Soren came home the other day and told me he looked like G'Dragon (Gangsta Dragon?), the "bad boy" sort-of rapper from the massively popular Korean pop/hip-hop band, 빅방 (Big Bang). To put this into perspective for an American in his 30's, this would be akin to my son saying he looks like Donnie Wahlberg from the New Kids on the Block.... and don't pretend like you don't know who Donnie is.
Donnie is the NKOTB (yeah, I'm confident enough in my person that I can both write about Donnie and use the abbreviation for the band). Donnie was the one member that made you think twice about the group. He was the tough guy. The really, really cool, really tough guy that would beat you up. Or at least dress that way and have a scowl on his face that said "I'll fuck you up if you say I'm in a gay boy band." [side note: I have a pop culture fascination about the NKOTB phenomenon. It was triggered by trying to understand the motivations of my friend's younger sister - she covered every inch of her bedroom walls with NKOTB posters and photos. She travelled to Boston to see the first concert of several NKOTB tours. She told me a cryptic story about being in Donnie's hotel room.... I'm not sure if she was crazy or just a slut. And to be clear, I never liked them - I was just interested in the NKOTB phenomenon. No. Really.]
This is 빅방, and G'Dragon is the guy in the middle with the faux mohawk - or as they say in Asia, the "beckham sytle". In case you can't tell, he's a bad-motha-fucka with gangsta street-cred (and an elite private school upbringing). If you check out Soren's website, you'll see his profile pic is somewhat similar. So maybe his friends are right in that he looks like G Dragon. Maybe he should be happy b/c his friends sure think G Dragon is cool, so that can't be a bad thing.... but two things keep coming to my mind:
One, Donnie Wahlberg.
Two, Korean pop music really, really sucks.
I'm highly biased against pop music in general, but Korean pop music makes me hurl. When I came to Korea 15 years ago, Korea still had terrible boy bands (yeah, and NKOTB was huge), but there were also music stores on every corner hinting that musical diversity still existed. And then around 2000 the Korean music industry semi-collapsed after everyone stopped buying music and turned to illegal downloads instead (Korea has the world's highest percentage of internet users).
With no one buying CD's, the music industry changed it's business structure. Instead of making and marketing music, they began to make and market pop culture. Not completley unlike pop music in the states, but here it's in overdrive. The music industry makes most of its money by having bands do commercials (everyone here is a sellout - that is the entire point), be regulars on TV talk/reality shows, perform weekly TV concerts, etc. Basically they make money by being famous.
While typing this post, I glanced over at the TV show my wife was watching - "Imagination Plus" - a standard-fare Korean talk show. It summarizes my entire post. 소녀시대 (Girls' Generation) is the guest, and the whole point of the show is to talk about how awesome they are - especially their awesomely awesome dance moves (starting after 1:00 cuts to the chase).
This kind of music, dancing, and TV broadcasting is everywhere. I'm constantly dumbfounded. Every new song has a new dance. And most of my students know every move.
I'm torn between telling them that their music sucks or just shooting myself in the head.
I know I'm being condescending of the Korean culture, which I suppose is my intent. It helps me stay sane. I love living in a culture that makes me feel dizzy at times - it keeps life interesting... and really, who am I to judge?
What is happening to the Korean music industry is also happening in many other Asian countries. I wonder what will happen in the states when almost everyone stops buying music. America has a strong tradition of counter-culture music so musical diversity will always flourish... but where will the profits come from?
Last thought: I wonder what would happen if Rage Against the Machine and Ani DiFranco had a concert in Korea. Most Koreans, after running away in fear, would likely have the same reaction that I have when I hear Big Bang: What the hell was that shit?
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This is a mix of many famous Asian pop/hip-hop bands. Oh Lord, the apocalypse is upon us.
This is Soren's favorite Big Bang song. He saw me looking for videos for this post and asked me to find this video. He begged me to add it to his iPod. I will, but it'll hurt.
For those who just can't get enough (that'd be you, halloweenjack), you can search YouTube for K-pop.
Lastly, to show that I'm either a hypocrite or not quite so negative about my adopted homeland (answer: both), here is a song by MC몽 (MC Monkey - Koreans think he looks like a monkey). I actually kind of like this song's unique, humorous gusto.
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