Annoyingly Amazed

Now that I’ve hammered home how everything from musical influences to the structure of the kpop industry is basically just western pop with Korean lyrics, I want to talk about when kpop is not just “pop” and it becomes something unfamiliar to western ears

Sometimes, kpop takes inspiration from some place that is not quintessentially western, from some place that is not West Indian or Subsaharan African in nature. Sometimes they take inspiration from the east. And when it’s done, it’s golden

Dream in a Dream

When SM decided to let Ten prosper, we got Dream in a Dream. Now, this is NOT the first time a Kpop artist has released a track with eastern influences, but it was the first one I heard in my life at the time when I first heard it. The melody of the song is so soothing, so calm and so undeniably original, you can’t help but love it even when the only lyrics in the song consists of the hook. And the irony in it is that this Thai man is singing a kpop song in which the few lyrics in it are in english.

Ddaeng

Another recent eastern-inspired kpop song comes in the form of Ddaeng, BTS’ rapline. Whoever produced the opening chords of that track deserves a medal. Overall, the song is still obviously western inspired but there are giant drops of eastern traditional instruments in the beat. And taking this in account with the live performance of the song in traditional garb, it’s quite the peek into the traditions of the east and blends very well with the western overlays in the beat as well as the rapping.

Yamazaki

Okay, hmm, where to start. Well, firstly, the beat for Yongguk’s Yamazaki is absolutely sickening. I could just listen to it on repeat. Obviously it’s heavily western inspired. And also, I’m not Japanese so I won’t comment on the Japanese elements, song title, etc. But the song and video blends traditional Korean cultural style with traditional Japanese imagery and Black American beats and style (rap) to create something oddly sonically satisfying. This song has in common with Ddaeng that it is not purely one thing, as is the case with Dream in a Dream, but what it is is a look into traditional Korean and Japanese culture and the sounds of the east. This is something uniquely eastern that is nice to say in kpop. 

Conclusion