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4 K-Pop (Korean Pop) Fan of K-pop and J-rock Heather Carritt finds out more about how k-pop and J-rock began, how Big Bang and The Gazette became popular and interviews another k-pop fan about why they enjoy listening to the music and why Big Bang is one of the artists they listen to. According Billboard.com Korean pop more commonly known as K-pop was first started up by the formation of the first ‘idols’ group in the 1990s. It all started in 1992 when a group called Seo Taiji and Boys, a trio of hip-hop singer/rappers who fused American pop music with Korean lyrics had their debut. With their ability to mix Eastern and Western music sounds together; Seo Taiji and Boys became immensely popular in Korea. The entertainment companies in Korea saw their popularity as well as the opportunities for profit. These companies decided to get involved in the new style of music and began creating groups similar to Seo Taiji and Boys. This eventually led to the formation of Big Bang who is a very popular k-pop group in both the east and the west. K-pop is renowned for its well put together videos that show the differences in the industry compared to the USA and UK. A lot of K-pop fans enjoy watching these sometimes dramatic and creative videos that go along Kind permission from Teokki (Rokiei) with the catchy and unique music. Some k-pop artists are talented at dancing and a lot of the more recent ones such as Exo and BTS spend time learning complicated dance routines for their music videos as well as for live shows. This makes watching their videos more enjoyable and their live shows more exciting as their international fans know they’re going to see something more unique and different from what they’re used to seeing in their own countries. Big Bang is an incredibly popular K-pop group and has had a large amount of success globally. According to their K-pop Wikia page they were formed in 2006 by an entertainment company called YG Entertainment. The group consist of the members G Dragon (GD), T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri; the group officially debuted on August 19, 2006. Their debut was a moderate success as their first Korean album sold 48,000 copies. Big Bang had their first major breakthrough with the release of their first extended play ‘Always’ in 2007, which their number one song ‘Lies’ came from. In 2008 Big Bang released their first Japanese album and in the same year won three awards at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan. Big Bangs members have also released their own solo albums; Taeyang was the first out of the group that released a solo album called ‘Hot’ in 2008 which also featured G Dragon and various other K-pop artists. G Dragon debuted his first solo album in 2009 called ‘Heartbreaker’ and was the most successful of the year. G Dragon and T.O.P came together and made an album together which was released in 2010. Seungri released his first solo album in 2011 and debuted in Japan with his second solo release as a solo artist. Daesung was the last of the Big Bang members to release his solo album which debuted in 2013. According to hellokpop.com Fan clubs in Korea are seen in a different way to western fan clubs as they play a big role in the K-pop industry and create their own names and colours that represent the band. Big Bangs fans named themselves the V.I.P after one of the bands singles and hold yellow crown light sticks and black and white banners when at their concerts and live shows as they have no official colour. Unlike Se7en whose fans call themselves ‘Lucky Se7en’ and are associated with the colour Lime green. Kind permission of Kpop Daily news.
Why listen to Korean Pop music? A K-pop fan tells Heather Carritt when they first started listening to K-pop and why they enjoy listening to it. Q: When did you start listening to K-Pop? A: I started listening to K-Pop in 2007. The first two artists I listened to were Se7en and Epik high. Q: What do you like about Big Bang? A: Big Bang is an awesome band. Their music has gone worldwide and a lot of people listen to it because it is popular. 5 Q: Why do you listen to K-Pop? A: It is very unique because the music videos are different compared to music videos from the USA or the UK. The music video adds more features as it looks dramatic in love songs, it uses a crazy and wild theme like Big Bang- Bang Bang Bang. The rhythm of the music sounds better than the USA or the UK too because most songs here sound similar even though they are sung by different artists. Q: What is your favourite Big Bang song/album? A: My favourite songs are Let me hear your voice and Still alive. Q: What other K-Pop artists do you listen to? A: BTS, Outsider, Epik high, Exo K, Seventeen, Se7en, 4 minute, Shinee and Super Junior J-Rock (Japanese Rock) Rockmusic.mu shows that Japanese rock or J-rock bands started up in the 1960s and were trying to recreate the sounds of band from America and the UK as well as other countries. The website also mentions how Japanese rock music began to throughout the years. It began to change in the 1970s as the style became more folk orientated and most of the artists became singer/songwriters with their own style. However in the 1980s Japanese artists began to change their look as well as their sounds. J-rock bands started referring to their looks and style as visual Kei, which refers to a more outlandish fashion and makeup. Visual Kei is still popular in J-rock music today as Japanese culture is largely linked with Japanese music. The Gazette is a Japanese rock band known for their bold looks as they are one of the more popular bands in Japan and have introduced the concept of visual Kei bands to other countries. Originally from Kanagawa in southern Japan the band formed early in 2002 and are now signed to Sony music records. The band consists of Ruki (vocals), Reita (bass), Uruha (lead guitar), Aoi (rhythm guitar), the bands drummer Yune left in 2003 and was replaced by Kai. According to jpopasia.com shortly after signing to PS Company label The Gazette released their first EP, Cockayne Soup in May 2003. The band’s debut album, ‘Disorder’ was released in October 2004 and spent the rest of the year touring. They released their second full-length album in February 2006 and played their first live show out of Asia in Germany in July. In 2008 The Gazette released two singles called ‘Guren’ and ‘Leech’ which both landed #1 My Top 10 Songs by The Gazette spot on the Oricon Charts as well as releasing a new DVD the same year. 1. To Dazzling Darkness In 2012 they held a one-time concert to commemorate their 10th anniversary together 2. Fadeless as The Gazette and released a DVD of the gig. 3. The Invisible Wall Japanese rock bands usually change their looks and styles throughout the years. The 4. Filth In The Beauty Gazette does this regularly with different hair styles, makeup and clothing that make 5. Guren them unique as a band. The Gazette also keeps some of their appearance the same for 6. Reila example the bassist Reita has a cloth band covering his nose and has kept up with the 7. Inside Beast look although it has recently changed to a black patient mask. Ruki the Vocalist of The 8. Suicide Circus Gazette changes his style the most and can change it a couple of times in a year. 9. Vortex Japanese Rock as well as Korean Pop and other music from different countires offers 10. Ugly different sounds amd styles that are unique to that specific country. A lot of music shows cultural differences like Japan who’s music industry is all liked to their culture. Listening to different countries music can help you learn the language and also help you to better understand the culture. Kind Permission from Bob Lee (witheredpoem) Flickr.
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