HA:TFELT vs JYP: The Album Wars
As we should all know my now, formerly known as Wonder Girls' Yenny/Yeeun has took the ever-so-common route for Wonder Girls members and started working on her own individual solo life. As a result, she released an mini-album entitled Me? and also started to shine her producer/composer-like qualities, the album being basically "her own" and not falling back on anyone for tracks however, only Park Jin Young for support. As we all should also know by now, Park Jin Young was flabbergasted at her decision to put so many dark songs in the album prior to the release and told her she should at least add a few happier songs however, she pushed against the force of JYP and revealed a 11 paged letter focusing solely on why she should have released the album, JYP being exasperated at her choice and just giving her the go.
There's been lots of huffling and buffling about this case from media outlets, numerous people taking sides and for the most part, international fans siding with Yeeun while Korean fans took the side of Park Jin Young however, I'm going to show both sides of the story and take into account my opinion of who is right or wrong instead of just completely downing Jin Young or Yeeun.
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| Yeeun's side |
The power of individuality is a beautiful thing... this probably being one of the main reasons why international fans are taking the side of Yeeun without much thought in the process. HA:TFELT expressed herself through her own composing conveying a range of emotions that the majority of Korean idols don't even show and I applaud her standing up to the force telling her to go against Park Jin Young. She did it more for herself rather than for the public, I suppose, and though this album didn't top the charts or give her a certified all-kill, it certainly did give her the feeling of knowing she has achieved something: expressing herself. Maybe it wasn't her goal to sell but instead was to not be the bubblegum bitch that Wonder Girls' image forced her to be. She wanted to be more mature, more serious and more well, herself, and that shouldn't be something to get angry at.
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| Park Jin Young's side |
Regardless, I understand Park Jin Young's side and everyone defending him. I mean, he took her in and he wound her up as well as the other Wonder Girls and JYP Entertainment entertainers to be artist material. To break out of their shell. To be completely and utterly amazing. Yet now that she's getting some praise for composing on her own, she's not even going to take baby steps but is just going to completely let go of her guardian's hand and walk on her own two feet? Those songs displaying her feelings could have been saved for later when she was more of an established solo artist. Park Jin Young was looking out for her and trying to establish her in the solo career world before pulling the amount of tricks she did. With an artist no matter what, they need to first establish themselves before going out and about and doing the crazy things they want to do in order to succeed and stay successful. Park Jin Young was acting rationally--like a father to his children--yet she abandoned him as quickly as he picked her up.
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| The verdict |
I'm not completely pressed about this case but after thinking thoroughly about this, I really do feel as if there should have been a split between the two. Of course, self-expression is amazing however, she should have expressed herself either after or with better tunes that were more pleasing to the public tastes. It should have been an album that was helped on by Park Jin Young who rose them, Wonder Girls, to the top with his own composed songs yet still have her as a writer, as well, because she should have taken baby steps. All-in-all, the album is tolerable--not exactly my cup of tea after listening to most of the songs--and after hearing that they don't even talk anymore because of this dispute is truly confusing me. I felt that putting this article out was needed to show my opinion in the case through analysis.
What do you think of the Yenny/Yeeun/HA:TFELT vs. JYP conflict? Are you on Yenny's side, JYP's side or like me, split down the middle? Comment below!
Rant: From Korea to America - Why Entertainment Companies Failed
Do you remember that tragic excuse for an American debut 'The Boys'? What about Wonder Girls' reason for overall downfall with their two year hiatus in Korea? 2NE1 isn't off the hook, either, already releasing American versions of songs like Can't Nobody and entangling themselves in a song feature with artist, Will.I.Am. Regardless, it's undeniable that all K-Pop companies and artists have failed in America (other than PSY) by using the same ol', same ol' formula that they thing will eventually work--release an American song, get someone you think is famous and relevant to feature or help you with it, appear in a few shows that make you seem like a desperate nobody in the eyes of typical, non-K-Pop loving Americans--but ends up not doing so hot. Why I'm going back to this topic that I already covered as a reply to the Juice Judge's original topic--I don't know, however, this one is different. As opposed to asking how idol groups can make it to the US, I'm now telling why idol groups who already attempted or are still attempting fail/are failing at it horribly with the newest English release of SPICA's I Did It.
1. Arrogance
SM Entertainment has Girls' Generation, Super Junior and SHINee; YG Entertainment has 2NE1, Big Bang and Lee Hi; JYP Entertainment has 2PM, Miss A and Wonder Girls
However
Newsflash! No one cares!
No one knows who you are in America regardless of your like five album sales from here (omg, we're famoos!!11) and you shouldn't treat it like the people who actually do know you are a great representation, for example, when Girls' Generation performed on David Letterman, the crowd knew all the words to the song that no one else had heard about in their lives before ever. Coincidence? I think not. Likewise, I have never once in my life witnessed an American say 'I'm an Interscope Records stan!' because stanning companies is probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard of... ever.
2. Desperation is like masturbation--you're fucking yourself.
Teddy Riley! Snoop Dogg! Your brother's old laundry! Stop getting people who see as famous in the United States to feature in your work and then expecting yourself to rise to stardom since you're certainly wrong, Us Yankees could give no fuck about the who, the what and the where that's attached to it.
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| They say time flies. But really, it's true cause you're just wasting your time. |
3. Talent is the second best bet.
Talent = Singing in America
Though it's not 100% based on singing talent--Taylor Swift being the biggest example--singing talent actually does play at least a key role in it and then after that, it's song viral-ness. Once a song gets popular, you get popular--but that really depends on the quality of the song first of all.
4. Puppets on a string, puppets on a string, looking like a fool with your puppet on a string.
No one wants a remake of Duffy's Mercy to listen to.
You're a manufactured product by companies, attached with a pull-able string that releases filtered jargon, emotionless words and filthy lies. Being backed by a company is one thing in Korea but it's definitely another thing in America. You need individuality and something that differentiates yourself from others to keep you relevant.
5. When one person crosses over, don't think the rest will
6. Get your music out there in any, non-pathetic way.
7. Music first, other stuff second.
8. To assume makes an ass out of u and me.
Let's be honest here--barely any K-Pop Idols have what Americans call 'talent'.
Singers like Taeyeon will be deemed mediocre because when comparing America to Korea and the talent-level, she actually is mediocre here whereas she's deemed as some type of singing god in Korea because there's not many good singers in the idol industry to battle out, anyway. Ailee and Hyorin aren't off the hook either. They're amazing singers in Korea. Amazing. But in America? They'd be labelled as good. Not even great. Just good.
Talent = Singing in America
Dancing doesn't count unless you can sing good on top of it--in fact, I don't think I've heard of any dancer in the United States who became globally famous for solely their dancing and the last dance extremely popular music video that focused almost entirely on dancing (other than PSY's Gangnam Style) was Beyonce's Single Ladies in 2008... but mostly because it's Beyonce. With that being said, about 70% of idols who rely on their 'main dancer' or 'lead dancer' roles will be shunned... as well as the rappers who call themselves rappers just because they can't sing or dance (looking at you, Bora) because they're just walking and talking sticks of wastefulness.
Though it's not 100% based on singing talent--Taylor Swift being the biggest example--singing talent actually does play at least a key role in it and then after that, it's song viral-ness. Once a song gets popular, you get popular--but that really depends on the quality of the song first of all.
Music is more than just pretty faces who can smile, talk and walk (90% of K-Pop Idols, I'm looking at you) and doesn't even include their 'epic personality' and 'awesome role model-like qualities', either. To add, if we really cared about those two, Justin Bieber would be under a bus right now for spitting in a fan's eye, Taylor Swift would be locked in a meat locker to keep her away from anything that has a penis and Chris Brown would simply be off the face of the earth. Has that happened yet? No.
4. Puppets on a string, puppets on a string, looking like a fool with your puppet on a string.
Honestly, I want to be called an artist.
Sure, you can, Sooyoung! Just buy an easel, some paint and some get-the-fuck-out-of-SM!
Idols are merely products of entertainment companies and aren't seen as anything else than such. Because most artists in America hold the ability to express themselves, they have what I like to call 'individuality' which is in my opinion, the most important attribute when wanting to make it here.
Taylor Swift is a great singer - Said no one ever.
But she's popular... why is that? She has individuality and she expresses herself in a way that people would like to listen to and buy--her songs reflecting her (self-inflicted) emotions and being written by her especially, fans eating that shit up.
No one wants a remake of Duffy's Mercy to listen to.
No one cares if you get twenty years of training only to come out a chess pawn.
No one gives a shit about the songs with the 'love', 'heartbreak', 'upset stomach, diarrhea' lyrics.
You're a manufactured product by companies, attached with a pull-able string that releases filtered jargon, emotionless words and filthy lies. Being backed by a company is one thing in Korea but it's definitely another thing in America. You need individuality and something that differentiates yourself from others to keep you relevant.
I have been saying this forever and ever--when one person crosses from another music industry, not everyone will. What's odd is how people discredit PSY saying that he did nothing for K-Pop but solely for himself which was expected all along and you silly fans should've known.
America knows the British singer Adele, that doesn't mean we know all British singers.
America knows the Colombian singer Shakira, that doesn't mean we know all Colombian singers.
America knows the Canadian singer Justin Bieber, that doesn't mean we know all Canadian singers.
So what's with all the angry mobs with pitchforks?
This isn't K-Pop in which you know one artist, get addicted and then know all of K-Pop idols--it's American music.
6. Get your music out there in any, non-pathetic way.
The Wonder Girls' movie simply just crushed them however, their appearance on iHeartRadio wasn't that bad. You see, going on popular television talk shows and being interviewed by numerous random people seems good but actually, it's not that great. Interviews where you show your bright and epic personality aren't the way that you get your music out because
1. no one is going to watch or care if we don't know who you are.
2. you're music still isn't being promoted.
Also, it's weird because nearly every interview, there's always that mention of what I was speaking of in #2--the famous person you collaborated with or who produced your music. No one cares.
7. Music first, other stuff second.
After you get famous, show your other side. It's not a beauty pageant nor is it a 'who's nicest' competition. You need to shoot yourself to fame first and then try to get the other stuff like personality down.
There's no 'digital sajaengi' (looking at you SISTAR), pull a bunny out of your hat, wish upon a shooting star kind of thing that'll shoot you to popularity so easily. You have to first get known for your music through a legitimate way and through another process. Not to mention, as seen through PSY's Gangnam Style then PSY's Gentleman, when you have one music video that becomes viral and you shoot to fame, your following videos typically follow the same course.
Don't assume because typical American songs are full of nonsensical lyrics and the songs are bland that you releasing a nonsensical, bland song will shoot you to fame, too. No--the people who release shitty songs are already famous so don't have to try as hard as you do.
Kemy's Agency Finally Releases a Statement About the Diss Track
Upon seeing the status update, netizens either reacted by saying that she shouldn't be apologizing or by believing she did the right thing because she showed major disrespect towards her senior in the industry. Little did they know, they were falling for some troll's trick.I didn’t know my diss toward Park Bom senior would gain so much attention…I feel very apologetic to fans of 2NE1 and Park Bom senior….I’m so sorry, everyone. Please show a lot of love for A.KOR!!
When I first saw the news, I was a little disappointed. Part of releasing a diss track is that you have to be unapologetic about it and if you take it back unless you want to look like a wimp who couldn't handle the backlash of trash talking someone. Luckily, it turned out to be fake but it didn't end there.
It was soon after the company released a statement saying that the twitter account was fake that they released yet another:
The agency showed concern as they continue to attract negative attention from YG fans and even had to deal with a false apology on Twitter through an impersonator as well as diss tracks from Park Bom’s fans.
It was only a diss track meant for submission into a rap competition, nothing more and nothing less, which is why we have remained quiet on the topic. However, as an 18-year-old girl is in great shock over all this, we will finish this week’s set schedule and then wrap up promotions.So after all the shitty diss tracks released by fans in Park Bom's stead, a fake Twitter post, and all around negative attention received from YG fans and Blackjacks, DOO Republic finally spoke up about the ordeal. At first glance, I thought it might have been an official apology from the company in the hopes of calming things down. However, upon closer inspection, the word "apology" or any word or phrase close to that meaning is present in the statement and I'm not the only one who noticed either.
I'm unsure as to whether DOO Republic is taking a smart approach to this situation or not. I do think it's a good idea to stop A.KOR's promotions. However, it may not have been the best idea to basically say "fuck off, it was for a rap competition that was none of your business". They also tried to play the pity card for Kemy who most likely did not intend for this to happen or at the very least did not foresee it going this far.
I don't think this is the end of all this diss track drama, either. Angry Blackjacks are not happy with the lack of an apology while netizens outside of the fandom believe Kemy shouldn't have to apologize.
So what do you guys think? Should an official apology be released? If not, how do you think DOO Republic should handle the situation? Leave your comment below!
A.KOR's Kemy Disses Park Bom
So as you all should know by now if you have been following the site long enough, 2NE1's Park Bom is my ultimate bias as well as Girls' Generation's Tiffany. Regardless of the plasticity of their faces and their worsening singing techniques, I'm still attracted to them in a way that you can coin as a 'girl crush'. So as you can guess, I was kind of shocked when I saw the news blowing up that a rookie group member went to such levels to diss my fave. So shocked that I decided to replace the HyunA's Red and HA:TFELT's Ain't Nobody review (if you're wondering, they were both good songs, in my opinion) to type the shit out of this. If you haven't listened to the track below, you can definitely do so now:
Your bloated, swollen face.
You’re not satisfied no matter what you put in it.
You’re going to become an old person next to an ugly child
You drag your entire body and slap it onto your face
You’re at the point of addiction, “STOP IT!”
X? O? The answer is X, toxic.
Someone call the doctor, someone stop her.
You’re about the same as the Gangnam Beauty [who got plastic surgery 28 times]
You’re weak, and you fell into drugs.
Did the drugs fall into the jelly box?
Who glanced over the 4 pills that disappeared?
Since when were the prosecutors so nice?
The Samsung employee had 29 pills, and was detained at the detention center
You had 82 pills, and why are you innocent? They’re super cool.
The ambassador of the Ministry of Justice? You had a very fitting role, huh?
You took the title of the first smuggling-dol, huh? Amphetamine sh*t.
The articles were taken down so well. YG is no joke.
Try to cover up the sky with your palm. You just got your case suspended??
It must be nice for your fans to cover you up.
I’m jealous that your CEO writes a novel for you.
You set fire on your Roommate friends, and they must feel chaotic, because the corn exploded
You’ll hide behind your influential label and then come back when it gets quiet
Radio Star or Healing Camp, or anywhere. There won’t be a blow to you, huh?
YG, mental breakdown, your fans, mental breakdown.
How do you have time to go to Japan? Hurry and come back, come back home
No one else can be a smuggling-dol without you, can’t nobody.
Listen to this and clap your hands, let’s go party
YG, mental breakdown, your fans, mental breakdown.
How do you have time to go to Japan? Hurry and come back, come back home
No one else can be a smuggling-dol without you, can’t nobody.
Listen to this and clap your hands, let’s go party NOW
Source: dinklik.com
First things first: she's actually not that bad at rapping. In fact, she's pretty good. Second, different from what numerous media outlets say... or at least, don't say, A.KOR's Kemy released this track to Soundcloud to participate in a supposed rap competition. Whether she did this rap for publicity/attention or not is still up in the air. For all we know, someone could have found her rap which she wished to keep only between the rap competition and herself, realized it was from a rookie group and then uploaded it to YouTube as well as showed a bunch of people who in turn got the news out.
When listening to this track, I immediately heard a substitution for 2NE1's CL's famous intro to their debut track Fire and my jaw dropped to the incorporation of the someone who well, isn't even Park Bom, to prove her point. Likewise, later in the rap she even incorporated EXO and their brilliant song Overdose for a reason I'm even more confused about.
I don't want to be the kind of person who jumps at A.KOR's Kemy's throat however, I don't entirely want to defend her. I feel like, even though I'm utterly in love with Park Bom, if she actually did not use this rap for attention, I have nothing to really be angered about. Why? Because I'm so used to netizens, national as well as international netizens like on Netizenbuzz who claim they're above others when in fact, are the exact same, say the exact same things about Park Bom constantly yet try to cover it up with "I'm looking out for Bom" or "she needs help" when there's no genuine concern. (Yes, I fucking said it.) Not to mention, it's malicious, yes, but if she was using this incorporation for what I believe it to be so, it's none of my business.
What I found funny is how defenders of the rap say that this is just a 'blowing off steam' kind of thing. Even if she was blowing off steam, why on earth would Park Bom's plastic surgery be something to be so angered about/stressed about that she just had to rap about it? The 'blowing off steam' ploy is nothing but the same hypocritical imbeciles "looking out for Bom by insulting her to her own death (I would not be surprised if Park Bom is suicidal at this point)" looking for excuses for more insults to go away unnoticed.
As you can probably tell, the thing that really disgusted me is her need to not only insult Park Bom's face but to also insult YG Entertainment's promotion of 2NE1 as a whole in Japan. So what they made a Japanese version of Come Back Home? Regardless of the controversy surround Bom, there's no need to bring the whole group down because they want to make money just like every single other idol in the business, including herself. It's a known fact that Japan rakes in the most money and if 2NE1 and the agency feels the need to go to Japan, why is this so much of a concern to the rapper that she has to call Park Bom to come back to Korea in which she's receiving a shit storm of hate?
The drug scandal bit, if anything, was the most understandable piece to put however, there should have been different wording because realistically, there's just parts of it that really could have been less... malicious? Calling Park Bom weak in that piece definitely was the biggest thing in my opinion. I'm almost positive that Bom has already listened to this track if even the coordi could talk about it. We all know for a fact that Park Bom is not in the state for this bull shit (cue the hypocritical netizens "looking out for her") but is it really necessary to note that? Like, even if this is to be some sort of rapping diss battle, the insult of making fun of someone's mental state is the lowest of the fucking low and well, disgusting.
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| joins idol group to become famous; doesn't know how to get fame the right way |
What are your thoughts with the rap diss? Stay classy, guys. Calling out full fandoms is not a good representation because this is clearly simply between A.KOR's Kemy and all the people she summoned through her rap. Likewise, death threats from fandoms are as low as the track.
CoKF: SM Entertainment's Controversy (Red Velvet & Sulli)
Not even a day into their debut and SM Entertainment's newest group, Red Velvet is in hot waters. Not only have they been in controversy with their name scandal (a K-Indie band entitled 'Red Velvet' who apparently did not buy rights to the name and therefore, had to kind of fight with the agency only to have both group's keep the name) and then this one, SM Entertainment having Red Velvet's own debut music video, Happiness, feature the Japanese Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb incidents as well as a reference to the United States' devastating 9/11 incident. Of course, SM Entertainment is now removing Red Velvet's music video until further editing out of the scenes however, us writers at K-Pop Ranter want to shed light of the scandal revolving this group and SM Entertainment's carelessness.
Tiffany: This is like... explosive carelessness. Not even using just one countries unforgettable moment but using two to simply make a point for this music video? It's seriously beyond my head as to what this company was thinking when they incorporated that in there. There is literally no respect for international fans that don't have a big enough market as SM Entertainment gets with China. None. And what's funny, to people who are defending this (yes, I have actually seen some commenters say that it's 'no big deal'), is that everyone would be up in arms if there was incorporation of, for example, the Sewol Ferry incident, in a music video because that was a tragic accident as were the other two for the differing countries. There's no reason for the defense and especially no reason to believe SM Entertainment's excuse that they didn't 'catch it'. They surely did. They incorporated those elements on purpose regardless of it being a different language. All of those newspapers behind Irene? All English however, all focusing on the Japanese atomic bomb incident. This clearly wasn't a 'let's just google English newspapers' ordeal. This was intentional. The only reason why they're acting like this now is because they were caught, red-handed.
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| SM's policy: Don't give a fuck til' the public gives a fuck then act as if you actually give a fuck |
Likewise, as we are focusing on SM Entertainment scandals, we wanted to bring forth the ongoing scandal between Sulli and what seems like the world, starting in 2013 with a full explanation of her scandals here and still going on towards the end of 2014, the scandal mostly revolving around none other than her relationship with Choiza. Because we have time on our hands, we can discuss both of these scandals that are brewing in the SM Entertainment headquarters and causing ruckus especially with f(x) who halted their Red Light promotions abruptly without giving much word as to why.Tiffany: There's this ping-pong effect over who's fault this whole controversy is. Obviously, f(x) halted promotions randomly. Obviously, Sulli was in controversy prior and during the promotions. Obviously, the controversy mostly surrounded Choiza. However, after seeing deleted pictures online of Sulli and Choiza's date/vacation with each other, everyone is now putting the blame on Sulli as if it's her sole fault. I truly believe she should be able to date whoever she wants as everyone should. But not only is SM Entertainment continuously denying the cold hard facts that they're dating/not even saying anything anymore (which really isn't much of an issue, in my opinion) but Choiza is just having a ball with this scandal. He's mentioning it everywhere, uploading pictures, doing anything he can to ensure that everyone knows that Sulli is taken by him. And though it's cute that he's claiming her as his girl, it's somewhat... unprofessional especially at this time where she's promoting and the scandal was just dying down. Him leaving his wallet? His fault. These pictures going around? His fault. And no one is realizing that. Sulli shouldn't be blamed for loving him. He should be blamed for acting like a brainless douche who could care less about Sulli's condition but more about his own happiness. I speak for Sulli who hasn't been speaking much at all when I say that Choiza is ruining his own image as well as Sulli's and should just stop.
Andi: I completely agree with Tiffany. In the world of Kpop, females are viewed more critically and are bashed more frequently and with more ease than males. Choiza should know and understand this especially when his girlfriend is busy promoting her group's latest song. This is when people are paying attention to them the most and here's Choiza, not giving a damn about neither his own or his girlfriend's reputation. Sulli has already been in numerous scandals as it is and if she's trying to make up for her mistakes she made in the past, Choiza certainly isn't helping her situation at all. SM Entertainment isn't helping either by continually denying it. By now, SM should just accept the truth that the two are dating and release an official statement to hopefully put an end to all this madness.
Review: Red Velvet Debuts with Happiness
Apart from the scandals that keep piling up surrounding this group, SM Entertainment has released a promising group in the midst of the Sulli scandals entitled Red Velvet. Singing about Happiness, though, ironically, these girls can't be happy with the fact they're already in conflicts, you can check out the music video below.
First off, I'm going to say that the accusations of these girls looking extremely similar are true however, I can clearly make out small differences between the girls (other than their hair color) to distinguish each and every member--Joy, Seulgi, Irene and Wendy (I said their names without having to Google it. Thumbs up for me?)--such as a more sloped eye shape without even trying to therefore, I'm more convinced that people just aren't well, paying that much attention. I mean, without paying attention, though could look like the same one girl to certain people, they have their own individual colors--Irene (red) being the more sexy one, Wendy (blue) probably being more of the girl next door type, Joy (green) being the more cutesy one and last but not least, Seulgi (yellow), being the more fierce type... or maybe that's just my distinction when classifying their faces and how they acted in the music video.
The person who stood out to me the most was none other than the red haired girl, Irene, (had to Google that one. Yikes!). Not only was she the one with the most screen time... in what I acquired, at least, but she seemed to be the one with the most... flair. She had the biggest hold on me regardless of how bad she was at rapping. She seemed to be the most promising one hence why she stood out the most during the music video. Definitely her as well as Joy are probably ones I will be paying more attention to as the time goes on.
Now let's get on with the actual review. SM Entertainment promised to deliver a group that was the mix of f(x) and Girls' Generation in subtle consideration that these girls don't have much time left with them. Yes, I said it. Fans of both groups can hang me and burn me at the stake if they like but it's true. And this group was really what they said--a mix of both f(x) and Girls' Generation. I mean, it was more towards the f(x) side--a fiercey song--however, there were cutesy elements that were incorporated and made me remember the days when Girls' Generation were still well, girls. However, though they wanted to deliver a mix of both successful concepts which would later be known as original, this girl group has nothing to leave me caring about them other than the fact that their apart of a huge company. This debut was good but it didn't stand out to me like I wish it did. These four girls have no elements that draw me to them, really. This song has no elements that draw me to the girls. And this music video has no elements that draw me to the song.
Which leads me to explain why.
The music video, to SM Entertainment's standards, was pretty well made. I mean, I'm not saying it was perfect or going to give it the extreme credit of all credits because there were other SM Entertainment music videos that stood out to me more than this such as EXO's Overdose even though it was mostly dancing, however, is this necessarily bad? No. It's just not that... stand-outy. Sure, there was a bunch of tropical shit with plants and exotic animals but am I really impressed and dying to know more about the girls? No, again. This was ordinary. This was bland. This was, meh.
They should have given as much originality and draw to the girls as they tried with EXO.
The song? It was pretty well made, as well. It's not perfect, again, but it's audible. Can I listen to it sometimes? Do I see myself listening to it for years and years to come like I do with f(x) and Girls' Generation songs? No. It's not memorable. It's not drawing. It's just... there. Wendy's (blue) random solo part where she sang Shine on Me was probably the most memorable because it was the most out of place thing yet. Other than that, the song isn't much of a hold for these girls.
Lastly, this debut was fine. The song was fine, the music video was fine... but it wasn't outstanding or great especially comparing to other groups out there at this present day with their songs coming out. Of course, because it's an SM Entertainment group, these girls are going to prosper eventually. However, I'm not going to be the one to jump on the Red Velvet boat until I actually do see their originality... shine.
What did you think about Red Velvet's Happiness? Loved it? Hated it? Comment below!
Site News: Site Down, Site Up
If you're reading this post, you have made it past the K-Pop Ranter apocalypse. If you are reading this post, the site is back up because this post has been written when the site was down and I'm just a hopeful fucker waiting for the site to come up again. If you're reading this post, I really appreciate that you've came back to visit the site after the scare. For avid readers of this blog, you have seen that basically this whole week, the blog has been down. I feel like I was the last person to know about this--the blog being down, at least. I was on vacation (still there) and didn't even realize it until approximately three to four days after it went down and was so confused.
Apparently, the site had something that triggered Blogger to remove it. Well, I'm going to take a guess and think that it was because of the advertisements (I was too noob to use Adsense which is a Google advertisement thing and used this random advertisement site) and really, I didn't really know if the ads were a pain in the back side for you guys because I don't visit my site page regularly. What I visit is the author studio where you write posts, change the layout and so-on-and-so-forth (I only go on kpopranter.blogspot.com when replying to comments).
Anyway, the site should be cleared now.
In fact, when Blogger locked the site, they had to scan through the site to make sure it's safe prior to putting it back up so I'm sure it's safe right now.
I'm sincerely sorry if something happened to your computer.
I'm new to this blogging thing and learning everything on my own without any help or long-term mentor and don't really know the lefts or rights of blogging so don't think I'm like Lord Voldemort trying to inflict pain. I'm just a female young adult, interested in music and intrigued by Oreo ice cream Popsicle thingies who's bored out of her mind and finds a hobby talking to herself through long ass text posts and gets excited when like one person comments. In fact, like I really don't know what I'm doing when I blog so this locking thing kind of got me a bit shaken and I texted my only friend who even knew I blogged about South Korean men and the writer Andi.
Like, really, yoU DON'T UNDERSTAND. This site is like my pride and joy cause I'm a weirdo and I'm so happy that even though this site isn't as popular as other sites, I can express my opinions which are unpopular and can get people agreeing with what I'm saying or disagreeing or whatever. As I stated above, I'm a noob. Like, level five on Runescape type of noob. Like, Katara from Avatar kind of noob because she was, in my opinion, the most useless person on Avatar. Like, person who doesn't even know how to throw a plasma bomb on Halo 3 kind of noob.
I don't know what I'm saying, I'm just rambling on.
So yeah.
Hope you read this without choking.
The site is up. It will stay up until... whenever.
Thanks.
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Is Dancing a Talent?
To dance. When asking Google's definition, the exact defining words are given as so: move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps, with the synonyms (that aren't really up-to-par, in my opinion) being sway, trip, twirl, whirl, pirouette and gyrate. When asking a normal person's definition, it would probably be similar to the scientific, wordy phrase used by the biggest website in the world. However, if questioning a Korean pop fan their definition of this "movement of music", there would be two different answers being fought over across the board: Dancing is moving to the rhythm and beat, following a tune, and requires hardwork and practice to improve because it is a talent, and, dancing is moving to the rhythm and beat, following a tune, and requires hardwork and practice to improve because it most definitely is not a talent. And while there is a constant argument throughout the Korean pop fandom (under all the fanwars and jitters over whether a new comeback is awesome, of course) questioning which statement is the most valid, I want to go into this further and confirm which side is correct: is dancing a talent or not.We can all dance.
But we can't all dance well.
We always say this about singing, whether or not someone is trying to prove that singing is more than just breathing out a note or making harmonious sound in conjunction to the track their playing, however, whenever someone says the same about dancing, there is always backlash coming from the other side. Now, now, I'm not saying that the other side is wrong, however, this statement is true.
We can all dance, of course.
But we can't all dance well, and therefore, should give the good dancers props for being able to well, move their bodies better than we can.
But, because I'm a fan of Google definitions, I took the liberty to try to prove the claim as to whether or not dancing is actually a talent, looking at the sentence as if it was actually 'dancing = talent' and wanting to know what the actual, factual definition of talent was in order to continue going on with this blog post. Here's what I came up with (I made sure to link the Google definitions if you guys think I'm just pulling these out of my ass):
If you can't read that or emitted horrifying screams after seeing my smiley face with a moustache, the relevant definition of talent is as so: natural aptitude or skill. (Aptitude's definition: natural ability to do something). Look at my other opened tab, natural's definition. Since I'm too lazy to create another masterpiece of the definition of natural, here is the most relevant adjective definition of natural (since natural is used as an adjective defining talent):
existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind.
basically, this means that you are born with it.
This is not something training can bring to you.
This is not something vocal lessons can bring to you.
This is not something that fans can pretend you have.
This is something that you have been gifted with.
A talent is natural.
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| All the stans of any group but SPICA, Ailee or Brown Eyed Girls (i.e. not known for dance) getting shaky now |
What does this mean, though?
Dancing can be a talent as a talent can be dancing. Some people are naturally born with being flexible, for example, SHINee's Key who noted something about him dancing to the beat at his audition. However, for some idols, it's not the case. It's virtually impossible for some idols to be considered 'full of talent in dancing' because they inherited the talent for dancing through training.
They did not come our from their mother's womb knowing how to dance perfectly. In fact, knowing most of these idols, they probably did not come out of the mother's womb knowing how to do anything at all but look pretty.
You cannot fucking sit here and tell me SM Entertainment took YoonA because she was talented in anything. I'm not hating against YoonA. It's just that she's the perfect example in this case. She exhibits confidence and likeability (aka she'll be able to make money) in her audition if anything... but if you call that talent, Hyoyeon must be a fucking god in dancing. A fucking god.
There's no hard feelings against idols who learned how to dance however, using YoonA as a perfectly good example as shown in the audition clip above. Clearly, she was not a good dancer then however, improved to be a good dancer now. Is she talented? By definition, no. She's currently a good dancer, yes, a better dancer than I could be anyday (here SONEs, I self-depricated, happy now or are you going to argue with me that YoonA is actually talented?) however, she is not talented. There is no skill. No skill that was naturally given to her at birth but was rather learned in years and years of practice.
And there are tons of other idols that fall into that mold, this, not just applying to YoonA but rather, to many other idols in dancing... as well as in different 'talents' like singing and rapping.
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To conclude, dancing is a talent. Dancing can be a natural apititude or skill you are blessed with at birth. However, the word talent is flung around like a rag doll without people actually knowing what they're saying. Many idols are not 'talented' in dancing, singing, rapping, etc. but are rather 'good' at it. Of course, there are idols who do have talent in their specific skill however, the majority rules;
The majority (not all) of Korean pop idols whom are not talented in singing and can dance well are not talented in dancing but are rather, good at it. They improve their dancing overtime in training and there's nothing wrong with that.
"The K-Pop Effect" - Plastic Surgery: A Positive or Negative Force?
It's undeniable--K-Pop has gone global, it's largest anchor being none other than PSY's fantastically viral hit song, Gangnam Style, which not only placed #2 on the iTunes chart (much higher up than any other K-Pop song known to man) but also, replaced Justin Bieber's Baby as the most watched YouTube video, LMFAO Party Rock anthem as the most liked and other celebrities who were releasing songs as the most talked about at that moment in time. But rather than thinking of simply the 'one-hit-wonder or two-hit-wonder, still-more-hits-than-your-biases', why don't we look more in the depths of the music, analyzing and viewing the positive and negative effects of not only K-Pop itself, but the Hallyu Wave and figuring out this question's answer: Is the K-Pop effect a positive or a negative force?
Us international fans mostly forget about Korea or simply, don't have a good view and make up the opinion of what Korean's think through netizen comments that have 100 likes and simple assumptions and guesstimates so to say, not really upholding the true effect of K-Pop. K-Pop in Korea can best be described as a 'fascination', hooking people with their catchy songs and receiving love with their outstanding and charming looks, the influence of how K-Pop infects daily lives otherwise known as 'The K-Pop Effect' , inheriting its name from SBS's Dateline. Watch the clip below which projects the actual effect of K-Pop on national Korean citizens starring the lovely Annie Ko of LOVEXSTEREO who was also interviewed by us and asked a question pertaining to her views on surgery.
Teenagers are the biggest victims of the K-Pop effect anywhere including the origin of South Korea, everyone knowing about Girls' Generation or Big Bang regardless of what age group they belong to (which is similar to that of your country knowing of the biggest pop artist--everyone not liking them but everyone acknowledging their existence), but the young ones usually being the most gullible and influenced. As seen in the video and can easily summarize the 16 minute clip, appearance is a huge and key factor for normal people especially for ones who acknowledge the existence of K-Pop. Most normal people apparently resort to plastic surgery as said by a Korean female in the clip who has lived overseas in America and most inspired by their favorite idols to get plastic surgery. To be honest, it's hard to escape the 'pressure to be perfect' when your favorite celebrities have gone through changes that are inexplicable when judging from past photos, idols being simply everywhere as stated in this article pertaining to idol actors.
Nevertheless, a Korean female who's otherwise known as 'JW Cinderella' of the JW plastic surgery clinic whom had actually went under the knife revealed her side of the story:
If you have a complex, you should have a surgery and be free from the complex, I strongly recommend. Of course, each person has their own beauty. However, surgery could improve their complex, it will be good.I agree with this to an extent, plastic surgery can free you from a complex and will be good if it does. But from the popular MTV show Girl Code, the girls decoded plastic surgery and the cast members even said things that can be summarized like this:
Makeup can fix anything plastic surgery can fix but plastic surgery is permanent. They can screw up surgery but if you're good at makeup, it'll be okay.
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| Maybe we should all be like Tanisha |
Why?
Because the media influences you to aim for perfection, all of those women who are a size 0, have the most radiant looking faces and are marketted as goddesses change your view on yourself.
Which is exactly what K-Pop does to women.
And that's the thing.
Now whether the strive to be perfect is a positive or negative force is debatable. I mean, of course, there are some cases where it could drive a woman to be less lazy and care more about herself, maybe taking a jog once in a while and actually washing and moisturizing her face. However, with the plethora of Korean women (and I mean plethora) throwing their money out of their pockets in order to get a straighter nose, larger eyes and a prettier smile just because of a few women on the television screen, I want to say that the K-Pop Effect definitely is not something positive. And whether or not we can fix the consequences of it is still unknown.
