I listen to a lot of K-pop and C-pop, but I’ve never really ventured further into the world of Asian media. So, for my final post, I thought I would try something new and listen to some Thai pop. Out of all of the Thai pop songs that I heard, I found Color in White by the band 25 Hours to be the most interesting. I clicked on the music video for this song because I was curious about the name “25 Hours.” I have always wished that there were more hours in a day, and 25 seemed like a satisfying number. The song itself came off as a typical acoustic pop song at first, but after listening to it a few times, it became really catchy. I wanted to sing along, if only I knew the lyrics. Color in White is a very soothing song.
I also enjoyed that I could make out the plot of the music video even though I couldn’t understand a word of Thai. The girl and the guy in the jacket seem to be rekindling a past relationship, or maybe the guy used to like her, but when he shows up at her doorstep he sees that she already has a boyfriend. So I get why the guy is excited and running to her house. I just don’t understand why the other guy, in the plaid shirt, is running as well. Maybe if I re-watch it a few times I’ll figure it out.
Color in White:
(Thanks to everyone who has been reading our blog! This was a pleasant experience.)
Manga and anime are arguably the most consumed Asian media in the West. Many people in America, especially under the age of 30 or so, keep up with their favorite manga or anime series. I am certainly no exception, taking part in fandoms galore.
Japanese manga and anime are probably the most popular (compared to Chinese manhua or Korean manhwa), with many legendary series like Hana Kimi, Fruits Basket, Naruto, One Piece, and the list goes on. The great thing about this media is that it ranges far beyond book and movie format. A look at the home page of an online art community like Deviantart, and manga drawings or manga-inspired drawings will quickly pop up. It also has its claws in my notebook, which is filled with manga doodles.
Because the Japanese anime style is so prominent, it has spawned Western TV shows like it as well. My childhood was filled with such TV shows, especially Teen Titans and Avatar: The Last Airbender. In fact, I admit I am still a bit obsessed with Avatar, just because of the depth of the plot and characters and the rich animation... And need I mention that Prince Zuko is incredibly attractive? Don't get me started on his voice.
Prince Zuko
I admit you might not agree with me, seeing as he is a cartoon character. Such is the life of a manga geek. While manga and anime can be awesome, I have to admit, it can be a bit weird. Take, for example, the anime Dai Mahou Touge, the source of this viral clip:
Kind of disturbing, right? But admittedly amusing. Did anybody else notice at the end the onion on the left peeled itself and jumped into the pot?
With
all of the flashy outfits and complicated choreography of boy and girl bands in the Asian pop industry surrounding us, we forget about the Asian rap artists. I'm most familiar with two Asian
rappers: Dumbfoundead and MC Jin. I discovered Dumbfoundead, a Korean
American rapper, when I was watching a Jay Park (K-pop artist) video. I
saw “Clouds - Dumbfoundead ft. Jay Park & Clara” in the “Related
videos” section and was curious about the clever, but rather morbid name
“Dumbfoundead.” I watched a few videos on his channel and saw that his
rap style was just as clever as his stage name, especially the song Dumb
Raps. The lyrics were “Don’t need them / we want them / but we can’t
afford them / we watch it / we listen / then move on from boredom.”
However, each “them” could also be heard as “dumb” (or “boredumb”
instead of “boredom”). It feels different to listen to a song for its
word play rather than the melody, harmony, rhythm, or some other musical
aspect. Check out Dumb Raps below:
I
discovered Jin when I was obsessed with Wang Leehom, a popular C-pop
artist. Jin is a Chinese American rapper who sometimes collaborates with
C-pop artists. He was both the first East Asian and Chinese solo rapper
to be signed to a major record label. He also won all seven rap battles
in a row on BET’s Freestyle Friday, which enabled him to be inducted in
the Freestyle Friday Hall of Fame. His style is a bit more serious than
Dumbfoundead’s, but entertaining nevertheless. Check out Shoot for the
Moon below:
To get updates from a few of my favorite Kpop bands like Miss A and Block B, I have to rely on Youtube. Especially since I live here in Cornrow C, also known as Illinois (See what I did there?). Understandably, these updates come slowly, and therefore, I don't check my subscriptions all too often.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered new songs by Miss A and was referred to new songs by Block B by Sherry. After jumping around my room to the rhythm of the music for at least 10 minutes (which is a great way exercise for the average Asian pop fan), I went back and listened to all of their other songs as well.
Miss A is a girl band, like more than half of the other bands in the Kpop industry. However, their image is much less cute and more independent than others in the industry, such as SNSD, Orange Caramel, T-ARA, and the list goes on. Before they debuted, they caused a stir with teasers that advertised very strong dancing, but didn't offer much information about the band itself. My favorite song of theirs is "Breathe," a really peppy and catchy song with a great rap section. The music video (below) illustrates their ability to create unique songs that still appeal to their Korean audience, who tend to like cute songs.
Block B didn't have the same success as Miss A. However, I believe their songs deserve the same credit for being unique. Most Kpop boy bands stick to the "Hallyu" style made popular by SM Entertainment -- slick dance moves, smooth singing, and lots of smart suit jackets with skinny jeans. However, Block B breaks away from that style completely to offer music strongly influenced by rap and hip hop. If the music video for "Nillili Mambo" below doesn't seem different, I don't know what does.
I think this music video needs to be extended into a Kpop movie version of Pirates of the Caribbean, and Zico (Mr. Pink Dreadlocks) needs to be Jack Sparrow. Anybody with me? --Julia
When I checked out my comprehensive
Eastern-Western-pop-music-update website yinyuetai.com, I was psyched to
see that one of my favorite C-pop groups had come out with a new song.
Top Combine went MIA after debuting in 2009 with their song "Cotton
Candy," and now they're back with "At Least I Still Have You." When I
saw their new music video, I noticed that a lot had changed since their
debut. First of all, their original five-person boyband had become a
four-person group. The five members, Li Mao, Zhang Yuan, Ma Xueyang, Lin Zhoucheng, and Korean member Kim Eunsung were chosen back in 2009 from a
singing competition, with the exception of Kim Eunsung. Earlier this year, Li
Mao, whose initial career choice was acting, left the group to pursue
his acting dream. Li Mao was the rapper of the group, so with him gone,
the new song lacked a rap section. I was used to the Korean pop song
format (which Top Combine's new song seemed to follow) of a long melody
leading up to a breakout of rap and kept expecting to hear the rap part
in their new song. Naturally, I never heard it, but I didn't feel that
this took away from the song at all. In fact, I thought that it made it
stronger. Since the song was supposed to be very sorrowful and melodic, a
random, energetic rap in the middle of the song would have seemed out
of place.
Another change I noticed in the
group was that of its musical style. "Cotton Candy" was literally a very
sweet song that gave off a calm and happy vibe. However, "At Least I Still Have You"
is darker and more depressing, contrasting dramatically with Top
Combine's debut style. Even the overall theme of the music video for "At Least I Still Have You" is black and white, with the members wearing mainly these two colors. Top Combine certainly has changed a lot.
"Cotton Candy" (至上励合 is Top Combine's name in Chinese):
I have to admit, talking about Vocaloids as an introduction to Japanese music may not have been the best idea.
To rectify my wrongdoings, this week's post deals with human singers in Japan. In my experience, Japanese music seems to be fond of cuteness, kawaii things, and school uniforms, which isn't to my taste.
However, a lot of well-known Kpop bands have a history of doing well in the Japanese music industry, especially Big Bang and SNSD. For example, SNSD has just released a new music video in Japanese, Flower Power. But I want to talk about a Japanese artist. A while back, I discovered a Japanese-American singer named Hikaru Utada. Her debut album, First Love, is the all-time best selling album on the Oricon charts, the equivalent of the American Billboard charts. She also sung the theme song of Disney's Kingdom of Hearts. The reason Utada stood out to me was her emotive voice and the scope of her vocals, ranging from acoustic songs to fast-paced video game theme songs.
Simple & Clean by Hikaru Utada
Utada is definitely worth checking out. Some other notable Japanese artists are:
AKB48
Kumi Koda (who is currently topping the Oricon chart)
I realized that I haven't done an artist bio in a while, so I will briefly describe an Asian artist this week.
One
of my early discoveries in the world of Chinese pop music was Will Pan.
He was born in West Virginia and moved to Taiwan, his native country,
as a child. When he became older, he studied at Cal Poly Pomona for a
while before he decided to pursue a career in entertainment.
Will
Pan's interest in the entertainment industry was actually present
before left college. While studying at Cal Poly Pomona, he participated
in the NMG/BMG Los Angeles Singing Competition and won "Best Image
Award." Although he didn't receive an award for his singing ability, he
did catch the attention of Andy Lau's, a very prominent Cantonese
singer/actor, manager. His manager invited Pan to audition for the
position of a host on a new show called "V Style Society." Besides
hosting, Pan also dabbled in various areas of entertainment. He clung on
to his dream of becoming a singer and sang four songs in the soundtrack
for the first drama in which he acted, named "Great Teacher." Soon
after he filmed his drama, he finally got the opportunity to release a
solo album. His debut album, titled "Gecko Stroll" (I wasn't aware that
geckos had a stroll), featured songs written by well-known C-pop artists
like Jay Chou and Anson Hu.
Over
the years, Pan has matured as a singer and has made great progress in
his singing career. His style began as more old-school hip-hop and
developed into somewhat pop and occasionally R&B. He released an
album each year and even did a collaboration with Akon. I thought their
song turned out alright, but some of my friends thought it had "the
quality of a potato." Since the feedback varied so drastically, you'll
have to judge for yourself:
(Here's where the title of this post becomes relevant. Their collaboration piece is called Be With You from Pan's album 007, alluding to James Bond's code name. The music video is also based on the story of Will Pan being a spy.)
