Wild Card Wednesdays: K Freaking Pop

Do you know those moments when you just KNOW something is going to happen, sort of like when people are drawing straws, you just KNOW you're going to get the short stick? Ok, that's how this week's Wild Card Wednesday topic is for me. The moment I saw the suggestion for K Pop (a musical genre which I loathe, and a couple of my lovably impish friends know I loathe) I just knew that fate was going to select it for me. I just knew it. Thanks calculator random integer application, thanks.

So before I have an episode of syncope stimulated by my overflowing joy, let us officially begin.

Originally I was going to introduce this post with some cleverly humorous "dictionary definition" I expected to find on the internet. Unfortunately, my research led me to this article which announced the addition this past fall of the word "K-pop" to the Oxford Dictionary. Therefore, something that was meant to be funny once again backfired in my face. (Hahaha, I see you laughing over there my Rocky Mountain friends, aka the ones to blame for this post.) I would post the actual dictionary definition as now apparently officially exists, but just the thought that it's in there depresses me too much. Instead I'll give those of you who perhaps do not know what K-pop is, my own definition:

K-pop (pronounced: Kayyyyyyyyyyy Pawwwwwwwwwp), derived from the saying: oKay my head is about to POP from this crazy music:

"South Korean musical genre which makes the statement: Hey, we can sing almost as bad as the American pop industry while making music videos just as weird as modern Japanese culture."

Maybe I'm being a little too harsh and insensitive, maybe I secretly love K-Pop and will never admit it to my Western friends, or maybe the entire global K-pop phenomena is being orchestrated by an alien race bent on taking over the world with mind numbing beats and semi-unintelligble lyrics (well... to English speakers anyways...) Just think about it though, which of those options sounds more plausible? Just think about it...

 I vote for the aliens (just look at the music video pic on the left) and Mr. Crazy Hair agrees, so you know it's a fact because everything on History Channel's show Ancient Aliens is factual or else it wouldn't be history, duh.

 Now, while I'm not a fan of the music at all (I don't care for techno, auto tune, or pop, even American pop, and K-pop is essentially those three things) I do have to admit that some of the music videos are worth watching solely based on their entertaining strangeness. Check these two out and you'll see what I mean:

Both make me laugh because of their goofiness, and slightly creeped out at the same time... It's difficult to decide which emotion is stronger than the other. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that tastes are quite different all across the world, and even if you can't enjoy some aspect of a culture in the way that others do, you can still find a way to enjoy it. For me, I enjoy laughing at the weirdness of K-pop and just how bizarre that whole phenomenon is to me. Truly, it is an alien experience.

Of course I can't conclude what is hopefully my only post ever about K-pop without at least mentioning what is by far the most famous song of them all and also the only one I mildly enjoy (mostly because of its dance): Gangnam Style. The ironic bit is, I could be wrong, but I believe it's also just about the only K-pop song those same friends Out West I keep referring to don't like. I guess we can't catch a break.

I'm not about to link the same music video everyone's seen, but here's a spoof of the song set in North Korea which is even better than the original:

Well that's all I've got, I hope you enjoyed! I want to give special thanks to my wonderful friend Christina who recommended K-pop as this week's topic as well as Sam and Josh for all being awesome sports and letting me poke a little fun at them (I know they think I'm equally crazy for my football obsession). In retrospect it was actually a lot of fun to write this post and I may or may not have watched an hour's worth of K-pop videos in the process.

Until next week! Don't forget to submit more suggestions and who knows, maybe yours will be chosen next by fate!

-JT