Introduction-What happened? Why K-Pop?

Introduction-What Happened? Why K-Pop?

     Almost ten years ago, somewhere between the ages of 11 and 12, I did something that would change the course of my entire life.  

"Ring Ding Dong" by SHINee (2009)

I went to a friends house one day for a sleepover and we ran up to their room and they showed me something called "Super Junior" and "Girls' Generation" and "SHINee" and "TVXQ!".   Of course, I can't forget to mention G-Dragon and Big Bang.  My friends and I thought it was hilarious.  Their English pronunciation was funny, some of their Korean lyrics sounded funny, the styling was hot at the time in the industry but we had never seen anything like it before so we thought it was so funny.  Nothing was safe.  The clothes, the words, the dances, the (frankly) terrible acting.  You name it, my friends and I probably made fun of it.  As funny as it was, I thought the songs were kind of cool and I liked the way they sounded. 

"Mirotic" by TVXQ! (2009)

It took a couple of weeks.  Until one night, which I remember like it was yesterday, K-Pop was only something to make fun of.  It was a joke and it wasn't something to take seriously.  But I was getting tired of the music I was listening to.  My best friend was listening to My Chemical Romance, so I listened to them for her but it didn't really stick.  I was listening to those brightly colored and poorly designed lyric videos for Avril Levigne's "Girlfriend" or All-American Rejects "Dirty Little Secret" or those Cascada songs that were super popular.  You know the one.  But I was 11 or 12.  I didn't know how to find new music, aside from surfing through the "recommended for you" section on YouTube.  This was 2010, YouTube was only five years old and not as popular at the time but it was rising into its current vital popularity.  

"Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior (2009)

I didn't know what was new or popular, or where to look for new music to I turned to music.  The only artist that I knew of that I knew nothing about was that group I listened to with my friends called Super Junior.  I typed their name into the YouTube search engine and a brand new song from Super Junior popped up.  "Bonamana" played into my ears and that was the turning point.  I consumed everything that Super Junior had on YouTube, which wasn't a whole lot but it was enough.  I quickly discovered Girls' Generation and SHINee.  I bought a Super Junior-M album (which I have to buy again, I've lost most of it) and I fell in love with Cho Kyuhyun almost immediately and I fell hard.

Cho Kyuhyun from Super Junior

Everything I did had to somehow be related to Super Junior or Kyuhyun.  As I turned 12, 13, and 14, that remained true.  I listened to every single solo track that Kyuhyun released and one of my favorites was "Listen... To You", which was on the official soundtrack for a Korean drama called "Pasta".  I found the drama (I think on Hulu, but that could be wrong) and I watched it for the off chance I would hear Kyuhyun's song in the background.  I fell into the plot of the drama quickly and I watched the whole thing in a week and I was quick to look for more Korean dramas.  "Coffee Prince" was next.  I didn't end up finishing that one but I found more dramas on Netflix and YouTube and before I knew it I would spend my nights watching Super Junior or SHINee or Girls' Generation music videos or K-Dramas and writing my really awful fanfiction about Kyuhyun.   

Early teens are known for having their phases where they try to find their identity.  We pass through our emo phase, some girls go through a horse phase (mine was VERY SHORT, thank goodness), our bisexual/bi-curious phase, and I had a number of different phases where I refused to go by Elizabeth.  None of these phases lasted for me.  My rebellious emo phase lasted a week (it was impossible to rebel because my mom was so excited and wanted to help me.  Rebelling doesn't really work if there's nothing to rebel against LOL), my horse phase lasted a few months but after I fell off the horse (literally) that was over, and all of my friends in my friend group were attracted to each other except for me so I never really got the chance to explore.  

K-Pop was looking like a phase, also.  I kept track of when concerts were (though I never got to go) and kept track of comebacks and album releases.  My friends never took me seriously because we were pre-teens and early teenagers.  I didn't take their obsessions seriously and they didn't take mine seriously.  I remember feeling like an outcast for a lot of my teen years because of K-Pop.  No one else liked it and if they knew about it then they only knew a song or two.  But my obsession was unrelenting. 

I moved to Australia when I was 15 and I was only excited because of the idea that I was going to be closer to Korea and closer to K-Pop.  I was going to be away from my friends for at least a year while my dad worked on a project so I needed something to latch onto.  Except I didn't latch onto K-Pop or K-Dramas and instead I found some Australian artists that I liked.  My K-Pop phase was over and it was all about Australia for a year and a half.  I still listened to Super Junior and the others but I wasn't obsessing over them anymore.  I didn't really watch too many K-Dramas, my laptop at the time was barely powerful enough for YouTube. 

"Overdose" by EXO (2014)

I grew attached to Australia and leaving it was devastating.  When I returned home, I was so sad and I fell into a depression.  I didn't want to listen to Australian music anymore so I turned to the only thing that I knew: Super Junior.  Except there was something else in the "recommended for you" section.  It took me a few days but I finally gave in and clicked on the song "Overdose" by Exo.  The spiral into the Exo obsession was quick and fast.  I explored other groups, like BTS, Boyfriend, Day6, Girl's Day, and 4Minute.  To list the number of groups and artists I explored over the last years would take up another long post so I won't go into it, but by the time I was seventeen and starting college, I knew a lot about many different K-Pop groups and about the industry. 

 It's hard to say where or how I picked up my knowledge of the industry or my language skills but after several years of paying close attention to the K-Pop industry and watching Korean Dramas and taking in as much Korean media as possible I slowly began to pick it up.  I saw two separate tutors who taught me how to read, write, and speak in Korean and, while I'm not fluent, I learn something new every day.  I pay close attention to the entertainment management companies and watch how they behave, how they promote and manage their artists.  I can't say that I know everything about the industry, but I am actively studying it and I like to know when I am wrong. 

Korea University - Graduation Day!

In the summer of 2019, I went on a trip that defined what I want to do with the rest of my life and encompasses the goals that I have.  I spent six weeks in Seoul, South Korea studying at Korea University and it was the best thing I've ever done.  I took a media and popular culture class and an East Asian philosophy class and they absolutely redefined everything I knew about K-Pop and the entertainment industry.  I learned so much in those classes about the history of Korea and it's culture and how current and past issues still affect the media production of today.  I got to experience Korean media culture first hand every day and experience the K-Pop craze right in the thick of it.  

My experience in Korea was fulfilling and enriching and confirmed some of the goals that I have for the future that I am looking forward to sharing here.  I have a few goals for this blog that I hope will come to fruition over time.  My main plans are to share my journey working up to and preparing for my dream career in the Korean entertainment industry.  I also would like to share my thoughts on K-Pop music videos and albums as they come out and even on some K-Dramas if I have the time to sit down and watch them.  I don't want to be a typical fangirl and talk about how everything is perfect (though sometimes I won't be able to help myself) but instead, talk about the styling, concepts, and production aspects of each video/album as it comes to my attention.  This, like most things, is a learning experience and I will continue to learn more about the industry as time goes on.  Although my exact goals are flexible and change every day, there is one thing that stays consistent:  I am going back to Korea and I will end up working in the media and entertainment industry.  It's just a question of when and in what position.  

I will try to keep this blog going but college is hard.  I will be working on other things K-Pop related, like a podcast that I'm working on with some friends (I'll share the link to it when we get it started) and I'm part of a K-Pop dance cover group that is actually pretty decent and I'll share those links soon.  

I hope you stick with me!  Stay tuned!