Morten's K-corner

[Morten 7]

I got bit by the K-pop bug last year, it all started when I started watching a new streamer on twitch, and their playlist for the stream pretty much only consisted of K-Pop. There was some songs that I started to like after hearing them a few times. This turned into a loophole, after discovering one group, it quickly stacked up and I found even more groups which made music I started to like more and more.

K-pop is often classed as a "genre", but it is as diverse as western pop-music, it's just produced somewhere else, and commonly sung in a different language, in this case, Korean.

You can find groups who have a very diversified discography and have covered various genres, and you can find those who are more focused towards a specific genre.

This can be EDM, R&B, retro, jazz, metal, rock, trap, house, western, songs can also be a mix of multiple genres.

Two of the most known groups globally are BTS (boy-group) and Blackpink (girl-group), but the K-Pop world contains so much more than them, and as I mentioned earlier, very diversified in genres.

I thought about starting this thread, to maybe get more people to know about K-Pop, and share various songs and groups I personally listen to, so more posts will come.

One of my personal favorites for the time being is "I Can't Stop Me" by TWICE, a nine member girl-group from JYP Entertainment. They are by sales numbers and listeners one of the largest girl-groups from Korea on a global level, formed on a reality-show called SIXTEEN in 2015, when they also had their debut. They released an album in late October called "Eyes Wide Open", for their fifth anniversary, and this is the title track from that album, which also got a music video.

Music video:

Dance practice video:

(This post will get updated from time to time)

[David 57]

3 hours ago, Morten said:

k-pop bug

Do all k-pop bands have like 20 members in them? That seems like it would be crazy to choreograph. 

[Morten 7]

18 minutes ago, David said:

Do all k-pop bands have like 20 members in them? That seems like it would be crazy to choreograph. 

The largest group I know about is NCT, which has 21 members. It's completely normal for groups to have everything from four, to twelve members though. It's a lot of practice for them to get the choreography right, and synced between members.

I've seen a YouTuber do computer analysis of the dance practices many of these groups public, and the good ones is usually from 90 to 95% in sync, all the time through a choreography.

Most of those who end up in groups have decided from an early age that they wanted to become an idol, and have spent hours every day, on vocal practice and dance practices before they even are taken into a entertainment company as a trainee, some makes it to the final lineup of a new group and gets their debut, others doesn't make it. 

The level on artists are very high due to this, they are also good at growing talents.

This is an example of a dance video, a group called Loona, covering one of NCT's songs.

This is a dance cover video from a new group, that are soon do debut, called PURPLE K!SS, covering a song from BTS, which is one of the most known groups globally.

 

[David 57]

9 minutes ago, Morten said:

covering a song from BTS

you say covering, but you mean just dancing too their song? So, is K-Pop a combo of dancing and singing, or is K-Pop where they dance to other people's songs? 

[Morten 7]

16 minutes ago, David said:

you say covering, but you mean just dancing too their song? So, is K-Pop a combo of dancing and singing, or is K-Pop where they dance to other people's songs? 

A group often cover songs from other groups before they have their debut, to show off their skills, whether it's dance or vocal covers, to build up hype around them, and to let people know about their abilities.

After a group have had their debut, they mostly do their own songs and choreographies, but some random covers occur from time to time, especially if they are from a smaller and more unknown label.

Dancing and singing is essential to all K-Pop groups, you'll seldom find a group who does only vocals, dance is always implemented.

[ConstructionKronies 15]

Have you seen the BlackPink documentary on Netflix (I think)? It is really something how they put these groups together. The marketing and research that goes into it. They have camps of kids who all contend to be in these groups. 

[Morten 7]

6 hours ago, ConstructionKronies said:

Have you seen the BlackPink documentary on Netflix (I think)? It is really something how they put these groups together. The marketing and research that goes into it. They have camps of kids who all contend to be in these groups. 

I don't have a Netflix subscription, so I haven't come around to watch the documentary yet, but it's correct that there are used massive resources on training, marketing and research before a group have their debut.

There have been some numbers going around online, pointing out that debuting a new group could cost upwards off $1 million, that includes training, marketing, research, producing music video, promotions in music shows etc.

Then you got comebacks, most groups have two of them every year, which comes with a mini-album that contains up to 6 songs, one music video and two to four weeks of promotions in music shows.

Comeback: When a group comes out with a new mini-album or album a music video and have promotions in shows, etc, after their debut is called a comeback for K-Pop groups (if you wonder what a comeback means in K-Pop).

[ConstructionKronies 15]

It would cost a million easy. That is interesting about the definition of a comeback. I always thought of a washed up artist making a comeback into the mainstream. I never thought of pop culture to have comebacks because they never really came? haha! 

[Morten 7]

On 11/26/2020 at 10:50 PM, ConstructionKronies said:

It would cost a million easy. That is interesting about the definition of a comeback. I always thought of a washed up artist making a comeback into the mainstream. I never thought of pop culture to have comebacks because they never really came? haha! 

The market is also very competitive, if SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment debut a group, they are pretty much destined to become big, as those companies are the three largest one, with huge popularity. 

For a smaller and newer entertainment company (label) to debut a group, it's much harder to succeed in the market, some groups make it good from a smaller company, while a lot of groups also are a flop. 

Their definition of comeback is certainly different from how it's used in the west. 

[Morten 7]

Upcoming group debut - Purple K!SS

Purple K!SS is a seven member gir-group that will debut under RBW (Rainbow Bridge World), a company that started out small, but now are a reliable company to count on for making artists, not just idols which perform.

One of their members is currently on temporary hiatus until her health improves so they can go through with their debut, hopefully early next year. They have recently released a digital pre-release single, which also comes with a performance video, based on the girls ideas themselves for the performance.

'My Heart Skip a Beat' is certainly a mix of multiple genres, but generally infused with rock as a main theme.

There is also an behind the scenes video:

They have also done multiple covers of dances and vocals and posted on their YouTube channel during their trainee period, some of the trainees have left, and new ones have joined in over the years they have been training for their debut.

Since embeds doesn't work well with playlists, I'll link to their playlist here, which contains their individual debut-trailers, which is a small showcase of each member.

Personal thoughts: RBW is known to make and grow great artists, and allow them to contribute to their own works in a much larger degree than a lot of companies, with artists such as Mamamoo, ONEUS and ONEWE. . They add their own twist to things, so I expect Purple K!SS to become a strong contender next year when they finally debut.

When RBW debut a group, you can expect good artists, and looking at this pre-debut single and performance video, everything points towards another success.

[ConstructionKronies 15]

The sound is really clean. 

[David 57]

On 12/21/2020 at 5:10 PM, ConstructionKronies said:

really clean

squeaky!  

[ConstructionKronies 15]

It's amazing how scientific everything has become. The world is very competitive and any edge is an advantage. You can tell it's manufactured and not from the heart. But its a pop beat to dance too!