Farwell and Kpop On!

 

                                 Christmas Song by Cube Entertainment
 Artists featured in video by order of appearance: Beast, 4Minute,A-pink, Huh Gak, Roh Ji Hoon, G.na, Btob, and Kim Ki Ri

                                                              

The holidays are coming, which means that school is almost over! Although, this is such a bittersweet moment, I had so much fun creating this Kpop blog and sharing my knowledge about Kpop with all of you. I may not be a Kpop specialist but having this opportunity to put everything I have known into actual posts was challenging but definitely worth it at the end. This was my first ever experience with creating a blog and I can definitely say that blogging is not easy!

During the process of creating this blog, I have learned so much about how to create a blog as well as learning different techniques to create the perfect post. I was never too fond of the idea of creating my own blog because I was always really shy when it came to others reading my posts. But I believe that from this blogging experience I have grown so much as a writer and have become a lot more comfortable with voicing my opinions and my writing. 

What really made me enjoy this time as a blogger was the fact that I could write about something I love and listen to religiously. I really liked sharing my opinion as well as giving others insight on Kpop. Either if you are new to Kpop or already a fan, there are always new things to learn and appreciate about Kpop and the Kpop idols that make the Kpop Industry so popular. Since the time I have listened to Kpop, I’ve always had such a great appreciation for Kpop idols so, hopefully I was able to voice my appreciation in my posts while, giving you the insight on Kpop.

 Kpop has constantly kept me moving and dancing everyday so, I really hope that for those of you who have never listened to Kpop that Kpop would do the same for you. MUSIC IS UNIVERSAL! Even if you might not be able to understand the lyrics in a song, it doesn’t mean you can’t like it and rock out!  

 

Snow Candy by Starship Planet

                                      Artists in this video: Boyfriend, Sistar, K.will

With that said, I think I can finally say that I made it through something that I never thought I would ever do. Although, I really enjoyed my time as a blogger, I will probably not continue to post but I will definitely remember all the skills I’ve learned about blog posting and use these skills in my writing. As a final goodbye, I will leave you with some holiday songs sung by various Kpop artists. Also, if you are looking for some good Kpop songs to listen to or want to give Kpop a try, I will also list a few Kpop songs that I am currently obsessed with. 

Thank You for reading my blog and I hope that I was able to give you the other side of the Kpop Industry as well as influence you to listen to Kpop!    

Here is my list of Kpop songs:

- One Way Love by Hyorin 

- Boy in Luv by Bangtan Boys (BTS) 

- Girls, Why by VIXX with 옥상달빛

- Hush by Miss A  


- G.R.8.U by VIXX 

               

          Enjoy the songs and Have a Happy Holiday! 

The Differences between SM & YG

                 
                                                      On the top: SM Entertainment family
                                                      On the bottom: YG Entertainment family
                                 Image:  http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/10760654.html

           

            In the Kpop Industry, SM and YG are 2 out of the 3 biggest Korean entertainment companies. Not only does SM and YG produce and create Kpop groups, they have the highest grossing profit and is well known all around South Korea and internationally. Now, although SM and YG are in the same entertainment business, where they produce and create Kpop groups, these 2 companies have many unique differences that make them the top 2 successful companies.  

                                                            "Monster" by Big Bang

             Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDd9rOlc2k

 SM and YG use the same process of auditioning and trainee system like every other Korean entertainment business. They hold auditions looking for the most talented person to hopefully bring their company profit but the difference between the two companies are the types of music they produce and what they look for in an idol.                         

 2NE1 from YG Entertainment
Image:http://oneasiaa.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/lyricseng-2ne1-ugly/

While, SM have very talented idols under their label, they have been known for choosing idols based on how they look more than talent. SM believes that they can create the perfect idol that can sing and dance so, as long as you have the looks and some talent, they will add you into their company. SM promotes many of their idols on reality shows and variety shows where, Korean idols from their company can showcase themselves and also bring publicity for their Kpop group that they are in. Compared to SM, YG is a little bit different in this area. YG is more talent based and is not focused on looks. If you watch YG produced music videos, you can see that the Kpop group's vocals are being showcased rather than dancing. YG doesn’t promote their idols as much compared to SM idols but even without YG idols going on shows, groups from YG like 2NE1 and Big Bang are still one of the top Kpop groups in South Korea.    

                                                             "I Got a Boy" by Girls' Generation
                                                 Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7ftOZBy0E

 F(x) from SM Entertainment
Image:http://thekpoprage.wordpress.com/category/fx-vs-miss-a/

As two of the biggest Korean entertainment companies, SM and YG produce many popular Kpop groups that bring out the two companies particular sound. SM Entertainment produced popular Kpop groups like Super Junior, Shinee, Girls’ Generation, EXO, F(x), only to name a few. While, YG produced popular Kpop groups like Big Bang and 2NE1. Now, these groups have all risen to popularity all around Asia for their songs and individual character but SM and YG produce very different genres of music compared to each other. SM’s music has more of an upbeat pop sound. For example, Super Junior’s most popular song “Sorry, Sorry” and Girls’ Generation, “I Got a Boy” are very upbeat while, showing dance, looks, and vocals in videos.  While, YG has more of an electronic, hip hop, R&B sound, while showcasing mostly vocals, which you can hear and see in Big Bang’s song “Monster” and 2NE1’s song “It Hurts.” music video.

                                          "Sorry, Sorry" by Super Junior
                              Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QA3m58DQw

I think what makes SM and YG so successful is how different they are from other companies. They produce Kpop music with different genres that people are able to sing along to and really like. Although, these companies are really strict and are very picky when choosing who they want in their company, they have shown with these methods, that it can lead to success. These differences that I have talked about in this blog post is just the general differences but there are a lot of other things that each company brings into the Korean Industry.   

                                                  "It hurts" by 2NE1
                            Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUiMaz4BNKw

          After watching the music videos, which type of music did you prefer?  

            

Kpop is Universal

        
                   http://24-7kpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/live-concert-kpop-in-california.jpg

               

         While living in America, we are exposed to the American music industry as well as the Pop songs that are constantly played on the radios. I’m in no way saying that American music is at all boring, but sometimes it’s nice to have a diverse selection of music to listen to, rather than just your own culture’s music.         

Kpop is perfect for those looking for upbeat music and dancing but the only problem with listening to Kpop is the language barrier. When my friend first told me about Kpop, I thought my friend was weird for listening to music he didn’t even understand. Because I thought listening to songs I didn’t understand was silly, I didn’t give Kpop a chance until months later. Like myself, for those of us that cannot speak or understand Korean, the most common question that would come up is “Why listen to Kpop, when you can’t understand anything they are saying?”

                           I wonder if you hurt like me- 2AM
                                           Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuVWznRDDs

Well, in my opinion I think music is universal just like how facial expressions like “smiling” and “frowning” is used to express that you are happy and sad all around the world. Kpop is just like that form of expression. If you just listen to the tempo and the artist’s voice, you can feel the emotions they are trying to portray without even knowing what they are singing about. What the artist is portraying in the song is the most important rather than the lyrics. For example, by just listening to the song “I Wonder if you Hurt like me” by 2AM, you can hear a soft piano playing in the instrumental as well as a slow beat telling you that the song is about something sad.  Compared to the song "Lovin’ U" by Sistar, you can hear an upbeat tempo and cheerful singing giving the impression that the song is a happy song. 

                                                       Lovin' U by Sistar
                                    Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2AlXWVbKU

Although, knowing the meaning of the lyrics sung in song is also very important, music should not be discriminated against because of language. Karen Sprey and Thomas Fritz also believe that music is a universal language, where anyone around the world will be able to hear the same emotions from just a tempo of a song. Their belief can be proved by a study performed by Fritz and Stefan Koelsch, where they brought together members of the Mafa, who had no experience with Western music. Fritz and Koelsch played Western music like instrumentals with different genres (jazz, rock, and pop) to test if music is really a universal language. During the study, the Mafa “could recognize emotional expressions of happiness, sadness, and fear in the music more often than would be expected by chance.” The Mafa had no experience with Western music but was still able to decipher the different emotions of the song just from instrumentals and tone of voice.

 The lyrics in Kpop songs may not make any sense for those who cannot understand Korean but just like the Mafa in the study, we are still able to figure out the emotion, the song is trying express. There is nothing more important than how a song can move you even without words, which has a more of an ability to move others emotionally. I hope that my post will help you become open to all kinds of music from all around, not just Kpop. Not being able to understand Korean or any other language should not be a reason for not opening yourself to all different kinds of music like Kpop.  

After watching/ listening to the songs "Lovin' U" and "I Wonder If You Hurt Like Me", what do you think the Kpop groups are singing about?