But even american pop artists have made and contributed to their own music the genesis of pop music started in america and even the cookie cutter pushed by the industry people were without a doubt talented and able to compose or at least actually sing and perform well. The difference is the social and politcal structure in Korea and the overbearing dominance of the chaebols,
View attachment 97692
kids from wealthy families come first no doubt and there is no room for other people who don't have connections or funding from those families.
Fact is it's a very small pool of people who are barely able to do high school theater level performances because unlike america which is huge and has lots of people who are genuinely talented in everyday life so they know they have to make stars that can SING acapella on point nobody can question their talent. It's why they had a baby justin beiber singin on the street like a pauper they had to prove he could actually sing.
they have no competition nada, zilch, none at all and they know it. Not because they don't exist but because of the chaebol system nobody is above them and there's and after the economic crisis they don't want them to leave Korea and go somewhere else so their family and their picked apples will always be treated well. As simply as mommy's little boy/girl wants to be a star. Make them a group and I'll invest in this worthless company. It's really and truly as simple as that. This explains why some idols don't work for years but are still millionaires and don't look stressed but in america if an actor doesn't work for a few years you'll see them doing any and everything. If these idols were as poor as they claimed to be as children they wouldn't be so lazy, so comfortable so unbothered by anything and everything. They pick and choose what they want to do. I've seen people wonder how an unbooked and not busy idol could reject stuff they don't feel like doing. Because it's not for the money it's a play circus for them. Their worries as an idol is the most worried they've ever been or ever will be in their lives.
View attachment 97694
(The high rate of lipsynching and poor choreography amongst idols when live make no sense when they train for sometimes over a decade in some cases unless it's just something to make people think they fought to get their spot in these coveted companies when the reality is they are chosen from wealthy families.)
It's a smaller country than America is and very proud of it's originality despite historically taking a lot from even their own neighbours while swearing to the heavens they did not. This attitude persists even to this day. So much so that they feel they can take from others while giving little to no credit because they've been doing it for so long. They genuinely feel that since they or their puppets in their mind are doing it better that there is no need to ever credit anyone beside the obvious in which they'd get sued if they didn't.
Sm was forced to give Louis Tomlinsin credit after the similarites to his song back to you and loveshot were found but there are many times
View attachment 97695
This has happened many times and I believe if Louis wasn't a member of one direction his name wouldn't of been added. Why?
View attachment 97696
View attachment 97697
Now one may be able to write this off as simply cultural sharing and just a cute source of inspo. But looking at sm artists long history of just ick towards poc's of pretty much every diaspora it's in very poor taste. Even down to the choreography which feature a variety of black originated dance moves that have never and will never be copywritten because most black people don't even think of copywriting something that's simply just a form of expression yet these companies don't hesitate to copyright material that's known to originally someone else's. But people think it's simply cute and them being pro black but it's not they are pro money. Where energy flows money goes. All to seem cool and make money yet they did not start this it's simply a case of copying worked for the people over there so let's try it.
View attachment 97691
Elvis for example it's very well known and even shown in his bio film w austin butler his musical inspiration/ dancing style overall persona came from encountering negro spirituals as a child. The reason why they can say this in a 2022 film and not in say in the 1970s,80s, 90s or even really talk about it in recent years in such a broad display of truth not simply hinting at it or talking about it for 2 seconds as a joke. Is because the political and social climate did not call for that conversation to be had back then. Similar to how K-pop seems to have amnesia concerning the history of where got the hallyu wave got it's inspiration, american pop music icons for decades were mentioned without any notions that their inspiration being black musicians at least not just as a passing comment but a real think piece way like the elvis movie portrayed. It's not really about saying a whole race being untalented there are talented people everywhere it just so happens in Korea it's just a different ball game. They are homogenous in pretty much all ways and not only don't want to have a plethora of different types of people in their country they are very much against it. Which is fine because that's their choice.
But seeing that they also when they are running low on ideas seem to think peeking over at either black musican's work/ or white musicians/dancers(oh god the dance move theft is so real in korea) who are more open minded and able to come up with ideas inspired by other cultures and write a little check and make a thinly veiled carbon copy that they will look back on as fully their creation never inviting or showcasing to the world any good relations with these artist they take from.
It leaves a poor taste in everyone's mouth seeing that many were desperate to use racism guilt tactics to get kpop to the top, telling people to lower their defenses and show love to this other culture but they culturally historically time after time after time, not only do they not extend that same respect but show disrespect after they have gotten the clout, views, attention that they desire.
It makes everyone a lot more judgmental of their work retrospectively because of the large contradictions present when you look at the art and impact of kpop coupled with the campaigns of love peace and global acceptance when bullying culturally is a massive problem in asia. So of course idols brought up in asia will bully and pick on one another even as adults for something as simple as skin color. Resulting in fans feeling gaslit and confused how their nice meow meow could be so cruel.
There's a large underbelly to why people pick apart kpop so meticulously and it is somewhat to do with music but also deeper. 1960s music is fine and dandy, catchy and nice to listen to but knowing many of those songs were taken whitewashed and promoted over black musicians who made the original it's distasteful when looking at the full picture. The movie hairspray displays this wonderfully. The main character Tracy catapulted to fame by copying a dance style popularized by black people, when they could only dance one day a month on negro day. A special day set apart just for them just to prove the company wasn't racist and blacks and white would both watch the show giving them money.
I feel like the black idols kpop pushes in particular the 1 per group is very similar. Back in the day it was the 1 or 2 tan member but due to globalization they are trying to maximize profits totally biting off of what japan did decades ago which is bring in half black/half white/south american people to improve their catalogue I believe on jpop group in the 90s had a half peruvian member. So Kpop is only doing what similar business ventures have done in the past.
View attachment 97690
So I do understand the feeling that people may not give other races enough credit being that anyone can make art. This is true. But historically black people have put a large emphasis on creativity, music, dancing, even when it was a danger to their own lives, they made a way to encorporate spirituality into everything. Native americans at one point could of been taken off the planet if they did certain spiritual dances they still did it. So now that it makes money and other cultures are doing it half for fun and half to make a profit, it's important to go into the history of it and think before it made money who was still doing it passionately, with devotion.
(it's important to note the effect imperialism had on asia, and it's attitude towards racial purity the mindset behind pushing lighter skin and eurocentricity particularly around the world war two era that has much to do with what you are seeing now and the racism and colorism that persists in asia it's deeper than even I can get into in one post. The capitalism mixed with imperialism mixed in with colorism which ties into racial purity ideas that seeped into asia even deeper than it already was pre the kickstart of globalism via the world wars and whatnot. Black were not only taboo racially, culturally, and possibly even spiritually in asia but afroindigenous/darker people's and their practices were whitewashed heavily to the point of many things that orignated with them in other countries have been rewritten causing a 'we never knew you' attitude from people who may have historically had ties with black peoples and their cultures in the past. This is most seen in how far east asian people treat south east asians when genetically speaking they are cousins basically. But culturally they act like they are the dirt beneath their feat and anyone with features similar to their's should hurry to the plastic surgery office as quickly as can be to fix said features.)
Mainly black and indigenous cultures. It's human to create art but some people do hold it nearer and dearer to their hearts and souls. Pop music in general is the collection of various influences of music mainly rnb, hip hop, rock all of which emphasize heavy beats and drums and rhythms that got its start during the blues era. There is no such thing as POP music it is simply POPular music. Popular music that tends to draw people in would be mainly rhythmic dance music; honestly this could go on for hours going into the genesis of what music really is and why it is used to attract people and who really holds claim to what it's endless.
The truth is the truth though one would have to go to other people and buy something that they can't for whatever reason come up with on their own. Nobody forces these Korean companies to buy black people's artwork and put korean lyrics on it they do it themselves. They could easily do what many other artists in asia do and come up with cord progressions on their own. Nobody forces them to dress of dance a certain way either. They could do something completely different.
The same could be said for western artists as well but maybe the difference at least in modern day is a western artist will actually work with black people openly and be seen in the same room with them.
View attachment 97699
While Korean companies don't want their fans to even think about that happening. Lots of behind the scenes with exo yet few of their fans know how many samples they have used from black artists, how many black artists they have worked with that have to say on their personal instagrams they worked with said artists. Yet these fans could name every song their artists have put their name on for inserting like one lyric.The truth is they typically don't because apart of the illusion is simply never showing their connection to these black artists. So their fans will continue to praise them for making such good music. If those fans cared even slightly about the truth they only need to do a simple google search but most will not. The article I found concerning the kokobop comparison had no comments and a few poc's have discussed it on tiktok but no larger conversation. Because even doing so may hurt the fragile ego many of them have. It is not insulting to anyone to sample or have a producer help you out if you're low on ideas. We all are here to help and assist one another in this life. But it's simply shameful to perpetuate the fraudulent image of being a mastermind like many of these k-producers, ceo's and idols make themselves seem like. Sadly even when they do say where the inspo comes from fans avert their eyes and turn up their noses waiting for the uncomfortable conversation to be over. Nobody needs to bow down to another race or anything but seeing as though their are still legions of fans that will dox or get evidence concerning their idols around black people taken down it's clear there's some type of deep seeded hate their. Completely unwarranted because the average black person doesn't care who copies black people and how much money they make doing it. They have other problems. I understand people being a little harsh on kpop's validity and quality because it's about basic respect. They give none sometimes less than none so they tend to get little to none in return.
