To those who follow me on any of my Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat, you'd know what I've been obsessing over these couple of months..
KOREAAAAAAAAANS
...
Ya ya okay hold that thought. Don't judge my life.
Disclaimer #1:
Yes, I was an anti-anythingtodowithKoreans not too long ago.
And yes, I was the "Please stahp bothering me with the Korean shabang" type
Disclaimer #2:
I am a newbie, and do not (nor do I claim to) know much about this new World I just dived into
So, basically..
I'll touch on:
1. How/Where/What/Who got me into this mess
2. What kept the ball rolling
3. What I'm currently into now
4. WHY I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH AND JOIN ME
Before you close this page and go "Ugh what the hell stop it already"
please just read this through and at least be open minded enough to still accept me as a friend
:(
#1. "HUH when did you like K-Pop/Drama?!"
Looking back at it, I can't help but laugh. Ahhhh.
First of all, I was aware about this Korean craze a long, long, long time ago. My best friend, Hanis, was the first I could remember that was a huge Super Junior fan. I think she had asked me to watch or listen to them a couple of times, and even if I didn't - it was everywhere anyway *cue SJ's Sorry Sorry*
My first impression?
Why the hell are there so many people in a group?!
Actually no, I still ask myself the same question even now.
But that was it! "Oh yeah, the song's pretty addictive bla bla bla"
Never would I have imagined myself a fan 4/5 years later.....
So that was a really long time ago.
And then the second wave came..
Again, I knew about this craze 'cause now everyone was into it. And as much as I refused to admit then, these songs were very catchy to me, and I did find myself Youtube-ing some of them secretly.
When I mentioned 'everyone', there was one person I could exclude besides myself.
OR SO I THOUGHT
Nadia.
Out of the billions of people in the World, my sister.. was sucked into.. the K-Pop world..
Waaaaaah this one special case I tell you,
this one no filter 1st grade bitch judging one.
"You either stop this nonsense or we're not related" tahap already ok.
She was back in Malaysia for summer break, and I am not even exaggerating when I tell you this;
every.. flippin'.. night.. when I was already in bed, all I could hear was
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
Again, no exaggeration here.
You would think she would be a bit more careful with her voice when I'm sleeping right next to her, kan?
Nope. Nothing doing.
Laughing at the top of her lungs at 3am, for the entire 3 months she was in Malaysia.
So..
Of course I had to find out the source of my lack of sleep every night, and it was none other than Running Man. I'm pretty sure even the anti-Kpop people know Running Man.
It's a Korean variety show, where these 7 hosts (above) compete on missions with their very famous Korean guest stars.
Ok, so remember how I used to brush off anything my sister said about this show?
Yeah.. It became my favorite show after watching 2 episodes....
They're the most hilarious bunch I've ever come across, it is ri-donk-ulous
#2. "Why are you still in this hell hole?"
I don't even know, someone please help me out.
Kidding. Let me stay here for..evaaaah.
After the whole Running Man phase, Nadia told me to watch this K-Drama called The Heirs
At first I was reluctant because I was still in the semi-denial phase
"I'm not into Korean stuff, it's just Running Man. Tu pun sebab lawak je"
But fiiiiiiiine I'll watch it. Also because Nadia said the story line's a bit like Gossip Girl.
Come to think of it, it is sejibik like GG
-_-
It's a love story/love triangle thing going lah basically, but it's amongst this group of super rich Koreans
That dude in the middle's the hero, but Nadia and I are #TeamYoungDo (the dude on the far left)
No kidding, this drama had me hooked at it's very first episode!
After all the drama watching I did, I noticed one thing..
These Korean dudes are really good looking.. Like, REALLY good looking..
I told my sister that and of course she went on a "I told you so" phase for a while,
after that she kinda got excited because now finally got gang. Yay!
I mean, okay. Let's just put aside the fact that plastic surgery is big in Korea, okay?!
Seo Kang Joon, everybody.
Let's just stop and appreciate this for a second
2PM's Taecyeon, ladies and gentlemen
Kim Soo Hyun is bae. BAE I TELL YA.
Ahhh, Nam Joo Hyuk you cute lil thing
And last, but duh not least.. My baby Kim Woo Bin <3
Ok that was not the last, but if I were to list every Korean guy I thought would put every other guy in the World to shame, I would go on and on.. and on..
SO.. (sidetracked a lil but heck, those pictures were too good not to put)
After completing the entire series, I went on to watch more dramas
These Koreans can act their butts off, I tell you. NOTHING compared to the local scene in Malaysia.
So after marathons & marathons of K-Dramas, I was convinced that I was just a fan of Korean dramas
...and nothing more...
Ah, how I was so wrong
#3. "What are you into now?"
And then, there was EXO..
Wow, if only I knew those lil three letter word could change my life....
I don't know to what point my obsession with them has evolved to
Let's just say when someone mentions EXO, I close my eyes and place my palm on my heart and smile.. Like an idiot.. For a good 3 minutes..
Ok so FINE THERE'S A MILLION OF THEM
But who cares if they all look like that right? Hehe
It is near impossible to learn their names in one go, I mean I mistake one for another all the time still
But let me try (JK totally googled them)
1. Suho
Leader and major cutie pie
2. Chanyeol
Raps and is my bias bcs too cute too handle
He's also the life of the party, this picture is probably the first time I've seen him not smile..
3. Kim Jongin (Kai)
Ya well he should just stop because seriously? Seriously!? And he dances. Done. Bye.
4. Sehun
The youngest amongst the 10 and he dances just as well as Kai.
And he looks like that. Annoying. Bye.
5. Xiumin
Oldest member, but looks like the youngest.
EXO was split into 2; EXO-K (Korean) & EXO-M (Mandarin). Now they're just known as EXO.
It used to be 6 Ks & 6 Ms, but 2 of EXO-M members left, so now it's 6 (EXO-K) & 4 (EXO-M).
And Xiumin's one of the M members, but he's a Korean!
6. Kyungsoo (D.O.)
Deffffffff one of my favorites because his voice is amazing
Personally, the best voice of EXO
7. Baekhyun
Amaaaazing singer, as well. Again, one of my favorites.
And I cannot stress on how ffffffff-ing hilarious he is, it's not even funny.
The entire EXO Showtime (their reality show), all I did was laugh at/with Baekhyun
8. Huang Zitao (Tao)
As you can probably guess from his name, he's an EXO-M member
He's the main rapper for EXO-M, and a martial artist
9. Lay
Like how Kai & Sehun are the main dancers for EXO-K, Lay is the main dancer for EXO-M
He's also a hunk, so..
10. Kim Jongdae (Chen)
And finally, Chen!
He's a lil special. He's the main vocalist for EXO-M, but he's a Korean
I don't know how that works, but ya..
Ta-daaaa!
Ah, these boys are just on another level, man. They do everything, and they do it incredibly.
Their dances are something else lah, I mean you can deny everything else;
like their looks, their singing, their songs..
But their dancing, that one you can't deny.
!! *watch the videos in full screen* !!
Song: Growl
I can play this forever and never ever ever get bored of it.
Also (!), they're comeback album will be released really soon and I am really excited and really looking forward to getting a minor heart attack from getting too excited
Besides EXO, I've been really into another group, though not as much, GOT7.
On Saturday the 21st of March, I had the pleasure of seeing them live in KL
It wasn't a full concert, it was a fan meeting session - which I personally thought was better than an actual concert, because they interacted with the fans so much more than if they had done a concert.
I would put up a video of them from the footage I took, but um.. you could only hear my scream hehe
One of my favorites of theirs would be:
Song: Stop Stop It (GOT7)
Again, more brilliant dancers.
Swooooooooon!
Ok so what about the girls, you ask?
The girls are just as good, I know I know..
How annoying
This one would have to be my favorite:
Song: Mamma Mia (KARA)
Those 3 would be my favourite groups of the moment, but I'm liking some of the solo acts, too
During Ed Sheeran's concert last week, I met Amina (who is a total Korean superfan!) and she asked if I was going for SHINee's concert at the F1 Grand Prix concert on the 27th.
I've heard of SHInee before, but never actually listened to any of their songs.
She recommended that I listened to one of their member's solo album, Jonghyun's album "Base"
My God is he good!!!!
I mean if you listen to his songs before he actually sings anything in Korean,
it sounds like Indonesian jazz, to be honest.
And those kind of music are right up my alley!
I don't even know which song to recommend, because EVERY. SONG. IS. SO. GOOD.
Duets that I will forever love would be Hyorin & Jooyoung's Erase:
&
Soyu & Junggigo's Some
#4. Why you should give this a try
Why the heck not?!
I get it though, this was exactly what I was back then, straight up egoistic.
I refused to listen to K-Pop or watch any K-Dramas because
since everyone thought it was lame,
it was lame
From one ex-non-Kpop fan to another, I am here to debunk all those Korean stereotypes you only hear about from people who don't even listen to K-Pop.
It really isn't all too kawaii or annoyingly upbeat as I used to think it was
As mainsteam and huuuuge as EXO is, their music is pretty amazing. And I expect their comeback album to be nothing less, because they're that good.
I'm not saying there isn't any annoying K-Pop music out there, heck yeah ada banyak je Korean songs that I cringe to. But there are amaaaazing ones that are often kept hidden.
And really, it isn't a problem if you don't like K-Pop after you've heard it 'cause then that's probably your own personal preference, but at least just give it a go. Don't say it's a horrible genre if you haven't heard any of their songs in the first place.
Not cool.
>:(
Ok done! Toodly doo!
Annyeong!
Kongang haseyo! (Take care!)
Tania
