This is not just a kpop specific issue, it’s an issue with the current music fans all over the world. When a song is made, we automatically assume the song is about the artist themselves. But did we forget that songs are art and art can be about anyone and anything. And when it comes to a kpop project, there are so many people involved behind a song or an album. Kpop projects largely depends on the “concept” or “aesthetic”.
Yes, the concept can be entirely because of the marketing. But some of them are personal. As fans, how much knowledge do we have about that idol or the other people behind the project. Taylor Swift and Adele write songs about their heartbreak. But there are songs that aren’t about them. Lana Del Rey wrote a song about her main producer falling in love and getting married. These western artists are much more open about their personal life because their dating or personal life won’t cost their career. Now how much do we know about kpop idols? How much do we know about their lives? Their peers’ lives? The writers or producers’ life?
I am writing this post because of the controversy about a recent album’s concept being about marketing. I don’t know but I am guessing most of these posts are from non Koreans. Do they realize how hard it is for make LGBTQ+ person to make a project where they can express themselves? There are very few 🏳️🌈 celebrities in Korea and almost none of them are mainstream. Holland, the most well known international gay kpop idol has faced hate crime very recently in kora. The idea that baiting concept can tank a comeback is absurd to me because baiting has been a thing in kpop for a long time. The album that sparked “baiting” controversy recently, actually faced backlash from Korea for LGBTQ imagery. It was so severe that the company deleted that specific image with pearls . If the album has flopped, it was most probably because of the prejudice towards gay people. When two same gendered idols are two close or shipped too much, they always face baiting allegations and most of these popular ships are extremely successful. Their albums never flop? And why do kpop fans automatically assume the idols are straight? Isn’t this heteronormativity?
As fans, we know nothing about these idols or their collaborators. And this isn’t just true for negative things or when a male idols does something horrible and then we start to vastly generalize every male idol ever. We also don’t know these idols’ and their personal lives. Before we assume who they are , let’s stop and think . Not everything is about marketing. And not everything is about the person in front of the camera
submitted by /u/Gisntd
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