Thursday, January 31, 2013

SISTAR19-있다-없으니까 (Gone not around any longer) MV HD

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Can the New Single from K-Pop Stars Girls’ Generation Challenge ‘Gangnam Style’?


 
ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON TIME ENTERTAINMENT.

The inescapable pop song “Gangnam Style” is the most-watched YouTube video ever. But PSY, the man behind the horsey dance, is now sharing the YouTube chart stage with his fellow South Korean pop stars, big names in the genre known as “K-Pop”—nine of them, to be exact. The K-Pop megagroup Girls’ Generation (also known as SNSD is Korea) released a new album in Korea at the beginning of this year. Its catchy, multi-genre, Korean-language title track, ”I Got a Boy,” has garnered more than 25 million views since Dec. 31. On the YouTube music charts, the song is at No. 2—behind, of course, “Gangnam Style.”

But many of the video’s viewers are not in South Korea. Jane Choi, the band’s U.S. marketing rep, spoke to TIME about what’s next for the band—and she says that the biggest market for the video’s YouTube viewership is in the United States. Every Girls’ Generation release is seen as global, says Choi, but the band’s management feels “like the U.S. market has been wanting the Girls.” With that in mind, later this year Interscope Records is in talks to release a version of I Got a Boy as the Girls’ first full-length American album; details, including the album title, have not yet been settled. (Last year, they brought out an English-language version of the single “The Boys.”)

Mere months after PSY completely dominated global pop culture, what does it mean for a K-Pop group to challenge him at the top of the YouTube charts, even if a billion views is a long way off?

For one thing, not all YouTube numbers are the same. New York Magazine calculates that, shortly after PSY broke the YouTube record in late November of 2012, his approximately 850 million views translated into about $1.7 million for PSY and his team (most of which came from video ads rather than from actual ownership of the song in the U.S.). According to the Associated Press, ad rates in richer countries like the U.S. are higher, meaning that not all YouTube fans are equal to pop artists hoping to strike gold—and those ads don’t even have to air before the official video; parodies and tributes that use the song also contribute to revenue, which is one reason going viral gives artists so much of a financial bump. Choi could not comment on Girls’ Generation’s earnings from YouTube ads, but the Girls’ complicated choreography does mean the average camera-phone owner can’t just pop out an “I Got a Boy” video of her own. (A Girls Generation hair-tutorial YouTube video, on the other hand, is another story, but the group only gets paid if their music is used.)

And YouTube is just one platform. Choi guesses that perhaps the U.S.-dominant YouTube watching is due to the fact that, in Korea and elsewhere in Asia, they can be seen live, watched on TV and heard on the radio. “I don’t know if [YouTube numbers] directly translate to sales on iTunes, but it does really help get the song out to new fans, internationally,” she says. Girls Generation does have American fans already—Choi says she was surprised at the level of excitement among non-Asian fans when the group came to promote “The Boys” on David Letterman a year ago—but, away from YouTube, the group is still listed on Billboard’s K-Pop Hot 100 (at No. 1 this week) rather than the mainstream Hot 100 (where PSY is at No. 14).

To make that move, the group must find out whether they can get air play. “Even though a lot of people do just turn to YouTube for music these days, we think that radio is still important. That’s what mainstream music is,” says Choi. “I don’t think we’re at a disadvantage because we’re not as funny and the dance isn’t as easy to follow as the horsey dance.”

Finally, there’s the fact that many American audiences—guilty as charged!—will make the inevitable PSY comparison. PSY is the biggest name in K-Pop in the U.S. but Girls’ Generation and their colleagues have been around since way before “Gangnam Style.” And while the acts are listed on the same music charts in South Korea as well, they’re not very similar. “‘Gangnam Style’ and what Girls’ Generation is doing, even though they’re labeled under K-Pop, it’s completely different, just like how in the U.S. there’s rock and there’s pop,” says Choi. It’s not just gender and numbers and fashion; if PSY sounds a bit like LMFAO, Girls’ Generation would be nine Miley Cyruses or Destiny’s Child times three.

The goal, as for many artists—and not just musicians—trying to break into the U.S. market from other countries, is to be seen as pop stars, not Korean pop stars.

Not that being lumped in with PSY is all a bad thing.

K-Pop is not a zero-sum game, after all, and Choi says that PSY’s success has been good for Girls’ Generation. Pop songs in other languages are novelties for American listeners, but PSY showed that the unfamiliarity doesn’t have to hold an artist back. Interest in K-Pop, specifically, is running high. And there’s the obvious moral to the story, too, at least where Girls’ Generation’s U.S. hopes are concerned. “['Gangnam Style'] helped open the door, but did it affect how we approach our music? No,” says Choi. “If anything, it just proves that music is universal.”

© 2013 Time Inc. All rights reserved

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Girls’ Generation tops Billboard’s World Album


"I Got A Boy" managed to rank #1 on the World Album Chart and they are also #2 on the Heatseekers Albums, and #23 on Independent Albums.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/world-albums

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Naver Music 'Girls' Generation 소녀시대 V Concert'



Special virtual concert in Gangnam Station In Seoul Korea. January 5th 2013.

“I GOT A BOY” The Analysis

 

 Heres an interesting analysis of "I Got A Boy".

This song could be one of the greatest GG songs so far, just like "Into The New World" or the iconic "Gee".

Credits: -SNSD Korean.com


Let’s face it, IGAB is probably the most experimental song in Soshi’s discography. Let’s forget the fact that many people are crying about this song because it sounds weird, people cried about Gee as well because it was too poppy and trying to be overly cute.


I’ve put this song on repeat for a few days straight now and I actually really enjoy it. However, I can understand how people don’t, it’s not really pop…it’s an experimental variation of pop elements. My musical tastes start with rock and metal, and it evolved into Progressive Metal/rock, and I feel that IGAB has links to progressive music.  I’ll be analysing why people who LOVE kpop seem to be afraid of this song so much, and why people seem to find it difficult to listen to.

THIS IS A LONG READ, but it might give a very good insight as to why the song is done the way it is, and hopefully will garner more appreciation.


Here’s an example, if pop music was on one side of the see-saw, progressive would be on the other side. It is music that is supposed to be difficult to play. Progressive songs have always changing time signatures and rhythm’s, drum beats are chaotic and all over the place and every instrument is playing to it’s own beat most of the time, it all culminates into a product that is very hard to listen to. However, progressive music is an art form where you have to listen to each part individually to see the end product and to see how subtly all the instruments meld into together, it takes work, and most people don’t like to think to make music fun to listen to, and I understand that, it all comes down to taste.
Although IGAB does NOT classify as progressive music, it can surely be attributed to having elements of it. the time signatures change and overlays of vocals are repeated during different parts. this is where the “it sounds like 4 songs into one” motif comes from, however to a more basic form since the music actually stops completely before it changes beat, progressive music is much more crazy as they change mid riff or play to a different time signature., but you can see it there. This is number 1 reason why it can be so hard to listen to. Jessica’s “Don’t stop! Let’s bring it back to 140″ doesn’t actually mean 1 minute and 40 seconds… it means 140 bpm (beats per minute), which is the chorus part onwards. The first part only goes at 100bpm, which is why it seems slower. This is a rhythm change, not a time stamp.

It takes time to warm up to this music, and if you aren’t in it for the deeper things, then that’s probably why you prefer pop music over any sort of progressive music, that’s not wrong, it’s just different. Just think about when the chorus comes in, change the perspective but not the goal which leads into the lyrics and also the choreography.

I’m a man who like his music, but I advocate that lyrics aren’t the most important thing. IGAB breaks that for me, the lyrics and the choreography go hand in hand to tell a story
I recommend watching the live performace to get a better idea of what I’m about to explain so lets look at the Mnet countdown one.


IGAB STARTS AT 4:18

Lets start by looking at the lyrics translated to english, follow the link but I’ll be taking excerpts with time stamps.

http://www.kpoplyrics.net/snsd-i-got-a-boy-lyrics-english-romanized.html

If you look at the lyrics, it’s really confusing, but lets try to make it easier. It hit me as soon as I read the lyrics that there is a story inside this song, and it’s told from multiple girls perspectives, and the dancing actually adds to the story as well, it has story context choreography.

The ENTIRE first part up until Tiffany’s “LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF” notes the following from 4:18 to 4:47

Ayo! GG! Yeah Yeah, shall we start?
Gosh! Look at her, look
What happened to her that she cut her hair? huh?
Gosh! Again look at her, look!
From head to toe, her style has changed
Why did she do that? I’m curious to death
why did she do that? Tell me

Lets look at the choreography, it’s Sooyoung and Yuri talking while the rest of the girls are saying “OMO”. They are talking about a particular girl and gossiping about how she is acting, standard highschool clique. This opens up the scene already that the subject is a particular girl who is going through change, evidently we already should know based on the title that the girl “gots a boy”.
From 4:47 to 6:00 up to the SICK beat change.

Who is she? Ridiculous
Do you know you’re too self-assertive? She thinks I’m average
Yeah, I guess she really liked him!
No way! No way!
She became so pretty and sexy, it’s because of him, right?
I almost asked her what her new makeup was
Truthfully, I’ve seen it for the first time
The deep eyes, like a scarred beast
I was dizzy by just talking to him!
You really are something else! You really are something else!
Oh ohh eh oh
(Here’s come trouble, hey girl listen!)
Oh ohh eh oh
You really are something else! (something!)
Oh ohh eh oh (Hey!)
Oh ohh eh oh (Na na na na hey!)
You really are something else!

The reason is revealed, OMO it’s a boy! she’s got a boy and she’s changing herself, the only noticeable difference is that the group is in sync, and that might be just a openness that everyone knows about the boy now due to the fact that they are talking about him openly.

Now come the part where everything changes

Ayo! Stop! Let me put it down another way.

This line…this line changes everything. it encompasses an extra reason for the beat change to 140bpm and the sudden stoppage of the music. To understand this we just need to read the chorus.
6:00 to 7:00
I got a boy, a handsome one! I got a boy, a kind one!
I got a boy handsome boy, who took all my heart
I got a boy, a handsome one! I got a boy, a kind one!
I got a boy awesome boy, I must have really fallen for him
Ah, my prince! When are you gonna come save me?
Will you lift me in your arms and fly, like a white dream?
I’m like, surprised, mental collapse!
He wants to see my face without makeup.
I really like him, would it be okay to show it to him?
Oh! Never! Right? Right?
Let’s keep what needs to be kept, right! right!
Don’t ever forget this until you take all of his heart!
Oh ohh eh oh, Oh ohh eh oh
Even if I stay up all night, it’s not enough, everything everything
Oh ohh eh oh, Oh ohh eh oh
Our biggest interest, everything everything

This part  is a complete monologue, it is the girl that everyone is talking about. “let me put it down another way” shows that the perspective is changing, and that perspective is of the main girl who has the boy. what follows is a monologue inside her own head about her own worries and doubts, hopes and dreams.

7:00 to 7:15 is what made me really sit down and think about doing this in the first place.. everything..seems to work too well with the lyrics.

Lets do and ultra breakdown because this is just..beautiful…
Seohyuns lines come in twofold. Start with
7:00 to 7:05
Listen to me, you all know him, right?
You notice all the girls are turning to each other? this is the gossip train, the whole school is finding out about her telling them all about her boyfriend.
He’s a bit young but he’s full inside

This part where the last 3 big beats, and the girls turn at seohyun. This is the part where the girls are at an “OMG” stage and are looking at her like she has gone completely insane and weird and are all taken by surprise. The sudden turn with the beat coincides with the looks of the girls looking at seohyun.

Tiffany’s part hasn’t got anything extra so lets just pass by that. It’s just the girl spazzing over him.
As of normal till that Spotlight at
7:30

I’m really angry, my boy doesn’t look at me as a girl
What should I do when I feel hopeless?
Should I make him feel jealous? I’m so upset! What do I do?
No way! No way!
This is the girl at a crossroad. She is feeling the push and pull part of the relationship and is stressing over everything. She needs and wants to be answered and thus the spotlight comes in.

Don’t stop! Let’s bring it back to 140

Again…this is only to signify the beat change, not the time stamp, but the change also pulls the situation out of the girls sadness and worries and goes back into the happy chorus.

Jesssica and Seohyun’s parts at 8:10

Always next to me, it’s you, who’s on my side and listens to me
You oh oh oh oh~ you oh oh oh oh~
I’m happy as it is right now, cause everything will work
The change in beat and the suddenness of the pitch change signifies a big revelation, near the end of the story it is getting wrapped up. She’s found a good spot in the relationship and believes that everything is right.

Before we end this..there’s one last thing. I’ll add this as an asterisk cause it might be me looking into it too much, but
The last chorus where taeyeon and Sunny are re-singing their parts at 6:20 while the chorus is going.
I feel it fits well and maybe it’s a call back that the girl has found what she wanted in these lyrics, she has found her prince and is currently living her dream.

Look…if all of this is too much and you feel that a song is trying way too hard. Then that’s fine. But understand that music works in layers and styles depict where the layers lie, whether it be all laid out for you on the table, or nestled away in the centre like an onion. Most progressive music is a notch above this, and it’s not like a pop song. To me, it’s got all the elements of pop, the catchy chorus, the harmony and the almost streamlined beat. It’s just arranged in a not so clean way. There’s always a reason for a beat change, a drop in music, a sudden loudness or big riff of music that never turns up the rest of the song.

Give it another listen, just sit back, shut the curtains and watch the live performance or sit down close your eyes and listen to the beats and the changes in the music.

Credits:

http://www.kpoplyrics.net/snsd-i-got-a-boy-lyrics-english-romanized.html
 snsdkorean.com/2013/01/05/i-got-a-boy-the-analysis/

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Girls Generation: The most popular Asian Female Pop group in the world.



The MV for "I Got A Boy" has become the most viewed Youtube music video in the world this January 2nd 2013.

This makes history. Girls Generation is right now the most  popular asian female pop group thanks to "I Got A Boy".

With 48 hrs since its release in Youtube this video has gather more than 7 million views so far.

Girls Generation was one of groups that started the Hallyu wave back in 2007.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013