big bang

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XII – When Big Bang became Kings

Posted by Rock Kitaro on July 1, 2019
Posted in: kpop. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Big Bang 2007 3

Ladies and Gentlemen, what I’m about to share with you is truly an honor. I witnessed the changing of the guard when it comes to the Korean music industry. Back then, DBSK was still the kings of Kpop. But in so many ways, they left their kingdom, vacated their throne. They ventured out to Japan in an attempt to carve out a new empire there.

Then…out of the blue. On Thursday August 16, 2007, Big Bang released their mini-album, “Always”.

I’m telling you…I’ve never heard anything like it. It was two days before my 21st birthday. Before I saw their live performance, I heard every song on that mini-album. The above video is a live performance of “Lie.”

Lie…would go on to become one of Big Bang’s signature hits and even won 2007’s song of the year award. Every track was fire, don’t get me wrong, but for me…the song “Always” was the best of 2007.

I remember that Friday night, I was closing as a Pizza Hut delivery driver. I know most people think of it as a crappy job where drivers have to go into seedy neighborhoods and deal with rude people. But the area in which I worked was an upscale part of the Tampa Bay area. We’re talking gated communities. My customers were Buccaneers and Tampa Bay Lightning players. My point being, the neighborhoods were mesmerizing with breathtaking landscapes and beautiful lightning.

I replayed “Always” again and again to a beautiful night. Nothing went wrong because the song kept me in a mellow, “its all good” mood. That’s the effect “Always” had on me. Just be cool and relax.

I was very pleased. It’s been one year since they released their first album and you can tell Big Bang had evolved. Each member had changed up their style and improved their performance, but none more so than Taeyang. He sheared off his braids, thank god, in favor of a stylish hat, making it iconic the same way Michael Jackson did with his hat.

Taeyang 2006 2taeyang-background-1

More than that, his voice…Dude…In my chapter about Big Bang vs the Pretty Boys, you’ll notice I never made mention of a particular song called “My Girl.” It’s Taeyang’s solo and to be honest…I think I could’ve sung that song a lot better than him. It’s very garden variety and doesn’t leave much to aspire to.

But once I heard him sing in “Always” and “Lies,” it’s just incredible the transformation he undertook. I remember seeing the documentary about his trainee days where even YG praised him for his relentless work ethic, to practice and improve on his skill. And I saw it. He improved so much. Hahaha! I knew it. I knew these guys would take it to the top. I was witnessing the rise of Big Bang, the new kings of kpop.

VII. Big Bang vs the Pretty Boys

Posted by Rock Kitaro on June 4, 2019
Posted in: kpop. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Big Bang 2006 5

I know…the title of this chapter is enough to spark some disgruntled looks. If you’ve heard of Big Bang before reading this memoir, it might sound confusing. But as someone who’s been into k-pop since nine months before they’re first release, I can tell you that they’re debut was anything but an actual Big Bang.

Let’s start from the beginning.

By the fall of 2006, I had just turned 20-years-old and DBSK was still my favorite kpop group. H.O.T. would be the greatest in my book until about the year 2014. But H.O.T. disbanded back in 2001. Se7en latest album was awesome, but it was DBSK that actually got me into kpop with their hits “Rising Sun” and “Triangle”. In September of 2006, they released their third album, “O” and their music video was phenomenal.

I was glad to see they hadn’t lost their touch, having spent so much time trying to make a name for themselves in Japan. The choreography was on point and the song was fire. While I was super psyched to hear from them after some time…there was one problem that I couldn’t overlook…aside from their use of the World Trade Center collapsing as b-roll…The title song, “O” was the only song that I liked on the album. The rest, was garbage. Especially their follow up hit, “Balloons,” which if you saw, you’d see was very bubble-gum poppy with the video super focused on the visuals.

Back in film school, we had a word for albums like this. “Duds”. An album everyone thinks is going to be the bomb, but makes no explosion. That’s not to say it didn’t do well in Korea. It was the highest selling album in 2006. But part of that started to breed resentment in me. That they’re fans would just accept anything. Or maybe I’d gotten spoiled from uncovering albums from artists that had already been released, one after the other. While, with DBSK, I now had to friggin wait for God knows how long for their next album to come out.

And when it comes to the fans…dude. I’ve been referring to these boybands as groups…because that’s what they are to me. However, in Korea, they’re called idol groups. And it’s not hard to see why. DBSK had the largest fanbase of all the groups, probably the whole world. I think at one point, it numbered around 500,000. They were called Cassiopeia. That’s the name of their fan group.

I was a fan, but I never would call myself a Cassiopeia. Why would I?

After listening to just “O”…a single song on an album of eleven tracks, I was left with more to be desired.

It was around this time that was also listening to Se7en of YG Entertainment. And as you’ve learn from the end of the last chapter, I stumbled across a video of a pair of YG Trainees dancing. It was G-Dragon and YongBae.

After that…I saw on the Youtube sidebar a pre-debut song G-Dragon put out. It’s a remix of Maroon 5’s “This Love”. And dude…I’m telling you. Back then, I didn’t know how far he’d go. Only that he was by far the most talented artist of our generation. I recognized all of this from just one listen to this song. He was only 18-years-old at the time and he wrote all of his own lyrics.

“This Love” by G-Dragon was amazing. It’s one of those timeless songs that never gets old no matter how many times you hear it, no matter what year it is, no matter what the trends are. The song, the style, the vocals, everything works.

Coincidentally, it was just like when I discovered DBSK. I saw the video of Yunho before learning he was the leader of DBSK. I saw videos of G-Dragon and learned he was the leader of YG’s up and coming 2nd generation group following in the steps of 1TYM. That group went by the name of Big Bang.

Big Bang 2006 3

The first video I saw of all five members was “LaLaLa.” I’ll let you listen first before hitting on some key points.

 

Top 10 Korean Artists Who Would Dominate the U.S. Music Scene

Posted by Rock Kitaro on August 10, 2014
Posted in: About the Author, News and Updates. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

big_bang___alive_wallpaper_by_fuckyeahkpop-d51wqwz

 

Let’s face it, if you look at the American mainstream music scene, its almost difficult to compare it to the 90s and 80s where even men and women in their mid-40s could bust out a top ten hit. Nowadays, it’s all about trends and spectacle. But what if I told you that there is another country teeming with artists who can do what today’s pop icons do…but better. To make it clear to you fans who already have your torch and pitchforks at the ready, this list isn’t necessarily talking about the “best” Korean artists. It’s about the Korean artists who could literally come over to the land of the free and stand a chance to succeed in the mainstream.

10 – Block B (BlockBuster)

If you checked out the music video, paused it, and still hear the trumpets blaring in your head…congratulations. You’ve only experienced but a taste of what Block B has to offer. Debuting in 2011, this seven member hip hop group has already proved their talents by winning multiple awards not only in S.Korea, but in Europe! Led by Zico, one of Korea’s top ranking rappers, Block B has become a household name with their first full-length album “BlockBuster” topping out at number ten in the “Billboard World Albums” chart.

Think of BoB and Bruno Mars. Eminem and Rihanna. Chris Brown and T-Pain. Justin Timberlake and Jay –Z. All of these artists take two huge followings and combine them with a single song to create a larger demographic. Now imagine a single group where you have all of that, three top of the line rappers and four crooners to captivate the audience. There’s no need to have another artist feature on the track because Block B is more than capable to deliver on their own.

What separates Block B from the hundreds of other kpop groups out there is their wild charisma to perform without an emphasis on the appearance. Primarily specializing in hip hop and dance Block B has been through their share of adversity and continues to produce club anthems like “Nillili Mambo” and “Very Good”.

 

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From a YG Elitist – My Tribute to the Evolution of YG Entertainment’s Big Bang

Posted by Rock Kitaro on January 31, 2014
Posted in: About the Author. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Featuring YG Entertainment’s Team B, Winner and TVXQ’s Yunho, to Five Finger Death Punch’s “Coming Down” I put together an energetic video that showcases the evolution of Big Bang’s dances over the years. I added text to the lower left hand corner to identify each Artist so you can do your own exploration after watching this. I hope you like it.

Big Bang

Big Bang

Favorite Big Bang Song – “Haru Haru” –

Big Bang or Bigbang (Korean: 빅뱅; stylized as BIGBANG) is a South Korean male group under the management of YG Entertainment. Formed in 2006, the group consists of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri. Big Bang is known for their unique urban-originated music and fashion style. The members’ involvement in composing and producing their own music, most notably leader G-Dragon, has earned the group respect and praise from music industry experts.

The group’s popularity grew with their hit song Lies, which stayed at number one on Korean charts for a record-breaking seven consecutive weeks. Their follow up releases, Hot Issue and Stand Up, furthered their success, spawning hits such as Last Farewell and Haru Haru.[4] From 2007 to 2008, Big Bang received many awards, including “Best Male Group”, “Song of the Year”, “Artist of the Year”, and the Grand Award at the Seoul Music Awards.

From 2009 to 2010, Big Bang expanded their endeavors to Japan, and were voted “the Korean group that Japanese fans wish to see the most”. They became the first foreign group awarded “Best Newcomer” from the Japan Cable Broadcasting Station and “Best New Artist” at MTV Japan. Amidst their Japanese group promotions, the members branched out to do solo activities. Daesung, Taeyang, G-Dragon, and Seungri have released solo albums. G-Dragon and T.O.P also collaborated on an album under the sub-unit GD & TOP. Seungri and Daesung have acted in both TV dramas and musicals. T.O.P became a highly acclaimed film star. Daesung also hosted many of Korea’s most popular variety TV shows.

After nearly a two-year hiatus in Korea, Big Bang reunited in 2011 with their successful album Tonight. However, promotions were cut short when multiple members encountered legal issues. In November 2011, representing the Asia-Pacific region, Big Bang emerged as the inaugural “Best Worldwide Act” winner at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards.[5][6][7] This was the first time in six months all five members were seen together. In 2012, Big Bang released their fifth Mini Album Alive in Korea and Japan before embarking on their first ever World Tour which concluded in early 2013 and 2014 Japan 6 Dome Tour(First Foreign Group)

– Source: Wikipedia

The Meaning Behind “Dragon Ash” – My exploration of Jpop and Kpop

Posted by Rock Kitaro on March 31, 2013
Posted in: About the Author, Original Stories. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Meaning Behind “Dragon Ash” – My exploration of Jpop and Kpop
By Rock Kitaro
Date: March 26, 2013

Dragon Ash

Dragon Ash

“Be Stronger, Fly Higher, Don’t Be Afraid”

Those are the opening lyrics to Dragon Ash’s “Underage Song,” a song dedicated to the youth, inspiring them to strive no matter what.

I’m currently in the midst of writing the second episode of one of my short stories. The “Dragon Ash” series I’ve created is named after my favorite band. Not my favorite Japanese band. Not my favorite rock band. But favorite band, period. And out of respect and overwhelming gratitude, I felt it was high-time I explained myself. If by reading the end of this memoir, members of Dragon Ash thinks I should change the title of my story, I will.

Let me take you back to the end of 2004. In the midst of my senior year of high school something was happening to me. I think the last English CD I bought was Slipknot’s “Vol. 3 Subliminal Verses.” After that, I confess that I couldn’t help but to simply download my music. But the music I took an interest in downloading wasn’t American made songs. My dormant rebellious nature kicked it up a notch and I think I just got fed up with English lyrics. I think after 18 years of life, I got tired of hearing the same lyrics over and over again. I felt that I had heard every possible way that an artist could overextend “why” or say “I love you”. Not to mention, the kind of music that was clouding the airwaves during this time was just…just terrible. And so…I moved away from American music for a brief period of time.

Using filesharing sites like limewire, I began with downloading instrumentals. Music from anime, video games like Need for Speed and background music from movies like Daredevil and Vin Diesel’s XXX. My friends back then understandably thought it was puzzling, as did I for a time. But then I found a similarity between those instrumentals and metal, another genre I discovered a liking for at the time.

With some metal songs from artists like System of a Down and Slipknot, until I looked up the lyrics, other than the main chorus I had no idea what they were saying. And on a subconscious level, I think I preferred it that way. I couldn’t articulate “why” back then, but I think I was tired of lyrics dictating to me what to think, how I should feel and how I should go about situations. When I listen to music, I want to simply feel good. And 2004’s mainstream music kind of made me feel shitty because I wasn’t and still don’t, feel like I’m part of the mainstream.

Giving you this background information was crucial to help you understand how I was able to transition into what happens next because something spectacular happened.

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