Music / Idols
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Real Life: I’m Avoiding K-Pop And Didn’t Even Know It

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Written by On January 8, 2012

One of my personal resolutions for the new year is something I like to call “new year, new attitude.”

This resolution, however, did not occur to me when I was thinking about school or family or friends, but relationships. I have been in one of the longest and most complicated relationships in my life for quite some time now, with none other than the world of K-pop.

The year of 2011 brought to the forefront a lot of music that I like, as well a crap load of music I did not care for, and even some music that surprised me. But for some reason, as I took time out of my life to watch the three major music festivals, I found myself sifting through performances for my favorites rather than just sitting down and watching the whole show.

And suddenly a thought occurred to me: what am I doing? I’m a music critic, I should be watching everything! I then proceeded to think about watching absolutely everything, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. So I began to think about why.

Over the past few years, the music industry has introduced an enormous number of new groups that still crowd the pop scene to this very day. And even now, groups are still being released at rate that is hard for me to catch up with. How am I supposed to find the time to sit down with all of them and discover their music, their nuances, their quirks, find time to be a critic to all of them, and also have a social life outside of K-pop? I mean, it sounds a little harsh, yes. But let’s be real with each other–there are way too many groups out there in K-pop today to keep track of.

The sheer enormity of the number of new groups really only occurred to me as I looked over the roster from the January 6th Music Bank. A majority of the list included groups I had virtually barely even heard of, including X-5, A Pink, MYNAME, Brave Girls, AA, BoM, and Chocolat. I literally felt like I didn’t know where I was. I mean I’ve seen their names some other times before, but usually mixed in with a lot of other mainstream groups I was more familiar with, so as a matter of consequence, I just didn’t bother with those names I didn’t know. But when the greater part of a recent roster for Music Bank was comprised all these names, I couldn’t help but feel irked, and most of all lost.

 

Before, I wouldn’t say I was ignoring other groups, just paying more attention to groups that I liked and those that I had known. But now as I think about it, my selective behavior when it came down to watching music performances pretty much equates to the same thing as ignoring those groups I knew nothing about.

To be quite honest, I think all of us are are somewhat guilty of this. It’s hard being a K-pop fan, especially when there are one too many music groups out there that cater to nearly every demographic and every taste. They’re all out there trying catch our attention, but the most of us can really only remember and care about a small few. Do I think it’s a bad thing that we have favorites and play favorites? No, that’s very natural, especially with music. Does it make me think about all the good music that I’ve so dutifully ignored? Oh yes, all too well.

While I know that K-pop is as much as business as it is a music industry, I hate even thinking about that I’ve missed out on what could may have well been some good music, even from groups of kids I never knew before. Which is why I hope my resolution for “new year, new attitude” is enough motivation to change the way I see new K-pop groups and to start giving a damn about those groups and their music rather than just sticking entirely to the music I know. What K-pop is going to bring the the table in 2012 is hard to say, but I’ve pledged to bring a new attitude to the music it has to deliver.

That being said, how do you plan to go about your relationship with K-pop music this year?

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  • Anonymous

    Meh, I’m still gonna continue ignoring them. :3

  • Anonymous

    When a new group comes out, I listen to the music first. 
    If I don’t like the music( the song), then I wont bother.
    Their personalities or artificial/ exaggerated personalities on reality TV shows that idols are constantly on  do not work on me. 
    I mean,  sometimes they’re funny and cute, but it gets boring and obvious after a while.  

  • Igbygrl

    Me and my bro do the same thing too Nabeela. And when we do make the time to watch it all the way through, we find ourselves criticizing and scrutinizing the groups stage charisma ( or lack there of) no oomph factor when it comes to their dancing and weak vocals. It kind of boggles our minds how we are still fans of some K-pop groups but can’t seem to stomach down the other up and coming groups. 

    But what I do notice is we give a group a chance if by good word of mouth by a non-biased fan ( easier siaud than done though, because finding a non-biased Kpop fan is as rare as spotting a unicorn). Like for example the group Sunny Hill. I would never have been a fan nor even knew who this group were without a good word of mouth by an associate of mine.  It’s like pulling teeth for a Kpop fan to listen to other groups that are not under the said company of their bias idols. 

    Maybe because the Kpop fandom mentality is rather cliquey is why most underrated Kpop groups won’t see the light of day. Also the fact that of weeding out some below average Kpop groups is just too much of a hassle to find that diamond in the rough. Who wants to go through all that unnecessary spelunking through the trenches of Kpop idol groups, when it’s just easier to listen to your bias and find out other groups through your idol’s same entertainment company they are under? 

  • Anonymous

    IA. Quite honestly  it’s hard to sit through award shows when you don’t really care about most of the people in it. Sometimes I wish kpop had a radio channel where they just play songs, and you’re not looking at videos- just like music from all other countries. That way, I’ll be more likely to listen for the sake of the music, and not because it’s being sung like “so and so.”

  • Cheesus007

    You should be open to new things. You never know what food/activity/music/interests/etc that might be your new favourite.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/perfumeah perfumeah

    I’m pretty content with my clique of favorites and give new groups a chance occasionally, but I don’t feel any obligation to care about them. Plus it’s nicer to discover the gems by chance and without really trying than to waste time searching.

  • Skye

    I’m the kind of person that never has enough with what she hears, so I always give a chance to every new group that I find about because I always think I need new music on my iPod, tbh, so I plan on keeping this.

    My New Year resolution regarding Korean music, though, is to listen more indie Korean music, rock music, you know… some other Korean music besides kpop. I’ve discovered some non idol groups, mostly hip hop, but I have so much to learn yet, so that’s my resolution since I pretty much like my relationship with kpop as it is now xD

  • Anonymous

    This is something I struggle with as well. Long story short, I met a friend of a friend this year at college over video chat and we started talking about Kpop because he said he was Korean. I was listing the groups I liked and he said that all I listened to were the big groups and that really struck me for some reason. I mean, it’s true. I listen to mostly SM and YG artists. He sent me a few videos of Infinite, but I was still not into them.

    I don’t think it’s something that you can exactly help. Sometimes it’s just better when you accidentally come across something, like how I first discovered Kpop in the first place.

    But this year I will try to give rookie groups and indie acts a chance.

  • Annon

    Everytime a rookie debuts I watch their video. If I like the song I get them but I dont become fan. Out of the 2011 rookies I only like Dal shabet, Rania & Block B. Its getting harder to make your name known.

    Its like MBLAQ’s leader once said, while people think there’s a lot of idol groups there really only a few. Most of the 2010 groups that debuted have disappear & 2011 rookies are still struggling to make a name for themselves.

    There are too many debuting and not enough making it.

  • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

    I honestly just listen to whatever I come across that I take a liking to, I have the few artists that I really enjoy and follow their music, and then when it comes to newer groups I’ll just listen to whatever I come across by chance, I’m not necessarily bothered to find out about the rookie groups, but I am interested in getting to know more about the more well established artists.

  • Anonymous

    i always give a rookie group a chance. i check out their debut song and from there i decide if i like them or not. sometimes if a group that i didn’t impress me much first time but seem to get a lot of tongues wagging, i might check out another song from them and see if i like it or not.

  • http://twitter.com/sowon7890 Sowon Kang

    OMG. Exactly what i’ve been feeling. i stopped giving a damn about all these new girl groups and boy bands after like Miss A and B2ST and MBLAQ. All the new groups have no originality. All the boys look up to DBSK. All the girls are snsd-wannabes. The music sound the same. And all the audition program winners. I cant keep up. 

  • Mija

    I don’t listen to any groups that debuted after 2009 and that’s that.

  • Boo

    I just stick to my biases now tbh. Saves me time. Maybe when the rookies come out with great stuff I’ll notice them and take a listen. As for personal investment (time, money, merchandise), sticking to my favorite bbs.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hipployta Hipployta

    I listen to the debut single or performance and then mostly I move on…my exception for the 2011 year was AA…I’m following them. I’m following Infinite now too…as a result of BTD at the beginning of 2011

  • Anonymous

    This is exactly what kept me away from K-pop in the past year and a half. I couldn’t keep up with all the new groups coming out, each more generic than the next. I usually don’t pay attention to group that have debuted since then, unless they really impress me.. which is pretty hard nowadays. lol

  • Anonymous

    i’m no music critic and that’s why i’m lurking in SB and other review sites to see whether there’s a good idol group i need to look up. good luck all! :p

  • http://twitter.com/MonicaDBSK Monica

    I only pay attention to the kpop ppl I care about now. I started ignoring new groups around mid-2010, and now when I see their names on the list of performances of these music shows I’m like “who are these people!?!/”

  • http://weeatlemon.blogspot.com conanblue

    This is a problem to me too. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been a fan for so long, you’re only willing to acknowledge the familiar. You should be proud of your attitude, trying to get to know the new ones. At least you try. As for me? I don’t give a damn and I’m not even trying. I know that K-pop is more about packaging, the whole experience, but I just want music. I’m not sure how 2012 will become, but they better step up their game to make me impressed.

  • River

    Don’t be angry that some groups are doing new things that make me just miss the old or doing the same old which makes me hope for change….don’t be picky. Treat every group like I treat T-ara. They have a gimmicky hit song (bo beep) and a “we have actual talent” song (TTL & Lies) so I introduce them to my bias list. Then they’ll release some crap (YayaNAH) & I learn to love it, so they reward me with some eye candy and different-ish stuff (Why are you doing this). Finally one day the make a real hit that’s both kpop addictive crap & good to my ears (Roly Poly) and continue on a upwards climb (Cry Cry) with a few moments of stalling a.k.a. going it safe (Lovey Dovey). 

    While everyone was if-y about T-ara, I was like “Okay they maybe like every other girl group, BUT they might change OR at least teach me to appreciated every kpop girlgroups for what they really are…” Thankfully their totally proving me right.

    Now that T-ara has me fangirl-ing them, I’ll try to pick some random newbies/underrated groups to learn to love. 

    P.s. My male group version of T-ara is Beast. Bad girl was catchy, gimmicky, crap that I loved. Mystery/Shock (and stupid Say No) showed they had potential. They finally proved themselves with Soom (Beautiful was a total fan service, but still well done). Finally Fiction shows that they’ve found their mountain to climb. 

  • http://twitter.com/kaylanurul Nurul Rochayati

    Glad to know that I have a comrade who also share a long and complicated relationship with KPop. Been in this kind of relationship for nearly a decade (recalling Shinhwa), I felt like k-pop is throwing me to the cliff everytime they launched group once a day. Like yourself, I barely able to remember all those names and care less about them. I barely bother what music they come front with. They all sound the same to my ear. To safe myself from already-deprived-social-life, I decided to deal only with one of them namely SHINee. On occasional basis, I will spare some time for Beast, T-Ara, Davichi, or Huh Gak, Super Junior, and 4Men. As for the rest, they can try harder and I wish them all the best of luck.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LL4QDJLVFDT2RDIZYBALSE75JE angel29

    True.  Naturally, when there is a saturation, the only thing you can really do is be selective.  I’m not a music critic though so I don’t have the obligation to check everything.  I pity you.  It must really test your patience to try and go through things you don’t like, may not like or hate absolutely, just so you can find gems and pleasant surprises that you can recommend to the rest of us who aren’t patient enough or at all.

  • http://gabidubu.tumblr.com Gabi

    Out of that list of rookies, I like X-5, AA and a little bit MYNAME. And yes, I was exactly the same. I think I was worse because I was only focused on ONE group, then I branched out to 2 more groups and then I got stuck there for a lot of time. It was last year when finally I learnt to listen to other kinds of groups, and surprised myself liking them as well. My last catches were actually AA, X-5 and Electroboyz. I completely recommend their music. 

  • kc

    ah, a positive article, I gasp 0.0 
    but really I feel the same away, when it comes down to it there are SO many groups so I usually stick to the ones I know because they… they feel safer I guess, like I can trust they won’t let me done… but then I get to thinking about all those newbies and how there is bound to be a gem hidden in the sea of pretty young faces… 
    ah, it gets harder to be a fan of Kpop as you get older, it’s like I never have time to pay attention like I used to -.-

  • Anonymous

    hmmm…I never really understood why kpop fans complain about too many groups debuting to keep up with. I mean who expects you to keep up with all of them anyways? Its not like people do that in America because that would be impossible. Most people just stick to the groups/singers they like. I kinda understand that as a music critic, its important to listen to the new groups, but everyone else I don’t. 
    I’ve always thought that as more groups debut, there will be more variety in kpop…isn’t that what everyone wants?

  • Guest

    i just dont get kpop fans nowadays lol. you dont need to feel bad just because you cant keep up with them. if you dont like them then dont bother. simple as that. dont force yourselves to listen to ALL newly debuted groups. its headache, really. totally not worth it.

  • Guest

    unless you’re a music critic, just stick to the ones you like. im not a kpop fan, im a JYJpop fan xDD

  • Anonymous

    I’m quite the music critic myself and while I do have groups I favor I try to listen to anything at least once…..that is until my work load built up (i’m about to graduate from college) sometime around my sophomore and junior years.  Honestly tho, I get bugged that many of these groups coming out are getting bigger and bigger (i’m talking about the number of members).  When a group has more than 5 people, I automatically start thinking of them in terms of gimmicks over talent until they prove me otherwise. I can like a song but not like the group. It’s just that with these larger groups coming out it just means more people you have to keep track of, more names to remember, and an increased likelihoods that these guys may perform with half the group missing doing other activities. >.> On top of all of that groups are just coming out the wood works these days. I feel like every 2 weeks a new groups hits the stage. I don’t even want to hit on how weird the group names are getting *blah!* 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Zhen-Jiang/100003229803466 Zhen Jiang

    IU could probably break SNSD’s winning streak record since there are virtually no competition out there.

    I guess this is the only interesting thing to see…

  • Bstar5

    If I like the song in the first few seconds or the performance catches my eye, I’ll watch. If not, I just zip through the show until my favs pop up. Right now it’s kind of boring. Teen Top had a solid comeback but every thing else is the same as usual. Just waiting for Se7en this month and Big Bang and CNBLUE later on.

  • Tokobyyoko

    I like all SHINee songs, but if it comes to other groups, I listen to these one that are catchy. Because of kpop I’m really into dance music, Before I’ve been listening only rock, r&b, folk and pop( rarely ). So – I like kpop but not ALL of the new songs. Just some of them.  One Except is SHINee xd

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CI2NGOMLBNCWH5U4MKF57VJOHY Swaggerr

    At this point, I’m only focusing on what the big 3 groups are bringing out..

  • Anonymous

    I’m a music critic myself (and I listen to Mandopop and Jpop) and I don’t feel bad for my selective tastes. For kpop, they only have 1 shot to genuinely impress me and my rule is this: No matter how large or small the group is (however, my general cap is 6), if I don’t memorize all your names, voices, and faces after the first (if I’m forgiving, second) music video, you’ve already lost me as a [insert fan name]. I may listen to the album[s], but no more than that. I don’t see the point in sifting through everything when the reality is: even if the mainstream/idol pool was smaller, there’s still the solo/indie/underground/legend/veteran/coulda-shoula-made-it acts to consider and it’s impossible for only a handful of International internet writers to possibly go through everything unless we abandon real life as a whole. For most of us, our critique is a hobby at least and a non paying (maybe paying in certain circles) part time job at most. If we’re not under contract (or have journalism as a professional goal), why should we torture ourselves to continue to listen to the acts that fail[ed] to give a first good impression, when we could stick to the tried and true? If your entire kpop collection consists of the Legends (Seo Taiji, Shinhwa, Insooni, etc), Big 3, NegaNetwork, DSP, and Loen, then you can easily predict who will wow you and who will make you yawn. Perfectly fine to venture outside those companies, but I wouldn’t waste time going through every company that spits a soloist/group/band out.

  • Seri-park

    I’m glad that I ventured out of my comfort zone… and took a look at some groups that I had ignored (due to oversaturation)… that is how I discovered Norizo, T-ARA, UKISS, BEAST, Orange Caramel, and of course, INFINITE…

    I do ignore a lot of the extraneous bands, but occasionally take an extra look in case a gem lurks in the corners…

  • http://twitter.com/Bulb_the_Light Michele Lim

    I’m agreeing with you here. But for me, no matter what, the kpop artists always needed these qualities: 
    1. I don’t care if you have two members or 12 (I’m looking at you, Super Junior, you guys could make a basketball team), if you don’t have at least ONE amazing singer, you aren’t worthy of being called a group. 
    2. If you’re going to have lyrics in English, don’t butcher the pronunciation. At least try to make it sound correct. 
    3. If it’s too obvious that you did plastic surgery, you hurt my eyes. 
    4. Creativity. Why do you guys all want to be the same? Be different! 

    • http://twitter.com/cobyness11 coby

      I agree! I’m not really into pop.  Kpop opened my ears to pop!

      Hope they will pay attention to English.  Although since its Kpop I should not expect much of their English but I agree that if they will put English make sure they don’t mess the pronunciation.  It sounds funny.  Its okay that I don’t know what they are saying because its in Hangul, but if its English then I should be able to understand it.

      I recently watch a CN Blue concert.  Though its a daebak performance, but it will be better if they would practice English.  They don’t need to say a lot of sentences in a concert so I kinda feel sad that they do not pay attention to that considering there are a lot of foreign fan.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1071962332 Damia Bakhtiar

    i only concentrate on my top 5 fave groups which are SJ, 2PM, UKISS, CNBLUE & INFINITE. i dont like the new groups cuz they’re like  copying on what their sunbaes had done