A couple of weeks ago I explored J-pop with Shuta Sueyoshi’s solo debut, and today I’m trekking across the Pacific once again, this time to South Korea. I think K-pop and J-pop share some features, but it’s important to remember that they’re not the same thing. While both are based on the Western model of the corporate-manufactured boy band, they vary in the way that they treat these influences. K-pop seems to embrace rapping more readily, as this group exhibits. Perhaps K-pop has more dance influences and less of a rock bend than J-pop, but I’m really not qualified to say that with any certainty. Indeed, the more I listen to this music the less I seem to understand about it.
I mentioned in my earlier post about Shuta Sueyoshi’s album that I considered forward-driving harmony a staple of J-pop, but N.Flying also has this tendency, particularly in the opener “Don’t Forget This.” As I listen to more K-pop and J-Pop bands, I’m sure I’ll develop a more accurate idea of what differentiates these kinds of music. Of course, the only thing that really makes this K-pop is the fact that the members are Korean. Much like the dreaded “singer/songwriter,” I’m cautious of genres like these that are defined by non-musical factors. K-pop is such a cultural phenomenon, though, that I can’t really see this music being described as anything else.
Mike Frasier Music 