But allowing people truly passionate to live their dreams, even if they have little to no connection to the Korean culture and letting them show their appreciation for the cultures and it's arts, is a big way to show how unique that genre is.
In any other context, a group with a lot of foreigners would just be deemed as a simple group.
Honestly one of the most unique parts about K-pop is it's ability to be an assemblage of sometimes many different genres and add some type of korean aspect. Allowing groups of people from completly different ethnic background to called themselves "k-pop idols" isn't it in a way kpop to stay unique?
But who said that westerners/foreigners can't be just as good, not better?
As much as I appreciate their art can we truly say that they are a k-pop group? Is the answer yes cause they use the korean training/idol system as they were training and foming the group. Or is it because they are mostly based in korea? To me it simply feels like a j-pop group based in korea.
Another example, these days, groups can consist entirely of foreigners and still be claimed as k-pop. Let's take the girl group XG, only one of the members is half-koran and all the other members are Japanese but they're still considered a k-pop group.
These days it's not uncommon to hear reggaeton, rnb, latin influence ( TXT x Anitta ), amapiano and afro beat ( clearly more and more present in korean music ( Penomeco, Nct dream, Hyolyn)) etc etc
Behind the scene, k-pop is becoming more and more global, songwriters/composers and producers from overseas are starting to contribute regularly to some of the major hits we get to hear. But westerners means that the sounds, will ( wheter we like it or not) get westernize.
As k-pop is becoming more and more global the sounds become much more "aligned" with global ( and lets be honest) mostly American pop trends. Even if the first prototype of k-pop was based on the american stardom formula, the inspiration is starting to look a lot more and more like the main source.
We often see K-pop as a unique concept, and some might say that this genre is pretty easily distinguishable, but with the increasing amount of Western producers(Such as Dem Jointz,Teddy Riley and much more) in k-pop, are we still allowed to say that this genre is still as niche as it previously was?
So kpop blowing up is not only interesting cause the music is blowing up, but most importantly its a much-needed shift in who get to define global culture and what can be seen as popular and worthy.
And honestly, I would say that's one of the main reasons why K-pop is so interesting, cause the hate and disdain isnt really about k-pop its really about people inability to accept non-western culture as a serious thing.
K-pop is sometimes treated like a threat ( to Western arts and artists ) and at the same time #weird since people can't seem to understand the hype, and most importantly, why is the hype still as strong and not dying down just like they expected it?
Which is peak orientalism in a way, since they see it as an exotic and like to look at it, but then want to crrate a separation between them and the "others" cause they might see them as people who arent to their level.
Let's say BTS breaks a record and or gets nominated for any type of awards, western medias tend to frame their success as "fan generated" and see it as some time of ephemeral internet hype .
In the 2010s since the started to have a stronger presence globally ( for exemple Psy with gagnam style and the rise of groups like BLACKPINK and BTS ),people still wanted to deny the impact the had on music and downplay them as individuals.
Back in the 90s/2000s, this genre was seen as copying Western arts, since they greatly influenced by them ( as if anything creative could only come from the west ), and the fact that the artists were korean made it even more of a reason for people to have disdain for them.
So when I see how people found it #"weird" and also thought they were #"copycats", I now understand what, as westerners, we were ( some still are ) very prejudiced and xenophobic. Cause what's so different about asian guys signing and dancing?
So when I first got introduced to that genre, I just couldn't understand what was so different from a Korean boy band/group in comparison to a Western boy band/group.
I also thought it was bizarre to see a "feminine" man since all I was seeing was stereotypically strong and masculine man. And as I was growing up I had this idea of what asians were supposed to be like since the media would portray them in a very specific way.
Honestly, the way people act about k-pop and idols says quite a lot about what type of perople they are and honestly I cant even blame them cause I was a part of tyhe problem when I first got exposed to k-pop and korean media back in middle school/high school.
Having someone use their voice to convey a message and a collective sentiment is both great and yet so sad. Especially under Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship. Lee Mi-ja is still a singer to this day although she is taking a step back from the stage. www.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2...
In a way, her voice becomes the "mirror" of collective suffering. She, the one singing, is cleary feeling something as she's singning, but the audience too is going throught the exact same thing.
In her song "Camellia Lady", Lee uses a slow vibraro making it a lot easier for the audience to feel the emotions she's trying to convey. She is another artist whose songs reflect on the sentiment of han of that period. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOQ3...
The song was not only censored, but banned for more than 20 years, as it was seen as improper by the governement standard back then. She is known as an emotional and melancholic singer and when the song came out, the gouvernement wanted the songs coming out to be joyous.
Lee Mi-ja is a trot legend that debuted in 1959. In 1964 she came out with the song "Camellia Lady" and wa on the top of the charts for several weeks.Since the release was during a very stric period when it came to the diffusion of different medias in korea
And during all of this, radio was playing happy-go-lucky songs as if their civilians werent fighting for their lives every second of every day.
It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and it's almost infuriating and make the whole situation aven more satiric. Innocent were being falsely accused of crimes they didn't commit, people felt the need to protest for their rights, people got killed and were unale to fully live their lives.
And when we think about the fact that the government was not only doing their best to censor music but also promote happy music when the things the country was going through were nothing close to happiness?!
