An intoduction to terms and types of fans

Ok first things first sorry this is so late. My hard drive crashed on my Mac. *sobs* So I am on my laptop PC now. (yuck!)

This time I’m going to talk about terminology, fans, and antis. When it comes to kpop there are going to be some words you’ll start seeing that make no sense. They certainly didn’t to me and it took me a little while to work them all out. But first a quick guide to some Korean pronunciation.

I’m still unsure on a lot of it but two things you need to know is that the people who set the standards for romanization of Korean (putting Korean words into our alphabet) are IDIOTS. When you see a Korean word spelled with a Z you pronounce it as a J. It is the same for K, it is pronounced as a G. Why they couldn’t be spelled with a J and a G to begin with I do not know.

Now onto some terms. Here are some of the more common ones and their meanings:

Noona: a term used by males to address women older then them
Hyung: a term used by males to address men older then them
Unnie: a term used by women to address women older then them
Oppa: a term used by women to address men older then the (some Korean men do not like foreign women to call them this)
Dongsaeng: a term used to mean younger sibling but can be used to refer to someone unrelated who is younger then you
Ahjusshi: an middle aged man
Ahjumma: a middle aged woman
Umma: mother
Appa: father
Maknae: the youngest in a group
Sunbae: a senior in an organization
Hoobae: a junior in an organization
Hwaiting: fighting (used as encouragement)
Saranghae: I love you
Aegyo: overly cute behavior
Aigoo: similar to oh my or gosh
Omo: korean verision of OMG
CF: a commercial
Ulzzang: means best face and is used to refer to a group of peolple who compete online to be the most attractive. Several idols are former are former ulzzangs such as Jaehyo from Block B.
Bias: a favorite member from a group or a favorite group

Onto the fans and antis! Or more specifically netizens and antis. Netizens are Korean internet users who are known for being incredibly vicious towards their celebrities. They have been the indirect cause of a number of celebrity suicides. They are nasty. They delight in starting rumors and tearing down celebrities lives around them. They also attack fans who manage to get to close to their favorite celebrities. They will track down their address, their school, their place of employment and often harass them.

There was once a case where netizens found old myspace posts from 2PM singer and leader Jay Park who is originally from the United States. The posts were in English and talked about the hard time he was having adjusting to living in Korean because he was raised American. The netizens somehow mistranslated and misinterpreted it to be an attack on Korean culture. There was a mass outcry that in the end left Jay Park being kicked out of the boyband 2PM and having his contract terminated. There was even a petition signed by THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE calling for him to kill himself. Only recently has returned as a solo artist.

Antis can often be confused with netizens. The difference however is that antis just plain hate a group or singer and will go out of their way to belittle and harm them. Emphasis on the harm. One famous incident occurred when an anti pretended to be a fan and handed a bottle of water that was laced with a chemical found in super glue to TVXQ member and leader Yunho. In the end he was lucky he didn’t die and he had to be hospitalized. The girl eventually handed herself over to the police more afraid of the retribution she would face from his fans.

In Korea it is much easier to harm a celebrity you dislike then it is here in America. We are so separated from them but in Korea where the majority of the population lives in the capital city Seoul they live together. I remember reading not too long ago about a girl who ran into the singer G.NA at the train station. There are also fans who will wait in cabs outside their idol’s home and wait for them to leave and then follow them around all day constantly blogging about where they are. As such it is easy to find where an idol is organize a scheme to harm them with like minded individual, get there, and carry it out.

Intro to 2NE1

The next group I would like to introduce you to is a four member girl group by the name of 2NE1. It is pronounce as to anyone which is coincidentally the name of their first full length cd. It stands for New Evolution of the 21st Century. 2NE1 is made up of CL, Dara, Bom, and Minzy (pronounced Min-jee). Their fans are known as Blackjacks and their balloon color is pearl hot pink.

History

2NE1 debuted in 2009 under YG Entertainment, another of the big three management companies. Their first song was called Lollipop and it was a collaboration with fellow label mates Big Bang as an advertisement for a LG phone by the same name. It is common in South Korea for music groups to promote products through music videos. The song was an instant hit topping the charts.

Their first solo song to be release was entitled Fire and had two different music videos. Both received over a million views in one day. The song was shortly followed by I Don’t Care in July.

2NE1 quickly stood out from the other girl groups due to their hip hop flair and unusual fashion. Most girl groups up to this point either went extremely girlie or sexy. 2NE1 was neither and they gained popularity for it.

In February of 2010 2NE1 returned with the single Follow Me and a potential American debut in 2011 was announced. Then in September came their long awaited first full length album. It was called To Anyone. For To anyone YG Entertainment made a radical new decision and had 2NE1 promote three songs off the cd. Before groups had only promoted one or two songs off of their cds and even then the music videos were never all released around the same time. The three songs were called Can’t Nobody, of which an English version was included on the cd, Clap Your Hands, and Go Away.

In late April member Park Bom released a solo track by the name of Don’t Cry. It was an extremely heart wrenching song about a woman whose lover had died. Then in May they released a single entitled Lonely. It quickly gained over a million views on Youtube and was even the number one most played and liked video in America on the day of it’s release.

Currently 2NE1 is working with will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas on a cd for their Ameriacan debut. They currently have ten songs produced.

Members

CL is the leader of 2NE1 though she is by far not the oldest. CL’s birth name is Lee Chae-rin  and she was born on February 26, 1991. Due to the fact that she moved around a lot when she was younger CL is fluent in Korean, English, French, and Japanese. She is in charge of rap, vocals, and dance in the group.
Dara is one of the older members of the group being born on November 4, 1984. Her birth name is Park Sandara. While Dara was born in south Korea she lived in the Philippines for some time where she became known for appearing in dramas. Dara’s younger brother is also involved in the entertainment industry as a rapper for boy band MBLAQ. Dara is n charge of rap, vocals, and dance in the group.

Park Bom is the oldest in the group and my personal bias. She was born on March 24, 1984. In sixth grade Bom’s family moved from South Korea to the United States. She stayed in the United states until she graduated college in Boston. She was rejected by YG Entertainment multiple times and it took her three years to become accepted as a trainee. She then was taught both Japanese and Chinese. As a trainee she appeared in a number of songs by other artists including two by label mates big Bang. She has released three singles of her own. She plays cello, piano, and the flute. She is in charge of vocals and dance in the group.

Minzy is the maknae of the group having been born on January 18, 1994 making her ten years younger then fellow members Dara and Bom. She is in charge of dance, vocals, and rap in the group.

Some Video Links with English Subs

Lollipop
Fire street version
Fire space version
I Don’t Care
Follow Me (despite the fact that the subs use ‘copy me’ the correct translation is ‘follow me’)
Clap Your Hands
Go Away
Can’t Nobody
Can’t Nobody English Version (videos AND lyrics are different so watch both!)
You and I
It Hurts (slow)
Don’t Cry
Lonely

An Intro to SHINee

The first group I’m going to introduce if very near and dear to me. They were the first group I really got into in kpop. The group is a five member boyband by the name of SHINee. The group consist of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. SHINee’s fanclub is called Shinee World and fans call themselves Shawols. Their balloon color is pearlescent sky blue.

History

The group is signed with SM Entertainment, one of the three big management companies in South Korea. They first debuted in May of 2008 with the single off their mini-album Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay). Their music is very upbeat and youthful sounding. Just three months later they made their return with their first full length album The Shinee World. It debuted at number three on the charts. Then in October they released the repackage of The Shinee World, A.Mi.Go.

One year after their debut they released their first single Juliette. I myself was not very fond of this particular song but I think it has more to do with the masks they wore in the music video and promotional pictures.

SHINee then went on hiatus until October of 2009 when they released their third min-album 2009, The Year Of Us. In Ring Ding Dong, their main song off the cd they took a slightly darker approach then they did in the past. The boys donned leather pants and studded jackets. Oh and let’s not forget the black and grey feathered wings in the music video! During their promotions for the cd SHINee also filmed a tv show by the name of Hello Baby where they had to raise a three year old boy by the name of Jung Yoogeun.

In July their second full length album Lucifer was released. The title song Lucifer is about an obsessive girlfriend that they still love. The translated chorus (credit kpopsubs1) “If you tie me down and lock me in, the love is tied down too the future is tied down too, it can’t grow Freely empty yourself and look at me, I’ll fill you I’ll fill you up. Your spell that I can’t reject is Lucifer, your magic that I can’t reject is Lucifer”. The song itself is rather upbeat with a rather difficult dance routine.

On October first the repackage of Lucifer, Hello was released. With the song Hello SHINee returned to their previous bright and cheerful image. Then in December SHINee held their first solo concert. There was approximately 24,000 people in attendance.

Currently SHINee is pursuing their Japanese debut with a Japanese language release of Replay.

Members

Onew is the oldest of the members of SHINee and the leader. His birth name is Lee Jinki which he prefers to be called by. He was born on December 14, 1989. Onew is well known with his near obsessive level of love for chicken.

Kim Jonghyun is the main vocalist of SHINee. He was born on April 8, 1990. He is rather short to the other members and is often said to look like a dinosaur. In November of 2010 he took part in a project group called SM The Ballad with fellow label mates Jay Kyuhyun, and a trainee named Jino. The group release one cd. Jonghyun was also involved in a scandal in ;ate October 2010 when it was discovered that he was dating actress Shin Sekyung.


Key is one of two rappers in SHINee. He also acts as a vocalist. Key’s birth name is Kim Kibum. He likely took on his stage name due to the fact that one of the members of Super Junior, also part of SMent, was named Kim Kibum. Key was born on September 23, 1991.

Choi Minho is the other rapper in SHINee as well as a sub-vocalist. He was born on December 9, 1992. Minho is very competitive and good at sports.

Lee Taemin is the maknae, or youngest, of the group and is in charge of dance. He has also recently shown rather incredible vocal skills, taking over Jonghyun’s lines in performances when he was injured. Taemin was born on July 18, 1993. Out of all the members Taemin has also gone through the largest image change recently. He has gone from a very young and cute image to a much more mature and sexy image.



Some Video Links With English Subs

Replay (note: noona refers to a woman older then the male using the term)
Love Like Oxygen
A.Mi.Go
Juliette
Ring Ding Dong
Lucifer
Hello
Replay Japanese Version


SHINee’s Hello Baby With English Subs

An Introduction.

My name is Linda and I am 21 years old. I have been into Korean pop music for almost a year now. It is upbeat and fun to listen to. The Korean music industry is still in the age of boy bands and girl groups which I have missed in American music.  I am deeply involved with kpop and am a member of several groups' international fan clubs. Kpop has taken over my life but it has also opened several new doors for me. In fact I run two rather successful fan merch stores on Tumblr.

In this blog I want to introduce people who are not into kpop to many of the different artists and groups. I’ll discuss some of the social issues behind kpop like the netizens and antis. I will also keep you updated with current events in the realm of kpop through articles from several gossip/news sites and give you my opinion on them. It is my hope that through this blog more people can find kpop and come to enjoy it despite the language gap.