Hello and Welcome to Sharifah Interviews!
In this Interview series, I Interview different bloggers with different niches worldwide, yay!
Today’s Interviewee is a music blogger called KPOPREVIEWED.
Before I interview him, here’s his blogging background.
His name is Troy Ly and He blogs about recent k-pop songs and He has Twitter so follow him! And…
Okay, seriously Sharifah?
So, this is his real blogging background.
Troy Ly, a k-pop music blogger who reviews different k-pop songs by different groups and artists in South Korea. He uploads his blog posts almost daily which is really good, personally!
This Interview will cover
His blog posts
Controversies
Struggles
Advice
Tips
And more
If you’re planning to create a K-pop music blog like Troy, make sure you get your pen or pencil and a piece of paper and write notes.
Note: You don’t have to.
So, let’s start!
S.B.G 101 INTERVIEWS PART ONE
S.O: When did you start your blog Kpopreviewed?
T.L: I started this blog back in October 2011.
S.O: When you first started your blog, was it hard to promote your blog posts via social media?
T.L: I actually didn’t use social media for the first years of the blog. After a while, I decided to get into Twitter and Google Plus. That was hard at first because I had no idea what I was doing (I still cannot get my Twitter feed to appear on my blog). However, someone suggested hashtags and using hashtags definitely brought in more traffic.
S.O: Does anyone know about your music blog such as your family?
T.L: As far as I know, no family or friends know about the existence of this blog. Mainly due to the fact that they are not into KPOP.
S.O: When you said “stagnant” in your blog post Neverland by Holland, what do you mean by stagnant?
T.L: Sorry if I was not clear. The song just didn’t build-up and felt too consistent from start to end. Imagine a straight line drawn on a page representing a song. Looking a picture of a straight line would be boring. But if the line had peaked, changed direction or showed some sort of inclination, this would make it more interesting. Likewise if the song build-up or peaked in some way the song would have been interesting. Hence I used the word stagnant to signify that there wasn’t any activity in the song that would have made it interesting.
Neverland MV (Music video)
S.O: Since you are a KPOP fan, do you think K-pop is appropriating any cultures such as African-American culture or other cultures? If yes or no, why?
T.L: Yes, in some cases, KPOP has appropriated cultures for many concepts and songs. South Korea is an extremely sheltered country and is not used to different foreign cultures. They might see something as cool or trendy from one culture and try to pinch this aspect to make themselves look/feel different in Korea alone. I am not saying it is right because it can become offensive but at the same time, it is the step forward in South Korea's exposure to the culture. From what I can see in the Korean media, they are becoming more aware of their actions when it comes to other cultures and as they become more aware, cultural appropriation is slowly dying down.
S.O: If you were a director of Suzy’s song, Holiday, how would you direct the music video?
T.L: Looking back my comments, they may seem vague. Given how the song is, the music video was quite good. Maybe the lack of content in the video complimented the song well. I wouldn’t necessarily change anything with the video cause it may ruin the atmosphere produced by the song.
S.O: Do you think k-pop girl group dances are trying too hard to be sexy and cute?
T.L: I don’t think any girl group were trying too hard to be sexy or cute. I think that is mainly due to the fact that I grew up in a western society, so the majority of what I see in KPOP isn’t that extreme. people who are not exposed to such extremes would probably make comments on it being too much of something. that being said, there are some choreographies known for being over the top but as long as it suits the style of music, I am satisfied.
S.O: In Suzy Holiday review blog post, why did you expect the song to be a little bit upbeat?
T.L: For me personally, the title ‘Holiday’ suggests something fun and energetic, so I expected something like SNSD’s Holiday. But I guess I overlooked the title and completely forgot the relaxing aspect of a holiday, which is what I think Suzy’s song was trying to portray.
S.O: If Holland wasn’t homosexual, would he get more support and popularity from viewers?
T.L: He definitely would not get as many views as he is at the moment. quite sure that majority of the views at the moment are coming from international fans who support him for being homosexual. but if he were not homosexual (or just didn’t come out), then it would be likely that he be swept away as another forgotten solo artist due to the competition.
S.O: As a K-pop review blogger, do you think the k-pop boy group BTS is over-hyped by mainstream media especially western media?
T.L: I think that is the case. BTS has great releases in South Korea and I feel like this exposure is good for the group (and KPOP in general). But there is going to be a time when the hype will be too much for the group to live up to. I am not hating on them or looking down upon them. We’ve just have seen it too many times. Wonder Girls became big for a while in the States for their track ‘Nobody’. Their activities in the US after that were mega-flops. SNSD’s promotions of The Boys were described as lacklustre from what I remember. Mic drop was a good start for the group and they have millions of fans backing them this time around. So BTS might be a complete success but only time will tell.
BTS Not Today MV (Music video)
S.O: Do you prefer to listen to underrated k-pop artists or overrated k-pop artists?
T.L: Definitely underrated artists. I tend to notice that some overrated K-POP artists just stick to the same style each comeback which becomes incredibly boring as time goes by. by paying more attention to underrated, you get to see different styles of music (i.e. more exploration or experimentation of music genres) and you get to see an artist grow (and hopefully make it big).
Jessie Ssenunni promotional photo
S.O: Do you think red velvet’s recent MV bad boy dance choreography is appropriating African-American dances and why?
Note: for example,the chorus.
T.L: My exposure to such cultures are quite minimal so I am not exactly sure how to answer this question. But I will answer it truthfully as to how I see it. Apologies ahead of time if I do not answer the question properly.
I honestly do not see how their performance is appropriating African-American dances. Watching it, I honestly thought that since the song was edgier and Red Velvet is known for a brighter image, the performance was a mixture of both these elements. Other than that, I do not see the issue with it.
Red Velvet: Bad Boy MV
Credit: SM
S.O: What are the advantages of being a k-pop fan?
T.L: mainly because I don’t know many people around me who listen to kpop, it feels like my own private world. Great music to listen to and amazing visuals to watch out for.
S.O: what are the disadvantages of being a k-pop fan?
T.L: too many artists to keep up with (multi-fandom here), too many songs/albums to listen to.
Not having people to talk to about the recent comebacks/ news (I have a few friends who I know listen to KPOP but I don’t hang out with them as much)
Having people laugh at or judge you for listening to KPOP.
Hope you like this interview blog post.
There will be a part two of this interview blog post. If you have learned anything, please, comment below or email me to ask a range of questions.
Email: sharifahtaiwo31@gmail.com
Make sure you read part two!
Xoxo, Sharifah blog guide 101.
P.S: There is an audio page where you can listen to this Interview :)
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SONG OF THE DAY
Red Velvet 레드벨벳 'I Just' MV
Credit: SM
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