The Idol Grows Up (Or Does She?)

We'd like to thank Suzanne, one of our readers, for sending us the idea for this article! 

Buoyed certainly by Confucian tradition, a person's age, in Korean culture, is of utmost importance - especially concerning how one person views and then treats another. You'll often see reality shows where the first questions asked are directed at someone's age. Deference goes to older aged - respect. There are books written about this, sociological studies. But what about aging itself, and, since this is a Kpop site: how do young idols perceive their own aging? IU's "Twenty-Three" has sparked some discussion on the similarities between her new video and Lim Kim's "Goodbye 20" and Song Jieun's "Twenty-Five," and with good reason. But as these idols tackle growing older, are they really saying the same thing? Let's dig a little deeper here, shall we?

Starting with Lim Kim, and not just because she's the youngest: She entered headfirst into her twenties with "Goodbye 20."

I already know what you're thinking (I can read your mind, it's scary), but twenty-one isn't the same marker for Koreans as it is for those of us in the United States. The legal drinking age is nineteen, and so is the voting age or when you can buy cigarettes (but nice try). 

So why is turning twenty-one even significant? Watching the video, it's hard to tell. Lim Kim's first lyrics, translated in English are something like: "My twenty is all gone, I have done nothing," which, considering her early success, seems a bit disingenuous. It takes a minute to realize that Lim Kim, despite turning twenty-one herself, really isn't singing about herself here: "My Mom tries to imprison my night, like I'm a punk" speaks more of a delinquent child instead of the touring idol that probably sleeps in a dorm room provided by her agency. She complains about her sister being in hysterics, her father who is never home, possibly dropping out of college, finding love. No, Lim Kim is not singing about herself here but how she imagines turning twenty-one would be like for someone who isn't an idol.

This song signals an end to adolescence by embracing the juvenile. Lim Kim has never been more exuberant, popping balloons and knocking over people dressed as bears (she dresses as a bear herself to make the moneys), wearing gloves on her feet, dragging herself to adulthood via skateboard, despite herself. It's a beautiful video, full of cool sky blues and mustard yellows, but even so this release feels a bit off; it feels staged. Looking at her early releases you wouldn't even guess that Lim Kim was so young. "All Right" feels decidedly adult, "Rain" touches the sublime with the grace of someone twice Lim Kim's age. "Goodbye Twenty" isn't about showing fans that Lim Kim is growing up as she's always been presented as mature and adult - instead, this release is reminding us of her youth.

Which brings us to (Secret's) Song Jieun's "Twenty-Five," which is well, mostly different. What's strange with Song Jieun's coming-of-age release, "Twenty-Five," is everything. Watch the music video first, then get back to me.

Did you watch it (please don't lie)? On first glance, it's a nice but pretty unremarkable video, but it actually is pretty remarkable how thrilled Song Jieun is at becoming a woman, referring to herself with lines like: "A perfectly amazing bodyline," and "Beautiful, young, and free." It's oddly empowering, and it's only odd because this feels like a coming-out party, whereas Song Jieun has been doing this idol thing for years already.  

"I don't act like a girl anymore," she sings, clutching a stuffed bear (again with the bears!) and popping birthday balloons, and, despite the visual contradictions, one tends to believe her. She enters twenty-five unencumbered by her naive, insecure youth, dancing in high heels and short skirts with all the confidence of a seasoned diva. 

So how is it just mostly different from Lim Kim's own coming-of-age release? It's because, like Lim Kim's release, "Twenty-Five" is also reminding us of Song Jieun's youth, which is presented here as strangely "girly," with a focus on flowery decor and aggressive pinks. This is probably going for, at least partially, an ironic touch, as midway through the video we enter a more slick (adult) black and white and blue color scheme, but we don't stay just there - we keep returning to these soft, idyllic images - Song Jieun as young princess, forever young. Therein lies intent. In both Lim Kim and Song Jieun's releases, as they confront their aging, one with glee and the other with despair, a central element binds them: they're also selling their beautiful, coveted, youth. 

Which brings us to IU and "Twenty-Three."

Yes, IU has her own coming-of-age song here, and there are some stark similarities that all of these videos share. The color schemes - these blues signifying maturity are significant (or: entirely coincidental). There's more bear imagery as well but only IU directly mentions the mammal with the intriguing: "Pretend to be a fox that pretends to be a bear that pretends to be a fox." Those lines hint at the fact that IU's take on aging is a bit different than that of her peers. She is less concerned with growing older and more concerned with her own celebrity and duplicity, which, honestly, is far more interesting.

In fact, IU's "Twenty-Three" may have more in common with Gain's criminally underrated "Truth or Dare," which probed into the idol life and certainly exaggerated Gain's larger-than-life persona (and went to great lengths at shaping that persona). The video ends with Gain asking: "Just living - isn't it all acting?"

IU's video isn't selling the idea of youth - it's selling the idea of IU. Like "Truth or Dare," IU brings us one of her most personal releases yet - she doesn't imagine what it would be like for someone not super famous to grow older like Lim Kim does - she peers into her own self as a super famous idol. Unlike Song Jieun insisting on her maturity, IU embraces the duplicity of growing older. The only certainty is uncertainty.

Observe: "Oh right, I want to be in love. (No, I'd rather make money)." Or how about: "Making the opposite facial expression to the heart is really simple." Or, my favorite: "At first, I never wrote a single line of lies." The song is a lyrical smorgasbord, personal and straight from IU's mouth (she at least co-produced all the songs in this CAT-SHIRE mini-album), but still touching on ideas that are universal.

IU depicts growing older as falling into a rabbit hole, life taking the form of Alice in Wonderland's upside-down madcap world. I'm sure many young adults see the absurdity of their adult lives in much the same way. In that, IU's "Twenty-Three" is actually very different from Lim Kim and Song Jieun's similar releases. By sharing how much she doesn't know, about life, about herself, IU is showing how adult she really is. And that's something you have to respect.


Timothy Moore writes from Chicago. He blogs at Read My Blog Please, and edits at Ghost Ocean Magazine. His biases are T-ara, Block B, Nine Muses, Brown Eyed Girls, and Girl's Day.

From Fame to Infamy: The Harmful Naivety of Bias

Chances are, if you’ve been listening to K-Pop for any time at all, you’ve found yourself a group you like more than others. You’ve maybe even found a member you like more than anyone else. For those not familiar, this practice is generally known as having a ‘bias’, and trying to avoid it has proven very difficult for most K-Pop fans over the years.

This is hardly anything unusual, and it’s certainly not limited to K-Pop; everybody has that one celebrity whose career they look out for a bit more than others, who they’re happy to see succeed. Even that person who says they’re ‘not really into celebrity culture’ has that one person, and I would bet real, actual, I-earned-this-from-my-legitimate-job money on this. I would then also go on to bet that that one famous person you like more than others (in this case, your favourite idol singer) is someone you don’t generally like to have to read criticisms of, and someone you feel the need to defend. This also isn’t unusual; you don’t need to look any further than an idol’s Instagram comments to see people defending their bias from something. The same qualities which people tend to admire in an idol are also qualities which they typically wish to emulate. So it makes sense that people often begin to project themselves into their idols as they become more and more emotionally invested in them.

The problem with defending your favourite idol and becoming emotionally invested in them arises when this becomes unhealthy. Getting overly attached to someone you’ve never met and don’t know beyond the idea of them you’ve created for yourself is one thing, but refusing to admit that someone you admire has done something harmful is something else entirely. The lack of willingness to address this has been a problem in K-Pop, and many other fandoms, for years. Wanting to think the best of people isn’t a bad thing at all - but blindly trying to absolve someone of their faults and indiscretions is wrong in several different ways. One thing that people make the mistake of doing is pretending that their idol saying offensive things is fine so long as they do not personally find this offensive, and this is both insulting and short-sighted - we’ll call this harmful naivety.

This past year, K-Pop has been rife with scandals. We had cases of members leaving popular groups and consequently being sued (Hey SM, how are those stock prices going? Good? I heard good.), members getting kicked out of very popular groups, and members choosing not to renew their contracts. These aren’t really problematic, but some fan reactions very much were. Some things idols did were very dangerous and extremely harmful to others; most recently, Choi Siwon of Super Junior retweeted a series of messages on his Twitter which questioned the validity and morality of same-sex marriage. 2014 also saw rapper and producer Woo Jiho AKA Zico of Block B proudly wearing a Confederate Flag printed armband in his MV for ‘Tough Cookie’, as well as spouting homophobic sentiments in the lyrics. Most recently, there was an example of none other than JYP selling school uniforms to young kids…featuring provocative pictures of his most recent girl group and JYP in sunglasses in the background. Bear in mind, the members of JYP’s newest girl group TWICE are all under twenty years old, with their youngest member being age 16 – so it was more than a little bit inappropriate.

Adding to all of these, there are countless examples of people ignoring their favourite idols saying racist things, doing racist imitations, saying sexist things, and so on. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for fans of K-Pop, but the sheer frequency of this happening over the past year has made it clearer than ever that many fans have an issue with admitting not only to themselves, but to others, that their favourites have messed up. Instead, fans often feel the need to defend their idols – even in cases where an idol has done something truly horrible.

There is no better current example of this than that of Kim Hyun Joong. Last year, it came to light that a woman claiming to be Kim Hyun Joong’s girlfriend had accused him of physically assaulting her. The details are fairly murky, and there are many different accounts, but Kim Hyun Joong (hereafter KHJ) did admit to assaulting her on one occasion even if he has not fully addressed them all. In the case he admitted to, the woman sustained a broken rib. KHJ maintains that both parties were physically assaulted, but how true this is remains to be seen. Many of the charges have since been dropped, but the fact remains that KHJ hurt someone else, and fans like to defend him to the point of maintaining that he did nothing at all - even when case proceedings say otherwise. I’ve seen fans argue that this woman is jealous, or that if she’d been a better girlfriend he wouldn’t have done this to her. Both of these things are completely unacceptable. This is without a doubt a case of harmful naivety leading to the blind defending of a bias. It should be made clear, to anybody who missed it, that what KHJ has done was awful, and he has shown absolutely no signs of regret at his actions. Rather, with his army of fans steadfastly behind him, KHJ continues to live his life seemingly the same way as he always has – except now, of course, he’s currently serving his two-year military time (hardly the same as a prison sentence).

This case is not the only thing that happened, of course. Idols frequently say and do hurtful things - some examples include Wendy of Red Velvet and her racist imitations, numerous people (including veteran singer K.Will) making fun of Hyorin of SISTAR’s skin colour, and EXO member Park Chanyeol continuing to make ‘jokes’ about the dark skin of fellow member Kim ‘Kai’ Jongin. None of these things are okay, but fans still try to claim that these things are not offensive even in the face of other people giving them details as to why they are, and why they have been used against them personally.

One of the most important things about being a fan of anything, in particularly something that is as popular as K-Pop (and it’s many, many idols), is being critical of it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you talk smack about it all the time, or make fun of it (although I like to do this in a loving manner because I’m trash), but it does mean that every now and then you take a step back. You take some time to think critically about how and why you are blindly defending people, and from whom. If you’re spending most of your time doing this, chances are that what you’re doing is upsetting people – and this is likely to be true even if you can’t see it. Admitting your bias has done something wrong doesn’t make you a bad fan; it makes it clear to the people they upset that you do not agree with what your bias is doing or saying. Often, fans who blindly defend an idol’s problematic behaviour do it because, in some way, they agree with it. Another argument I’ve seen is that idols say these things because it is okay to do in their culture, but this is both incredibly racist and infantilising.

There’s no harm in loving something a lot, and no shame in having a favourite in a group you really love. If these things make you happy, then by all means! They make me happy, and that’s why I feel so strongly about it. What I am saying is that it is not okay to act like your bias is the perfect, innocent snowflake you like to pretend they are; I can guarantee you they aren’t. Moreover, putting them on this pedestal just means that, when they end up doing something awful, they have further to fall - and the more upset you will be as a fan.

K-Pop markets itself as being fun and easy, and this is what it should be; if you don’t find this happening, maybe it’s time for a break. If what you love isn’t making you happy, and the way you interact with it is making other people unhappy, then it’s time for self-reflection.

The hope is that, when your bias or any other idol does something problematic and wrong, that they learn from it and genuinely want to not do it again. Everybody makes mistakes, but some are bigger than others - in some cases, people can learn but they might not deserve to be back in the beloved position they held before. This is because this position was something they abused in the first place in order to be able to carry out their actions. But still, it would be better if they learned from the experience and genuinely apologised. However, when you defend them blindly, nothing is learned aside from that they can continue to do problematic things because people will always come to defend them. This will do nothing but make K-Pop exclusive, and drive out fans who don’t feel welcome to voice their grievances. With K-Pop being so popular and so overwhelmingly fun, this would be a shame. So, to continue to make it as open for everyone as possible, call your idols out - and don’t let them get away with things just because you think you know them.

But remember to have fun, too.

Helen Edworthy is an English Sociology undergraduate who got lost in the world of K-Pop five years ago. She tweets at @captain_helen and her biases are UKISS and NS YoonG.

Review: IU’s CHAT-SHIRE Inscrutably Good

IU is back with a brand new album! CHAT-SHIRE, the seven-song EP, was released to much fanfare on October 23 (in honor of lead single, “Twenty-Three”). But IU’s own massive success makes it near-impossible for anything like a unbiased review. Here at Critical Kpop, however, that’s exactly the kind of review we want. So rather than assign this review to a long-time listener, I’ve been tasked with giving a full, honest account.

Full disclosure: I’m not an IU fan. Crazy as it may sound, I’ve never given much attention to the nation’s little sister, which gives me a huge advantage while listening to her latest release. It doesn’t do our readers, our site, or even our favorite Kpop artists any good if all we post about a new album is a string of emoji that start with elation and get progressively closer to orgasm. A gif of someone’s head exploding doesn’t qualify as discourse. All too often in Kpop we sacrifice meaningful content for raw emotion, especially when it comes to talking about big artists.

So where to begin with CHAT-SHIRE? With “Shoes” of course! The first song on the album is the one that grabbed me by the collar and forced me to spend my weekend under IU’s spell, something I really wasn’t planning on. Being wildly different from my own expectations for the album, “Shoes” set an important precedent for what was to come. Although it’s the first of many commonly-titled songs in a rather quotidian tracklist (e.g. shoes, the shower, knees, glasses), the song is anything but normal. “Shoes” leads the album off with a heavy disco element that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bee Gees song. IU’s voice, however, carries more of a natural, folksy color that blends to create something I’d describe as “smoothe disco.” The disco peeks in and out of the song (and the rest of the album), to be alternated by a more traditional pop sound.

This blending of genres and seeming free-reign to explore would come to define the album for me. The title of the album, CHAT-SHIRE, recalls the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland (both in the word cheshire and in “chat” being French for cat), a character famous for its inscrutable smile. Add to that the idea of a chat being an informal dialogue, and you’ve got a decent description for the whole album: informal and inscrutable.

Next on the album is “Zezé,” darker and more mature in sound, and perfectly placed between the lighter “Shoes” and “Twenty-Three.” Although there are still a few strands of disco, and even an R&B flavor to IU’s vocals, the overriding genre here is pop. This is typified by the oft-repeated, four-note piano riff, reminiscent of Britney Spears’ “...Baby One More Time,” and which gives the impression that this song could take off in another direction at any moment. That it stays so perfectly on course is testament to IU’s talent and control as a singer. The blend of styles, here and throughout CHAT-SHIRE, creates a positive tension well-worth the cost of admission.

“Twenty-Three” is where the album establishes itself thematically. It's a playful romp through an Alice in Wonderland styled world, where IU gets to show her weird side. And it should be a requirement, when watching the music video, to have the lyrics open on another screen. Unlike the standard Kpop drivel, IU is actually saying something here. The lyrics suggest that she’s at a crossroads: is she an adult or is she young and immature? IU isn’t sure, and neither are we. But more than uncertainty, or even inscrutability, the line that struck me was IU’s admission of her anxiety over what others think of her. “People are always kind to me. / The woman saying hello to me / Is she still smiling after going round the corner? / I’m always anxious.” While this is a sentiment that can be understood by each of us, the idea is intensified by IU’s fame. Considering how unbelievably positive her career has been so far, it is not hard to see how anxiety must build for her between each and every release.

She must wonder, at times, whether it could possibly be true that she hasn’t set a foot wrong throughout her career. Is CHAT-SHIRE actually a good album? Can reviews like this one be trusted? For IU, I think that self-doubt only makes her work harder to reinvent herself with each song. IU is only twenty-three. She’s got a long future ahead of her, but she’s going to do her own thing. And this song is a good example of that, blending elements of jazz and disco to create pop music that intentionally understands itself differently.

“The Shower,” however, slows things down with a much more one-dimensional folk song. The synthesized disco, jazz, and pop sounds disappear during this track as IU sings over an acoustic guitar and an accordion. Thankfully, “Red Queen” continues where “Twenty-Three” had left off, with a mixture of pop and an old-school jazz feel. The song wouldn’t be out of place on Lee Hyori’s most recent album, but IU’s higher and more breathy voice, along with Zion.T’s signature sound, makes it new.

“Knees” is an unfortunate deviation from an otherwise cohesive album ("The Shower" aside). A slow song accompanied by soft piano and violin, it fails to resonate. For the first time, the quotidian nature of the song titles starts to feel oppressive and boring. It’s a nice song, a beautiful song, even, but it doesn’t match the big picture of CHAT-SHIRE. Rather than advocate for the removal of slow songs (every album needs ups and downs), “Knees” could easily be skipped over in favor of “Glasses.” The song evokes a late-night jazz club, smoke enveloping IU as her sultry voice enchants the audience. The jazz harbors a Caribbean sound that transfers to traditional pop during the rise, before blending together in the refrain. “Glasses” haunts even as it entices. It’s a song that shows both IU’s roots and her more recent exploration into other genres. It’s a perfect way to end an album that is both inscrutable and a sonic masterpiece. And that’s coming from a non-IU fan. CHAT-SHIRE is not perfect. But it would be with the removal of two songs that did not fit the album's concept. For that, I give IU's latest release a very strong A-.

Zander Stachniak is a southern-born, Chicago-based writer who first discovered Kpop through ShoutCast Radio. His biases are f(x) and Block B.

This Week in Kpop: October 18-24, 2015

This Week in Kpop is brought to you by the letters I and U! No, not You & I, although that would be fine too, because IU is back, and she's twenty-three and she's a queen. So why don't we get started already?

IU is Twenty-three!

IU capped an excellent week for Kpop with the fun, sassy, and redefining "Twenty-three," which is a part of her also wonderful mini-album, Chat-Shire, a release that is just killing every chart imaginable right now. Koreans just can't get enough of IU, and we didn't even realize how much we've missed her until we saw the teasers for "Twenty-three" last week.

And here's the thing, we've actually missed IU longer then she's been away! Last year was an incredible year for her, with the special remake album, A Flower Bookmark, and who can forget her collaboration with Seo Taiji and releasing the haunting, "Sogyeokdong?" But while those releases have transitioned IU into something beyond traditional Kpop idol, we feel like we've also been missing a glimpse into her bright personality, a door that has been closed since...? "Red Shoes" maybe?

Say no more - "Twenty-three" is a feast of personality, one of IU's most personal and easily the most poppy release in ages. She's had a hand in every song in her mini-album, and that personal touch has led to this quirky, fun single. We've seen idols addressing their maturity whence reaching milestone ages, but IU's take is uniquely her own, highlighting her contradictions, her misconceptions, and, perhaps, the perception of her as an idol. This is a welcome return for IU, who, again, has redefined herself with a release that requires multiple views, with the lyrics on full display. It's been too long, IU, but welcome back!

XIA's "Yesterday"

XIA came back this week with the beautiful/disturbing "Yesterday," which seems like a great place to followup his equally beautiful/disturbing "Flower." While "Flower" introduces us to a post-apocalyptic landscape (of the heart), "Yesterday" brings us smack in the middle of the end of the world, with nuclear warfare (or is it a meteor?), planes crashing, and cities reduced to rubble, while the demon moon observes. The imagery is actually a bit jarring in that the world itself is in a state of intense warfare, where cities in rubble and people fleeing warfare is a part of our daily news cycle.

But it's impossible to deny that the imagery is effective and somehow darkly moving, which would mean absolutely nothing if Junsu here didn't have an amazing, soulfully heartbreaking voice, that just carries you to the end of this cataclysm. He's definitely become an artist to watch for dark, adult releases, but really he's been doing this for a while now, friends.

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 8: Twice!

Listen (harder), friends. We're super hyped for Twice's rookie debut, calling it, among other things, one of the best rookie debuts of the year! In our latest podcast, we detail what makes this release so stunning, and where we see their bright future heading! Listen right here, friends!

October 18-24, 2015

And that was This Week in Kpop! This week was full of high-quality releases that make us excited to be Kpop fans! While we've been focusing on our podcast in recent weeks, if you have an itch to write a review, please seek us out - we'd love to see what you're thinking and are always open to publish new writers! We'll back next week just in time for Halloween! Until then, have fun and be safe!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 8: Twice!

Twice is finally here! On today's episode, Tim and Zander talk all about JYP's newest nine-member girl group! Join us as we analyze their hit single, "Ooh Ahh," review their humble beginnings from Sixteen, discuss our favorite members, and more! Is this the best rookie group debut of the year? Listen and find out!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 8: Twice! by Critical Kpop on Mixcloud

You can subscribe to the Critical Kpop Podcast on iTunes, or check this and future episodes out at www.mixcloud.com/CriticalKpop. You can expect a healthy serving of news, reviews, and critical analysis in every episode. The Critical Kpop Podcast is the only podcast that invites you to LISTEN HARDER.

This Week in Kpop: October 11-17, 2015

This Week in Kpop may just shock you when we tell you that BTOB is the real deal! Don't believe us? Well, you haven't even heard our reasons yet, so that's rude! But anyway, we're here to prove you wrong. Let's get started!

BTOB is Way Back Home!

And they haven't even been gone too long! This summer's "It's Okay" was a smooth R&B classic with a plot-heavy (sometimes ridiculous) ultimately uplifting music video. Many fandoms decry their respective idols' underrated state, but no group may have more of a claim on this title than BTOB, in the era of groups like BTS and Exo and VIXX, BTOB can fulfill their own niche of this new Boy Band era, with excellent releases like "Beep Beep..."

Or the ridiculous "You're so Fly" here:

Or how about the amazing "Wow" which is just...wow?

So what is that niche? While they started with more traditional extra poppy boy band releases like "Insane," they've recently shifted their focus, slowing their tempo down considerably. They've released songs like this week's "Way Back Home," another smooth, soft pop single that may not light up the charts, but serves well as a counterpart to the "harder" hip hop turn that groups like Block B and BTS are shepherding. We're talking silky smooth vocals here.

Even the music video is longer than most, as BTOB practices their acting chops with this eight minute tale that degenerates, somehow, into a free-for-all brawl. Which is to say that we had to watch "Way Back Home" (without the benefit of understanding Korean) multiple times to get an idea with what was happening. But maybe that's part of BTOB's new charm - they require you to work a bit more, to pay attention a little longer - their soft tracks may not hook you immediately, aren't flashy in the least, but give them time and, as we so often say, listen harder. The rewards will be plentiful (TRUST US).

Twice Teased

Just about all year we've been waiting for the killer girl group debut, and while we've been impressed with the likes of G-Friend, Sonamoo, and, recently, Oh My Girl, there wasn't a real girl group that has truly captured our attention, or our hearts. But could that girl group finally arrive with the likes of Twice? We've been teased all week with pics, videos of the individual members, and now an instrumental track list, which just shows how invested JYP is into this group's success (a built-in fandom won over by his Sixteen reality show sure will help). The video, as we are led to believe by all the various teasers, will also feature zombie, which seems to have worked out for 4Minute and T-ara.

Fingers. Crossed.

Mamamoo Knows How to take a Break!

Speaking of rookies, 2014 rookies Mamamoo are showing just what to do in between major releases! You don't hide a group away for a year right when they build momentum (cough*AKMU*cough), you have them do OST's, like the stunning Solar here (cough*BIAS*cough) or feature Moonbyul in collaborations with singers like U Sung Eun. Mamamoo has already had an amazing 2015, but while they take a break between releases it's smart they remain active and present, building their fanbase further and further. Just saying.

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 7: Obsession

This week Tim and Zander continued their Guy's Night In with a look at obsessions. Why do we love what we love? We take a look at one of our favorite music video's ever, NS Yoon-G's "I Got You," as we try to unravel this mystery! You can take the journey with us here!

October 11-17, 2015

And that was This Week in Kpop! Still don't believe BTOB is the real deal? Think Twice is going to bomb? Let us know in the comments! Until next week, have fun and be safe!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 7: Obsession

On today's episode, it's another guys' night in! This time, Tim an Zander focus their attention (and their mental faculties) on one song: "I Got You" by NS Yoon-G. Obsession is the operative word, and it's something that every Kpop fan deals with at some point or another. So sit back, relax, and listen as Tim and Zander analyze a single song as a metaphor for the much larger Kpop world. Be sure to check out the music video for "I Got You," too!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 7 by Critical Kpop on Mixcloud

You can subscribe to the Critical Kpop Podcast on iTunes, or check this and future episodes out at www.mixcloud.com/CriticalKpop. You can expect a healthy serving of news, reviews, and critical analysis in every episode. The Critical Kpop Podcast is the only podcast that invites you to LISTEN HARDER.