I post it to the wrong account lol but yes @Reavel is now on vine too.Now I just can repeat this awesome moment.
B1A4, Shogo Yagani & Yuka Chocomoo are all involded in a Fake Tokyo.
Today I found out about Yuka Chocomoo in the weirdest way possible. CNU and Baro took some photos here and here at this event called “Candy Pop-Up Shop Opening Party” seems it is a pop-up show (which are infact like on trend nowadays). I found information on all the parts and people on the photos so I’m going to talk about them in order. Did some research. Yey internet.
Anyways Candy (the pop-up shop) is a Japanese shop that along with Sister another Japanese shop are part of FakeTokyo.com another… shop/brand. FakeTokyo is runned by a guy named Shogo Yagani (Yaga). Yaga is from Shibuya, Tokyo. This is Mr. Shogo Yagani.
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| meet Shogo Yagani (Yaga) |
Back to the story… Shogo Yagani is doing this pop-up shop in Korea to promote his shop Candy. I am sure that via his shops Candy & Sister he has provided clothing and accesories to many… many coordi-noonas and therefore Korean idols. So he is part of what is hot and trendy right now in Asia. If an idol haves it every one wants it. But they are fun and unique items so it is all good in the fashion industry. Thats why B1A4 was at the event. Even BoA said hi at their pop-up in Gangnam with her crew to support them. They are part of this trendy fashion that is moving along Asia that is actually born in Japan. You can read about FakeTokyo here. (Shogo Yagani photo was taken from here also check candy’s twitter & instagram)
Now lets bring in Yuka Chocomoo to the equation. She took photos with the boys at the event… but what was her roll there? Entertainment… artistic entertainment. Chocomoo is a Japanese illustrator whom is currently exposing her work in Manhattan, NY. I went through her instagram account after following her and she even haves a photo with artist/photographer JR (he is french). JR works are awesome, unique and enormous. You can check that via his instagram (where I found about him worth the following). So with that said she is getting quite popular not only in Japan but overseas.
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| meet Yuka Chocomoo (Yuk@) |
After looking to some of her illustrations it was more than clear to my why the boys had to be there besides all the promotion and support to the brand. Her illustration style is just the same of their latest album and comeback concept. They where influenced by her art along with Shogo Yagani fashion sense. B1A4 spent a lot of time in Japan last year and since they debuted they have been wearing top young and unique brands from Japan.
Her illustrations are black and white (haven’t seen anything in color from all the photos I saw on her blog. She uses free hand illustrations nothing is done by mold just at the moment and fill the white space with a lot of detail. Which is something that I love doing. You can see a little of Basquiat there. Also bold lines nothing straight all turned and round with text all over sending a hidden messages along the illustration. After seen her works I kind of fell in love with it and I’m looking forward to see more of her works.
She was featured a few days ago in the website/magazine called the Quiet Lunch and they made an article about her exposition at New York here. If you want to know more about here you can visit her blog which is full of her amazing artworks, clothing, collaborations with other artists and her works with different magazines. To stay updated on her right here right now issues and movements go to her twitter or instagram.
Hope you nejoyed this post and the photos. (photos taken from QuietLunch and Sweetstreetla)
이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?) is finally here.
이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?) is finally here. The album is here. So like I mentioned on a this post I was waiting for my album to arrive. Now that I finally have it I can share the cool photos with you guys. I got it a few days ago but I am still happy and excited about the whole album. I always get excited when I get new album. They are just perfectly done.
Besides fangirling because it is of my favorite KPop group or whatever all the details that go to making this albums regarding to the design and packaging is awesome. There is always something different new and unique to each of the album. So there you have anoter reason why I buy them it is not only for the music but the presentation as well.
This album came with an 88pages photobook, the album, a sticker sheet -and I got my bias CNU- and also the poster. All this for around $24 including shipping… the horrendous but so needed shipping. Anyways here are the photos I hope you like it as much as I did. It is so colorful and fun just like B1A4.
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| the top of the box |
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| the bottom & the top |
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| box opened… showing the photobook |
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| when you remove the photobook you find the sticker… that is CNU |
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| this is the stickers, the top, the album & the photobook |
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| the whole album and the first page of the photobook |
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| all the goodies |
Akdong Musician… They made a wise decision!
This post actually started with the comment of a fellow KPoper1 (a boy DM) on a KPop group that we both frequently go and share our kpop experiences and ideas…. here is his comment:
“Akdong Musician + YG Entertainment = EPICNESS!!! They made a wise decision!”
Now let me “warn you” this is just a quick look into this companies now and why I think that Akdong Musician actually didn’t had other option than YG Entertainment to sign with. I will later add more information on another post of at least Akdong Musician and the companies mentioned on the post. If you don’t know much about KPop and how entertainment companies work there you wont understand so.. with that said I will continue with the post…
My first reply to that comment was:
“well no one whats to go to SM for obvious reasons… they wont go to JYP because JYP is like not taking people in at all…. or perhaps they don’t want the JYP when their songs starts… or are not that sexy for JYP…. cause lately JYP is been all +19 and stuff (no complaining i like it….but they dont look like that) Woollim aint taking people now… working with making them stronger… they wont try with a young company cause that could be too “risky” so… OBVIOUSLY…. there is no other choice than to go with YG money and the name backs up for itself… no need rush… nothing new.. not surprised.”
To what another fellow KPoper2 (a girl AM) replied:
“Tambien couse AKDONG MUSICIAN does their own lyric writing and YG apoya mucho a sus artistas a que escriban sus canciones eso es algo que Lee Hi le gusto de la compañia y es algo que OBVIOUSLY le hiba a encantar a Akdong xD”
And she is totally right… still I wasnt surprised by their decision cause they don’t have another place to go that will care for their music and needs… after I added this long “comment” that made me just move it to my blog… and here we are… here you are reading it.
So that you have an ideao of who this Akdong Musician is I’m just going to copy paste the info offered by wikipedia… yeah…
Akdong Musician (악동뮤지션) is a South Korean duo, consisting of siblings Lee Chan-hyuk (이찬혁) and Lee Soo-hyun (이수현). They are known as the winners of the second installment of the K-pop Star series.
So… Why Akdong Musician didn’t have another choice than to sign with YG Entertainment… because right now it is the ONLY company that will take them in… Why?… because no other major company in Korea right now is “interested” on doing what the artists wishes to do… and cater to their musical needs… right now.
Therefore… that is why I wrote this extremly long “comment” explaining my “reasons” of why this wasn’t a surprise to me. In fact it was obvious with their sudden popularity without been signed they already did OST for dramas and CF for some brands. So it was a given.
I just hope that YG keeps their works like they have done all this years… if it goes like this it might eat up SM (hopefully) and start to develope a new model of company among companies that will make a path for the growing KPop industry that they open up more to care more about what the artist really wants to acheive rather than just making money.
SM… SM Entertainment is a money making machine… no feeling about real music involved for me. I’m sure this is a very un popular opinion but their artist hardly ever write their own songs they are fed their songs. For been an old company by this time you expect they have given their artist more freedom but no… not happening. Still their artist are VERY talented but way too tied up to the company’s will. If YG keeps on going at this pace they could easily even with less artists than SM eat the whole SM money making concept up. And I hope they do. and like I said before make a new model for the new emarging entertainment companies.
Take their interest in other genres that are “forgotten/ignored” like KRock some KIndie and let them be… but make it available to more audiences… perhaps that could help spread KOREAN MUSIC in general not only KPOP… which I think is why people are still blocking Korean Music from everywhere cause they DON’T know about all the variety they have to offer. And even when YG haves HipHop on their books their HipHop is “too commercial or popsie” for other people… except for EpikHigh… but old Epik High was more “artistic”/”indie” when they where with “solo” not with YG… but yes YG gives them the support the strenght to move on… that is needed and YG doesnt mess with lyrics but Epik High should go back to their old albums revist them and get connected with that old feelings.
This BIG companies SM, JYP and YG need to get involved & invest in other genres of music… YG is the only one right now that is doing this. They recently got Lee Hi (I already mentioned her on a post here) and now with signing Akdong Musician they are in advantage to all the other two companies SM and JYP. Lee Hi is very young but her stile of music is Jazz, Soul and R&B with a hint of pop cause well she is 16 yrs old still so no reason to make her grow too fast that will happen with time and I’m really looking forward to it.
Akdong Musician is fresh they can be label as been “Indie” cause they do everything on their own. They don’t need the guidance the songs the music they do all that… they just need good management and training on expanding the talents they already have. You know get the entertainment polish to shine more.YG also haves Epik High but I prefer the old Epik High that was more personal in your face with the lyrics… not their KPop is more HipHop with bubbles. Again unpopular opinion but it is entirely mine. Still they did well with their latest album after been away so long for a trillion of reasons. Also take note that they do produce for other artists on their label and those works are awesome. I just want to see them be more agressive and deep like before.
Korean groups are getting love calls from every where in the world it is changing KPop and that is good but all the other genres are suffering at some point because of the “bad name or label” that KPop haves of been all created and form just to make money… and this is a big problem that is not been addressed. This companies spend big money trying to hit it big out side Korea but overall in the United States and well people are just now getting interested sadly thanks to Psy who belongs to YG. The down point of this is that now everyone thinks that PSY = KPop and no. You should even check out Psy older works I mean the world found out about him on his 6th album… he ain’t new on this entertainment business you guys just found out late about him.
Korean music haves a lot of flavor and variety on their plate. This companies are just sticking to the younger generation taste and are missing on making the noonas, ahjussi, ahjummas and the rest of the world in falling in love with their groups. They have and get all the love from the youngsters but they money is realyy set on older audieces cause they can actually SPEND on the music and all the “fandom” craziness or maybe not the fandom but at least attending to the concert and buying the whole albums. You might think that their album sales go around 5million to 10 million according to the ammount of people that lives in Korea (50 Million population) but no the top selling album according to 2012 Hanteo Chart sold less than 179,000 copies last year. It is really shocking. So they have to target more people to make this work out and KPop or Korean music in general get noticed outside Korea.
Why Akdong Musician can’t sign with JYP….
JYP needs to get his shit together… with out 2PM right now they would be sinking… STILL they are a good ACADEMY for new idols. But their groups Miss A & BrownEyeGirls need attention and a new spark…motive… it is sad that Suzy is making money only with CF… the rest of the groups are doing TV wich is good but I know they want to sing and do more stuff. Also BEG girls are doing their own thing solo and collabs but they should get together soon. >> edited…. Ok Daniel Montalvo just told me BEG are not JYP so they are from Nega Network and they anyways need to get their shit together and bring them but they are busy with their “rookies” and Lunafly so… good and bad… at the same time… (lol)
JYP is a mine for rookie making and polishing them… but lately their groups are on hold. 2PM just made their comeback after 2 years… man why didn’t they end up doing military service on that period. Think about it two years on hiatus (for various reasons) you just comeback they guys are studying but you still have to take two years out AGAIN to do your military service. What is going to happen to this group? On and Off again and again. I know that there wasn’t a lot of option thanks to whatever happen but think about it.
Also Miss A had an album last year but it wasn’t HUGE thing or noticed. They didn’t performed in a lot of local concerts they did whent around Asia but nothing back home. Suzy did dramas and got crowned queen of the CF but besides that Miss A did nothing. Min Jia and Fei where here and there on hiatus. WHY? why have all that talent on hold or on hiatus? Put them to do collabs or make a subunit that are in trend now days. 2AM also had their spotlight and they shined in Korean and Japan while 2PM was nothing but freezing on the corner. Wooyoung did some heating and his own but also got a little burned.
All this sudden sexiness makes JYP the company more oriented to older +19 fans. Miss A Suzy is a grown up now… so look forward to her SEXIER image coming soon. Appa JYP did a +19 concert…and did you guys saw the 2PM video for ADTOY… that just makes my point, for me is all justified and needed after 2 years hiatus but besides that what else does JYP has? Nothing. So no point for Akdong Musician signing with them JYP doesn’t suite their cute but indie image concept… at all. JYP just stick to producing artists and training them or make your groups work.
SM will always be SM… so that wont change and they dont have to change they have enough artists that can last for a life time…but again they leave behind Shinee, F(x) and Exo most of the time..ALSO… they should work up more the sub units cause with leeteuk and yesung out… it’s gonna be a “hole”… and put Henry and Zhou Mi to work… more often bring them to korea or something… expose them I would love to see more of them. They kind of have too much on their plate to concentrate… from those 3 groups the one that needs tender loving care is F(x) which are on hiatus most of the time. Exo finally came back… and Shinee have resurected after the doritos…so yeah…
Where to start with SM they have a lot of people but don’t quite give them all the love they deserve at least not frequently. They don’t give their artist the freedom to do as they wish on their music they are still doing everything for them Feeding their styles and concept. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t like with everything.They had their latest project on hold for like a year and finally brought them back from EXO planet on vacations to earth. They will be arriving soong. But now F(x) is on hiatus with no date soon for a comeback so they are up the shelve once again.
SuJu is well SuJu. They had Shinee hidden for a long time until Sherlock found them and took off the dust and make them find clues and notes also went to Japan looking for more clues on why they where on the shelves for so long. Minho did dramas along with that so people got to see them often. BoA cameback but is now hiding again on a TV show. She just took a walk with Taemin and Younique after that. SM boxes every where again and again. TVXQ wanted everyone to catch them and they did well on the sales people did catch them cause they wanted also they becamse humanoids… is that even possible with SM been your owner? It is.
SM is alive because this groups have faithful fans that don’t pay attention to SM stupidity. I just wished SM where more flexible. SNSD did a lot of stuff last year. Still NONE of this “achievements” match up to Akdong Musician needs… they just DO NOT fit in SM boxes at all. SM is not willing to let their artist think and do stuff on their own. So sad they should let them do their stuff I’m sure they will be surprised. And gain respect from the fans that love their groups but hate the company. Who wants to be there… been new and free? No one… so Akdong Musician again makes no sense on going with SM.
Woollim is working up with Infinite, NELL and the sub units. Really targeting different audiences… Infinite KPop Nell KRock Indie… and mashing them up in the productions… is awesome
Woollim is still “young” growing up and they have Infinite and Nell working hard on totally different audiences. Infinite is all KPop on you… but Nell is all Korean rock and indie… they united both things and created an album but the audience didn’t enjoyed the fusion. But that haves a reason too…
As to why Akdong Musician doesnt fit in W0ollim even when they are flexible on their likes and they could fit here very well cause Woollim doesn’t mess up with lyrics or the artists wishes (example Nell).. the reason is that this company is still “young” and Akdong Musician is just too popular already. Besides… I’m sure Woollim is not interested on getting more people on their boat for now.
As to why the mix of Infinite (Sungkyu) and Nell didn’t work…
….but then again thats why Infinite leader album wasn’t so big or a hit like they expected even when it did good. take note 60secs… leader version and 60sec Infinite version… same song… I’m sure infinite version got more attention… just because it is KPOP and it it haves a dance and all that… so yeah they need work this and make KPOP fans see above KPOP in order to make the solo albums work… cuase this year many solo albums from artists that belong to groups didn’t make it just because they didn’t match the expectation of the KPop public that expected it would be the same thing that they do on the group and well no… many of this kids have a mind of their own and are influenced not always by KPop but by hip hop, r&b, international music etc… so when they do their solo albums they want to explore that but people don’t want them to explore that they just want them to sing KPop type songs full of dance and auto tune and superly arranged songs….
Like I said on this paragraph the reason why it didn’t work solo for SungKyu is because people were not ready for all the awesomeness that album was. The audience is too young. They had the wrong audience as target. Perhaps if they expanded their audience to a more adult one it would have done a lot better. I bet the fans even when most of them supported the album most of them didn’t felt it. They still want the bubbly KPop ringing on their ears. Perhaps thats why the album wasn’t taken seriously and people ignored it “Oh it is just another attempt to make a solo artist… it wont work cause it is Kpop they only work out as a group” That is what many people think and don’t even care about the songs. And that is sad cause that album showed a side of the artist appart from all the KPop world.
This brings another question to the table… Does this mean we don’t accept the artists true self or feelings and we just go and buy what the company creates? I mentioned the song 60secs which was part of Sungkyu album and main track… the song is awesome but it was more loved when the whole Infinite performed it with dance and all. Same song different effects. WHY? The mind of the buyer is already fixed to think in group and not solo. The song is pretty intimate and personal.. but they liked it performed as a dancing track not as a pop ballad that makes your heart wonder of 60 secs.
So there you have it WHY Akdong Musician signing with YG was obvious and actually the only choice they had. There is no other place for them to go. So carry on Akdong Musician have fun with your new family.
이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?)…. the video!
After listening to the songs of 이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?) and crying my heart out with its epicness and wonderful voices they just released the video for the title song. Before we get to the video I’m just going to tell you that this album is their best work so far. Why… because that is what happens every time they release something now. You can listen their improvement and that their hard work practicing pays off.
The vocals on the whole album are indeed amazing. Not too far from their previews styles but very grown up if you ask me. The songs feel more complete and more emotional. They are not songs for videos with grand dance technique… this songs are just good for power vocals and enjoy them. Of course the main title haves a dance but nothing as in other KPop groups. Again B1A4 forte is not dancing it is their singing abilities. That is what I love the most. If you want to listen to the album you can download it from here. So far I love every single song on this new mini album. They could have all been the title track as far as I’m concern.
Anyways… here is the video that I’m currently in love with. Meet Barbie, Ken and my five adorable guys. Here is the video with eng subs. Enjoy.
What’s happening? Revealed!
The day that everything started to unfold…. What’s happening? tracks and cover where revealed! And guess what after seen the cover and the names of the tracks we figured out… that What’s happening is the in fact the title of the album and obviously the title track. Still knowing all this didn’t answer our question. Here is the complete and final list of 5 songs what makes 이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?) their 4th Mini Album and also the cover.
1. 별빛의노래 (Starlight Song)
2. 이게무슨일이야 (What’s Happening?)
3. Yesterday
4. Good Love
5. 몇 번을 (How many time)
About the cover of the album I’m really excited about it. Like I’ve never been before for an album cover. It just looks so much like them. Also it haves a lot of color and the whole concept is very nice. Rainbow Bus as always did an amazing work. They have been doing all B1A4 merchandise designs since their debut back in 2011 and they have done an amazing work since then. Always looking forward to what they come up with.
Notice that on the cover of this album there are five “creatures” each one of them represents one of the members and their colors… the same colors they have been using on all their promotions: Pink, Orange, Blue, Green and Yellow. Also the random words on the covers are snippets of the lyrics of the songs. I seriously can’t wait to get this album on my hands. The digital album will be available on May 6 and the physical album will be available after May 8 but you can pre-ordered it online. And here is another thing why I love buying Korean albums cause they come with a lot of fun stuff when you buy them. This time the album comes with a 88 pages photo book and a sheet of stickers of one of the members (random). Also when you go to the sites they also have the poster of the album as a package and you can get all that for a good price.
B1A4 is back. Bring the teasers!
Warning this will be written in a fan point of view “fangirling hardcore” sorry. Carry on….
Yes! Finally after almost six months… B1A4 is back. All the feels. As usual we where teased and trolled by WM Entertainment. The same week of their anniversary they confirmed they where dropping an album on May 6. So after that I knew may was going to be a little chaotic. Since I’m running some local pages related to B1A4 there is always something to do and update about. The comeback season is pretty intense. The timezone doesn’t help at all but in the end it is all worth it. Now lets go to the important part. I am going to do a couple of posts on this so… hang on. I will first post the teaser images for their comeback if you don’t mind. This teasers where revealed from April 23rd starting with leader Jinyoung to April 27th ending with the maknae Gongchan. After all the teasers where revealed we where left with a question… What’s Happening? and to be honest we had no idea what was going on. It just made us feel more anxious and wonder…. What’s happening? (이게무슨일이야)
JINYOUNG
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SANDEUL
BARO
CNU-SHINWOO
GONGCHAN
Happy 2nd Anniversary B1A4!
Lee Hi (이하이)
Meet Lee Hi (Lee Ha Yi / 이하이) the new kid on the block that is sweeping the music charts in South Korean on her own .just with her amazing voice and awesome tracks. I think it is the first time that I actually pay attention to a soloist rookie (they release one like every day over there so the battle is harsh).
A little info on Lee Hi. She is pretty young. She is only 16 and still attends high school at SOPA (School of Performing Arts in Seoul). She ended up been the runner-up on KPop Survival Star on April 29 2012 and after that she signed to YG Entertainment by no other than appa CEO Yang Hyun Suk.
On October 28 2012 she debuted with the single 1, 2, 3, 4. Originally she was supposed to debut later on as part of a girl group Su Pearls that the company was building but that all got canceled after they saw Lee Hi full potential while she sweeping off the charts with her single. Now a few months later as a soloist she is back with her new first full album titled First Love. The promoted songs of this albums are It’s Over and Rose (both videos below).
- It’s Over was released on March 7 2012 as First Love Part 1 along with other songs. It is about a girl that gets tired of her bad boy… boyfriend and calls it quits with him. It is cute and you will see this HUGE -baby blue bad boy dancing- teddy bear that I think will become her icon logo for her increasing fandom. Totally cheesy video of Lee Hi been cute her age.
- Rose was released on March 28 2012 as First Love Part 2 along with the rest songs of the album. Rose haves a completely different feel and mood. It is a calmed and painful warning… every rose has it thorns. She is requesting not to be love… because you might get hurt by the thorns of her love which she is comparing to a rose. Pretty emotional and gorgeous video. (my favorite from all so far).
I’ve to say that appa Yang Hyun Suk must be really happy with Lee Hi. he is spending lots of money on her.is treating her like the baby of the family. He does treat the rest equally but honestly she is the baby. Already gave her a new apartment so she can live with her mom closer to the company. This way she doesn’t have to travel from far away back and forth since it is near the YG studios. Her unnies from 2NE1 are taking good care of her and her oppas from Big Bang are watching everyone so no one messes up with the baby girl of the family.
I really hope she stays simple and keeps this type of style of jazz, R&B and soul for a long time. That is the reason why she stands out from the rest cause she is not your regular young KPop singer. The first time I heard her songs she reminded me of Duffy (from UK). I think that YG did well on making her a soloist cause other wise maybe we wouldn’t even know who she was. When you are part of a girl group things your voice sometimes fades away with the looks of other members.
I look forward to her career and hope she stays around for a long time. It’s gonna be hard to make her grow up in front of the media but I know that YG Entertainment will do it the right way. I am sure they will be over protective of their baby.
My Home…
A few years ago I was looking up for quotes related to home or house’cause I wanted to do something for my living room but not your regular Carry On poster or whatever. I found this awesome quote by Michel Eyquem de Montiagne and I knew it was the right one and that it could start a conversation with visitors.
I’m not going to lie to you. I had no idea who Michel was but with google to the rescue as always I found out he is considered the father of essays… gladly I never had to do one but reading his bio he made a lot of changes to what essays used to be as a writing form and even after his works where published he manage that people recognized it as a literary form. So yeah he did lots of interesting things back in 1580. He had an interesting life…and yes a lot of wars.
Reavel's Blog v2 
