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Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Fake Love
It was a banner weekend for K-Pop, anchored by Bangtan Boys (BTS) and their second year in a row of appearances at the Billboard Music Awards. BTS is, without a doubt, one of the leaders of the current generation of K-Pop. While some of their worldwide success can be linked to previous generations building up…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Lalala
It’s been drizzling on and off at Kotaku HQ for a few days now, which makes me appreciate this ode to summer pool parties all the more. (Not that there’s enough space in New York City for a pool party, anyway.) Mighty Mouth is a hip-hop duo that debuted in 2008 with Sangchu and Shorry…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: 24/7
Banjos? In K-Pop?? It’s more likely than you think. 2YOON was a short-lived sub-unit formed under 4minute, who are now disbanded. The Gayoon-Jiyoon duo (which is where they got their name) lasted much shorter than their parent group, only seeing one EP release before disappearing into history. 4minute, on the other hand, is one of…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Plz Don’t Be Sad
K-Pop gets a lot of flak (deservedly so) for perpetuating many unsavory aspects of the idol group industry: unfair contracts, mismanaged agencies, and overworked idols. Highlight, formerly known as BEAST, is one of those groups that broke that loop. Debuting in 2009, BEAST was just like any other boy group at first (apologies to their…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: I Don’t Care
Please don’t confuse the lack of 2NE1 on this column as possible evidence of my apathy toward this group. Just the opposite: I’ve been struggling to pick the one song I’d have to choose from their incredible, varied discography. But I think I’ve got it. I Don’t Care is one of 2NE1’s earlier releases, but…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Bbiribbom Bbaeribbom
Heh, try saying that title five times fast! Coed School was a short-lived, ten-member, mixed-gender group that debuted in 2010. They lasted all of one year and one album before scandal rocked the group when one of the members was revealed to have a shady past including drugs, bullying and possible rape. Not unexpectedly, this…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Abracadabra
Only a select few songs can count themselves among the highest of echelons in the K-Pop pyramid; that envied position where everyone in Korea can at least hum along to the chorus, no matter how young or old you are. We’ve already covered a few of them; let’s talk about one more. Brown Eyed Girls…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Joker
For every group that attains the level of success fitting to the quality of their music, there’s a dozen more that toil away in that murky grey area between popular and irrelevant. Dal Shabet is one of those groups. Ever since their debut in 2011, Dal Shabet has struggled to form a coherent fanbase, this…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Cooking? Cooking!
In my never-ending quest to go beyond surface K-Pop and share some of the quirkiest, funniest and just plain weird music with all of you, this has to be the weirdest. Super Junior-H was a short-lived subunit of Super Junior, a mega-popular boy group under SM Entertainment. The H stood for “happy”, and Cooking? Cooking!,…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Dark Circle
If you thought yesterday’s pick, Orange Caramel, was weird, you ain’t seen nothing yet. I could go on to describe the song and its music video. I could talk, in length, about how Dark Circle takes inspiration from traditional Korean trot and the deep meaning behind the anthropomorphized broccoli character in the video. I could…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Catallena
Oh, Orange Caramel, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You’re a sub-unit of After School, the best girl group of all time; You are wonderfully quirky and always manage to subvert my expectations with every new release; Everything you do is ridiculously catchy, from the one I decided to feature here…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Running In The Sky
It’s hard to imagine another song that fits so well with its title; when you listen to Running In The Sky, it’s easy to picture yourself above the clouds, soaring and leaping your way through the air. Huh Gak is another Korean singer who rose through fame through a survival competition, much like Akdong Musician…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Still
A.N.JELL isn’t a real band, sadly. This song, on the other hand, is very real. Still is actually part of the soundtrack for You’re Beautiful, a Korean television drama from 2009. The central conceit revolved around the protagonist, Park Shin Hye, as a victim of a gender switcheroo and accidentally finding herself as part of…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Hot Pink
While Up & Down may have catapulted EXID into instant stardom, Hot Pink is my favorite track of theirs. (Those cowbells!) The story of EXID’s meteoric rise is something straight out of 21st-century millennial fanfiction: struggling in obscurity since their debut in 2012, the girl group hit belated gold when a fan-taken video of one…
By Seung Park -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: You Are To Me, I Am To You
Okay, let’s go back in time. You Are To Me, I Am To You is a 2003 song that was featured as part of the soundtrack for The Classic, an incredibly popular film that boosted Son Ye Jin to fame — and this song, as well. This is a bit of a personal song for…
By Seung Park
