NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

I arrived in South Korea at the end of August 2012, about a month after Korea’s biggest viral hit had been released. I taught elementary school, and I was aghast to hear a chorus of  7-year-olds dancing the horse dance and singing in English, “Hey, sexy lady!” I was teaching at a Christian school among other young conservative missionaries. I thought about how sheltered the Christian schools were that I grew up in. I had arrived in South Korea, the land of electronic boy and girl Idol groups--boys and girls who had dieted, trained for years under questionable conditions, and undergone plastic surgeries and treatments to look magazine-worthy, yet it wasn’t BIGBANG , SHINee , Girls’ Generation or  2NE1 who popularized K-pop for the world. It was Park Jae-sang .  LONG TIME, NO SEE, HUH? Psy ’s “ Gangnam Style ” was simultaneously the quintessential K-pop song and the most anti-K-pop song ever recorded. Psy was a Korean rapper and only achieved modest airplay in South Korea before his v

I’ll-It, later known as ILLIT , was formed with the winning members of the 2023 South Korean survival competition show R U Next ? The show was broadcast JTBC and streamed on Netflix and Wavve beginning June 30, 2023. Along with JTBC, the show was created by Belift Lab , a sublabel of Hybe , the label responsible for introducing the world to BTS and NewJeans . Six winners were selected by the end of the show and those members became ILLIT, a K-pop girl group who just scored a Billboard Hot 100 entry on their first single--an accomplish-ment, a first of its kind. “ Magnetic ” is one of the biggest K-pop songs now, and other songs from Hybe Corporation are charting high in Korea and other countries. But as the label has brought K-pop to its imperial phase, ILLIT has come under fire as an imitation of the label’s other successful girl group, NewJeans. I DON’T NEED ANY GOLDEN TICKET. Hybe Corporation began as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005. The label signed their first act, 8Eight in

Composed by  Kenzie , the professional name for  SM Entertainment 's songwriter Kim Yeon-jeong, the debut single " Into the New World " by what would become one of the biggest K-pop groups,  Girls' Generation , set the tone for a ten-year career of fun, bubble-gummy, uplifting songs. Composed of nine young women all born between 1989 and 1991,   Girls' Generation   has been been called "the Nation's Girl Group," in South Korea due to their popularity between 2007-2017. Beginning with a sample of   Don Henley 's 1984 classic " The Boys of Summer, " (covered last August by   The Ataris ), "Into the New World" builds on the nostalgic piano and synth sample. Rather than calling back with longing for the past, this song propels listeners forward into the future. I LEAVE BEHIND THIS WORLD'S UNENDING SADNESS.  I've been pretty critical of K-pop in the past for being a-political. I used to think that music in America was too p

“ I ” was the first single from the first solo EP, or in K-pop terms mini album, by Taeyeon . The mini album is also named  I .  The Girls’ Generation leader’s solo career has been the most successful of the group, and “I” was a massive hit. Released in 2015, the single features Korean Hip Hop artist Verbal Jint, a rapper who is credited with creating a rhyme structure to Korean hip hop after his debut in the early ‘00s. The combination of Taeyeon’s soaring vocals and Verbal Jint ’s rhythm along with the electric guitar feels extremely uplifting to the listener.  FLY HIGH.   “I”  is a celebration of self, as the song suggests. Taeyeon announces in the lyrics that she will no longer be tied down by confinement of being in the spotlight, but will try to be herself authentically. It’s the kind of song to put on when you feel that you can’t achieve your goals. The song will remind you of all that you have accomplished and help you to focus on the future. It’s the perfect song to listen to

Composed by  Kenzie , the professional name for  SM Entertainment 's songwriter Kim Yeon-jeong, the debut single " Into the New World " by what would become one of the biggest K-pop groups, Girls' Generation , set the tone for a ten-year career of fun, bubble-gummy, uplifting songs. Composed of nine young women all born between 1989 and 1991,  Girls' Generation   has been been called "the Nation's Girl Group," in South Korea due to their popularity between 2007-2017. Beginning with a sample of   Don Henley 's 1984 classic " The Boys of Summer, " (covered last August by   The Ataris ), "Into the New World" builds on the nostalgic piano and synth sample. Rather than calling back with longing for the past, this song propels listeners forward into the future. I LEAVE BEHIND THIS WORLD'S UNENDING SADNESS.  I've been pretty critical of K-pop in the past for being a-political. I used to think that music in America was too pol

Bright, happy music is what you could describe  Taeyeon 's 2015 debut EP,  I .  The label also fits for her debut studio album, 2017's  My Voice .  However, amid the happy, soaring melodies, there is a twinge of wistful nostalgia in the lyrics. Songs like the lead single " Fine " and the standout track " Time Lapse ," give the Girls' Generation singer a mature sound. Taeyeon's solo career is more about ballads, but the occasional electro-pop song sounds more grown up than her bubblegum pop days in the once biggest K-pop girl group. BIRTHDAYS HAVE PASSED SEVERAL TIMES .  The title of Taeyeon's debut album, My Voice,  alludes to her relationship with her standout feature. In middle school, Taeyeon's principal encouraged the young singer to pursue her talents and convinced her parents to invest in their daughter's talents. This investment came to mean a Sunday drive from Jeonju to Seoul, a 2-and-a-half-hour drive each direction, for Taeyeo

Tiffany Young , born Hwang Mi-Young  (황미영) debuted in 2007 with as a singer with one of Korea's most successful girl groups of all time, Girls' Generation . As a Korean American born and raised in California, Young spoke little Korean when she started her career as a K-pop singer. In interviews she has talked about relying on dictionaries before smartphone translators were invented and popularized. In 2016, Young released a solo EP, I Just Wanna Dance and a single " Heartbreak Hotel " featuring Korean rapper Simon Dominic . Young continued to be a part of Girls' Generation until the group's hiatus, starting in 2017, and has rejoined the group for their comeback this summer.  YOUR EYES THAT SEE THE END.  “Heartbreak Hotel” touches a subject rarely tread upon in K-pop. Sharing the name from the Elvis Presley and Whitney Houston classics, Tiffany Young's "Heartbreak Hotel" eludes to a break up after a sexual relationship. While the Elvis and Hou

Last summer, Taeyeon released her first single from the album she released on Valentine’s Day this year, INVU . The disco-infused lead single, “ Weekend ,” wasn’t completely indicative of the album's style. With a variety of ballads, house, and dance songs, INVU is a solid third record from the now legendary former Girls’ Generation vocalist. Today’s song, “ Siren ,” is a power ballad located as track 6 of a 13-song album. It’s a song about an unhealthy relationship that beckons the speaker to stay in it. Ultimately does she dive in or get out of the water?     An ancient painting of sirens in  The Odyssey. Source . CRUEL FANTASY. Today’s song, “Siren,” uses the image of a mythical creature from ancient Greek and Roman legends. Creatures with a beautiful song that lure sailors to perilous shallow, rocky waters appear in Homer’s The Odyssey . In book 12, Circe advises Odysseus not to listen to their “honey-sweet tones” that “bewitch everybody who approaches them.” But the cunning

Linkin Park 's fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns underperformed compared to the band's massive first three albums. The album produced two singles, " The Catalyst " and today's song, " Waiting for the End ," but ultimately listeners didn't like the album as most of the songs were not catchy. I always want to dig deeper into this album and its themes, but today, I wanted to introduce my AAPI Heritage Playlist, so I chose the most pop-oriented song on A Thousand Suns. If you want more information on the music theory behind this album, I'll link to The Discographers ,  an excellent podcast that explores the discography of Linkin Park in one of their seasons.  MY MOUTH KEPT MOVING AND MY MIND WENT DEAD.   May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States, and I wanted to make a playlist that recognized some of the amazing talent by AAPI musicians. As with my other lists, I realize that making lists like this can be pr