pop music profile #8

Remember G-Dragon, way back from pop music profile #5? A month or so ago, he put on his debut solo concert, and is now facing charges and possible jail time for violating the Youth Protection Act with this scandalous performance at a concert with teenagers (13+) in the crowd.

G-Dragon maintains that the song is about having an innocent dream about your ideal lover and that the performance was not meant to be sexually explicit.

weekly pop music profile #5

Weekly pop music profile is LATE, I know, but forgive me: I poured a huge mug of boiling yuja tea all over myself and my computer last Wednesday, and the keyboard definitely has not forgiven me for it. I'm using an external keyboard and mouse now; on the bright side, at least now I have a keyboard that is labeled with both the Roman and Korean alphabets. (@Sara: thank you SO MUCH for the HUGE-ASS MUG you sent me for Christmas. It's what made all of this possible.)

Big Bang, I would say, is the biggest boy band in Korea right now (bigger than Super Junior, because Super Junior only became popular in 2008, but Big Bang is an established success - they've been around for about 4 years).

G-Dragon is the leader of Big Bang, and he just came out with his own solo album, featuring the single "Heartbreaker." Sony Music is angry at YG Entertainment because the rap sequences of "Heartbreaker" are extremely similar to Flo-Rida's "Right Round," so they've denied YG Entertainment the right to promote "Heartbreaker" any further. It doesn't matter; they don't need to promote it anymore. Everyone's already obsessed with it.

I agree, mostly: the rhythms are extremely similar. I can't decide whether I care or not. Korea definitely doesn't care very much about copyright; I can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

Either way, I'm super into the apple thing. I'm super into the slinky he's wearing around his neck. And if you want to watch the sequel video, "Breathe," know that I'm SUPER INTO that rainbow flower jacket. And the yellow smiley face gloves and the zebra print pants and the leopard print shirt and ahhhhhhhh KOREAN POP FASHION I love you, you're perfect, don't ever change.

weekly pop music profile #3

I am lazy today, and busy streaming "Iris," my new favorite Korean drama. But here, watch this video of T-ara, singing "Bo Peep," and tell me they aren't the exact Korean replica of the Pussycat Dolls. And please, pay special attention to the cat-tail (bestiality?) that shows up near the end of the video. (also, @bird_esque can you spot the chest-thrusts?)

This video is super-scandalous for Korea. Granted, the video that gets shown on TV, etc. is the 15+ version (the above is the 19+ version). But frankly, the 15+ version isn't interesting, so I don't care.

And no, even after reading the lyrics and translated lyrics, I have no idea what "Bo Peep" has to do with anything.