Welcome to anotherRapid Review! I’ve used this series to explore K-pop albums made during 2012-2015. Thus far, I’ve reviewed albums or artists that I know and love. Well, I decided to journey a little further out by listening to artists I myself missed. I got into Hallyu around 2013 but mainly listened to underground artists for a while. Today, I’m looking atSPICAand their first mini-album, “Russian Roulette.”
The group debuted in 2012 and made a name for themselves with their strong vocals. Unfortunately, they disbanded in 2017, but it’s never too late to discover a new band.
Fun fact, dear readers, April is National Stress Month. While it seems that we currently have the stress part down, I figure it’s my responsibility as a Hallyu writer to help you relieve some of that stress. What better way to do it than with some tunes? After all, music isscientifically provento help with stress, elevate your mood and even boost your immune system!
Now, we’re taking a break from the usual playlist and giving you a list of full albums that will help you de-stress. I picked albums that are calming and pretty chill without being loaded with sad ballads. Just because something is slow doesn’t make it calming.
Welcome to anotherRapid Review! This week, we dive back into our look into early third-generation K-pop withFIESTAR. This is my first ever listen to them … I think? Like I’ve said, my friends gave me a lot of suggestions, and it’s very possible they got lost in the shuffle.
As we Hallyu fans dig through the rubble caused by Hurricane Burning Sun, I have looked to see if the foundation of YG Entertainment is safe. Honestly, it’s not looking too good.
Welcome back to Rapid Reviews! This week, we explore another album from 2012,EXID’s “Hippity Hop.” UnlikeSPICA, I do occasionally listen to EXID, although I only started after the infamousfancam of “Up and Down”went viral. That being said, I like their style and eagerly look forward to their comeback.
TV show “The Voice” released a video promoting that on the May 14 episode,BTS and theJonas Brothers would be making a special announcement. Quickly, theories of the groups performing that very night or even a joint project spread through the fandom. With high anticipation, fans tuned in, eager for the awaited announcement! Only for the Jonas Brothers andTaylor Swift to announce their respective performances on “The Voice” season finale. Afterward, “The Voice” listed BTS as one of the other artists performing, although their stage will be pre-recorded due to their tour.
As you can expect, BTS fans were disappointed and angry at the slight. Frankly, I don’t blame them. Without any bias, to get Taylor Swift when you expect BTS is drinking an orange soda only for the taste to be grape. Now, I’ve been a woman of many fandoms over the years. I have experienced similar disappointment. I’ve learned that reading or watching things thoroughly is key to save yourself from heartbreak like this. With that said, something feels iffy about this.
In July 1999, Chris Baty and friends challenged themselves to write a 200-page novel in a month. “Everyone’s got a novel inside of them,” he wrote in an early email to his friends. It started off with 21 participants. The next year, Baty suggested moving it to November, to capitalize on the cold dreariness of the month. They also hammered out the finer details of the rules. By 2001, the participants grew from 21 writers to over 5000.
Today, November has been declared National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, and people worldwide dedicate themselves to write. In 2017, over 349,000 people signed up and over 50,000 successfully finished. Since 2006, hundreds of NaNo novels have been published, both in traditional publishing and self-publishing.
While there are rules, the annual event runs solely on the honor system. That said, the rules are pretty simple:
It has to be a new project
NaNoWriMo starts at November 1, 12:00 AM and ends November 30, 11: 59 pm
It has to be a solo project
That’s it. It doesn’t matter if you finish the project, if you verify your word count daily or at the end of the month or how exactly you wrote it. The principle of NaNoWriMo is simple: get in the chair and write. Often, people glorify the writing process as this mystical thing when showing up and doing the work is one of the most important things you can do.
I’ve done NaNoWriMo twice — once with my sister in 2013 and by myself in 2016. In 2013, I had no laptop, so I had to write everything by hand. My outline wasn’t finished and I had no real experience writing. In 2016, I was working a job with crazy hours. I had a laptop this go around but no outline. Both times, I succeeded.
Despite having two different circumstances both times, I discovered a lot of who I was as a writer. As I looked over my incredibly rough first drafts, I could see what areas my writing was the weakest. I figured out what writing habits I had and how I worked best.
NaNoWriMo doesn’t necessarily teach you how to write a book, but it will show you how YOU write your book. The maddening pace of it will reveal things about yourself, both as a writer and as a person. It can even give you a support system, as the site shows you local writing groups during the month. Even if you prefer to write alone, there’s nothing quite like knowing you have a community behind you.
If you’ve ever thought about writing a novel but felt hesitant, I highly recommend NaNoWrimo. It’s honestly changed my life, and after all, everyone has a novel inside of them.
July 18 was a historical day in the Hallyu community as #KPSNPODCASTFEST launched. The digital festival was the first of its kind, showcasing various internet radio/podcast programs from the Hallyu community. K-pop and Hallyu podcasts such as KpopcastLive and 106 & Seoul gifted fans with live broadcasts of their shows. This, of course, allowed them to interact with their fans directly. The jam-packed day featured 12 broadcasts for a total of 12 live episodes. Between shows, hosts played new and classic K-pop hits that had fans squealing in happiness.
Welcome to anotherRapid Review! Continuing into our dive into third-generation K-pop, we’re digging intoVIXX‘s “Jekyll.” VIXX is a group close to my heart. They’re one of the few artists who just ooze theatricality and epicness from concept to comeback stages. Still, it’s important to look back on an artist’s beginning to better appreciate their journey.
I’m not a fan of people declaring someone or something as the “Greatest of all time” or “Kings.” Opinions change and personal taste are very subjective. Your faves aren’t everyone’s faves. It’s as simple as that. So when I callSHINeeone of K-Pop’s greatest groups, I don’t say it lightly.
I can’t say it any other way. Are they great at everything or with every album? Probably not. But SHINee just baffles me with their range and diverse talent. It’s one thing to build a dream team. It’s another to build it and make it actually work.
With today being Star Wars Day, and the trailer for the final movie of the Skywalker series recently released, I thought it was fitting to talk about Star Wars. I am fan of a lot of things, but Star Wars was probably my first love. 20 years and all of the highs and lows of the franchise, I still adore it and eagerly look forward to more content. Today, I wanted to talk about lessons that being a Star Wars fan has taught me fandom.
01 The thing you love doesn’t belong to you.
Star Wars has seen many changes. Massive tonal shifts, studio changes, long-held canon blew to bits within a single interview, and the fans weren’t always happy with it. A notable example of this is the petition to have “The Last Jedi” be removed from the official canon and be re-edited. Numerous actors have came forth, talking about the harassment they received from “fans.” Sometimes it feels like the fandom will never be happy with the finished product, myself included. Some may walk in with theories of how things should transpire and lash out when the movie deviates from the headcanon. That conveniently leads me to lesson #1.
Sometimes the drama doesn’t have a satisfying ending. Sometimes your favorite entertainment company will make terrible calls, and sometimes your favorite actor or idol will do something that will disappoint you. All you really do is accept it, and if it gets bad, walk away from it.
In the past, I felt like I knew the perfect way to fix the franchise, to “save” everything, but that way doesn’t exist. I can’t march up to Disney or SM Entertainment and tell them how to fix things. I can only support the artists and actors and accept that this was never mine to fix.
Even when you create something, you rarely have sole control of it. This very article had to be passed on to one of my incredible editors who, in turn, left their own mark on this. Things like Star Wars or K-Pop can indeed build a community, but that community doesn’t solely belong to one person. We all leave a mark on our fandom, for better or worse.
02 There is no “Fandom Police.”
Every so often, there will be someone who proclaims that if you don’t watch a certain movie or show, read a certain book, then you are a “fake fan.” The internet is plagued with people bemoaning their encounters with “fake” fans, and in an attempt to sort out the true fan from the fakes, we must ask tricky trivia questions to reveal who is who. Here’s the thing. If you like something, you’re a fan. You like The Star Wars movies, you’re a fan. You’re not a fan of the movies but liked the games, you’re a fan. You’ve never played the games but liked the books, still a fan. The same is basically true about K-Pop, Hallyu or anything fandom, really. You don’t have to consume every piece of media released on your fandom. There’s no grand all-knowing master that you have to prove your worth to. There are no fandom police who will come and take your stuff if you don’t know the ancestral home of your faves. If there is, I would have been ostracized years ago when I didn’t know that TVXQ and DBSK were the same group.
Yes, some will try to challenge you. Some might intimidate you with how much they know, but it doesn’t matter.
The real test of if you’re a real fan is if you’re respectful to people you’re a fan of, your fellow fans and dare I say, other fandoms. Also, enjoy the content you get. If you don’t like it anymore, then let it go. Don’t ruin it for others. It’s that simple. No secret handshake, no contracts. Like the thing you like and be respectful.
03 The negative fans will always been the loudest.
Imagine you’re in a room with a hundred people. You’re all talking, having a good time, when suddenly, ten people break out into a fight. Security finally shows up and kicks them out The night continues but the memories of the fight will linger in your mind and perhaps in the mind of the people housing the party.
Fandoms are the same way. There will be the loud “fans” who spread rumors, start fights and in general, try to ruin the good time we’re trying to have. You can’t stop those fans, but you can report them (when it’s an option), ignore them and keep the party going.
04 Everyone is a nerd for something.
This is pretty straightforward. Years ago, a classmate tried to tease me for being a geek. (Not the first time that’s happened, definitely won’t be the last time.) Minutes later, the conversation shifted to sports and the same classmate talked about tailgating and his favorite teams. I turned to him and yelled, “Oh, nerds camping out for movie releases is stupid, but you doing for sports make it cool?” He tried to justify the difference but gave up when I called fantasy sports leagues Sports Fanfictions.
Don’t let those who tell you that it’s nerdy or weird stop you. Everyone is a nerd for something, from the the person who regularly watches every season of “The Bachelor,” to those who can identify fashion labels from 20 paces or the person who can tell you the entire history of Jack Kirby’s work. We all have something that we love and love talking about. It might be as common as sports, and others might be more niche like ancient Grecian battle strategies. We’re all nerds here. With these four helpful tips, I hope you can go out and have some great fandom experiences! Happy Star Wars Day, everyone. May the force be with you.
