Korea District
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Anyone else noticing the *small* amount of hype Psy is getting stateside? I mean he’s only eleventh on the most significant music charts in America. No big, right? If you’ve not picked up my sarcastic tone by now please allow me to tell you I’m being a little bit sarcastic.
I honestly don’t know what to think of the recent Gangnam Style phenomenon. It’s all over my Facebook friend’s posts (they of course spell it as opa ngannam or something like that) and I’m just sitting here going “but…it’s not even the coolest new song in Korea right now.” I also have no idea what the coolest new song in Korea is right now though. I don’t know what I think about this whole thing.
Part of me is concerned about the fact that the main draw to the song isn’t because it’s a great song…but rather it’s an Asian guy releasing a silly music video. Asians have long been seen as “silly” or “strange” to American audiences when it comes to music and visuals. ”Oh those Japanese…” isn’t a strange phrase here. Many Americans expect Asian music to be odd and funny. Is he really breaking a mold, or did he luck into a market he can now exploit for all it’s worth? Either way he’s going to be a very wealthy man. However, what will this do to other Kpop acts that want to debut in America? Are they going to start trying the goofy MV method and pray it goes viral? Will Psy’s success with this song cast a shadow on all other acts trying to debut here? Will his success make it harder for other Korean (and by extension Asian) artists to be taken as serious pop/rb/hip-hop acts? Or have these other Kpop artists been damned to being typecasted even more into the “Asian music’s funny” category?
Occasionally, I really, really need a break from Big Three idol pop. Sometimes I just need a break from idol pop from any major company. I mean seeing news articles about G-Dragon’s pink hair (amazing what pops up on Naver) is interesting, but…
In all honestly, I’m starting to get annoyed with seeing idols several years younger than me debuting, and when global auditions for various companies started happening this year, seeing that people born before 1992 are now being considered “too old” to audition has really caused my idol love to start to go cold. I still have idols I enjoy, but I don’t listen to newer idols as much as I used to. (That said I got into Miss A within the last couple months, and I’m glad I did.) Couple all this emotional baggage with the fact I’ve made somewhat of an effort to showcase non-idols here at Korea District and you’ve got a recipe for a new review post.
Anonymous asked: hello there! i found that your tumblr is quite interesting~^^ so~ i would like to ask about the daum blog, once if you have registered, can you change the url??
Sorry it took so long for me to get back to this. I’m moving in a couple weeks so I’ve been busy packing! As for the Daum blog question, I do not believe it’s possible to change your URL. I am not finding any option to do so. If I find it, I will post a tutorial on it, however, as it stands, I don’t think it’s possible.
(warning: long post and it is mostly NOT about T-ara.)
Everything I touch dies.
I was never a T-ara fan. I liked a few of their songs and earlier this summer I ran into a picture of Hwayoung that was absolutely gorgeous, and I decided I liked her. Now she’s caught up in a scandal in which has gotten her contract terminated.
I need to get my feelings about this out of the way to please ignore the Kpop post.
My personal opinion: T-ara is probably guilty.
annyeongsapphireblue asked: It's Gyeongsangnamdo again, I had no characters left, so here's my actual question (I'm very sorry to bother you with this and I'm even more sorry to be so sudden and talk too much, especially since I don't think you're very North Korea 'based'? But you seem to be the only person who really knows something about Korea). So, since Buddhism is fairly more accepted than Christianity in North Korea, I wonder if you know if ever any people there were shot or criticized for believing in Buddha?
First off thank you for such a thought provoking question! While I enjoy getting questions of all kinds, this one in particular made my brain exceedingly happy with all the research and thought I had to put into it. That said it’s going to be a long, drawn out answer full of details you probably don’t want. Let’s get started.
Okay, so I graduated (junior college so not a huge deal) May 4th. I haven’t had much internet access since! I ended up going to my dad’s house that is 17 hours away right after graduation. I have no idea what’s “cool” in Kpop right now so here’s what I’ve listened to today when I finally managed to steal a computer:
우리 처음 만난 날
우리 - we
처음 - first
만난 - met
날 - day
This song is very mellow, and I didn’t even notice when it ended. It’s a very peaceful love song.
Standing Egg - 넌 이별 난 아직
넌 이별 난 아직 means something like “You’re parting; I’m still.” Which means someone is leaving while the other person is staying.
넌 - you are
이별 - parting, farewell, part (from)
난 - I am
아직 - still, yet
I’ve seen it translated as “Farewell for you, not yet for me.”
Enjoy the song!
Now you can say you got pepero. :) Happy pepero day~
How did we go from this amazing teaser (of “Me, In”):
To this so-so teaser that terrified me that the song wouldn’t be cool:
To this:
“This” being a sloppy mess, and a Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas” melody rip-off. (Or something, it just sounds way too familiar.)
The outfits aren’t in the least bit flattering and the dance moves are sloppy looking. I’m am very disappointed.
Is this how JYP got people to pre-order? Tempt them with a song that sounds like it’s amazing and then give them this….mess as a title track?
I am aware that my words are harsh so let me say this…I do not blame the girls. I believe they worked really hard and put all the effort they could muster up into this song. ”Me, In” is as good at the teaser hinted it was, and to be honest from the songs I’ve listened to, it’s probably not a bad album. ”G.N.O” and “Me, In” are good but the whole “Be My Baby” mess really ruins my personal satisfaction with the album. There are a couple tracks I think would do outstanding in the American market assuming JYP wises up in title-track choice.
For people that may visit my site every other day or so you may have noticed I’ve played around with a lot of different layouts. Finally, we have one I am happy with!
Expect more postage within sometime soon. :) Right now, however, I need to finish yet another essay. You guys know anything about John Winthrop and his “Reasons to be Considered for Justifying the Undertakers of the Intended Plantation in New England?”
It’s official! Sunday, October 2nd, in Japan T-ara has surpassed SNSD’s Genie in terms of first week sales. Genie was SNSD’s debut single and it debuted with 44,907 copies
T-ara stands at 47,864 with Bo Peep Bo Peep.
T-ara’s daily sales numbers are as follows:
I believe T-ara is about to make history by having their Japanese debut single land at number one on the weekly Oricon charts. How unfortunate isn’t not a better song.
Why do I believe they’ll be number one? As it stands (current as of September 30th) T-ara has sold 38,213 copies and their closest competitor has sold 34,645. SID is a group I can see over-taking T-ara but I do not see them doing it this week. Out of four days they have been number one for two of them and in a close second on the other two. First day sales are also going to help these girls keep their lead, unless, something really drastic happens.
“Don’t lose your temper so quickly~”
Within the last two weeks I’ve had rough drafts and papers due. I have two more full fledged papers due next week on top of whatever else homework that has been assigned. Things, this year, started off with a bang needless to say. I haven’t forgotten; I’ve just been busy.
Taken from allkpop:
“When asked how they could just tell like that, they explained that you needed to keep an eye on groups that promote in the same cycle. Idol groups have schedules from morning till night so there isn’t any other time they can meet people other than the faces they see in waiting rooms backstage of variety or music shows. Naturally, idols become closer, especially since their lifestyle patterns are the same.”
I am so painfully amused at this. It makes me want to watch all the idol groups and see if I can spot anything. I mean there is that Kyuhyun and Seungyeon rumor going around….
Let me know if you spot any possible couples! This can be a game~
PS. Twitter…I has one.
