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.
Original Muse 