[Zhao]

this song is going for adds in US

God bless America

[McPie]

why so late?

[M.P]

GO KOREAN GO KOREAN GO KOREAN

[Michalka]

meh, I loved Psy's previous work but this

How I wish other less mainstream Korean bands and hip hop groups were the ones getting the attention instead

[MarkNL]

This is the viral hit in Holland atm

Video clip is pretty hilarious, as well as the dance

123 million views!

[Harry.]

The song is catchy, but oh lord, I cannot stand all the air time and the hype. Seriously. Over done.

[northern lad]

Originally Posted by kwilliams

Ugh, I avoided watching this video. I knew it would annoy me. He reminds me of Gang Ho-dong. Would've been cool if they had some shots of Gangnam-dong in the video instead of just Gangnam-gu and Ttukseom. Though it was cool to see some parts of it, like COEX. I used to live near there, in Cheongdam.

Does anybody know if they were dancing in a real metro station? Was it a station on line 4?

Apparently, from what I've heard, parts of it were filmed in Incheon, where I live currently. I couldn't tell you which parts because I refuse to sit down and actually watch the video. I hear the song at least 5 times a day... 15 if it's the weekend and I'm out at the bar.

[kwilliams]

Well, at least some of it was filmed in Gangnam-gu. What part of Incheon do you live in? A friend of mine works at Inha...one of the Inha's. There's two distinct parts that are adjacent to each other, I think. She lives in Hongdae though and commutes to Incheon.

[Super Dave]

I'm sure I'd be annoyed if the song was on the radio all the time here, but the video is great. Great bridge in the song, also.

[Xepher]

Originally Posted by harry30

The song is catchy, but oh lord, I cannot stand all the air time and the hype. Seriously. Over done.

this.

[rrfnpump]

Originally Posted by harry30

The song is catchy, but oh lord, I cannot stand all the air time and the hype. Seriously. Over done.

Korean management companies like SM Entertainment are investing a shitload of money into promoting their artists and conquering international markets.

Doesnt mask the fact that most of the K-pop music is uninspiring, uber-commercial pop sung by good-looking zombies without soul. You can substitute any member of any group with another from another group and it wouldnt make a difference. No personalities and not authentic at all.

[GoofyDuck]

Originally Posted by rrfnpump

Korean management companies like SM Entertainment are investing a shitload of money into promoting their artists and conquering international markets.

Doesnt mask the fact that most of the K-pop music is uninspiring, uber-commercial pop sung by good-looking zombies without soul. You can substitute any member of any group with another from another group and it wouldnt make a difference. No personalities and not authentic at all.

Everyone has diffrent personality, being part of a group it's hard to show this.
Knowing personality of members of famous groups such as SNSD, CNBLUE, 2NE1 and SISTAR, These groups' popularity wouldn't be the same if members got switched

I couldn't imagine SNSD without Jessica or Seohyun, 2NE1 without CL or Dara...

I hope PSY has opened the door for more KPOP succes worldwide

[kwilliams]

Originally Posted by rrfnpump

Korean management companies like SM Entertainment are investing a shitload of money into promoting their artists and conquering international markets.

Doesnt mask the fact that most of the K-pop music is uninspiring, uber-commercial pop sung by good-looking zombies without soul. You can substitute any member of any group with another from another group and it wouldnt make a difference. No personalities and not authentic at all.

This is true to an even great extent with the larger groups like Girls Generation (SNSD) and Super Junior, which have nine and thirteen members respectively! I like some of their songs but would never "buy into" those groups and actually pay any attention to them because it's like each group is trying to fill a social spectrum. You could line SNSD up by hair length or hair colour. It's like each member is supposed to be identifiable to a portion of the population or something. Put them together and you have this reflection of society vague enough for everyone to identify with but consequentially insubstantial. Not many of them can sing either. Their music is catchy but that's about it.

Big Bang and 2NE1 have their flaws, God knows, but they are quite a bit more credible. Their music actually has some of their own personality and style. Truth be told, I like SNSD's music about as much as I like Big Bang's and 2NE1's but I know very little about SNSD and I don't really care to know either.

The turnover of groups in Korea is quite high too. Not many acts stay near the top of the charts or in the public eye year after year.

[rrfnpump]

Originally Posted by GoofyDuck

Everyone has diffrent personality, being part of a group it's hard to show this.
Knowing personality of members of famous groups such as SNSD, CNBLUE, 2NE1 and SISTAR, These groups' popularity wouldn't be the same if members got switched

I couldn't imagine SNSD without Jessica or Seohyun, 2NE1 without CL or Dara...

I hope PSY has opened the door for more KPOP succes worldwide

They have different personalities because SM entertainment generated different personalities. It's just like kwilliams said that every member has to be identifiable to a portion of the population. Imagine that (for example girls generation)they were casted for SM entertainment when they were girls. Ever since then they got thrilled for success and its almost impossible to develop a genuine personality in this environment. I believe almost everything is created by the management and they also decide which member is 'in' at the moment. It was very obvious when Seohyun got pushed hard by SM into the spotlight. I am 100% sure girls generation would more than survive if, lets say, Jessica is substituted for Dara.

What I find irritating about the whole K-pop (and also J-pop which might be even worse) business is how superficial everything is and how few it actually has to do with music. It all depends on your looks and not about how well you sing or dance or if you are able to write your own songs. As I live in Japan now, it is quite obvious for me how this ideal of being good lucking to get famous is influencing society. It is all about looks. And thats kind of sad I feel.

I am not a hater. I actually like a couple of k-pop bands and songs.

[GoofyDuck]

Originally Posted by rrfnpump

They have different personalities because SM entertainment generated different personalities. It's just like kwilliams said that every member has to be identifiable to a portion of the population. Imagine that (for example girls generation)they were casted for SM entertainment when they were girls. Ever since then they got thrilled for success and its almost impossible to develop a genuine personality in this environment. I believe almost everything is created by the management and they also decide which member is 'in' at the moment. It was very obvious when Seohyun got pushed hard by SM into the spotlight. I am 100% sure girls generation would more than survive if, lets say, Jessica is substituted for Dara.

What I find irritating about the whole K-pop (and also J-pop which might be even worse) business is how superficial everything is and how few it actually has to do with music. It all depends on your looks and not about how well you sing or dance or if you are able to write your own songs. As I live in Japan now, it is quite obvious for me how this ideal of being good lucking to get famous is influencing society. It is all about looks. And thats kind of sad I feel.

I am not a hater. I actually like a couple of k-pop bands and songs.

I know all the girls have done audition for SM entertainment when they were young. They've been selected and practised singing/dancing/acting since then for a long time with lots of other girls and boys.
Then at some point, I do think based on looks, 9 girls got picked to become SNSD and a few months later they debuted their song. I don't think there was time to get a certain personality.
Ofcourse they're all very polite and cute, but behind that they definitely show their real personalities, I believe.

If Seohyun, who you mentioned, is faking her personality I'll lose faith in humanity. she's the most innocent excentric woman ever.

And I agree about how looks are so important for Koreans, sadly this happens in the entire entertainment industry.
There is lots of KPOP which is just crap music with distracting music video. I like the good songs.