The Review by Emma and Jisoos. KOREA: huge music scene

The
Review
by
Emma
and
Jisoos. KOREA: huge music
scene
A South Korea: the birthplace of a huge music scene and the
worlds fastest rapper Having in mind the population of the
country (51 million) the popularity of South Korean music is
dis proportionally huge and it is still growing. Kpop stands
for Korean pop music that originated in South Korea (So NO,
they are not Chinese). It gained popularity in the 90s (as
part of the increase of the popularity of South Korean
culture know as the “Hallyu wave“) and boomed 2000-2010.
Companies (for example
SM Entertainment, YG
Entertainment and JYP
Entertainment-the top
companies)
make
auditions
and
thousands of people
join them and some
train for 3 to 7 years
and sometimes still
don’t get in.
How is the style different from usual pop music?
Dance is an integral part of K-pop. When combining multiple
singers, the singers often switch their positions while
singing and dancing by making prompt synchronous movements.
Also, B-boying enjoys a great deal of popularity in South
Korea.
A little about Korean
rap:
As
the
underground
hip-hop
scene
became
increasingly popular
throughout the 2000s,
people
became
interested in various
subcultures
within
hip-hop. With ciphers
in Hongdae playground
and annual freestyle competitions and/or events like
Freestyle Day and Freestyle One, freestyle rapping really
caught on to the underground listeners.
FACT: the fastest rapper on earth is a Korean (Shin Okcheol, 신옥철, stage name: Outsider), but he did not get into
the Guiness Book Of World Records only because he doesn’t
rap in English (which doesn’t make any sense because he
still raps 24 syllables per second). Here is an example:
https://youtu.be/DG4OkB9Lw_U (The song is called ‘Loner’)
You can start from 1:56 if you’re too lazy to listen to the
whole thing (although we highly recommend the full song).
Fashion: G Dragon from Big Bang
and Key from SHINee are fashion icons in Kpop. They create
the trends. There are also certain beauty standards. For
girls: Pale skin, V line, skinny, big eyes, straight brows,
long legs. For guys: preferably V line (not always though),
pale skin, tall. And “Flower boys” (They’re guys who don’t
fit the typical look of manly looking men. They’re usually
skinny, have gorgeous hair and have feminine features, no
facial hair) were made popular through Kpop. Facial hair and
extreme bodybuilding are considered unattractive in South
Korea.
Here are some groups we recommend to listen to, if you want
to get and idea about what this style is:
Boy Groups
Big Bang (빅방)
Debuted in 2006, has 5
members (Leader GDragon,
T.O.P.,
Taeyang,
Seungri,
Daesung).
Internationally
popular and are both
extremely
well
received by music lovers both as Big Bang and as solo
artists (The most successful are G-Dragon and Taeyang).
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbokV76tkU (Fantastic Baby)
Other good songs: Bang Bang Bang, Sober, Blue, Lets Not Fall
In Love, Loser, We Like 2 Party.
EXO (엑소)
Debuted in 2011, 9 members (formerly 12). Divided into EXO-K
who sing in Korean,
and EXO-M who sing in
Mandarin. They sing
and promote in Korea
and
China.
Broke
numerous records like
selling their concert
tickets the fastest
and
their
former
member Luhan getting
the most likes in history on Weibo(A Chinese social network
like Twitter)
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3dezFzsNss (Growl) (Korean
version)
Other good songs: Call Me Baby, Overdose.
BTS (방탄소년단)
Debuted in 2013, 7
members. Dorks, but
hella talented. Have
been getting really
popular recently, won
the Rookie Award.
There
are
3
main
rappers: Rap Monster,
J-hope and Suga, who
released three songs with the name Cypher (3 parts). Main
dancers J-hope and Jimin and singers Jin and V. And then
there’s the Golden Maknae (Maknae- youngest member of a
group) Jungkook who can do everything (and by everything we
mean EVERYTHING: sprinting, wrestling, B-boying, female
style dances, the worm dance etc.)
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVwAVbKYYeM (쩔어 A.K.A. Dope)
Other good songs: I NEED U, RUN(only listen to RUN after
listening to I NEED U), Boy In Luv.
Seventeen (세분틴)
(screaming in the
distance
“MANSAEREU
MANSAEREU MANSAE YE”)
Debuted in 2015. 13
members!!! (Yeah, we
know, that’s a lot).
They’re split into 3
teams, the Hip Hop
unit (S.coups, Wonwoo,
Mingyu, Vernon), the
Vocal unit (Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, DK, Seungkwan) and the
Performance unit (Jun, Hoshi, The8, Dino). Won the rookie
award for 2015. Also a bunch of super talented dorks!
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7k9ZV67c0 (만세 A.K.A.
Mansae)
Other good songs: 아낀다 (Adore U), Shining Diamond, Q&A,
Fronting, Rock.
Girl groups:
Girls’ Generation (소냐시
대)
Debuted
in
2007.
Originally 9 currently
8 members.
Broke
NUMEROUS
records,
extremely
popular,
Korea’s
biggest girl group,
also called nations girl group.
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7ftOZBy0E (I Got A
Boy)(The song is different from the intro)
Other good songs: You Think, Lion Heart, Gee, Oh! (The last
2 are hella addictive so we warn you)
F(x) (에프엑스)
Debuted in 2009. The
group is composed of
four (formerly five)
members:
Victoria,
Amber,
Luna
and
Krystal (and formerly
Sulli).
We suggest for first
listen:
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=4j7Umwfx60Q (4 walls)
Other good songs: Red Light, Hot Summer
2NE1 (투애니원)
Also debuted in 2009. 4 members: CL, Minzy, Dara and Park
Bom. Their music is basically every style.
We suggest for first
listening:
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=vLbfv-AAyvQ
(Come Back Home)
Other good songs:
Gotta Be You, I Love
You, Crush.
SISTAR (씨스타)
Debuted in 2010. Also
4 members: Hyorin,
Bora, Soyou, and Dasom. They kinda saved Starship
Entertainment and made it more popular.
We
suggest
for
first
listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9-TIy7WPQI (Shake It)
Other good songs: Touch My Body, Alone
Now that you know stuff, you should watch these (suggested
by Jisoos):
1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skxqAaKrhYo&feature=youtu.be
(how to get into kpop)
2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9kkE3WqLXg&feature=youtu.be
(how to get into kpop #2)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQpRqUoLwQ (K-POP Fans
vs Normal People)
Cause these people know the feeling of being a Kpop fan. And
now some personal suggestions from other idols/groups that
we didn’t talk about
Jisoos recommends:
1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yki3X1pG3ZE&feature=youtu.be
(Gotta Talk To U by Seungri from Big Bang)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_F9HUTYnl0 (Hate by
4minute)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCLBTmjJBY (Crazy by
4minute)
Emma recommends:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8T6771Sdj8 (Coup D’etat
by G-Dragon from Big Bang)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ULhmadHkg (Crayon by GDragon from Big Bang)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grrpg_r1Nb8 (NalinA by
Block B)
Well, that’s about it. What do you think? Share your opinion
in the comments!
Advice on Halloween’s dress
up from Dj_Emukas
It’s Halloween
Your friend is throwing an awesome Halloween party, but you
have no idea what to wear? Maybe your just too lazy and don’t
want to think? Or maybe you just don’t want to be dressed as
someone or something, because you think it’s lame. Well, then
these are the basics:
1. Dress in black or any other Halloweenish color. It will
create your default look.
2. Wear a cloak. Or anything with a hood. Let
it cover your face and you will look more
mysterious.
3. Glow sticks are a good
accessory! You can take one or
two colors and use only them.
Actually, just play with the colors.
Everything can work!
4. If you have a friend, who also forgot/is
lazy, then this is a great opportunity! You can both dress the
same. You can dress in the same or opposite colors. You can
dress as opposite personalities. Again, anything can work.
5. Dress in your school uniform. But not just your school
uniform. Make yourself look messy. You can pretend to be
little Joker.
6. Act. You don’t always need a good costume.
Sometimes you just need to get into character.
And maybe you are the one hosting the party? You need some
decorations, but your on a budget? Maybe, you just don’t want
to clean up much afterwords? Here are some easy decorations:
7. Make a cobweb. It’s easy, the only thing you’ll need is
some old yarn. Why old? Because it’s more likely to be dusty
and torn. So, make a snowflake out of 4 strings. Lay that on
the ground. Then tie a maximum of 4 other strings in a circle
between them all. It’s important for all of it to be loose. So
when you attach it to a corner it’ll look more reali
8. Use lots of candles. You can put them in
mason jars and maybe attach little cobwebs to
them. Use red candles, so when the wax drips
down it’ll look like blood
9. Make a traditional jack-olantern. It may take a while,
but if you make it the main object, it will
look nice.
And lastly:
10. Always, and I mean always…No, I’m not gonna say “Be safe,
bla bla bla…” or “Have fun bla bla bla…”. No, I’m telling you
to do a prank. Just do it. Halloween isn’t Halloween without a
prank. Prank someone or prank EVERYONE. Even if it’s the last
thing you do.
DJ_Emukas
Monthly tips to
life more fun
make
your
Monthly tips to make your life more
fun
by Emilija
Usually these tips will have some kind of theme, but this time
we’re going to give you some random everyday tips. Enjoy!
stay fit and healthy
You Brand
Brain
training
1. Buy a world map shower curtain. You’ll become a geography
expert in no time!
2. Use nail polish to identify different keys.
3. Put all your wires in toilet paper rolls and put them in an
empty shoe box. That way, they wont get tangled.
4. Don’t burn yourself in those hard to reach candles, light a
stick of spaghetti and light the wick with that!
5. Use a spring from an old pen to keep your charger from
bending or breaking.
6. If you’re at a hotel and run out of chargers, the TV
usually has a USB plugin.
7. Put your straw through the tab to keep it from rising out
of your drink.
8. Take the annoying sliver of soap from an almost used up bar
and stick it onto a new bar
9. Use Japanese ceramic soup spoons for soup and cereal.
They’re less likely to spill. Some are flat-bottomed or
notched so they won’t slip into a bowl.
10. Take an empty tissue box and attach it to a full tissue
box with rubber bands. Then as people need a tissue, they can
throw it away in the empty box. Works great if you have a
cold.