Inspired by following:
I don’t think K-pop is inherently doomed at the Grammys, it’s just that none of the music that crosses over to the US is good. Like it’s very predictably the worst cross-section of South Korea’s annual output, there’s tons of money involved and no critical arbitration
And this:
because the only music that crosses over to the west is for children. kpop fandoms get very upset when you point this out.
Or
When you know the most played Kpop outputs stateside, at home, and globally are Gangnam Style, DDD, Dynamite, and APT, I don’t think you can really be so gung-ho about “good” music here for you too are part of why it’s “doomed”
This is subject to a lot of discourse at the moment.
I think this is a divisive opinion and is bound to ruffle some fandom feathers but nonetheless it’s a conversation to be had. I mostly see this opinion being voiced by people who are not into kpop spaces although they know kpop.
As we have seen American institutions have snubbed kpop but have had no problem in acknowledging other Korean art. Like film or TV. Kpop demonhunters which is a film soundtrack (similar to Encanto or Frozen) gets nominated by both Oscars and Grammys, wins a Grammy for visual media despite losing bigger noms (par for the course for a film soundtracks), wins Golden Globes and will likely win Oscars. Parasite wins Oscars. Decisions to Leave gets Oscar nominations and wins in various film festivals. No Other Choice (sort of seen as an inferior Park Chan Wook film critically), while snubbed at Oscars wins at various film festivals. Squid Games was a huge commercial phenomenon.
It seems like the only people getting snubbed are the traditional kpop idols. The boy groups and girl groups, and their soloists.
Why is it that Kpop demonhunters can win but Rose can’t despite both of them working with the same producer and despite Rose having the co-sign of someone as highly regarded by the Grammys as Bruno Mars? Teddy Park gets awarded for Kpop demonhunters but not Rose. Why is it that korean films are regarded highly but their dramas and idol music is not? Why is that outside kpop circles kpop is simply not taken seriously? Katseye is currently getting very negative reviews both online and from media outlets. I find it to be an example of how kpop is considered.
I think even fans agree that BTS’s best work is not their english songs but their korean work. APT was dismissed as a kid’s song by the detractors. So was kpop demonhunters but seems like that is the appeal there. Katseye is getting called a gimmick. So is the above sentiment correct? Is it because of how bad the kpop that has been pushed to the US is? Or is it something else? Why is kpop not being taken seriously?
EDIT: Here’s my personal opinion. I think the mainstream kpop is indeed bad but I don’t think mainstream american pop is any good too. Sorry but Taylor Swift is dogshit. Also it’s BECAUSE of institutional barriers like racism and xenophobia and elitism that kpop mediocrity has a hard time in front of american mediocrity. When it comes to choosing between mediocrity the racists will always reward their own.
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