Why (Some) Pinoys Love KPop

[empressmaruja.livejournal.com]

No doubt about it, the Korean wave (also known as K-Wave or the Hallyu phenomenon) has landed and it has landed hard. As evidenced by the thousands who attended the Philippine K-Pop conventions, as well as the consistent sales figures of K-Pop albums and concert tickets, it is clear that many Filipinos are card-carrying members of the fandom.

Hooked by the spellbinding twists of Korean dramas and the addicting head-bopping sounds of K-Pop, Filipinos young and young-at-heart have embraced K-Pop and they are not ashamed of it.
The thing is, K-Pop fans often suffer the puzzlement, or worse, the derision of those who do not understand the genre. They often deal with questions like "How can you like something you don't understand?" Or, "Why do you like these artists who look weird?" Or, get taunted with, "You're a kimchi-noy."

But is K-Pop really alien to us? Is it a surprising that many Filipinos love K-Pop? Beyond the usual reasons—"because K-pop artists sound good," "because Koreanovelas are engaging"—here are a few reasons Filipinos have embraced K-Pop.



1. K-pop deals in universal themes.

Love. Heartbreak. Hope. Restoration. Transformation.

These are the common underlying themes of K-dramas and songs. They are no different from the subject matters tackled by local and Western counterparts.

Across cultures, the thrill or kilig of a good boy-meets-girl story ("Full House") and the exciting Cinderella-like transformation of "rich man, ordinary girl" dramas ("Boys over Flowers") appeal to women.

In K-Pop, love and heartbreak are prominent themes. Since music and emotional sentiment cross language barriers, it is not surprising that many Filipinos are able to relate to the melodies of K-Pop songs. And, with the power of the Internet, figuring out what the lyrics mean is just a few clicks away because English and even Filipino translations abound.

2. We share a similar culture.

We aren't just geographic neighbors with South Korea, we also have cultural similarities. The value of respecting our elders and honoring them is embedded in both our cultures and expressed by the use of honorifics (e.g., "po" and "opo" in Filipino and "sunbae" and "nim" in Korean).

The theme of familial loyalty recurs in K-dramas ("Baker King," "Shining Inheritance"), making these stories easily relatable to us.

If Filipinos can appreciate Western entertainment, isn't it logically easier for us to cotton on to Asian entertainment?

3. K-Pop provides excellent entertainment.

The main purpose of the entertainment industry is, well, to entertain.

In recent years, Korean pop culture has succeeded in presenting a fresh perspective on the universal themes contained in their music and dramas.

With imitation said to be the sincerest form of flattery, Korean films and dramas have been remade by many Hollywood and Asian producers for their markets.

K-Pop, now heard everywhere, has become a genre in itself. Even the uninitiated can recognize its distinct sound. It has made a dent on the Billboard and iTunes charts, which is further proof it has solidified its presence.

Some lambast K-Pop for stealing the thunder from local artists but with the Internet shrinking the world, artists of every genre and of every nationality have no choice but to compete in a much wider arena. Instead of lambasting the success of K-Pop, maybe it is better to learn from it.


Source: Yahoo! Philippines

Shaking my head on the jejemon comments on Yahoo! saying we should support music that we understand, but once they watch YouTube clips of foreigners singing in Filipino like this, they'd be the first to comment "Woohoo! Pinoy pride!"

Comments

[ryousan26.livejournal.com]

I didn't intend to read this article at YahooPH since I will just get annoyed by the stupidity of the people there. But, somehow, this article makes sense? lol

[mishi07.livejournal.com]

Back in 2009 when we were lobbying for sponsorship for the first Kpop Convention (went door to door really), a certain company told us our plans were farfetched and completely unmarketable. Lo and behold, who ripped our ideas and launches albums every week now?

[empressmaruja.livejournal.com]

Is that the company that used to have a dance group that gyrated their thighs to this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMeUPFjQHc)?

[taecish.livejournal.com]

jesus christ

[jonghyunf.livejournal.com]

idk but filipinos r pretty much similar w/ koreans in that they've got their pride at stake or smth 24-7

illipino sweg yuck

[jeit91.livejournal.com]

can't stand a lot of the filipinos on tumblr with their snap backs and crew necks.

[mad-nux.livejournal.com]

pinoys and their "proud to be pinoy" shit. they get their salawals in a twist everytime a filipino or the philippines gets mentioned or smth

[mishi07.livejournal.com]

this applies to most Asian nations though

[moronicus-kyla.livejournal.com]

NGL, I'm entertained and kind of proud when I see stuff related to the Philippines like this:



However, I hate it when people lose their shit over stuff like that and pretend that Pinoys are the supreme masters of the universe :| Like, people won't even GAF about Manny Pacquiao or Charice if they didn't hit success in the US.

[falling-empress.livejournal.com]

um excuse you?

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

So true. I'm Pinay and proud to be one but OMG the attention the country gives on someone who gets some recognition abroad is sometimes so facepalm-worthy. Last week's hype over Jessica Sanchez was testament to that.

[kawaiisis86.livejournal.com]

I'm getting into more Opm recently. My favourite band is Up Dharma Down, I listen to them religiously now and learning a few words in Tagalog here and there! Lbr most of the vocalists in the Phillipines have these soaring strong voices, they just need different producers to make more unique beats for them to sing Tagalog in. People act like Tagalog is an inaccessible language but it's really not, it's as beautiful as any other language in the world plus there are a lot of spanish words in there too.

[chocolatecrack.livejournal.com]

Have you listened to Urbandub or Bamboo yet? If not, I recommend them. Their music is awesome. ♥ Sadly, Bamboo has already disbanded. :( But Bamboo (former lead singer, which the band got their name from) still makes music and he's still amazing as always. :)

[princessayra.livejournal.com]

I recommend listening to South Border. :)

[moronicus-kyla.livejournal.com]

It's hard to write songs for Filipinos because everyone's a fucking critic here with crab mentality. Hardly anyone slams k-pop when it sounds like US or Euro pop but when Filipinos would attempt to come up with something like it, it comes off as try-hard/lame/copycat-ish, and this is coming from Filipinos themselves. Class difference also factors in, with higher classes dismissing some songs as jologs while lower classes being too proud to appreciate more "high-brow" things. Also, we cover too many English songs, our mainstream music industry is like a cover genre OTL

As for my personal favorite OPM acts, I like The Out of Body Special :D

[burnbook31.livejournal.com]

Your taste in music is flawless!

I recommend you listening to Franco since most of the people have comment with one of the most flawless bands in here.



Also Dicta License because they are so great to watch live tho!



I remember them playing at my old high school!

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

The girl in the picture is too pretty to have that tree growing out of her head

[genie17.livejournal.com]

"K-Pop provides excellent entertainment."
This is the only reason i listen to kpop tbh.

[moronicus-kyla.livejournal.com]

"You're a kimchi-noy."

Wow, that has got to be the lamest diss ever.

Personally, I like k-pop because of idols. While I genuinely really like the music (which is a breath of fresh air here, considering we have no dance music to speak of), I think I stayed addicted to k-pop because of variety shows and stuff. I think the idol culture makes k-pop unique because lbr, the music can get stale and repetitive just on its own and no where else (except maybe Japan) do "perfect" boy bands and girl groups make complete fools of themselves in the most entertaining way possible.

[falling-empress.livejournal.com]

haha...i think filipinos and koreans go together a lot because of similar values, especially money and working hard lol...my bf is korean and i'm filipino and we know a lot of other couples that are the same. it's weird but kinda cool.

[gigabytexx.livejournal.com]

All of comments in any Yahoo are always stupid though. It's still pretty OK for articles about Korea, but when it comes to Japan people went like, "OMG Y R U ADMIRING A COUNTRY THAT ONCE COLONIZED US DONT U FEEL ASHAMED TOWARDS UR ANCHESTORS U STUPID ETC ETC.." everyone acts all nationalist but they didn't learn any, or trying to make their own country to be better lol.

[jeit91.livejournal.com]

here because pinoy pride. im here now and it seems like the korean craze has gone down a bit since last year? or maybe it's more common in manila. if filipino producers would start making music for this generation that would be cool

idc for opm much except parokya ni edgar, but i love new artists like Somedaydream!
the next filipino pop group sensation is going to be Down To Mar, i can feel it

[empressmaruja.livejournal.com]

KPop fandom is much more common in Manila. It's almost non-existent in the countryside.

******

The song became better when the chorus kicked in.

And of course, once Marian Rivera stepped in, all the camera captured was her. Kapuso Queen indeed.

[steelsigns.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, didn't know of this group at all. They seem so much like K-pop that I can't take them as a "P-pop group" though, all I see is a K-pop cover group but yea that might be just me. One question, why are most of their stage names Japanese/Korean?

[my-faux-pas.livejournal.com]

Back in 2002-2003 people think me liking kpop is a really weird thing and would judge me forever. That was the time that OPM was at its peak with bands coming from everywhere. It's just a matter of choice, and I personally liked OPM then, but I just like kpop more. well not really kpop, just Shinhwa and DBSK

[jangneri.livejournal.com]

same. The only great thing about it is that, at least now that some kpop songs gets played here a lot, my friends from high school and college sort of understand why I am so interested in them. Sadly though, the mainstream kpop music here is not the kind of kpop music I listen to.