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Thursday, 10 October 2013
티아라 T-ara's new single Number 9
안녕하세요! Can I just let out a squeal?! 티아라T-ara is back with a new single and it is brilliant! I am not sure if this will become as huge or memorable as Roly Poly, Lovey Dovey, Sexy Love, Bunny Style, Bo Peep Bo Peep or Yayaya - but I heard it for the first time this afternoon and instantly loved it. T-ara are definitely my favourite K-pop band. I prefer the dance version of the video to the drama version, but T-ara often release two music videos for the same song (I'm thinking about Lovey Dovey in particular...) This was definitely a hit with me, it's a return to T-ara's unabashedly fun up-tempo K-pop roots - I wasn't impressed by Day By Day, their last single, so I'm overjoyed that Number 9 is so much better and what a brilliant dance routine to go with it as well (along with some epic Konglish). Enjoy!
PS. Whilst we're on the topic of K-pop, are there any G-Dragon fans out there? Leave a comment if you are as I'd like to show you a little something from G-Dragon's latest video... (erm, and if there are no fans of G-Dragon and K-pop amongst my readers then I'm not gonna bother...)
You have a Korean speaker here. :) T-Ara's new single is probably a return to their roots as a group of 6, with more up-beat techno beats in the sound like "Sexy Love", now that Crystal, Ah Reum and Hwa Young have left the group. They have not had a good rap in South Korean media or elsewhere mainly because of the bullying rumors, which were quite unfair to them...fancy getting booed live at a performance of "Sexy Love" in Daejeon....and well, their venture in the USA, with them trying to promote "Jeon Won Diary", was a flop because of the DJ (Chris Brown of all people!!!) who cut in in between their live performance and tried selling his own album....urghhh, what 'professionalism' on Brown's part. It's a pity because they really sing quite well, and some of the girls are good as soloists such as So Yeon and Boram.
Ahnyong Kev! I am listening to Number 9 on loop for the last hour and a half and yeah, I think people do take their K-pop just a little bit too seriously at times when it comes to the way they were held up as role models (and the whole bullying scandal etc) - it's like, yeah come on lah, they take manufactured bubble gum pop to a whole new level, everything is written and produced for them - I wonder if they get to make any decisions when it comes to their dance routines or their outfits or is everything planned for them right down to the last detail? They can sing, they look freaking sexy, they can dance, the music videos are amazing - what more do you want? Too boo them on stage ... that sounds like the fans are the ones with a problem, not them.
I am aghast at them choosing Chris Brown to be their DJ in the US, geez. And Jeon Won Ilgi for their US debut? That's just wrong man, it's the wrong song for the American market. It's too ... Korean, it won't cross over. Something like Number 9 would be ideal. Or any of their other big hits like Roly Poly or Lovely Dovey or even Sexy Love - these are all super catchy dance songs not dependent on you understanding the language or culture.
PS. Are you a G-dragon fan? It's just that in his latest video, parts of it was filmed on the street where I live. Literally, he was running up and down on the street right next to my block. I wonder if it's worth me doing a short vlog piece recreating the same scene from his Crooked music video ... but I think it's only interesting if I have G-dragon fans amonst my readers.
I cannot say that I am a big G-Dragon fan. My interests in K-pop are partially academic, since I specialized in performance studies in my PhD(at least my department is pretty well-known for that anyway in Canada), and Korean pop media has a lot of points worth studying and looking at. But even from a recreational and personal perspective, G-Dragon does K-pop in a way that nobody really does, pushing the boundaries, such as in "Crayon", where he plays on the idea of androgyny and fuses it with beats of rock. Korean-American singer, Ailee, did a cover of this song for a really good reason!
My favorite groups are actually After School and Nine Muses, the sexier groups, partially because they do have a style similar at times to the Pussycat Dolls(o yes, I LOVED the PCD, especially Nicole Scherzinger who is absolutely beautiful AND talented as a singer-performer). As for soloists, I listen to Shin Seung Hoon (a singer who is not technically part of the K-pop movement), Baek Ji Young, Ailee, and of course, my favorite girl from the same city where I used to live (Vancouver/Toronto), G.Na!
You have a Korean speaker here. :) T-Ara's new single is probably a return to their roots as a group of 6, with more up-beat techno beats in the sound like "Sexy Love", now that Crystal, Ah Reum and Hwa Young have left the group. They have not had a good rap in South Korean media or elsewhere mainly because of the bullying rumors, which were quite unfair to them...fancy getting booed live at a performance of "Sexy Love" in Daejeon....and well, their venture in the USA, with them trying to promote "Jeon Won Diary", was a flop because of the DJ (Chris Brown of all people!!!) who cut in in between their live performance and tried selling his own album....urghhh, what 'professionalism' on Brown's part. It's a pity because they really sing quite well, and some of the girls are good as soloists such as So Yeon and Boram.
ReplyDeleteAhnyong Kev! I am listening to Number 9 on loop for the last hour and a half and yeah, I think people do take their K-pop just a little bit too seriously at times when it comes to the way they were held up as role models (and the whole bullying scandal etc) - it's like, yeah come on lah, they take manufactured bubble gum pop to a whole new level, everything is written and produced for them - I wonder if they get to make any decisions when it comes to their dance routines or their outfits or is everything planned for them right down to the last detail? They can sing, they look freaking sexy, they can dance, the music videos are amazing - what more do you want? Too boo them on stage ... that sounds like the fans are the ones with a problem, not them.
DeleteI am aghast at them choosing Chris Brown to be their DJ in the US, geez. And Jeon Won Ilgi for their US debut? That's just wrong man, it's the wrong song for the American market. It's too ... Korean, it won't cross over. Something like Number 9 would be ideal. Or any of their other big hits like Roly Poly or Lovely Dovey or even Sexy Love - these are all super catchy dance songs not dependent on you understanding the language or culture.
PS. Are you a G-dragon fan? It's just that in his latest video, parts of it was filmed on the street where I live. Literally, he was running up and down on the street right next to my block. I wonder if it's worth me doing a short vlog piece recreating the same scene from his Crooked music video ... but I think it's only interesting if I have G-dragon fans amonst my readers.
DeleteI cannot say that I am a big G-Dragon fan. My interests in K-pop are partially academic, since I specialized in performance studies in my PhD(at least my department is pretty well-known for that anyway in Canada), and Korean pop media has a lot of points worth studying and looking at. But even from a recreational and personal perspective, G-Dragon does K-pop in a way that nobody really does, pushing the boundaries, such as in "Crayon", where he plays on the idea of androgyny and fuses it with beats of rock. Korean-American singer, Ailee, did a cover of this song for a really good reason!
DeleteMy favorite groups are actually After School and Nine Muses, the sexier groups, partially because they do have a style similar at times to the Pussycat Dolls(o yes, I LOVED the PCD, especially Nicole Scherzinger who is absolutely beautiful AND talented as a singer-performer). As for soloists, I listen to Shin Seung Hoon (a singer who is not technically part of the K-pop movement), Baek Ji Young, Ailee, and of course, my favorite girl from the same city where I used to live (Vancouver/Toronto), G.Na!
Delete