MH FEATURED POLL #23: What is your opinion on K-pop?

[Dark Kinma 960]

I can see why it's appreciated, but it's not really for me.  (Even if I like two-three k-pop girl band )

[Lestat 2167]

Being the clusterfuck that K-Pop is, it became hard to differentiate between artists and groups. There are a few I enjoy, but I probably keep confusing names and faces because most of them look, and sound the same. A few groups and artists I can name which I enjoy from time to time are VIXX, DMTN, XIA Junsu and I think that's actually it already.

[Guest lynchisizer]

Nope, KPop is just not my type of music, like pop in general, I just can't get into it :/

[kyoselflove 2680]

I think I like two songs and that's because of plug lol.  I don't actively seek it out.

 

Too busy listening to deathcore.

[chewi 54]

" I do enjoy it from time to time." I never really make an effort to discover new artists or anything.

[violetchain 912]

I don't mind pop in general, but something about K-pop has never really clicked with me. I won't say I hate it, since I haven't listened to nearly enough to form such a strong opinion, but I haven't liked any of the songs I've been recommended.

[Flame-X 441]

As a Korean, I loathe it to death.

[ghost 2686]

As a Korean, I loathe it to death.[2]

 

My sister used to love it, still listens to it but has moved onto Korean indie a bit more.

I used to hate its guts but can now appreciate the music here and there.

 

With our powers combined we sometimes watch Korean music shows and make fun of all the groups that come on.

It's quickly become one of our favorite pastimes.

[ghost 2686]

Mm, I can dig THIS all day though.

Such groove and harmony!

 

 

 

I can do Kpop to an extent if it's the pre-2000's era and maybe up to like 2003.

[Seimeisen 4406]

It's a plague.

 

disgusting piece of garbage

 

I loathe it to death.

Too busy listening to deathcore.

All of these. Of course, I pretty much hate all pop music in general, sooooooo...... yeah.

although there are some pretty hot k-pop guys here and there >.>

[Sakura Seven 593]

I stan for SISTAR. Favorite girl group ever.

 

The rest have the occasional bop but nothing I'd ever consider purchasing. EXID are slowly worming their way into my heart, though.

[Des 289]

May I point out that most musical movements in history were initiated by "the people" as cliche as that may sound. Hiphop, punk, goth, even jazz, and hippies and beatniks and so forth were either dissatisfied with the current state of affairs or simply adventurous in their ways or a combination of the two. The origins for much "artistic" music can be found in society, mostly the young part of society but still society. Eventually all these categories became marketable for the big companies and many so called "posers" or tightly regulated radio-oriented groups popped up but there's still the remains of honest intentions somewhere hidden in there.

 

While this whole K-Pop business seems to be the other way around. It doesn't look like it came from underground to become something bigger, rather it came from office rooms, where the big fish came up with ideas on how to feed and entertain the little fish or so to speak. Much like those Idol shows (American Idol, -country- Got Talent, etc) it was a highly commercial concept from the start and I guess that's also why it's so hard to find any genuine artistic intentions in the K-Pop industry, it feels way too fabricated for that.

 

I think there's an essential difference there that has a huge impact on the general sound (and looks) of K-Pop groups. Just two cents.

[doombox 4421]

Only that's not correct at all. Kpop (in the current idol group sense) as it is, was not engineered in some back room. It started as a fluke that a group gained popularity (read up on Seo Taiji and the boys) and then companies emulated this success years later. And that fad has remained a staple of the Korean pop market. It did start organically like any other "scene", contrary to whatever you think you've heard.

[Des 289]

I'm aware of Seo Taiji and his group (and that wasn't bad at all, I remember Internet War and such) but that differs SO MUCH from the current K-Pop output that it's very hard to link the current output with Seo Taiji. Even if was an "organic" movement, there seems to be nothing of it left today. As if a major market hijacking took place. Only big companies are left who play ping-pong with the group's singers and dancers and produce the same music over and over again.

[doombox 4421]

I'm aware of Seo Taiji and his group (and that wasn't bad at all, I remember Internet War and such) but that differs SO MUCH from the current K-Pop output that it's very hard to link the current output with Seo Taiji. Even if was an "organic" movement, there seems to be nothing of it left today. As if a major market hijacking took place. Only big companies are left who play ping-pong with the group's singers and dancers and produce the same music over and over again.

 

It's not hard to link at all. Hip hop and dance music influences are still strong, I would even go so far as to attribute every group having an obligatory rapper to the Seo Taiji and the boys formula. To me not a lot has changed aside from folding in some more modern musical influences. If you don't see it, it's because you are choosing not to, but it's still there. 

[chemicalpictures 1888]

Never listened to, do not care.

[blackdoll 907]

i don't like the wording for the first choice so, not voting. But I fucking love it. At first  i thought it was a plauge because i was all VK is the best thing ever and that was around the time i thought vk was brutal and the harsh was the best harsh vocals ever. anyway as vk seemed to be going down and Lycaon was rising up i got exposed to this

i thought was hot but moved on

 

 

then later i came found my way back to those ladies but this time i was into the song as well as the dance so i decided to check out the scene and liked it with suju mamacita, sistar touch my body and shit. But after hearing Bangtan boys (korean Lycaon)

i was sold even though they are more like k-hop in the k-pop scene. like turned into love and im loving some of these releases this year, so good!

 

in the end it's like any other scene a lot of shitt but their is really good shitt too. but i'm too lazy and don't have time go through discographies at the moment since im all in to tv right now also that to them pop is my friend and i got into arabic pop too

[saishuu 3220]

I was a heavy kpop fan from 2009-2011 (by the time DBSK released "Mirotic"), checking out every boy/girl group that would pop up in the scene. Ended up being immersed in it completely after more and more friends kept recommending me Korean music. What turned me off from it, besides the whole "fandom" stuff, was seeing how companies treat people and how Korean media as a whole deals with them (the "aegyo", the "ideal types", all those things). There's some hugely childish and prude behavior from everywhere and it gets old fast.

 

However, some of the music is actually pretty damn great, despite being sung by a bunch of teenagers most of the time, which is why i'm voting "I do like it from time to time" here. MBLAQ, SISTAR, Gain and SHINee, as well as some other things from the period I mentioned above, are still in regular rotation in my music playlists. If it sounds good, I don't see any problem in liking any of it. Korea has some good pop producers/composers.

 

You know what's truly embarassing? Modern VK fans having an elitist mindset towards people who like kpop when both things are essentially the same these days.

[humority 2]

I've listened to Kpop for 7 years and it's actually rather boring to me now. I'll still give things a listen but most of my favorite groups don't put out stuff that interest me anymore. 

 

Bands I still somewhat pay attention to are SHINee (though their recent album was blah), Infinite (no good releases for a long time but I still love the members), VIXX (they're a relatively new group so they haven't grown too stale yet), and SNSD (their latest single without Jessica wasn't that great imo). 

 

I feel so critical lmao I guess I'm just disappointed that a fandom I used to be so into doesn't leave me excited anymore.

[Ro plz 1290]

I really enjoy it. I came across a commercial for a show that played the videos while watching the international (asian) channel one day in middle school. Visually and musically it struck a chord with me. I made it a must to check it out and got into some of the groups/artists who were popular at the time (BoA, Se7en, BI, Shinhwa, etc). I got fed up with the fandom and my lack of being able 2 find more artists that i enjoyed. I came back to it last year and i'm really into it. I agree with rocketeer in which it does get to the point where you cant recognize who is who and such, which can get a lil overwhelming or tiring. But having a few go to groups, helps.

 

From a musical standpoint, I really enjoy the production side of K-pop. What these guys are doing really resonates with me and I like using some elements in my music. Nice blend of styles and instruments. Hell, I even wanna take a stab at producing myself, thanks to K-pop.  I've been on somewhat of a J-rock and Metal binge over the last few years. I like having music in my daily rotation thats a bit on the soft/ lighter and mellow side and gets me in the mood to party or chill, now. I also really dig the choreography in a lot of videos as well as the visuals. The idols and companies (who i agree can be very cruel to the artists at times) take this seriously and I really respect that. 

 

I can also understand why a lot of people loathe it though. A lot of the time, it may seem like a lot of it sounds the same. Many K-Pop producers tend to stick to specific keys when making songs and the fans are often headache inducing. I also agree heavily with what one user posted, saying that some groups come off as trying to hard to portray an image thats clearly not them. I see this a lot with the boy groups and it is indeed cringe inducing. Same can be said for a few of the girl groups.

 

In general, I think its cool.

[Flame-X 441]

 

From a musical standpoint, I really enjoy the production side of K-pop. What these guys are doing really resonates with me and I like using some elements in my music. Nice blend of styles and instruments. Hell, I even wanna take a stab at producing myself, thanks to K-pop.  I've been on somewhat of a J-rock and Metal binge over the last few years. I like having music in my daily rotation thats a bit on the soft/ lighter and mellow side and gets me in the mood to party or chill, now. I also really dig the choreography in a lot of videos as well as the visuals. The idols and companies (who i agree can be very cruel to the artists at times) take this seriously and I really respect that. 

 To give credit where it's due, I agree with that statement.

[blackdoll 907]

 

also gotta love watching the fans lose their shit

[lollipopmonstar 346]

"I avoid it like the plague." XD

[animefy 0]

i was crazy for it back in the early 2000's when i was a middle schooler(first got into kpop) but now im more calm down and not really into it anymore. Their music industry has changed a lot and too much commotion.

The only idols i listen to are from YG since i like their style. aside from yg, from time to time i'll hear a good song from others but i'll mostly listen OSTS from korean dramas/movies.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

On 5/25/2015 at 4:19 PM, peffy said:

Before I got all visual kei, I was all J-pop, and would occasionally decide to check out a solo K-pop artist.

Pretty much my experience back in the early 00's, but I was a noob lol so I couldn't tell what was Korean/Japanese. All I cared for was the music.

BoA (before she branched out to the Japanese market) was fantastic, and pianist Yiruma had music that brought new life to contemporary music. There were others, but it's been a long time (and I never bothered to translate their names).

When I "retired" from JPop (I was full VK at this point) less than a decade ago, my exposure to KPop (Korean Music in general) was through my younger brother.

At the time (like 2010), he convinced me to sit down and watch older K-Dramas such as Winter Sonata, Spring Waltz, etc. As we got to watching more modern K-Dramas (Dream High, Boys Over Flowers, Shut Up Flower Boy Band, etc.), it was then that I was exposed to recent Kpop.

It was ok.

My brother eventually became the KPop fan, and I still hear about new releases from him if they are worth listening.

I'm not a fan for many reasons, but overall I feel an "emptiness" from most artists/groups, listening to a lot of it.
I think there is hope for KPop, but whats out now and being received by the masses, to me, is not a great representation of it.

K-indie is where its at though for now.