How I Learned To Enjoy K-pop Music
Personally, I didn't care much about K-pop 2 years ago. I didn't really care much about the dancing, music, or stunning Korean performers at the time. I just saw it similar to anime soundtracks where it all just sounded like random gibberish in my ears. As college went on, I noticed a lot of my classmates were female at the time and obsessed with this kind of music. Especially the boy group: BTS, they seemed to pop off every time someone brought up the subject of K-pop.
My curiosity eventually grew and I remember asking my brother's girlfriend one night how someone can actually learn to like or listen to K-pop because I wanted to be as interested as my friends were at the time. I wanted to experience for myself what this genre of music had to offer to the world. What advice did she give me in the end? Simple.
She told me to just have the music running in the background while I was doing something as simple as studying. I gave it a shot. I have never turned back since. My journey initially began having some slow music running in the background of one of my friend's Top K-pop playlists. The music started out very slow and chill and as I got deeper into my studying I soon found my body moving as the voices and music started becoming more upbeat and hiphop. I was in a sense now, becoming a fan.
We can't just experience K-pop I realized. Once you become a fan of this genre you begin to notice subtle cues in pop culture referencing famous groups and you start dealing with certain jargon amongst friends such as what is your "bias?" Believe me I was confused as anyone else when I first heard this but this really translates to, "so who is your favorite member?"
I'm a guy and asian too but probably not as high looking like one of these K-idols. They are very much well known for their white complexions symbolizing the high class and aristocrats. However, it's important not to judge culture just based on history but based on a search for identifying art and beauty. This kind of mindset allowed me to experience the music with an open mind and not coming in as immediately judgmental.
As I experienced a wider genre of the music I soon figured out what my favorite artists are including of course BTS, BLACKPINK, and Jay Park. There are a couple others but if you were to come up to me and name a few these would be some of the biggest names that would pop into my head.
Being able to listen to K-pop has allowed me to open up with different people who are somewhat fans of the music including learning about new bands and fashion trends that come with the Korean music scene. Korean fashion is very high end and China is no different. It truly is an art to understand all of this that's why just learning to appreciate some things in modern culture are so beautiful.
I am not an obsessed fan however, you will occassionally come across the obsessed and crazies out there ready to pay large sums of money for a picture or even a glance from a famous K-idol which I don't plan on doing.
As for me, I would like to just travel to Korea one day, probably after things get better from coronavirus, just to allow myself to become immersed in the culture and dance. Personally, I love how a lot of K-pop derives from American dance including their choreographers so having such similar interests has definitely peaked my attention to want to dance here one day after I have finished graduate school.
If life is a video game, then we are able to take the art of K-pop and apply it into our lives in subtle ways to add more life, beauty, and vibrancy. For me, I have fallen in love so much with K-pop music that I have used it as a muse to create my art!
Here is an art piece I made of K-pop group BLACKPINK
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave a comment here!