I’m thinking a couple of years back Kpop was so much better. More variety a stronger presence of seasoned artists and less gimmicky. The artists that we rave about today were just coming on the scene, and it needs to be said that their earlier works are much better than their current. I feel as though Kpop isn’t fun anymore just fanservice and while there are many fans happy just seeing their gasoo perform simple tasks to ensure their screams there is no real music being made. I got into Kpop nearly 5 years ago to get away from anything American and now that American music scene really sucks I literally do not listen to anything American except for the occasional Beyonce with Jay-Z in the background and old Brandy and Sisquo; I mean nothing recent at all, well maybe Lloyd and Rihanna but that is it honestly. But I am noticing Korean Pop music is beginning to sound just as bad. I can’t tell you who I’m listening to now that is new because there are none really worth listening to are there? I am still listening to Wheesung’s Its Real. I don’t know why it is that I can go to youtube.com type in Lee Soo Young Hwilili and get so much joy from listening to her sing live (cause that MV was crazy). One thing I’ve noticed is that recent Kpop artists spend too much time trying to be someone or something else. We all know that originality is a huge debate among Kpopers that causes much consternation.

Or maybe its just my assumption but am I wrong? For example, I have been listening to Jpop (Japanese Pop Music) way before Kpop and It is still so new to me and still good to listen to. Reason being its so different and that is why I think it is withstanding my quickness to boredom having yet to become tiresome to my mind. Kpop however sounds just like American pop music. I am becoming ever increasingly fatigued with it lately and the gap between the good singers, bad singers, and consistent singers is so huge It’s like America’s economic gap between the rich and middle class. With Jpop I am still discovering new songs and sounds to listen to, in old Japanese songs and new songs. There is so much to choose from Japanese music as a whole not just pop. Their pop music is superb, their techno is superb, and although few they have excellent Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B groups. They have great rock groups with all the sub-genres in rock from Asian Kung Fu Generation to Buck-Tick. They have many other genres from Ska (Ore Ska Band) to Anime selects (Kotoko). And I am barely scratching the surface, no I am not even touching the surface, no where near the surface because there is that much to learn, know, and discover. On my ipod I have twice as many Japanese songs than I do Korean. I can’t count the number of Japanese artist but I can count the Korean singers on my fingers which are: Se7en, Wheesung, The Trax, Rain, and Boa. And honestly who is everyone listening to other than Se7en and Rain? The rest of these artists don’t really even have albums do they? If it wasn’t for the brilliance that Korean entertainment is outside of music none of these artists would even have a chance outside of Korea or even in Korea. So why is Kpop even being considered part of Hallyu? All of the credit should go to the actors and actresses the thespians. It should go to the actors of the dramas and movies and to variety shows like X-Man (recently canceled) for giving the majority of these artist a career. So the real question is when will Kpop artists start contributing to Hallyu?

What do you think about it?