The vampire/goth edition of K-pop

This one entry is dedicated to Simon Bacon and Eva Gledhill, two world-renowned British researchers with a penchant for vampires, monsters and all things gothic. I met Simon and Eva at the third "Celebrity: Exploring Critical Issues" at Mansfield College, Oxford, UK, in July 2014.

Below are a selection of K-pop videos from 2000-2015 that have a dark theme. In the videos, the dark theme is used in a myriad of ways, from a mere cliche (as in Taeyang's "I'll Be There"), a symbol of lost innocence (in Park Jiyoon's "Adult Ceremony") to a take on Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

So without further ado...


"Adult Ceremony" by Park Jiyoon (2000)
At the time of the song's release, Jiyoon was only 18 years old (international age.) I have already mentioned in a previous entry that while in most parts of the world she was considered legal at 18, in South Korea she was still pretty much a minor, as the age of consent there was 20 (international age) and it wasn't until 2013 that age of consent was lowered to 19. This should come as no surprise as Jiyoon was under JYP at that time, which is (in)famous for sexualizing minors in a variety of dark themes, which would be seen many years later in Suzy Bae (real name Bae Sooji) of Miss A.


"I'll Be There" by Taeyang (2010)
This mega hit by Big Bang's Taeyang (real name Dong Youngbae) is also available in Japanese and English, but his English pronunciation isn't that clear in the song and I'm not a fan of K-pop songs in Japanese, hence this original Korean version. Find Taeyang's tribute to that iconic scene from "Nosferatu" at 02:01.


"Pray" by Sunny Hill (2011)
A main fixture on the lists of K-pop videos to watch for Halloween, "Pray" was released when Sunny Hill was a co-ed group (it remains the only co-ed group in K-pop history) in 2011. In 2014, Sunny Hill's only male member Kim Janghyun left the group after completing compulsory military service to focus as a producer for the group.


"Touch" by Miss A (2012)
The opening scene still kinda gives me nightmares, more than four years on. Oh, and by the way the album version has a rap break by one of the group's Chinese members, Meng Jia.


"Hyde" by Vixx (2013)
Vixx stands out from the rest of K-pop boy groups for its consistency in the exploration of dark themes. If blood and gore are more your cup of tea, check out "Voodoo." For more loose adaptations of famous gothic literary pieces by the six-piece band, take a look at "Error", which is their take on "Frankenstein."


"V" by Lee Junghyun (2013)
Directed by Park Chanwook, dubbed the Korean Tim Burton, "V" by Lee Junghyun reminds me of "House", a 1977 Japanese slapstick horror movie. I totally dig the vampire brides, and my favourite scene is one starting at 03:38.


"Bad" by Infinite (2015)
What makes this one special is that "Bad" was actually released during summer time, a time when K-pop is bombarded by videos around the theme of beach and pool and skin-revealing outfits (hahah here's looking at you Sistar)! I love how the "Bad" video plays with the mirror theme as much as I love Sunny Hill plays around with the crucifixes in their "Pray" video.

Fellow K-poppers, am I missing anything? Which one do you like best?

A disco polo hit and its K-pop equivalence...

Hi guys!

I'm kind of crazy about disco polo lately! For those not in the know, disco polo is a genre from Poland which translates simply into "village disco." People wouldn't admit to liking it, but they play disco polo music at weddings and other merry activities - kind of like our own dangdut. This is why several disco polo songs are actually big hits, like this one...


I like the Ivan Komarenko version better...

When a friend showed me "Zono Moja" ("My Wife") for the first time, it reminded me right away of "Nal Bwa Gwuisoon" by Kang Daesung, a member of Korean boy group Big Bang. "Nal Bwa Gwuisoon" ("Look At Me, Gwuisoon") is Daesung's first solo single, out in 2008 and it's in the trot genre. Unlike disco polo, Koreans don't shy away from admitting they like trot. If anything, trot is merely considered old (in fact, many consider trot "the original K-pop") and this shows in the fact that the K-drama "Trot Lovers", starring A-Pink's Jung Eunji, is a big hit.


Please note that this is NOT a remake of an old song. "Nal Bwa Gwuisoon" really is Daesung's first solo single, written by - surprise surprise - his fellow band member G-Dragon!

Look up the entire translation of "Zono Moja" and you'll see why I think "Nal Bwa Gwuisoon" is its K-pop/trot equivalence, apart from a tinge of similarities in the melody!

Another English announcer for Nine Muses?

Just a quick stop-by before I get back to the daily routine which includes work (preparing teaching material, teaching and marking), freelance work (mostly translating) and studying for journals and Ph.D research proposal.

Still on Nine Muses.

Just heard rumors that the latest Muse Son Sung Ah grew up in Fiji. If it's true, most likely she can speak English well and therefore be Nine Muses' second "English announcer" after Canadian born and educated leader Ryu Sae Ra. It's good for a Korean band to have more than one "English announcer." If you haven't noticed already, a typical Korean band has a leader, "the face of the group" (or "visual member", one who's considered the best looking), main dancer, main vocalist, Japanese announcer and English announcer. English announcers are usually those who were born and raised overseas, but in several cases it's members who were home-grown who teach themselves English either because their managers appointed them to be English announcers or they plan to expand their (usually solo) careers overseas - or both (Big Bang's Taeyang comes to mind.)