Korean Pop

I was recently introduced to Korean Pop the other day by Amber... and I have never seen anything like that in my life. I recognize that American music, bands, groups, and singers, all use sex to sell things... I also recognize that our everyday culture uses sex all the time to sell things (just look at Victoria Secret). But I have never quite seen anything until I came to Korea. In Korea, you will see scantily clad 20-somethings, dancing and singing to sell just about any product. I was watching tv one day and you had all these girls singing and dancing (all in Korean by the way) and I would have assumed it was for a club or a movie or something... no it was for a computer. You walk around the city and you see posters of a girl wearing low-rise jeans and a top (no bigger than a bra) and she is trying to see you a bottle of alcohol. The best, which I have not seen with my own eyes yet, is that the electronic stores hear use girls in mini-skirts, boots (like uggs), and leg warms to prance around outside during the winter to sell electronics and get people inside.

You might be wondering what this has to do with Korean Pop, or Kpop for short. I mention the above story, because these music videos are like watching Korean porn... if its a girl group, its a bunch (I am talking more than 7 in most cases) of girls (all dressed seductively) dancing around to music. In some cases, its like having 8 Britney Spears bouncing around the room. This is not exactly different than at home, but one thing that is different is that there really are no lead singers -- all the girls or guys take turns singing, and the video does not show one girl more than that others. The only way to describe it, beyond seeing it, is to picture the Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys, double their group sizes, and have them all sing.

(This is a picture of 2ne1, which is relatively small for a Kpop band)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISEoXdHb4W4&feature=fvst - Video of 2ne1