Hello everyone and welcome to another Comments of the Week, where we feature some of our favorite comments from the articles posted in the time period. Before all that, let’s have a quick recap of what was published this week:
In music, there were reviews of Jo Kwon‘s “Crosswalk,” and album reviews of Yoo Seung-woo‘s “Pit-a-Pat” and Jaejoong‘s “NO.X.”
Meanwhile, in tv-land, episodes 3-6 and 7-8 of Signal was covered. In addition, The Throne starring Yoo Ah-In was reviewed. Also check out this piece listing 5 things just as sadistic as The Boss is Watching.
In a break from the usual, there was also a piece on reused props, an article on 4Minute and Cube Entertainment, music videos and their correlation with artistic freedom, the Fine Brothers and their trademark debacle, and a defense of B-Free.
In the usual Seoulbeats Segments, hanboks were covered in For Your Viewing Pleasure, girl group debut songs in Music & Lyrics, a K-pop Indie Gem on IAMNOT, Valentine’s Day chocolate given out in the Roundtable, and the Best of Weekly Music Shows.
And now, on to the comments!
Jenny on Jaejoong Surprises with “NO.X”
I thought that nothing could top my love for WWW but I was wrong. NO.X has the variety that WWW was lacking. WWW had all of the rock tracks that he probably felt he had to get out of his system but it didn’t have the middle ground that tracks like “Love You to Death” and “All That Glitters” have. These tracks very easily get stuck in your head and humming along. I’ve started expecting great music from Jaejoong with every new release and he hasn’t let me down.
I hope he’s using the scant free time he has right now to write new music. I want to see him perform these tracks but like the reviewer I am also excited to see what he has in store for us next.
mercurymusings on How Will K-pop React to the Fine Brothers and React World?
I think it is one of the worst business decisions to be made on digital media. I think the FineBros were arrogant and ignorant of what the reaction would be to this. I mean, did they not pay an attention to when Sony tried to trademark “Let’s Play” or read into the Nintendo forced profits share scheme? Their idea goes against the very nature and spirit of Youtube and everyone realised that fairly quickly. The FB’s in their video on this topic talked about how Youtube broke the Hollywood system of big business and how it gave people a chance to post their content on a platform that could reach many people without any large start up costs or connections which is kinda the EXACT OPPOSITE of what they were trying to do. They were making reaction videos into a tiered business model in which they had a large influence, money and power over said reaction category and other creators. While I understand on one level wanting to protect your business model the people that were called out for copying them I think was unwarranted. Had Buzzfeed and Ellen used the same style set with similar music and setting and camera angles and editing and watching the video made you think that it looked like a FB’s video than yeah I could see their point, but each of those videos had their own style. The only thing that they had in common was people reacting to stuff, and that’s it. I’ve watched those videos and imo it is clear that oh that one is def from Buzzfeed and, oh, that’s the Ellen Show. I think that it will take a while for the Finebros to recover from this. But I do also think the overall topic of trademarking and copyright was a conversation that Youtube and digital media creators and consumers needed to have. I don’t think anyone will try to trademark a whole genre for some time
find_nothing_here on A Defense of B-Free
“Plus, if he is faking an apology for some ulterior motive, he would be going against everything that he stands for. That would be an act to weigh on his own conscience. After all, as a hip-hop artist especially, he prides himself on being true to himself and being free.”
Yeah, but the Korean hip-hop scene is full of just as much bullshit as idol life. I guess I could give him the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t like to give it to homophobic assholes sorry. ARMYs need to chill, but then they always do.
K.Noel on A Defense of B-Free
His words were “I think that’s true. It doesn’t matter whether or not the artist is from an idol group. The reason why I didn’t like idol rappers in the past was because back then, it seemed like the companies would force them to become a rapper in the group despite not being able to rap or even like rap for that matter. But now, the quality of rap from idol rappers is much better. They stepped up. They write their own lyrics and they do their thing, so I don’t think being an idol matters anymore.” Funny…He sits there and says that he judges them based off their authenticity and whether they write their own lyrics and that he believes idol rappers are forced to become rappers. Yet, he *knew* Suga and RM were rappers before joining BTS and not only that, they were from the underground. He *knew* they wrote their own music but he didn’t even have the decency to listen to it before he started talking shit. How would he have even known what they were about and whether they were hip-hop or not? He didn’t even give them a chance, he went in there with his mind made up to shut them out and be an asshole and that’s exactly what he did. He didn’t care about who they were or what they were about at all and he doesn’t care now. I’m sorry but I’m not going to excuse him based off his bigoted prejudices. There are plenty of other legitimate rappers in the industry who have had those same prejudices and have at least given idol rappers a chance first before shitting all over them.
The reason he came out with this apology was because this all surfaced again after that stupid documentary they did that he, Black Nut and Swings participated in a few weeks ago (which was a complete shit-show btw). People started calling him a hypocrite again so he was trying to clear his name. His goals have always been obvious. Now that he’s got a family to take care of, suddenly money matters (yeah, remember how he called RM and Suga sellouts for wanting to make a living). A song of his charted for the first time because it was attached to an idol’s name and he can see that golden opportunity. He’s trying to backtrack now and it’s hilarious to watch him scramble. So much for his purist rap principles when faced with getting a fat paycheck. He mocked Suga and RM for becoming idols yet he goes on the most fake, most mainstream hip-hop show ever invented, to perform and get his music out there with an idol. He grabbed that opportunity with *both* hands. Funny how Suga and RM doing the same thing was something to look down on. And I’m pretty sure if he was on SMTM they had him take a trip to ‘makeup’ for a touch-up.
And don’t even get me started on the disgusting things he’s said about women and the LGBT community alike. He’s already gotten fire from people in his own country for constantly spouting off at the mouth, when what he needs to do is grow up. He’s a thirty year old man, arguing with fifteen year olds on social media, *that’s* what his reputation has amounted to and it’s embarrassing.
That’s it for this week! Thank you all for reading and commenting!
