Pop Culture in Korea

“여기저기 Fresh 근데 이미 본 듯해
같은 노래 노래 흥얼대 입술과 코 끝에
옷을 고를 때 거기서 거기 Style에 손을 대
You think you got a got a swag?
다 그저 따라 따라 따라해
요즘엔 유행어를 모름 대화가 안 돼
모두 Fashion 잡지 TV Show를 보고 단장해
보고팠던 영화조차 평점 따라 관람해
이미 다들 다들 하는데 다 따라 따라 따라해”

“Here and there, fresh, but it seems familiar
Hum the same same song, from your lips and your nose
When you pick your clothes you add your own style
You think you got a got a swag?
Every copy copy copy that
If you don’t know the trends these days, you can’t even talk
Everybody looks at fashion magazines and TV shows and dresses up
They even judge the movies they wanted see based on ratings
Everybody everybody already does so, so just copy copy copy them”

-Epik High, 2009, [e], 따라해 (Wannabe) (feat. Mellow) [translation: Copy Me (Wannabe) (feat. Mellow)]

The excerpt, from a song by the Korean hip-hop group Epik High, is only the first verse in which the group criticizes the trends of Korean pop culture; their words intended to criticize the Korean pop music industry, but can also be applied to Korean pop culture as a whole.

Epik High, a group of three – Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz – criticize the Korean pop music industry for their trend of copying whatever is popular, and marketing it until the next ‘big’ thing comes around. One of the biggest, and most recent, examples of this was in mid-2009; or, perhaps, a little earlier.

On March 27th, 2009, a new girl band was unveiled by a Korean entertainment company called YG Entertainment. What made this girl group’s debut so famous was that their first song ever released, which was done for a commercial of a cell phone (yet another popular trend in Korea: using famous celebrities – especially popular girl groups – to market their cell phones; and I specifically point out cell phones because it is common practice to have celebrities featured in commercials in Korea, but there seems to be a prominent focus on popular girl bands in the cell phone industry). Their unofficial debut song, LOLLiPOP (link to official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIRW_elc-rY ), was alongside an extremely popular Korean boy band, Big Bang. Because of the catchy song, the girl group, 2NE1, gained immense popularity and recognition even before their official debut.

When 2NE1 finally did debut on May 6th, 2009, their song, Fire (link to official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwq-XdPfpeA ), the song was an instant hit, generating more than one million hits in a day. Their ‘concept’ – a term in the Korean pop music industry meaning literally the ‘concept’ or ‘look’ that the group is trying to portray – was that of strong, independent city girls, deviating from the Korean fixation on cuteness for this concept of ‘not-quite-cute-but-not-quite-sexy’ girls.

With 2NE1’s success with their concept of independent, borderline sexy girls came a new wave of girl group concepts. Girls’ Generation’s new concept with the release of their second mini-album “Tell Me Your Wish” saw the group of nine girls transform from cute, bubbly girls to sexy, strong marine/navy girls. Another girl group, Kara, also displayed a sexier side with the release of their second full-length album “Revolution.” Especially enjoyed by male fans all across Korea – and probably Asia and beyond – was their signature “butt” or “hip” dance during their performance of their hit song “Mister.” (link to performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0PhxB3CYq0 ) A third group to follow suit was the girl group Brown Eyed Girls, with the release of their third full-length album “Sound G.” Much like Girls’ Generation, Brown Eyed Girls changed their concept from a more ‘innocent’ look to a sexy, independent, mature look with their hit song ‘Abracadabra.’ (link to music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR0R_4cFxEc )

This all happened over a course of month or two, with each group promoting their sexy, strong, independent concept for as long as it was popular before going quiet from the music scene for several months until the next wave of girl group trends. Of course, the preparation of the ‘concepts’ for each group takes place over months; or so the groups claim. But it would not be too difficult to change their concepts last minute; for example, with Girls’ Generation, it would not be too difficult to imagine a scenario where they would have been preparing a more ‘cutesy’ marine/navy look, but with the rising popularity of the sexy/independent concept with girl groups, changing their concept to fit this new trend. After all, there was a two month gap between the success of 2NE1’s Fire and the appearance of these other girl groups’ new sexy looks.

It is exactly this trend of copying each other that Epik High is criticizing. But this is not only a trend in the pop music industry, but in popular culture in Korea as a whole.

It is a bit of an issue, or at least so Koreans seem to think. When I visited Korea last summer after not being there for almost 6 years, despite my infatuation with Korean pop music, I was completely unaware of what the popular culture there would be like until I actually arrived there. Much to my surprise, unlike in America where different ‘styles’ and subcultures exist – such as the typical high school groups like the punks, Goths, emos, jocks, etc. – the majority of Koreans dressed similarly, listened to similar music, and there existed overall a single, overarching ‘clique’ with extremely small pockets of other subcultures. But for the most part, Epik High’s line of, “If you don’t know the trends these days, you can’t even talk” rings especially true in Korea.

My relatives in Korea even talked about this during my stay, noting Korea’s tendency to have periods of ‘craze’ over certain things – such as clothes, bands, or various products – for a period. One of my aunts believed that this was especially prevalent in Korea because of its small size and concentrated population, which made it easier for producers to market to the consumers, causing a massive outbreak of desires and tastes.

But another line from ‘Copy Me’ also rings true: sometimes, the producers do not even have to work hard to market their goods to the public. All it takes is a celebrity endorsement – such as a celebrity wearing a certain brand of clothing, or appearing in a certain ad – to create the phenomenon of the masses suddenly desiring very similar goods. This is especially popular with clothes – “Everybody looks at fashion magazines and TV shows and dresses up” – and sometimes, the celebrities are not even endorsed by brand names to wear certain clothes. It is the celebrity’s popularity that makes whatever they wear instantly popular. I saw many examples of this during my time in Korea; whenever I went shopping, I would often see strange, outlandish clothes that made me wonder who in their right mind would wear such clothes. But, as was the case with most of these clothes that did not fit the dominant Korean street fashion, they had a sign attached that said “So-and-so celebrity was seen wearing this on this-and-that show” along with a picture showing that So-and-so celebrity had indeed worn such a strange article of clothing on this-and-that show. It didn’t make me want to wear the piece of clothing any, but I could understand why certain people would buy such clothes.

Such copy-cat behavior has resulted in many criticisms within Korea, where the citizens are aware of the copy-cat trend, but cannot or do not want to break out of the trend. Unlike in Korea, in America, not a single overarching style of dress nor does a very small group of artists heavily influence the music industry. In fact, it’s almost the opposite; different parts of America are almost like different countries in terms of culture. I often find myself wondering if I’m really still in America here on the East Coast – after all, there is no In-N-Out here, and people don’t say ‘hella.’


Sources:

Girls' Generation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNSD


KARA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_%28band%29


2NE1:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2ne1


Brown Eyed Girls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Eyed_Girls


따라해 (Wannabe) (feat. Mellow) lyrics:
http://aheeyah.com/lyrics/epikhigh/epikhigh_6_kor.htm


Epik High official website:
http://www.mapthesoul.com


Video sources:
http://www.youtube.com

Drinking

As with any other aspect of society, drinking and a culture's attitude towards drinking varies from culture to culture. As to be expected, Korean drinking culture differs greatly from American drinking culture. One of the biggest differences in attitude is related to the setting in which a person has their first drink. In most cases in America, one's first drink is usually at a party in high school, away from the watchful eyes of guardians and amongst peers. This may lead to unsafe drinking practices and habits to form, but allows for a greater degree of feelings of 'fun' and 'independence.' However, in Korea, it is usually with one's parents that a person has their first drink. I myself had my first hard alcohol -- soju -- with my father. Koreans have various rules and attitudes that need to be observed when drinking with one's elders, and it is by drinking with one's father that Koreans learn these practices.

Another stark difference is the behaviors of people when they get drunk. As with many other cross-cultural conversations I had, the topic of drunk behavior came up with me and my roommate. He was commenting on how 'stupid' white Americans seemed to become when they became drunk -- referring to the fact that masses of drunk white Americans that horded outside Stanton at unholy hours of the night. He himself, being of Latino heritage who hung out primarily with black Americans in high school, also noted the difference in drunken behaviors between black and white Americans. He noted that, which I agree with, parties with predominantly white people tended to become louder and rowdier as the night went on and people became more and more drunk. He didn't quite explain to me how black Americans acted differently when they were drunk -- just that they were. But despite a lack of a solid explanation on just HOW the two demographics differed when drunk, I knew what he was talking about. Koreans, and Asian Americans in general, also behave quite differently from white Americans when drinking. From my experiences, when Asians drink together, it is usually a small, intimate setting, with people you are familiar with. And to drink together is also a means of bonding -- I cannot count how many times I have drank with my friends' friends and have suddenly found myself with numerous new friends.

Where as the white American attitude towards drinking seems to be something that should be done in large groups, where anonymity is key and would provide a safe haven for any stupid behaviors that result from being drunk, Asians believe that, no matter how drunk you are, you should be responsible to some degree of your behaviors, especially when drinking with those older than you. This stark contrast makes it very awkward for me to really enjoy the 'party scene' -- or what little exists of it on campus -- because of such basic, cultural differences in attitudes toward drinking, and peoples' behaviors when drunk.

Cute vs. Sexy

Sexy versus cute. Any typical American male would, as far as I know, prefer a sexy woman over a cute woman any day. And I would assume the same goes for women -- that sexy men would be preferred over cute men. And I only speak of heterosexual relationships because homosexual couples are very rare in Korea, and the topic itself is a social taboo. In fact, even Professor Torres touched on this phenomenon in class, pointing out that in America, being called 'cute' wasn't necessarily a good thing. However, in Korea, and probably Asia in general, sexiness, although recognized as attractive, has nothing against cuteness. Koreans even have a specific 'type' of cuteness, something that girls generally 'do' or 'perform' -- aegyo. The word refers to a person, generally female although not always, who uses extreme 'cuteness' -- including baby-talking, acting helpless or weak, and 'crying' or 'whining' -- to get what they want. It is admittedly a very effective method for women to get what they want when done right. I myself find it to be one of my greatest weaknesses as a man.

Meanwhile, in America, such a concept does not even exist. In fact, when I try to explain the concept of 'aegyo' to most Americans, they find it inconceivable -- after all, why would you give someone who's whining what they want? In fact, even you may still be dumbfounded by this concept of 'aegyo' -- just how does one use 'cuteness' to obtain what they want? It can be said to be the cute people's counterpart to sexy people's method of using sex and seduction to get what they want. Whereas those that society deems 'sexy' in Western cultures can offer carnal pleasure in exchange for what they want, those deemed 'cute' in Korean culture can act childlike and cute to get what they want, although not to the extent that sex can -- after all, you can sleep your way up the corporate ladder, but there's no way in hell you'll be using your aegyo to get ahead either academically or corporately.

As a Korean-American, I have always been fascinated by this clear distinction between the East and the West in terms of what heterosexual males seek in women. This distinction was especially underscored for me, as an observer, during my semester in London. I made a good number of international friends, and whenever we got around to drinking, the topic of women came up -- often encouraged by the countless music videos we watched as we drank, ranging from rap videos portraying 'sexy' women to Asian music videos with copious amounts of cuteness and fluffiness thrown in. My European friends never did understand my Korean-Japanese friend's obsession with cute girls. Sure, they admitted, cute girls are still attractive, but not in a sexual manner. Instead, my European friends argued, sexy women are what they wanted. But my Korean-Japanese friend, who had spent his entire life in the Far East, would have none of it. He didn't care at ALL about sexiness. He was completely for cute girls. A very strange distinction in terms of cultures, for which I still haven't been able to conjecture an answer for.