Category: Works From Spring 2021
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Tracking the Success and Influence of Psy’s “Gangnam Style”
Coming in at over 4 billion views, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video ranks as the 8th most viewed YouTube videos of all time (as of writing this post). The success of “Gangnam Style,” especially in American markets, baffled many, including Psy—its intended audience was the Korean people, it comments on and references Korean culture, and…
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How I jumped into the K-Pop World as a Trainee 🌟
Despite growing up in the largest Korean enclave outside of South Korea, I’ve always rejected the idea of liking K-Pop music. I remember in elementary school, my older sister lent me her mp3 player for the first time. I brought it to school and I would jam out to songs by K-Pop idols like 2PM…
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Korean-ness in K-pop
K-pop stands for Korean pop. What makes a K-pop song Korean, besides the fact that the lyrics are mostly in Korean? This question made me think about aspects of K-pop songs that make the songs distinctly Korean. For many non-Korean K-pop fans, K-pop artists may serve as a cultural ambassador and representative for the country…
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K-pop in K-dramas
I had never really been interested in K-pop growing up. I had heard of Big Bang or EXO in passing, but my close friends and I never listened to their music or followed Korean popular culture. Because of my lack of exposure, my perceptions of K-pop for a long time were heavily rooted in a…
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Twice – “What is Love?” MV Reaction
Our group, Kayla, Caitlin, and Mia, had never filmed a music video reaction before, so we made sure to do our research and work out logistics before we started recording. Our situation was also unique in that we had to do a virtual reaction video through Zoom, so there were limitations that we had to…
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Hwasa – ‘María’ M/V Reaction
Reacting to Hwasa’s “María” was a delightful experience. When discussing how to best create the recording, we decided to meet in person because we are in the same quarantine bubble and because it allowed for a more natural conversational flow. On the technical side, we decided to use Zoom since we would be able to…
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Before there was BTS, there was BIGBANG: a quick dive into the most influential K-pop group of the last decade
My music taste has certainly changed throughout the years. It has evolved from jamming out to the latest tunes on Radio Disney as an elementary-school kid to a more developed palette comprise of rap, rhythm and blues, and jazz. For as long as I remember I’ve had the same favorite artists that I enjoy listening…
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BLACKPINK – ‘Kill This Love’ M/V Reaction
Today, our group consisting of Berry, Sanna, and Jennifer reacted to the BLACKPINK music video, ‘Kill This Love.’ It was interesting to come together and hear different perspectives about scenes and shots throughout the music video. After watching the video and discussing it together, we had many ideas about the MV, from analysis of the…
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The Good and the Bad in K-pop Collaborations
Growing up, I typically had my headphones in while walking to school–blasting assortments of radio hits at the time like Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, and Ariana Grande. In the suburb where I lived, there wasn’t much diversity to music tastes. Of course, there was the mixture of rap music, indie-alternative music, and pop music but…
Musings on K-pop by Duke Univ. Students 