Rhysa in Wonderland
My Journey Down the Rabbit Hole..........
Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down,
And I would like to take some minutes, just wait right there, about how I became a fan of Korean music.
It all started with one YouTube video suggestion – that is also how I found baby shark, but I digress – in which I was suggested to check out the MAMA 2015 performance of BIGBANG. I probably watched a clip of Running Man or Infinite Challenge the week prior that brought on this suggestion but I remembered the name BIGBANG from Sunbae Peaches who said with her strongest of opinion, “That is the only Kpop boy group that matters" #StanMuch? Based on that memory, I clicked the video.
I watch a lot of award show performances, never the full show because that's what highlights and magazine articles are for, and I have never seen one on this type of level. This was an award show that looked like a Beyonce concert, #Beychella. The amount of money that was put into the stage design, I've NEVER seen done for even the Grammys. It was an outdoor concert with floating stages, multiple costume changes, a stage designs for each song almost and thousands of fans all around the stage. Most award shows have maybe a thousand fan seats. It was, wow. I liked it.
I have to admit, Sunbae Peaches was right, BIGBANG is very good. I didn't realize it at first but one of my favourite scenes in Oh My Ghostess featured the BIGBANG song “Loser” which they performed, so good. The biggest thing I took away from their performance was how eclectic their sound was. I totally understood where Sunbae Peaches was coming from, I instantly became a fan.
This, was the moment I fell down the Rabbit Hole, I watched another MAMA award performance by 2NE1 it was the same caliber, the stage design was great! Then I checked out MAMA on wiki and discovered that it is a traveling awards show concert that used to have multiple stages across Asia throughout the year but now I believe they only have one and the location changes from year to year.
I watched a few other group performances and a thought crossed my mind, we were not made equally and neither is Korean music or my opinion of Korean music. I had to curate my music taste all over again. The biggest problem is that there is so much!
I instantly became a BIGBANG Stan and watched all of their live performances, variety show appearances and most of their videos. The most appealing thing about BIGBANG was their personalities. They are so different from each other in terms of personality yet, they fit together; they seemed more like a family than a K Pop group but after over 13 years together I guess they are.
My friend showed me even more BIGBANG songs but also introduced me to Girls' Generation and Red Velvet so I checked them out as well. Variety shows were also a good source for me because if a singer appears on Running Man or Happy Together, I am almost always going to look them up. (forgot to mention, also a Stan of Yoo Jae Suk). I proceeded to discover Exo, iKON, BlackPink and Mamamoo this way.
Then, a new genre of music emerged,
Hip Hop
I was watching Happy Together clips, minding my own business when guests Dindin, Crush and Loco (at the time I didn’t know who they were but now I do, baby steps) mentioned a show called Show Me The Money and how at that time, Dok2 and BeWhy were the currently the highest paid rap artists. I was very much inclined to find out what this show was, so I watched a few clips online enjoyed the concept of the show and found a few more artists I had to checkout.
My journey through this wonderland of Korean music is just beginning so I excited to see what more I discover. Hopefully you continue to go down this journey with me and you can discover new music as well.
Please fell free to offer suggestions, it will be a long time before I leave this place.