Kpop Dreaming Podcast

 I finally finished listening to the podcast series KPop Dreaming (part of the California Love podcast by LAist Studios) today. It was one of the best music related podcasts I have listened to in a very long time. It made my work day all the more enjoyable with every episode I listened to. I am not a diehard fan of KPop music. I like some of the music but a KPop stan I am definitely not. K-Pop Dreaming is hosted by Vivian Yoon, it is an 8 part series  about the rise and of history of K-Pop in America. I learned about this podcast from the podcast They Call Us Bruce last week. My curiosity was piqued.

Based on what I have heard from various 3rd generation KPop groups like BTS and BLACKPINK, K-Pop music was super influenced by Black culture in the hip hop and r&b genres so I really wanted to know where those influences came from. K-pop also got its sound from Korean trot music, a century old music genre in Korea. 

Vivian Yoon did not disappoint me. She really goes an incredible job at breaking down the history of Kpop and its origins. She also addresses the issue of race relations between the Black community and Korean Americans/Korean immigrants (i.e the unrest in L.A following the verdict of the cops who brutally assaulted Rodney King), and cultural appropriation because K-Pop borrows so heavily from hip hop and r&b. Vivian does include guests on her series to discuss this particular topic. Definitely worth listening to. 

The amount of research Vivian Yoon puts into this 8 part series shines through. It was both educational and entertaining to listen to.  I loved the personal touches she adds to the story about her connection to the music. I thought it was cute that Vivian and her friends went to a Kpop convention in LA and hearing a grandmother and her granddaughter talk about their love for kpop. 

That said, I do have a massive issues with the podcast series and that is the negative effects of K-pop industry, how hyper sexualized some girl groups were or currently are (2nd gen group After School comes to my mind), and online bullying. Look at the images of these young women on the internet. Somewhere on the 'net, a bunch of incels are wanking off to these women. I really dislike how the girl groups in Kpop are presented. Makes me want to barf. 

There WAS an episode of the Parcast Podcast The Dark Side of on the Kpop industry but that episode mysteriously disappeared from streaming services or at least on Spotify. That episode has always resonated with me for some strange reason even if I was not a diehard fan.  I remember listening to it back in 2019 in the first season, and the episode talked about the physical abuse and exhaustion that management companies subjected their artists to. I have no doubt the toxic climate of the industry is why a good number of kpop stars took their own lives, Moon Bin being the lastest star to die by suicide. Before I left Twitter for good last month,I have seen how horrible kpop stans can be on the internet. I think most kpop fans are not unhinged but lets not pretend that there are a lot that definitely needs to spend sometime in therapy and going outside and getting fresh air.

Flaws aside, I definitely recomend K-Pop Dreaming for anyone who enjoys a good music podcast as well as learning about history. Vivian did an incredible job at digging into the history of kpop in America. On Spotify (and I would assume on Apple music too), there are some bonus episodes worth listening to.