One thing I find unique about myself is that my favorite type of music is Korean pop. Don't get me wrong, I love other genres of music too, but if you look at the iPod portion of my phone, half the songs are Korean pop.
People may be wondering how I understand the music. A lot of these artists are from America or even studied there at some point in their life; and they speak some English in their songs. In fact, most Korean groups/singers have been making US debuts with English albums. One of my favorite groups, JYJ, released an album that was completely in English. They worked with Kanye West on the production of the album (he's even featured in one of their songs). 2NE1, another favorite of mine, is preparing for an American debut. They have been working very closely with Will.I.Am for their upcoming album (2NE1 also performed in NYC in December!) Girls Generation just released their first English album, and this past week appeared on the "David Letterman Show" and "Live with Kelly". Other Korean groups/artists have made English albums, such as The Wonder Girls (they even had a movie on TeenNick that premiered last night), BoA, and 2PM. Some have even performed covers of English songs, such as Michael Jackson songs, "Circus" by Britney Spears, "My First Kiss" by 3OH!3, "Part of Your World" from the movie Aladdin, "Tik Tok" by Kesha, "Gone" by NSYNC, and more.
However, more artists/groups are expected to make American debuts. Korean entertainment companies such as SM Entertainment believe and try to achieve "Hallyu", which is the spread of South Korean culture/music throughout the world. These companies are working to have majority of their artists debut in the US.
JYJ have already put on two US Tours (I went to both), 2NE1 performed at Times Square in NYC as part of winning the MTV Iggy Award for "Best New Band in the World", and a large group of artists from the same entertainment company (SM Entertainment) performed at Madison Square Garden this past October (which I couldn't go to, and I was extremely upset by it). Some groups have also performed in LA.
Korean pop is making it's way into America. Yes, sometimes I don't understand what they're singing when they sing in Korean, but this is actually a great way to learn a language, too. Some people may think I'm weird because of my taste in music and knowledge of it, but that's the person I am. I'm proud to say that I like Korean pop music, and it makes me an unique person.
People may be wondering how I understand the music. A lot of these artists are from America or even studied there at some point in their life; and they speak some English in their songs. In fact, most Korean groups/singers have been making US debuts with English albums. One of my favorite groups, JYJ, released an album that was completely in English. They worked with Kanye West on the production of the album (he's even featured in one of their songs). 2NE1, another favorite of mine, is preparing for an American debut. They have been working very closely with Will.I.Am for their upcoming album (2NE1 also performed in NYC in December!) Girls Generation just released their first English album, and this past week appeared on the "David Letterman Show" and "Live with Kelly". Other Korean groups/artists have made English albums, such as The Wonder Girls (they even had a movie on TeenNick that premiered last night), BoA, and 2PM. Some have even performed covers of English songs, such as Michael Jackson songs, "Circus" by Britney Spears, "My First Kiss" by 3OH!3, "Part of Your World" from the movie Aladdin, "Tik Tok" by Kesha, "Gone" by NSYNC, and more.
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| Different Korean pop groups |
JYJ have already put on two US Tours (I went to both), 2NE1 performed at Times Square in NYC as part of winning the MTV Iggy Award for "Best New Band in the World", and a large group of artists from the same entertainment company (SM Entertainment) performed at Madison Square Garden this past October (which I couldn't go to, and I was extremely upset by it). Some groups have also performed in LA.
Korean pop is making it's way into America. Yes, sometimes I don't understand what they're singing when they sing in Korean, but this is actually a great way to learn a language, too. Some people may think I'm weird because of my taste in music and knowledge of it, but that's the person I am. I'm proud to say that I like Korean pop music, and it makes me an unique person.
This sounds really interesting! I never thought to listen to other types of music than what I typically hear on the radio! I think it would be interesting to hear songs in other languages! I'm going to have to check some of this music out! Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI feel that whatever type of music you listen to, music speaks the same language. So I totally recommend people to go out of their comfort zone in music and listen to new and different types of music! ☺ But no problem, I'm glad to be sharing this!
DeleteIt's funny, a few months ago when I went into the city, the McDonalds in Times Square was playing Korean pop. It really is spreading fast over here; I'm not surprised if it does end up on the radio down the road.