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Full dissertation: Exploring The Impact of K-Pop on Western Popular Culture

INTRODUCTION

The last decade has seen a substantial rise in the popularity of Korean culture and K-pop both in Korea and Worldwide. The likes of supergroups like BTS and SuperM have proved that language barriers alone aren’t enough to dissuade an audience from listening and participating. One of the main aspects of interest in this field is understanding how the Hallyu wave, (Korean Wave), has affected this rise, starting with the export of Korean culture to other Asian cultures in the 90s following the lift of the 50-year ban of trade between Korea and Japan especially. This dissertation will focus on how and why the K-pop genre has gained popularity outside of Korea in the Western world and the impact that it has had on other industries like fashion and cosmetics. It will also focus on primary research gathered via survey on subjects like how many artists the participants knew, if they thought K-pop has had an impact on the Western industry and also their thoughts about more general Korean culture concepts.

Articles will reference this phenomenon whilst evaluating the rise in popularity of the genre and of culture in general in the last years as the starting point. Using other forms of pre-existing research on the topic via the form of articles, scholarly articles and journals gives a better understanding and base-ground for this dissertation to start from. Despite this, primary research is vital within this research for giving context, adding detail and understanding the real-world response that the public have towards K-pop.

This dissertation will also aim to understand the fandom culture behind K-pop and how it differs from that of Western artists in similar genres via primary research and personal knowledge. The use of social medias like Twitter and Instagram and the way that they traverse language and societal norms to bring cultures and people together is important to understand when looking into how popular K-pop has become in recent years. Mainstream media outlets like television shows, news reporting broadcasts and journalistic articles also play a huge role in the genre being spread to audiences that would not have had access to the information beforehand. These forms of media have proven vital in the progression of K-pop as a genre and also for its exposure to Western countries and predominantly English-speaking places in particular.

LITERATURE REVIEW

During the last 10 years, the debate detailing the growth of Korean culture in the Western world has grown in popularity. The K-pop industry in particular has blossomed in other countries all over the world, not just other Asian countries as research would show from 20 years ago. “’Hallyu’ was a term coined by a Chinese media outlet in the middle of 1998 to describe Chinese youth’s sudden love for the Korean culture – pop music, films, animation, online games, smart-phones, fashion, cosmetics, food and lifestyle.” (Kim, 2013) The Hallyu Wave (Korean Wave) has become a pinnacle focus point for studies and research conducted since the coining of the term in the 90’s as it seeks to understand the fascination and interest in Korean culture globally. At the time of release, this research estimated that around 35 million fans of the Korean Wave were spread out globally but is now estimated at around 89.19 million worldwide. (Kelley, 2019). Using the Hallyu wave as a backbone to further research enables studies to progress and show growth across the years.

“The success of Korean popular culture overseas is drawing on an unfamiliar spotlight on a culture once colonised or overshadowed for centuries by powerful enemies.” (Kim, 2013)

Kim pulls from the history of Korean culture to make a judgement on how impactful the Hallyu wave has been on Korea and how it has changed the overall view of the country to the rest of the World. It’s important to understand this change to then be able to conduct further primary research on the topic in the Western world whilst remembering its roots.

‘Soft power’ is also a term often associated with the Hallyu wave, another phrase coined in the 1990’s by American political scientist Joseph Nye, which refers to the power a country wields through its image rather than hard force and the military. “The Korean Wave movement is the biggest soft power success story of the region, acquiring global – and still growing – adulation over the last decade with the fevered export of South Korea’s pop culture, from music to drama to anime to computer games.” (Oh, 2013). The use of popular culture in this way through the mediums of music, drama and fashion opens up doorways into positive thinking, where before it may have been void.

A sector within the Korean government, the Ministry of Culture, takes a huge role in the management and sustainability of the Hallyu Wave and the views that other countries have of their people.

This government also promotes the Korean Wave as an export industry rather than just a cultural one, as many K-pop idols also do work surrounding travel and tourism, bringing in thousands of tourists from all over the world each year. This factor alone, alongside K-pop itself, helps to boost the Korean economy more and more each year: “Korean economy has grown richer over the last two decades and the export of K-pop has propelled the South Korea’s music to an estimated $5 billion.” (Sinha, 2019). Although K-pop is not the be-all-and-end-all of popular culture exports out of Korea, it holds a place at the top where the now “Big 4” companies BigHitEntertainment, JYP, SM and CJ E&M (Koreaboo, 2019) reign supreme over other forms of media like television shows and movies, despite a gradual rise in the interest of film over the last few years.

“The success of the Korean Wave is a transnational issue: The salient questions are why and how Korean pop culture was received so enthusiastically abroad. These two questions, while distinct, are not unrelated:

When promoters or government officials measure the success of the Korean Wave by overseas sales they are making foreign consumers the arbiters of cultural value.” (Ravina, 2009).

Ravina focuses on how the Korean Wave is viewed by the Korean government as a statistic woven into society through foreign mediums, said foreign fans being the proprietors for cultural sales overseas and also within Korea itself with the boost in tourism and those coming from overseas to vacation and relocate. The Korean Wave is arguably the most important factor to understand and research whilst looking into the growth of Korean culture in the West and the impact that it has on Western culture in general.

“South Korean entertainment companies have perfected the combination of ingredients needed in a pop group in order to make them appeal to the largest demographic possible both domestically and internationally.” (Bergen, 2011).

The idealistic view of K-pop that the rest of the world has impacts upon the sales and popularity of the genre itself within the market compared to what is already known. This point alone is a huge indicator and figure point in answering questions about the fan culture surrounding K-pop and Korean popular culture due to the ideology of perfection and of attraction.

“Today’s idols, however, have been significantly upgraded being armoured with the well-trained singing and dancing skills which have been carefully developed under the systemized [management] system.” (Jung, 2011).

In the 21st century it is not only the music that idols produce that is important to the marketability but also their appearance, dance skills and overall social skills whilst appearing on television shows across Korea and internationally that makes them desirable to that larger audience. That larger audience internationally is not used to such a full-consumption view of musicians as performers and people of interest that makes fans more likely to interact on a long-term scale.

The rise in popularity of K-pop is not the first time that the music industry has seen a specific genre or band rapidly gain exposure across the Western world. For example, The Beatles and their “American Invasion” (Havers, 2019) showed that music and artists from a different culture, albeit the same language in this case, can transcend political or social standpoints. There are many similarities between The Beatles and BTS as anomalies from their genres, such as extreme popularity around the globe and album sales and revenues being higher than that of their competitors. (Melon.com, 2020) Using these two groups as a focus allows room for a deeper understanding into specific popularity and growth.

Beatlemania is a term coined by mainstream media in October 1964 to give name to the “female hysteria” surrounding the group, especially after their arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport in February of the same year. This same effect can be seen today around other artists, especially and specifically K-pop group BTS.

Fans will flock to their airports at which they land in just to get a glimpse of their idols, the same as the Beatles fans did back then. “The screaming begins just beyond the baggage claim, when the first bob of purple-grey hair peeks up over the security wall separating the biggest Korean pop band in the world, in history, from its fans.” (Martins, 2017) Comparing these two artists may be blasphemous to some, but the similarities of their success and the relationship that artists hold with their fans has been unchanging for decades.

“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.” (Godin, 2008) The idea of a tribe being connected to a group of fans is similar to the business management idea that Godin writes. Although those interested in music are referred to as fans, this tribe mentality is also useful to consider. Fans of music and art over the years have changed the way that outsiders see a group of people all connected by the same thing, and with the introduction of social media this has also extended how these fans interact with one another.

Social media plays a huge role in the spread of K-pop and of Korean culture outside of Korea itself when there is access to online translators or fellow fans that can speak both languages. “Now, the internet eliminates geography.” (Godin, 2008) Godin claims that the introduction of the Internet worldwide has allowed a singular tribe to grow in size exponentially and are no longer just local affairs. Online fandom spaces like Twitter and Instagram have become a place for fans, or tribes, to gather and share their similar interest; in the past they would have had to meet up in person. This allows these tribes that form around K-pop idols to continue to grow despite the geographical differences and language barriers to dissipate- this contributes to how popular the genre has become in countries outside of Korea.

This trend in social media influence resonates especially with the younger generations, those who have grown up with online platforms surrounding them as they grow up also shows in the trend of those who listen to K-pop. Although age is not something that discerns who should/shouldn’t listen to a certain music genre, the accessibility of resources allowing people of a younger age to expand their interests into different fields is more than that of someone older.

“We want to belong to not just one tribe, it turns out, but to many.” (Godin, 2008)

Godin also states that tribe mentality also shows that people want to belong to more than one tribe/community at a time, and the popularity of K-pop also supports this. There are currently thousands of active K-pop groups and also solo artists that fall under the umbrella term who all garner a huge amount of following and support. The term “multi-fandom” is widely used to refer to a fan who is not just a fan of one group or artist at a time, but many. Godin’s understanding of tribe mentality allows us to understand deeper why and how K-pop artists have become so popular by looking at how fan mentality has changed on a broader perspective regarding the general population rather than one group.

The Hallyu Wave and the rise in popularity of K-pop and Korean culture is not the first instance of Asian culture being exported to Western countries. Japanese culture including anime and manga, foods such as sushi and ramen and films like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away. Japanese culture started to gain popularity first in America in the 1970’s and 1980’s, when troupes like the Grand Kabuki played the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington in 1979. Their performances were sold out, and reviews were fairly similar in which they would say that the group were “likely to seem like an alien world to Western eyes.” (Dunning, 1982)

The Hallyu Wave is also viewed in this way at times, particularly when K-pop popularity started to grow in the 2010’s.

The rise in popularity of K-pop has mirrored the same growth that Japanese culture had with film and food rather than music. In 2020 you can walk into almost any supermarket and buy a premade pack of sushi or make-your-own packs for making at home, which is now deemed normal and not out of place. This same effect can be seen with K-pop, even if you aren’t actively interested in the music or the scene you may have a decent amount of knowledge through mass media and the internet. The impact that K-pop has had on younger Western audiences can be seen through online fandom, specifically website like Twitter and Instagram, fuelling a place for these individuals to find others who are likeminded. This is an important factor when considering the overall impact of K-pop music on the Western music genres because it allows an insight into what exactly has made the music and the artists popular and what properties fans will look for when consuming new music.

Although Western medias and fandom mentality largely surround the music scene coming from South Korea, film has also found its way into the market.

‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joonho and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019, opened up the opportunity for a South Korean movie to gain popularity in the Western film industry.

It won the Palme d’Or at the event, despite being played by an all Korean cast, spoken only in Korean and broadcasted with English subtitles. Subtitles have always sprung an issue in modern film, many stating them as distracting and irritating, despite them being used largely for those who are hard of hearing. ‘Parasite’ to date has won 180 awards, most notably four Oscars at the event in February.

Bong Joonho has also expressed his praise for BTS whilst on the Golden Globes carpet: “Although I’m here at the Golden Globes, BTS has 3,000 times the amount of power and influence that I have. I think Korea produces a lot of great artists ‘cause we’re very emotionally dynamic people,” (Bong, 2020) Bong recognises that although ‘Parasite’ has done extremely well in the Western film industry with its awards, BTS have a more prolonged impact on the music industry and the way that the genre is perceived. BTS have been debuted for 7 years as of 2020 and have already set the Korean record for quickest time to reach 10 million sales in December 2018. The group are still relevant, having most recently performed at the 2020 Grammy’s and also performing their most recent single ‘Black Swan’ on James Corden’s ‘Late Late Show’.

This contrast between the two industries and creators is interesting to investigate because it shows that the Korean entertainment industry is growing every day and larger Western audiences are open to listening or watching.

Utilising and understanding the past surrounding the popularity of K-pop from a research standpoint is important for then talking about the present and the future.

It offers a means of comparison, expectations for trends going forward and also how far the industry has come over so many years. The music industry can be unpredictable in terms of what will next be popular or who will fall from popularity.

For example, in 2010 the biggest charting song of the year was “Good Day” by IU, selling 4,450,508 copies in South Korea alone, and topped the Gaon Chart for five consecutive weeks. (Staff, 2019) Despite this high number in 2010, in 2019 her last studio album ‘Palette’ only sold 90,000 copies on the same site. (Gaon, 2019)

These figures help to prove that the music industry is everchanging and an artist’s popularity is never set in stone. Contrary to these figures, there are artists in the K-pop industry who have only continued to grow since their debut. For example, since their debut in 2013 BTS have only continued to grow their album sales every release.

Their label, BigHitEntertainment, revealed on January 15th that their most current album has already surpassed their own previous record and sold 3.42 million pre-order copies. (Herman, 2020)

GENRE, EXPLORATION AND PRIMARY RESEARCH

In the present day, the rise in popularity of K-pop across the Western world is far more noticeable than in previous years. Sinha reports that the Korean music industry has been propelled into the stratosphere to a staggering $5 billion over the last two decades and is only getting more and more popular as time goes on.

Primary research into this field helps to give a comparison into secondary research already available and offers the opportunity to see whether there are any abnormalities or similarities from then until now. Primary research undertaken via survey over a 4-week period of time offers results pertaining to the spread of Korean culture and music to a controlled audience. The control questions were as follows:

How old are you?

Do you know what K-pop is?

If yes, are you a fan?

Are you interested in Korean culture alongside K-pop or are you just about the music?

How many K-pop concerts or related events have you been to in the last year?

Would you, if given the opportunity, travel to Korea to experience culture? Food, scenery, tourist locations etc.

Do you think that Korean popular culture in the modern day has had an influence on media in the West?

How many of the following artists have you heard of? – PSY, Girls’ Generation, BTS, SuperM, Ateez, SHINee, Sunmi, EXO.

The majority of those that undertook this survey were aged between 18-24 at 73% of participants, 25-34 and 34+ were tied at 11% respectively. Of these participants, 94% actively knew what K-pop is on a base level, whether that is on a personal or environmental level through mainstream media.

It’s important to note that through other’s primary research, it shows that the vast majority of those interested in K-pop falls into the younger age group as it portrays the type of audience that is interested in foreign media.

51% of those who partook in the survey concluded that they were not fans of K-pop, but returning to the previous figure showing that most of those who answered did know what K-pop is, shows that you don’t have to be actively involved in the community to understand what it is.

Mainstream media plays a huge role in exposing different cultures to a larger audience, via investigative journalism pieces on TV, in magazines and also online. “Yes” and “Casually, yes” were both tied in response, showing that the split of those who do or don’t know about K-pop in a general or in-depth sense are the same. Referring back to Godin, the internet also plays a significant role in the exposure of K-pop to people who ordinarily would not have known about it. In 2020 almost everything relies on the internet and primary research shows evidence that many people get their information surrounding K-pop from outlets like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These forms of social media are also shown to be very important to fans and using Godin’s understanding of tribes and tribe mentality helps to show how fans are in the modern day. Understanding the way that social media influences not only current fans but also those of the populace that are not invested in the K-pop genre is critical in seeing how these new methods influence the general population.

81% of participants then said that they were interested in both Korean culture and K-pop as two separate entities, showing that for many people it isn’t just about the music and they’re interested in other avenues.

The Hallyu Wave is an extremely important example in this case, proving that the spread of Korean culture and music outside of Korea and even other Asian countries has in fact happened. Kim says that the highlight of Korean popular culture is drawing new light onto a once colonised culture and analysing data that represents The Hallyu Wave and the way that Western countries respond to new media is vital in understanding the impact that said culture has had on the everyday person, whether they are already a fan of K-pop or not. The Hallyu Wave also refers to other forms of media and culture exports such as food, movies and art. Most notably in the last few months is the huge popularity of Bong Joonho’s “Parasite”, currently having gained 180 awards globally. This proves that despite any cultural barrier that may have presented itself in the past the Western public is more susceptible in the modern day to expose themselves to foreign media. “Parasite” was released globally in Korean and was only subtitled in English and despite the amount of negativity that it garnered from more closed-minded individuals it proves that foreign media, especially Korean foreign media is more sought after.

Bong also stated that despite the popularity of his trade, others in pop culture like the members of BTS, have more of a cultural impact than he does. (Bong, 2020). BTS have grown to be one of the most widely known K-pop artists since their 2013 debut and break boundaries in the West with every release. Their company BigHitEntertainment revealed in January of 2020 that their most recent album had surpassed their last album pre-order sales and had sold 3.42 million copies. (Herman, 2020). This figure shows that the popularity of specific groups like BTS keep increasing with every album release and then continue to grow in size especially in the Western world, whilst appearing on shows like The Late Late Show.

This increase in exposure via popular media that is more accessible by the millions continues to grow the Hallyu Wave and solidifies K-pop as a genre in the West.

Dunning claimed that the introduction of Japanese culture into America in the 70’s would seem like an alien world to Western eyes despite the fact that it was very well received by the masses. This can also be seen with the rise in popularity of K-pop in the West over the last few years; the two cultures are very different from each other but their reception in the West has been conceived the same. Using primary research shows that the majority of those who undertook the survey were aware of what K-pop is even if they aren’t interested in it.

This wider exposure has been seen before when Japanese popular culture became popular in the West with the likes of anime, manga and theatre performances. These performances and acceptance of Japanese culture shows a steady rise in interest in foreign media which gives room to a wider audience having or wanting an interest in K-pop.

Despite the overwhelming number of participants saying that they know what K-pop is and are interested in Korean culture, a large majority went on to disclose that they had not been to any concerts or related events in the last 5 years, standing at 87% of answers. This arises more questions about how people view Korean media; on their own terms through active searching or are simply aware because of mainstream media coverage. The amount of people consuming K-pop directly through social media platforms with idols posting via their own accounts is also huge.

This rise in social media as a consumerism value is especially large with the younger generations, which relates directly back to where people are consuming their content.

A large majority of those asked said that they had not been to any K-pop related concerts or events in the last 5 years which proves a contrast to those who are interested or actively consume K-pop content.

It can be assumed that the fact that K-pop has a majority adolescent audience explains why many of them have not attended related concerts; the inability to create an active income compared to the prices of K-pop concerts themselves.

Primary research also shows that if given the opportunity, 97% of participants would like to travel to Korea to experience their culture; such as food, scenery and tourist attractions. This coincides with the amount of people who know what K-pop is, rather than those who are actively interested listeners. Being interested in a travel destination and its culture is a normal hobby, and many like to know the background history and popular things to do whilst in a place when they travel. This data can show an insight into how people view cultures and how the decision-making process works when it comes to travel and personal interest.

Oh claims that The Korean Wave movement is the biggest soft power success story of the region via its music, drama, anime and computer games.

Soft power also plays a part on the way that the rest of the world sees South Korea as an independent country, separated completely from North Korea.

Using these forms of popular culture to help form an idea of what a country is like, especially one that has been shrouded in a negative light for so many years is extremely important in playing into the popularity of these mediums. The rise in popularity of K-pop has helped not only the younger generation have a more positive outlook on the country, but also the older generations that grew up with the negative mindset towards the country. Soft power also influences the amount of media leaving the country and also what type of media that is, so understanding why it plays a huge role in international relations allows comparison to be made between Western powers. Kim pulls from the history of Korea to show how impactful the Hallyu Wave and soft power have been on the rest of the world, replacing negative thoughts of war and anguish with that of positivity and culture.

FASHION, COSMETIC AND CULTURAL INDUSTRY

When asked “Do you think that Korean popular culture in the modern day has had an influence on the West?” the majority of participants were not sure. Despite this, participants were encouraged to share their thoughts on this question in the responses.

One said that fashion trends are being picked up by fans in the West which is interesting because fashion is not one of the arts that South Korea works on spreading to the rest of the World. South Korean fashion, most times referred to as ‘street fashion’ has become hugely popular in the West, but this also stems from immigration of Koreans to other countries and their style being picked up that way. The younger generation of K-pop fans are being exposed to these styles by following their idols on social media and will definitely be influenced by the way that they dress. Another participant also agreed and said that the style is starting to be seen in the music.

K-pop in general tends to be extremely high-quality, from the makeup and the clothes to the production of the music videos and this can be seen everywhere. Noticing that the style and fashion of clothing is having an impact on the music is a similarity that K-pop has with Western popular music. Western artists will have a style team with them on set and their music videos will mostly focus around how the artist looks and acts rather than expensive set design. This feature alone sets K-pop apart from the rest of the music industry and is a key point in how and why K-pop has become so popular; it is different than what we already know.

Another answer submitted to the survey also agreed that Korean culture as a whole has also influenced other mediums such as makeup, skincare and fashion. This has been a widely agreed upon subject within the realms of this survey and Korea is one of the main hubs for fashion exports in the modern day. Seoul Fashion Week, held twice a year during the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons, is a global industry market that is seen by the eyes of everyone around the Globe. The fashion industry in Korea has changed drastically over the years from traditional gowns and historical dress to street fashion, which can be seen reflected in other industries such as the music industry and K-pop. Both men and women in the industry are highly styled regardless of where they are, be it going to the airport or performing on stage and are always watched by fans and by the paparazzi at all times.

It is important to note that fashion plays a big part of K-pop as many idols are scouted to be ‘visuals’ in groups, meaning that they are seen as “more attractive” by their companies and will be marketed as such to fans. This aspect of scouting idols shows that fashion has a huge impact on how a group is put together and is reflected also in the clothes that they wear.

Street fashion is now not only seen in Korea but also in many other countries around the world, but many will attribute K-pop and the influence of Korean celebrities to the growth in Korean fashion around the world.

Another industry that is influenced by the growth in popularity of K-pop is makeup. As stated before, many K-pop idols both male or female are open with the fact that they wear makeup on a regular basis and the androgynous style that many idols take on has helped the general public to become more accepting of this fact.

This in turn has made it more popular for regular consumers to embrace their feminine side and begin to wear makeup in their everyday lives. For example, Nature Republic is one of the most famous makeup brands endorsed by K-pop idols such as members of EXO who have been working with the brand since 2013. Other cosmetic brands that are endorsed by idols are Etude House, Tony Moly and VT Cosmetics, all of whom now ship their products worldwide for global consumption. This gives aid in understanding just how powerful K-pop and its fans can be, as the products that are used by idols specifically are typically the ones that sell out the quickest.

Another time in which this power can be seen is when fans of an idol will sell out other specific brand name items when they are seen being used in public by members. For example, ARMY, the fandom who follow BTS, have previously sold out items like fabric softener, lip balm and even wine after they were seen to be endorsed by one of the members. This further proves the power that K-pop idols have over other industry markets compared to Western artists and their fans.

Fashion and personal style expression is something that features heavily not only in an idols professional life but also in their personal one.

Another factor that differs from the Western industry is that idols are followed almost everywhere not just by paparazzi but by their fans.

Extreme fans, often referred to as “sasaengs” (사생팬), will follow idols to the airport as they go about their routine and there is a heavy pressure for these idols to be dressed well at all times as they will always have eyes on them. This is not hugely different to the reception that Western artists will get when they are out in public but is most times way more extreme. Sasaeng fans are also able to find out private information like flight times and will usually book the same flights just for the opportunity to be close to their idols.

FAN CULTURE AND IDENTITY

Fan culture and obsessed fan culture as a whole is not a new concept as Beatlemania is a great example of. Mainstream media at the time coined the term Beatlemania to refer to the extreme fan reaction to the band, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before in the music industry. This is one of the most comparable points between the popularity of K-pop and with Western artists in the past, and K-pop artists like BTS have been compared to The Beatles on many occasions by Western modern media.

Fans of The Beatles would also show up to the airport, the same as fans of K-pop will do in the modern day.

Martins recorded that when BTS landed in America in 2017, the real beginning of their swell in popularity, that the screaming could be heard just beyond the baggage claim, and that the security wall was the only thing separating the “biggest Korean pop band in the world, in history, from its fans.” (Martins, 2017). This same effect was seen when The Beatles arrived for the first time at John F. Kennedy airport for their American appearances, and the fan reaction is the same for both instances. The difference between the two now is the fact that social media plays such a huge role in fan culture and how fans interact with their favourite artists in the modern day.

Fans of The Beatles would have had to go out and physically take the chance of seeing and interacting with the band in person, whereas nowadays artists and idols will interact freely with their fans via social media which takes away the necessity for physical interaction. Understanding the similarities and differences between fan culture in the past and fan culture in the present allows a deeper understanding into how and why certain artists become more popular than others. Although it is easy to compare The Beatles with K-pop groups like BTS, the reality is that they are vastly different in many ways. It is seen as so impressive that artists who sing in a different language such as Korean are able to gain such a huge following of largely English-speaking fans because the language barrier between the two is broken open.

This sets them apart from The Beatles and Beatlemania because The Beatles were a British group advertising to American audiences who also spoke English, so there was no barrier there.

Another response to this question was that there is now a bigger creative space for international art. K-pop and Korean culture is not the only foreign media that is loved internationally by predominantly English-speaking audiences. Other art forms like film, for example indie films that come out of the Cannes Film Festival in France, are also widely loved by international audiences. ‘Parasite’ is a great example of film in another language gaining huge popularity with Western audiences. The film, all in Korean with only English subtitles, has won hundreds of awards worldwide in the film industry and shows that Western and English-speaking countries are receptive to other art forms in other languages when the storyline is good enough.

Director Bong Joonho also says that despite the huge impact he has personally had on the rest of the World with his own art form, other artists especially in the music industry such as BTS have more of an impact than he does.

This is important to note because it shows that other native Korean people are proud of the way that BTS have become so popular in the Western world as it gives the Korean culture the chance to prove itself, eradicating the stigma that once surrounded it.

Also mentioned in this response is the way that K-pop has brought to the forefront a more androgynous look for both male and female artists that was once more set-apart.

It isn’t unusual in K-pop and also in generalised Korean pop culture for a more androgynous look to be attained by both male and female idols. Male idols are open with the fact that they wear makeup on stage and in music videos and will also be styled in a more feminine way than maybe other artists in different industries may not. On the same note, there are also more instances of female idols being styled more masculine. One example of this is the K-pop group FANXYRED, formerly Acrush, whose members are all female identifying but present very masculine in the way they dress. This androgynous look appeals more to heterosexual female fans but also towards heterosexual men because there is still a feminine appeal behind their music.

The Western world, better than it used to be, is more open now to freedom in gender identity and sexual identity. This can be seen in Western artists also with the likes of Sam Smith coming out as non-binary and with openly gay artists like Lil Nas X and Troy Sivan. Sam Smith is a great example of an artist looking for a more androgynous look as they wear both typically masculine and typically feminine wear in their public appearances and music videos. The use of makeup and feminine clothing in K-pop is nothing new to familiar fans and can be seen throughout the long timeline of the genre within male idols. Despite this, freedom of sexuality expression and general romantic expression is frowned upon in Korean popular culture which is extremely different to Western popular culture. This part of K-pop culture also relates back to sasaeng fans, many of which will often have the mindset that their idols owe it to them not to date or have personal romantic relationships.

There have always been fans who think that in their mind they will be able to date the people that they look up to in some sort of fanfiction hypothetical, but in reality it isn’t true .This can be seen heavily throughout K-pop fans online both male and female.

Another interesting statement that was made via the survey is the impact that K-pop and fan culture of this genre has had on general social media platforms and spaces. One of the main examples of this is the use of ‘fan-cams’ on platforms such as Twitter. For every K-pop group or idol in the industry, you will be able to find a fan-cam on Twitter for them: a small, usually 90 second video focus of them dancing on stage, which can usually be found in the responses to a tweet criticising a specific idol. Western journalists writing articles on K-pop or Western celebrities commenting on the rise in popularity of K-pop or criticising the idols and their genre are usually the main targets. While the use of fan-cams can be harmless and fun, allowing followers to see which idols and groups you follow and exposing non-fans to the genre, they can also be used maliciously and become harmful.

For example, a comment that many fans who use social medias like Twitter will be familiar with is “maybe if you stanned LOONA this wouldn’t have happened” followed by a fan-cam of said women dancing on stage. As this gained popularity it was seen mostly underneath tweets about tragedies like the mass shootings in America or the suicide of another K-pop idol. Despite the small amount of people who find it funny to do this, the larger majority of the fandoms will condemn these people and outcast them from the rest of the community.

This factor alone only helps in giving K-pop fans and the genre in general an even worse name than it may already have. Many people see fandoms as just young impressionable teenage girls screaming for their idols with wild abandon, and this use of fan-cams in such a malicious way only feeds more into the misconceptions of what the fans really are. Korean culture has already been shunned in the past due to built-in forms of racism that the West has over the North/South Korean divide, and although it is slowly getting more accepted worldwide these sorts of fans are only instigating more stigma and resentment.

In the last few years, the amount of Western artists wanting to collaborate with K-pop idols has skyrocketed alongside the rise in popularity of the genre. In the music industry it is not unusual for artists to collaborate with each other on feature tracks within their respective albums, but it is more unusual to see artists who don’t speak the same language collaborating too. Artists like BTS top the charts with how many Western artist collaborations they have done since their debut in 2013. Steve Aoki, Halsey, Nicki Minaj and SIA are just a few examples of Western, English speaking artists who have featured on different BTS tracks over the years. Other artists like BLACKPINK have collaborated with Dua Lipa but because of the wide exposure that BTS have had already in the Western world regardless of their genre their songs and albums are more well-known than others. Another response said that a lot of Western artists have something to be jealous of because of the devoted fanbase that most K-pop idols and groups have, and it can be seen online on social media just how powerful they can be.

This relates back to the way that K-pop fans will sell out different products just because their idols have been seen using them, and from an industry standpoint it is evident that album sales and streaming views of K-pop songs and albums rival that of the most popular Western artists globally. Having a dedicated fanbase is extremely important to groups that are trying to break into a foreign industry like America or Britain so that they can become noticed and have their sales reflect their online popularity.

Another response spoke about the way that the British industry has tried to duplicate K-pop with ‘UK-pop’ via Simon Cowell and his entertainment company SYCO. Despite the fact that he has already been extremely successful with the likes of One Direction coming from his label, the traction and popularity that K-pop has garnered in the last few years has caught his attention, and he announced that he was going to be creating a new supergroup under the ‘UK-Pop’ pseudonym. Although the concept of boy and girl bands isn’t new or original, the way that K-pop groups in particular are marketed to their audiences makes it more appealing for Western companies to take from and implement for their own artists. This again shows how powerful both the K-pop industry is as a whole and also how powerful fans of the genre can be overseas too.

The final question of the survey was compiled of a list of a variety of artists and groups and those who took it were asked to say whether or not they had heard of each one. One of the artists that was known by a large majority of those asked at 85% was PSY, an independent artist who gained extreme popularity in the West due to the release of his song ‘Gangnam Style’ in 2012.

The music video was uploaded to Youtube on the 15th of July 2012, and has since amassed 3.5 billion views on the platform alone.

It was the most viewed video on the platform for five years before it was overtaken by another music video by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, but for many people it was their introduction into the K-pop genre and with Korean popular culture as a whole. The music video and the song exposed the Western music industry to the high-quality production of the music video itself with set and costume design, but also showed the rest of the World what K-pop has to offer. The next artist that the majority knew, more so than PSY is BTS. The idol group has become extremely popular with both the younger and older generations in the Western world and due to multiple mainstream media performances and appearances they have become almost a household name. Many mainstream media outlets will also use BTS as a starting point in referencing other K-pop groups as they are one of the first to have such popularity in the West. Other groups that were added to the list were big names like SHINee, EXO and Girls’ Generation, all falling at around 35% of participants knowing who they are.

These groups are slightly older than those like BTS and PSY, and thus are not as well known in the Western world.

Despite this, the fanbases that stand behind these groups in Korea are huge, and their popularity there is nothing short of extraordinary. Smaller artists were also added to the list to see how much of scope that K-pop has had since their more recent debuts, and these include ATEEZ, SuperM and Sunmi. Said groups had significantly less Western interaction and were only known by those who are active and avid fans of K-pop already.

REFLECTION

Overall, it is clear that K-pop has had influence on Western popular culture specifically over the last few years. The likes of BTS becoming household names and their album sales being through the roof on independent charts shows that their fans are dedicated, despite any language barrier that may appear. Through primary research it is also clear that even if someone is not actively a fan of K-pop they will still have some form of knowledge and understanding of the more popular artists featured throughout the genre due to mainstream popularity via mediums like television and social media. The fanbases of individual groups and idols in the West also allows them to have more of an attraction and helps to push these artists to a wider audience, one that may not have had any idea that they existed beforehand.

Social media has also played a huge role in the rise in popularity of K-pop over the last 10 years in particular, as language and region is abolished when people are connected over online platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Social media is usually marketed towards the younger generations and because of this it is easy to see why many K-pop fans are of a younger age; they are more active online in communities and forums and are more likely to become online friends with people of different races, ages and gender identities. Social media has allowed these people to become friends and find others throughout different walks of life who share the same similar interest. Mainstream media has also played its role in exposing not only the music and the genre to audiences that once would have not had access, but also the artists and idols behind the music that the fans have fallen in love with and gives them the opportunity to share their story.

It is also important to realise that the impact that the Hallyu Wave has had on Western popularities plays another huge role in popularising K-pop and also Korean popular culture in general including film, fashion and makeup. The Hallyu Wave allowed a new avenue for Korean culture to stream through and allowed the rest of the world to differentiate between the hardened military of North Korea and the cultural expression and positive media of South Korea. Soft power also plays a huge role in this aspect of cultural popularity in the Western world when the South Korean government worked to reinforce a positive view of their culture after years of negative association. K-pop gaining popularity outside of Korea gives the genre the chance to expand its reach and opportunity to grow as something other than just a music scene.

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Dreamcatcher drop next album instalment - Dystopia: Road To Utopia

As a former emo kid, Dreamcatcher scratch an itch in my brain that I didn’t know I had. Their music encapsulates everything that I claim my music taste to be - rock, k-pop, rap and EDM, and that’s what I love about them.

Every album that they put out has something for everyone’s tastes, whether that be a ballad, a rock track or an EDM banger and Dystopia: Road To Utopia is no different.

Track one, ‘Intro’, follows these same guidelines - heavy EDM with synth and baseline alike, coupled with a heavier guitar track which ultimately sets up the vibe for the rest of the album.

Track two is the single from the album ‘Odd Eye’, and my favourite track. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this will stay as one of my favourite releases from this year already and it’s only February. I feel like that says a lot about the impact that Dreamcatcher truly have. ‘Odd Eye’ features that same heavier guitar riff throughout but the track manages to switch out and throw a curveball out by slowing down during the bridge and allowing the softer vocals to push through - another aspect that they focus on a lot throughout their discography that give them that edge of originality.

‘Wind Blows’ comes in as close second to ‘Odd Eye’ in my books. This track sounds like its straight out of a coming-of-age action anime series, the music uplifting and almost transporting you to a different reality. The vocals on this song also pop out against the hard synth backing track and once again prove that the Dreamcatcher vocal line is one to be revered.

The third track ‘Poison Love’ begins to demonstrate just how diverse DC can be. This song is a lot softer and slower, more of an ambient house vibe, which brings the tempo and loudness of the album down a few steps with a much more intimate feel.

‘Poison Love’ then leads into ‘4 Memory’, a track that feels a lot more like the more common themes amongst female k-pop groups that you see often. A soft and upbeat drum track is accompanied by an acoustic guitar and layered vocals which switches up during the chorus into a louder synth sound. Despite this song being more predictable than the others so far, it still sounds very Dreamcatcher, which is a notable point. It takes a certain type of musician to take a sound that is already very popular and make it their own, but they manage to do so effortlessly.

Just like ‘Wind Blows’, ‘ New Days’ sounds like the ending credit song to a wholesome action anime and is incredibly catchy and memorable. The use of a full-band sound in this track rounds it out perfectly and alongside the vocals they work together wonderfully to slowly build up into the chorus.

The album finishes off with an instrumental version of ‘Odd Eye’, fully showing off the intricacies of the beat and allowing us the opportunity to really understand what has gone into the backing. I always find it interesting to listen to these instrumentals after the full album because it gives me an appreciation of the effort that goes into the musicality of a track when you remove the vocals.

This has definitely got to be one of, if not THE favourite, album I’ve heard from Dreamcatcher. It incorporates a multitude of different vocal, production and instrumental talents to tie the whole thing together flawlessly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one’s doing it like Dreamcatcher.

Words by Bekky Smart

Twitter: @bekkymays

#dreamcatcher #kpop #Kpop journalism #kpop journalist #journo #journalism

What a GRAMMY nomination means for BTS and the K-pop scene

#BTS #bantan sonyeondan #GRAMMY #K-pop #Kpop journalism #music journalism

365 Days to Change the Game - An Unus Annus Reflection

And so, the year has finally come to a close. The final moments passed, the final memories made, the final tick of the clock struck. Inevitable, as we always knew it would be, and yet now that the countdown to the final day has stopped, it still hurts so. But death always does anyway, right? That’s the beautiful, painful, harmonious swell of it all. The fleeting feeling of never having enough time to say or do what you need to and still, pressing on nevertheless.

“Memento mori”, “remember death”; the most beautiful thing about death is that only the physical is turned unseen, but the memories remain. They always say that as long as a person is remembered, they will never truly die – and thus is such for Unus Annus. A community so strongly bound by emotion and a sense of family will never let go, not really. And that’s okay, too.

So, to those who were a part of the journey, whether big or small, from the beginning, middle, or end, we will never forget. And to those who were not, well, you just wouldn’t get it.

Memento mori, Unus Annus.

#Unus Annus #unusannus #memento mori #crankgameplays #markiplier #not actually a proper journo piece but I had some stuff to get out

ATEEZ return with new album “ZERO: FEVER Part.1″

As far as rookie groups go, ATEEZ are already well on their way to making waves through the industry as they continue to rise in popularity.

ATEEZ have already taken a blow this year with the cancelling of their world tour in February due to COVID-19, so this album release comes at just the right time. FEVER promises both a new sound and also one reminiscent of other albums – a style that is unique to ATEEZ alone. The mix of a more old-school, slower pop and up-beat EDM add depth to the album and allow it to flow naturally.

Title tracks ‘FEVER’ and ‘INCEPTION’ add themselves to be more stereotypical of a broader K-pop genre – the pop beat, soft instrumentals then mixed with a synth or a rap verse. Other tracks like ‘THANXX’ and ‘TO THE BEAT’ however are completely different, offering a sound almost exclusively EDM based with heavy bass and vocals that are so recognisable now to ATEEZ alone that gives these songs an edge. ‘Good Lil Boy’ mixes elements of all of these tropes; a fast drum beat and synth in the background but coupled with softer vocals that give the illusion of a ballad, just without the slow music. Finally, ‘One Day At A Time” truly is in a ballad format, reminiscent almost of an early-2000’s western pop beat, and it rounds off the album beautifully with its comforting lyrics and soft sound.

ATEEZ continue to prove their worth with every comeback – the fandom continuing to grow tenfold each time, and they absolutely deserve it.

8 makes one team!

Bekky Smart

#ateez #ateez comeback #fever part 1 #music journalism #article #kpop

About The Author

Hi! My name’s Bekky Smart and I’m a third year music journalism student and this blog is dedicated to the magazine I created for my final project. Here you can find most of the articles that I wrote for the magazine itself, plus some extras from a few months ago. While Paradox Magazine is dedicated to K-pop only, I also write about most other genres too so I’m sure there’ll be something here for everyone.

Thank you for reading, reblogging and interacting with my posts and I hope you’ll want to pick up a copy of Paradox when it’s been printed (after the pandemic).

- Bekky Smart,

writer, editor and graphic designer.

#paradox-media

Happy Birthday, Jonghyun.

April 8th to non-Shawols is just any other day, but for fans of SHINee, it’s a pretty special day, because April 8th is Kim Jonghyun’s birthday (specifically, his 30th birthday this year). To those of you who aren’t aware of who Jonghyun was (where have you been, catch up, it’s SHINee) he was a member of K-pop group SHINee, who debuted in 2008 with absolute banger ‘Replay’ and reigned supreme over the charts from the very beginning. The group, and the rest of the World, was rocked by tragedy, after Jonghyun passed away after losing his battle with depression on the 18th of December 2017. Fans all around the World grieved online, posting heartfelt tributes and sharing their own memories, and April 8th 2020 has been much of the same. But we shouldn’t look upon this day with sadness in our hearts, we should look upon it with joy and love and appreciation to have been able to know this wonderful man.

We should listen to his music not with tears in our eyes but with happiness in our hearts, because that’s what he would have wanted. He would have wanted for his fans to continue to listen to his music and have good memories, rather than be tainted by sadness.

So if you’re reading this and you’ve never listened to a single song by SHINee or any of Jonghyun’s solo albums, I really implore you to do so, because this is the beautiful legacy that he has left behind for all of us. And so long as there are people out there who listen, he’ll never really be gone.

Happy birthday, Jonghyun. We miss you.

#paradox-media

#BANGBANGCON2020

K-Pop superstars BTS announce 24-hour two-day online concert stream

2020 has already been one of the worst years of our lifetimes, and we’re only 4 months in. That’s how bad it’s been. There’s no coming back from this, 2020, you’ve gone and done it. One of the main things that’s been affected by Miss ‘Rona 2020 is live concerts and gigs, which have come to a complete halt until possibly the end of next year. I’ve personally already missed multiple concerts that I’d booked/planned prior to the lockdown that now won’t be happening, and BTS at Twickenham was one of them. So you can imagine my surprise when BigHitEntertainment, BTS’ management company, announced ‘BANGBANGCON’, two 12-hour livestreams of content previously only accessible by buying the discs, for free.

The only downside to this whole thing is the time-zone differences. Both days the livestream would start at 12PM KST… 4AM GMT. So I geared up, drank a RedBull at midnight and tried to keep myself occupied until 4AM came around.

4AM rolls round, I’m tired but determined and I load up the stream on Youtube. When I join, there’s already over 1 million people watching, and that’s just directly on Youtube, not including the other platforms that are also streaming the concerts like Weverse. In the end, the stream garnered over 22 million people watching and I think that goes to show just how much of an impact BTS has Worldwide.

The stream begins with a short introduction from the members, and through my very, very, broken Korean I manage to gather that they’re introducing the first day of concerts and are thanking ARMY for being there with them together despite the lockdowns. The first day consists of 4 different concerts, in order as follows: HYYH On Stage (2015), HYYH Epilogue (2015), The Red Bullet Tour (2014) and BTS 3rd Muster in Seoul (2016).

The concerts being shown are those that were recorded as tour documentaries at the time and are largely unseen by many who can’t afford to buy the original DVDs. BigHit are very strict on sharing these medias online, and many fans have been struck down for doing just that in the past. I first got into BTS in 2015, and being able to see some of these sets from before I was even a fan is super interesting and really enjoyable.

The thing about K-pop concerts is that their live shows aren’t just about the music but also about telling a story and putting on the performance of a lifetime. When a K-pop group conducts a tour, each show is just them with no supporting acts like you’d usually see with Western artists and said shows are usually about 2 hours long. Short VCR’s are shown in certain intervals throughout the show, giving the members time to take a break, drink some water and prepare for the next song. All of these shows took place somewhere in Korean, and having seen BTS live myself 3 times now, the difference in crowd interaction is astounding. As good as I think we are with interacting and singing along with songs in Korean, the entire crowd being able to sing along to every word perfectly just hits something different.

It gets to around 5:30AM and I can feel myself falling asleep, desperately trying to stay awake to enjoy the rest of the stream. I fail about half an hour later, and awake at 11AM to the sound of BTS still performing. Definitely not the worst way I’ve ever woken up, that’s for sure.

I give myself a few minutes and get right back to watching, HYYH era is one of my favourites and me and a friend are messaging each other about the songs, the way the members look and the choreography.

Despite the fact that I’m alone, in my room, only watching a stream of a concert I wasn’t at, it almost feels like I’m there in the crowd. In times like these we all need to stay connected and feel present in the moment, rather than feeling locked in and locked up.

Next up is The Red Bullet tour, a blast from the past showing young, fresh-faced BTS performing to a crowd of only 5,000 people. It feels nostalgic, once again despite the fact that I wasn’t there, and didn’t actually know who BTS were at this time. It also makes me feel proud, watching this performance, knowing how far they would come in the next 6 years. From 5,000 people in their home country, to playing Wembley Stadium for 2 consecutive nights to over 120,000 people and another 140,000 fans around the world via livestream. I sing along to every single song, every single word in very broken Korean and fully enjoy myself. The show comes to an end, and it’s incredibly bittersweet. At the end of every concert, the members will take a few minutes to speak to the crowd, thanking them for coming out and how grateful they are for being where they are. It makes me remember why I love them in the first place.

Finally, the last concert of day one begins: BTS 3rd Muster in Seoul. Every year BTS will hold a concert in Seoul called Muster, a concert that tops everything else that year in terms of live shows; be it the incredible sets, songs that otherwise wouldn’t be played live and games played by the members on stage. Each Muster shows something different but are always held in Seoul, so it’s something that international fans will usually miss out on.

As most BTS fans will know, everyone has at least one bias. For those of you who don’t know, a bias is just a fancy way to say your favourite member (although we love and appreciate ALL members in this household, thank you very much). My bias is Min Yoongi, or SUGA as newer fans may know him as. SUGA also has an alternate performance persona, Agust D, which is separate from BTS. He never usually performs any of his solo discography live, which is why 3rd Muster is so special. SUGA only has one solo album released, titled ‘Agust D’, and one of the songs performed at this concert was his track ‘Tony Montana’, featuring fellow BTS member Park Jimin. The first chord starts and I know what it is immediately, excitement brewing in my chest. SUGA’s stage presence is incredible, both him and Jimin filling up the large stage together as if they were 100, not just 2.

And with that, day one comes to an end. Once again, it’s bittersweet, and I feel almost empty now that it’s over. But it’s not the end, because we get to do it all over again tomorrow with new setlists.

Day 2 begins once more at 4AM, although this time I take a raincheck and sleep until 6:45. Day 2 concerts are as follows: The Wings Tour in Seoul (2017), The Wings Tour: The Final (2017), BTS 4th Muster in Seoul and BTS World Tour LY in Seoul (2018). Now, Wings era is possibly my very favourite BTS era to date, so I couldn’t exactly miss the streaming of the finale. The Wings Tour is also extremely special to both BTS and ARMY, as it signalled the end of one era and beginning of the next; the era where BTS really began to grow internationally. It shows, at the end of the concert, when members are speaking to ARMY about their experience with the tour and emotions begin to spill over. It’s hard to watch, and strikes a chord within myself and I begin to get emotional too. These people, these members, bring so much happiness to not just me but to millions of others around the world, and for that we are eternally grateful. Makes you want to reach into the screen and give them all a big hug, really. If only they knew, at this point, the reach they would gain and the fans they would gather around the world after this tour has ended.

The 4th Muster follows the ending of The Wings Tour and shows how much growth they had in-between; the sets are even more intricate and the performance even better than the last. That’s the thing with BTS though, isn’t it? They just keep getting better and better every time we see them bring out something new.

Finally, we reach the very last concert of the stream. This tour, the Love Yourself tour, holds a special place in my heart because it was on this tour that I saw them for the very first time. Alone, at the O2 Arena in October of 2018 I got to experience what I had only seen online before, and it’s a night I will never forget. I watch the stream, remembering my own experiences of the setlist and seeing them live, and it makes me so, so happy. I hope that everyone watching also feels happy when they see the members and are grateful for the effort that they put into their shows. Despite the fact that I’m still sat at home, on my own, it feels like I’ve been a part of something bigger and better for the first time since lockdown, and that’s all thanks to BTS.

I don’t think I could ever put into words how grateful I am to have found these guys, and I won’t bore you with it, but I really hope that they know that. Thank you for bringing happiness and light in such a time of darkness. 사랑해.

#paradox-media

All-time-favourite K-pop Artist and Song Recommendations

BTS – ‘Mic Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)’ from ‘Love Yourself: Answer’

SHINee – ‘Married To The Music’ from ‘Married To The Music’

EXO – ‘Power’ from ‘THE POWER OF MUSIC: THE 4TH ALBUM ‘THE WAR’

ATEEZ – ‘Promise’ from ‘TREASURE EP.2: Zero to One’

AGUST D – ‘Agust D’ single

Astro – ‘Crazy Sexy Cool’ from ‘Dream, Pt.2 EP’

SHINee – ‘View’ from ‘Odd – The 4th Album’

J-HOPE – ‘Daydream’ from ‘Hope World’

The Rose – ‘Red’ single

Stray Kids – ‘Hellevator’ from ‘Mixtape’

Non-K-pop Artist and Song Recommendations

All Time Low – ‘Sleeping In’ from the 2020 album ‘Wake Up, Sunshine’

TMG – ‘Broke Bitch’ single

Rina Sawayama – ‘Comme Des Garcons (Like The Boys)’ from the ‘SAWAYAMA’ EP

Stormzy – ‘Crown’ from the 2019 album ‘Heavy Is The Head’

Noel and Spock – ‘Loophole’ single

Post Malone – ‘Take What You Want (feat. Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott)’ from ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding

Eminem – ‘Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD) from ‘Music to be Murdered by’

Artist and New Song Recommendations

K-pop artist and new song recommendations:

NCT 127 – ‘Kick It’ from the 2020 album ‘Neo Zone – The 2nd Album’

BTS – ‘UGH!’ from the 2020 album ‘Map of the Soul: 7’

Dreamcatcher – ‘Scream’ from the 2020 album ‘1st Album ‘Dystopia: The Trace of Language’

KARD – ‘Red Moon’ from the 2020 album ‘Red Moon’

Jackson Wang – ‘100 Ways’ single

EVERGLOW – ‘Dun Dun’ from the 2020 EP ‘Reminiscense’

LAI KUANLIN & WOO SEOK – ‘I’m a Star’ from the 9801 EP

ATEEZ – ‘Answer’ from the 2020 album ‘TREASURE EPILOGUE: Action to Answer EP

HOLLAND – ‘Loved You Better’ single

A.C.E – ‘Savage’ from the ‘Under Cover: The Mad Squad’ EP

BTS - Map of the Soul:7 Album Review

The internet, and the entire world, have come to know the name BTS over the last year or so. The group keep growing exponentially with every single release and are slowly but surely taking over mainstream media too. After the release of their last studio album Map of the Soul: Persona on April 12th 2019, the lead track featuring American singer-songwriter Halsey, BTS exploded into the mainstream scene all over the world. That lead track, “Boy With Luv” went on to win 11 different awards including song of the year, best music video, best dance performance (male group) and best K-pop at the MTV Video Music Awards. So you could say that the hype for the next instalment in the series was admirable.

MOTS:7 includes 5 tracks from Persona that prelude the rest of the album: Intro:Persona, Boy With Luv, Make It Right, Jamais Vu and Dionysus. The rest of the new album then follows on after these tracks: Interlude:Shadow, Black Swan, Filter, My Time, Louder Than Bombs, ON, UGH!, 00:00 (Zero O’Clock), Inner Child, Friends, Moon, Respect, We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal, Outro:Ego and ON (Feat. SIA). There are 20 tracks overall on the album, making it a total listening time of 76 minutes, much longer than most usual albums would be by almost 30 minutes.

It isn’t unusual for K-pop albums to be longer than a normal Western album would usually run for as they’re seen as big events that take a lot of time and effort. Not only is the album produced, it’s then promoted on shows like MNET Countdown where idols will usually perform the title track alongside a select few others from the new material and will consist of full choreography and set design. These albums are also produced to a much higher standard – rather than just having what’s known as a jewel case, the small plastic album that most Western artists produce, they’re much bigger and include an artistic photobook of varying concepts, a lyric book, photocards and posters. These albums are meant for collecting, and MOTS:7 is no exception. The album itself is huge, A4 sized, in a hard case and comes with all of the extras which makes it very collectible.

Song-wise this album is very polarising to anything else that BTS have released in their careers, each and every song is different in its own way, be it genre, tempo or stylistically. ‘Interlude: Shadow’, performed by SUGA (Min Yoongi) still follows his rap style, but the beat begins very slowly and the lyrics are very personal – on this track SUGA speaks about running away from his fears, realising that his shadows are chasing him and is afraid to be at the top because he’s scared of falling.

The end of the track changes to a heavier trap beat and he talks about not being able to escape no matter what, whether you’re at the top or not. He allows his audience and his fans to see a darker side of the fame that he has, and it makes the song feel more personal.

‘Black Swan’ is one of the singles from the album and was released a month or so before the rest of the tracks. This song set the tone for the feel and flow of the album and it actually caused a split reaction between fans; some of them loved it, and others hated it. It sounds very different to anything else the group has released in the past and people were unsure how to feel about it, myself included. Despite that, the more I listened to it, the more I began to like it. Different doesn’t always mean bad anyways. The choreography that accompanies this track is also extremely beautiful and shows off the skills that the members have, what they have trained to have over the years. ‘Black Swan’ proves that BTS can change up their style and not have it be a bad thing – something that many artists struggle with during their careers.

The next track is another solo song, performed by Jimin (Park Jimin).

‘Filter’ musically sounds very much like something that would chart in the Western world from a Western artist and almost has a Camila Cabello/ Shaun Mendes vibe.

The beat is simple and is chased by a single guitar which gives the track a very one-dimensional feel but is then brought up by the use of multi-layered harmonies and semi-muted backing vocals. ‘Filter’ was very much liked by the fans when the album dropped, and continues to be a feel-good track to this day.

Another solo song follows, ‘My Time’ performed by maknae Jungkook (Jeon Jeongguk). After the release of his other extremely successful solo song ‘Euphoria’ in 2018, fans were highly anticipating this track. Despite being the youngest member, Jungkook’s vocal ability and range is comparable of seasoned veterans, and his performance in this song is no exception. The track features high vocal notes, lovely harmonies and meaningful lyrics that took fans by surprise and brought them closer to the idols once more. ‘My Time’ is another track that fans hold in high regard from this album and it will definitely be one that people listen to for a long time.

‘Louder Than Bombs’ comes next, and the whole feel of the album shifts slightly. This track is a lot slower than the previous ones, the lyrics adding to the base set by ‘Interlude: Shadow’ about unfamiliar shadows amidst cheers. The members are speaking directly to their audience the duration of this song, “You and I, we feel it together, sadness and pain.” This once more gives the audience an insight into the members lives, and makes them feel more connected as humans; we all suffer but we all fight together. This track is in my top 3 for this album, the mixture of rap vocal and singing vocal balancing perfectly and the message conveyed through the lyrics is really important.

The title track then follows, ‘ON’, and elevates the tempo of the album once more. This song also utilises the mixture of rap and lyrical vocal, and these lyrics almost combat those from previous tracks: “Can’t hold me down ‘cause you know I’m a fighter.” The bridge of this song is what caught my attention on my first listen: maknae Jungkook takes over the bridge and belts some high notes over the heavy beat and proves once again why he deserves to be where he is. The whole song is very loud and has a lot of layers, you need to listen to it a few times to really notice all the small details but in my opinion that’s the best part about music, being able to listen to a song over and over and find something new each time.

Now it’s time for my personal favourite track from the entire album. ‘UGH!’ is performed by the groups rap-line, consisting of RM, SUGA and J-Hope (Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok). I’m a sucker for a good trap beat and some gunshot sound effects and ‘UGH!’ provides just that. The lyrics match the intensity of the beat and each of the members goes hard, criticising their opposition and those who stand in their way or put them down. ‘UGH!’ also reminds me a lot of older BTS tracks, tracks that introduced me to the group in the first place back in 2015, so maybe that’s why I’m biased. This is one of the tracks that’s been noticed outside of the K-pop community too, especially on Twitter, where people who have no idea who BTS are or have never heard their music before are in awe over how hard the beat goes and how good their rap is.

The album then slows down again, the next track ’00:00 (Zero O’Clock) once again slowing down some in tempo. This track is also much more melodical, performed by the vocal-line, consisting of the remaining members of BTS: Jin, V, Jimin and Jungkook (Kim Seokjin, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin and Jeon Jeongguk). The lyrics to this song also talk about much heavier topics like being sad for no reason , trying your hardest and not succeeding and wanting to just breathe and be happy.

A lot of people turn to music to be their escape from reality, and this song almost acts like a comfort blanket to assure the listener that you’ll have bad days, but you’ll come through the other side and be happy once again.

‘Inner Child’, performed by V (Kim Taehyung), is similar in style to Jimin’s solo song ‘Filter’, with a single guitar beat accompanied with a base drum beat before building up into the chorus, a bright and airy track that you’d expect to hear in the middle of a Disney coming-of-age movie.

The next track is ‘Friends’, performed by Taehyung and Jimin, and it’s another feel-good song, the melody and lyrics more upbeat and in-line with other tracks like ‘Inner Child’. It offers a more summer vibe, a song that you’d blast in the car with your friends on a sunny day road-trip. The melody and beat are something you’d expect from a Western pop song, but with a different twist and it gives the song a very personal and new feel. The use of harmonies and even a gospel choir insert behind the main vocal also adds depth to this already joyous track.

‘Moon’ is a solo track, performed by oldest member Jin (Kim Seojkin) and much like some of the other tracks on MOTS:7 it has a more summer-pop vibe, with minimal instrumental during the verses that jumps up in the chorus. ‘Moon’ is another up-beat track, following on from others in the album, and helps to keep the tempo up and interesting.

The next track is another sub-unit, this time formed of RM and SUGA (Kim Namjoon and Min Yoongi) and is called ‘Respect’. Older fans of BTS will feel connected to this track as it almost throws back to some of the groups’ first songs way back when they debuted in 2013. This track is a sort of conversation between the two, “What is “respect”?” “What, hyung?” “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking, you rascal.” It’s a fun track but still conveys a message through its lyrics, and this is something that BTS tend to do fairly often – hide a message in-between song melodies or tracks that are fun and upbeat.

After ‘Respect’, the tone of the album is brought way back down and once again becomes emotional and slow with ‘We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal’. BTS in Hangul is 방탄소년단 andtranslates to “Bulletproof Boyscouts”, and this track refers to one of their earliest songs ‘We Are Bulletproof, Pt 2” from their 2013 album ‘2 Cool 4 School’.

The lyrics of this track are deeply emotional for fans: “We were only seven, but we have you all now, after seven winters and springs, at the tips of our entwined fingers, yeah we got to Heaven.” These lyrics speak about their relationship with their fans, and how before them they were just seven (the amount of members that the group holds). It hasn’t always been easy for BTS, when they first debuted they were shunned by different companies, had performances cut last minute and weren’t given a chance. But now that they have been successful Worldwide, thanks to their fans, this song is a tribute to those who allowed them to get to where they are now.

The last song, bar the SIA feature, on the album is ‘Outro:Ego’ performed by J-Hope (Jung Hoseok), and is my second favourite song from this album. It brings the momentum of the album back up before its final crescendo and if the others were summer tracks, this one takes the top spot. This track samples an introduction from their old albums, once again throwing nostalgia at their long-time fans, before heading into a beat-heavy feel-good track. This song also feels reminiscent of Hoseok’s long-awaited solo album ‘Hope World’ that was released back in 2016. It’s one you could put on in the car with your friends and blast as loud as you can and has just an overall great vibe.

The real last song on the album is ‘ON’ featuring American singer-songwriter SIA, and in my personal opinion, it just doesn’t sound right. SIA by herself is an incredible vocalist, but this track does not suit her voice right because it’s out of her genre, and this track probably could have been cut from the final album. It’s a fantastic feat to work with such an esteemed Western artist, but this wasn’t it.

Overall, this album pushed the boundaries even higher for BTS as a group. They’ve performed it all over the globe (before the pandemic hit) and sold more copies and pre-sale copies than any other K-pop group has before. BTS are a force to be reckoned with, not just in Korea, but the rest of the World, and they should be watching out for whatever comes next.

#SUPERMInLondon

It’s a rainy, windy, gloomy Friday morning when I leave the house to travel the 30 minutes into the city to the O2 Arena. It’s already bustling outside as we leave the underground station and fans adorned with clothes, banners and light-sticks are milling around near the merch stands. We take a moment to breathe everything in and get our bearings straight and as we’re heading towards the main entrance, a huge video begins to scroll round on the huge screen outside the arena – their name flashing in white, followed by a brief message from the members. If you’ve been around in K-pop for a while, you’ll probably know all of the members of SuperM already, despite the fact that as a group they have only been debuted for about a year. Consisting of Lee Taemin [SHINee], Byun Baekhyun [EXO, EXO-K, EXO-CBX], Kim Jongin (Kai) [EXO, EXO-K], Lee Taeyong [NCT, NCT U, NCT 127, SM Rookies, SM Town], Ten (Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul) [NCT, WayV], Lucas (Wong Yukhei) [NCT, WayV], and Mark Lee [NCT, NCT 127]. Again, if you’re into K-pop these days, all of these names will be familiar to you and there’s a reason why SM has put this super group together – to rival other artists already breaking out in the Western world.

We mill around the O2 before stopping and getting something to eat – the restaurants all filled with other fans, still adorned with their light sticks and photocards in their phone cases. A trend that isn’t really seen in any other music genre industry is the idea of ‘freebies’, fans will put their own time, effort and money into creating freebies for other fans at these events, and we’re off in search of some. Banners are one of the main projects, mostly set up by fandom groups and given out for free to the public to use when a particular song plays later that night. On the other side of the tube station, crowds are gathering around artists handing out free prints of members, drawings and pictures, pins and badges alike. This aspect really shows how the community comes together and supports each other, even if that means losing a little money in the process.

We head back towards the building and find a place to sit – which is becoming increasingly more difficult as we near towards the opening of the doors at 6:30PM. We meet with a couple other friends that we’ve made and find out that we can head straight into the O2 priority lounge ahead of time, so we make it through the checks and we’re in. I’ve never used this lounge before and it does make you feel like royalty as we’re sat about listening to different K-pop artists over the loudspeakers.

Finally, we all split off (we bought seats in different sections but oh well) and I find my seat towards the far-side of the stage. Energy is bustling, and there’s still 45 minutes to go until showtime. Like I said before, SuperM haven’t been around for that long, just shy of a year, and so they don’t really have all that many songs. ‘Super Car’, ‘Jopping’, and ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ cycle through the speakers as we wait. And then before I know it, the lights go dark and screams erupt through the crowd – most of the members of SuperM haven’t visited the UK in their respective groups like SHINee and EXO, so for many in the arena this is the first time they’ll be seeing these idols they’ve listened to for years, and you can tell. The group come out and the start of ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ begins but then all of a sudden the music stops and the boys stand confused in the centre of the stage, midway through their dance performance. Mark begins to speak and tells us that they’ll be right back, but before they leave the stage they turn around and announce they’re just going to start again. This time, the song goes on without a hitch and the crowd seems enthused at the performance so far.

Because SuperM as a group don’t have many songs, the individual members have ‘solo stages’ and perform their own individual songs.

Taemin is the first member to come out. If you’re a fan of Taemin as a soloist or a fan of him in SHINee, this next bit will get you excited. The words “SHINee’s back” play over the speakers and the crowd goes wild, jumping and screaming like there’s no tomorrow. It heads out Taemin’s first song ‘Danger’, of which he does a small remix to incorporate aspects of other SHINee songs into his original track. His next song is Japanese release “Danger”, and despite the fact that it’s the only Japanese song on the setlist, the people around me are singing with their whole chests. Taemin leaves the stage after this and Mark appears, singing his unreleased solo song “GTA”. Now, we can all debate whether or not it’s a good idea to perform an unreleased track at a show, but Mark handles it well and has the crowd interacting with him just as well all the same.

The rest of the members reappear for “Super Car” but depart again fairly quickly, giving away the stage to Ten to perform both “Dream In A Dream” and “New Heroes”, filling up the stage with his beautiful dance routines and entrancing the crowd with his vocal range and stability. Next, Lucas appears for his solo song “Bass Go Boom”, another unreleased track.

I have to admit – I’d heard this one online a few months before the show and I absolutely loved it, so despite the fact that it was unreleased many others around me were also singing along with the lyrics. He holds his own well despite his young age and makes his solo performance one to remember. Following this, Baekhyun takes the stage to perform “Betcha” and “UN Village”, two tracks from his first solo mini album ‘City Lights’. He’s renowned for his vocal ability in EXO and through his solo performance at the O2 it’s clear to see why. Not only does he put on a fantastic stage show with dance choreography and crowd interaction, his vocal ability never waivers.

The rest of the group then reconvene on the stage to perform their unreleased track “Dangerous Woman”, another risky choice as the crowd won’t be able to interact properly because they don’t know the song at all, but it goes down well and the members look like they’re having a lot of fun with it. Another group song follows this one, “2 Fast”, and the crowd are back to being able to sing along and interact with enthusiasm. We’re well into the second half of the show by now and despite that, it feels like no time has passed at all.

Going to gigs like this almost makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a different world; it doesn’t matter what time you’re at work tomorrow morning, or if that project you’ve worked really hard on is due and you’re worried about it because in that moment with all those other people around you none of it matters. Being able to be amongst other people who share the same interests as you is so good for not only your mental health but your general wellbeing; so go to more gigs, it’s good for you.

After the last group song, all of the members part the stage and the arena goes black before the lights jump up again, revealing Taeyong and Ten, ready to perform their NCT U subunit song “Baby Don’t Stop”. This song is one that almost anyone who listens to K-pop will know, and the crowd reaction shows this pretty well, the English lyrics popping up on the screen behind them aren’t really needed as the crowd sings along loudly. The intricate choreography making up for the fact that there are only two of them on stage and they make sure to use the space to their advantage, moving from the main platform to the extended stage towards the middle of the arena and interacting with the fans at the end of it.

The song ends and the lights go dark once more, before the heavy bass and trap beat begins for Mark’s solo stage and unreleased song “Talk About”. The mixture of English and Korean lyrics allows the audience, primary English speakers, to feel involved in the song while also staying true to its roots. Personally, I prefer the more EDM, trap and rap heavy songs that come out of K-pop rather than the more pop orientated songs so I vibe with this track a lot. He comments after the song is finished that he was scared that people wouldn’t like the track much, but the response from the crowd proves otherwise and he feels happy that his audience liked it. Artists and idols, despite their online presence through apps like Twitter and VLive, aren’t your friends, as much as you’d like them to be. You can’t just send them a message singing your praises for them and expect them to read it, so Mark finding happiness in the active crowd response to his song shows that although they can’t read or respond to every fan individually; they still hear what you’re saying.

Mark then departs the stage after a brief back and forth with the audience and once again the room goes dark, quiet murmurs travelling through the arena; those who know what’s coming next are excited, and those who don’t are in for a bit of a shock.

Kai appears on the stage, cap pulled down over the top of his face and a white denim jacket covering his torso as his solo song “Confession” begins to play. If you’ve not been keeping up with SuperM while they’ve been on tour, you should be. Kai’s solo stage has a totally different feel to most of the other songs performed tonight, it’s heavy and sexual, filled with tension and a lot, a lot, of body rolls. “Confession” is another unreleased track but this time the vibe is different, a lot of the audience are familiar with the song and the crowd interaction is a lot better than it has been with some of the other songs. One thing I will say though is that I feel bad for any parents attending with their younger children…

Kai finishes the song and quickly leaves the stage for a quick change before reappearing alongside Taemin, Taeyong and Ten for their sub-unit song “No Manners”, another unreleased track. This song hosts a slow trap beat with a mix of singing vocal and rap aspects, those heavier beats also giving this song a more sensual feel, to which the choreography reflects once more. The crowd goes wild, each of the members taking it in turns to stand elevated on platforms spread over the extended stage and dancing together.

This song differs from the rest of the setlist due to its slower nature, but that doesn’t stop the crowd from dancing and jumping themselves, the pace of the show not slowing down despite the tempo. The track comes to a close, and the members leave the stage for a few minutes. They all return then together, as Taeyong shouts to the crowd “Hey yo guys! Are you guys having fun tonight London?” “With You” starts to play, another unreleased song, and the vibe is much different to the previous track. This song feels more stereotypically ‘K-pop’, more upbeat melody and sounds like something you’d hear over the radio in the summer. The crowd goes wild to this, groups of people dancing together in the stands and laughing, their light-sticks waving in the air. My heart swells as I look around me and see everyone really enjoying themselves; this concert is taking place just as the Coronavirus is beginning and the uncertainty of what is to come is scary, but right here and now everything is okay.

The song ends and the members all speak one by one, thanking everyone for coming out and promising that they’ll come back again once they’ve released more music. The crowd roars at this statement, a clear indicator that every person in the crowd would come back again when they tour.

The ending ments come to a close, and the members move to the centre of the stage; the lights flash and the heavy intro for the groups most well-known song “Jopping”. This is the one we’ve all been waiting for, and the audience screams louder than they have all night. Everyone around me is jumping and screaming along to the lyrics and I’m doing the same, this is the song that brought me round on SuperM as a group and it’s amazing to finally hear it live. One of the verses of “Jopping” was taken by the community and ran with, Mark’s verse in the middle of the song and as he begins to sing it, the entire crowd is screaming it back at him as loudly as they can. This is one of those concert moments that I don’t think I’ll ever forget, and it will always stand out in my mind when talking to anyone, in the community or not, about my experience seeing SuperM live.

The set comes to a close and the atmosphere is still buzzing, even as we’re all leaving the arena and heading home, friends talking amongst themselves about their experience and what their favourite part was. I would absolutely recommend seeing SuperM live on their next tour, when they’ve had more experience in the industry as a group and have more original songs to perform. It can only go up from here – and it’s already pretty far up there.

Fandom and its Mentality

If you’re a fan of anything in 2020, chances are you know what a fandom is. You know the ones, their twitter handles will include their faves name in some way shape or form, followed by a colour or a body part and their icons will never be a picture of themselves, (myself included – mines a picture of Oscar Isaac right now.) They’re usually everywhere on your feed whether you follow any of them or not and will probably tell you to “STAN LOONA” under your tweets for no reason. Not every fan is the same though, there are casual ones out there that just lurk in the distant shadows and simply buy their merchandise and go. It’s not inherently a bad thing to be either type of these fans, but there is definitely a stigma that surrounds fandom and fans alike.

If you’ve picked this magazine up, the chances are that you like K-pop or are at least interested in some way and if not then hi, welcome, it’s a bit of a mess in here. But fandom isn’t just for K-pop fans, if you’ve been around on the internet for the last few years you’ll have seen the Star Wars fandom explode in popularity with the release of the new trilogy and subsequently The Mandalorian to match – those who ship ‘Reylo’ and those who don’t (FinnPoe for life – looking at you, Disney, give Oscar Isaac what he wants).

The concept is the same, though, and most of the time it’s two sides of the same coin and you either think that fandom and fans are okay or you think they’re crazy and honestly I can see both sides. Let people enjoy what they want! If someone wants to create an account that solely features pictures of Jonghyun from SHINee every single day then do it – so long as you’re not being disrespectful then you post those pictures. I’ll probably follow you myself if you do. The issue lies when people begin to forget who they are and are being consumed by their fandom and thing that they enjoy, and those who become rude towards those who are or aren’t fans are usually singled out pretty quickly.

“You haven’t streamed this song enough you’re not a true fan,” “You don’t own all of their albums? Fake fan,” “Ew you like x group? Flops.” Can’t we just let people enjoy whatever artist they like in their own time? Surely we can, right? There are people out there that can’t afford to buy every single album from every single group that they like and that’s okay! Monetary value doesn’t equate to how much or how little you like and enjoy someone’s work. Of course you’re going to have people out there who don’t like the same groups or even genres as you, and if you think that maybe they’ll like a song absolutely tell them about it, but don’t be rude.

Telling someone to “STAN LOONA” underneath a tweet about something serious like politics, bereavement or bad news is just going to make larger communities hate not only your fandom but also the group you stan as a result. We’re working hard enough as it is to remove stigmas revolving around K-pop as a genre and the fans and you’re not exactly helping, I’m just saying. All people are ‘gonna think is “wow, ‘gonna stay as far away from that as possible” and, congratulations, you’ve helped to give your fandom a bad name.

When asked “What do you think of fandoms and their mentality?” one fan had this to say: “Fandoms can be positive in many ways – online fandoms can create friendships, make people feel that their passions and interests are relevant and important and are often fun and safe spaces. However, they can also create a negative mentality – fandoms fight [between themselves] and wherever there is any sort of online presence there will be jealousy, bullying and a means of competition.” B, 20, South London. Another fan had a similar opinion: “Fandom spaces can be extremely powerful. Fandom creates a network of people all with one thing in common wherein everyone can feel supported in their love for that one thing. This support and understanding can create spaces for people to share things about themselves, [the] things they create and form friendships.

I think the problem within fandoms, such as obsession, jealousy and malicious behaviour all come from a place of insecurity; a place where people think they are owed something else – be it attention, love or recognition – from others within the fandom, other existing fandoms or even the thing they celebrate in the first place.” L, 20, South London.

On a more serious note, these spaces online are extremely important to those who may not be able to get out and socialise as much as they would like. Different disabilities, social anxiety or financial issues are just a few examples of obstacles that may stop someone from going out to socialise and social media helps these people to connect with others. Now when this magazine is released, we’ll hopefully be through the worst of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus that’s been sweeping through the country (thanks, Boris.) And as shitty as its been with pasta and toilet roll being sold out in your local Sainabury’s, social distancing during this pandemic has only proven just how vital social media can become when faced with the inability to go outside and socialise face to face. Despite all of the negative connotations that mainstream popular media likes to portray of social media and online friendships, they can be extremely helpful and positive.

I mean come on now, we’re not living in the early noughties anymore, it’s very very unlikely that the person on the other end of the conversation is not who they say they are (please still be careful though – you truly never do know.)

Music and pop culture fandoms are not the only ones to exist online – technically if you’re a football fan you’re a part of a fandom as unusual as that sounds (those unhealthy stereotypes of young teenage girls being the only ones in fandoms really shows). It’s not quite the same, I’m sure there isn’t a Archive Of Our Own account out there dedicated to Jurgen Klopp but never say never, that’s a niche that probably doesn’t need to be filled but would be funny as fuck if it was.

Regardless of what you think about fandoms and whether or not you believe in the stereotypes you have to admit – they’re pretty fucking cool. Millions of people brought together under one shared interest, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or ethnicity in THIS economy? That’s pretty special. Count me in.

The Rose @ Scala, London

Turning up to Scala on a Monday morning at 11AM is everything I never thought I would do, but here we are. Having a general admission pit ticket for a gig is always stressful – when do I turn up? How early is too early? What should I bring? We’re about 10 people from the front of this queue, and now all we have to do is wait.

Doors open at 6:30PM, and as 4PM rolls around the security working the venue begin to hand out our wristbands. At this point, the queue has formed around and behind us, wrapping around the venue down the street, and people passing by are looking on in awe at the amount of people waiting, at this point, in the rain. Despite the fact that it’s now quite heavily raining, that doesn’t stop the excited buzz from the lines of people waiting.

We finally head inside the venue and manage to get a spot second row in front of the mic of bassist and vocalist Lee Jaehyeong; and then we wait for 7:30PM to finally come. After a full-crowd rendition of Queen’s iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the lights finally dim and the screams from the audience erupt as the band walk on stage.

The setlist is a long one, consisting of 23 songs, and they start off the night with one of their ballads, ‘I.L.Y’. A brave choice, as the kick-starter to a setlist generally defines the tone for the rest of the evening, but it works well. There are three members stood front and centre on the stage, Lee Jaehyeong, lead vocalist and guitarist Kim Woosung and vocalist and keyboardist Park Dojoon, and the effort that they make to interact with their audience is wonderful. Jaehyeong is closest to where we’re stood and he makes a point of making eye contact with every single person as he looks out into the crowd, and this alone makes the audience feel part of the show even more. Smiling, waving and pointing at fans individually really amplifies that personal vibe during the set and you could definitely feel it. Drummer and backing-vocalist Lee Hajoon is sat at his kit behind the other three, but also makes the effort to interact with the crowd as much as he can.

Upbeat songs like ‘Candy (So Good)’, ‘California’ and ‘Face’ bring the vibe up and get the crowd jumping and singing along (as best as we can, considering the majority of us aren’t fluent in Korean) while ‘She’s In The Rain’ and ‘Sorry’ bring that pace back down and gets the crowd swaying and singing at the top of our lungs.

As I look around at the rest of the audience, it’s easy to see that during these songs emotions are running high; a girl behind me is softly weeping as she looks intently at the stage and it’s clear that this band means a lot to a lot of people.

It can be difficult to feel involved at a K-pop concert, despite the fact that this group pushes those boundaries out, especially when the fandom behind the artists is larger than others; the venues large and the stages far away. The Rose however manage to make every single person in the crowd feel involved and like they’re personally being thanked. The show slowly begins to wind down and Woosung announces their last song – fan-favourite ’Take Me Down’. The crowd screams and the band jump into the song, having fun with each other on stage and continuing to interact with fans in the front rows. Then, as the song comes to a close, something happens that I will never ever forget. Around me, in almost perfect unison, the crowd continues to sing the backing-vocals for the track acapella and the sound fills the small room like a thousand people rather than just a few hundred. As it gets louder and stronger, the band start laughing and smiling amongst themselves, Woosung stepping back to his mic and joining in, beginning to lead the chant. I’ve been to a lot of gigs in my life, and have seen a lot of different artists, but this is one thing I will never forget.

The Rose put on an incredible show for a group of artists that have not been widely received by the rest of the community and are absolutely going to continue to grow in popularity, and I know for a fact I’m excited to see what they have to bring next.

Setlist

I.L.Y, Insomnia, I Don’t Know You, Candy (So Good), Beautiful Girl, Like We Used To, California, She’s In The Rain, ILYSB (Lany), Hollywood’s Bleeding (Post Malone), Breakeven (The Script), Hey Jude (The Beatles), Hold Back The River (James Bay), Soldier, Moon, Face, Photographer, OMG, Can’t Let Go, Take Me Down, Red.

Holland @ UAL, London

The name Holland (but not the country) will only mean something to you if you’re interested in K-pop, but if you are, you definitely know who he is. Holland, real name Go Taeseob, has made a name for himself in the industry after his solo debut ‘Neverland’ in 2018. He is the only openly gay South Korean idol in the industry and as such, no company will touch him, making his 2019 World Tour that much more impressive.

Standing towards the back of the small UAL main room the energy is rowdy. The crowd consists of young people, rainbow flags wrapped around their shoulders and grins plastered to their faces. The lights go dim, the crowd erupting into screams as the screen tells us about a project taking place later in the show and at what time to film. The screen now goes black, the crowd roars once more and Holland steps out in an all-white outfit.

He doesn’t have a lot of songs yet, he’s a new independent artist for starters and we won’t talk about homophobia in the industry today, but that just means that the crowd know all of his existing songs like the back of their hands. ‘Nar_C’ opens the show and Taeseob follows by making a heart-felt speech, thanking his fans for their undying support.

The crowd interacts and screams of “I love you!” are heard from different sides of the room and while the rest of the crowd begins to scream with them, Holland takes a second to really take in the people in front of him.

A Q&A session follows on as a small time-filler but that doesn’t deter the crowd as they laugh and shout along, screaming when he mentions just how much he loves London. The crowd also make sure to go quiet when the interpreter speaks, she’s sat on the stage to the side and is live translating what is happening when Holland can’t find the right words in English. He sings his own rendition of Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’ and follows it up ‘I Am So Afraid’ and ‘I’m Not Afraid’ and immediately the emotions in the room spike as he begins singing about how he is no longer afraid to be who he is.

Many of his fans can relate to the lyrics of this song, myself included, and I can feel myself welling up as I shout along with the rest of the crowd. In this space, in this moment and with these people it’s almost as if it doesn’t matter who you are or who you love; the music brings you together and that is so powerful.

Holland bounds around the stage with the energy of a seasoned veteran, removing his outer jacket as he dances around the small space available to him and does a fantastic job of keeping his audience entertained. He drops down to eye level with the front row and interacts with them by singing to them, holding his hand out for them to hold and posing for photos. Not every artist has the opportunity to do this and it definitely feels special. He then exits the stage and a short video is played, showing the behind the scenes footage of his new single ‘Loved You Better’ and the crowd goes quiet as they watch the screen. It goes dark once more and he once more comes to the stage, this time stripped even more, revealing a dark black shirt that hangs undone on his chest, knee high boots and leather trousers. The crowd erupt into screams once more, louder than ever before, and he starts to perform his last song.

The show begins to come to a close, the encore played and the lights rise and now it’s time for the hi-touch. A hi-touch for those who don’t know, is an event usually before or after the main concert where fans will have the opportunity to have a small meet and greet with the artist where you will be able to hold their hand and say a few short words. We’re told to line up along the wall of the venue hall and because we stayed towards the back of the main crowd, we’re bout 5 people from the front of the line.

Without a lot of time to collect myself and without a lot of warning we’re led through to where he’s standing and immediately, of course, I lose my collective shit. I walk over to him and he smiles, grabs both of my hands in his own and I tell him that I’m proud of him for how far he’s come and that I love him. He grins and laughs a little, looks me in the eye and tells me that he’s proud of me too, and that he loves me. And then, as soon as it starts, it’s over. Emotions hit me like a truck and as I’m leaving the room, I burst into tears. I just met an artist that has helped me to come to terms with my own sexuality and not only learn who I am but embrace it and be confident in who I am and for that I cannot thank him enough.

The vibe in the venue before, during and after the show is one I’ll never forget and Holland puts on an absolutely incredible performance for a rookie in the industry. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen him in such an intimate venue and look forward to the time that he comes back once more. You definitely need to keep an eye on this one, because this is only the beginning.

Setlist

Nar_C, speech, Q&A, I’m So Afraid, I’m Not Afraid, Neverland, Loved You Better, Thank U, Next.

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