Honest opinions on K POP?

[Kabukichoatmidnight 269]

Not got a problem with K Pop but don't really listen to it. Much prefer J Pop (especially old J Pop from the 70s/80s) but do like Psy just because he's funny over anything else, has a couple of catchy tunes.

[psychonnect_rozen 585]

38 minutes ago, Kabukichoatmidnight said:

Not got a problem with K Pop but don't really listen to it. Much prefer J Pop (especially old J Pop from the 70s/80s) but do like Psy just because he's funny over anything else, has a couple of catchy tunes.

We stan 80s Japanese City Pop. 

[GreatNorthernVK 183]

I like Seo Taiji, and Big Bang/BTS have a couple of listenable songs, but i’ve never really seen the appeal of most K-pop. Especially for people who never really liked American or Japanese pop, but still listen to mainly K-pop nowadays.

[Neigedesmannes 70]

I don't see the appeal of k-pop.

I don't like their attitude, the stanbase. They all look and sound the same. 

Especially the modern style like the great BTS; The music so overly perfect produced  that it's uncanny, the overly flashing visuals with no theme but just to be 'flamboyant as possible', and don't get me started on the copy paste bowlcuts(nothing  personal against bowlcuts) hairstyles 👀

It sounds really arrogant but i can't feel the soul in their music, even when they sing about emotional topics because i know there's a huge writing and production team behind it sooo it kinda dulls the message...(i know, some vk bands do this too) 

 

And while people have freedom over whatever they like, it's kinda sad seeing so many ex-visual kei fans converting to k-pop, but never the opposite. 

 

 

[nomemorial 341]

Took me a bit for it to click, but I'm on board with a good bit of K-pop these days. BTS, TWICE, BLACKPINK, LOONA, and any number of other ALL CAPS artists (lol). Catchy tunes, sleek visuals, dedicated concepts. It's much of why I like VK, just packaged very differently. 

[GreatNorthernVK 183]

14 hours ago, Neigedesmannes said:

I don't see the appeal of k-pop.

I don't like their attitude, the stanbase. They all look and sound the same. 

Especially the modern style like the great BTS; The music so overly perfect produced  that it's uncanny, the overly flashing visuals with no theme but just to be 'flamboyant as possible', and don't get me started on the copy paste bowlcuts(nothing  personal against bowlcuts) hairstyles 👀

It sounds really arrogant but i can't feel the soul in their music, even when they sing about emotional topics because i know there's a huge writing and production team behind it sooo it kinda dulls the message...(i know, some vk bands do this too) 

 

And while people have freedom over whatever they like, it's kinda sad seeing so many ex-visual kei fans converting to k-pop, but never the opposite. 

 

 

The answers that I’ve heard from my friends is basically “it was more accessible, and they actually *want* our business”. The fact that K-pop groups also know the “right” thing to say regarding social topics among western millennials, instead of being edgelords also helps.

[Zalemu 236]

I like approximately 7 kpop songs:

 

Dal Shabet - Pink Rocket

SNSD - Mr. Taxi

SNSD - Run Devil Run

SNSD - Hoot

SNSD - Gee

f(x) - La cha ta

Miss A - Bad Girl Good Girl

 

The SNSD ones I have to listen to in Japanese if I want to sing along without getting tongue-tied. I'm a little surprised I'm not more into Kpop than I am, considering how cute the girls are but nah, I never could get into anything else. And I'm okay with that.

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Zalemu

[saiko 429]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:17 PM, Komorebi said:

I see no much difference in the Kpop and VK scenes besides the musical genre.
They both have a similar marketing, cater to a similar demographic, both scenes have some sort of sexual exploitation behind a pretty facade, similar arguably repetitive sounds (even choreo) and both have performers posing as musicians playing/singing and dancing to songs they didn't write, although VK does have a lot more performers actually writing their music.

So true it hurts.

[saiko 429]

Btw, this is some seriously sexy K-pop tune. Definitely in the mood of a gay bar:

 

 

[astra☆ 26]

There's no originality in it. It's just American pop music made 2 years after the fact, and sung by 8 guys with pink bowl cuts. It's an imitation of soulless music.

[hopefully_benign 56]

It's like Japan's pop music except with everything unique, interesting and good sucked out of it! wow!

[psychonnect_rozen 585]

4 hours ago, hopefully_benign said:

It's like Japan's pop music except with everything unique, interesting and good sucked out of it! wow!

LiSA gang

[heresytrash 250]

I like bts and black pink enough but I cannot stand the fandom. I also never got the flaunting the wealth of their stars, not like the fans are benefiting from it. 

[gret 90]

Shinee is the one kpop group I listen to. Tried others, but can't get into it. Key's solo album is great! their overall image is a little bland for me though.

 

Vk is just a close relative of kpop tbh (remember when dbsk had visual kei hairstyles? lol)

 

Ignoring my shinee bias, I prefer deep resounding voices generally and kpop doesn't really provide for that

 

[psychonnect_rozen 585]

11 minutes ago, heresytrash said:

I like bts and black pink enough but I cannot stand the fandom. I also never got the flaunting the wealth of their stars, not like the fans are benefiting from it. 

Let’s be honest, NO ONE and I mean NO ONE can stand the K-Pop fandom

[anadentone 478]

personally i use to have no problem with it...then some fkers started posting kpop gifs for every day thing trending on twitter. I can understand if its about SK or kpop but politics or FTWD (fear the walking dead) then its just screwy 😮

[Joel 90]

It all sounds the same to me its just as shallow as American pop music, I don't see a difference so I will never understand why K-Pop is as popular as it is. It has to have one of the worst fandom's I've ever seen though, I've never seen a music genre with a community as bad as K-Pop's. The only thing I can compare it to are video games like Undertale and FNAF (albeit Undertale was a decent game).

 

K-Pop song: 음경

16 year old white girls: omg this is so deep i relate 2 this....

[Rahzel 110]

Back when I was like 14 I used to listen to Japanese rock mostly but did listen to the occasional k-pop act i.e. BoA and DBSK ... but then again I was hugely into JE's NEWS and it was def not for the music or the right reasons at all ( the gossip was top notch lol ) Afterwards I spent all of 7 years into Japanese music fandom not managing to get the k-pop fad or getting into it more than one or two songs a year, but then I found out these boys because a friend insisted that I had to get into k-pop "because it is so diverse" and I watched her playlist and most of it bored me af, but I did get a lot into this group (almost miraculously so) and started digging.

 

That's how I got into, aside from BlockB, also Orange Caramel, Royal Pirates (rip), Laboum and Seventeen a lot, and nowadays I do listen to k-pop kinda regularly but it IS often more for the aesthetics than the musical quality in itself which I find really lacking lol sorry guys. So there's the groups with bubblegummy addictive songs like even BTS and BP, and the ones I actually enjoy like the aforementioned which are far and few and require a lot of digging and listening etc. But same goes for every musical genre I guess. Also happy nowadays the self-producing idols thing is a fad in k-pop because I like when I'm a fan of people who actually write/compose/produce themselves lol.

 

Basically still don't consider myself a fan of k-pop and you won't see me talking enthusiastically about it the same way that I do j-music but I AM a fan of certain acts and not so prejudiced anymore. So I'll be That Friend to whoever wants ... Here's my playlist ; ;  Will update later  

[chocobuzz 752]

I like kpop. And when I say kpop, I mainly mean 2009-2016 kpop haha. Haven't really been keeping up with the scene anymore so I don't really know any very new groups and can't really say anything about them or what the recent music is like...

But what hooked me into kpop was the catchy music, the aesthetics and the amazing choreographies. I used to spend hours just watching all the cool music videos and adoring how well some of those people can dance haha. Also, physical kpop albums. The design of those things is really something.

I don't really interact with any fandoms anyway so the possible "toxicity" of them never bothered me lol.

[AwesomeNyappy 98]

On 5/17/2019 at 6:17 PM, Komorebi said:

I see no much difference in the Kpop and VK scenes besides the musical genre.
They both have a similar marketing, cater to a similar demographic, both scenes have some sort of sexual exploitation behind a pretty facade, similar arguably repetitive sounds (even choreo) and both have performers posing as musicians playing/singing and dancing to songs they didn't write, although VK does have a lot more performers actually writing their music.

I agree. I've wondered why so many people who used to be into J-Rock are now into K-Pop and after some thinking, this was my answer. Ultimately, the marketing and demographic are similar. VK fangirls having a favourite member or buying checkies, supporting new bands by buying their records and a lot of merch...it's the same as K-pop. Liking a band, for most people in both scenes, is not only about the music, but also about the visuals and the personality of the band members, which is a great marketing stragedy. Like, if I only like the music, I might buy their album (or maybe not, I might download it illegally), but if I feel close to the band members I might just buy all of their stuff to support them, might try and advertise them to others by streaming their videos or posting on social media. While visual kei is more underground and secluded, it still works in similar ways. I'm also thinking about all the special editions you can buy (although this could be a thing of the Asian market in general.)

 

I know a lot of people who used to like visual kei and are now into K-pop. I see a young generation in the manga and anime scene who is predominantely into kpop and not into Japanese Rock and Metal (how it used to be around 10 years back.) This honestly makes me wonder how many people are actually in it for the music, tbh. I also have the feeling that a lot of people in the manga and anime scene are listening to kpop because it's "special" and "different" although the music is just, well, pop. You could as well listen to a western band. So that leads me to the conclusion that they listen to kpop because of the visuals and bandmembers. Which is absolutely okay. I just cannot stand people who'll tell you that BTS's lyrics are super profound (some lyricss are great, others are cringe) or that they are musical geniuses. I have nothing against their music, I like many of their songs. It's just that some kpop fans put them on a pedastal, saying that the music is soooo much different from western pop and that everything is sooo deep. When in reality kpop companies also hire western song writers...

 

Now for me personally I enjoy some kpop bands and songs. At first, I hated them when my friends first started listening to them back in 2008. They also used to listen to Japanese rock and then were sucked into kpop. However a few years later I started listening to some kpop occasionally (mostly big bang), but I still didn't much care for it. I had a few songs on my ipod and that's it. Nowadays, I like 2NE1's concept, and I enjoy listening to BTS and Big bang (and that one mamamoo song haha.). It takes some getting used to for me since I'm more into rock and metal, but since I also like rap music, so bts fits the bill. Mostly, I get easily sucked into kpop because I LOVE variety shows. In my teenage years I started listening to the J-pop band kat-tun simply because I liked their show. I also enjoy watching bts videos or run bts. I enjoy their on screen personalities and I have fun being in a fandom that has the best inside jokes known to man. Do I listen to all of their songs or swoon over their music video? Not at all. I don't even like most of their videos because I'm not a fan of the visuals. But I love their dancing and I enjoy their entertainment formats. 

[CAT5 9075]

4 hours ago, AwesomeNyappy said:

This honestly makes me wonder how many people are actually in it for the music, tbh. I also have the feeling that a lot of people in the manga and anime scene are listening to kpop because it's "special" and "different" although the music is just, well, pop. You could as well listen to a western band. So that leads me to the conclusion that they listen to kpop because of the visuals and bandmembers.

 

You're not wrong, but I do think that there's something to be said about Kpop being "different" and "special", but the difference doesn't lie in the music, it lies in the culture.

 

The reason that VK fans can so easily transition to Kpop is that the fan cultures surrounding them are so very similar, despite the music being so different. On the inverse - take "Black" American pop music for example: Musically, "Black" American pop/r&b/rap is like the mother of Kpop, as it directly inspires Kpop and sets the trends and standards for a lot of Kpop, yet you don't see a gang of Kpop fans praising too many "black" artists. Now the music from these two scenes are VERY similar, so you'd think that Kpop fans would also be naturally interested in both (and to be fair, some are, but i don't see this to be the case in general). But the cultures surrounding both scenes are so different that you don't really see a lot of cross pollination between the fanbases, despite the music being so similar.

 

So I do think that kpop fans genuinely enjoy the music, it's just that the music comes secondary to the culture. I think it's the culture that attracts most ppl first, and then the music is something people actually find enjoyable after. But not often the other way around. Now obviously there are ppl who are open-minded enough not to give a fuck about the cultures and will listen to anything that they like, but the impact of culture can actually be pretty profound, because culture often gives a context in which to perceive the music. And you'd be surprised how much context can influence one's taste.

 

I've experienced this personally many times. It was like this for me when I got into J-rock. I grew up in "black" culture where rock music was mostly considered a "white" thing, and so we didn't fuck with it like that. I didn't really listen to rock music until after I got into J-rock. Because J-rock offered a different cultural path to rock music than the stereotypical American White culture that I associated it with at the time. But after developing a true affinity for rock, I was able to go back and appreciate the rock music that I previously avoided due to cultural boundaries/ignorance.

 

So yeah, that's my thoughts on that. Culture affects our perception of things more than we realize. They say culture is to humans as water is to fish - so we can't always see what cultural perspective that we're operating from until after we've experienced other cultures, or until after we've swam in other waters, if you will.

 

-

 

But with that said, I personally think Kpop is a lot of fun. I don't listen to it or seek it out on my own, but whenever i'm exposed to it, it's always a joy. The visuals, the dances, the production - the general pomp of it all - it's all pretty exciting. So I see how ppl can enjoy it. For me, KPOP is like eating sweets tho. Like yeah, I enjoy them for sure, but too much and I'll get sick.

[nekkichi 6043]

On 5/23/2019 at 8:57 PM, GreatNorthernVK said:

The fact that K-pop groups also know the “right” thing to say regarding social topics among western millennials, instead of being edgelords also helps.

I-have-to-laugh.gif

 

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/k-pop-idols-accountable-for-racist-actions

 

https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2182512/racist-comment-about-thai-k-pop-star-lisa-spurs-online-outpouring

 

https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/k-pop-idols-and-blackface-its-not-okay-fatima-moosa-shaazia-ebrahim/

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ikrd/14-bts-fans-talk-about-the-racism-theyve-experienced-within

 

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/k-pop-idols-accountable-for-racist-actions

 

which is ultimately on brand with the music diarrhea septic tanks that this scene produces their music at but w/e they evidently have enough stans to stay profitable

[Triangle 345]

It’s literally pop music. I like it. When I was in high school I used to look up every idol I saw in mvs and try to read about them, but that’s literally what we all did at one point when we liked a celebrity. It’s just music that happens to be good for my ears sung by people who my eyes appreciate.

[AwesomeNyappy 98]

On 9/15/2019 at 7:06 PM, CAT5 said:

 

You're not wrong, but I do think that there's something to be said about Kpop being "different" and "special", but the difference doesn't lie in the music, it lies in the culture.

 

The reason that VK fans can so easily transition to Kpop is that the fan cultures surrounding them are so very similar, despite the music being so different. On the inverse - take "Black" American pop music for example: Musically, "Black" American pop/r&b/rap is like the mother of Kpop, as it directly inspires Kpop and sets the trends and standards for a lot of Kpop, yet you don't see a gang of Kpop fans praising too many "black" artists. Now the music from these two scenes are VERY similar, so you'd think that Kpop fans would also be naturally interested in both (and to be fair, some are, but i don't see this to be the case in general). But the cultures surrounding both scenes are so different that you don't really see a lot of cross pollination between the fanbases, despite the music being so similar.

 

So I do think that kpop fans genuinely enjoy the music, it's just that the music comes secondary to the culture. I think it's the culture that attracts most ppl first, and then the music is something people actually find enjoyable after. But not often the other way around. Now obviously there are ppl who are open-minded enough not to give a fuck about the cultures and will listen to anything that they like, but the impact of culture can actually be pretty profound, because culture often gives a context in which to perceive the music. And you'd be surprised how much context can influence one's taste.

 

I agree with you. However, I think the argument remains the same: music is not the main motivator. Which is fine by me. It’s just that most KPOP fans first fall in love with the visuals, the member’s personality etc.

For me it was completely different with visual kei. Back in early 2007, I got a vk mix tape from a friend of mine and fell in love with the music. I was already a metal fan, so bands such as Dir en grey fit my bill. I didn’t even like the vk style, tbh. 

Kpop and J-Rock culture is similar, that we agree on. Context matters, I also agree with you. It’s just that I often role my eyes at KPOP fans saying KPOP music is so much better or they are 100 % in it for the music. Which is obviously not true, but that is okay.

[ghost 2687]

I stay as far away from the culture and music of Kpop as I can (difficult considering my circle of friends right now are all Korean and listen to it). It's just never appealed to me and the perception that I get is that it's done more harm to the Korean music industry than good. It hasn't allowed there to be space for different genres of music. Like, where are the hard rock bands and experimental electronic artists?

 

I think the burgeoning K-indie scene has created a more open space for actual artists to write and produce their own music and it's great to see some individual creativity. But even so, there's a certain sound you can peg to the scene and it's ended up creating, from my perspective anyway, an alternatively stylized sub-sect of cookie-cutter production in rap, rnb/hip hop, downtempo pop.

 

I'm not saying the music itself is bad, just that I would like to see more support for lesser-loved genres of music like hardcore, metal, and experimental music. You just don't see bands like Dir en grey and Deviloof, Mono and Boris or Midori and Otoboke Beaver from Korea.

Edited October 1, 2019 by ghost