K-Pop Connection

"Chocolate" by Max Changmin Max & U-Know I've gotta be straight up with you about this one.  In the summer of 2019 I spent six magnificent weeks in Seoul, South Korea on a study abroad trip and it changed my entire life.  One thing that it changed was the fact that I became aware that for the last 11/12 years of my K-Pop obsession I have been SLEEPING on TVXQ!.   Being a veteran of K-Pop, around in the early days of Super Junior and the debut of SHINee, I somehow overlooked TVXQ!.   TVXQ! or DBSK! stands for 동방신기 which literally translates to "Rising Gods of the East."  They debuted in 2003 with five members:  U-Know Yunho, Micky Yoochun, Hero Jaejoong, Xiah Junsu, and Max Changmin.  Their major hit song was in 2009 (roughly the year I got into K-Pop) and was called "Mirotic."   If you know anything about 2nd Generation K-pop, you know that this song was ICONIC and defined the generation.  It was scandalous and sexual in a ...

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 l...