KoreanClass101.com Blog

Hi guys! It’s been a looong time since my last post, I know. Really big apologies for that, I won’t make any excuses for it but life has really been eating me alive, and I’m having so much trouble balancing everything and finding time for all my obligations and other things. These past two weeks have been especially crazy; I’m still studying so I live with my parents at the moment, and they’ve just adopted two little girls. So two weeks ago they moved in here, and it’s really sucked up a lot of our time and energy getting them settled in and adjusting ourselves to the change. I feel exhausted from it all! But things are settling now, and it’s not so crazy anymore, so my fingers are crossed when I say that hopefully I’ll be able to resume posting regularly here again.

Since the last few posts of mine were about male artists, I decided that today I’d bring you a female one And who better than the sexy 이효리 (Lee Hyori)~?

이효리 began her career in 1998 as part of Fin.K.L, one of the most successful Korean girlgroups (and groups in general). When 이효리 began to release solo works in 2003, she enjoyed much of the same success. Her debut album, Stylish…E won several of the 2003 Daesung awards, which was a pretty huge achievement for the singer.

Her music is mostly pop and dance, although later releases have had an R&B edge to them. She’s worked a pretty sexy image in her solo career, which has gained her plenty of attention and of course not all of that attention has been good. In 2007 though, she made a slight move away from her sexy image with the release of Toc Toc Toc, an R&B digital single that let her show a different side of herself.

Some of you may know of the Talk, Play, Love song that was pretty much all the hype a few months back, with BoA, Junsu, Tablo and Jin Bora; it was one of the latest commercials for Samsung’s Anycall cellphone. In 2005, 이효리 was part of a similiar Anycall advertising campaign. The first part was Anymotion, featuring 신화’s Eric in both the song and MV. In 2006, the next part was released, Anyclub. The Anyclub MV featured Eric and 권상우 (Kwon Sang Woo), and the song featured 1TYM’s Teddy. Later that same year, the final MV and song, Anystar, was released and it featured 박봄 (Park Bom) and actor 이준기 (Lee Junki).

이효리 has also delved into acting, like many Korean artists do, co-starring in Three Leaf Clover and a 4 episode mini-drama with actor/singer 이동건 (Lee Dong Gun), If In Love… Like Them.

I personally am not a big fan of female vocalists. I’m pretty picky, and I don’t like voices that are super sweet or that grate on my ears - but 이효리 has a really nice voice, smooth and rounded, it’s definitely nice to listen to (and she’s definitely nice to look at XD;).

Here are some of her MVs for you to enjoy:
Hey Girl This was the second single from her debut album
Anymotion The first of her Anycall commercials
Anyclub The second of her Anycall commercials
Get Ya This was the first single of her second album
Shall We Dance The final single of her second album
Anystar The third of her Anycall commercials
잔소리 From the If In Love… Like Them drama
그녀를 사랑하지마 Also from the If In Love… Like Them drama

Epik High (or 에픽하이) is a hiphop band made up of three members: Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz. DJ Tukutz works the turntables, while Tablo and Mithra Jin rap, and all three members have a huge amount of input into the creation and production of their albums, being their own producers as well as composing the music and writing the lyrics.

Unlike some other Korean artists that throw random English into their lyrics, the English that Tablo puts into Epik High’s lyrics is perfect, and never just simple things or common phrases, but complex thoughts and ideas; Tablo, after all, spent many years in America, and has a Master’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Stanford University in California.

A mix of pop and hiphop, Epik High is the kind of hiphop band that often people who don’t like hiphop actually do really enjoy once they start listening to some of the songs. I know plenty of people who this has happened to … myself included XD Their sound is better summed up with this, something they said during their fourth album: “No genre, just music”

Epik High have made some waves in Korea, with the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism trying to ban several songs from their fourth album, Remapping the Human Soul, because the lyrics deal rather bluntly with social issues such as sex crimes, war, education and religion. This is the kind of music Epik High makes, music with a message, lyrics with a meaning.

So far, they have released 4 albums and have a 5th due out later this year. Tablo also teamed up with Pe2ny to create a project group called ETERNAL MORNING, and together the pair released an instrumental album called Soundtrack to a Lost Film. The “film” doesn’t exist, but each track is set to a different scene of a different type of movie, a different genre, relying on only music (and occasional, very minimal, lyrics) to set the mood and deliver the message. Tablo said that “The music I couldn’t do as part of Epik High, I did as part of ETERNAL MORNING.” and although it isn’t to everyone’s taste, I personally find it very original and incredibly interesting, and I completely love it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a work of art in it’s own way.

In my previous entry, I mentioned 비 as being one of the few artists that I admire. Epik High is another one of those few artists.

Some live performances first:
Let It Rain This is one of my favourite Epik High songs, and Korean rock band 넬 (Nell) make a guest appearance in this. It’s from their third album, Swan Songs.
Untitled Yeah, Epik High + 넬 is probably my favourite musical combination in the entire world XD Epik High’s sound goes great with 넬’s, it’s like they can both retain their own group’s sound while creating something together. These two groups are perfect together, they really are.

And some MVs:
I Remember This is one of their first MVs, from their first album Map of the Human Soul.
평화의 날 From their second album, High Society
Fly This is from their third album, Swan Songs. It was with this album that they began to get a lot better known. This is one of my favourite Epik High MVs!
Paris Also from their third album
Fan This is from their fourth album, Remapping the Human Soul, and is one of my favourite Epik High songs and definitely the coolest MV that I have ever seen. This song was reaaaaally really popular
Love Love Love Also from their fourth album

비 (Bi), also known as Rain or 정지훈 (Jung Jihoon), is one of Asia’s superstars. Signed under JYP Entertainment from debut until just last year, 비 has enjoyed success in the past 6 years throughout Korea and into Japan, China and even America; but China, in particular, loves this guy.

His music is R&B style, something that his voice is perfect for and gives his natural talent as a dancer the chance to shine, and he’s often been favourably compared to American artists like Usher and Justin Timberlake. In 2006, 비 was featured on the song Man Up by American R&B artist Omarion. And although he has yet to make his official American debut, 비 has still held several very successful concerts in America since 2006, and he has snagged himself many Asian music awards.

It hasn’t just been as a singer that 비 has enjoyed so much success; he’s also had a good acting career, starring in the Korean TV dramas Sang Doo! Let’s Go To School (상두야, 학교가자!), Full House (풀하우스), and A Love to Kill (이 죽일놈의 사랑), as well as the Korean movie I’m A Cyborg But That’s Okay (싸이보그지만 괜찮아). He’s also set to make his Hollywood debut in just a few months, in the upcoming Wachowski brothers’ film Speed Racer. This is definitely a huge milestone in 비’s career.

비 is one of the few artists that I admire. I like a lot and support quite a few, but 비 is one of the very few that I can honestly say that I admire. Part of it is because he’s only a year older than I am, yet he’s accomplished so much. He puts so much effort into his career, and everything that he does he does 110%. His career hasn’t at all been smooth sailing, there’s been many bumps and many obstacles, and in 2007 not only did he leave the security of his JYP Entertainment contract and set up his own record label instead, there was also a lot of trouble that would perhaps have ended the career of many other artists, or made many just give it up. But he’s come out the other side of it in one piece, and in a lot of ways he’s better off for it. I admire that, the way that he doesn’t give up, the way he just keeps on going.

His motto is “Endless Effort, Endless Endurance, Endless Modesty”. I think that’s something we could all try for.

Before I give you some MVs, you can have a live first Here is 비 performing my favourite 비 song, 태양을 피하는 방법.

And now its on to some MVs

나쁜남자 This is 비’s debut single. I love this song.

태양을 피하는 방법 This is from his second album, 태.양.을.피.하.는.방.법. My favourite 비 song!

It’s Raining This is from his third album, It’s Raining, and I think it’s one of those songs that pretty much anyone who’s into Korean music has heard at least once before - or at least the ssss~ ahhh~ bit XD;

Sad Tango This is one of his Japanese singles, probably my favourite of his Japan releases.

Free Way Another of his Japanese singles, this one is super cute.

Still Believe This is really cool! He did a promotion with BMW, and there was a digital single released for it. This is just the MV for the song, but the whole thing was like a mini movie of sorts. You can see it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

And finally, I’m Coming From his latest album, Rain’s World.

Another “artist review” from me! Thankyou to everyone who left comments on the post about Drunken Tiger, and I hope those of you who hadn’t heard any of Drunken Tiger’s stuff enjoyed it ^^

This week, I thought that I would do one of my favourite artists. In fact, this is actually my favourite group in the entire world. They are a six member boyband, are fast approaching their 10 year anniversary, and are Korea’s longest lasting boyband. They are… 신화 (Shinhwa)!

신화 consists of six members: Eric, Lee Minwoo (이민우), Kim Dongwan (김동완), Shin Hyesung (신혜성), JunJin (전진) and Andy. Apart from Eric, all members have released solo work, and Eric and Dongwan have side careers as actors. Overall, they are incredibly successful as a group as well as when standing on their own.

They were formed in 1998 by SM Entertainment, one of the biggest labels when it comes to pop music in Korea. In 2003, they left SM Entertainment and signed under Good Entertainment instead.

Their sound during their first few albums ranged from upbeat, bubblegum pop tunes, to a slightly heavier, rockier type of pop music that was very similiar to H.O.T.’s style, one of 신화’s biggest rivals despite being under the same company. In fact, 신화 were actually given several songs that had been originally intended for use by H.O.T. Despite rivalry such as this, the members of the two groups formed and maintained friendships with each other, even to this day.

In recent years, 신화’s sound is more of an R&B influenced pop. Perhaps one of 신화’s main keys to success has been the way that their sound has constantly evolved and changed to fit in with what is most popular at the time while still maintaining their own style.

One of the things that I like most about 신화 is that they aren’t entirely manufactured. Over the years they have had more and more of an input into their music and lyrics, writing some of their own songs, and they are also very heavily involved in choreographing their dances.

신화 are quite popular in Japan, and are incredibly popular in China, Taiwan and Singapore. Hyesung and Minwoo’s solo works have also been very well recieved throughout Asia.

I am however a very sad puppy, because most of the 신화 boys are going to be doing their military service later this year, and I am going to miss them so much.

Now it’s MV time!

으쌰! 으쌰! Now don’t let this song scare you XD This is what I was talking about with bubblegum pop. It’s their second single from their first album.

Hey, Come On! This is from their fourth album, Hey, Come On!.

Wild Eyes This is one of my favourite Shinhwa songs, from their fourth album.

Brand New Another one of my favourite songs, from their seventh album Brand New.

Once In A Lifetime From their eight album, State of the Art.

The Snowy Night I love this song and this MV. It was from their latest release, Winter Story 2007. I think it’s adorable because you get to see them goofing off.

And to wrap it up, a live for you This is from late last year, December 30th, at the KBS Song Festival. Part 01, where they perform Brand New and Hey, Come On!, and Part 02 where they perform Perfect Man and T.O.P - and I totally recommend watching them performing T.O.P if nothing else. It’s a song from their second album, and they remixed it and it was awesome (you can watch it on it’s own here if you don’t want to click your way through the other file)

Sorry for my lack of entry last Tuesday! I’m starting Uni in a few days, and last week I decided I would be clever and get ahead in the material, which sort of not-so-cleverly threw me off my schedule with everything else. But here I am, back again~ and this time, I thought I would “review” an artist that I really enjoy

So, allow me to introduce you all to … Drunken Tiger, or 드렁큰타이거.

Drunken Tiger is a hip hop group that released their first album in 1999. With influential and even controversial lyrics, Drunken Tiger is often seen as being one of the pioneers of Korean hip hop, in a time when pop still heavily dominated the music scene. While not much has changed and pop is still perhaps the biggest seller, it was artists like Drunken Tiger that began to catch the attention of the public. Sometimes it was good attention, sometimes it was bad, but one thing was for sure: they were noticed, and it was the hard work of Drunken Tiger and other hip hop artists around that time that paved the way for hip hop in Korea today. With artists like Drunken Tiger, the music isn’t about the bling or the girls or the sex or the drugs; it’s about the music and the message.

Drunken Tiger’s lineup has changed over the years, with Tiger JK being a constant but Micky Eyes, DJ Shine and DJ Jhig coming and going, and now Tiger JK carries it on alone.

The group have released seven albums in total, the latest of which was released last year, titled Sky Is The Limit. Their sound is pretty much pure hip hop and rap, but Tiger JK has an interest in reggae which really comes through in some of the songs, especially throughout the sixth album 1945 Liberation.

Their stuff is definitely worth a try, so I come bearing MVs! Yay for YouTube XD

난 널 원해 This is from their first album, Year of the Tiger

Good Life This is from their third album, The Legend of ..

Is Ask Hizay This is also from their third album

남자기 때문에 This one is from their fourth album, 뿌리

심의에 안 걸리는 사랑노래 (there’s 1 min of talking at the start of this) This is from their sixth album, 1945 Liberation, which was the first release of Drunken Tiger being a one-man band

8:45 Heaven This one is from their seventh album, Sky Is The Limit

내가 싫다 And this is also from Sky Is The Limit

Please enjoy them! I think Drunken Tiger are great, and I have a lot of respect for Tiger JK.

In last week’s entry, I mentioned briefly how Korean artists, at least those of the pop music scene, often branch out into acting and other such activities between - or even during - albums. This week, I thought I would expand on that.

Something that I always found interesting to note about many artists in the pop music scene is that they aren’t just singers, but entertainers. Many of them at least dabble in acting, while many others have an acting career that seems to be as much a priority as their singing career. Their extra activities don’t stop there; some of the most popular artists can be seen on variety shows week after week, and many also take up positions as radio show hosts and music program MCs, or even have their own TV shows.

I really don’t know where these people get all that energy from. They seem to be doing everything all at once, and I think I’d die just from half a day in their shoes, I really do XD

I think it’s a pretty smart move on the one hand, since it keeps people interested, it keeps your fanbase with new things to constantly be involved in or keeping an eye on. In the case of dramas and movies, it can bring new script writers or new actors into public eye due to everyone watching because of a bigger name in the cast. For variety shows and programs with MCs, it can raise the ratings and viewers, and with radio shows, it can increase listeners, and both of these things are of course best for the company running it.

It’s also a great way to gain international fans. Korean dramas air in many other Asian countries, as well as in other countries that may have cable TV and the right channels. I’ve known quite a few people who haven’t been into Korean music, but have been into Asian dramas, and have ended up being fans of an artist because they saw him in a drama, went to find out more about him and realised he was a singer, and tried some of his music and really enjoyed what they heard.

I also think it’s kind of good that they have something to “fall back on”, and as well as that I think it’s just good that they get to have that sort of experience, they get to branch out and do something different, and decide just how much importance they want to place on it in their career.

So if anyone is interested in checking out some singers-turned-actors … here’s a few of my favourites! What are some of yours?

정지흔, better known as 비 or Rain, is one of my favourite singers as well as one of my favourite actors. He has starred in four TV dramas: Orange, 상두야 학교가자! (Sang Doo! Let’s Go To School), Full House, and 이 죽일놈의 사랑 (A Love To Kill, or Ijuksa … my favourite k-drama!) He’s also starred in 싸이보그지만 괜찮아 (I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK), a movie directed by my favourite movie director, Park Chan-wook, the guy behind amazing movies such as Oldboy (awesome movie!). 비 also has a part in the upcoming Hollywood movie Speed Racer, directed by the Wachowski brothers, and I believe it’s scheduled for release in early May this year.

윤은혜 (Yoon Eun Hye) is probably one of my favourite female celebrities. She used to be a member of the girl-group Baby V.O.X, but now she’s mostly an actress. In fact, I didn’t even realise she used to be a singer until sometime last year when it finally clicked. She’s acted in the TV dramas 궁 (Goong, or Princess Hours), 포도밭 그 사나이 (The Vineyard Man) and 커피프린스 1호점 (The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, a favourite of mine last year). She also starred in the movie The Legend of Seven Cutter also known as Escaping Charisma.

문정혁, better known to Shinhwa fans as the group’s leader Eric Mun, has been in the TV dramas Breathless, The Phoenix, Super Rookie, and Que Sera, Sera (another one I enjoyed last year, even if I did want to strangle the script writers at the end!). He also had a small part in the movie A Bittersweet Life (I love that movie!), and was the co-star in Diary of June which is also known as Bystanders. That movie had a pretty powerful message about bullying, you should take a look if you get the chance!

이민우 from Shinhwa, and rapper/funnyman 하하 both starred in the movie 원탁의 천사 (or Holy Daddy). I really, really adore this movie, it’s hilarious but also really touching. They’ve both also acted in other things, but for me 원탁의 천사 is the one most worth mentioning.

You can also find a bunch of artists acting in the sitcom Nonstop (also known as Rainbow Romance). That one has been going on for ever, I think since 2005? In the past, it’s had people such as Tablo from Epik High, Andy and Minwoo from Shinhwa, Yoon Eun Hye, and I think the current season has Kim Kibum and Kim Heechul from Super Junior, both of who have also acted in TV dramas.

There’s also something called Banjun Drama, or Reverse Theatre I think was another name for it. These are basically just short little episodes, each one unrelated, and each one has a “reversal”, some kind of odd twist in the storyline that completely turns things around. Lots of artists have participated in these, including members of Shinhwa, all of TVXQ, Bae Seul Gi, Kim Junghoon, MC Mong and Kim Jong Kook.

As for radio shows, I don’t listen to any but I do know that ballad singer 성시경 has one called 푸른밤, 그리고 성시경입니다. Super Junior’s Eeteuk and Eunhyuk host Super Junior Kiss the Radio (Sukira), and Yesung hosts (hosted?) M.I.R.A.C.L.E for You, and Kangin was hosting a radio show as well. I think he’s now replaced Tablo on 친한친구 라디오, with Jo Jungrin.

So there you have it. Korean pop singers are very busy people, and there is a lot more to their career than just singing.

I’ve spent the past week wondering what to write about for today’s blog entry. I don’t want to start writing about specific groups or even specific genres for another couple of weeks, so I was wondering for most of the week what I could write about. It’s one of those things where there’s just so much to write about that you end up not knowing what to write at all because you don’t even know where to start

I have that problem a lot XD

But when I signed on today, I found that a couple of artists that I like have released digital singles, and so in that I have found my topic for today

Digital singles - tracks that you can legally download from the artist’s/label’s website - are something that certainly aren’t exclusive to the Korean music industry, but this was where I first realised of their existence, and it seems to be quite a popular thing for artists to do.

I’ve seen them used in a variety of situations, and even though they’re free, I think they’re a pretty clever marketing strategy.

In the case of a new artist, maybe one that hasn’t debuted yet or hasn’t released a full album yet, digital singles are a good way to get exposure with new listeners who may not want to spend money on someone that they haven’t heard much of before. It’s also a handy way to gauge popularity and interest, from being able to see how many times the digital single has been downloaded.

In the case of an already established artist, it’s a good way to keep the interest of the fans between albums. Being frequently in the spotlight is something that is pretty important for continued success, and each country’s artists achieve this in a different way. While the Japanese artists release several singles between albums, Korean artists seem to act in dramas and sitcoms, or appear frequently on variety shows, showing their sides as entertainers rather than just singers. They just don’t seem to release a lot of singles between albums. Some do, but most of the time the artists simply put out a full album, and pick two or three tracks to make MVs of and do performances of, and promote the album as a whole for several months, and then put out a new album. Digital singles are a handy way to fill in the time between albums, especially if the artist is likely to take more than a year to release their next one, or isn’t going to be heavily promoting. It’s also pretty handy if the artist is currently busy with other activities. It’s kind of like “I’m still here guys, don’t worry!”

It’s also a handy way to make special little releases, for special seasons such as Christmas, or for special projects or commercial campaigns, such as 비’s promotions for BMW with the Still Believe digital single, or Drunken Tiger and Jaurim’s collaboration for Spray Love, a campaign (I think with The Bodyshop?) to promote AIDs awareness.

Digital singles also allow the artist and their management to see how things lie with the overseas fans. I’ll use Super Junior’s U single as an example for this one. Although later released as an actual CD single with three tracks, it was first released on SM Entertainment’s website. There were two songs, released seperately over the course of four days. The first track was U, which was downloaded over 1.7 million times. This is a huge amount, considering the fact that Korean albums by the most popular artists very rarely break the 300,000 or 400,000 mark in domestic sales. And through the stats of the downloads, SM Entertainment was able to see the extent of Super Junior’s overseas fanbase.

So, there you have it I think digital singles are a really, really smart thing, for a lot of reasons.

I decided that for this entry, I would take a look back over 2007 and talk about my favourite releases of the year. I’ll even be linking to some of 2007’s MVs! And a couple of my friends are into slightly different artists, so I even asked them for some of their own highlights of the year, so that I could bring you guys a bit of a variety.

2007 saw the release of a lot of good stuff. I hate to think how much money I’ve spent this year buying new releases as well as older ones.

We’ll start off with a couple of albums that were the highlights of 2007 for me.

(HipHop) The year started off with a bang, with the release of Epik High’s fourth album, Remapping The Human Soul. It was 2 discs packed full of amazing hiphop, and I really, really consider it the best album of the year. My favourite tracks were Fan, 혼 and 피해망상 pt. 1. Even if hiphop isn’t your thing, you should give Epik High a try. I never liked hiphop either, but Epik High are one of my favourite groups, and I have friends who don’t like hiphop but really enjoy Epik High. So, that kinda says a lot.

(R&B) M (이민우 from 신화) released his third album, Explore. It saw M making the transition from singer to a fully-fledged singer-songwriter. Stomp and The ‘M’ Style were two supercharged tracks from this R&B album, and One Last Cry had a bit of an Usher feel to it, nice and smooth.

(Soundtrack) Tablo (from Epik High) and pe2ny teamed up together to form Eternal Morning, releasing the album Soundtrack to a Lost Film, a collection of (mostly) instrumental, soundtrack pieces. Each song was crafted with a different scene in mind, ranging from romantic comedy, to horror, to animated. It’s an absolutely brilliant piece of work, very creative and very original. White and Fingertips were my personal favourites.

(Pop) F.T. Island were one of 2007’s new groups. I adore this group, I really really do. They’re a band, so they play instruments instead of just dancing around, and they have some really nice songs. Cheerful Sensibility was their debut album. If you’ve heard Buzz, these guys sound a bit like that. I really look forward to seeing how these guys are going to progress over the course of this next year. 집착 and FTIsland were great tracks, and 행복합니다 was lovely.

(Ballad, Soul) 박효신 released his fifth album, The Breeze of Sea: The Ballad. It’s absolutely gorgeous, especially 추억은 사랑을 닮아 and Lost, and if you like slower, ballady songs then you should definitely give 박효신 a go. He has quite a distinctive voice and style.

(Soft-Rock/Ambient) 못 released their second album 이상한 계절, also known as Strange Season. 못 were one of my new discoveries this year, and damn; they are fantastic, so if you want to try something that’s sort of soft-rock, sort of ambient, sort of something else, then definitely give 못 a try. They’re a bit like Nell, for comparison.

Really, this year has been filled with good stuff after good stuff, I could sit here and list even more albums that I thought were great, but I’m trying to just keep it at my top picks XD
My friend who is into punk picked Shorty Cat’s I Ain’t Be Controlled as the best album of the year. I don’t like punk at all, so I’ve got nothing to say about it! But from what I’ve heard, Shorty Cat are worth checking out if you’re into punk.

From another friend, this year’s top albums were 뷰렛’s (also know as Biuret) Be Full of Spirit, Beautiful Violet, which is rock with female vocals, and pretty good from what I’ve heard! The vocalist has a really powerful voice. And 노아’s The Soul Singer. I just listened to his single 나란 사람, and wow. It’s a pretty ballad, and he has awesome vocals.

Wow, this post is getting long. I hope no-one minds!

Now we move onto some of this year’s great Music Videos, and I’ll link to the ones that I can find on YouTube. I thought this was a pretty neat way to introduce people to new things, and YouTube has a lot of great stuff on there. Click on the song name to see the MV!

My top picks would be:

Epik High’s Fan. This has got to be the coolest MV ever. Really. I love the way Epik High do their MVs, and this one is definitely my favourite. A girl kidnapsthe object of her devotion; this is a song about the pointlessness of fanatical love.

Eternal Morning’s White. It’s so abstract and odd, I really, really love it. I don’t understand the concept but it left a huge impression on me.

마골피’s 비행소녀. 마골피 caused such a stir when this came out! Totally new, yet her MV had basically an all-star cast, with Heechul, Kangin and Shindong of Super Junior, Yoochun of TVXQ, Park Joon Hyung of g.o.d, Kim Jang Hoon, and an adorable little child actor whos name I’ve forgotten. And yet we still had no clue what 마골피 looked like, or who on earth she was! It was a great way to catch everyone’s attention, though the hype died down after the release of her digital single.

넬’s It’s Okay, from their re-arranged album Let’s Take A Walk. This is such a lovely MV, I love the colours, the way it’s done, just everything about it. 넬 are such a great band.

Moogadang are such a spastic band, and their OAO MV was … very special. This is like crazy pophiphopdance, I don’t even know what you can call Moogadang other than spastic XD They’re really fun!

JYP’s Kiss. I have to throw this one in here because… it’s just so weird. And different. I don’t even know. JYP is a strange, strange man.

Tony An’s Singing That Melody, featuring SAT. This is such a catchy song, I still get the urge to bounce around to it whenever I hear it.

Drunken Tiger’s 8:45 Heaven. I thought this MV was really, really well done, I love the concept of it. And it’s such a sad song, dedicated to his grandmother who passed away.

성시경’s 한번 더 이별. I love this guy, his voice is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for ballads.

손호영’s 하늘에 내 마음이. This was one of my favourite songs in 2007, I was hooked on it the moment it came out.

And finally Anyband’s Talk, Play, Love. This is actually a commercial, for Samsung’s latest model of their Anycall cellphone. But at 9 minutes long, with 4 songs for the campaign and featuring Tablo (Epik High), Junsu (TVXQ), Jin Bora and BoA, I’ll consider it a single and MV XD. Set in a world where music, play and love is outlawed and everyone is enslaved, the four rebels spread their message of “Talk, Play, Love” to set everyone free.

And a personal favourite MV for purely fangirl reasons is 신화’s The Snowy Night because these guys are my favourite group, and this is their latest MV which just shows them recording and being their usual stupid selves xD

Other singles and MVs recommended by my friends are Super Junior T - 로꾸거, 김지은 - 어제와 다른 오늘, I The Tri Top’s - 청개구리, Younha - Password 486, M to M - Tell Me You Love Me, Chaeyeon - My Love and The Nuts - 잔소리.

Wow. What a post. But 2007 was that kind of year, a complete overload of great music. For me, there was a ton of new discoveries. I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2008 is going to bring!

안녕하세요! I’m Taliana, and a new member of this blogging team. Every Tuesday, I’ll be bringing you entries about the Korean music scene.

Music in general has always been a big passion of mine. I am almost always listening to music - while I’m travelling, while I’m studying, while I’m sleeping, while I’m just doing my usual daily things, while I’m reading… all the time! I’d even go as far as to say that I’m addicted to music since if I don’t listen to any for a few days, I get really restless and aggravated.

For several years now I’ve been interested in Asian music. Like most people I know, my interest started off with Japanese music, but over the past couple of years my interest has changed to Korean music. In fact, it’s almost all I listen to now. Sometimes I’ll put on something else, but 90% of the time if I’m listening to music then it’s probably something Korean.

Korea has a lot of amazing music to offer, and I really think that there is something for everyone, no matter what genre it is that you enjoy most. There’s pop, there’s hiphop, there’s R&B, there’s ballads, there’s rock - Korea’s got it all, and through these entries I hope to help spark an interest in other people for Korean music.

Although Korea’s modern music has been and still is heavily influenced by the trends of the Western world, their current music scene is still quite different from our own. I don’t pay too much attention to Western charts but from what I have seen, hiphop is the big thing these past few years. Although hiphop is also steadily gaining popularity in Korea, pop music still dominates the charts. One of the biggest names in the pop music industry is a label called SM Entertainment. SM Entertainment has produced some of Korea’s biggest pop music acts - bands such as H.O.T., S.E.S. and Shinhwa (신화), and in more recent years BoA, TVXQ (東方神起), Super Junior, The Grace and now SNSD (or Girl’s Generation).

Just like SM Entertainment is the bigger name in the pop scene, the other scenes also have a label or two that stand out more than the others. For example, JYP Entertainment, headed by Park Jin Young (박진영), has had a lot of influence over the R&B scene, producing artists such as g.o.d., Lim Jeong Hee (임정희), Rain (비), and in recent months The Wonder Girls. Perhaps the main rival in this scene is YG Entertainment who focus on hiphop and R&B, producing well-known artists such as Wheesung (휘성), Lexy, 1TYM, SE7EN, and more recently Big Bang. There are of course many other labels with many other artists worthy of a mention, but if I started listing everyone, this entry would go on forever! This is just to give you a bit of an overview, and in future entries we’ll definitely take a closer look.

It is quite interesting to note that many of the popular Korean artists are not only popular in Korea, but are also very popular in other Asian countries such as China, Singapore and Thailand, and most especially in Japan. BoA, for example, has been very successful in Japan and she has often been compared (favourably) to Japanese popstar Utada Hikaru. In the past two years, TVXQ have released 2 Japanese albums, and will soon be releasing their 16th Japanese single. Shinhwa also have a large Chinese and Japanese fanbase, and Rain and SE7EN have also been very popular in Japan although both men seem to have their sights set on the American market.

I think the fact that Korean artists are so popular outside of Korea just proves that music isn’t just about what language the words are in. Good music can and does transcend all barriers of language and country, and as cliché as it may sound it’s true that music brings people together.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this first entry! Whether you’re a fan of Korean music or not I’d love to hear your thoughts ^^ And if anyone has something Korean music related that they’d like me to write about, just drop me some suggestions!