how epic their music was - hence why I downloaded every single song. Also found out they recently released 2 new singles - 'Let's Get It On' and 'Be As One'. The former having slightly humurous sexual lyrics (not a favourite but dayummm, Ryohei! DAYUM!), and the latter is just...utterly gorgeous (used as ending theme for Fairy Tail).
Can you see what I'm saying here?
I prefer this song more compared to most of the Kpop songs that are currently out ._.
It's pretty, has meaning, not ridiculous and really displays lead vocal's talent - despite not displaying Ryohei and Ryuichi's rap skills and treating them as back dancers pft (at least there's a rap section in the other single).
Back to Kpop.
Honestly there's just so much auto-tuning in the songs that it pisses me off that I can't hear the beautiful voice of the lead vocal. The crazy visual concepts that bands are heavily reliant upon is just...ridiculous, Orange Caramel is a perfect example. Screw music we're going to make cute music because we're a cute band that wears crazy childish costumes! No I'm not an Orange Caramel anti, I do have criticisms on other bands that I'm a fan of. Sometimes the lyrics are absurd, honestly when chorus' are made up just one word or phrase repeated over and over again. Catchy, but seriously WTFF.
All I can say is: Kpop is merely trivial entertainment for our ears as well as eyes, it's like watching viral YouTube videos where a fat guy runs into something and falls down.
J-music/Jpop on the other hand is more...controlled.
Generally they're not as flamboyant and over the top as Kpop. You don't really hear auto-tune in every single song. They don't have a crazy concept for every single song. They create songs with meaning, not some stupid meaning like OMG HE JUST DUMPED ME...BUT THAT'S OKAY, I'LL JUMP JUMP JUMP TILL I'M HAPPY. And I have yet to hear a super popular song by some girl group like AKB48 singing a word like "Gee" over and over again.
...Yes I know VK bands are flamboyant with crazy ass visuals. But hey at least they don't make pointless sounding music!
Meh. Can't be bothered to elaborate more...
Maybe it's because I've been a fan of Kpop for like over 3 years and I just noticed in the past 2 years that Kpop is simply losing...creativity. It's spinning out of control. It's getting...overrated. Netizens are being bigger assholes than ever. Silly songs are hitting number 1 on the charts. Stupid pointless songs and MVs are being created. Similar concepts are being used over and over again, e.g. sexy concept, cute concept, manly abs concept and etc.
There was one time where I about to go into a full blown rant about how K-pop celebs are called musicians. In reality they aren't musicians as they don't create/write their own music and therefore fall into the lowest category of musicianship and therefore should be stripped of their title of being 'musicians'.
But then I realised...these celebs are more often called 'idols' than 'musicians'. 'Idols' being the perfect term for them because they're not just singers, they're dancers, actors, models and teenage role models...A bit excessive but meh, their choice.
Kpop celebs were then saved from being ranted about.
Sometimes I just wish Korean Muic Industry and S. Korea would recognise the underrated bands like Red Soul (who disappeared) and T-Blue (who are constantly ignored by the masses). They have amazing vocals and should shine and succeed! Not only that, top the charts too! But alas no. I guess the youth of Korea prefer leggy and skinny girls, topless ab-tastic guys and pretty faces.
Then again I kind of prefer these bands being underrated. Being underrated means you won't get crazy schedules like the overrated and end up risking your health. Being underrated means more privacy and having less netizens interested in digging out your past. Being underrated means you don't have to succumb to the ways of acting all happy and fake on TV.
I totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteDid you realize that most(all) of Kpop songs come with a dance music video? Like seriously, that is so superficial! They know that their songs suck so they had to catch people's eyes instead of ears.
For me, Korean idols are only about "looks". Most of them can't sing! and so they cover it up with a slutty(cute in fans eyes) dance. They only care about appearance and half of their idols are underage. FYI: SM entertainment standards are 80% looks and 20% talent. And like you said, their songs are totally pointless and meaningless, furthermore it's annoying and stupid. (I just had to laugh at GN.A’s I’ll Back Off so You Can Live Better. Good vocals, unbelievably stupid meaning)
Jpop/Jrock on the other hand, is just beautiful. It comes with a massage, and the language is flawless and beautiful. You could listen to it without having to watch the music video! They don’t care about appearance at all! They don’t have to do surgeries to be loved, and mostly they don’t care if the singer is over 30.
I don't know what’s the big deal about Kpop and with people worshiping Kpop, they should already realize that its crap and that they’ve been brainwashed.
Exactly this is the problem with some of my friends !! They are so extremely obsessed with kpop that I don't even want to talk to them right now !!! They think kpop is the greatest thing since toilet paper !!! I tried to listen to some of BTS's songs- it did not go well !! TO me it was annoying because it soooo heavily autotuned that all you can hear is the annoying rap beats rather than the maybe decent voices of the singers !! I think that the kpop industry should focus more on teaching the idols to sing rather than making them go on crazy diets and training them until 1:00 am on how to look pretty and dancing well. In my opinion, the ability to actually do your area of profession well beats looking like a model and knowing how to dance really well.
Deleteyeah,kpop doesn't even representative their own country.they use american pop culture too much...''its all about money"..too much plastic surgery,its showing that they're (maybe) hate theirself to be born.
ReplyDeleteyou know,i was into kpop die hard fans,but i just realised that the idols just like "dolls",they're not real,they can't do anything without the management.
I just discovered your blog and found it very insightful. My little sister is just obsessed with anything and everything K-Pop. Now I'm an open-minded kind of guy. I'm black and listen to Rock and Alternative and all kinds of music. I am a die hard comic book fan in fact. So I get it, she loves the stuff. However she is the kind of person to just indirectly shove it down your throat. Do you have any suggestions? I have been trying to get her to expand her horizons and not just be so blindly obsessive with another K-Pop or Korean, particularly because she is Hispanic. She doesn't even give her own culture a chance.
ReplyDelete?Just saying Jrock is totally number one for me, but I also like kpop. Why?... Do you guys even dislike the genre of music, you act like it's killing you or something. Music should be universal for everyone and don't try to repress someone to like another type of music. Eventually they might do it themselves. And everyone just loves to say that they're 'fake' and 'dolls' and their music is 'auto-tuned'. Dude, why are you just talking about the Kpop dance songs? You do know their are actually ballad songs with mainly the vocals right? Or concert performances where you can actually hear their voices without the 'auto-tune' you mentioned. Crazy visuals....Excuse but don't you think that is the definition of artists (I listen to these and respect their music) such as Lady gaga. Sorry but to be truthful, a lot of american music besides country, repeats the chorus most of the song Rhianna's "We found love" for example. Is oppan gangnam style the best you could really come up with as comparison? Do you know why people liked it so much? I don't personally, but they like it because it is something STUPID it's hilarious but at the same time hilariously bad. What do you mean their lyrics arent meaningful? Are you saying that it's not compared to modern songs in america about sex, drugs, and how we can't ever get back together any better? If you believe their concepts are just too boring now then help them create an original concept. What? you can't cause everything has pretty much been done already? We aren't limitless people. They don't even write their own music. That comment was just so pathetic I cried laughing from it. XD Who are you to be able to strip them of their titles? The only part I actually could agree on is your last paragraph, but even then at least I know how resilient the idols must be to know that there are people like you who leave them, then diss them and continue to make the fans who love kpop unhappy. The only 'antis' I would ever support are the ones against things that make society degrade such as rape, abortion and drugs. Slutty dancing, well I can't argue about that XD Hyuna for example XD But take a look at american artist or even Shakira who's hispanic. She wore a fucking nude suit in She-wolf and that isn't sluttier than the girls in S.Korea who are reprimanded for even spreading their legs a bit? Let the people like kpop after all it stopped my friend from suicide. And if you say that's stupid then you are just a sad, pitiful and lonely human who disregards other human lives. If people insist that you like kpop you have of course the right to deny it. Just tell them it's not for you and then turn it back and insist that they like your genre.
ReplyDeleteWow okay. You're really taking this 'spur of the moment' post far too seriously. Don't get worked up over it, it's just an opinion piece with no intent of conversion.
DeleteWell firstly I'm just gonna put it out there that I don't actually hate Kpop. This was a rant post just to express my occaisional frustation with Kpop. Hence why it's entitled: Why I hate Kpop SOMETIMES. In no way am I trying to force ANYONE to dislike Kpop, I'm just offering an alternative opinion. This post is a critique.
Additionally back in 2011 I didn't have enough knowledge to know that Kpop isn't the preferred genre in Korea, indie bands tend to be more popular like Busker Busker.
What is with all these American music comparisons? I am not saying Kpop is the only genre out there that should be criticised, any country's pop music can be citicised also. This post speaks about Kpop exclusively, I do not hint that American pop music is better. Please note I am speaking in terms of technicalities and objectivity as opposed to subjectivity and overall enjoyment of the genre.
Excuse me but I actually mentioned "musicians" NOT artists. Kpop idols can be referred to artists as they hold artistic talents. However musician is on a whole different level, it is specific whereas artists is broad. The arts encompass dance, perforamce and music, whereas musicianship can only encompass music alone. A dancer such as Kai from EXO cannot be classified as a musician but yes he can be classified as an artist.
I was basing musicianship in terms of the traditional norms that I had gathered from my research paper on popular music: to be able to write music and perform actual music.
That is correct, 'who am I to strip them of their titles?' I am not stripping them of their titles though. I am being speculative and offering the opinion that those who do not fall under the category of a musician should not be classified as one. Perhaps I should let you know that I am not referring to all idols but a majority of them who do not possess true vocal talent or musical writing skills.
Also I did not mention Gangnam Style in this post. See the date the post was posted? Heck did you even read the post with a clear and open mind or did you read it with a biased mindset? I wonder.
"If you believe their concepts are just too boring now then help them create an original concept." - Wow did you just seriously suggest that?
Let me remind you that I am in no way dissing idols or hold intent upon making the Kpop community unhappy. Heck why do you assume that I am? Why you assume that I'm telling people to completely stop listening to Kpop? All I'm trying to convey here really is that Kpop is perhaps going OTT.
"And if you say that's stupid then you are just a sad, pitiful and lonely human who disregards other human lives." - that was an awful generalisation. Me disregarding other human lives? And don't get me started on what my life was like before Kpop happened.
I have to agree with you here! I prefer underrated artists or artists that are not popular than those overrated artists like SNSD and so on... I hope those underrated artists I like stay underrated! It's because I only listen to underrated artists! And yes, songs that are #1 in the charts nowadays are silly songs or probably those artists that have so many fans that's why their song/s became #1 because of them even if the song is not great or #1 worthy on my opinion! This is one reason why I hate K-Pop sometimes! Great underrated songs doesn't became #1 and charts very low and those who charts high are songs that doesn't sound good to me! I wish I didn't listened to K-Pop, and because of K-Pop I seldom or don't listen to foreign non K-Pop songs anymore! :/
ReplyDeleteThat sooo true mostly all the kpop MVS have like you said "Silly songs are hitting number 1 on the charts. Stupid pointless songs and MVs are being created. Similar concepts are being used over and over again, e.g. sexy concept, cute concept, manly abs concept and etc." that totally blowed my mind! thanks !!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I still like my kpop, but in music quality, kpop as a genre tends to be musically inferior to k-indie or k-rock for example. I don't tend to find kpop so exciting and daring any more. I'm bored of same-ee songs and repetitive themes. However, now and then, I still look forward to that next gem when kpop gets it right. When that happens it's great.
ReplyDeleteI guess it can be quite like British pop. A lot of rubbish out there, but now and then, something nice and shiny dug out from the dirt.
JKPOP fan here! I highly agree. Me, I can't help compare both genres at some time. JPOP really has better music quality compare to KPOP that focuses onto MVs and their idols/groups most of the time. I kinda like K-Indie than KPOP but it would be so hypocrite of me to say so because I stated that I am a fan of KPOP. I am not just one of the biased fans out there who are too narrow-minded. Just neutral.
ReplyDeleteI don't have to like KPOP most of the time anyway, it'd be so dull and boring. If it weren't for KPOP's perfected singers and dancers, they wouldn't get so much limelight. I know that JPOP would step up and give a better music to be heard. Calling some KPOP idols 'musician' is just another atrocity, they should read their dictionary and find the true meaning of it. Just because you sing someone\s song or dance amateurishly doesn't state your a musician or whatsoever.
I think that's why "idol" term created from idol group member in Japan & Korea.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan noone expected Johnys or AKB to have great musical abilities, they're mean to be all around entertainer. You will see a lot of TV serial or variety show with Johny's boys.
In term, musicality I will agree, in Japan their music genre is way more diverse than K-music (i don't really know or have any interest to K-indie).
Japanese band can easily topped oricon chart like Mr. Children, Superfly
The part when you said "OMG HE JUST DUMPED ME...BUT THAT'S OKAY, I'LL JUMP JUMP JUMP TILL I'M HAPPY" was soo FUNNY XD!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL, I agree. WTF is with that stupid MV stuff? Sometimes, I don't get that shit, even though everything looks pretty and stuff. Rather than listen to the music, which sounds really jumbled and a bit repetitive, I usually use it to look at the fashion trends (fashion major here). Or to get a quick inspiration from the MV themes.
DeleteBig Bang wtite their own songs just sharing hehehe.
ReplyDelete