![Read more about the article Ivy – Sonata of Temptation [Music Spotlight]](https://centakumedia.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ffvii-ac_20200405_001.png)
K-Pop solo artist Ivy released a music video for her song “Sonata of Temptation” a little over a decade ago (which I originally talked about back in 2009 on the blog before the relaunch), and it was quite the topic–not just around K-Pop communities, but around Final Fantasy fan circles as well…
(more…)
Welcome to the second part of the Seoul Searching Chronicles! If you’re just tuning in, check out part one chronicling our pathway to our first ever adventure to South Korea, which brings us to what we found in today’s post, featuring one of Seoul’s popular shopping spots. A few weeks prior to our trip, we discussed the places we needed to go check out during our stay, including with a couple of friends who have visited the country in recent years. Together with what we compiled, we set out on our first full day in Korea to the COEX Mall.
If you are into J-Pop, including K-Pop, then you may be wondering why you don’t see enough content outside of Japan of your favorite artists without having to go to great lengths to obtain the latest release. It might be due to a generational issue of complicated, and possibly financial, reasons. I was originally going to just Tweet about this, but this needs more than 280 characters. So I am going to just write about this in a form of a blog post. It’s about the reasons why K-Pop is as global as it is, with even a handful of male J-Pop bands embracing the style of K-Pop. And it all falls back to an interest in music from another country that is right across from South Korea.
For this edition of Music Spotlight, here is an indie K-Pop artist that I came across a couple of years back during my personal hunts to fill my phone with a plethora of Korean Music. One of the songs I came across was by Kay-G (케이지), who previously released his debut track back in 2017.
I came across a video the other day that was created by YouTube user “just a black guy who likes j-pop” featuring the latest of what Japan has to offer when it comes to Male J-Pop Groups. As someone who has been exposed to K-Pop for more than 15 years, this is familiar territory.
Watching the video, I couldn’t help but notice the familiar soundscape of each group presented in the video. What I heard in the video sounds–and looks–like a modern K-Pop group. Only if I pay attention to what I hear, it’s what modern J-Pop sounds like in the sound of many groups on the way of becoming global superstars, such as BTS, or even NCT 127.
It was in 2015 when Korean Hip-Hop group Epik High held their first ever North American tour, and boy, was I so excited when they announced Atlanta as a stop! Just two months shy of the fourth anniversary of their first tour, in 2019, the group is returning for a sold out show in Atlanta. And the way I heard about it their potential stop for their first show was a situation where I was at the right place, at the right time!
On October 29th, 2015, Star1 Entertainment held the 90s KPOP Superstars Concert in the Atlanta area at the Wild Bill’s Nightclub in Duluth, GA, which was a surprise treat (pun somewhat intended, because two days Halloween) for K-Pop fans who live in the Southeast, especially in Atlanta. A concert of this kind was also interesting as the K-Pop acts who perform in the US are current mainstream artists such as BTS, BLACKPINK, and NCT.
Back in February 2018, I made a personal accomplishment by attending 20 K-Pop concerts since 2012. The first K-Pop concert I ever attended was BIGBANG‘s first world tour, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Since then, a close friend made it an effort to attend as many K-Pop concerts as physically and financially possible. Even if it’s not “In Your Area”.
