Here, we reminisce about the time when Big Bang and the Wonder Girls teamed up to dominate the kpop scene. It was during the promotions of “Haru Haru” and “So Hot.” Back in August of 2008.

2008 was by far the best year for music when I was in college. I’m not just talking about when it comes to the foreign music I was listening to. But also, here in the states. As you’ll recall, the tastes had taken a turn from the krumping sounds of the early 2000s where we had the sounds of Lil Jon, Nelly, and Outkast. By 2007-2008, Timbaland, Ne-Yo, and the Black Eye Peas had taken the reigns with their electronica-driven brand of hip hop. Back when Step-Up 2 was all the craze and we saw the cast compete against Miley Cyrus’s dance crew in some of the best dance videos ever.

To be honest…aside from the nostalgia of the 1990s, 2008 was perhaps the only year that I could tip my hat off to American music. It was the only year where I didn’t mind going to the gym and listening to the mainstream music that blasted over the speakers.

But when I did put on my headphones…in August of 2008, the music coming out of Korea took me far, far away. I weighed 340lbs at the time. But I had hope. I had a dream that one day I could look in the mirror and not see a disgusting behemoth that no one would ever want to be close to. When you’re in the progress of making that happen, it can be a bit depressing because such change doesn’t happen overnight.

It took 4 years to get down to 220lbs. But it was the music of S. Korea…it was the beauty of women that kept the hope alive, that motivated me to keep going despite the lack of discernable change. I believed in myself. Not sure I could have done it without the type of music Korea was producing at the time. Allow me to explain… Continue Reading