ChaReyes Dot Com

I sometimes believe that I will be Korean on my second life or I was a Korean on my previous life. The Korean craze and cultures are so appealing to me, that I love every inch of it. But then, I think I’m not the only one who’s in this position, of being addictively hallucinating that for once, Korean ethos are already part of our lives.

Last week, my former boss asked me if I see the Korean Pop Night Concert that was held in Expo, Singapore. She was excitingly telling me about the crazy experience she had while accompanying her daughter to that concert, which was the second time that happened in Singapore. K-Pop has been gradually becoming contagious that everyone goes gaga whenever they are. While she was telling me the whole experience, I’m trying to recall who are those K-Pop singers I know. It’s really shameful that I only can remember those old ones; Rain and BoA.

So, I tried so hard to list down the Top 10 Korean Bands or K-Pop Songs I love. In case you only know the ‘Super Juniors’ or ‘Wonder Girls’ — well, they are so many to mention that the only I can remember are those groups’ names that only constitute of three to four characters.

1) 2PM – I’ll be back. I first saw this group performing in an Electronic/Appliance store here in Singapore. You bet it was an LG LED TV, which is similar to what we’re currently using, showing how awesome the LG LED TV, possessing crisp resolution. Don’t ask me why I chose LG over Samsung. Naturally, LG is popular in using the media in upholding their products. Let’s say I was one of those who had been upholded. So, I didn’t know the name of the boy band, which are cooingly beautiful to guys on a first place, and wear the smokey-eyed eyeshadows. So, I kept on searching this group that the only idea I had is there are KOREANS. I searched in “Korean Group who wears Smokey Eyeshadows” or “Korean Group who looked like Rain” (which undoubtedly that all the Koreans resemble each other). So I searched about this boy group and only to find out the ‘Jay Park’, who’s been quite known now, previously the seventh member of this band. Jay Park is a Korean-American singer who had been ousted from the group and his country after posting on his Myspace account, some indicative dislikes of his life in Korea. Anyway, I think the song ‘I’ll Be Back’ is more appropriate for him to sing, don’t you think so?

2) Beast – Shock. Beast or B2st is a boy group from South Korea that consists of six members, under Cube Entertainment. The group was originally known as B2ST, an acronym for Boys to Search for Top. However, their name was changed to BEAST (Boys of the EAst Standing Tall) a few days before debut. They released their first mini-album Beast Is The B2ST on October 14, 2009.

3) Rain – Love Song. Okay, don’t get mixed up with ‘Rain’ as a song by MIKA but Rain is the literal Korean Singer and International Star. I first get hooked with Rain in his famous Drama Series, ‘Full House’ with Song Hye Kyo. He was next to BoA for being internationally acclaimed artist all over Asia back in 2005. Well, my basis on this view was BoA and Rain are the only two Korean Singers who performed in MTV Asia, when MTV wasn’t hosted yet to each country specifically. Rain is really talented; he can sing, dance, act and now it’s paying him off of grabbing Hollywood portrayals in movies like ‘Speed Racer’ and ‘Ninja Assassin.’

4) Girl’s Generation – Run Devil Run. I believe that this is the most famous Korean Girl Group. I mean like topping the chart for being known. Why did I say so? Well, this is the only Girl Group that came recently to Singapore for a KPOP concert. The nine members are: Taeyeon (the leader), Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. They are often referred to as SoShi, or SNSD (mainly outside Korea), the first of which is an abbreviation and the second an acronym of the group’s Korean name Sonyu Sidae (or So Nyuh Shi Dae). In China, they are known as (Shàonǚ Shídài; or Siu Nui Si Doi in Hong Kong) and in Japan as (Shōjo Jidai). Now, I’m getting started to get confused with these various names. Their 2009 hit single “Gee” holds the record for being the longest running #1 song on KBS’s Music Bank, having held the #1 chart ranking for 9 consecutive weeks.

5) Brown Eyed Soul – I’ll make way. Brown Eyed Soul is the first Korean RnB group I know. It’s least likely you’ll hear a Korean Band who will sound like those Soul R&B singers like Usher, Trey Songz or Boyz II Men. The group released their debut album, Soul Free, in September 18th, 2003. From it the single Jeongmal Sarang Haesseulkka topped the KBS charts in October of that year. In April 2010, Kyoung Tack Lim joined the group as a backup singer. Their main music genre is R&B, Soul, with some Korean Ballad melody.

6) 2NE1 – Go Away. 2NE1, well, I kind of known one member of this Korean girl group – not personally I mean. Sandara Park became famous in the Philippines who won our hearts of being a Korean who can speak our mother tongue. She did few music and movies but then she decided to go back to her hometown and fortunately be able to make her own name in KPOP. Apart from that, the group’s type of music is really upbeat and catchy. You may want to dye your hair in different color as well. The girl group created by YG Entertainment. First appearing in a Cyon commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Telecom, their debut single “Fire” was released on May 6, 2009 and on May 17 the song premiered on SBS’s Inkigayo. CL, Bom, Dara, and Minzy make up the four membered group.

7) SHINee – Lucifer. SHINee is a contemporary R&B South Korean boy band. Formed by SM Entertainment in 2008, they made their debut on May 25, 2008 on SBS’s Popular Songs with their promotional single, “Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)”, lit. “Older Girl, You’re So Pretty (Replay)”. The group consists of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. Since their debut, Shinee has won numerous awards. They have also starred in their own reality show based on their song, “Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)”. Shinee is considered to be a fashion icon having started the “Shinee Trend”.

8) DBSK – Mirotic. DBSK is also know as TVXQ. DBSK stands for Dong Bang Shin Ki while TVXQ means Tong Vfang Xien Qi. Either names that I don’t really understand. Later, they were introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki. Though they’ve been tagged with so many names, you cannot argue more on how infectious their ‘Mirotic’ song.

9) SS501 – LOVE YA. SS501 (pronounced as Double-S 501) is a South Korean boy band under management of Daesung Entertainment, also known as DSP Entertainment. The name of the band is a combination of the alphabet and numbers that have special meanings in them. The first “S” stands for “Super” “Star”. The second “S” is an abbreviation for “Singer”. The number 5, 0, and 1 means “five members united as one forever”. It’s not actually their name that made them famous, but when one of their members became part of the most viral and most watched Korean Drama, ‘Boys Over Flower’. Yes, I’m talking about Kim Hyun Joong a.k.a. Yoon Ji Hoo.

10) Kangta – Persona. KangTa became famous when he was still in a boy band group H.O.T. (High-five of Teenagers). I didn’t like him though, because of his frustrated Japanese style, with a long-blonde hair. But, when he finally decided to give a shot a solo career, I fell in love with his music and moves. Back in 2007, I only have ‘Persona’ in my iPod Shuffle and replaying that over and over again. He also collaborated Taiwan’s F4’s finest, Vanness Wu.