Features Archives - Page 11 of 19

Fandom, Not Genre, K-Pop Surpasses The Limitations Of Music

March 14, 2016/in Features /by Tamar Herman

When a friend of mine recently asked why K-pop is a fandom rather than a genre, it was puzzling; of course K-pop is a fandom. Looking around at K-pop’s international fanbase, the question hardly makes sense; it’d be like saying The Beatles are a genre when they are in fact so much more. But that doesn’t resonate with people unfamiliar with what K-pop is, who just assume that K-pop is a very specific type of music rather than an entire entity.

K-pop, at its heart, isn’t one sound but rather a production style coming out of South Korea today and the pop culture surrounding it. K-pop is Korea’s music industry and all that it contains. Similar to Hollywood being the umbrella term for the industry, its stars, and its products, K-pop is the blanket term for music, celebrities, and a variety of other aspects of Korea’s pop culture.

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Understanding that K-pop is the overarching term for a variety of music coming out of South Korea is key to erasing the idea that K-pop is a single musical style. What most people think of “K-pop” is actually idol music, pop music acts produced by large entertainment agencies. There are usually, but not always, synchronized choreographies. K-pop doesn’t just mean idol music though, since all of South Korea’s mainstream music is now coming under the title. But that’s not everything under the sun in South Korea, and even Korean indie acts are falling under the broader K-pop umbrella; this year’s SXSW’s K-Pop Night Out includes a girl group, two R&B artists, an IDM producer, an alt-punk indie duo, and a glam metal band.

And they’re all included in the idea of K-pop to some degree, despite their blatant genre differences.

Because of its utter enormity, fans of K-pop aren’t just fans of a specific style of music, which would in fact make K-pop a genre. A fan may be a fan of an act act, such as idol groups like SHINee or 2NE1, but unlike fans of musical genres, K-pop fans express affinity to the artists rather than the musical style; musical affinity isn’t bound to being a fan because K-pop is impossible to pin into one individual style. While both SHINee and 2NE1 have distinct styles within the K-pop world, their songs themselves are known for genre-blending and musical experimentation rather than sticking to one specific musical style.

Saying K-pop is a musical genre is limiting, since the songs falling within K-pop’s realm range from folk to R&B to bubblegum pop to hip hop and beyond. (It also diminishes the face value of music coming out of South Korea today, since K-pop gets a bad rap as a wholly manufactured industry with little innate artistic value.)

In a recent interview, members of Korea’s most popular boy band Big Bang deplored the idea that K-pop is a single genre. Seungri argued that the title doesn’t express what is good K-pop versus bad K-pop and G-Dragon highlighted the fact that K-pop isn’t K-pop to Koreans; it’s just music. Meanwhile,T.O.P argued that the terminology itself was a failing, and implied that there were racist connotations to lumping all Korean music under the idea of a single genre.

“It’s like this,” he told the Washington Post. “You don’t divide pop music by who’s doing it. We don’t say, for instance, ‘white pop’ when white people make music.”

But clarifying that K-pop is just general Korean mainstream music isn’t really easy to explain in a casual conversation since most people are not likely to understand the nuances of why it’s not a single musical style, making it difficult to expand on the broader definition of how and why K-pop is dissimilar specific genres like country or metal.

Metal fans, like other fans declaring favoritism to a specific style, favor acts that fall under a specific overarching musical genre. Just like K-pop, they identify one another on the streets based on band tees and get excited when a new act comes to town. But without the specific tones of being a metal band, those same fans won’t be interested. If a metal band put out an album inspired by jazz music, their fans would likely be confused and pan the album. K-pop fans eat up that sort of experimentation, since it’s part of what makes certain songs fall under the K-pop title.

But with K-pop, the most genre-bending music “genre” of all, the music is just the beginning of the pitfall that leads fans to start liking all aspects of the K-pop scene. While many songs sound similar, and there are trends in K-pop overall, a K-pop fan can be biased towards the slower, more mellow ballad tones rather than the dance music, but still be a K-pop fan. Most fans of K-pop claim partiality to specific acts and join that act’s fandom (i.e., Big Bang fans are known as VIPs as a whole) but still are a part of the overall fandom of K-pop. They cheer when a K-pop act beats out other acts internationally, coming together to support the industry’s international growth, and get upset collectively when a single fandom may be under attack from outside fandoms.

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While “K-pop” once stood for the specific idol music coming out of Korea, it is now essentially a word handed out freely to describe all Korean pop and even all Korean music. Looking at idol groups alone, there are allegedly hundreds of different sounds and concepts. But when someone says they’re a fan of K-pop music, they’re not saying that they’re a fan of the specific sound of K-pop music because there is no such thing. Rather, they’re saying that they are a fan of the world of K-pop. What that world is is up for debate in South Korea nowadays, just as Big Bang said, but K-pop is no single musical style, despite the Guardian trying to peg Grimes as K-pop in a recent article.

If K-pop were a genre, it’d be the all-encompassing world of Korean pop music and then some. It’s the industry consisting of music production companies in South Korea and the musicians themselves as well as the music. Some of it is idol music, some of it is hip-hop, ballads, indie-style folk music, etc., but it’s the production value and promotional aspects that makes K-pop what it is and why fans love it. It’s an idea moreso than a genre.

Yes, K-pop songs are mostly Korean pop songs, and you could say that K-pop is a genre. But a genre is a style with a limited range of musical tropes. K-pop is definitely an entity, but that entity is so much more than any music genre; it’s an entire scene that, yes, surrounds a certain type of music, but is so much more than a single genre.

What do you think of defining K-pop as a fandom rather than a genre? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

HISTORY Talks Teamwork & Upcoming Releases [INTERVIEW]

February 27, 2016/in Features /by Eve Backhouse

K-pop boy band HISTORY wowed British fans at their concert in London on February 21. But even before the show began, KultScene caught up with the Loen Entertainment quintet. Despite their tight schedule the members sat down with us and, with the help of an interpreter, opened up about their career, upcoming releases, and their European concert tour.

KultScene: Thank you so much for sitting down with me and welcome to England! What aspect of meeting your European fans are you most looking forward to?

Jae Ho: We have only been to Finland so far and just arrived in the UK. We had the chance to meet a few of the fans in Helsinki, though. It seems like the European supporters are quite vocal, so we are looking forward to hearing more of their enthusiasm for our performances on the other stops of our European tour.

KS: Let’s talk about your career a little bit. What qualities does HISTORY feel they have as a group which make them unique in the K-Pop world?

Do Kyun: All K-pop idols work very hard on stage, but I believe that HISTORY’s main strength as a group is the teamwork among our five members. This is what allows us to produce a very powerful performance on stage for our fans.

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KS: How does the experience of performing for your fans in Europe differ to that in South Korea?

Si Hyoung: The Korean fans just like to listen and watch us on stage, whereas the European fans we’ve met so far preferred to interact with us. They danced and sang along loudly in unison to our performances.

KS: A lot of your music videos, including the Hitchcock inspired “Psycho” and drug- related “What Am I To You,” have intense concepts with graphic storylines. How much of a role do History’s members have in this creative process?

Kyungil: We don’t have any input into our music video concepts, but our personal influence with regards to songwriting is increasing with every album. Our next release, which is coming out soon, will have a lot of our influence and thoughts put into it.

KS: My next question is for Yi Jeong. Even though you’re the youngest member you’ve showcased a lot of talent writing songs for HISTORY, such as the group’s latest Korean single “Might Just Die.“ However your solo track, “1Century,” was geared more towards hip hop. What made you go in that direction?

Yi Jeong: HISTORY as a team usually has a gentler image, but I personally really love hip hop and wanted to try out a different sound for my solo track, mostly to challenge myself.

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KS: What can we look forward to from HISTORY in 2016?

Do Kyun: In 2016 we plan, as a group, to find more ways to communicate with our fans through broadcasting activities. We don’t have any specific plans for solo projects at the present time.

Kyungil: HISTORY is working on an album right now as a group, so the fans can expect to hear that very soon.

KS:Do you have a final message for your fans at KultScene?

Kyungil: Please give HISTORY a lot of love and support from Europe and we will return soon with more activities and surprises for you!

What do you think of HISTORY? Are you a fan? Share your thoughts and what you’d like to ask HISTORY in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

[Picture by: Sophie Tang]

Kanye West, G-Dragon, & Fashion Week

February 16, 2016/in Features /by Tamar Herman

Kanye West, G-Dragon, & Fashion Week

2016 New York Fashion Week (NYFW) Fall/Winter is about to wrap up with the final runways being walked on Thursday, but the long term effect will be felt for months and years to come. Because 2016 was not only the year that music made it big at Fashion Week, but K-pop made its appearance too.

As pop culture and fashion intersec, there’s going to be a lot of where that came from with pop icons like Kanye West and G-Dragon breaching the divide between the audible and the wearable. Yeezy might have been around for awhile, but for the first time ever G-Dragon, and K-pop, is poised to truly enter the realm of western pop culture and he made his long-awaited debut amidst designers.

Comparing any of the K-pop stars who made waves at NYFW to Kanye would be belittling Kanye’s status in society; his fashion show for his Yeezy clothing line doubled also as the venue for the release of his new album “The Life of Pablo” and it will likely be the most talked about event from NYFW 2016. The Madison Square Garden extravaganza will be remembered by the history books as one of the biggest amalgamations of pop culture and high fashion.

Less remembered will be the fact that a brand new song featuring G-Dragon was released during Alexander Wang’s new show. The Baauer-produced “Temples” features M.I.A doing her thing in English while G-Dragon swoops in like a hawk and brings bilingual raps to the runway. In a runway being walked by models draped in an Asian-American designer’s clothing, mind you.

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Debuting a song by the triple threat of Baauer-G-Dragon-M.I.A at NYFW may seem like it doesn’t make much sense; this should be released on an epic scale! But with all of the media looking towards NYFW and top stars from all over the world in attendance, including several K-pop stars like 2NE1’s CL (a member of the recently unveiled promotional WANG SQUAD) and Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung, attending the runway shows, then debuting the thumping, plinking “Temples” at Alexander Wang’s show meant that all eyes would be on the models and ears open for the invasion of a catchy, bombastic new track. Already there has been heavy coverage of “Temples,” despite the fact that Baauer’s debut album that features the song won’t be out until next month.

And let’s not forget that a Korean pop artist’s voice was poised as a backtrack to an iconic New York City event open to only the highest echelons of the fashion and cultural world. So not too shabby for G-Dragon to quietly make waves without most people even realizing how iconic that runway background music was. If Psy made people aware of K-pop, G-Dragon’s presence at NYFW makes even the most discerning critics stop and pause to listen to the music.

If it seems that music and fashion are just being combined together this NYFW season by accident, it’s most certainly not. Kanye West and the K-pop genre as a whole are more than aware of how the musical superstars of our era double as fashion icons, and all of the money invested in one is likely to affect the other. Which means that when music sales are down, turning singers into walking talking billboards for fashion brands is perfect. But sponsored artists are not enough in this day and age, at least based on the trends; K-pop music agencies like YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment are working with fashion brands at the same time that Kanye is literally transitioning from just a musician to a cultural entity that affects trends of both the music and fashion worlds. (Or at least he’d like to think so).

Does that mean G-Dragon, or any other K-pop artist, is going to pull a Yeezy and start a fashion line, throwing the gauntlet into the diversification of K-pop into new brand arenas? Unlikely. For one thing, G-Dragon told the New York Times that he wouldn’t, and for any other lesser K-pop star than G-Dragon to debut a line aimed at global fashion would be suicide, as seen by the relatively limited success by former Girls’ Generation member Jessica Jung’s foray into fashion.

As much as we — the collective we of K-pop writers and fans combined — like to talk about the rising popularity of K-pop, it’s taken more than five years from the viral hits of 2009 like “Gee” and “Sorry Sorry” until now to merit an icon other than the gag-making Psy who media is really taking notice of. Sorry Psy. G-Dragon, and to a lesser degree CL, are the only K-pop stars Vogue truly cares about.

However, despite the lack of impending fashion lines straight from any K-pop artist, it’s no small thing that both K-pop and Kanye were prominent at this year’s NYFW- Music, like fashion, is able to transcend cultural boundaries more so in 2016 than ever before, and NYFW proves it. K-pop’s finally making its mark on American cultural products isn’t an accident, just like Kanye moving into the fashion world is intentional. New York Fashion Week, once only visible to a premier class of people, is now open to the world thanks to social media. With the opening up of Fashion Week to the masses comes the need to make high fashion relatable, and nothing is more accessible than music.

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K-pop, which has struggled so hard to try and garner attention overseas, is making leaps and bounds in 2016 with new acts like SM Entertainment’s soon to debut NCT, trying to fit into local music scenes, and more and more K-pop concerts heading to the western hemisphere. But as a genre that lends itself innately to fashion due to it’s visual elements, such as K-pop idols and music videos, K-pop is a perfect mash for NYFW and fashion in general. It’s only now that high fashion has accepted music and one of pop culture’s burgeoning figures into its threshold that there was room to recognize Korean artists as equals who are able to add to the conversation of art, rather than detract from it. G-Dragon, who is so far ahead of the rest of the K-pop crowd as an artist, is no less than K-pop’s Kanye.

Transcending the boundaries of music and art, G-Dragon mirrors Kanye as an influential musician who represents an entire way of life in the eyes of the western media. Fashion has been the friend of both, but there is no question that both these men are all about the music and are smartly using this platform to promote their art.

What do you think of G-Dragon and New York Fashion Week? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

Neon Bunny and the Sampo Generation: How Space Defines a Society

February 15, 2016/in Features /by Joe Palmer

Neon Bunny has long been a favourite of the Korean art music scene. Her lounging synth pop is unique to the industry and claimed fans internationally. With the release of her new single “Forest of Skyscrapers” she shows she is thinking internationally too. In an interview with The Fader she cited anime “Akira” and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai as influences on the music video. The aesthetics and themes of those films shed light on Neon Bunny’s own art. She uses these influences to comment on her generation of Koreans, the Sampo Generation, and to examine her city of Seoul.

The Sampo Generation is the term given to a large number of Koreans in their 20’s and 30’s who are putting marriage and love aside in favour of wealth. Thanks to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, South Korea had to undergo crippling economic reform. The Sampo Generation grew up in this, discovering high unemployment, high student loans, and unstable jobs. This coupled with the more recent global economic crisis has led young Koreans to focus on finding a secure job and shunning the expensive responsibilities of marriage. Neon Bunny said in her interview, “Everything goes really fast in Seoul—when you wake up in the morning there’s another building going up.” Clearly an influence on the title of her song, it also shows what space and how we occupy it says about our society.

This is where the influence of “Akira” becomes important. Based on a manga of the same name, “Akira” is Japanese animated film from 1988. Written and directed by the writer of the manga, Katsuhiro Omoto, it follows two young delinquents Kaneda and Tetsuo in Neo-Tokyo, a rebuilt version of the city after it had been destroyed by a strange explosion. As the story moves on, Tetsuo is unwillingly given psychic powers which eventually consume him becoming too much for him to bear. The aesthetics of Neo-Tokyo are clear in “Forest of Skyscrapers.” Neon skylines are nearly always present in the background. “Forest of Skyscrapers” has a more modern and true to life look compared to the more Hong Kong inspired mix of future style and poverty in “Akira.”

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What’s most interesting about using “Akira” as an influence is its thematic specificity to Japan. It is a film about Japan’s reaction to World War II. As a nation, they rebuilt their country after suffering from nuclear attacks. After this great devastation and subsequent guilt due to their actions that led to it, Japan however was not ready to be in a position of power once again. Tetsuo exemplifies this, the power he receives only serves to hurt. Japan is afraid of what might happen when they return to power.

While it would be remiss to compare atomic bombs to economic crises, it’s easy to see the connections between these two works. Both deal with a society in flux, Neo-Tokyo is levelled by Tetsuo as he struggles to deal with his new powers, and Seoul is climbing further into the sky every day. The people of Seoul are pushing themselves into higher and higher positions, hoping for increased wealth. Attaining power only for power’s sake creates people like Tetsuo (an orphan) who can’t handle it when they get what they want. Without a system of support behind you, it’s easy to get lost.

As the youth of Seoul earn money and forget about marriage, they turn to other pleasures in hopes of fulfilling themselves. Neon Bunny shows people drinking, having seemingly casual sexual relationships, and (judging by the visual effects) taking drugs. Her unique vocal delivery that sounds at once bored and passionate shows the immediate but melancholic pleasure she gets from this. Her performance in the video as well is marked by expressions of tired apathy and bursts of happiness. Placing herself in the video is vital of course, she sees herself very much a part of this generation. Which means we know it is not judgmental, she can not only see herself but great beauty in these transient encounters.

Wong Kar Wai is also interested in the small moments of romance that can happen when we least expect it. Born in Shanghai, Wong, like most Chinese directors, plied his trade in Hong Kong where he was free from censorship. He is known for using unconventional cinematography in films that focus on relationships. He is interested in all kinds of relationships but always examines small moments in detail. They can be just as interesting as whole stories of love and using space to define these is something he does too (best seen in the claustrophobic apartments of “In The Mood For Love”).

Wong’s aesthetic is seen most clearly in “Forest of Skyscrapers” whenever Neon Bunny and her motorcyclist lover are on screen. The motorcycle shots are a direct reference to Wong’s “Fallen Angels” (and Akira’s iconic use of motorcycles). None of his films show more directly his idea of transitory relationships. In it, two stories are told of new relationships that burn bright and quick. The passion is always clear, these relationships take place in front of a backdrop of crime which emphasizes the speed and aggression of the romance. Something which Neon Bunny also does by turning up the sound of the motorcycle and allowing visual effects to create a sort of dangerous momentary feeling to every shot.

While never overtly romantic, Wong finds fleeting moments of love in unlikely places. Neon Bunny does too. Despite growing up in the Sampo Generation, she still believes in romance. “I think I have to be in love,” she mentioned in her interview. In emulating Wong Kar Wai, she brings great meaning to the fleeting moments of desire. Skyscrapers cut through the night sky as reminders of what Korea is becoming, but Neon Bunny chooses to ignore them. Yet the creeping unease is always evident and eventually becomes too much to ignore.

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The final sequence of the video occurs after Neon Bunny and the motorcyclist go through what looks like a marriage or bonding ceremony of some sort. Performed by a man in traditional clothes and makeup, it’s a defiant rejection of modern ideals that are hurting Korean society. The video then allows its form to fall in on itself becoming a trip of sex and confusion. It finishes with an image of an ultrasound. Neon Bunny emerges naked once again into the night sky. She is unnaturally attracted to the monolith of neon on the hilltop. It stands before Seoul’s cityscape, the opulence of the rising buildings is too much for a young person to ignore. She looks into the mirror of the monolith, looking at who she thinks she is. Seoul has already decided this for her though. She looks at herself and only herself.

“Forest of Skyscrapers” is a momentous work. As well as the video, the song proves to be uniquely chilled in an industry of maximalism. Its house synths wander through the song as Neon Bunny mournfully croons. Her voice always full of exhausted pleasure. It all combines to address the young people of South Korea. Neon Bunny knows it is tough that wealth is hard to ignore. Yet the expensive dangers of desire should never be forgotten. As the city of Seoul continues to build upwards, her wishes may never come true.

What do you think of “Forest of Skyscrapers? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

IU’s Red Shoes: A Torment or Saviour?

January 29, 2016/in Features /by Joe Palmer

A man picks up a film reel entitled “The Red Shoes.” He splices film stock and sticks it together. Viewing his edited footage he sees black and white images of a woman walking onto a stage and a pair of red shoes followed by a title card that reads: “Would you take me there?”

A smartly dressed gentleman smokes a cigarette and orders a champagne cocktail. A flame haired woman in a beautiful gown copies his order. He asks her, “Why do you want to dance?” She responds, “Why do you want to live?”

These two fragments of stories occur in two different productions with the same title: “The Red Shoes.” The first is from the 2013 music video for K-pop starlet IU’s single. The second is a scene from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s melodramatic classic from 1948. Few obvious similarities come from those two extracts, yet with a bit of work we can learn how IU channeled these British filmmakers for her own art. It also gives great insight into a time when her artistry and intentions have been brought into question. 2015 has been IU’s most turbulent year in the K-pop industry so far. Much of her work was focused on audience reactions to her and it did not go down well, to say the least. “The Red Shoes” shows us that that will be of little concern to her going forward.

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Written and produced by powerhouse duo Kim Eana and Lee Min Soo, IU’s “The Red Shoes” tells the story of a woman lost in her world, hoping for summertime and her love to return. The film “The Red Shoes” follows Victoria Page as she tries desperately to become the greatest ballerina there ever was. Thanks to the impresario of Ballet Lermontov, Boris Lermontov, her goal comes into view. Her true desire is put into question, though, as he makes her choose between love and dance.

The opening of IU’s video clearly places it within classic film territory, but the similarities do not end there. The musical theatre aesthetic and dancing red shoes (naturally) are clear examples. Even the group of men IU plays with can be traced back to the group of men who make up Lermontov’s creative team of choreographers, composers, and designers. Most interesting, however, is how they both adapt the story of “The Red Shoes.” The original story is a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen about a young girl who acquires red shoes that make her dance and dance until her feet must be amputated. Powell and Pressburger’s “The Red Shoes” uses this story within the film as the main ballet that Page performs while also connecting with it metaphorically as the tale seems to come true for her.

In a sense this is what IU also does with the film. Her song is not a straight adaptation and the video and lyrics do not take the same story but rather continue the theme. In the film, the infamous red shoes were seen as a torment, objects that mirror the destructive obsession within a person. For IU and Kim Eana however, they are seen as saviours. She slips into the red shoes as she sings, “If I count this as destiny, if I choose my own destiny”. It is not until she puts them on that she can break free of her monochrome world and take the projectionist by the hand and lead him to endless dancing and music.

IU is wilfully taking the obsession of the shoes onto herself. She is not scared of being consumed by the music. If she can dance and sing for the rest of her life, she will. She spurs on the shoes with Lee Min Soo’s big band swing music and her “oompa loompa dooms.” References to repeating stories of love and her chorus refrains of “again, again” show IU’s commitment to music. Intriguingly the song leaves behind the red shoes in favour of pink shoes. IU sings as she puts on the new shoes, “They say you can go to better places if you wear better shoes.” Like Powell and Pressburger did with Andersen’s story, IU brings “The Red Shoes” further. Not only is she comfortable being obsessed, she wants more and she wants something new.

The comfort does not last however.The black and white world starts to creep back in. The red shoes chase after IU before finally attaching themselves to her again. This move mirrors the concluding events of the film. In it Page is forced into an ultimatum by Lermontov and her boyfriend, Julian Caster, about whether to dance or go home with Caster. In a state of panic she is seemingly forced by the shoes to run out of the building and to throw herself in front of a moving train. It is an altogether more bleak look into the theme than what IU has given us, yet the similarities are clear. IU is aware that living in a constant state of creativity is not good for a person. Responsibilities pull us out of this fantasy world.

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This maturity is what helps the song from falling into pure indulgence. It shows foresight into IU’s more recent work and how people have reacted to it. The push and pull of idol and civilian life was clearly on IU’s mind but the thoughts of others were not a concern for her. By the time 2015 came around though she could not ignore what her audience thought of her. Her work on her album “Chat-shire”, written exclusively by IU, shows her directly commenting on her muddled identity as a young woman in the spotlight. “The Red Shoes” seemingly warned her about this, “The girl with the brown hair looked for her path, Fell in love again and lived happily, A story that has been re-written from the beginning.” Telling us that we have heard this story before, she says, look deeper. IU can see what’s coming. It happens to many female artists who try something different. Who dare to leave their comfort zone.

The enigmatic Boris Lermontov informs us of how to really understand IU, “The music is all that matters. Nothing but the music.”

This is what ultimately matters in the end. IU is a musician. What she has to say is in her music. If it is that which has brought her all of this hate than so be it. It is the risk we take when creating. It is the risk we take when we put on the red shoes.

“The Red Shoes” heralded in the next stage of IU’s career. Her move from a cute idol with a great voice into an artist was highlighted by her use of a classic film. While it is not strictly her work, her continued collaboration with Eana and Min Soo is clearly a huge influence on her later work. The parallels between IU and Victoria Page are apparent enough that it is not likely this would have worked with many other female idols as well. IU’s insatiable desire for music has not wavered. All the hate in the world will not stop her. She will keep on dancing, red shoes or not.

What do you think of the comparisons made here? Also what do you think of IU’s recent controversies? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

Let’s Discuss: TC Candler’s List, Nana, & Why It’s Bad For K-Pop Fans

December 29, 2015/in Features, Let's Discuss /by Tamar Herman

This may be a crazy idea, but here goes: K-pop will only become a viable, long-term music scene when the industry no longer seeks validation from Western media. The reason? Because it means that the people behind K-pop will finally respect its fans as something more than just a money making machine, but actually the target of Korea’s artistic pop culture.

You may wonder what brought along this thought, but after this week’s annual “freak out over a totally random blog’s ranking of the most beautiful people in the world” (this one,) I just felt like there was something to discuss here.

It’s not that I personally care that many foreign-language articles written about Korean celebrities and pop culture are ignored by Korean media outlets. That doesn’t matter, because they don’t need validation from Korea to talk about Korea. It’s about the fact that TC Candler, a film critic with little to no pull in the entertainment world, garners attention year after year for a list of physical rankings solely because Candler lacks any apparent connection to the Korean entertainment world and so is seen as a validating figure separate from “K-pop bloggers.”

Essentially, the less connected you are to K-pop, the better you are to the Korean entertainment industry. The Korea Herald’s K-pop site went further than usual and not only highlighted After School’s Nana as the clear winner, but also used the list to declare that TWICE’s Tzuyu is the prettiest face in China.

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It doesn’t matter that there are countless international news sites dedicated to K-pop for K-pop fans. It doesn’t matter that Billboard has people writing about it regularly. It doesn’t matter that 2015 alone has seen more K-pop concerts outside of Asia than ever before. To Korean entertainment related-agencies and individuals, K-pop fans are nothing when compared to validation from the outside.

Never-mind the fact that K-pop fans around the globe cough up millions of dollars each year to sign up for K-drama streaming services and to buy merchandise, albums, and concert tickets. Or that there are multi-million websites dedicated to K-pop and Korean entertainment. These fans don’t matter, because they’re already fans.

As long as a random English website says that a K-pop star is the most beautiful person in the world, that is newsworthy.

Forget the fact that TC Candler’s list is unimportant to anyone outside of K-pop, and that TC Candler has no credibility outside of his own website (which is seemingly devoted to film reviews, not beauty ranking).

Forget everything. Just think about the fact that After School’s Nana is now receiving a title that, had it been from a K-pop related website, would have been ignored.

If a K-pop outlet such as AllKPop or KpopStarz, both of which are read by thousands around the globe each day, or drama purveyors like DramaFever or Viki, which have brought K-dramas and films to millions of people, decided to release a list of this sort, it would be ignored. (And don’t even get me started on what would happen if KultScene released it. We’re a small fish amongst a big sea of K-pop literature, and we wouldn’t even register a blip in South Korea).

More so than the fact that “The Most Beautiful List” is a silly way to determine Nana’s overseas popularity (I’m going to guess here that maybe, maybe one out of every thousand Americans would know who Nana is), the list is an interesting point of contention for K-pop fans because it seeks credibility for Korean celebrities from an outside, non K-pop related media outlet. Regardless of what that outlet is or who writes for it.

I reached out to Candler via email to get a statement regarding the popularity of the list and received no response. The list is in its 26th year, but there is still little information about Candler or what the criteria for the Most Beautiful List is. I’m not honestly clear about why the Independent Critics List is, other than it being a website that reviews film. There is nothing appearance related other than the yearly Beautiful/Handsome lists.

Korean entertainment is widely popular. It is a solid genre of its own. But as long as the Korean entertainment industry and K-pop as a whole looks to receive validation from the outside with no regards credibility, the fans that K-pop and Hallyu as a whole have become the butt of a joke. These fans, and their opinions, are diminished and viewed as crazy fanatics rather than the supporters of K-pop.

Not only does Korean media and entertainment companies not value the opinion of Korean fans, but so do K-pop fans themselves. It’s as if K-pop hasn’t made it yet, so we need to know it’s cool, rather than being a pretty solid industry that is recognized around the globe.

The K-Pop industry’s reaction to non-K-pop media looks like a child crying because there’s no pink M&Ms in a bag, even though that’s not the normal color found in M&M’s bags; it’s something nice, but it’s not needed and doesn’t make K-pop better. It just looks juvenile.

Also on Kultscene: Top 50 Korean Songs of 2015

Psy is a perfect example. Back in 2012, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, and Big Bang were everywhere. The rapper? Less so. Psy had always been more controversial than popular in South Korea, but international fans hardly noticed the musician before his hit song. I was in Seoul after the song was released, but pre-craze, and it was pretty popular. But people were already sick of the song and the horse dance. The craze would have died down, and it would have been a summer hit.

Then “Gangnam Style” went viral and it was suddenly cool to like Psy. Which is great, he is a talented musician. But that doesn’t mean that Korean music itself isn’t innately valuable as a genre of music for the fans of it.

Belittling outlets devoted to K-pop as “fansites” and not valuing them in Korea is fine; but blowing a tiny blog’s list out of proportion year after year because it is not a solely Korea-oriented site is obnoxious. Not just to the writers who painstakingly create year end lists, but to all K-pop fans who are really devoted to the genre. This attitude of preferring a non-outwardly K-pop related site to one dedicated to Korean entertainment is akin to saying “K-pop fans aren’t good enough for us.”

If Korean entertainment purveyors want K-pop to become popular, it has to happen naturally. Jumping on something rather unimportant year and year again, while ignoring the adoration of those fans it already has, would be akin to rock stars turning their back on the fans have supported them since the start just in order to appeal to seemingly higher-class classical music audiences.

K-pop, you’ve made it. You’re a multi-million dollar genre of music with fans around the globe. Grow up and stop looking for validation. Not everyone likes, or talks about, metal. That doesn’t mean it’s not a real thing. But it doesn’t mean that bigtime metal musicians snatch up the most random bit of publicity from whatever outlet that doesn’t usually cover metal.

It’s 2015. The World Wide Web is older than I am (by about 50 days). There’s a lot on it. That doesn’t mean that anything about K-pop anywhere is something to get excited about. Google “K-pop” or “Nana” or “Beautiful Face” or “After School” or, I don’t know, “Turbo’s Again.” There will be thousands, if not millions, of hits.

We have to stop micro analyzing K-pop for what we want it to be (which, I think, most K-pop fans would agree, would be a mainstream genre of music worldwide) and start noticing the fact that it’s already here and we like it for what it is.

So, yes, good list TC Candler. No, I’m not going to link to it because it’s not any more reputable than me making a list.

You know what? Here goes:

KultScene Most Beautiful Faces List of 2015

Nah, I’m just joking.

What do you think about the situation?Let us know in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

‘Hello Bitches:’ Choreographer Parris Goebel Talks CL & Women Empowerment Through Dance [INTERVIEW]

December 11, 2015/in Features /by Alexis Hodoyan-Gastelum

What does the all-girl slayage choreography on Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” video and Taeyang’s hard-hitting moves on “Ringa Linga” have in common? No, not a hot male artist who excels at dance, but the “Polyswagg” creator and world-renowned choreographer who’s taking the industry by storm. I’m, of course, talking about Parris Goebel.

Even if you’re not familiar with the 24-year-old’s name, you’re aware of her work. If not from taking center stage in the Biebs’ video, her participation with her female dance squad ReQuest on “America’s Best Dance Crew,” or acting in the movie “Step Up 5,” then you might remember a certain girl in chains in BIGBANG’s “Bang Bang Bang” music video or the dancer with the bangs on CL’s “Hello Bitches.”

via gd-peaceminusone @ Tumblr

Yep, that’s Parris.

The New Zealand native has been in demand by everyone these days for her strong and sexy presence and style, especially empowering female artists who’ve noticed how she’s empowering women through dance. So just to give you an idea of the magnitude of her caliber, let’s just grace the surface of her resume by saying her work includes choreographing Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, and even Chinese pop diva Jolin Tsai’s latest tours. No biggie.

After working with BIGBANG and on Taeyang’s solo, she has now teamed up with the YG Entertainment artist that embodies female empowerment and sexiness, the baddest female herself CL and helped her shape the precedent of what we’re to expect from her upcoming American debut album. And not only did Parris choreograph and, along with ReQuest, star in CL’s teaser song “Hello Bitches,” but she directed and produced it as well. As a result, we got a fierce and flawless dance performance video that highlights CL’s sexy, sassy, and self-empowering image fans have loved her all along for.

via seungriseyno @ Tumblr

KultScene recently caught up with Parris shortly after her stellar MAMA performances — where she and rest of ReQuest danced on CL, BIGBANG, and 2NE1’s stages — to talk about CL and “Hello Bitches,” and how she’s revolutionizing the dance game one collaboration at a time.

Also on KultScene: 8 Moments You’ll Want To Rewatch From MAMA 2015

First and foremost, congratulations on your MAMA performances. You completely owned them and it genuinely seemed like you and the rest of ReQuest were having a blast. How was the whole experience for you?
Parris Goebel: It was a great experience for me and my girls. The awards is a massive event and it has a star line up of artists performing.

via femaleidol @ Tumblr

You’ve described your style of dance “Polyswagg.” Can you give us a crash course on what it is and how you coined the term?
We had to come up with a description of our style of dance on “America’s Best Dance Crew” when we were on it [Season 6]. So we had swagg but our own style and I’m Polynesian so I put the two together.

What would you say sets you apart from other dancers and choreographers that has made you so in demand by artists?
My own individual style and always trying to be fresh with what I create.

For “Hello Bitches,” you didn’t only choreograph the song but you also directed the video. How did you come up with the whole concept, choreography and theme wise?
I just took the song and then thought about what would make CL look hot. CL is a great dancer in her own right and loves to do different things so it was a lot of fun to put it all together for her.

What I really enjoyed about this particular video was that the dancers weren’t mere props adorning the singer, like we often see in a lot of music videos nowadays. You were all main characters and the way the choreography was done conveyed a very interactive vibe. Was that the point or what did you want to portray with the concept?
Really the main essence of the video is dance so shooting CL with the girls around her all the time dancing all made sense.

In the “Hello Bitches” behind-the-scenes video you said you had never connected so well with an artist as you did with CL. How was working with her different and more special than other artists you’ve collaborated with in the past?
We really like all the same things – dance, music, and fashion. CL is more my age and very creative and making a difference for women so all those things make her so much fun to work with.

You’ve worked with great female artists of color that embody female empowerment like Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Janet Jackson, and now CL. What does it mean to you as a woman of color working with these artists that have done wonders for representation and visibility of WOC in the media and industry?
It’s always a pleasure to work with such strong females each in their own right. They are all successful, they all work hard and they are all very driven. So for me to get to work with them is a real blessing and it makes my job easy because they all embrace womanhood.

What do you think about CL and other Korean artists taking artistic elements from non-Korean societies and cultures? Where do you see the line drawn between cultural appropriation and appreciation?
In music there are no lines – it’s all about expression no matter what race or culture you are. That is the beauty of music – it has no borders.

via soojoo @ Tumblr

Also on KultScene: 6 K-Drama Girl Friendship Goals

Will you continue to work with CL for her American debut?
I definitely hope so.

Other than BIGBANG, 2NE1, and CL, is there any other Korean artist you would like and/or wish to work with?
I really enjoy working with the YG Family as they are all professional and dedicated artists so happy who I am currently working with.

Thank you so much for answering my questions for KultScene. What’s next for you and ReQuest?
Keep changing the game and keep traveling the world.

How much did you love “Hello Bitches?” Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

Pictures courtesy of Parris Goebel, edited by Alejandro Abarca.

Which K-Pop Male Rookie Group Are You? [QUIZ]

November 24, 2015/in Fans, Features /by Anna Cheang

If anything, 2015 has been the year for rookie male K-pop groups as many fresh groups such as iKON and DAY6 have made their successful debuts. Armed with both youthful energy and high-level performance skills, these groups are likely to become big hits and household names in the K-pop industry in the future. From synchronised dancing to powerful rapping, each group has their own strengths and has showcased their individuality well through their respective releases, earning themselves strong fan bases despite their recent debuts.

Have you ever wondered which rookie male group your personality is most similar to? Here’s Kultscene’s latest quiz to help you find out more about these groups and yourself!

[qzzr quiz=”130750″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]

Also on Kultscene: What K-Drama Cliche Is Your Life?

What did you think of your result? Did you pick the rookie group that you thought you would? Let us know what other quizzes you’d like to see from KultScene! Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

How Beenzino Differs To Other Korean Hip Hop Artists

November 11, 2015/in Features, OPINION /by Tam Huynh

There are two prominent types of Korean hip hop artists; the one group of artists who are lyrically deep and poetic in their rhymes and the group that’ll immensely try to mimic and imitate American hip hop. Korean hip hop artists are either swagged out from head to toe — rocking snapbacks, sporting various designer brand name clothing, an array of tattoos running down their arms and across their bodies and with the occasional ones that wear their custom made gold grill sets — or chill and solely focusing on producing impactful pieces with meaningful lyrics caring less about the new Air Jordans or whether they’re seen around town driving in an adorned Maybach.

So let’s make this more specific. What are your immediate thoughts when you take a first glance at Beenzino? Is he some hard ass wannabe American rapper? Does he prance around showing off his notoriety? Does he keep his sunglasses on at all times, whether indoors or outdoors? Or is he a delicate flower? Does he shyly look away when he’s being made direct eye contact with? Read more

Here’s Why The Wall Street Journal Is Wrong About K-Drama Fans

November 8, 2015/in Features, OPINION /by Tamar Herman

“A study by Seoul National University researchers in 2013 found that loyal fans of Korean soap operas tend to be less educated, and therefore more susceptible to the genre’s unrealistic plot twists, which include old standbys like the car accident-induced bout of amnesia or the twins who are separated at birth,” reads a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article titled “Psy-chology 101: Academics Put Spotlight on Korean Pop Culture” by Jonathan Cheng. It was published on November 1 and covered the academic study of Korean pop culture including, but not limited to, the Hallyu (Korean Wave) phenomenon.

Having studied Hallyu in both American and Korean universities, I expected to not really come away with any particular feeling other than elation about the fact that my field of study was being highlighted in one of the most respected newspapers in the world. So imagine my surprise at being insulted as “less educated” because I am a “loyal fan” of Korean dramas, or what the WSJ calls, “soap operas.”

I’ve been watching them since I was in high school, throughout college and studying abroad, and now as a post-grad. But the Wall Street Journal quotes a study then lets it hang as fact without further discussing it at all throughout the rest of the article, insinuating that I’m uneducated because I’m currently binge watching “She Was Pretty,” a 16-episode show about a childhood friends who don’t recognize one another after they’ve been separated for nearly 20 years.

Credit: MBC, gif via irrational obsessions gottcha78 on Tumblr

Also on KultScene: K-Dramas as a Window into the Realities of Korean Society

I spent a few minutes looking up this study, only to find a Wall Street Journal article from 2013 titled “South Korean Soap Operas: Just Lowbrow Fun?” that first introduced the survey to WSJ audiences. The survey they based their research on was conducted in China and had a small sample size, with only 400 Chinese candidates between the ages of 20-60 answering about their television watching preferences.

However, there are multiple issues with this survey and the Wall Street Journal’s recurring use of the results determined by Seoul National University staff in 2013 to insult K-drama fans. In fact, more than just a few people are upset by being fit into this neat, uneducated box; Chinese K-drama fans took offense with the survey, and protested the results in 2014.

The international use of a survey that utilizes such a limited sample size to represent the millions of Korean-drama fans around the world belittles the wide range of international popularity dramas have. Similarly, the point of the survey was unclear. Were the researchers trying to find out how popular Korean dramas were in China or were they trying to see international viewing trends among Chinese nationals? The difference may seem minimal, but the WSJ does not offer readers any further information about the intention of the survey or the type of questions posed to surveyees that may shape their responses.

Many Chinese students study abroad in the United States because English is important and studying abroad is perceived as something elite and a way up in the business world (Korea is similar). It seems far more likely that highly educated people in China would pick American, English-language television over Korean shows. Of course they would. Why would any educated person have incentive to pick Korean dramas, which are similar to Chinese dramas in all but production value and language, over the American, Hollywood productions?

Most of China, actually. The Seoul National University’s results don’t seem accurate anymore, since Korean television shows are immensely popular in China today. In 2014, branches of the Chinese government met to question why Korean dramas are so popular following the wide spread success of the Korean drama “My Love From The Stars,” even as Chinese cultural products were lacking local and international appeal. In fact, members of the government considered K-dramas as such a threat to China’s cultural prowess that one called the Korean soap operas “the distillation of traditional Chinese culture.”

Regardless of perceived flaws in the survey itself, when it comes down to it it is highly problematic that the WSJ is continuously implying that Korean dramas are lowbrow based on a (limited) study that featured a handful of highly educated people dismissing Korean dramas in favor of “The Big Bang Theory,” a show about a sexy, uneducated woman who manages relationships with four highly intellectual, socially awkward nerds.

That’s how it works in California, right?

Putting the realm of reality on hold for a moment, “The Big Bang Theory” has just as many intellectual issues as Korean dramas, and maybe even more. Korean dramas are created in the imaginary Disney-esque world of Cinderellas, Prince Charmings, and Evil Stepmothers, where there are usually happy endings for all. In comparison, “The Big Bang Theory” is very much set in a stereotypical version of this world, where the blondes are dumb, the scientists have few social graces, the Jewish character (Wolowitz) is small and often thought of as “disgusting” by the other characters, and the Indian character fits into longstanding views of the effeminate Asian: Raj’s Indian background is not only used for jokes, but he fits into the stereotypical idea of the emasculated Asian male. Raj is always somewhere between straight, gay, and asexual depending on each episode, and never the most powerful person in the room but almost always the subordinate in every situation on “The Big Bang Theory.”

Also on KultScene: 4 K-Dramas That Need To Be On Your ‘To Watch’ List Right Now

Perhaps the 400 Chinese nationals who were surveyed missed out on the nuances of American (stereotype promoting) humor, but if they pick racist comedy over unrealistic drama plots, I have to question their emotional intelligence and legitimacy as the yardstick for all fans of internationally popular television shows. (That does not mean that I think anyone who is a fan of “The Big Bang Theory” is racist. The show perpetuates stereotypes, and I am questioning the survey’s validity as an accurate reflection of K-drama viewers around the world).

Sure, Korean dramas are dramatic, silly, pretty ridiculous, and nowhere near the pinnacle of fine arts. But the audience is not innately any dumber than any other fandom. Saying that a person is “less educated” because of their preferred form of entertainment, their preferred form of escape from the banality of everyday life, is a bit absurd and honestly offensive.

Watching K-dramas requires putting your grasp of reality on hold. I don’t believe that the unrealistic situations can occur, but I still laugh, gasp, and cry in a way that I don’t when I watch many other television shows. Why should one preferred form of storytelling make the audience innately less educated than others? It doesn’t, and quoting one, small survey time and time again does not change the fact that K-dramas are watched by people from all walks of life.

Korean dramas are watched in South Korea as prime time television. Yes, they’re soap operas. No, not every person in South Korea is watching them, but they are immensely popular. South Korea has one of the most literate, educated populations in the world with more than 80 percent of adults going on to university, according to The Economist. But you say “loyal fans of Korean soap operas tend to be less educated”?

Outside of South Korea, maybe you can suggest that the audience is less educated, but that’s not remotely true. According to 2013 statistics from DramaFever, one of the most popular sites for international audiences to watch Korean dramas, 53 percent of their audience had college or grad school education in 2013. In 2015, DramaFever reaches around 20 million viewers. Viki, another site where many people watch Korean dramas, goes above just having educated viewers and actually has audience members build the subtitles, including translation and editing, for entirely free.

But, after all, these are the “less educated” fans of Korean dramas.

What do you think about the Wall Street Journal’s use of this survey? How do you feel about Korean dramas? Share your picks in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.