Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Big Bang‘s G-Dragon recently commented on how Korean music is limited and complained about music that only appeals to the masses, which is just fucking precious.
At the press conference for the finale of Big Bang‘s world tour in Seoul, he said, “I’ve been thinking that Korean music has been for the most part, limited in scope to just one genre. (When producing music) I tried to think less of music that is simply appealing to the masses.”
He also added, “Rather than listening to just Korean music with a rapidly changing landscape, I listen to a variety of music from many genres. I wish we could go back to the time when we made music that made memories. In other countries, as long as a song is good, a new album can have a positive response two, three, or even 6 months after its release.”
Him complaining about Korean music being limited and only for the masses is like JYP complaining about producers who plagiarize songs. Like … what? Motherfucker is talking like he’s Clazziquai or some indie artist or something.
Yo, broham, you are part of the fucking machine and part of the problem, what the fuck?
Besides, while K-pop might all be the same since it IS one genre after all, there’s a ton of indie artists in Korea who are now diversifying the music pool. The problem is that a lot of people, especially international fans, have no idea about it because K-pop trumps everything. Maybe those scenes aren’t to the level of Japan yet, where they’ve become their own sub-culture (well, hip hop in Korea has), but they’re advancing, and they certainly would advance quicker if K-pop stopped dominating every aspect of the music industry.
So … if he really wanted to contribute, then he should leave YG Entertainment and go indie, which I’m sure he’s totally on the verge of doing.
I dunno, dude must scoring that sticky icky while scavenging for cock in the bathrooms of gay clubs or something … er … I mean being tricked into thinking a blunt was a cigarette. Yeah, he just temporarily lost perspective. I’ll give him a pass, because he can’t possibly be that far gone.
![[Review] [Single] PSY – “Gentleman”](http://www.asianjunkie.com/wp-content/themes/sahifa/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PsyGentleman.jpg&h=125&w=272&a=c)
So even he believes Kpop = all of Korean music? Oh geez… that’s how you know Kpop dominates the Korean music industry if you got one of their own Kpop artists saying something like this. Well, I don’t quite know how Korean music is like/works but…everyone keeps saying ‘indie’ when it’s non-Kpop (at least, non-idol Kpop) Isn’t there like… non-indie Korean music too? If so, I’m pretty sure it’s just not popular… I guess like rock and such. There’s tons of styles, genres, whatever in the US, Japan, etc that’s not indie so I dunno if that’s suppose to be a synonym for non-pop but….. yeah.
There’s a lot of music in Korea that is popular that isn’t pop but also isn’t indie. The biggest problem is that very little of it makes it to the international fans. Sites like allkpoop and soompiss don’t cover it and, let’s face it, that’s where most people are getting their Korean music information.
Thats really true. for most fans those sites are their portal to finding out about korean music. Sometimes omona will make posts about indie groups (very rare) , or the occasional indie post on tumblr but thats really it.
Well I’m quite aware of that lol. I know Kpop isn’t all that Korea has to offer music-wise.. just like many intl Kpop fans all Jpop/music is AKB or Johnnys singing all cheesy kawaii like…and there’s so much more to Japanese music than that but I’m also guessing the Kpop fans who think like that are kinda new because Jpop/music has been a bit popular among intl fans for quite a bit… But yeah, just… people say “Check out Korea’s indie scene!” but I’m like.. isn’t there also non-indie music too? So I don’t quite know if people say that as a synonym to non-idol Kpop or what but yeah…
“(When producing music) I tried to think less of music that is simply appealing to the masses”
Isn’t the point of making music is to appeal to the masses in the first place? i think he has this mentality that less popular songs means better musicality. Does he mean he wants to stray away from POP music because that’d make more sense. He might be striving to be like JT or omarion but then again he’s a “rapper” so he’s going to fail miserably without his POP music.
HOW THE FUCK IS THIS A REPLY?!?!? FUCKING ALIENS
The problem is that when you go without the support of marketing hype and fangirls/fanboys, it’s a lot harder to be successful on your own merits. :o
K-indie has become a catch-all for non-pop Korean music just like K-pop has become a catch-all for mainstream idol music.
I think lack of coverage is not a problem, most of international fans just don’t care about other genres. Some articles about other Korean music appear on allkpop from time to time, but look at the views – people are just not interested. All they care are catchy tunes and attractive idols.
I don’t judge though, kpop is sort of guilty pleasure for me and I love it mostly for cheesy pop songs. For example, ballad singers are very popular in Korea, but I can’t get into them, just not my thing.
I’ve got the same thing; even when I can respect a ballad for being beautiful/meaningful/well-sung I just can’t catch onto it. I got into Kpop for the sugar-rush. I still get shocked when groups like Busker Busker go ignored by international fans though.
Kinda the same.
I rarely like ballads and tend to find them boring. But if I get to like one, that shit’s gonna be on my playlist for years.
So it has to be epic.
Hip hop scene is active. Rock gets basically no mainstream play.
Electronica/house/groove is there a bit with Clazziquai, and Winterplay has pop jazz, but I dunno.
There are a lot of talented soloists who don’t get much pub though.
Five words:The emperor wears no clothes. Come on! He’s “One of a Kind”!!!!! (Just like everybody else). G-Dragon rips of more musical and fashion gimmicks than anyone out there. Thanks for writing a readable article about this subject. Other “news sources” have their finest kindergarten journalists getting their “Cray-On”.
Yo, broham, you are part of the fucking machine and part of the problem, what the fuck?
Exactly Lol He seems oblivious of this fucking fact smh
I used to like him during Heartbreaker/GD&TOP era, but I just can’t with this pretentious little shit anymore
GD, the pretentious hipster?
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmzdx2JZOY1qdkiiy.gif
Get this man a PBR and an ironic mustache, STAT.
Ironic mustache? Check.
http://fuckyeahkpopmacros.tumblr.com/image/36263053538
I don’t think he could top CL’s remark though. YG got some uppity ass bitches. LOL
What did she say?
That she was the most beautiful chick in 2NE1.
The world should have ended
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2012/07/2ne1s-cl-says-korean-singers-are-more-passionate-than-american-and-japanese-singers/
Aw, you destroyed it! I am sure he would have believed me.
K-pop is boring as fuck and Koreans really like indie and jazz, if you are into that. What is hard to find in Korea is a heavy metal scene. Japan has excellent rock and metal that has fused with different genres or music and playing styles. I don’t find that in Korea’s music despite all the various unknown musicians that are being overly shadow by K-pop.
This has been GD crusade lately to shed himself of his idol image without really actually doing it. This dude has so many issues with duality its even express in his music. He has a hard time accepting his idol image and title. Goes out his way to set himself apart and ends up coming off pretentious. I get what GD is saying because K-pop is become one genre fits all cesspool but like IATFB said, dumbass contributes to this garbage. So at the end its just hot air to being blown.
GD best work was on Heartbreaker and GD&TOP, he wasn’t so preoccupy with being drastically different from every one else. The industry will drag him down and spit him in out if he keeps this up.
i thought gd’s best work was the song with the maroon 5 background?
Jay Park has the same problem to me.
I know what they’re trying to do, but playing both sides of the coin doesn’t work.
What about Zico then? He always clearly states that he was an underground artist and decided to get into that “idol” business just to be able to spread his music to general masses. Isn’t that playing “both sides of the coin”?
I think Zico plays the game a little differently, even though it essentially is “both sides of the coin”. He did say that he wanted to be an idol to expand his creativity in different areas, and in that EYK interview they did recently. both Zico and Kyung said that you’re limited when you’re underground, which is why they decided to become idols instead.
What I notice that Zico doesn’t do is throw shade on K-Pop music but moreso the industry itself and how shady that whole business is, unlike GD, who tries to separate himself from the entire genre.
The line is very blurred when it comes to Zico but I like how he works it out–gives his unfiltered, non-pop music out free of charge while working as Block B’s leader.
Sure.
He just has more raw talent to actually back it up. If the other two actually had the skills to do it, they wouldn’t come off looking silly.
I like Zico because he brings legitimate rapping talent to the mainstream idol world, but in terms of his own genre, he’s not the best or anything, but he could get there with work. I do wonder whether or not this idol shit will hold him back in the long run, but he gotta make his money, I guess (or not, judging by the lawsuit).
Also, he doesn’t seem to have dual personas, which is why he gets into trouble. Maybe he’ll get there eventually if fame gets to his head, sort of like G-Dragon, but he’s not there yet.
GD has duality issues to the fucking core and he doesn’t know how to deal. There is always to sides of the industry the music and the business. In business profit isn’t a dirty word but to some artist its a matter or selling your soul and/or dignity. GD is conflict and his porcelain mask are starting to show cracks.
Where Zico on the other hand has a fighting chance because he is understand both sides of the game. But for Zico, all I can think about is what Paul Mooony said to Dave Chappelle about white people owning his show. I feel same if Zico isn’t careful some douche bag manager may run your career into the ground.
I’ve managed to find some rock music in korea. Maybe not heavy metal but not bad.
“I listen to a variety of music from many genres. I wish we could go back to the time when we made music that made memories.”
Funny, that time was before Epik High got signed to YG.
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m77utebRAr1qlvra0.gif
I love you!
GD is so full of himself, i can’t eve.
yeah but he’s not alone. too many k-idols, especially the “hip hop” ones, are like this.
True fact.
They think they’re not pop that’s why, even though they would get murdered in the hip hop scene.
Yew hazz no idea wat ur talking abt! Taecyeon oppar FTW!
/chokes/ omg I’m dying.
Taecyeon can come to me for consolation if the evil hip hop guys bully him.
Just seen SISTAR19 comeback video, and I must say, the only sexy part in the video is them sliding their butts across the glass box
That was sexy? I couldn’t stop thinking of puppies dragging their asses over the floor to scratchttheir little arseholes. I did laugh alot.
I rate it. The blind folds were kinda kinky.
Bora was crying a lot in the video maybe she hit her head on something.
The comeback sucks to me. They got Hyorin holding back too much, I wish they gave her a new look than a diff hair color, the repetitive ass choreo isn’t doing it for me anymore, and Bora, well I don’t know what to say about her.
*To me, the comeback sucks.
Dumbass phone trying to screw with my grammar…
Yeah it does suck and once again the teaser and song are black & white. I actually like Hyorin’s new hair color and the more I see Bora, the less I like her
Yes this was stupid to me when I saw it but “then he should leave YG Entertainment and go indie, which I’m sure he’s totally on the verge of doing.” I don’t completely get that – as if companies are incapable of making unique music, and as if music that is indie is definitely unique.. ?
The kpop companies can make good pop tracks from time to time, but the kpop system doesn’t actually encourage it all that much esp when it comes to distinctiveness. Indie music isn’t necessarily all good quality, but the point is that it contributes to the diversity of the music scene and it happens to be severely underrepresented at the moment (esp among international audiences). But even if not all indie music is unique/ original/ memorable, at least it does tend to have more individuality than most idol-kpop songs.
The only interest of mainstream companies is to sell records, not to make unique or quality music. Maybe a by-product of selling records is making solid music, but that’s inconsequential to them. Of course, that’s not their fault, because that’s the nature of the pop game, so I don’t blame G-Dragon for participating in it. My only problem comes when he talks like he’s on the outside and everybody else is stuck on the inside.
Yes, every artist wants to sell records, but not every artist relies on gimmicks and marketing and pandering to do so. If you listen to Clazziquai or Urban Zakapa or Winterplay or whoever else, they don’t have these switching/interchangeable “concepts” that are basically marketing ploys. They just make their music, it’s completely different.
Indie doesn’t mean it’s unique, and I meant it more in terms of non-pop Korean music, but the next time SM Entertainment comes out with a group like Standing Egg, let me know. Or 10cm. Or whatever. That’s sort of the point I’m getting at.
Standing Egg is a group??
http://www.allkpop.com/2010/12/unhyped-talent-standing-egg
Gotcha.
I am so happy about the love Clazziquai is getting on here lately, makes my fan heart happy.
And word, on the ever changing “concept” with each round of promotions. K-pop just seems so fake and manufactured. Like there are computer crunchers in the back room calculating how best to squeeze as much money from each release, and only 1% of time and resources is dedicated to the actual music.
G-Dragon is like Tyler Perry
“Yo, broham, you are part of the fucking machine and part of the problem, what the fuck?”
Nail meet head!
Although i feel ‘in love’ with GD last year,dunno how it happened because ive hated him since i started listening to kpop but hey shit happens. This is the thing i cant stand about him,thinking he is some agent of change in kpop,like he is the messiah everybody is waiting for to rescue kpop.Mofo you aren’t!
I think of Kpop mainly as a gateway drug. It helps you develop the connections you need to get the harder, weirder stuff. Like, I found ‘The Golden Trot of Shin Yu’ on iTunes last week, and I bought the whole damn thing there and then and haven’t stopped listening to it yet.
Pop is always a gateway. :o
Some people stop at pop though.
For sure. This is exactly what k-pop has been for me.
“Yo, broham, you are part of the fucking machine and part of the problem, what the fuck?”
I find it weird how he’s completely oblivious to the fact that he is… He’s too full of himself.
He kinda makes me want to hit his head hard. I’m not even too sure what to say about it, exept that I want GD/TOP era back, because I basically loved everything that did together. He seemed then like he didn’t take himself too seriously, and had that nice tongue-in-cheek approach. Now, I can’t even.
K-pop is not a genre. It’s a term that comes from outside and has been adopted by Korean media for pop music in the country. Pop music of various genres.
While I don’t agree with his basic argument – the Billboard top 100 is in a much worse state than the Gaon or similar K-pop charts, and there are more solo artists and band in the top 10 than idols at this point, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, but it’s time to realize idols don’t really dominate the mainstream – I think you’re attacking him for the wrong things.
Also why would he think he is Clazziquai? They’re signed to LOEN, Avex and Universal in Korea and Japan. You’re fooled into the old rockist thinking that guitars = authenticity and that a band with good music surely has to be indie.
No one here is saying all indie and non-indie artists that play instruments = good. Indie and borderline pop can produce unlistenable music too. What we are saying is that it’s silly that GD’s complaining about something that he openly endorses whether he intends to or not. It’s like a bartender complaining about people driving drunk while still giving people too much to drink. As much as he doesn’t want to be (he’s had this non-idol attitude since pre-Big Bang – as much as I love him, it can be insufferable), at the end of the day, he’s a pop star. Instead of acting like a hipster and trying to come off as deep and philosophical, just do what other idols like Zico, B.A.P, etc. do: make your music for the masses and music that may not be radio friendly. The music that’s not radio friendly can be sold and promoted separate from the mainstream stuff. If he’s gonna fight the machine, then he needs to do something more than talk out of the side of his neck.
I already explained my pop/indie dynamic.
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2013/01/g-dragon-calls-korean-music-limited-uh-hahahahahahahaha/comment-page-1/#comment-38745
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2013/01/g-dragon-calls-korean-music-limited-uh-hahahahahahahaha/comment-page-1/#comment-38720
Not gonna argue the semantics of genres, because it’s an asinine discussion. Pop music is a genre though. Dunno how that’s an arguable point.
Anyway, the fact that idol/pop music doesn’t dominate Korean charts goes against his point. He’s dissing Korean music as basic, which shows a startling lack of awareness for what’s going on around him, as well as what’s happening outside of his idol world.
Either: 1) he thinks that all Korean artists aren’t doing enough to diversify or 2) he’s an idiot that thinks pop music is the only world that exists in Korea. I think it’s obviously option 2, but regardless of what it is, he comes off looking like a dolt.
I’m not sure what American pop has to do with any of this. Do you think I would support Taylor Swift calling American pop shallow? Dunno.
Also, I never said Clazziquai was indie if you re-read what I wrote.
Here’s the thing, people tend to group all korean pop music as “idol kpop” music, which it isn’t. Now, within the realm of “idol kpop,” GD/Big Bang is pretty ahead of the trend. But at the end of the day, that’s still not saying much because idol kpop isn’t diverse… AT…ALL.
Now, if we’re talking about Korean pop music as a whole, as well as all the other genres that get no love in SK (indie, reggae, hip hop, rock, etc), then yeah, GD needs to shut the fuck up.
I’m gonna assume he’s just referring to idol music. And lawd knows I’m not 100% sure on this, but idol kpop isn’t even that popular with the majority of S Koreans, right? There are maybe a few idol groups that hold weight, but otherwise, most adults couldn’t care less. Kpop seems to be a lot more popular with international fans and young South Koreans (mainly females).
I think GD (and the rest of YG at this point) is feeling himself waaaay too much and talking shit.
He has to know he’s just as much to blame as the people his throwing shade at. Unless, like you said, he’s smoking the ickiest of the sticky and can’t tell.
Irony at it’s best. LOLZ
I can’t stand his try hard ass.
There’s something else than indie-oneguitar-ballad-cute-songs. K-Indie/K-music has this boring reputation but it’s not only what it is about actually. I love upbeat stuff but most kpop ain’t my thing. I had to make the effort to search, and search, for other countires like Thailand and China/Taiwan too. And I managed to find artists I really like. What is sad, is that when it sounds very good, it often (not always, thank God) means that they got their Western (white or black/latino) influences right, and do it right.
Japan is not the second music market in the world for nothing, right. There’s a reason, they’ve developped musically and economically much earlier than all the other Asian countries. Japanese melodies and instrumentations are distinctive and more appealing, more soulful…if I have to listen to a ballad song (not necessairly pop) for example, I’d rather listen to a Japanese one than a Korean one. There are exceptions of course, like amazing Korean singers who make the difference for me. I sometimes think that one of my favourite Korean singer should experiment more musically, not only him but I think others are “wasted talent” somehow because their music is bland and generic or old though they’re great vocalists.
I guess that Korea needed the bling-bling of k-pop to gain money and global attention…soon they’ll probably feel more confident and open to alternative music and individuality. I hope.
Never been a fan of G-D, never will.
I like some of his music but the guy is a tool.
And he gets/got to bang fucking Kiko Mizuhara!!! That hot bitch.
He’s clever but he’s not original. He knows how to borrow from others and mesh the elements together to form something that is palatable to the average kpop fan but he doesn’t really experiment or does anything outside of the commercial box.
Agreed
LOL the only kpop group I can think of that puts out anything remotely different/interesting(at least for kpop idol standards) to me is BEG and they don’t get nearly as much love because they aren’t as flashy as most groups.
Made me laugh when I first read it. I also said he was part of the problem
Im laughing soo hard.he just made my day. Especially on the “i wish we could go back to the time when we made music that made memories” part. Does he even listens to his own songs lately? Oh gd u are such a cutie.