Are you ready for K-pop? (a K2 production)

[Deleted]

Past the age of about 25, most of us have our blinders on, and we are completely oblivious to new trends in music, especially foreign music.

However, I have been reading and hearing more and more about Korean pop music, or K-pop as it is called, which has gained dominance in much of Asia, particularly Japan and China.

Frankly, to my own taste, just about all of it sounds like absolute crap, mixing Korean and English in crypto-Anglo music styles, but the music videos really fascinate me, because one really sees that there is something fundamentally different about the cultural codes and symbolism.

Nevertheless, the music is sure to improve, and they will come to crack the Occidental market one of these day -- they are already making quite a bit of headway in Russia. Here are just a few examples so that you can brace yourselves.

[bixaorellana]

As a skilled watcher of Mexican teen soaps ( ), I have to say that the first video looks as though the song was a spin-off from a soap opera. Check out some RBD videos to see what I mean.

The second one has the feel of something very commercial and aimed at the mid-teen group, with the video slickly designed to appeal to youthful angst.

The third one seems designed for teens, as well. You have to admire it, as it could pass for absolute irony or for pure, simple-minded wish fulfillment.

I don't love this music, but I don't hate it, either. Okay, the second one is pretty ......... irritating. But it doesn't feel all that exotic, either. mainly because of the reason stated in my first paragraph.

[Deleted]

Yes, what Bixa said. It grated my nerves,big time.

[Deleted]

A little T-pop for a change.

[Deleted]

Or maybe some J-pop?

[Deleted]

Like it or not, k-pop has begun to conquer the world.

This Gangnam Style video already has more than 20 million views. I particularly like the yellow outfit that appears halfway through the video and also at the end.

[Deleted]

Gangnam Style has now passed the 1 billion mark -- first video in history to do so.

[Deleted]

The new Psy song "Gentleman" has already reached 125 million views and it is no Gangnam Style.

[Deleted]

North Korean pop is not quite the same style as South Korean pop. This song is in the news today because the singer was a former mistress of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, and she was executed with a number of other pop stars last week. The death sentence was not based on the quality of the song but on accusations of pornography.

[Deleted]

You did not give us the lyrics.

Our factory comrades say in jest,
Why, they tell me I am a virgin on a stallion,
After a full day's work I still have energy left...
They say I am a virgin on a stallion,
Mounting a stallion my Dear Leader gave me.
All my life I will live to uphold his name.

[Deleted]

Prophetic coffin in this video since two of the singers died in a car crash this week, aged 22 and 23.

[Deleted]

Here's the top song of the year so far. More than 50 million views on YouTube.

[Deleted]

American cheerleaders as a Korean fantasy

[Deleted]

Or how about the American drive in restaurant as a Korean fantasy?

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

[kerouac2]

Since Jonghyun decided to join club 27 over the weekend, I found myself having to google charcoal + frying pan + suicide to find out about his methodology since the items were mentioned in passing as though everybody knew all about this. Heat up charcoal in a frying pan in a closed room = rapid carbon monoxide poisoning. I suppose that means he was a healthy young man compared to most club members, who generally use drugs or firearms.

[onlyMark]

Regular thing in the summer are campers who get cold and bring inside their portable one use bbq thing.

[kerouac2]

The Stade de France holds about 82,000 people for a concert and the K-pop group BTS filled it twice last week, with tickets going for 200-400 euros.



Are we feeling old yet?

[kerouac2]

And now we have the first K-pop video to exceed one billion views. The world has moved on without us.

[kerouac2]

[kerouac2]

From the BBC:

North Korean state media has urged its young people against using slang from South Korea and told them to speak North Korea's standard language.

There were also fresh warnings in North Korea's official newspaper against adopting the fashions, hairstyles and music of South Korea.

It is part of a sweeping new law which seeks to stamp out any kind of foreign influence, with harsh penalties.

Those found in breach of the law can face jail or even execution.

Rodong Sinmun newspaper warned millennials of the dangers of following South Korean pop culture.

"The ideological and cultural penetration under the colourful coloured signboard of the bourgeoisie is even more dangerous than enemies who are taking guns," the article read.

It stressed that Korean based on the Pyongyang dialect is superior, and that young people should use it correctly.

[kerouac2]