why people don’t take kpop seriously: a listicle
Invalid/ignorant reasons I’ve seen
large female fanbase
This is probably one of the biggest arguments I’ve seen for people not taking kpop seriously. This reasoning is invalid because it’s rooted in the idea that the thoughts and opinions of young women are invalid. You can even see this thought process with artists who feel like having male fans is more impressive/better than female fans. I completely understand that kpop fans period can be extreme and very annoying but that’s not exclusive to girls nor is it a reason to dislike the music itself. I personally can’t stand most artist stans but I can still respect artists enough to take their art seriously if that’s what they clearly want
lack of diversity, read: lack of white people
A lot of people complain that kpop doesn’t include enough westerners (which almost never means koreans born outside of asia, black people, southeast/southwest asians, etc.) as if white people must be included in all spaces. It’s dumb to have to say this but kpop doesn’t have to be white for white people to relate to it
because it’s korean
Yeah, I’ve literally heard people say this... Not only is this blatantly xenophobic but it also makes no sense? If you can listen to and enjoy Latin music, which is largely infused with, and (in the case of certain culture vultures) ripped off of West Indian music, you can get into korean music. I understand the language barrier can be difficult but I can guarantee you that anyone who sang Despacito, Gasolina, or any Daddy Yankee/Wisin & Yandel/etc. track had no clue what those songs were about
Also, the people who say this are usually trying to cover up for latent gender normativity/xenophobia and don’t want to like it because the fashion/performative element usually doesn’t conform to gender norms and simply focuses on korean/east asian people
Valid reasons I’ve seen
kpop doesn’t take itself seriously
This is actually pretty true and very valid. You can see this in the way idols respond to certain questions like, “what is your favorite song right now?” “Do you listen to your own songs?”, etc. For example, very recently in an interview, Bam Bam asked an interviewer what songs he sings in the shower and the interviewer said a GOT7 song and not only did Bam Bam looked at him with that u lyin face but he also said ‘oh come on, we know that’s not true.” Now you can make the case that it was just a joke (I don’t doubt it), but it’s not the first time an idol has alluded to not liking their own work or not thinking of their own work as impressive/real music/etc.
Whenever an idol is asked about their favorite music, they always resort to either k-hiphop/k-r&b artists or american artists. They almost never cite their own music or even when they make public playlists, you’d be hard pressed to find their own songs (or even other kpop songs) on those artists’ playlists
kpop is western pop if western pop was trapped in the early 2000s
i’ve talked about this before on this blog and so have many others so I’m not going to expound on this too much. Just know that all idols attend the United States School of Popular Music and pass ‘Adult Contemporary & Popular Artists of the 1995-2005′ with flying colors
cringey, repetitive, manufactured music and images
Again, I don’t really need to say much here because some idol groups are here 5+ years later with music that hasn’t changed since debut. There’s no reason why Du Duu Du Duu should sound like Boombayah’s cursed twin, Blackpink. Also, why do many idols seem to have copy paste personalities? I blame this point mostly on the companies themselves for controlling idols to some extent but at some point idols are just inauthentic
insensitivity & widespread inappropriate behavior being swept under the rug
this deserves its own post but nearly every popular idol has said/done things that are absolutely deplorable, with some even having whole sexual assault cases and drunk driving strikes against them as if putting other people’s lives in danger is a fun hobby. Dating is not a scandal, getting a sun tan (??) is not a scandal, cursing is not a scandal. Racism IS a scandal, blackface IS a scandal, sexual assault IS a scandal, homicidal tendencies IS a scandal. I swear a lot of k-fans have some backwards as perceptions of reality. The latter, NOT the former is what turns i-fans off from kpop the most
All in all, I understand not caring for kpop but I also realize that some people just don’t like what’s unfamiliar.
