Monday 10 December 2012

Jay says "Don't Gangnam style anymore!"


I knew Jay had opened up a can of worms when he said as much at the recent Baidu Awards.

And the backlash from netizens was not unexpected.
I'm sure he would have known that.
But he had to make his stand for Mandopop (he IS the King!) and he did...kudos to him!
After all, Jay is fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage and there's always that bit of Chinese egotism which is inherent, dating back from the days of yore.
He just wants his fellow Mandopop artistes and fans to stand together and not be overwhelmed by the Hallyu wave....understandably.
(Show Luo said the same thing at another awards ceremony)

Which seems a rather uphill task at the moment, in the wake of Psy's Gangnam style and Kpop's popularity.
I won't take away anything from the Kpop stars work ethic and passion in reaching out to more people all over the world...in fact, I do admire them for it.
And I'm kinda glad Psy knocked JB's thingy off the top of some chart. ;)

But am I a Kpop fan?
Not by a long shot.
True, the groups have eye candy (however,  I can't tell the individual singers apart) but their songs sound somewhat similar after a while (yes, I have listened to Kpop).

I also have friends who love Mandopop AND Kpop.
So I guess music is just universal and to each their own....blah blah blah...
And don't forget, in Asia there's also Cantopop, Jpop, Bollywood pop (which is quite nice!), Thai pop...etc.


Remember: much of pop music actually originated in the West and even Jay's own style has influences from hiphop, R&B and so many other genres.
As such, most of Asia's pop has been influenced by the same sources and who is to say which is better?

Let the debates rage on!

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