Lady Gaga

I didn’t really understand the hype about Lady Gaga until now; all I knew of her before was that she had platinum blonde hair, sang catchy music, and wore strange clothes. So I decided to check out her songs other than Just Dance to find out what mad her so popular despite her mediocre singing skills.

One thing I admire is her amazing talent for producing songs. Her style is reminiscent of some legendary pop artists like Madonna and Gwen Stefani. Yet she spins their elements into her own unique signature that is more fluid and infectuous. Although not as renowned as Just Dance, her other songs like Beautiful Dirty Rich, Honest Eyes, and LoveGame boast of feisty, slick, and hardhitting grooves. Her razorlike lyrics echo her cutting attitude as a self-reliant artist with shocking yet artistic originality.

Her songs from the album Fame summed into one video:

American influence on KPop

I am not a huge fan of Korean pop-music other than a few artists. According to a friend who does appreciate KPop though—which is fascinating because he is Taiwanese and he knows KPop more than I ever will—Korean artists “branch off into their own type of pop.” I am not sure whether or not I agree with him, but I must admit that the mainstream KPop industry seems to have risen to a whole new level with higher-quality artists and producers who are increasingly presenting themselves to and attracting an international audience (or at least in the realm of Asia).

 

American influence is still—and it seems to me more and more—evident, which reminds me of the discussion in my International Issues and Public Policy class on the spread of English culture and media. Perhaps that is why I have been listening to more KPop recently. The synthesized yet catchy and semi-techno motif characteristic of Timbaland’s songs is predominant in much of KPop music these days.

 

Take, for example, Eun Ji Won’s “Dangerous.” I had no idea that Akon himself had a song called “Dangerous” before I heard the former, which I liked to a certain degree because of its adaptation of the style of popular U.S. hits today. When I listened to both of them, however, I couldn’t help but be shocked by the almost jarring similarity between these two songs. Check out Won’s “Dangerous”:

 

Now listen to Akon’s “Dangerous” if you are not familiar with the song already:

 

Striking, no? I do like Won’s version more though, mostly because I don’t really have a penchant for Akon’s peculiar voice that verges on being annoying to me.

YES I DO ACTUALLY LIKE A MILEY CYRUS SONG, thank you very much

Photo Credit — TheInsider.com

I just realized that the title of this post may result in a significant decrease in the number of potential subscribers to this blog as well as in the level of credibility people attribute to my taste in music (no offense to any Miley Cyrus fans out there). But I will say it again anyway: I actually like a Miley Cyrus song called “See You Again.” I first heard it last year in my friend’s car while we were heading to his after-prom party; the song was on the playlist of a mix CD his cousin burned for him (and why his cousin–a college student–had a Miley Cyrus song on HIS playlist, I don’t even know).

Quick review of See You Again: it is catchy and upbeat, kiddish and silly. Great song to listen to when you feel like taking a temporary respite from the all-too sophisticated young-adult world.

It’s really actually pretty good.

…

Don’t hate.

– Museician