Have You Ever Seen The Rain? And Who’ll Stop the Rain?: The Globalizing Project of Korean Pop (K-pop)
<p>Using the Korean artist Rain as a case study, the article examines the Korean music industry and its development into “multi-purpose star management” that creates transnational stars by de-emphasizing their national identity. It also examines the reaction by media and fans.</p>
<p>“Border-crossing Korean pop culture” is part of a larger phenomenon describe as “trans-Asia cultural traffic” (Iwabuchi) or “East Asian pop culture” (Chua). Yet previous studies confine Korean pop culture to the Asia region while K-pop is engaged in a globalizing mission.</p>
<p>Rain functions as a case study because he seeks to transform from a star in Asia into a global star. The means by which this could be achieved is the “star manufacturing system,” where Korean entertainment agencies incorporate production and management within the agency, and includes a training system. This system developed in the wake of the 1997 economic crises and shifts in the production in idol groups in the wake of the decline of music show programs. In order to achieve global star status, the article argues that Rain de-emphasized his Asian identity to embrace a global one in terms of marketing.</p>
Shin Hyunjoon
<i>Inter-Asia Cultural Studies</i>, vol. 10, no. 4, 2009, pp. 507-523.
<p>Howard, Keith. “Exploding Ballads: the Transformation of Korean Pop Music.” <i>Global Goes Local</i>, edited by J. Craig and Richard King, UBC Press, 2002, pp. 80-95.</p>
<p>Lee, Jamie Shin Lee. “Linguistic Hybridization in K-pop: Discourse of Self-Assertion and Resistance.” <i>World Englishes</i>, 2004, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 429-450.</p>
<p>Lee, Jung-yup. “Contesting Digital Economy and Culture: Digital Technologies and the Transformation of Popular Music in Korea.” <i>Inter-Asia Cultural Studies</i>, 2009, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 489-506.</p>
<p>Shin, Hyunjoon. “K-pop (music) in the Emerging Cultural Economy of Asian pop.” <i>Journal of Communication Arts</i>, vol. 25, no. 4, 2007, pp. 1-11.</p>
<p>Siriyuvasak, Ubonrat and Shin, Hyunjoon.” “’Asianizing K-pop: Production, Consumption and Identification Patterns among Thai Youth.” <i>Inter-Asia Cultural Studies</i>, vol. 8, no. 1, 2007, pp. 109-136.</p>
Nonsense in Public Places: Songs of Black Vocal Rhythm and Blues or Doo-Wop
<p>This article argues that vocal rhythm and blues, or doo-wop, is impacted by race, class and location. Characterized by its nonsense syllables in a cappella songs, doo-wop is defined by its origins as public singing in urban neighborhoods. Goldblatt defines doo-wop as “a vocal-centric song genre” that featured nonsense phrases, often performed in black and Hispanic neighborhoods in urban areas (102). Doo-wop was a group activity incorporating various voices, not a solo genre. The nonsense phrases made the genre accessible. Doo-wop is often associated with “the corner,” which stands for “a public outdoor urban space” and “a metaphor extended to. . . spaces. . . democratically open to all” (103). As a result, singing in such public places was also linked to identity, especially for the people of color who engaged in singing doo-wop. The nonsense singing that characterizes doo-wop could be slow or fast, but it always revolved around the vocal foundation of the song. At the same time, the vocal style of individual groups varied, even when singing the same song. While the style seems to involve repetition, “the lyrics of doo-wop came as close as possible to being repetitious without repetition” (106). While Theodor Adorno argues that repetition creates similarly automatic responses from the audience, doo-wop precedes its recorded counterpart, thereby excluding it from the realm of mass art that Adorno critiques. Goldblatt argues that such repetition actually motivates audiences to participate through its repetitive nature. Doo-wop’s influence on rock and roll, and its evolution by the people of color who sang it, shows its significance as a musical form.</p>
David Goldblatt
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 71.1 (2013): 101-110.
Crystal S. Anderson