K-Pop Update

As I have been in Korea for a little bit longer, I have discovered more K-Pop music. It does seem like this is the main genre of music here, much like the top 40 music in the U.S. I have been on youtube watching different groups and performers, and watching music videos and entertainment channels on the television here. The scene seems to be dominated by girl group (the Wonder Girls for example) or boy bands ( like Beast). It reminds me of when I was around 13 and the Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and Britney Spears dominated the music charts and MTV. I have found out that there is a thriving indie scene at the Hongdae area where you can go to listen to live music.

One artist the I have discovered is Lee Hyori. She is supposed to be the Beyonce of Korea. Some of her videos remind me of Lady Gaga. She has modeled her music throughout the years after what female artist has been popular in the U.S. such as Britney Spears (whom she was accused of plagiarizing at one point.) I like that she has put on a persona as a strong female in Korea like when she is so strong that her body crumbles the car in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang video. She has also become the highest paid female singer in Korea.

I also found out that a very popular male artist is Rain. He is also an actor who has been in the

American movie Ninja Assassin. He has also been in several Korean movies. He even made

People's 2007 list of most beautiful people in the world and has appeared on the Colbert

Report. This year he won the most badass award at the MTV Movie Awards. It's interesting

that he is very known in the U.S. mainly for acting, but he is also very big in the K-Pop world.

He has also started his own entertainment company.

Stephen Colbert even poked fun at Rain and Kpop.

Another interesting thing is how there aren't many places that have cds or dvds to buy. Lotte

Mart has a little section. I did find an actual cd store in Myeongdong. I think this is the way that

the U.S. is heading in terms of selling cds. I think most people already get their music

electronically, so music sections and stores will continue to shrink. One thing that I do like

about buying cds in Korea is that generally they have better packaging. There are usually

photo books that accompany the cd. Also, they have a tendency to make what they label "mini

albums" that have five songs on them.