The true K Pop and K Ballad
I find that Singaporeans have a very shallow understanding about K Pop and think that the Girl or Boy Bands/Groups is what K Pop is all about.
The South Korean pop music scene has several genres: Boy or girl bands whose appeal lay mostly in their appearance; a technically difficult, older genre that had its roots in the colonial period and was popular with older Koreans; the Solo Singers who have wonderful vocals but do not look physically appealing; and the often amateur acoustic guitar singer-songwriters who have great voices and sing in the very simple style.
In my opinion, the true talents lie in the Korean Ballad Genre. Kim Bum Soo is the first South Korean artist to reach the U.S. Billboard chart and ranked as 51 on the Hot 100 chart in 2001. Park Hyo Shin has a deep, husky voice, and has been hailed by many as one of Korea's greatest singers. His technique and emotions he puts into his songs is really something else. Kim Bum Soo is the other singer who is able to do that. Other examples of famous singers who are virtually unheard of in Singapore who have shaped K Pop into what it is are singers like Sung Si Kyung, Lee So Ra, Jang Yoon Jung and Park Hyun Bin.
The year 2007 was marked with the release of numerous girl and boy bands, though only a few managed to top the charts. Despite new bands debuting, physical sales for CDs have become increasingly low, due to the stagnation of the K-pop industry. The highest selling album of 2007 did not even reach the 200,000 mark with only 190,998 copies sold. This is alarming.
I believe Singaporeans should open their ears to more genres of Korean Music and at least appreciate the Solo Singers too.
