Ok I know if I don't say something about Korean girl band 2NE1 people are going to say ..what's wrong with you? How can you not like such a popular band? Well sorry but I'm not a fan. I guess it's the song style. Though I do really like their slower stuff.
One song I really like is by Park Bom the main singer of the band. She is a 28 year old singer who debuted with the band in 2009. Now I'll talk more about them in another post. But one thing I'll say is though I'm not abig fan of their stuff I love their voices and think they deserve their success.
So here is the song "Don't Cry" , a solo work by Park Bom which appeared on 2NE1's second extended play and reached number 1 on the Gaon chart.
Another girl group that is having great success this year is Sistar.
Sistar is a four woman group that debuted in 2010 and work for Starship Entertainment. They have one studio album and two extended plays to their credit along with seven singles that have all made top 10 on the Gaon charts.
My first interest in this group developed with the release of "How Dare You" in 2010 which reached number 2 spot on the Gaon charts. A catchy little number that always brings a smile to my face as does the music video.
We are mighty Sistar:
From left to right we have:
Soyou
Bora - the eldest and the rapper
Hyolyn - leader
Dasom - magnae
I'll talk more about them and the other girl bands I've introduced later but for now here is my favorite single by this band
well that title is a bit of a paradox since so far i am alone on this blog. xD
today i'm going to switch things up and not discuss a girl group but rather an artist who i feel had a very underrated song.
The artist is 25 year old Park Jung Min. Jung Min comes from a boy band called SS501 which existed from 2005-2010. now i admit i haven't fully explored this band yet. so i'll have to put that on my k-pop to do list xD . He released his first solo work in 2011 a mini album called "Not Alone"
I'v ealways felt this would be a good korean eurovision entry because the violin classical element gives it a flavor that could go over on that stage. i love the bridge in this song. anyways here it is:
Ok i lied. i decided not to do a boy band post. xD reason being that i just heard the new song by 4Minute and I love it! :D
Now this post isn't going to be about their new song though, but rather about what could be my favorite k-pop song of 2012 so far.
first let's look at the band. 4Minute is a five girl band created by Cube Entertainment in 2009. Now their name is of course based on the concept of a song being four minutes long.
They have released one album, three extended plays and four singles , that does not include their japanese work as like other k-pop groups they have expanded into the japanese market.
I wasn't a big fan of 4Minute when they first came out.But 2012 has
been the year that this group finally made songs i could really enjoy. let's take a look at the bands line-up
from left to right we have:
Nam JiHyun - aged 22 and the leader of the group
Jeon JiYoon -aged 21 lead vocalist and lead rapper
Kim HyunA -aged 20 main rapper
Heo GaYoon -aged 22 main vocalist
Kwon SoHyun -aged 17 magnae (youngest)
in this vid HyunA does the lead rapping and JiYoon is the lead vocalist. by lead vocalist i mean JiYoon leads the chorus.
"volume Up" made it to number 2 on the korean Gaon chart and the extended play album made it to number !.
Anyways here is the song. I love the bridge element. I love the saxophone interplay and the strength of the chorus
And for me, the reason why i wanted to start this blog was the return of a my favorite girl band KARA.
A little background information:
they started out as a four member band back in 2007 and then became a five member band when one of the members left and was replaced by two others in 2008.
In total they have three studio albums, five extended play (mini albums) and 11 singles in Korea alone. This does not include their work in japan which is a market k-pop is gradually expanding into and beginning to influence though slightly.
Now i won't get into a lot of detail and bio information because as i introduce songs of groups over the next little while in my blog I'll give out more info on each single. But let me at least introduce you to the members of the band!
in korean the last name comes first by the way
In order from left to right is:
Jung Nicole - aged 20
Kang Jiyoung - aged 18 - makne
Goo Hara - aged 21 (in the back)
Han Seungyeon - aged 24 and the main vocalist
Park Gyuri - aged 24 and leader of the group
I've always considered that Hara looked the youngest and thought she was the makne but i guess i was totally wrong!! Nicole is american born.
So anyways this first post is my asian music blog is devoted to them because rumor has it a mini album is coming out at the end of this month. kara has provided me with some of my favorite k-pop songs so my fingers are crossed for another good song.
So here is there Sep 2011 song. it's called "Step" . the album made it to number one on korea's Gaon chart and the single reached number 2. it also won on each of the three music show awards in korea including two weeks on M! Countdown and Music Bank
It's a very simplistic fun dance poppy song. neat foot movements in the music video , i've always liked their slinky moves.
i'll talk more about them later when i look back at some of their other stuff. But my next post is going to be about a boy band. i promised myself i would try and balance the boys and girls xD
