You're Black, Why Do You Even LIKE K-pop?

Yeah.. yeah I'm serious.

More than once have I asked myself why I still fuck with South Korea after seeing some of the shit they they pull. I've known people who stopped caring for Korean music and pop culture in general after realizing how racist they were and not even apologetic about it. Which ya know I can't really blame them either. Sometimes it reaches a point where it's just like 'I've had enough.' I like kpop because I like the music and depending on the artist do I care for the lyrics. And that's what has kept me going. For artist that have made racist remarks or even have taken part in racist sketches that often make fun of Africa and contain black face, I've stopped supporting. At the end of the day it's just that simple for me. For example Super Junior members have been known to do things like back face (Super Junior Controversy) and after I found that out, I was pretty much done with them. I stopped following anything in relation to them and no longer support them or their music. These are just my feelings about it, so I decided to ask some fellow black women (I don't know many if any at all, men unfortunately) who listen to kpop, some questions and see see what their take was on kpop. So I asked them a few questions.


B: Why do you like kpop? 

S: I like kpop because I do lol, I just came across it when I was in 8th grade. I listened to music all the time, and I watched anime and telanovelas like crazy so when I saw it in a tab under Naruto on YouTube and I clicked I was instantly in awe!! Lmao the boy groups in particular I should mention I def was one of those boy group loving teens lol B2k, Back Street Boys, NSYNC, B5 ect.

J: It allows me to connect to a part of my family I don't know a lot about. But I mainly love kpop 'cause I love music. I don't care so much for the lyrics of the songs, I care more for the sound. The melody is more important to me. You can interpret a lot of what the artist was feeling from it and there is more room for your interpretation and your emotions to stem from a melody.

B: How do you feel about cultural appropriation?

S: Cultural appropriation is always a hard ass topic because the difference between it and appreciation is often up for debate. I personally believe credit should be given where credit is due. I used to actually feel excited when I saw artists doing things in homage to black culture and music but it quickly became frustrating when I saw some Asian fans claiming and belittling the influence of black culture. I saw a lot of fan arguments about this and it became even more upsetting when big artists didn't address these issues but tried to dress it up and claim it as their own. That's what really pissed me off in the end. Like as a black fan that likes kpop I already feel as if I didn't belong at times. I wasn't white or Asian so I was never welcomed. And just when I found something that verified we had an existence, it was quickly tossed aside. I started to feel numb to it all I had a really hard time enjoying the music for a while. It sounded so good, I saw my cultural influences, but it supposedly wasn't for me that's hard to deal with. So initially I was all about boycotting certain artists but as I continued to observe more and more I switched to educating artists and fans not aggressively but I'm a fact checker I just drop the links to music and articles about sound and style origins. Lol you can lead a horse to water but you can't force them to drink or some shit.

J: I don't think it's cool. I think it can be hurtful, but can be an opportunity for growth. When people appropriate something unknowingly or by accident it can be a learning opportunity, and a chance for them to gain new appreciation for something different from themselves. When people do it knowingly and they couldn't care less to learn about the culture they are appropriating and choose to stay ignorant that bothers me the most. This is someone's culture, this is what makes someone who they are it isn't there for you, like when it's cool and convenient and for you to disregard when it no longer is useful to you. 

B: How do you feel about seeing artist you like appropriating black culture?

J:  I feel like I almost never notice if they do. I think most of the groups or solo artists I listen to haven't and if they have, it was acknowledged and apologized for. I know some have not, and I know for some, they are forced to do certain things and it's shitty on their higher ups parts. I know that a lot of idols and hip hop artists over there see whats done here by black artists for hip hop music and try to emulate it to the tee. Rap and hip hop is a part of black culture and everyone should be able to participate in a genre of music if you like and you;re good, but I don't wanna watch your MV or hear your lyrics and it seems almost mocking or like you tried so hard to be hip hop that you thought to you had to "be black".

B: What are you thoughts on some of them doing things like black face, and wearing confederate flags?

S: (Mashed the 3rd and 4th question together) The world is s racist and prejudice place. Brown and black bodies are constantly portrayed negatively in media even in Africa prejudice ideas and colorism lead to classism. This standard and portrayal of brown and black people often translate through the media. So black people have a very negative reputation. Korea was pretty closed off for a while what they know of black people is mostly from media representations. Even though a few black people live in the country even fewer Korean people have actually met a black person in person let alone a foreigner. So when I see the black face and the confederate flag or even when they dressed BIGBANG in gang colors during Bad Boy. These are all displays of their ignorance. The stylist's ignorance the fan's ignorance and the artist's ignorance as well as the company there are so many hands these things go through before they reach the internet. So there is no excuse other than people thinking this shit is acceptable. With the world wide fame of kpop and the internet making it more

easily accessible for fans to voice their opinions there is a lot of progressive movements to remove these videos. But the problem starts at the root. The stylists need to Google the shit they put on people for the world to see. And the top producers need to reevaluate their regulations on what passes. Maybe initially kpop audience was the Asian populace but as kpop has grown so has their fan base and they now have a much more diverse audience. So they need to cater to that audience in some way. They don't have to completely change up the genre, but respecting people is given. South Korea is such an advance country when it comes to technology, the artist and producers must be able to Google what can be seen as offensive and avoid it. Why wearing feather headdress painting your skin black and sporting certain fashion is offensive is literally like 2 taps and a swipe away.

J: Black face is never okay! I feel with Confederate flags that's a lack of knowledge of our history. I feel if you're gonna wear something regarding another country and you're in the public eye, research it to avoid potentially getting in trouble or offending people. I don't think they're doing it with malicious intent, but that doesn't mean its okay, or cool to wear. What the hell are they doing with Confederate flags anyway???

B: Has this changed your views on Korea? Or Korean culture? Why or why not?

S: My views on kpop have changed. I can't say if its positive or negative but I have a new set of standards that I listen and view kpop through. These artists ,producers, actors and dancers are people. The thing with people is that people make mistakes and people often learn from their mistakes. I'm not perfect and neither are they. However, on that same note I practice what I preach I exercise caution not to step on toes when I indulge in another's cultures and I'm expecting artists to do the same, it's really not that hard. It has to be a set and willful change. Just like how idols push that they too are people so are the fans respect is a mutual thing. I'll forgive once maybe twice, but continued and repetitive disrespect people don't stand for. Some people don't even tolerate it the first time.

J: It hasn't changed my views. If I find an artist or a kdrama truly offensive, I'd stop watching or

listening, you lost a fan. I won't write it all off, these things provide a different perspective on life. I like learning about people and different societies and how we' re connected as well. Music is definitely one of ways we are. We go through the same emotions, some of the same problems, same joys and I can understand that through a song or a movie regardless of country or language which I think is wonderful. I definitely can't judge an entire country and it's people off of bad actions some of their artists in any sense of the word do or else I'd be screwed as an American if others were to do the same cause we do some messed up shit here and we're soooo ethnocentric.

I thanked both ladies for answering my questions and it just left me wondering how many other's felt the same way or completely different than us. What would it take for the artist we admired so much to realize some of the things they said or did was hurtful to quite a large number of their fans. Personally my views have changed slightly well for one I don't listen kpop as much as I used to, and I think that's okay. At the end of the day how you react to these things that happen within the things you love is up to you. You do what's right for you and your mental health. Although.. it would be nice if I could stop seeing things about black face. That would be great..

J.Music: Taemin "MOVE"

Hello there! It's Jen here to give you guys my song of the week. I think I have a great suggestion, "MOVE" by Taemin.

As I hope many of you know Taemin is a member of South Korean boy group, SHINee under SM Entertainment. Like many artists in the K-pop industry, he has branched out into solo arena and blessed us yet again with his 2nd Solo Album, MOVE. With Move, the title track of the album, he did not disappoint. Taemin released 3 music videos, each one offering something different. I of course, watched all 3.

MOVE # 1 MV:

The first MV is our introduction to the song. Giving us a sort of 90's pop vibe, it features gorgeous cinematography, cool graphics, a grungy aesthetic in the set and obviously beautiful choreography, but I'll touch upon that later. The song itself presents an electronica feel with intimate, yet subtle drops in the instrumentals, and a dark, driving bass that keeps the song moving. I didn't forget Taemins' vocals! Slay me, it fit this perfectly. An edgy, very seductive and sensual song. Definitely something put on and dance to, definitely something you could lose yourself in.

Move #2 Performance Version

With the performance version of the MV, the viewer is given a chance to focus more on the choreography since I know we were captivated by how nice Taemin looked dancing in rain in the first one. This song did not skimp in the dance department, but since when does Taemin ever disappoint? The choreography here was very simple but required so much finesse. He did not wow us with complicated movements, but with those that were fluid, very smooth, and very controlled. I am all about the subtle hip rolls. This added to appeal and complimented the sensuality of the song. Also his choice clothing in all three MVs added to choreography as well. His billowing shirts, tight, form fitting tops, slim track pants and wide-legged trousers not only broke gender norms a bit but allowed us to really see how precise his movements are and showed off the long lines of his GREAT dancer's body. We a got taste of Taemin's dancing style too, MJ-esque no? For those who are into dance, this gave us everything and more.

Move #3 Performance Video Duo Version

In the third MV of MOVE, we get another chance to see the choreography, this time with his female dance partner, Sugawara Koharu. This is not Koharu's, a Japanese choreographer, first time working with Taemin, having worked with him previously on his Japanese solo release 'Goodbye'. They teamed up once again for MOVE and we were blessed with moves executed with fluidity, power and charisma. You can definitely see the great chemistry between the two.

SO, there you have it. My music recommendation of the week, MOVE by Taemin. Taemin showed us he is definitely TaeMAN now. Check out the rest of the album, it is fantastic and so Taemin! Also, check out Goodbye and his other Japanese releases, great gems. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I look forward to sharing more Jen's jams and talking to you more.