WINGS is Soaring to the Top of Charts.

1.Begin 2.Lie 3.Stigma 4.First Love 5.Reflection 6.Mama 7.Awake. To the unknowing public these just seem like words that have nothing to do with each other, but for those who thrive on the life source that is Kpop, these seven subjects are titles to seven solo tracks whose messages plagued the minds of all who watched them with innumerable questions. These seven solo tracks come from an album that has taken not just Korea but the world by storm.

Bangtan Sonyeodan (BTS) has been capturing the attention of music lovers around the world with the release of their newest album WINGS on Sunday, October 10, 2016.With the release of WINGS, came a series of record-breaking feats. After dropping the album and music video for their title track, “Blood Sweat & Tears,” on, Sunday. BTS’ record-breaking streak was officially sparked.

 

The title track,  “Blood Sweat & Tears”, was written with reggae, moombahton, and trap influences but still, manages to capture BTS’ signature style. Within hours of its music video release, “Blood Sweat and Tears” broke the YouTube video view record for most viewed video in the first 24 hours with 6.34 million views. And,  BTS only continued to claim record after record. They were the second Kpop performers, after PSY, to break 10 million views.  Today the “Blood, Sweat, & Tears” music video already has over 83 million views.  The WINGS album also managed to sweep music charts across the globe from South Korea to South America.

 What is the meaning behind such a successful album? BTS’ leader Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster) explained the concept of the album as the temptations of growing up, “the harder a temptation is to resist, the more you think about it and vacillate. That uncertainty is part of the process of growing. [Blood Sweat & Tears] is a song that shows how one thinks, chooses, and grows.” Lead Rapper and assistant composer/producer Min Yoongi (Suga) added, “the wings pictured in the music video are one of the symbols of growth, the song relays an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we are met with temptations in life.”

Not only did BTS break YouTube music records, WINGS broke Kpop history by ranking 1st place on the iTunes Top Album Chart immediately after it was released, setting the record as the first Kpop artists to ever place 1st with a full-length album on the Top Album Chart. And for the first time in history, all fifteen tracks from the album  place spots, 1st through 15th on the iTunes K-Pop Chart,  deeming the event in history as “Lining Up.”  BTS set records all over the globe on charts in American, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Sweden and more for a total of 27 countries. 

Several world-famous music channels, such as FuseTV, I Heart Radio and more all sent out praise for the group. The very next day after the album’s release, Billboard wrote an article with the title “BTS Soars to New Heights With ‘Blood Sweat & Tears’”. The article claimed “2016 has been a big year for BTS”, and described how each member has grown as musicians through their 2nd full-length album. Billboard cited the group as a key player in spreading K-Pop all throughout the world

Watch “Blood Sweat and Tears ” MV

Whether people’s attention is held hostage by story behind BTS’ album/songs, the extraordinary video quality,  the  difficult choreography that’s made to look simple, captivating vocals, the hypnosis of how strange the whole Kpop thing is or any number of other things, BTS has made it clear that they are not here to be just any other idols. There’s a saying when it rains, it pours; BTS are proving themselves to just be the first raindrop in a flood of Noah proportions.

Extras:

• Album lists
• WINGS Gallery
• acoustic videos

November 5, 2016August 14, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, Kpop, South Korea, UncategorizedTags: All kill, Army, awake, Bangtan, begin, Billboad, Blood Sweat and Tears, breaking reacords, BTS, captivating, choreography, culture, dancing, entertainment, Extras, first love, Hardwork, idols, itunes, Korea, Kpop, lie, Lining Up, mama, Music, music industry, perfection, Record breaking, Records, reflection, singing, skills, stigma, video links, video quality, WINGS, YouTube video view record Leave a comment

Maybe not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 2

Link to Maybe Not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 1

 Maybe Not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 1, covered the three ways that people join a company and become a trainee. Already the task of becoming a Kpop or a South Korean entertainer in general (because of dancers, singers, actors, models, they all have to go through auditions, signing to companies and training) is off to a daunting and difficult start. One thing that may not have been made clear is that a contract must be signed with a company before a person can even be considered a trainee, let alone an idol, then the trainee enters the training period.

Training Period

To most people, the word training or trainee would ” a process by which a someone is taught skills that are needed for an art, profession or job,” or a preparation period, in trainee world, it’s a little different. Trainees practice and learn skills to be entertainers, but (and you’ll get tired of this phrase) there is a lot more to it. For the sake of saving time let’s look specifically at a Kpop idol’s training.

Long Training Period.

Some may wonder why Kpop idol hopefuls even need to go through a trainee period the answer is simple, companies will not let any trainee debut until they feel a trainee has either proven themselves in training or in the rare circumstance that the ideal group the company wanted the trainee to be a member of has already debut (for example Super Junior’s Kyuhyun). An “average” training period for trainees is between 2 to 4 years, but it can be several more years or as short as a few months. Jo Kwon, who’s a member of the JYP group 2AM, was a trainee for 7 years before he was able to debut; however, Kyuhyun, a member of the SM group Super Junior, only trained for 3 months before debuting in the group. G.Soul, from JYP entertainment, was a trainee for 15 years and is now known as the Kpop idol with the longest training period before debuting. There is no such word as average when it comes to these companies.

The Schedule.

Trainees will take singing, dancing and acting lessons along with some language classes (most idols will learn either Japanese, Chinese, English, or Thai). The trainee life can be hard

because of the tight schedules depending on the age. Some trainees are students, so they’ll start training right after school; this means it the trainees may have their classes in school and then have singing and dancing classes. The training hours for trainees who are students “typically” start from whenever school classes are finished, to 10 pm. Other trainees may have a different schedule depending on the company they’re in. Some companies have trainees practice both before and after school, so wake up at 5 am, have a lesson, go to school, do  some dedicated homework, have a company lesson, and be sure to finish the school homework from earlier plus the company homework these trainees are given and practice again sometimes until 1 a.m. in the morning. Most classes will last and an average of three hours, dance practices will last roughly five hours (not including the time spent practicing individually) and the company homework trainees are given, failure to not complete company homework or perform well in evaluations can lead to termination from the company.

Some companies have trainees practice both before and after school, so wake up at 5 am, have a lesson, go to school, do  some dedicated homework, have a company lesson, and be sure to finish the school homework from earlier plus the company homework these trainees are given and practice again sometimes until 1 a.m. in the morning. Most classes will last and an average of three hours, dance practices will last roughly five hours (not including the time spent practicing individually) and the company homework trainees are given. A trainees’ failure to complete company homework or perform well in evaluations can lead to termination from the company.

Weight.

Aside from scheduling, trainees must also maintain certain weight requirements. Some will have to lose weight while others will have to work to maintain weight despite the intense work out that dance practice can be. On the darker side of Kpop, this means that they may not be able to eat certain foods (depending on which company they are in since each company may do things differently). It’s not like trainees and idols are left responsible for monitoring their weight themselves, some if not most companies usually check each trainee’s weight day-to-day to see if they’ve lost or kept their weight.

Distance from family.

Think back to foreign Kpop idols, even the ones from countries as close as Thailand and China. Not only throughout the training period but also throughout any part when an idol is promoting new content, it is almost impossible to contact their family. Trainees will find themselves lucky being able to sneak in an email, quick phone or maybe a Skype section but that one is unlikely. It is more often the case of the family needs to visit the trainee/idol (if they have time off their schedule); however, if a family member isn’t in well enough health to travel, it can be years before a trainee or idol sees their family. When these families finally meet again it can be heartbreaking yet heartwarming.

What is it all for?

The question is what is all of this for, who is gaining anything from this other than the companies? These trainees have demanding schedules, lesson/practices, most of the time they are separated from their families for extended periods of time, homework, dieting and weight restrictions. All of this for a matter of months to 15 years with no promise of even getting to debut. Any given moment a trainee or even an Idol could be told by their company “sorry you’re not marketable, you’re not learning, you’re not what we want anymore,” just like that no debut, just like that everything was for nothing and just like that no one will know that they even existed. They are monitored by their companies 24 hours a day to ensure that they’re not tarnishing the reputation of the company and staying marketable. So, why do these hopefuls put themselves through all this? Because they want to be singers.

Kpop video views in 2011

Global Spread of Korean Pop Culture 2013

The Kpop industry is formed differently than any other music industry, and to those of us that aren’t from South Korea or that haven’t delved deeper into the world of Korean entertainment, it seems strange and artificial. That thought isn’t wrong. members of a group/band will not have known one another before becoming trainees, the companies will already have an idea of what they want to do with each trainee, but just because South Korean singers don’t just show up overnight does not mean it’s not 100% real. It is really these trainees who become idols. And it is those idols who are dancing, it is really these idols who are singing and performing; it seems unreal because that is what Kpop formulated to be, as close to perfection deemed achievable. Kpop is designed to be successful companies like The Big Three made it that way.

 

 

October 29, 2016June 3, 2018 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, Kpop, South Korea, The Big Five, UncategorizedTags: Change, classes, companies, company monitoring, contracts, culture, cutural diversity, dancing, debut, dieting, distance from family, entertainment, foreign idols, G.Soul, growing views, Hardwork, homework, idols, Jo Kwon, JYP, Korea, Kpop, Kyuhyun, language classes, Languages, Link to Maybe Not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 1, made for success, Maybe not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 2, Music, music industry, perfection, schedules, singing, skills, SM, subtitles and translations, the big three, trainees, training, training period, video links, weight management, weightloss, YG 1 Comment

Maybe Not Organic but Definitely Real: Part 1

Perhaps K-pop idols singing well is not enough for some people to overlook the fact that he/she cannot understand them, or maybe can’t stand, as some have put it the quote, “cheesy pop style of music” (granted Kpop isn’t the typical style of pop it’s much closer to hip-hop, but the fandoms will forgive) every person has their own musical preferences. However, one thing that cannot be said about these Kpop groups is that they are not hard-working.

Unlike artist from the U.S or western Europe, who can go into recording studios to audition, be discovered on social media or win the hearts of a nation on national television, the process of getting into the music industry in South Korea is much different and arguably more difficult. The Korean entertainment industry requires near perfection and only the most talented and most attractive people will succeed in the industry. There is a lot of information to cover, so in this post let’s just cover the leading companies in South Korea and the first step to becoming a Kpop idol.

The first step in becoming a Kpop idol is to join a company and become a trainee. Companies are the equivalent of record labels or entertainment companies, but it is important to mention that in South Korea the most successful companies will never just be recording labels; they will be talent agencies, publishing houses, fashion companies, film production companies, and any number of other things. In South Korea, there are five major companies that a person trying to become an idol, actor/actress, model or anything in the entertainment world will want to join.

1. SM Entertainment
2. YG Entertainment
3. JYP Entertainment
4. FNC Entertainment
5. Starship Entertainment

Link to more about each company

An idol-hopeful can join a company usually one of three ways,

• Auditions (talent). companies will hold auditions every year (sometimes maybe more than once) all over the world because the larger companies will have offices set up in China, Thailand, America, the Philippines, and all major countries that CEO’s think there could be talent. Thus several people from all around Asia show up and have to compete with talent from across the globe if there isn’t something that stands out about a person auditioning the chances of passing auditions is basically a zero. An audition is the most probable chance a person has but even then it’s slim to none.

• Street Casting (looks). This system is a little unfair because it doesn’t rely on a person’s talent. In order to get street casted, a person has to be beyond good-looking (have the star look) because only the most beautiful/handsome get chosen.  This is also how a lot of trainees and Idols from countries outside of Korea (like America, China, Thailand, and even Canada) are selected. After being chosen for his/her looks, the company will have a person audition to see if they possess any real talent. As crazy as it sounds the entertainment companies in south Korea still street cast, and they can get away with it because there is a position in every Kpop group called the “visual” whose job to draw and bring in attention with their good looks.

• Winning a Sponsored Contest (talent/luck). Sometimes companies will sponsor or put on their own singing contest and the prize might be a contract with the sponsoring company. This one is probably not recommended because idols who get signed this way usually aren’t treated the best. In 2008, EXO’s Xiumin (Kim Minseok) won 2nd place on SM’s Everysing Contest and won a contract with SM entertainment, but it’s been said in a video, that has since been taken down that, that he receives fewer lines in each song, placed in the back for choreography (even though he has been praised for picking up the dances quickly), and less screen time in music videos than any other member (It can be seen by just watching a few of EXO’s music videos).

 

 Link to Maybe, not Organic but definitely Real: Part 2

October 15, 2016August 14, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, Kpop, South Korea, The Big Five, UncategorizedTags: Auditions, companies, culture, dancing, entertainment, Everysing, EXO, FNC, foreign idols, good looks, Hardwork, JYP, Kim Minseok, Korea, Kpop, lanuage barriers, Maybe not Organic but definitley Real: part one., Music, music industry, perfection, pure luck, singing, SM, South Korea, sponsored contests, Starship, street casting, training, video links, Xiumin, YG 1 Comment

Language Barriers?

The one comment that fans of K-anything, be it Kpop, Kdrama, K-fashion, and so on hear most often goes along the lines of, “How can you possibly enjoy that, you can’t even understand what they’re saying?” If these fans got a dollar or even just a nickel for every time they heard that line, they could probably pay to fly to Korea and take Korean lessons in Seoul. Considering most of these same people were singing along to PSY’s “Gangnam Style” it seems a little funny that they are so insulted by K-fans participating in something that’s not in English. People don’t seem to understand that just because learning other languages, especially ones like Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese, aren’t stressed in our school systems, it doesn’t mean that learning foreign languages isn’t stressed in other countries. According to the World Bank in 2015 the U.S was the leading economy based on gross domestic product and is has been since at least 1960, and before China took the second place spot it was held by the U.K for a long time. So, naturally, it would make sense that other countries would teach foreign languages, especially the ones that belong to the leaders in economics,  to their student.

 The same thing applies with Kpop and Kdramas. Firstly, there is, in most fans’ opinions, the obvious comeback of subtitles and translations. There are multiple sites dedicated to translating the newest, most popular, and most beloved songs into English so that foreign fans can learn them, and a lot of the music videos and Kdramas now come with an option to turn on subtitles. If the option isn’t there, almost any television show, movie, or online video that can be found, the same can be found with subtitles that were translated by a native speaker; in fact, more often than not the companies that run either the Kpop singers or the k-drama will have two channels made on YouTube and other social medias one with subtitle/translated and one without because the presidents of these companies are aware of the fact that there are foreign fans. The fact that foreign fans get so much consideration from these companies is probably one of the reasons that foreign fans don’t mind having to go the extra mile to understand the content that is being presented to them because, in turn, extra effort is being put into things just for them.

Also, a lot of idols and actors become fluent in English and other languages over time, and some Kpop idols may only be half Korean and some aren’t Korean at all, so they spend time learning Korean. For example, the Kpop group Got7 is famous for having members from different countries like Korea, China, America, and Thailand. Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster) from famous Kpop group Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) taught himself English when he was in middle school and received a perfect score on the English language section of the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). Some Kpop Idols are even known for their ability to sing full covers of English songs  like “Stitches,” “Nobody Like us,” and “All of Me.”

Here are some other examples of Kpop Idols speaking not just English but multiple languages. English Videos

Lastly, there is an old saying that “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”  There is no easy way to describe the lack of a barrier to someone who refuses to listen to an explanation, but it’s similar to trying to explain the existence of the wind to a small child; a person can’t see the wind itself, they can see the effects of it and they can feel it, but they cannot see the physical embodiment of wind. Understanding another language is the same. A foreign fan may not understand any part of the language, but they can see the context clues in music videos, the passionate expressions on performers’ faces, and most of all they can really feel the emotion a performer is singing with. “I Really Didn’t Know” is known as a classic because of the sad love story it tells dating back to when China invaded South Korea, and lovers could only call each other with a whistle. The song tells the story from the perspective of a woman whose lover has either been called off to war or died in the war, yet she can still hear the sound of whistling because she never thought he would leave her (perhaps permanently in death), “[she] honestly, really didn’t know.” This song was covered by two members of the famous Kpop group EXO, and as they sang you could feel loneliness in their voices. The point was further driven in when the t.v camera panned around the audience to see most of them crying at the mix of touching lyrics and moving vocals.

 

September 27, 2016April 14, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, Kpop, South Korea, UncategorizedTags: Baekhyun & Chen, BTS, classes, culture, English song covers, entertainment, EXO, Fluent, foreign, foreign idols, Korea, Kpop, language classes, Languages, lanuage barriers, multiple languages, Music, music doesn't have barriers, music expresses emotion, Really I didn't know, subtitles, subtitles and translations, TOEIC, translations, video links Leave a comment