K-Pop Appeciation Thread

[Cat]

Speaking of EXID's L.E>, here are some of the tracks where she was both lyricist and performer:

Multi-talented!

And here is "So Good"

starring Jay Park as Michael Jackson.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Cat

[Cheap21]

I only got a small sampling of Winner but it was interesting that they arent just a mini BigBang, but that YG is setting them up to be original. Its for the best as they'd get crazy comparisons and would likely fail to move past their shadow

IA on Dongwoon's hair. I strangely loved the purple. He rocked it well

Wow, I had no clue she wrote Trouble Maker's singles

I saw Jay's video yesterday and enjoyed it. Love the Michael Jackson jacket and TLC shirt!

EXO

Meanwhile Exo-K performed Overdose for a concert yesterday. They did it live without lipsyncing and it was well....a mess. I could only find this fancam on YT but I saw the HD MBC recording and they didnt sound too good. I think being outdoors worked against them as the acoustics were their enemy. I see Suho is still a blonde. Kai had by far the best hair

LMAO at this one Korean girl crying during the performance. Girl, it's not that serious

Edited September 3, 2014 by Cheap21

[Cat]

Well, EXO have been criticized for relying heavily on lip-syncing, so they must be trying out more live performances. Still, I wonder why they chose now -- when the group is completely run down after this summer's marathon of concerts, TV appearances and product promotions -- to sing live. Their voices are shredded (apart from Sehun's because, let's be real, "Eeee... Exxxx... Ohhhh" is one of two lyrics he sings in Overdose!).

They are literally pushing through on Red Bull at this point and look like they are about to collapse. Suho's voice is almost gone. Poor Suho has been unwell in recent months, apparently he mentioned it in passing inn an IG post. Yes, he's still blonde, but at least he is parting his hair on the side now.

I have such a MEGA crush on Kai that he could show up with pink hair (pls don't tho Kai) and I would still swoon over his burning hotness. But he looks amazing with dark hair, and so I'm even more glad he looks so handsome. lol.

That Korean girl lolz. I can only imagine that Kai did some kind of pelvic thrust in her general direction and her poor heart couldn't contain itself.

ETA: Sorry for talking about EXO so much lol -- I that group a lot so do tell me if I'm talking too much about them. BTW, IA with you on the Jay Park song. He looks really good and, more importantly, like he is having a lot of fun. He was so cute bopping in MJ's red jacket! He's a smooth mover, too.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Cat

[Cheap21]

Nope, definitely not too much talk. Speaking of which, it looks like they will perform again on Sept 8. Im not clear by the wording, but it looks like it might be the whole group, and not just K

http://www.allkpop.com/article/2014/09/exo-to-perform-on-hunan-tvs-2014-mid-autumn-festival-special

Jay Park

Ive been slowly making my way through Jay's album and Im really digging Evolution. Meanwhile he did an interview where he talked about his MJ inspiration, female idols and more

2NE1

Here is one half of the group and Minzy is rocking her new pink hair

[Eric83]

Are you fans of this group Cheap and Cat?

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/6236640/ladies-code-involved-in-fatal-car-accident-eunb-dead-two-members

Ladies' Code were involved in a fatal car accident the morning of Sept. 3 (local time) on their way to Seoul.

According to a statement from the South Korean act's label Polaris Entertainment, reports Yahoo! Philipines, the van driving the girl group had its back wheel fall off. The vehicle slipped on the rainy road and ran into a guardrail. The accident left member EunB dead. She was 21.

Also in the van were Ladies' Code members Rise, said to be in critical condition, and SoJung, injured and hospitalized. Other passengers (including Ashley, Zuny, band managers and stylists) did not retain serious injuries.

Upon the news, the K-pop community responded on Twitter with phrases like "#RIPEunB" and "#PrayForLadiesCode" that began trending worldwide, the former being the most-talked about topic at one point. The phrases "Ladies Code" and "Sojung and RiSe" also trended worldwide.

After their early 2013 debut, Ladies' Code were selected by Billboard as one of five K-pop acts to watch in 2014. The group released new single "Kiss Kiss" on Aug. 6, following up "So Wonderful," their biggest hit on the K-Pop Hot 100.

[Cheap21]

No, never heard of them but that's awful. Thoughts and prayers go out to their families

[Cat]

I had never heard of them before the news of the accident, but this is utterly devastating, obviously. Their poor friends and families. I will spare you the details of the report I read, except to say that the extent of EunB and Rise's injuries were such that they could not be identified at first, indicating that they were thrown from the car -- hence, not wearing seatbelts.

Sad day. Prayers go out to the families.

[YRBB]

God, that's horrifying.

[Cat]

2PM's disco-ish teaser:

I'm intrigued. And whoever he is, is cute!

And here is another Chinese variety show featuring EXO playing random crazy games. They usually do well on those mainland shows (think Happy Camp):

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/14120576.html#comments#comments

That D.O. gif, tho. He is so not into this game.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Cat

[Cheap21]

Thats Taecyeon and he's my favorite! He may not be the best vocally, but he sure is a cutie. Small tidbit, but he was born in SK but moved to the US with his parents when he was younger and got permanent residency. He went back to SK in his late teens to become a model but JYP put him in One Day, where he eventually was split off into 2PM. Since then he's had a steady acting career on the side. He gave up his US visa so that he could serve in the SK military. He's had a serious arm injury which has delayed that, but he seems adamant about serving his country. I wish him luck when he eventually does do it but it will be rough on his fans. Have more respect for him though bc unlike other celebs over there that true to avoid this, he wasnt obligated

Super Junior

Guess, what Cat. It happened. I listened to SJ's Mamacita and I liked it. These guys are closer to my age. They are EXO in 10 years...lol. Some even strangely resemble each other

This guy looks so much like Baekhyun

This guy though.... Siwon is hot. I could look at him all day

On a side note, I tried BTS' Danger and didnt like it

EXO

Not sure what thats from but I love his look

Poor DO

New promo shot

That hair...lol

GDB

Thats super cute

Edited September 6, 2014 by Cheap21

[Cat]

So that's Taecyeon -- I have heard that name everywhere but couldn't place the face. He is a cutie, and that is a really nice story about his willingness to do his military service at the expense of his US residency. I hope one day that the two Koreas will be united under SK democratic rule so that maybe mandatory military service can become a thing of the past. In the meantime, it is great that we can benefit from his services to K Pop hotness, and this latest mini album looks like it will be a fun one. Can't wait to check it out when it officially releases.

LOL, EXO would not exist without the Super Junior template. From the looks to the Chinese members! It gives me hope that EXO will progressively become more comfortable in their own skins and start enjoying the MV s and performing because right now they are exhausted and going through the motions. In TV appearances, they are guarded to the point of fear, with only Chen and sometimes Kai, Sehun and Tao, being able to let loose. That Sehun gif you posted (and which I had in my siggie -- it will likely return because Sehun looks so fly in it) was from a TV show EXO have done where they recreate MVs from K Pop songs of the 90s. I wouldn't watch the shows themselves unless you are also a fan of those 90s groups. They cover a lot of background and the SM Rookies are promoted throughout, so that is a distraction. Sehun got the song Yo! by Shinhwa and after he had warmed up a little was able to show of his sassy Qween Sehuna self. But it was still a long hour until the last 10 minutes when they showed Sehun's video. Here are some other gifs of that performance:

Sehun sassing:

Dark Sehun and Light Sehun fighting through a mirror:

Devil Sehun:

DO was in a K drama show where I think he played a character suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. Apparently he really won over the KOrean public with his performance so there could be a lot more acting roles in his future. Acting is something he has been studying so great for him!

Suho looks so good in both those shots, and I love the crazy dark hair on him! I miss it. Right now, apparently, it is Korean Thanksgiving and Suho has gone on a mini vacation with Tao and Sehun. I hope they remember to take care and make a fuss of their sweet little hyung (or "Big Momma" as they called him in Happy Camp).

This popped up on my YouTube feed today, quite coincidentally. It's a Super Junior song called Swing. I really like the MV!

I haven't listened to all of Mamacita yet but it's clear this group knows what it is doing and is one of the most fun in K Pop. They certainly have helped to establish SM as the #1 entertainment company in SK (along with YG). And yes, Siwon is fine at ANY age, lol. I really should get into SJ as they are closer to my age group too. It's so weird that I am stanning for those young kids in EXO, lol.

Yeah, BTS's Danger is not that catchy, though I liked the choreography in the MV. The song by BTS that I really like is We Are Bulletproof. I've been listening to that one a lot:

Aww GD. This is not the first time we have seen him with little kids. He seems to really click with them.

[Cheap21]

2PM.

Go Crazy! Its out and I love it. Ive never seen them like this before

They're so stupid....lol.

Remember how I thought it only contained 2 songs? Looks like thats only the single. There will be a full album of 10 songs. The video above is a spoiler of the different tracks. Sounds good. http://www.soompi.com/2014/09/09/2pm-have-too-much-fun-in-go-crazy-music-video/

BEAST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrN0Pbn8uQs&list=PL0qYSLHXPElobqsyK8TiDAll5ktxGSKtL&index=4

Ive been going through withdrawals but I found that a YTber has uploaded their Japan Tour 2014 DVD to a playlist and Ive been watching that. The new setlist removed Bad Girl and I Like You the Best from the rotation! Was not happy about that. The latter is my favorite song from them and BG was their first one. Both should always be mainstays. I did like that they at least added alot of their new material from last year, but Black Paradise didnt make it unfortunately. What they did add was an acoustic version of Midnight, Ive never heard. This rendition is really beautiful. Here's the link to the playlist : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0qYSLHXPElobqsyK8TiDAll5ktxGSKtL

CL and Taeyang

Looks like they teamed up for SamSung

Gorgeous

DO looks really bad. I thought he was in a horror picture...lol

And so it slowly starts....the only SJ song I knew prior to any of this was Sorry, Sorry and that was only bc EXO did a cover for it, which I liked

that is defintely better

Edited September 10, 2014 by Cheap21

[Cat]

Holy [!@#$%^&*]. That 2PM song is hilarious! Flying past that fake-ass moon just like ET. I wasn't fully familiar with 2PM before, but this new concept works great on them! I also love how 70s DISCO and Michael Jackson appears to be sweeping K Pop. First Taemin, then Jay Park, now this group.

OMG, the look on the face of (Taecyeon) the guy pretending to fly a bicycle.

BEAST's comeback weirdly seemed over before it began. It was a good comeback, too, but their entertainment company cut it too short IMO. Hopefully this means that they are recording and will be back with another album soon. In the meantime, I will look forward to listening to Midnight as I have never heard that song before, and I love when they do slow renditions of songs.

CL and Taeyang... why do I think these two have had a fling? At least they are the same height! Her make-up is so on point.

LOL, yes... And So It Begins. Speaking of on point, Siwon's eyebrow game is FLAWLESS.

[Cat]

P.S.: It finally happened. I never thought I would see the day when I would say I like "Wolf." But I do. It crept up on me this week for no reason, and suddenly I can't get enough of the five-genres-in-one-song. The whole concept is pretty unique. I love the choreography and I'm even accepting of Kai's dreads. Damn.

[Cheap21]

The thing was all around hilarious and Ive been waiting for their comeback stage, which they had this week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLNPq9WOuBo

I love how it looks like they are genuinely having alot of fun, especially Wooyoung (guy in the pink). Love his mullet! And like most K-Pop stars, Changsung went blonde. Not feeling it at all. Maybe I'll grow to like it like I did Junho and Junhyung as I didnt like theirs at first either. Speaking of the comeback, I do think its kind of lame that I'm Your Man (Korean ver.) is the song they are choosing to promote with Go Crazy bc its two years old! It was released as a Japanese single, which I preferred as it had more English words. The choreography and outfits are the same too. Good song but I wish they had done something new

Loving that headband

Is he really wearing a skirt? LOL

Did it? It was about a month and a half which seems to be standard for KPop comebacks. I thought they had a good run and it was a mini album after all. Ive read that Yoseob could be recording a new solo EP for release late fall, so hopefully thats true. Who needs to do one is Dongwoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbsp4-a5i80

The guy is super talented and underrated. I was blown away with this song

Bye!

You think? LOL Ive thought the same about her and GD

I guess its fitting that 2PM just came back as just as I was ready to get into SJ, 2PM came and cockblocked them...lol

Remember how weeks back you said some EXO stands were going crazy bc they thought Beyonce was talking about loving the group? She has a song called XO and it had nothing to do with KPOP...lol