How 'bout something a little more light-hearted? I loved this song and video as soon as I heard it. It's fun to dance to and just plain hilarious. J.Y.P. (Park Jin-Young) is a very well-known producer and singer in South Korea. His style is hip-hop, pop mix. His company JYP Entertainment is very successful, producing such acts as Wondergirls, 2AM and 2PM and Miss A.
I love Korea, I want to and plan to live there eventually. I love the language, the food, the people, the culture in general. But what to say about its music? It's a smaller industry, so there is not nearly enough variety as there is in Japan which is only across the water. In fact, any successful Korean group transplants to Japan eventually, simply by necessity to actually profit. So the Korean music industry (thought experiencing success overall in Asia grace a the Hallyu wave) is limited. Want rock music? You'll have to dig. Even "alternative" or "indie" Korean bands are copies of copies. What really reigns on the charts is pop music. So you're probably going to have luck finding good hip-hop and rappers (there are many great Korean rap and hip-hop artists) or else resign to enjoy sugary, tooth-rotting K-pop.
As for this song, it's on the good side of K-pop. It incorporates lots of hip-hop elements, but is definitely presented as tongue-in-cheek. A kind of campy, 90s revival tune with tons of attitude. The song is talking about 이태원 (Itaewon) a district of Seoul known as the foreigner's haven. Hence all the foreigners in the video.
And yes, I DO know Namsan Tower! I loved it there, in fact!
I love Korea, I want to and plan to live there eventually. I love the language, the food, the people, the culture in general. But what to say about its music? It's a smaller industry, so there is not nearly enough variety as there is in Japan which is only across the water. In fact, any successful Korean group transplants to Japan eventually, simply by necessity to actually profit. So the Korean music industry (thought experiencing success overall in Asia grace a the Hallyu wave) is limited. Want rock music? You'll have to dig. Even "alternative" or "indie" Korean bands are copies of copies. What really reigns on the charts is pop music. So you're probably going to have luck finding good hip-hop and rappers (there are many great Korean rap and hip-hop artists) or else resign to enjoy sugary, tooth-rotting K-pop.
As for this song, it's on the good side of K-pop. It incorporates lots of hip-hop elements, but is definitely presented as tongue-in-cheek. A kind of campy, 90s revival tune with tons of attitude. The song is talking about 이태원 (Itaewon) a district of Seoul known as the foreigner's haven. Hence all the foreigners in the video.
And yes, I DO know Namsan Tower! I loved it there, in fact!
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