Author: Denise Coley
Food is one of the most significant parts in each culture. It is just amazing to try different kinds of food from different countries around the world. Just like how people always think of sushi when they think of Japan, hamburger when they think of America, kimchi when they think of Korea, and so on…. They think of Pho when they talk about Vietnamese food. Pho is the famous Vietnamese beef broth noodle soup. But no, Vietnamese cuisine is not all about Pho. There are still many other delicious dishes. Even though the people from the North, the Central and…
Radio DJs often stand at the forefront of music culture. They get to experience music audiences firsthand to see who reacts to the music and what could possibly be the “next big thing” on the scene. We continue our interview with Big B Radio. In Part One of the interview, DJs Emergency, Typo, And, Rexie, Ben, Kagome, and Lizzie introduced themselves, their interests, and their radio audience. In Part Two, they share their thoughts and observations of how Asian music impacts the world and different cultures. In your country, how big is the Korean Wave, and how much of…
Plastic surgery used to be a very unusual thing, when you tell people you had something done; they would be in complete shock. It seems like that has died down a lot over the last few years. Plastic surgery is now popular more than ever and it’s so common that 1 out of 5 people have gone under the knife. Koreans are known for being beautiful but a lot of times, it doesn’t come naturally. I personally like those who didn’t get something done because I think that natural beauties are the best. I dislike how negative our society has…
In the early 2000s, Asian entertainment culture began its spread to Western audiences. Anime, manga, dramas, film, and music migrated toward the computers of Westerners by way of illegal file sharing and YouTube, creating the boom of which many are familiar. Currently, Internet radio plays a large role in the spread of Asian music culture. Big B Radio is one of the stations leading the charge in the spread of Asian music. Big B got their start in December 2004 through SHOUTcast Radio. The station caters to C-Pop, J-Pop, and K-Pop fans with their different station choices, so any Asian…
In recent years, the music industry in Vietnam has been greatly developed and has become an attractive area to step into. Therefore, nowadays, there are a lot of new solo singers and groups. Some of them are very talented; they make high quality music products with unique voices and performances. They greatly contribute fame to the music industry of Vietnam. My first favorite female pop singer is My Tam. She is one of the most successful and famous singers. Even though, more than ten years have passed in her music career, she still maintains a strong and passionate voice. …
By Chuck Taylor for Kcrush. South Korean pop/rock band FTIsland (a.k.a. Five Treasure Island) has long been a phenomenon at home, since their 2006 debut album ““Cheerful Sensibility,” was deemed the No. 6 best-selling album of the year—while their launch single “Lovesick” was lodged at the top of the K-Pop charts for 8 consecutive weeks. In 2014, FTIsland upped the ante with the release of their latest full-length album “All About.” Writing all of their own songs, the quintet comprises members Choi Jong-hoon (guitar & keyboard), Lee Hongki (lead vocals) Lee Jae jin (bass & vocals), Song Seung-hyun (guitar &…
In recent years, Korean pop music and Korean movies have become really popular in Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnamese fashion is influenced by a lot of Korean pop stars and movie stars, especially young people. Here are a few fashion trends in Vietnam nowadays. 1. Simple youthful Street styles Young people like to wear simple color outfits, but they create interesting and youthful styles. They want to look energetic and cheerful, and also fashionable. For girls, sweaters or t-shirt, tank tops with cardigans, are mixed with high-rise shorts, skirts or skinny destroyed jeans. Boots or sneakers usually look well with those…
2014’s undisputable hit, Taeyang’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips” (ENL), seems to be embroiled in some controversy lately as amateur artist Derrick Bullock accuses him and YG Entertainment of plagiarism. Bullock claims the instrumentals for “ENL” came from his song “Change Me.” Bullock claims he has ownership of the instrumentals and says he has paperwork to prove it. On the now nonexistent MV for “Change Me,” Bullock wrote, “…It [the song] DOES NOT belong to a Korean band — it was stolen from me and used in music in Korea 4 years ago. Before you start telling Derrick he stole this music,…
The Big Three’s artists dominated as expected in 2014, and other non-big-three artists like A Pink, Girl’s Day, BTS, VIXX, Orange Caramel, and B1A4 among others produced many fan-favorite hits that dominated the scene. Of course, there are some hidden gems that barely earned attention. Hopefully, you will give them a chance! Amor Fati “Say the Word” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggCJEFIjGIw Since AOA has seemingly ditched their band concept in favor of sexy, cookie-cutter K-Pop themes, there are very few (read practically non-existent) girl groups who fulfill the girl-band concept. Enter Amor Fati’s “Say the Word” that easily fills the girl-band void.…
As we all know that learning a foreign language, regardless of the language, requires keen interest and focus, as well as rapt concentration. It also requires more exposure to the language as much as possible. But still each language has its own uniqueness in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary as well as its grammar. So here are some very usable tips on the best way of learning Chinese: Tip 1: Chinese is a tonic language. Its four tones are distinctive in meanings. So the learner must have this basic awareness in order to learn Chinese properly. Tip 2: The tones are…
It’s been almost 6 years of listening to kpop. I didn’t like it at first because it was so different than what I was used to. My friend was the one who convinced me to listen to it because she used to be obsessed with kpop back then. My Top 5 Favorite Boy Groups 1) My number 1 favorite boy group would have to be Big Bang. This group really gained my interest and without this group, I probably would have stopped listening to kpop as soon as I first heard it. My favorite songs from Big Bang…
Top Ten Albums of 2014 Besides individual songs, there are many great albums that dominated 2014. In fact, there were so many good albums, it is difficult to choose the most impressive ones without careful consideration. After some diligent thought, here are the top ten albums of 2014! 10. g.o.d Chapter 8 2014 gifted us with returns from a few first generation groups; the returns just made missing the worse feel worse. Chapter 8 gave K-Pop fans a taste of an era gone by and proved age is just a number for g.o.d. They still have the magic. Songs like…
What I found unique about kpop is that there are always a large amount of group members and they each represent something in the group such as lead vocal, lead dancer, visual, etc. I think it’s really cool how all the groups have choreography to their songs. Having different dance moves that go along with the song are one of the biggest reasons why so many people are into kpop. When you’re first introduced to kpop, you might be confused and overwhelmed especially if you’re watching the music video because there are so many things going on all at once. …
The end is year, so now we face the final curtain as we reveal the top ten best songs for 2014. As with the rest of the list, there are quite a few surprises on top. Let’s close out 2014 with some songs that made the year worthwhile! 10. Younha “Umbrella” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTVvtlfU-Ts Ten years after the original release, Younha released “Umbrella” sans Tablo. Younha still provides strong emotion and beauty which makes the updated version just as gorgeous and memorable as the original. The ending notes where “forever in the rain” echoes and trails off packs such a heart-wrenching punch,…
The beginning of 2014 was a huge shock for the EXO fans. As much as they were excited for the comeback, things didn’t go the way it was planned. After a week or two the music video was released and the group started promoting ‘Overdose’ it all went down hill when it was all over the news that Kris had filed a lawsuit against SM for not giving him fair choices and taking advantage of him. His reasons were that when he was sick, he couldn’t take time off to rest, money wasn’t given fairly, etc. I understand his point…
This week has been a competitive week for the artists. There are so many singers/groups making comebacks and the rankings on the chart have been on and off. 1) Number one on the charts would have to be EXID- Up and Down. This song was released in the summer and wasn’t very known, but when a fan uploaded a fan cam of the member Hani dancing to the song, it started gaining more and more attention. This video instantly went viral and it almost has 5 million views on YouTube, which has higher viewers than the music video. Their song…
The end is in sight with our countdown of 2014’s top songs. At this point, it’s clear some really great songs were left off, but then the list would be hundreds of songs in, and really, “ain’t nobody got time for that” to quote the Internet meme. With that said, let’s get into numbers 20 through 11! 20. Block B “Her” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0WCva5Stk4 Block B’s signature quirkiness and wacky antics provide one of the most feel-good songs of the year. It is impossible to not dance along to “Her.” The song’s addictive hook and beat are enough to propel to top-20…
We’re at the middle of the road with the music; the end is in sight! Numbers 50 through 31 brought some surprises and shocks, I’m sure, and that’s not going to stop. So what other songs made it? Let’s find out! 30. Stellar “Mask” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnROp2RyanM Stellar was another group mired in controversy this year due to their initial comeback single “Marionette.” When they returned with “Mask,” a sexier concept remained, but this time it was toned down and people took more notice to the music. “Mask” has a mid-2000s K-Pop feel backed by pretty singing. The parts where they sing…
Welcome back! The countdown continues with 2014’s top 50 K-Pop songs. Numbers 50 through 41 rang in yesterday, so who will shine today? Here are numbers 40-31. Where did your favorites rank and who is yet to come? 40. Lip Service “Yum Yum Yum” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnCAj6ssJj8 Lip Serviced earned attention for their food anthem for good reason. The then duo (now trio) showed they can be cute, fierce, and relatable with a kitschy song that quickly earned them a fan base. But in all honestly, how can anyone turn down a song with hamburgers and Americanos? 39. Berry Good “Love Letter”…
2014 brought K-Pop lovers some awesome songs from Taeyang’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips” to Girl’s Day’s surprise hit “Something.” But the music scene can’t always be perfect, and artists in the industry can release some stinkers here and there. So what were some of 2014’s worst?[i] Hyomin “Nice Body” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYs_GMfCqTI While Hyomin may have wanted to empower women to be proud of their bodies through good health and exercise, the overbearing message many received was that women should be thin in order to be considered beautiful. In fact, many comments on the video’s YouTube page thank Hyomin for encouraging eating disorders…