Kpop as a Commodity

Michelle Gosse
200346435
SCS 4100
Dr. Bodner
Essay 2.
Kpop as a Commodity
South Korean Popular music, the Hallyu wave or K-Pop as it is known in North America is a modern form of South Korean soft pop-rap music that has been strongly influenced by the emergence of American pop music since the late 1990's. K-pop markets their pop music through strong visuals (attractive members and bombastic videos) and catchy beats and lyrics. You don't need to understand Korean to enjoy or consume the music.
Utilizing Minelle Mahtani and Scott Salmon's "Site Reading? Globalization, Identity and the Consumption of Place in Popular Music" I will examine rookie (new) South Korean Pop group Topp Dogg's 2014 music video 아라리오 (Arario) 1 which is a good example of how K-pop incorporates traditional Korean elements into popular music. Gedalof explains on page 146-147 of "Cultural Subjects" that popular music is connected to a sense of ourselves, in a way it helps to define personal and national identity not only through consumption of music but also through consumption of place (South Korea).
South Korea's music industry is currently fighting against two forms of "cultural imperialism", the first being the Japanese occupation of the 1900s-1940s which forbid any expressions of Korean nationality and its later musical reemergence as J-Pop in the 1990s. American hip-hop and pop music of the late 1990s replaced J-Pop in the Korean Markets and spurred a number of now iconic first generation K-Hip Hop-Pop bands such as Seo Taji and the Boys2 and Shinwa3 who were formed by Korean entertainment agency SM (Star Museum) Entertainment as the Korean answer to American Boy bands.
K-pop's first foray into the global marketplace was admiral, it showed the South Korean people that it was possible to create popular forms of music with national and cultural appeal through acknowledgment of place (Korean identity) and adaptions of "global music" (Kim 22). While early K-pop tried to mimic American style through western hip hop clothing and soft pop-rap, contemporary K-pop focuses its strength on identifying with the new "Cool" urban South Korean teenager, offering up the popular Korean "flower boys"4 look with homogenized global sounds.
Topp Dogg is a 12 member, third generation "Idol Band" (Idol stands for popular) that follows the K-pop band standards of group formation. Most South Korean groups, both male and female consist of at least eight members including at least two rappers, two main vocals, two visuals (or members strong in dance) following with members who can harmonize. Daisy Kim wrote in her 2012 thesis that the members themselves have been homogenized to reflect the global ideal, with double eyelids (western style eyes), narrow noses, lighten (white) skin and toned bodies (Kim 11). The only truly Korean ideal kept by idol bands is the traditionally recognized beauty standard is the V-line face5. Appearance and the concept of keeping face are two concepts that go hand and hand in South Korea, therefore it is very important for idol groups to look good and perform well. Hence the need of South Korean entertainment agencies to produce high budget videos to accompany their music.
Topp Dogg's 2014 Arario music video was produced by Cho P.D. who is the owner and head producer of South Korean entertainment agency Stardom Entertainment. The word Arario is a play on words for "Arirang" (아리랑)6 a traditional Korean folk song that has been considered the unofficial national anthem of South Korea. In Arario, Topp Dogg is informing the South Korean public of their entrance into the South Korean music industry.
"We'll take over this place
Play the music
It's a fun feast, everyone gather together
Say this and that, I'm about to start."
(Kpop lyrics.net)
Arario successfully combines K-pops catchy electronic riffs with traditional music. In the music video you can see the traditional stringed instrument the Gayageum being played by two women in Hanbok (Korean national dress) while the members dance around the set portraying stereotypical traditional Korean characters, the scribe, the King and the clown and incorporating the poongmool (farmer) drum dance. Arario also incorporates ideas from other cultures such as the East Asian fan dance sequence and American B-boying. Both dances are not native to Korea, the fan was introduced by the Japanese occupiers and B-boys are a recent phenomenon in South Korean dance culture. Yet the South Korean music industry and the Arario music video incorporates multiple cultural markers attained from cultural imperialism, Western style B-Boy clothes, dyed hair and even an iconic British vehicle (the Mini) make an appearance.
Even through the South Korean public are being bombarded by cultural symbols from other countries, South Koreans know from observing and consuming the music and video that this song is distinctly South Korean. First let's go back to the K-Pop standard, South Koreans have the esoteric knowledge that a K-pop band will have at least eight attractive members who are able to perform high impact dance routines. Topp Dogg has 12 members who throughout the performance dance in intricate routines while rapping and harmonizing. Most of the members of the group can be considered "Flower Boys" due to their hybrid western-Korean appearance (V-Line face, narrow nose and light skin) and fashionable apparel. Secondly the group uses language as a place determiner, not only do the sing in Korean but they use local vernacular language that only South Korean's would have insight to.
"We're the bad boys from the south, Topp Dogg.
My soul is extending, past the Arirang Hill."
In this stanza Topp Dogg is making reference to their homeland, South Korea as the Korean Peninsula is currently divided and a traditional song "Arirang hill" which speaks about star crossed lovers meeting at the Arirang Pass or Arirang Gogae, a gorge outside the Small East Gate of Seoul (Tae Hung Ha, 1962).
"We're the greedy officer who steals your eyes and ears.
The executioner who is the best on stage.
Everyone moves to our beat as if they're crazy
Hey the jihwaja good."
"We're the greedy officer who steals your eyes and ears" This line refers to a popular saying that comes from the Joseon dynasty of South Korea referring to corruption and Street hustling. "Jihwaja" is a Korean term for marking applause or clapping in a performance, "Hey the jihwaja good" is referring to fact that they are good performers and you should applaud.
Arario also uses other lexical markers that require esoteric knowledge such as "beacon mound", fire pit and "mapae" a clay token that shows your identification as a King's worker that indicates that the scene is typically Korean or Urban Seoul, as the King and his workers reside in Seoul. Even though the music video and song reference traditional Korean culture, there is a stark modern element throughout. The whole music video is shot in a large white room, most likely a film studio rented for the production. The producers of the video do not make any attempts to hide the fact that the video is being shot in a large box but instead in true K-pop fashion embrace this modernist element.
The video switches back and forth between "traditional Korea" with its drum dance, hanboks and historical subtexts and modern urban South Korea that is dotted with contemporary (borrowed) South Korean status symbols such as the BMW (German) produced Mini Cooper, designer Givenchy clothes (French) and Chrome Hearts (American) jewelry paired with heavily made up male idols dancing together. The video attempts to blend the two Korea's, the traditional and the modern that all contemporary South Koreans face.
By placing these cultural codes within the music and the accompany video the producers at Stardom Entertainment are knowingly reproducing both South Korean and American (rap and pop) cultural products. Hypothetically if we were to replace the Korean lyrics with English, non-Korean viewers will know that this is not an American video through the physical placement of the set (a plain white box), the visuals (the dance sequences) and ethnic performances. Although from first glance the video does look Korean through its portrayal of traditional Korean elements, it is actually the more modern elements within the music and video that allow it to be considered a production of place.
Gedalof writes on page 158 that "the realm of popular music provides a forum for artists to proclaim their various fluid and flexible national hybridized identities through the commodification of creative performance." Topp Dogg's music and video has both embraced the new urban Suth Korea, the old traditions and American Pop-Rap music to create a hybrid form of popular South Korean music that is consumed by the younger generation of the South Korean population. Kpop is the successful blending of both American standard popular music and its Korean interpretation.
While Minelle Mahtani and Scott Salmon's "Site Reading? Globalization, Identity and the Consumption of Place in Popular Music" explains the consumption of popular music through globalization, it does not explain the negative effects globalization could have on a local arts scene. Through globalization the term authenticity becomes skewed, the line between what is authentically Korean and what is a cultural import becomes blurred, Kpop might sound Korean but it is far removed from the traditional music of the Joseon dynasty and is directed more towards a more homogenous western sound.
South Korea is a good example of cultural colonialism, because most modern South Korean music has been influenced by foreign colonialists like the Japanese in the early 1900's and then the Americans in the 1950's. Popular South Korean music has always followed the stylings of the Nation in power and does not reflect Korean values, but the values of the others which are often in conflict with their own. This is reflected in South Korea's current struggle with National identity, I realize that South Korea is not the only country that is struggling with the weight of the past and the pull of the future, but their music videos do reflect their struggle. The hybridization of Korean and American values often clash noticeably in their music videos, sometimes during a song the sudden introduction of a misplaced, mispronounced and out of context English verse (placed in to make it more modern) doesn't translate well even within the Korean market. For example; God bamm A-tom got a bomb bomb and pow (in English), Someone like you is easy, taste it, the beating, A.T.O and M power (in Korean). However due to globalization, English is considered an important language that lends a particular cool factor to songs, and the rather odd placement of English text or rather Konglish as it is explained by South Koreans is forgiven.
Another example of blurred authenticity is the use of the Korean hanbok, a traditionally conservative item of clothing that has been made hyper sexualized for both the male and female gaze. In the video women are seen dancing suggestively in half-hanbok dresses (the chima-skirt is shown but the shoulders and chest area are shown without the joegori-jacket) while the men are wearing hanbok made from modern materials such as polyester (instead of silk) mesh that shows off the arms. The traditional element of modesty is forgotten (for the moment) and forgiven for the more modern sexuality geared towards a different more foreign (gendered) perspective of "sex sells." This shows the current ideological struggle South Koreans face, how to keep the traditional forms of modesty while embracing a more overt (western) sexuality. This is an ongoing struggle that is currently being played online by South Korean "netizens" or online citizens.
The last example of blurred authenticity that is often played out by South Korean netizens is the use of western forms of music (typically pop-synth beats) over more traditional sounds. While most of these netizens are young South Koreans (Soompi 2015) the anonymity of the internet allows them the power (or freedom) of expression to discuss, critic and criticize popular music there are foreign netizens who have also partaken in the musical critic of Arario (Reddit forum, 2014). Both parties seem to have mixed feelings over the use of the traditional sounds mixed with electronic beats. The introduction of electronic music to the traditional music may make it sound more modern but it removes some of the cultural subtext ending in musical and cultural confusion for both the local (South Korean) and the non-local (global) listener.
As mentioned above South Korean K-pop has become a new and well received global cultural commodity. K-Pop may have passed its infancy in the Asian market and can be referred to as experiencing growing pains in a new global marketplace. Like any other global commodity it will face trial and error in the public (and internet) arena, but through growth and experience K-Pop can become a well-recognized cultural commodity of South Korea.



Appendix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ascOzpuacLY







Shinhwa in 1998



Shinhwa in 2015, they reestablished their careers in 1013 after completing mandatory military service. They are now the only 1st generation Kpop group to still be performing.


Promotional poster for the popular "Flower Boys Band," a Korean TV Drama that aired in 2013 that included two "Korean Idol" singers, actors and one model.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM_LXUCMeA




Korean
English
Yesullo seunghwasikyeobeorin raebui jatae
Saesaeksi sujun gasa nugul tatae sijip gatne
God bamm a-tom got a bomb bomb and pow

I'll just tell you, ours is the best
Our rap will win with art
Our lyrics are like a newlywed bride
Who are you blaming? You're just like the in-laws
God bamm A-tom got a bomb bomb and pow
Someone like you is easy, taste it, the beating, A.T.O and M power

Bibliography
Ha, Hung Tae. Folk Tales of Old Korea. Yonsei University Press. 1962. Web. 15 Feb 2015.
Mahtani, Minelle and Scott Salmon's "Site Reading? Globalization, Identity and the Consumption of Place in Popular Music." Ed. Allan Gedalof. Cultural Subjects: A Popular Culture Reader. Toronto: Nelson. 2005. 146-161. Print.
Kim, Daisy. Appropriating Desires in Neoliberal Societies through Kpop. Diss. University of California. 2012. 9-10. Web. 15 Feb 2015.
"Korean Netizen vs International Reactions to K-Pop News." News. Soompi, 2015. Web. 27 Feb 2015.
"Traditional Korean references used in Topp Dogg's Arario." K-pop slumber party. Redit, 2014. Web. 3 March 2015.
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