MV of the Day (6/27) Review

So many new videos out today! It's like 4Minute,  JYJ, Sweet Sorrow, and B.A.P all got together and decided they'd make me lose an entire evening of potentially productive work. Yeah right; I'm never productive. In all seriousness, though, it was impossible to pick a favorite so I had to do it randomly.
And the winner is...

"Is it Poppin" 4Minute

Now I'm sure we all remember that fiasco some weeks back where the song wasn't allowed to air on KBS radio due to the word "ass" in the lyrics. Well 4Minute took that to heart and went back to the drawing board, completely removing the expletive from the song, along with 50% of the reason I liked the song in the first place. The other 50% is pretty apparent in the MV.

What a coincidence- I have the same jersey in my closet!

Highlights:
First scene starts off with a close-up of all the girls with an unanswered phone beeping and female voice repeating "Yeoboseyo?" in the background. Next shot is a club scene with short shorts, wife beaters, and Satan jerseys abound. Even the viewers who don't speak Korean (read: me) can tell what's up: some girl is pissed off at her boyfriend and is working it off at the club. Been there, done that; this video just jumped a couple steps up on the relateable scale.

The rest of the video goes pretty much the same way every other girl group's MV goes: lots of hip action, hair flipping, and sexy moves only shown accompanied by a cutesy movement...you know, the works. Except...oh my! Is that a twerker I see?

Doth this maiden bend at the waist to shake her buttocks hither and thither?

Yes! Yes it is!!! I just love when Kpop integrates some form of Black culture into their music- especially if it's recent. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...hopefully the color will follow the style lol. But I digress. Back to the review.

My favorite part of the video is the last scene where the everyone in the club is so hot, they literally set the place on fire (I blame the twerking).  And the people in the video do what we all do when a fire breaks out: wait for the sprinklers to turn on and get the party started again! Note: Chanting "the roof is on fire" is an optional and fun thing to do while waiting. And the video ends.

Final thoughts: the song is okay; I like the R&B style it has. I think taking out "ass" had a bigger impact than expected. The song lost most of its edge. There was surprisingly less English in it than I'm used to, but the video pretty much told me all I needed to know: it was a sweat your tracks out kinda party. Video was meh- seen better, seen worse. The choreo was okay; nothing new or exciting...until the twerking that is! That one part literally made the video for me.

Overall: I'd give it a 6/10 (minus the twerking: 5.5).

Would I recommend it? If you don't have anything else you're dying to see, watch it. It's a good way to spend 4 minutes.

Would I watch it again? No, probably not. I might come back to it once or twice to see the parts I liked.

xoxo Twisted

Today's Question: What do you think of the video? Did you get as excited about the twerking as I did? Would you like to see reviews of the other videos over the next few days-time permitting?

Leaked MV: SHINee's Breaking News FULL

I'm baaaaaaack! (And so is SHINee)

I know it's been forever since you heard from me * cue eye roll* but I just wanted to come back for a quick second and share this link to the possibly leaked Breaking News MV by SHINee. I saw the preview for this a few days ago and loved it.

Trust me when I say the full version lives up to the hype.

Here you go!

xoxo Twisted

Today's question: Sooo...what did you think about the vid?

Diversity in Kpop Part 1: Where the Black Women At?

Now you guys didn't think I named by blog 'MBLAQKPOP' just to be witty, did you? Well you're going to be disappointed then because this time I'm going to....*drumroll*... talk about diversity -or the lack thereof- in Kpop. Gasp! Yet another black person pulling the racism card, right? Wrong.

SHINee's "Dream Girl"

Despite the misleading title of this post (I just wanted to be witty this time) I'm not talking about why there are no black women in Kpop. I'm talking about why there are no dark women. Why is it that the darkest skin tone I've ever seen on an MV is a light tan, the kind that makes you wonder if it's just a shadow. The funniest thing about all this is that when I point this out, I'm met with comments like: it's Korean pop, of course they're going to adhere to Korean standards. And to that I say fine, since it's Korean, I want to see Koreans. Yet why oh why do I see white woman after white woman featured on every other Kpop group?

 Now my problem with this is two-fold. As a black woman, of course I want to see people who look like me involved in something I enjoy. Everyone does; it's human nature. At the same time I have to ask: are those videos even representative of the Korean population itself?

I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert on Korea -hell, I've never even been there before- but, even looking at pictures of Korean stars before debut, there's a clear difference in skin tone before and after debut. Assuming most Koreans look like the pre-debut photos, you gotta wonder how Korean boys and girls feel watching those videos. It's one thing to see people who don't look like you, but it's another to see people who went out of their way to stop looking like you.

SNSD's Tiffany (same name!) post (left) and pre-debut.

But let me stop pushing my thoughts into other people; it's a very different culture and I won't pretend I know well enough to tell the world about it. And I'm not asking for every music video to have a token black/middle eastern/hispanic person (because then you might end up with cultural appropriation a la Miley Cyrus's "We Can't Stop"). I just think that the Korean music industry needs to start taking ethnic diversity into consideration beyond the occasional white girl or buff black security guard. As much as Korean is pushing the Hallyu movement to spread Korean culture throughout the world, it won't get much further without some back and forth. And if Kpop is to remain one of the forerunners of the movement, we're gonna have to see some changes.

Don't think it's all bad, though! This link is an example of how some kpop idols seem to loooooove them some black people. And the love flows both ways (mostly) <3

xoxo Twisted

Today's question: How do you feel about diversity in kpop? Any changes to recommend?

Fan Accounts

I just want to take a moment and mention something that I've become obsessed with over the past few weeks: fan accounts. They're basically a story of meeting an artist or someone famous, told from the perspective of one of his or her fans. I know, I know. You're probably making a face at the computer thinking 'what's so great about those? It's just some silly story.' But that's where you're wrong.

"I went to the store yesterday and bought a gallon of milk and some chocolate" is a story. Fan accounts are fantastic because they go beyond simple story telling; there's so much excitement and emotion dripping from every line that you feel as if you're there watching it all happen. Maybe I'm just weird but I find them to be some of the funniest, most entertaining things you can read online.

It's gotten so bad now that I'm reading fan accounts about artists I don't even like. But I can't stop! And the ones from fans who are clearly insane/over-obsessed are even better. Maybe it's the disgust I feel when reading yet another story of a fan tasting/keeping some object simply because it's been graced by the bottom of some famous person's left shoe. But I find there's a certain kind of charm that accompanies those sorts of stories.

Well that's all I really had to say for this post. Just wanted to share my love of fan accounts with you all. See ya soon!

xoxo Twisted

Today's question:
Do you love fan accounts as much as I do? Any particular ones that make you smile or cringe?

As of 26 hours ago, I am officially a member of SFI (SHINee Fan International)! That's right, guys, I am a bonified Shawol and I love it!

I usually stray from fan forums to avoid CFFs* and other loonies that seem to eat, sleep, and breathe a certain artist/group/aspect of popular culture, but that's something I've yet to experience with this one. Granted, I've only been a member for a day now, but I am super pleased with this fandom. The people are nice and seem to genuinely enjoy interacting with each other. And, even looking around the topics, there doesn't seem to be anyone who believes the insane things s/he might post; everything's all in good fun. I'll continue to look around and give an update later on, but I have a feeling I'll be comfortable and uncreeped out with SFI.
*Crazy Fucking Fan. You know those crazies who camp outside their houses and attack and insult family members and potential significant others.

Long story short: No crazies here!

Here's the website if you're interested: http://www.shineee.net/

xoxo Twisted

Today's question:
Are you or have you ever been a member of any fan group? Which one(s)? How were your experiences?

Why I Love KPOP

My idea of Kpop

Up until a few months ago, I'd never given a second thought to Kpop. Hearing the word "kpop" conjured up images of skinny Asian girls in colorful clothing singing poppy, repetitive lyrics and dancing cutely in a room so pink you'd think a cotton candy machine exploded. I'd always thought I'd rather get my diabetes the normal way -by eating mountains of delicious desserts- than falling victim to the overproduced sweetness of kpop. It was one genre that just wasn't for me.

Long story short, I was wrong. About everything.

A few months ago, I was messing around on youtube when I came across a video titled "SHINee Lucifer" (see below). I had no idea what it was about. Hell, I didn't even know what it meant! But the thumbnail was interesting enough for me to want to know more. I watched that video. Then another. And another. And that was when I realized just how wrong I was.

No pink!!!

Kpop was actually good! The songs were good! The dancing was great! The artists were actually talented. And, get this...the guys were super attractive! My. Mind. Was. Blown.

Ever since then, I've been borderline obsessed. I love the music, the image, the marketing, and even the personalities (or at least the personalities they show in front of a camera). I'll spend hours online going from one funny clip to another and love stumbling on new videos. I'm a total Kpop lover now and I don't intend to change anytime soon.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it sure as hell exposed me to a whole new world.

xoxo Twisted


Questions for this post:
How did you get into Kpop? When did you first start listening? Did you ever expect to like it?