Song Spotlight: In My Head

"Is this K-pop?" is the default question from my family whenever I play foreign music in my house. K-pop is always in heavy rotation on the Ipod of Quickand2thepointless, of course, as is J-pop and music from other languages (Belanova, my favorite Mexican pop group is somehow confused for K-pop as well by certain family members). But no matter what the genre is, be it r&b or rap or hard rock, the word "pop" is always thrown around as if people of Asian descent are only capable of singing songs of the bubblegum variety.
Can we rethink that perception, please? Korean and Japanese performers make excellent rock, as evidenced by artists like Asian Kung-Fu Generation and L'Arc-en-ciel or the band behind this gem CNBLUE, who performs in both Japanese and Korean. And they also make excellent rap: give one of my favorite Korean groups Epik High a listen. Asian music is not all led by dancey and attractive ladies and gents (although I won't deny that those tracks and artists are among my favorites as well), but there is Asian music beyond the umbrella terms of "J-pop" and "K-pop." Rock, rap, r&b, jazz, enka, folk, techno, and pretty much everything you can think of is represented. Want something new in your head? Why not try exploring these genres!


  

Yes, mom, Koreans can rock, too!