acchikocchi | the kpop edition

1) I don't know much, but I can give you the lowdown on the big lawsuit right now. Three of the members of DBSK are suing SM Entertainment to try to get out of their exclusivity contract, claiming that it is 1) denying them opportunities to further themselves as artists, and 2) is little more than a slave contract. When details were presented in court, it was shown that the group had been worked basically 3 years straight without any days off, and were not getting paid much at all (the numbers are escaping me, but I remember it being possibly in the 5-6 figure US$ range. I read it on

omonatheydidnt somewhere, though).

I usually think of the Korean market as smaller... I mean, if the Korean market was large enough, you wouldn't see all of the Kpop groups trying to make a name for themselves in Japan as well (and China and the US and...). Name recognition just isn't going to get you the same amount of fame and money in Korea.

2) Thanks to some people (*cough*

swtjemz*cough*) my two favorite videos are Mirotic (DBSK) and Sorry Sorry (Super Junior).

Edited 2009-10-03 23:48 (UTC)

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1. Idk much about K-ent, I second poking around on omonatheydidnt for business practices and things, but all I know is that Korean fans and antifans are sometimes really scary asldjf - that guy in one of their boy bands who had to quit and went back to the US coz of some anti-korean comments he made on his myspace four years ago came to light comes to mind... >.> The news was in my flist a lot!

Also, any reasons why you're asking these questions, specifically? XD

2. Mirotic, Purple line, and Loving you from DBSK, Fire from 2ne1, Heartbreaker from G.Dragon, Fan from Epik High... hmm, I don't know too many Korean artists either lakdjfdf. :p

I don't follow Kpop closely, but the impression I've gotten from my Korean friends is that there's much more of a focus on keeping a group current by rotating members in and out, as opposed to JE, which follows individual members for a longer time. There also seems to be more of an emphasis on appearances in Korea, even by Asian standards -- one of my labmates who grew up in Seoul likes to tell us gory stories about how advanced Korean plastic surgery techniques are.

(His favorite story: how some popular actress/singer whose name I can't remember at the moment had her jawbone shaved down with a grinder and all her teeth surgically removed so that they could implant perfectly molded fake teeth by attaching them to her jaw with metal pins. Apparently she is now famous for her smile ... well, I should hope so, after that much hassle!)

I've also gotten the impression that Korean society as a whole seems more invested in their celebrities' personal lives. There also seems to be a lot more suicide fdkjl whenever I hear about Japanese or Taiwanese actresses involved in scandals, they often get dumped by their agency and advertising companies, but the Korean actresses all seem to go and ... hang themselves. I guess this is Kpop pertinent too, since there were also some people calling for that kid from 2PM to kill himself.

Uh, I feel like I am hopelessly off topic now. My friends tell me Epik High and 2ne1 are awesome, although I have never listened to either. I am also fond of SNSD, if only because of Sica's permanent blankface.

Also, here is the requisite warning that Kpop fans are INSANE and have done shit like try to murder Kpop stars / forced other fans to commit suicide / supposedly raped people over Kpop favorites at some big music festival / showed up at some boyband singer's father's funeral to ask for autographs. I mean, Japan crazy too, but ain't no crazy like Korea.

I would also like to suggest that you watch this and this and especially this before you abandon us. :(

2NE1 is my favorite, easy. I like everything they've put out; CL (the rapper) is amazing. She speaks four languages fluently and is DAMN FINE.

Other good songs/artists:
Younha - 'peace love & ice cream'
Brown Eyed Girls = 'Abracadabra'
Girl's Generation (SNSD) - 'Gee', 'Genie'
Super Junior - 'Neorago (Only You)', 'Sorry Sorry', 'Don't Don', 'U'
The Grace - 'One More Time, OK?', 'Piranha' [Japanese single], 'The Club'
Wonder Girls - 'So Hot', 'Tell Me', 'Nobody'
SHINee - 'Juliette', 'Noona is so Pretty'
Big Bang - 'Haru Haru'

Some people like 4minute ('Hot Issue') but personally, I hate them. XD

i'm not going to lie, korean girl bands do it so much more for me than their male counterparts (though, they're also pretty dishy to look at as well)

i like 2ne1 (though, apparently THEY ARE NOT 21 AND THAT THEIR BAND NAME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH 21 EXCEPT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY SOMETHING EVOLUTION OR SOMETHING. I DON'T KNOW) and i'm a huge, huge lee hyori fan, and clazziquai is everyone's favourite with good reason :D

i also like boa (no really, i do), brown eyed girls had a few nice songs, so did wonder girls who toured with the jonai brethen and i don't know what the hell was up with that, though they had this one song that was uber huge in korean that i liked a lot. and SS501 had some music i liked a lot, too - the lead singer was rui in the korean hana yori dango and he was so pretty *_*

my brother suggests FX, Four Minute, Girls Generation, 1TIM - i don't any of them but he says they're big and new. also he said shinee, which i said no, because JAILBAIT, yo

Despite plagiarism scandals etc., I like G-dragon's Heartbreaker album, and I like what I've heard of 2NE1. Also, Big Bang yay. And I prefer DBSK to Tohoshinki. Korean is nice when sung - to me it's like... Japanese to Korean is Spanish to Portuguese. Portuguese/Korean will always be more lyrical.

SuJu's 'Sorry Sorry' is the perfect example of a Zombie Song: It'll Eat UR Brainzzzzz.

re: BoA - 'Eat You Up' - like it, apart from the "Nothing's like its used to be" line. The 'It's/its' literally ruins the whole song for me. But I like 'Energetic'!

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

unrequitedangst's comment scares me so much. XDDDD MAN THERE ARE SOME SCARILY HARDCORE PEOPLE THERE. emphasis on "scarily" o.o

I like 2NE1's "I Don't Care" :DDD And Big Bang's Sunset Glow is pretty amazing. I've been listening to Super Junior's Mandarin album (YAY) and I really like "Super Girl" XD

...............scary T___T I feel bad for the Korean artists now. I hope DBSK wins the lawsuit :(

One thing I know for sure about Korean artists: The dances for their songs are way harder to learn than your average Japanese boyband's. For example, it took me something like two go-throughs to learn Ho Summer. I'm... still working on Tell Me. (And that's one people learn for random social gatherings, like Hare Hare Yukai or something! *so hopeless*)

Also, Girls Generation/SNSD. GEE GEE GEE GEE BABY BABY BABY~ *loves that song SO MUCH*

Everyone else has pretty much recced all the decent groups, but I really like;
Epik High (favourites atm are Madonna, Love Love Love, Fan, Fly, Map the Soul and One)
2ne1 (Favourites are Fire (watch out for G-Dragon's cameo :D), Pretty Boy and Lollipop (with Big Bang)
DBSK (or TVXQ or whatever else they are called) and I only know like...Mirotic and Shine)
BIG BANG!!! (ksjd just...dl everything ok. I cannot actually choose my favourite song by them :/)
2pm despite the fact that one of their members has been chased out of the country... and Super Junior

ksjd I just. Be careful of the crazies...like askdjd suicide is not abnormal in Korea. Like even the actors/idols are not safe from being harassed by fans/told to commit suicide/committing suicide...Also BoA is pretty fantastic, particularly her American album :)

I WILL SEE IF I REMEMBER ANYONE ELSE. Like...there are lots of other artists but it depends if you want to stick with the poppy/random bits of rap, or whether you want to check out Korean rap music. If the second one I would also recommend Dynamic Duo, because they have this one song Good Love that makes me melt.

Edited 2009-10-04 10:10 (UTC)

Kpop is simultaneously the happiest place and the most horrifying place. Such slave labor, but idk, JE is like that too, I guess. Dunno about

unrequitedangst's comment re: the extra focus on appearances; DBSK were like, somewhat aflkdjsf I SHUDDER TO USE THE WORD UGLY, BECAUSE THEY REALLY WEREN'T, BUT. They were tiny and some of them had baby fat and they had imperfect teeth and round little faces. But since focusing more on the jpop market their appearances have definitely changed. To fit in with the jpop scene, I guess? Just more slimline and glossy. You can see a difference if you go by their PVs, even. DBSK has my heart forever, can you tell. :(( My first asian pop loves.

Some of the kpop groups are on a rotation(al?) basis, butttttttt. Not really... The ones that are rotation groups are usually really clearly stated from the start that they'll be rotation groups. And if the fans make a huge fuss about members rotating out (AND THEY DO) then the companies do listen to them. Super Junior was intended to be a rotation group, but the fans made a huge fucking fuss about it (lol thank god), so.

SM entertainment makes me really sad sometimes. :(( When DBSK were shoved into the Japanese market and had to live in Japan for the first time they hardly knew any Japanese. They have all these angsty stories about how they sat holed up in their apartment, all depressed and lonely. :((

Totally agree about the dance thing too. Kpop dances are fucking insane. Insane and impressive. Also I find that especially in JE vs. SM, the SM vocal abilities tend to be a lot more impressive?? lol don't want to offend anyone. But I mean, JE has all those juniors with unimpressive voices, whereas SM focuses more on groups etc. No tiny juniors dancing backup.

Oh oh you should check out Kim Jung Hoon. I LOVE HIM. He is amazing. Such an amazing voice.

Anyway, you should check out DBSK and SuJu for the happiest times ever. Check out all the reality shows that feature them too. They are gold. They warm my heart. This is the longest comment I have typed in like 6 months, not even joking... ps today I saw DBSK on the big screen at the crossing in Shibuya and it made my heart go doki doki.

I was into Korean entertainment since 2005 but have been out of the circulation for like 2 years now (focusing on KAT-TUN :D) so I can't really provide much detail but that despite the fact that they produce successful artists, they're management style is bad/shady - like they run them to the ground with work but they take the bigger share.

My favorite K-pop artist is Shinhwa. They were recruited, trained and launched under SM Ent but has moved on since 2003 - am I glad! They had legal battles with SM as well after they refused to sign a second contract with the company.

*flexes fingers* ARE YOU SURE THERE ISN'T A TLDR? XD

Training - the main difference is in the selection and exposure. SM trainees don't really appear on TV. They're not artistes yet, so they don't have gameshows like SC or variety stuff like Johnny's Big Sports Day or w/e. Not all of them are recruited through applications - they have talent scouts who pick off boys from the street OR boys who have won in talent competitions, e.g. acting, singing or dancing. The boys are then trained for years together, during which they mix and all become great friends and get put into potential debutable groups. (This is also the reason why Suju and DBSK are absolutely bff)

Market & music industry - JE is extremely different from K-pop. The main difference is in the competition. In Japan, JE is the sole idol-producing company; nobody comes near them. In K-pop, it's a lot more competitive. There are groups coming out every year and they have to portray a strong image / get a firm fanbase in order to survive. Chances are, there will already be people waiting to be fans (e.g. if you're a fan of boybands, you'll probably be interested in the new boyband coming out), but the group will have to prove itself.

K-pop lays a more heavy emphasis on talent than JE. In JE, an idol can get away with not being much in the singing/dancing thing. He can even be a little on the boring side, if occasionally he pops up with dorky/comedic acts. In K-pop, you sort of get mauled by the antis if you don't have talent/personality. Hence most K-pop groups train very hard in singing and dancing, and those who aren't so talented in those areas work on their personalities, MC, DJ, and entertainment skills.

Another thing is that JE is very "closed in". They don't do duets with other singers, kind of set themselves apart from the rest of the Jpop industry, don't attend awards shows, etc. K-pop, on the other hand, is very "open". The artistes have unofficial collaborations with each other, like Suju has done several unofficial collabs with SNSD and DBSK. The groups will also meet each other in variety shows, regardless of which company they come from (2pm is from JYP and Suju is from SM, but they're still friends). Those who appear in variety shows often will get to know the popular Korean MCs and personalities. Pretty much, everyone in K-pop sort of knows everyone.

Edited 2009-10-04 14:38 (UTC)

Oh oh oh oh, I'm late to this party, but you HAVE to get in to the crazy world of K-Pop. Because it is amazing and terrifying and wonderful. You see the best and the worst of people in this fandom, I think, both in the artists and the fans and the anti-fans. PREPARE FOR ME TO RAMBLE AT YOU.

On SM - SM Ent is scandalicious at the moment. They sort of function like JE, except that the trainees don't really do the years of crushing backdancing thing that JE does - it's both good and bad, the artists don't get the same amount of stage experience before debuting, but the fans can't get attached to anyone who isn't ever GOING to debut either (I see you, Toma and ABC).

SM - and well, the Korean pop companies in general - also have their artists all living together in dorms, which JE doesn't do anymore (since they were banned from it, haha). This means you get some AMAZING lol-tastic hidden camera footage from their homes sometimes, but it's also a bit uncomfortable because seriously, when do these artists get a break? This however, did not stop me watching Super Junior's 'Full House' where they had to share their dorm with two female exchange students for like, three months (hilarious, A+ viewing).

Other people have talked about the current DBSK lawsuit, and there was a similar one a few years back for Shinhwa I believe. The short is, DBSK are all on these ridiculous 13 year contracts, get no time off, are averaging like 4 hours sleep a night, and there are some shading things built into their contracts - which they apparently were not shown in full before signing. Eg. - they don't get any money from CDs sold in Korea, unless the CD sells over 500 000 copies. Only their most recent album managed this. :/ Also, there is some pretty convincing evidence to suggest that they haven't had full profits passed along to them and SM has being cooking the books - and when demanded to present said books to the courts, SM got really cagey about it and didn't provide, so.

And they really do strain their actors, it's terrible. Earlier today I saw a fancam of Leeteuk, Super Junior's leader, on some sort of variety show - he was obviously ill and whenever the host/cameras weren't near him he was wobbling dangerously, and at one point seemed to throw up into a napkin on stage - but the moment the host came over, he was all smiles and stage presence, and it was just heart-breaking. D: Also, the latest SM boyband, SHINee (who are made of TINY ADORABLE WIN) to maintain their appearance aren't allowed to eat after 7pm at nights, and once they confessed in an interview that sometimes they sneak food late at night, and it was just so sad. D:

Despite this though, all the SM groups seem to really love Lee Soo Man, the Johnny Kitagawa equivalent for SM. Except he's not the CEO anymore, apparently, which could be why they still love him despite being given the shaft.

Here via

misticloud... *creepy* ~~since I've been spamming you over at unun's I might as well... continue...~~

#1 - I see that you have been well and truly pimped at (also scared).

omonatheydidnt is an excellent place to get a good idea of the kpop industry (and also to enjoy the crazy funny macros and gifs). I've come to the conclusion that Korean fangirls are by default batshit insane and it's best to hole up with the sane ones on LJ. The Korean audience is the hardest to please, which results in crazy competition. I have to respect the artistes for their enthusiasm, even though people like Eeteuk break my heart every other day (he reminds me of Kame during Nobuta - working, working, not sleeping, working.) Like Gem said, Koreans have no qualms about secret cameras - it makes great TV but sometimes I feel sorry for the boys when they get pranked so hard.

#2 - I will never stop my pimping and "vague" Heechul bias. Rokugo MV Heechul looking pretty and this became their most recognized song (it's catchy) in Korea. Shiniest jackets ever! Look, a Japanese version! Cute making of. live perf. Can you tell I adore them?

Speaking of covering other groups dances, have a 2AM/2PM/Big Bang/SHINee/Suju mashup or two.
Girls' Generation/So Hot, Kissing you/Nobody and they even did Boy's Generation of Gee lolol um. Yes. Suju's cover on Intimate Note still takes the cake tho XD They also did Tell me your wish, but suju wasn't there due to their concert tour. It's amusing how Korea's like 'DDDD: GAY HOW COULD YOU CALL US GAY DDDD:" but they love to do things like this.

Suju rectified missing above performance - a recent video of them covering Tell me your wish (the original) XD

I have a specific bias when it comes to kpop that's hard to identify, so I'll just c&p what I wrote to

scylladakylla once about Korean mass popular culture: "That said, to me there do seem to be two things about Korean mass popular culture that separate it from others. One would be sadism/masochism and the other would be the embrace of the mechanics of pure fashion as culture itself, which seems v. different from embracing the actual constituent elements of fashion at any given point in time."

The kpop I like tends to embrace the latter, which is probably why a lot of YG artists' posturing about authenticity and timeless music leaves me cold.

Re: the trainee system, not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet, but Korean entertainment is still pretty much ruled by the chaebol system. If you do a little digging, you'll be shocked (saddened?) by how many "agencies" are really just boutique businesses of larger multinational corporations. For me what this points to is the kabuki of it all: the rivalries, the timed comebacks, the constant rumors of TV stations/companies boycotting the artists of this agency or another. When you follow the money, you see how closely intertwined nearly all the agencies are. I think that's very different from the japanese system, in the sense that (looking not just at idol agencies and the labels that release their work, but at music in general) the hierarchy appears vertical as "major-indie," rather than a hot mess of money and sex and payola.

Another something I found interesting: the images of agencies have come to be closely related with their most prominent producers. SM doesn't actually stand for Soo Man (its most prominent producer/director), but a lot of people assume it does. The LSM/Yoo Young Jin creative relationship has probably done more to shape SME's sound than anything else. That's both similar and not to Johnny's -- I think there *is* an identifiable Johnny's sound, but it's essentially a Swedish pop one.

Whereas Kpop borrows heavily (plagiarizes heavily, even) from the U.S., which is why I think it's at its best when it revels in the sheer temporality of fashion and pop. For example, the 4 Minute song has a line where they go "one, two, three, four, fooooouuur, four minute girl," which is hilarious and apt. Because *of course* they can't count to 5, or else as a group they're finished. The acerbic self-awareness of whoever is pulling their strings is really striking. If they'd released just that one song and then disappeared, I would have called them a genius concept group, but alas. Still around. :)

Links to song recs forthcoming. :) Also, does this mean you're officially crossing over (though not abandoning Johnny's, of course)?

DOOOOOUUUUUSHITEEEEE ~~kiminisukininatteshimattandarou~~-- i mean

D: why, mer! why korea?! all they have are groups with people whose names all sound the same and yet you still won't be able to remember them, suicide petitions, and plastic hair and airbrushed faces. WHAT HAPPENED.

it must have been the suicide petitions that got you in, wasn't it. :x

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Oh shit, lol, this turned out really long...

JUST PIMPING.

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