Is That NYT Podcast About K-pop Any Good?
Great article!! As a non-American but also non-Korean fan of kpop it's always very interesting but also super.... idk, irksome? Hearing certain US Americans talk about musicians from other parts of the world because they have this way of speaking as though they're objective and could have no bias leaking into their opinions and its like... idk, when you're used to being the center of the universe, that absolutely can and does give you a biased point of view? It's how a conversation like the Popcast can happen.
like when they talk about the globalisation of kpop, it's only ever focused on the United States and supposedly appealing to Americans- don't get me wrong, a lot of kpop companies absolutely do want a piece of the US pie and understandably- I'm not denying that but it's the notion that they would only release an English song to "hook" America. 1.4 billion people speak english- but yeah, okay. It's only the US that kpop is interested in. I also think people have thos idea that speaking English = white but thats just plainly not true becuase, yk, colonialism.... Also THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING COLONIALISM like again... US American media in particular saying stuff about Korea always makes me so 😒 because well... Obvious reasons.
Also the one other thing which is just small and petty on my part but the comment about Ive made me laugh bc, again, it's centering the US in a convo about kpop but also!! Ive just did a successful, well promoted tour in Australia so the idea they aren't being listened to outside Korea is already disproven like.... cmon NYT, do a lil better. But also it just reminds me of the fact I always remember someone saying bts isn't really successful because they "never get radio play" in the US (as if radio is the way to tell what's hot in 2023 but I digress) and again it made me laugh because I'm not particularly a bts fan but I do like some of their songs, and do you know how I know those songs? MY LOCAL RADIO STATION PLAYS THEM! Jungkook has a little intro where he says the station name and everything, its cute. So again it's just that thing of standing back and understanding that not everywhere is the same and while what she said might be true to some degree in her neck of the woods, down here in mine it doesn't ring true and kpop has been getting decent coverage and playtime for a long time- it's the US media that acts like pop groups being, yk, popular, is strange or scary, when it's actually very common.
Anyway, all in all totally agree and great article- just thought I'd also share my perspective and why it can be frustrating as a global kpop fan.
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