End of the year, K-pop 2012.Top three Search Engine Terms

The Top Three among search engine terms to find our blog has been interesting indeed. Summarizing 2012, and all top three being favourite topics of mine. As follows:

1. Super Junior

2. Seo In Guk plastic surgery

3. SHINee Key gay

We might post the complete search engine term list later on, with comments.

Check out our other End of the year, K-pop 2012 summaries by pressing here: The List, Live Performance and Things that should not be forgotten/Queer of the year.

The Future is Idol – L

End of the year, K-pop 2012. Things that should not be forgotten/ Queer of the year

The writers of this blog are unsure of many things in life, but the term queer is embraced by them. The right to not choose side, when it comes to love, gender or how you want to live your life, of this human right we are very sure.

The subject of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual) in connection to K-pop is not an easy one to write about. Or rather, it is easy if you turn to fanfic and fanservice and that is of course ever so important. But, there are no real life homosexuals in K-pop. That’s just a matter of a fact. None that we really know of that is. But since at least every tenth person on the planet is estimated to be gay and even more to be bisexual WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE OUT THERE. South Korea is not a very allowing society, when it comes to these questions, and have not been for a very long time even if it perhaps is on it’s way of changing. Almost every K-drama have a gay character or at least a really queer twist to the story. Answer me 1997 was the huge hit of the year with one of it’s main characters being a gay man and his lovelife being described in a very interesting and rather respectful way.

When is comes to the idols I still do not understand what would happen if one would be openly gay. It’s impossible for me to understand how South Korea and the idol industry works and how it would be dealt with. A complete disaster or ok?  Probably the first.

So what do you do meanwhile? You just keep looking. Some idols are known for having a very queer persona, breaking the traditional roles of men and women, Amber of f(x)(in the picture above) being one and Key of SHINee another. Jo Kwon the leader of 2AM is also one of these people, famous for his queer persona. He had his solo debut the summer of 2012 with I’m Da One a not so fun track that I cared little about. BUT included in the promotions of I’m Da One he also performed a track named Animal, and this is a completely different story. There is no music video, but most of the live performances from tv shows are of course in HD so the feeling is quite the same. He is an incredible dancer, and the background dancers likewise. He is dressed in an androgynous outfit covered with feathers and he is dancing in killer-heels. Man or woman? No one should or did care the least and this is rather amazing. Very queer indeed. The performance was shown on prime time tv, but I feel that it did not get the recognition or space it deserves.

Jo Kwon and his Animal is a K-pop moment from 2012 that I believe should not be forgotten and is also my awesome queer of the year.

Don’t forget to check out our other and previous End of the year, K-pop 2012 summarizing articles.

The Future is Idol – L

End of the year, K-pop 2012. The List

I have been away. In thought and body caught up with the life outside. The writing and the blog left behind with many other things. Listening and fanboying constantly though. As the year is coming to a close I want to share some thoughts of the crazy K-pop year 2012 and see it as a return to writing about the love of my life. K-pop. I won’t make a list of the best tracks of the year because I don’t work that way. (can’t decide etc.) But as a first post I want to share what was listened to and then for a couple of days I will try to give you some hints of what I really liked in K-pop during 2012.

I spent last weekend and also a few hours almost every day this week working on a list of tracks I like or atleast listened to and were released in 2012. It’s a messy compilation of genres, old groups and new ones, some expected, some not so, not all of them are brilliant but of course worth listening to a second time. NOT EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED. This equals K-pop as the love affair it is.

So, here is K-pop 2012, 80 tracks, not in any other specific order then how I put them in my Itunes library to make a nice mix. At the bottom of the post there’s a link to the list on YouTube.

The tracks from 2012 that you have to hear.

Only One – BoA

Imma New Thang(Intro) – U-Kiss

What Is Love(Korean Version) – Exo-K

Sexy, Free & Single – Super Junior

Catch Me – TVXQ/DBSK

Note – SHINee

Time To Go – U-Kiss

I Don’t Need a Man – Miss A

Machine – Exo-K

Have/Don’t Have – Dal Shabet

Style – Rania

We Are a Bit Different – EvoL

Bubble Bath – Orange Caramel

Nu, Establish, Style, Tempo –  Nu’est

Face – Nu’est

Be Ma Girl – Teen Top

Crayon – G-Dragon

Oh! My God – Girls Day

Know Your Name (feat Dok2) – Jay Park

Sherlock – SHINee

Like This – Wonder Girls

MAMA – Exo-K

Dripping Tears – Son Dam Bi

Anymore – Seo In Young

Clue -SHINee

Time’s Up – Miss A

Shine – Kim Sunggyu

Lipstick – Orange Caramel

Stop Girl – U-Kiss

Animal – Jo Kwon

I love You – 2NE1

Baby Good Night – B1A4

Beautiful – Park Jung Min

History – Exo-K

Electric Shock – f(x)

Emergency Call – Son Dam Bi

One Of a Kind –  G-Dragon

NalinA – Block B

To You – Teen Top

Two Moons – Exo-K

Love Is Energy – Chi Chi

Lol – Block B

Up and Down (feat Dok2) – Jay Park

Hypnotize – Andamiro

걸어 본다 (Tried To Walk) – B1A4

Volume Up – Miss A

Rock Ur Body – VIXX

Let’s Dance – Seo In Young

Get Your Swag On – Tony & Smash

You Know Me –  Tasty

Fantastic Baby – BigBang

Touch – Miss A

SPY – Super Junior

Musiche – Crayzyno

Sexy Love  T-ara

Like Money (feat Akon) -Wonder Girls

Doradora – U-Kiss

Bad Boy – 100%

Bloom – Ga In

Nillili Mambo – Block B

Tarantallegra – Xiah Junsu

Flashback – After School

Bad Boy – Big Bang

The Chaser – Infinite

I Love You (feat Dynamic Duo) – Jay Park

Fire It Up – Dal Shabet

In The Air – B1A4

Te Amo – B1A4

Stranger – SHINee

Clap (feat Tiger JK & Yoon Mi Rae) – Jay Park

Ice Cream – Hyuna Kim

Maxstep – Younique Unit

Humanoids – TVXQ/DBSK

Love Style – Boyfriend

Baby i’m Sorry – B1A4

Wasted (feat Bizzy) – Jay Park

Day By Day – T-ara

The Shadow – BoA

Party(XXO) – GLAM

Get On The Floor – 4minute

That’s it!

If you want to LISTEN to the tracks, press here to get to our YouTube channel.

The Future is Idol – L

I Wish

I wish that this track would be released tonight so I could hear if the rest of it will be as epic as what we now can hear. I wish that double A will have an equaly epic coreography as the one they had when they debuted. I also wish that someone would say I love you to me very soon. That would be epic.

The Future is Idol – L

The Wet Dream of a Fanboy

I’m Swedish, born and raised, still living in this northern part of Europe with it’s chilly climate and welfare state. I’m a man who just turned 30, a teacher and more important for now – I’m kind of a fanboy. In a K-pop kind of sense that is. Key(of SHINee) is so obviously my bias and I sometimes find it hard to understand how this works. What is it about that man/idol that keeps me captivated? Don’t know. Do I want to know?

Earlier this evening, Mis sent me the Key-gif to the left. Attached were the words: “Thought he was inserting snus from the beginning.” (Snus = Swedish snuff) Snus is the most macho kind of tobacco there is in Sweden and the layers of Key perhaps using that kind tobacco is mind blowing, the Swedish fanboy I am.

Key is in the fandom rather portrayed in a feminine kind of way then in a macho. His interest in clothing and the quirky personality his got makes this version of him understandable and a classic gay characteristic, which also is a common way to describe him. SHINee Key gay is by the way one of the highest ranking search terms at this blog. This is perhaps not for me the most exciting Key version I could think of. Rather, the wet dream of a fanboy like myself could be “Key doing “manly” stuff” and my reaction to this gif was instant and thrilled, even though both me and Mis could see that Key was probably not inserting snus after all…

Important to point out is that I do not want to rank a manly version of Key higher then a more feminine one. But as the clichés of him and being gay is usually twisted towards the later one I always find it liberating and awesome when things comes along disturbing the cliché. It could be him being pshysically strong in an old episode of Maknae Rebellion or the picture of him with his unshaved moustache as seen in the picture below in the middle. Also, being a man/or manly AND being feminine is another great combo if thats what is prefered.

The Future is Idol – L

btw. Key doing “manly” stuff could of course also be the wet dream of a fangirl, even if it might be rare.

Watch Key do all of these things here.

Grown up with K-pop in my life

I just got home from beer-drinking at a bar and as usual I’m sitting down with my computer in the darkness. We spent the evening out talking about pop culture, South Korean and Western, stuff that we have recently seen or rewatched, Among my closest friends there is a huge interest in pop culture in general. To be both entertained and to make an analysis of it… Is there anything better? So much to do and so much to watch in front of me. Shinhwa Broadcast, favourite parts with Key from Raising Idols, Running man and Masterchef… Brilliant life.

For not a very long time now, I have been feeling like a grown up. This is interesting because this has also, finally, given me the confidence to decide what is important and fun to do. This evening, with beer and pop culture is very much one of those things, and I don’t care if the people at the next table thought that our conversation was weird or shallow. Because really, that is what most people think when it comes to pop culture, even if there are a hundred truths about everything in society to be told from it. Even if it gives you all the joy in the world.

To be a fan of K-pop as a grown up is also fun. In many situations you can realate to what the idols are going through, but with a bit of perspective, and as a grown up you also have the advantage of having money to spend and deciding on your own. These are very good things, especially when you want to go to a K-pop club in Stockholm, travel to another country for a concert or order random CDs (a few of these did just recently happen). And ok so also, I just found some pics of my apartment the day after the K-pop club(guess where that evening started and ended).

The Future is Idol  -L

I don’t need a man

I’m always alarmed and worried when the meaning in words and actions are changed from politics to the conceptual level. This is what Miss A is heading towards using a banner with the words Independent Women and This Is For All The Independent Ladies, for their new promotional pictures. To make money out of a short promotional period on the very much so important issue of womens rights is indeed higly questionable. This is obviously so much of a marketing strategy that no one can be misstaken, but who knows, Miss A might turn out to be part of a newly born feminist movement in South Korea in the end…

Good idea or bad idea to use this concept? Does it make it better or worse that they look awesome in suits and other traditional “male” attires in the teaser MV?
The Future is Idol – L

I wonder about a lot of things

I wonder about a lot of things. Today for example, I really wonder about the fact that I woke up this morning from a rather problematic dream about a member from Exo-K or why the dream ended with me and my friend Jonas eating food in the middle of the night. I wonder why I forgot to bring lunch to work so I had to go hungry, why I didn’t go and just buy something food-like and why my colleague had to tell me everything terrible about one of our students so I in the future will only think about this when I teach this student. Later in the evening at the University class of North and South Korean politics the guy next to me moved his leg so it touched my leg over and over and I wonder if he did it on purpose, because thats what it felt like. I also wonder about how it came to be that Ranias latest track Style is turning out to be this enormous obsession of mine when I never really cared about them before. In general, I wonder a lot of things about K-pop.

The Future is Idol – L

Another track from that very complicated group.

I have had my ups and downs with U-kiss over these last few years. I fell in love with their quirky sides, variety shows and extreme coreographys(crazy ass). It felt like they hand no boundaries and could say anything, and those kind of idols seem to be of my preference, the crazy ones. I also fell out of love with them as Alexander Eusebio, my favourite member, was kicked out of the group together with member Kibum. And as for being the grown man I am, this is the group that really made me realize how far my fandom and the feelings connected to it had gone. The creation of a fanboy perhaps. The anger, tears and time spent on the evil bastards of NH Media and the atermath of it all… I decided back then, when Alexander left the group, to never listen to them again. That did not work out well for me…

Kevin, my other favourite was still in the group, so talented it is hard to keep away from. To see him evolve over the past few years has been worth the watching, and most of their later releases are far better then everything released before the member-change. Neverland was awesome, and Obsession became a huge obsession. The recently released Stop Girl turned out to be a new top favourite from 2012 and then there is the melancholy of this track:

I kind of need them to sound desperate and sad from time to time. This helps.

And does not mean I accept all the current members of U-kiss. But I won’t tell which ones I don’t.

The Future is Idol – L

Herrejävlar DBSK

THEY ARE BACK!!! Such an awesomely great song and MV!!!

My heart melts for DBSK for the first time in years.

The Future is Idol