Kpop music and culture

Kpop Music and Culture

Have you heard of Kpop, for some this is a new phenomenal erupting with the youths in America.

Unfortunately, Kpop idols experience so much hardship to reach fame that it is not even funny

there needs to be freedom for these artists. Korean idols go through so much but are not notice

for the real things they do and the talent they possess. Korean idols music genre is constantly

been criticized or judged unfairly.Most time if an individual mentions Kpop there is a strange

reaction or confused expression. It is evident by this type of reaction there is an instant judgment

as to what in the world are talking you about, what is Kpop. When compared to other music

idols, Kpop performers experience so many restrictions. As the author of this paper, my goal is

to shed a light or uncover the injustice surrounding the mystic of the Kpop.

What

(What is Kpop)

Kpop is Korean pop the K only represents Korean and Kpop is just pop music but sung in

Korean.It is commonly believed that Kpop was never fully known in the U.S. before artist Psy

(real name Park Jae-seng). Kpop has been around for more than 30 years but never been

recognize for what it’s truly about. In Kpop there are different ways to get into a music company

such as being recruited or audition. Once you actually make into a company the training begins.

This training can be anywhere for a month to 10 years.For example, Exo Suho trained for 7

years and debuted on April 12 2012. Another artist is Miss A Min who trained up to 8 -10 years.

Usually a person would train for four to five years in the Kpop world and if you are really talented

you train for one to two years very few artists train for only a few months. When entering a

company you live in dorms with about four to six other people and you get a small weekly

allowance.Trainees practice in the afternoons after school in rapping, singing, and dancing.

During this training certain artists are paired together to form a group. In the Kpop world boy and

girl are typically grouped together because they are not usually seen so much as soloist artist.

Girl groups normally have four to nine members while boy groups have five all the way up to 13

members.The three big companies for Kpop are YG entertainment, Sm entertainment, and JYP

entertainment.Sm is basically at the top with artists in their company such as Super Junior, Girls

Generation, Shinee, Boa,Exo, TVXQ, etc. Their training system is a bit tougher than the other

companies. Sm casts their artist based on looks and some talent, YG casts their artist based on

talent and how adept you are and JYP casts their artists on their passion to become an idol.(You

have to document this statement) Each one of the companies has a unique style and different

imagine they are striving to maintain in the music industry.But Kpop idols are very restricted

when it comes to many things and they have to tolerate a lot of unnecessary and unthinkable

things in the music business. Kpop is completely different from the American industry. The

artists in Kpop are very limited and have to think carefully about each decision they make.Kpop

isn’t a prison for the artists but it does limit their freedom, choices and direction as an artist. In

spite of this restriction, Kpop artists have chosen this profession for themselves because singing

is something they care about and they would put up with the negatives and make other sacrifices

such as training for a long period of time with the longest training period being 13 years and the

performer just debuted in 2012.

Where

It obviously happens in the Kpop industry but the major thing Kpop idols

have to deal with is sasaeng fans. Sasaeng translates in English to stalker.

Sasaeng fans will go through anything just to see, speak or even hear their Kpop favorites.

Sasaeng fans will even hurt the idols just to get their attention,often they take special tactics to

even stalk their idol. Extreme sasaeng fans will sell their bodies so they can have money to just

go to a concert, buy their albums, buy gifts for their idol, get plane tickets to go to the city their

idols are located, and to even go to a fan signing event. An example, of what a sasaeng has

done in the past would be Girls Generation Taeyeon when she was pulled off stage by a male

who clearly wasn’t staff but he wouldn’t let go of her until the other members came to

her rescue. Taecyeon was sent a tampon by a saseang fans. B.A.P. Himcan was given a coffee

by a sasaeng fan who looked like any other fan but had very awful intentions and the sasaeng

had put laxatives in the coffee and Himcan had to perform after drinking the coffee. Also there

was another incident where TVQX Yunho was given orange juice by a anti/sasaeng fan and the

fan put super glue in the orange juice which led to Yunho coughing up blood and being

hospitialized. There are many things sasaeng fans will do to their idols to stalking them 24/7 to

breaking into their dorms and over all just the invasion of privacy. Some antis/sasaeng fans

cause unnecessary scandals or hurt for idol groups.Kpop fans come from all over the world

Europe, Mexico, L.A.,U.S.,Canada, Russia, and believe it or not Girls Generation is secretly

popular among teens in North Korea. On a positive note part of the Kpop fame happens because

of the loyality of the fans that fuel, support, and work hard to make Kpop become successful.

Kpop has one of the most dedicated fan base out there. Fans will wake up in 3 am. to just to see

their idols, fans will spend their good hard money just to hand them a gift at the airport, fans will

go out of their way just to tell their idol to be safe, healthy, and to work hard for a comeback. This

is just fans who live in Korea. The international fans don’t have this luxury we have to buy albums

online, we cry over not being able to go to a concert held in Korea and if a concert is held closer

to us we can’t go because of our parents or we don’t have the money. International fans do all

this so we can prove ourselves and to make the idols life easier.

Why

It happens because it’s the way Kpop industry is set up.

In Kpop world and music industry the label company has such a hold and control over the artists

to even who they can date. The companies will dictate when and if their artists can date

because the music must come first. The 2ne1 a four member girl group under YG entertainment

couldn’t date for 5 years and some idols dating terms are longer, there are very few who can

date. There are very few who will admit or come out of hiding and confess their dating someone

which isn’t like the American dating system when you can go public anytime with your

relationship. The reason why idols don’t date is because the fans

wouldn’t like it. Kpop is truly based on fan’s likes, dislikes and opinions.

Who

It truly affects the idol who is experiencing and going through all this and it breaks the fans heart

to see their idols in this state.Many of the Kpop artists have a lack of sleep because of their busy

schedules which includes photo shoots, and practices without this they truly aren’t fulfilling their

jobs as idols but there is a line. JYJ a three member boy group stated before that they get two

hours of sleep each day.Infinite Sungyu stated that he hasn’t slept for three days because of his

groups comeback. Normally idols sleep between two to four hours if they are lucky. Shinee

Taemin stated on the “Immortal Song” that he stayed up two days for his comeback and for this

performance that night on immortal song . With these type of practices, the lack of freedom

continues because of the expectations all artists must to set up the plate for the rest of your

career.Kpop idols go through hardships everyday when singing their hearts out on stage, staying

in the practice room until 3 am. to 5 am, or just having to keep up with the amount of stress.

Kpop artists have it stated in their contracts to the company that if they break any of the

company's rules they have a possibility of getting could get kicked out of the group or be

punished. Idols keep up a constant diet all the time this means boys and girl groups. Also one of

the most stressful and tiring things to an idol is the bias commentators. Imagine working so hard

and long on something then get criticized and wrongly judged.This truly impacts the fans to see

their idols on certain shows tired and physically exhausted.Do you know how many idols have

fallen asleep during interviews, TV shows, and have even fainted during concerts or when

performing. There was a time when Girls Generation Sunny fainted during her groups concert in

Japan. Also F(X) Krystal fainted 2-4 times during certain performances. Of course this affects

the idol because sleeping during interviews or shows is looked down upon in their companies'

eyes so this could lead to a harsh scolding from their manager or leader or some kind of

punishment. Being signed to a company doesn’t mean you can’t be drop out or kick out of the

company no matter how many years you trained for example if you trained 5-7 years that doesn’t

matter.

How

Why is this such a problem in the Kpop culture with the company's control over its artists. Kpop

idols always have to put a smile on their faces and pretend that everything is OK or suffer the

repercussions.There was a time that Beast Yoseob was hurt in the airport but smiled and said “It

was his fault because he was in the way of the fans.” This was not a true account of what

happened Beast Yoseob was afraid what would happened if he told the truth or how his imagine

would change among the fans. Korean standards are really high and every single move they

make is watched and judged and by other standards often these performers aren’t treated like a

normal human beings. Your company picks your imagine like there are girl groups who have a

cute innocent look some go for sexy and then there are the companies that go for a more of a

hip pop or boyish imagine. Boy groups usually have a manly imagine with a few cute songs on

albums. .But it’s hard to portrait something you’re not. 2ne1 CL has a fierce bad chick imagine

but she has stated before that she is really a good girl who follows rules and isn’t like her imagine

at all. EXO Kai and 4minute Hyuna have a very sexy imagine on stage but in real life they’re very

innocent and are filled with aeygo (aegyo translated into English basically they’re full of

cuteness).But are dogged out for it especially Hyuna who is known for her sexiness in Kpop.

When EXO first debut they went to London to perform in EXO there is only one English speaker

which isn’t Kai. So when Kai was walking a fan went up to him a called him a whore and this is

what Hyuna gets called almost every performance when she was promoting with Beast

Hyunseung. Idols hardship is that there are only seen as their performance/stage side not their.

The problem immediately happens once you become an idol. Kpop idols usually debut in Japan

and Thailand but these countries are starting to pushing Kpop out because there own people

aren’t listening to their own original music cause they prefer to listening to other genres. There

are many problems with the your Kpop artists debuting and training at a young age because

many Kpop artists will start training at ages like 12-17 when they’re still in school and also there

is the possibility that they could get dropped from the company even after training for five to

seven years. When this happens the Kpop artists must begin with a new company and going

through the whole process and training again. The artists that are still in school when they debut

barely even go to school which cuts them off of an education and they’re few who actually give

up the idol life to focus on school like Wonder Girl’s ex member Sun Mi left for her studies.Kpop

idols hardship would include their working conditions and their contracts with the label company.

Sm entertainment had their artists under 13 year contract and if the artist breached their contract

they have to pay three times the total amount of total investments and the predicted sales in the

remaining contract period as compensation but there have been recent changes due to the FTC

enforced SM to give their artists more control over their schedule. Also the artist who breach his

or her contract to total of months left in the contact period multiplied by the average monthly

sales in the two years before the contract is breached.

When

An idol in kpop hardships truly start when they first debut and to the end of their career.To

keeping up a perfect imagine to working out and dieting to keep up their body imagine all the

time.To singing their hearts out on stage or practicing new choegraphy until 3 a.m. in the

morning.There are always difficulties in a Kpop idols life, an example always producing good

music for their fans, avoiding getting into scandals,and always following certain rules and if

breaking those rules then there is a certain punishment.A certain scandal can instantly knock

your career down and it takes a long time to recover.A girl group named T-ARA recently had a

scandal where the members had been found supposedly bullying another member who now isn’t

in the group anymore.When this news broke into the public eye T-ARA went to the most loved

girl group to the most hated.

Why

Why should someone pretend to be someone they’re not.Why put a fake mask on everyday

when you can just be yourself.Idols are being overworked,so overworked that they have to take

IV drops which are used when you aren’t getting enough nutrients in your body and the IV drops

put nutrients back into your body since you aren’t getting enough regularly.You can’t date for a

good 2-6 years into your career and this just depend on the company some are really harsh

about dating and some are easy ongoing but in the end you have to keep it a secret.Most idols

don’t have a say in half of the things they do,say, or even wear.Just little things can set your

career off on the wrong track.There is always a person in your group that is the face and the

usually gets more attention and spotlight.Some groups live in the shadow of the face of the group

which requires the other group members to have to work harder and try to prove themselves a

lot more of the time.When kpop artists can’t even go to another country to even promote their

songs it’s sad.It’s a mystery how Psy made it big but a lot of the people in America aren’t that

open to other korean artist sometimes simply because their asian and don’t even speak english

which isn’t a reasonable reason.It’s discouraging to know that idols work so hard for things they

set their minds on accomplishing but get put down in the end.

Solution

The solution is very easy but it’s very hard on fans. Fans need to give their idols space for them

to breath and to live their own life. I am a kpop fan girl myself and I’ve learned that idols need

space. I mean of course in a fans eyes they want them for themselves I mean it’s nice to dream

but, but there has to be a line draw and as a fans we own that to our idols right? So fans

shouldn’t live in denial because they have lives too. I mean I’m not saying that we shouldn’t

fantasize about being with our idols but just know where the lines are drawn and don’t take it too

far. When I say don’t take it to far I mean don’t send an idol your tampon and pubic hair, don’t

write them letters in blood, and don’t follow them home or if there are out shopping them take a

pictures but don’t crowd. For example Exo Luhan fell on fan and tripped over a cart in the airport

more than once. JYJ wrote about sasaeng fans and them crowding in the airport and an older

women got hurt this is an example of taking it to far. I mean if I saw my bias then I would freak

out too but I would control myself because this scares and hurt them when some fans act this

way and i certainly know that we don’t want our idols to remember us like this so give them

space and love.

Conclusion

Kpop idols need to have freedom and to be comfortable when being an idols. Kpop idols have to

put on the mask when they step in front of a camera, imagine getting up at 3 a. m. everyday to

impress someone that you may not even like or being criticized in every little move you make.

Kpop idols do not not have a voice to stop the injustices if they want to reach fame. It is truly

unbelievable to think how desperate these artists must feel in order to surrender their lives to the

hands of the label company to do with at will.As the author of this paper, I wanted to give the

reader a glimpse into my passion for the Kpop world of music and begin a dialogue about the

social injustices that still occur in other countries. As a fan of the Kpop culture the girl groups and

boy groups work so hard for the profession but yet they are only puppets

on a string. If the Kpop idols do not have a voice than their fans must scream out for them to say

this treatment of these individuals must stop so they may gain more freedom.

Kpop music and culture

Wednesday, May 8, 2013