I saw this music video pop up on my YouTube homepage just now. This song is likely the most famous K-Pop girl group song. The video says 2002, but it was originally released in 2007. I remember seeing their debut performance and thinking there were too many members in the group. It took me many months before I could recognize each member individually.
It is hard to imagine that sixteen years have passed since this song came out. I just got divorced in 2006 and really got into K-Pop because I wanted to listen to music but did not want to hear the lyrics. Soon it became the only genre of music I listened to. After getting Spotify, my music selection has been more diversified.
This is a beautiful song by AKMU or Akdong Musician. They are a brother/sister duo under the YG label. The brother, Lee Chan-hyuk, composes the songs and writes the lyrics. The sister, Lee Su-huyn, has a wonderfully unique voice. The English title for this song is also very long: How can I love the heartbreak, you’re the one I love.
Here are some of their other songs on my Spotify K-Pop play list:
Two TWICE (K-Pop girl group) members on Instagram Live. There were >170k viewers at one point. I always wondered how people managed accounts with huge followings. How do you interact with 170,000 people on a live video? Messages were scrolling nonstop and 99.9% was just junk.
One of my favorite K-Pop groups got together to release a new song and perform at the 2022 MAMA Awards. The group has gone through many members at various times, but most of them came back.
This is one of their most famous songs, probably due to the butt dance.
I saw them perform this song live at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2010. That was over twelve years ago.
It is a new group, and all the members seem really young. I really liked the intro chords, which appears to be Fmaj7, Gmaj7, and Amaj7. On the third line, there is also a Dmaj7 followed by Dm7. It is hard to play on the guitar unless I cheat on some of the chords.
I am kind of losing interest in K-Pop as all the second-generation idol groups retire. However, I did hear that KARA may be making a comeback and performing at the 2022 MAMA Awards. I also want to point out that MAMA stands for Mnet Asian Music Awards, so 2022 MAMA Awards is really Mnet Asian Music Awards Awards. Sigh…
==========
While we are here, below is another newish song that I like from a fourth generation K-Pop girl group.
After Like – IVE
==========-
The youngest member of NewJeans is fourteen. That seems awfully young to be involved in the cutthroat K-Pop industry. My niece is older than that.
Sorry for two K-Pop posts in a row but one of my favorite girl groups just released a single after three years. I believe this is for their ten year anniversary as a group.
Here is their most popular song that became #1 years after it was released.
Finally, their lead singer Solji has an amazing voice. I love all her solo songs, especially this one.
She had to take a long break due to medical issues so it is great to see her recover and sing again.
TWICE was here in Los Angeles several months ago for a concert. I briefly thought about getting tickets, but I was still wary about COVID, and going to a concert full of screaming teenage girls is not a smart choice. It looks like Blackpink will be performing at the same stadium in November. Here is one of their new songs:
I have followed Blackpink since their debut, but I am not really a huge fan of their songs. YG artists seem to be more unconventional in their music as compared to SM and JYP, the other two large K-Pop production companies.
==========
Wow, Blackpink concert tickets are expensive. On the venue website, the cheapest tickets are $319 for the back corner. If you want to be next to the stage runway, those tickets are $2,034. I have been to a total of about a dozen concerts. I do not think I would pay $2,000 for a concert ticket, no matter how close, unless I get to meet the artist backstage as well.
Also, those are Ticketmaster list prices. The $319 ticket will cost you more like $550 after all the fees that Ticketmaster tacks on.
I just had a dream where I was having a conversation with Nayeon of the K-Pop girl group TWICE. Maybe it is because she has a solo song out recently so there is a lot of news about her.
In my dream, she drew something on the back of my wrist with a blue or green Sharpie. Of course there was nothing there on my wrist when I woke up, but my left middle toe was hurting like crazy from neuropathy. That is why I still remember parts of the dream and typing this post now. Ouch.
Official MV for OST from Our Beloved Summer K-Drama. I found an English cover version on YouTube.
maybe if I woke up in the morning hearing your voice maybe if I was with you maybe if we’d gone through the hard times together would we have never broken up? would we have stayed the same? the distance between you and me it never seems to disappear you and your harsh words frozen in my heart
if you had met me before this happened it shouldn’t be this hard if you just told me the things you went through swear I’d hold your hand we wouldn’t be strangers like we are right now but still I would try, try, try can I hug you just one last time
memories fade but all i know is I miss you this longing that I feel the pain feels fresh and oh so real only if you… if you could come the distance between you and me it never seems to disappear you and our memories still locked in my heart
if you had met me before this happened it shouldn’t be this hard if you just told me the things you went through swear I’d hold your hand we wouldn’t be strangers like we are right now but still I would try, try, try can I hug you just one last time
will you be there when I wake up from this nightmare? open arm in a wide embrace and you tell me things you regret you never told me before I’ll hold you tight and never let you go tell me whenever I’ll be wherever you are only if you come
Another post about K=Pop, but not a happy one. I do not know if the situation is similar in the US music scene, but there is a lot of bad shit that goes on in the K-Pop industry. There is plenty of abusive behavior by management companies and very high suicide rates for idols. I posted about Sulli and Hara before, and just this morning there was news that Kwon Mina from AOA tried to take her own life. She claim she was bullied for 10 years by another member of her girl group, and was suffering from depression. There used to be seven (or eight if you count the drummer) members, but there is only three now.
AOA has a subunit called AOA Black where each member played an instrument. Mina was the bass player. I have only found a couple of videos on YouTube of them performing live with instruments so I do not know if it was just a gimmick. Since I kinda play bass, Mina was always my favorite member of AOA.
I used to follow her on Instagram, but after the bulling became public, it became difficult to see all the hate she was getting, and how her mental health was deteriorating. Every country has its share of assholes, but Korea seems to have a real serious problem of online harassment of celebrities. Mina also seems unable to get away from social media, despite the damage to her mental health. I believe she even slit her wrist before but seemed better recently. I also heard she does not really have a support group since her father passed away and her mother and sister are dealing with their own health issues. What do you do when Asian culture is so anti-therapy?
Here is more news about the latest suicide attempt: Geo News. 😟
I just found out that my current favorite Korean artist will be in concert in Los Angeles on November 6-7, 2021. Unfortunately, it is not a solo concert, but a music festival type event with lots of artists. I only know a few names on the list but it appears to be indie pan-Asian artists.
CL was part of 2NE1, which was a super popular four member K-Pop girl group from YG Entertainment several years ago. I think she is trying to break into the US music scene. Feel Ghood Music is an artist management company founded by Tiger JK. Him, his wife Yoon Mi Rae, and Bizzy is also the K-Hip-Hop group MFBTY. Feel Ghood Music signed BIBI as an artist recently, mainly due to her Soundcloud uploads, and she has been releasing songs since then.
Since I would only go to the concert for BIBI, it is not work the $249/$399 ticket price. Even though it is over two nights, with that many artists, she would likely only perform 2-3 songs. If it was just her performing (or along with MFBTY), I would pay $150 for the VIP tickets if I can get my CD signed. Oh well… maybe I can go hang out in Korea for a few months once the pandemic is over so I can catch a few of my favorite Korean artists performing in small venues.
Tickets go on-sale tomorrow at noon so I still have 12 hours to think about it. I should probably bring my friend that does not listen to K-Pop, but I end up dragging him to lots of concerts. $800 though…
This is a five year old song by a Korean girl group called Laboum. I am not sure of the English title. I see “Journey to Atlantis” a lot, but the official music video says “Fresh Adventure.” Regardless, this was one of my favorite K-Pop songs when it came out. Laboum has a decent discography with lots of great songs, but they were hugely underrated and never super popular.
The K-Pop industry is very competitive, with new artists debuting all the time. Song promotion cycles are really short, usually just weeks or months, and public attention will jump to the next new song. That is why when an older song becomes popular again, it is a big deal. The best example is probably 위아래 (Up & Down) by EXID, and more recently, 롤린 (Rollin’) by Brave Girls. Both songs did just okay when they first came out, but years later became super popular and hit #1 song in sales and music shows.
For EXID, if was a fancam of a performance that went viral. It was fortunate this happened as it help EXID gain lots of popularity. They went on to release several more great songs. Likewise, Brave Girls were on the verge of disbanding when a video of their performance at a military base went viral and Rollin’ shot up to #1. EXID has since disbanded, but Brave Girls are still riding the popularity wave, and just released a mini-album.
For Laboum, I think their sudden popularity was that their song was featured on a popular variety program called Hangout with Yoo. The show revolves around Yoo Jae-suk, probably the most popular MC in Korea. The show started with just filming random stuff he did on his “day off” but became super popular, and have done several music projects. The latest project is forming a boy band, and they sang 상상더하기 on the show (see below). I just started watching past episodes of the show, so I have not watched the most recent project/episodes yet.
I am really happy that these groups get another chance at success. Laboum is back on music shows performing their old song. All three groups mentioned should have had more success initially, but a lot of talented artists never make it as K-Pop idols. I am actually a big fan of Laboum overall, not just the song 상상더하기. I even bought a signed copy of another album from South Korea a few years ago.
Here is a recent performance from about two weeks ago on MBC. The girl in the preview picture is Solbin; her signature is in the upper right on the above album cover. I believe she has been doing more acting than singing but that may change for a little while.
I got a notification for an Instagram Live video from Bibi, one of my new favorite K-Pop/K-R&B artists. I actually purchased her latest album from Choice Music LA, but have not received it yet. The live video is still on right now, and there are about 2,000 viewers. She speaks pretty good English for someone that did not live outside of Korea. I think in an interview she said she had a long-distance relationship with someone from China. I guess they had to speak English.
Here is her latest music video:
My favorite Bibi song so far:
I have not gone to any concerts lately. If she decides to tour LA, I would definitely go see her sing.
A few photos of Bibi. The left is a modeling shot. The right is a screenshot of the Instagram Live video. She looks much younger without makeup. She is also very down-to-earth on these live videos. Since Bibi has gotten more popular, there are more photoshoots and commercials featuring her. Search for “bibi” on YouTube and there are hundreds of videos.
==========
Bibi was “discovered” on a SBS show called The Fan. Established artists would bring new artists to perform and compete on the show. This was her performance on episode 1. Bibi has later said she would rather choose “death” before going on another singing competition show.
I have been on a Running Man binge lately, downloading and watching episodes. Last night, I came across episode 388, which had Goo Hara as a guest. Unfortunately, she committed suicide in November 2019. I remember this very clearly since it was the first weekend after my discharge from heart bypass surgery. I was a big KARA fan and had seen them in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 2010.
Anyway, clicking on links in YouTube, I found an upload of a Instagram live that Hara recorded right before she committed suicide. Sadly, it was a video message to Sulli, another K-Pop idol from the group f(x) that had also committed suicide six weeks earlier. Reading through online articles, it seemed both were victims of online bullying, with Hara also physically abused by her ex-boyfriend. He also threatened Hara with releasing sex videos taken without her consent.
I am not sure why I posted this. It was very sad to watch the Running Man episode. In hindsight, the introduction interview with Hara was super cringey when they talked about her prior comment about marriage. Even though I listen to a lot of K-Pop, it is a brutal industry, especially for girl groups. Also in Korea, similar to other East Asian countries, mental health is not really considered, and those that seek counseling or therapy are considered mentally weak. Very sad.
==========
Post heart surgery, I had to switch back to hemodialysis. The first few weeks were very tough since I could not really walk, and had to use a wheelchair to go from the parking lot to the clinic. I also felt terrible, with chest pains and anxiety. I even got sent to the ER during dialysis due to a likely panic attack. However, I had a lot of support, even if most of it was online from text messages and email. I did not have strangers cyberbullying me or experience physical abuse. Even then, I had moments where I though about giving up, and just stop going to dialysis. Now that I am in a much better place, I can see how depression can mess with your perception of reality, and how hard it is to overcome it on your own. I do not understand why people are so toxic online. Is it the anonymity? Are those people like that in real life, face-to-face interactions?
Since signing up for Spotify Premium, I have been checking out recommended artists for each song I add to my K-Pop playlist. I recently “found” this artist named Jiselle. She only has three or four singles out, but I really like this song. I think Spotify is grouping her into the Korean R&B sub-genre and there are a lot of cool stuff there.
She is under the label Million Market, which I believe is part of SM Entertainment. They are probably the largest K-Pop management company, and was not affected by the Spotify-Kakao M spat recently.
==========
Ooh, new song released yesterday:
Weird. 1theK is part of Kakao M. You would think SM can distribute the song on their own network.
I literally just signed up for Spotify Premium three weeks ago, and today, about 50% of my playlist disappeared. After Googling a bit, it turns out that Spotify’s license with Kakao M has expired on March 1st, so Spotify had to remove all the songs that Kakao M distributes. I read somewhere that is about 35% of Spotify’s K-Pop songs.
Nothing. There were a lot of songs on the playlist here just this morning.
This totally sucks. I had just got into a lot of independent artists and Korean R&B, and most of those artists’ songs have disappeared. The big 3: SM, JYPE, and YG are still there, along with some other larger companies, but a lot of small and indie artists use Kakao M and it is all gone. I believe it is because Kakao M wants to increase their streaming service, thus eliminating competition with Spotify. Spotify never had a license for South Korea anyway. What this does is remove access and license income for all these artists worldwide without any alternative streaming services. Where is Kakao M’s streaming service in the US? Do they even have one ready for launch? Do they think fans will pay for another streaming service just for 35% of the Korean music market? Delusional. What will happen, for me anyway, is if this is not resolved within a few weeks/months, I will just cancel Spotify Premium and find somewhere to get my K-Pop.
Tablo of Epik High is not happy about this. they just released a new album and it’s not available on Spotify anymore.
Sometimes anti-competitive and monopolistic policies by companies come back and shoot themselves in the foot.
==========
I forgot. Another reason I paid for Spotify Premium is that it is part of the entertainment system in my Tesla. There is a Spotify button but it only works with premium accounts, i.e., not the free accounts. It is convenient to listen to my playlists on the computer or phone, then jump in the car, and have the music continue on the same playlist. However, that all becomes moot when the songs are not even available on Spotify anymore. I also have about 90% of the older K-Pop songs in iTunes as MP3 files so I guess I can go back to copying files to a USB drive and inserting that into my car. Currently, the K-Pop genre on my iTunes Music app has 4,110 items or 10.1 days, and taking up 34.26 GB on the SSD.
I just “discovered” this indie solo artist in Korea. Her name is BIBI and both her voice and songs (she wrote) are pretty unique. I really like this song and the music video:
Lying around in the room with lights off
My phone isn't ringing at all
Maybe you'll just swing by
I can't let you notice that I waited
Restless
Restless
I want to be with you
Tonight
Know my everything
Show me your feelings
Whisper in my ear
Oh so that only I can hear
Tonight
Hold my everything
Keep your eyes on me
Kiss me
I want to be a shining star
Only in your eyes
Your warmth and scent coming through the door
I have to look my prettiest at this moment
Restless
Restless
When you say you miss me
Tonight
I'll be your little doll
Put me in your pocket
Take me away
I want to be with you wherever you are
Tonight
Consume all my love
Lock me up in your heart
Forever
Whenever you look at me my heart pounds
Remember today
Tonight
Hold my everything
Keep your eyes on me
Kiss me
I want to be a shining star
Only in your eyes
I want to be shining
Only in your eyes
Restless
Restless
Life with chronic diseases 