We Are One! EXO::EXO-L is the first fandom profile for my iFans project. Like the profiles to follow, it provides information on K-pop groups and their fandoms, including curated cover songs, cover dances and fan projects by fans. Click here to check it out!
Category: Project Updates
K-pop Essentials: Shinhwa
The ‘Essentials” series is part of my digital humanities project, KPopCulture, which curates the music, visual culture, choreography, promotions, media and fan culture of K-pop that support this global cultural production. “Essentials” items tell you about a group through playlists of key music videos, performances, choreography and promotional videos. It also offers a bibliography of articles, music…
“Playing the Race and Sexuality Cards in the Transnational Pop Game: Korean Music Videos for the US Market,” Eun-Young Jung
Eun-Young Jung examines how the visuals of Korean music videos by BoA, Wonder Girls and Rain play on “racialized notions of sexuality” and “sexualized notions of racial identity.” . . . . Read more at Public Circulation!
“The Globalization of K-pop: Korea’s Place in the Global Music Industry,” Ingyu Oh
Ingyu Oh challenges approaches to Korean popular music based on cultural hybridity by arguing that the globalization of K-pop involves modifying musical content from Europe and other locations into Korean content and redistributing it to global audiences. In doing to, it occupies a void between Western and East Asian music industries. . . . read more…
“Questions of Genre in Black Popular Music,” David Brackett
David Brackett examines the porous nature of genres in music. Instead of being fixed, the boundaries between music genres are not defined and are subject to transition over time. . . . Read more at Public Circulation!
“Motown Crossover Hits 1963-1966 and the Creative Process,” Jon Fitzgerald
Jon Fitzgerald argues for a more significant place of the Motown sound within popular music history by focusing on its innovative creative process. . . . Read more at Public Circulation!
The Globalizing Project of Korean Pop (K-pop), Shin Hyunjoon
Shin Hyunjoon explores the relationship between globalization and regionalization in K-pop, focusing on the Korean music industry and star management and reactions from media and fans. . . . Read more at Public Circulation!
“Songs of Black Vocal Rhythm and Blues or Doo-Wop,” David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt argues that vocal rhythm and blues, or doo-wop, is impacted by race, class and location. Characterized by its nonsense syllables in a cappella songs, doo-wop is defined by its origins as public singing in urban neighborhoods. . . . Read more at Public Circulation!
The Public Circulation of Ideas
What good are ideas if we don’t share them? As scholars, we research, write and publish in increasingly inaccessible spaces: journals behind paywalls and scholarly books with steep price tags. The fewer individuals who interact with ideas, the more constrained our notion of those ideas. This reminds me of how Lawrence Levine describes the state of…
Ask the Rogue Adviser!
When I go to conferences, I often end up answering questions from members of the audience after the presentation. Or, I’ll have random conversation with students from other institutions about my work. I’m happy to give others the benefit of my 18+ experience in academia as an active researcher of cultural studies. But why wait…
IFANS PROJECT UPDATE: Online Interview with BigBang Fan
iFans: Mapping K-pop’s International Fandom is a digital project that examines the attitudes, practices and creative output of global K-pop fans. VIPs (as fans of BigBang are called) were given the opportunity to participate in an online interview with questions geared toward their experience as BigBang fans. Whale, a VIP, wrote about the criticisms about BigBang as…
Hallyu Harmony Update: S.E.S – Original Queens of K-pop
S.E.S is an acronym for “Sea, Eugene, Shoo,” the names of the three members of the group. Formed in 1997 by SM Entertainment, this female group consisted of Sea (better known as Bada, born Choi Sung Hee), Eugene (Kim Yoo Jin) and Shoo (Yoo Soo Young) and became the first successful female group in the Hallyu K-pop era. . . . See the entire…