I know I’m gonna get hated but idc, as someone who takes singing preciously and not marketfully, and see all these “vocal” communities scattered on my Youtube and Tiktok page spitting nonsence, I just have to express it.
First where do I begin? Oh yeah, the incredibly low vocal standards. “Support is the end all be all” “what’s her supported range (bs term btw)” “what’s her tier” I know all of these things are bs and should be ignored, still they’re everywhere. Plus not some people putting kpop idols who can’t sound like real singers instead of students who underwent a semester of vocal sessions be put above actual real western singers who made a name on their own (lmao thousands of kpop ppl approving Ariana Grande to be in C+ but decide to put Wendy, Taeyeon, Solar, Lily basically girls who only know to belt above her but can barely sing a Western song decently, or when we talk about CHRISTINA AGUILERA AND JESSIE J being in C-B rank put next to idols 💀). Obviously not showing how these so claimed best vocalists sound without autotuning, audio comping, dubbing their voices to oblivion. They do sound great but they don’t sound expensive. Idk how I should put it, when you hear Sabrina Carpenter’s voice, you can tell how much personality and that she’s a true singer, but when hearing even the best vocalist of SM I feel bland like even I do recognize a lot of them but realistically I don’t feel they sing for the song but they sing for the sake of technique itself. To me Solar, Hwasa, Lara, Belle, sound so much more interesting, they have so much personality and that’s what singing is. I feel like most of them are gonna end up as a ripoff Willy Wonka experience of Beyonce (and the claims “she’s just a flawless technique girl with 0 emotion or soul”, well atleast she has personality) Like I know this is bs but people are still gonna take that as holy bible, please Christina Aguilera, in C?! Oh yeah, what do you rank your vocalists? “Support, resonance, belting, headvoice, breath support, placement” you actually don’t know… And you actually don’t even rate them for anything but their belting…
But yeah… Kpop think the only thing that’s deserving of putting an idol or even a korean singer as talented is their ability to “support a note or a belt” so basically kpop fans think vocals are just belting (wdym I forgot headvoice, I’ve actually never seen headvoice being seen as important as belting to these vocal folks) I mean not only most of them use falsetto but they also mistaken falsettos for Mariah Carey’s whistle she be like “I don’t know them”. Basically most (if not all of them) idols have little to no musicality, they’ll get a simple melody or their vocal choices are told by their studio dj. There’s no place for “subjectiveness” in most of them will choose their favorite according to “how great of a vocalist they are”. Hello? Where’s the emotion, uniqueness, soul, creativity, where’s the goddamn tone? Guys, art is subjective but creativeness is also technique, if you’re not taking risks or you’re not having big artistry, you’re not having a better technique you’re just having great basics. You’re probably gonna be well rated by a technician but never by a vocal critics. And this new gen of vocal folks who take chest coordination, resonance, vowel shaping, larynx, placement aren’t any better. Idk if you go check vocal folks like Kajivocals, lhivery4r, soulvetvet, and many others on Youtube, their comment section is filled with words from whatever freaking vocal glossary exists and they just throw it in their text to sound knowledgeable, plus they only rank belting… Like they’re pitting women against other women off their belting and saying they’re the better vocalist out of that…
I mean personally I don’t find belts any impressive like not at all, belts aren’t a wow factor unless they have a certain quality to them and they’re not placed so predictable like alllll theesssee soooongggss urrgggh…. But it seems that even outside of kpop (but Kpop specifically) ppl tend to consider belting and tone as only skill factor (because they’re “hArDesT tO dO wItH wHiStLeS”). But atleast they know something about musicality and creativity unlike kpoppers. What about riffs and runs, you’re gonna tell me they’re not important, that they’re only here for “stylistic purposes”? And no, your D.O, Rami, Lily, Ailee aren’t gonna show you really complex, soulful, outstanding, incredibly fast iconic belts aside from “WoooOOooOow” and some “YeEeEeaAaAahHhHh”. What are my standards then? Go watch my girls Kim Burrell, Jazmine Sullivan, Beyonce, Faouzia, Tori Kelly and Jojo, Queen Mariah Carey, Jessie J and Brandy. Belting is mixing aren’t as difficult as riffs and runs btw.
I’ve also seen that Yuju situation where ppl say “she overused her voice by doing too many high notes” apparently she “supports F5 and everything below” but to me her belts sound quite healthy and not laborious at all and you can’t “deteriorate your health by doing too many high notes” like Yuju actually does 10 times less than I do (and I actually belt every 2 to everyday up to Bb5 or C6 please, plus singing entire songs more miles more difficult, please I’ve never ran into my voice deteriorating or hurting and I’ve never got formal training) and kpop fans be dramatizing all that strain, overuse thing when bruh she was in her early 20s the period your voice heals the quickest (not every voice injury is due to tension, fatigue and improper use, it could be genetic, environmental) but it also tells me yall have not seen more dangerous and actually intense and difficult vocals than what she sings (how about yall listen to Mariah Carey – Heavenly) like atleast be serious Mariah has been singing harder songs for 35 years while growing up with nodules she got as a toddler and still kept them for three decades and her voice didn’t deteriorate as fast. Anyways that was off topic.
Always this big, open, resonant, powerful high notes and tones that they seem to think as “the optimal perfect sound” and when singing normally they always have these bare, clean, clear, straight notes without any texture, soul or emotion or any style, personality (go watch any Koreans idols busking, or covers). (no it’s not because of a strict society which you’ll offend with your too unique singing, watch Japan and you’ll see a stricter society but singers so unique and versatile, but also take singing as an art, no masterpieces you can find in Korea like Japan, how about that).
To me it’s nowadays kpop fans only have so superficial academic-inspired way of rating vocals, but their fav vocalist also sound soulless manufactured and idk ppl have incredibly low vocal standards (you don’t need to sing powerhouse ballads you can prove yourself with even the most basic, the least range in a song). It seems ppl forgot singing especially POP singing is art like they rlly thought we were in opera, to me if you become a vocal folk atleast be like Fedsax98 on Youtube (lmao opera atleast emote better despite being the strictest genre).
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