Cultural Changes

Seo Taiji and Boys debuted in 1992, and the first K-pop idol group HOT debuted in 1997. Cultural changes in the past, nearly 28 years from the present, still affect it.- If you are a K-pop fan, give examples of this influence based on the knowledge you know.If you are not a K-pop fan, discuss examples of how today’s lecture, based on your knowledge or preconceptions, can be applied to current K-pop.RESPONSE TO THE PEER100 WORDS PER EACHMOMOAfter watching the lectures, the most impressive part about the beginning of K-pop is how Seo Taiji and Boys were the blueprints for idols. Prior to the lecture, I had actually heard Come Back home multiple times, but I had never seen the video. It’s interesting to see how much of their sound and image were directly imported from American rappers. Every idol or group mentioned in the lecture was familiar to me, as I have listened to them on multiple occasions. The idols that I had listened to the most were Boa and S.E.S. One of my favorite songs is “Dreams Come True” by S.E.S because it encapsulates that 90’s sound so perfectly. Something that I find funny is that I am exactly a week older than Boa’s debut. It’s interesting to go back to the idols that got the K-pop industry to where it is now. Everything evolved so quickly and companies had to adapt to the growing demand for idols to act and sing a certain way.TedBefore watching today’s lecture, I have really only listened to a handful of K-pop songs. I don’t like to think that I listen to multiple genres, and it doesn’t matter to me if the music I listen to is in another language, but it was only in the past months when I first listened to K-pop. I was really impressed by how Seo Taiji and the Boys were the first to break the traditional barriers set in their respective music genre. Another interesting part of K-pop is seeing the evolution it has gone through. After watching and listening to the lecture video’s music videos, the first noticeable difference is the production quality. But the most interesting change is the way that idols are managed. Because idols have many aspects of their personal and professional lives controlled, a specific image can be promoted by management companies. Comparing K-pop to American pop, take the Backstreet Boys, for example; there can be many differences seen, namely substance abuse.