The Glorious Music Videos Of J Pop And K Pop
posted in: Features • Pop
The western world used to have a lock on the audiovisual art form that is the commercial music video. Think back over years ” to the iconic zombies and werewolf twist ending in “Thriller,” the janitor cleaning the floor in “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the Day-Glo, monster-masked mental ward patients in “Basket Case,” the pop culture references and bleached blonde hair that saturated “The Real Slim Shady.” This isn’t to say that there aren’t good music videos being made by western acts any more. It’s just that the best ones are being made in the service of J Pop and K Pop music. And the videos for those songs are, like, crazy weird.
For the uninitiated, J Pop and K Pop are dimunitives for Japanese Pop and Korean Pop, respectively. Now, the musical styles don’t share a whole lot in common on their own ” originating as they do from two different countries with two distinct musical traditions and histories ” with two exceptions. First, J Pop and K Pop are both POP (with a capital everything) to the nth degree. Take every aspect of American pop music and amplify it by 11 and you have a good sense of how overblown it can be. Second, they both have a penchant for ALL CAPS, as you’ll see below.
As such, we wanted to celebrate that gonzo absurdity, that unifying aesthetic of J Pop and K Pop, by sharing some of our favorite music videos of those two genres.
PSY – “Gangnam Style”
Let’s start off with the video that inspired this list in the first place, the clip for PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” If you spend too much time on the Internet then chances are you’ve already seen this. “Gangnam Style” is reminiscent of LMFAO’s recent singles; high-energy, sickeningly catchy, upbeat, and wonderfully boneheaded. The video for the song went viral soon after it was uploaded, and it’s easy to see why. Korean pop star PSY cavorts around horse stables, slow-mo walks towards a hot girl on the subway, and gyrates his way through parking lots, elevators, party busses, and bath houses. It doesn’t hurt that it sounds like PSY is shouting “open condom style” in the chorus to the track.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “PonPonPon”
Alright, that PSY song was good, but it was also pretty entry-level stuff. “PonPonPon” dives straight into the deep end of the weirdo pool. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was a fashion designer from Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood before becoming a pop star, so the absurd aesthetics of her past life definitely influence the visual style of “PonPonPon.” The video itself is incredibly grotesque. “PonPonPon” seems to take place in Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, if said playhouse was just given a fresh coat of LSD-laced paint. If you don’t like eyeballs, then you’ll hate this video. You’ve been warned.
BABYMETAL – “Doki Doki Morning”
BABYMETAL is an example of pop music franchising. The three member group is actually a sub-group of the twelve girl J Pop Idol collective that is Sakura Gakuin. The group (and their various sub-groups) is a lot like Menudo, with older members eventually getting phased out. BABYMETAL is no exception, with the three members all aged 14 or younger. Despite their age, they commit fully to the act of being in a “metal” band. The video for “Doki Doki Doki” reinforces this image, featuring cartoonishly dark imagery along with the BABYMETAL girls headbanging and throwing up devil horns. They even have screamed vocals!
EPIK HIGH – “TROT + HIGH TECHNOLOGY”
Fans of modern horror might recognize the nod that EPIK HIGH gives to The Host, a gory Korean monster movie from 2006. [SPOILER ALERT] However, the monster in The Host wasn’t some guy running around in a bear costume. There weren’t any lightsabers either. [/END SPOILER] If only there was a full movie version of “TROT + HIGH TECHNOLOGY.” You won’t be able to look at red yarn in quite the same way after watching this.
2NE1 – “I Am The Best”
We had to give a nod to 2NE1, considering how big they are on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The group has been named one of the 10 K Pop groups most likely to break through in the U.S. by none other than Rolling Stone. While they haven’t had much success in the states just yet, the group has topped the charts in their native South Korea and in Japan. 2NE1 also has a deep video discography, with 23 clips under their belt for the two full length releases and handful of EPs that they have put out so far. And the video for “I Am The Best” might be the greatest and weirdest of them all. First off, who knew that the WWE held ANY cultural sway in South Korea?! “I Am The Best” is also the only video I’ve ever seen to feature ice cream cone hats. That’s worth the price of admission alone.
Any other J Pop or K Pop videos that you think we missed? Let us know in the comments section!
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