Korean music. It’s all over the place now. It’s a bit weird for me to be saying this because I used to be so embarrassed to admit it, but I love listening to Korean music, especially kpop. I don’t know why I used to be so embarrassed before. Perhaps it was the fact that when I first began to listen to it (which was in middle school eight years ago) everyone would tell me that I was weird. They would call me weird because they thought it was stupid that I would listen to their music and I didn’t understand anything. They thought I was weird because it was simply something out of the ordinary. Especially in a tiny Hispanic populated town.
I found myself interested in Korean music for many reasons. First of all, the music was so catchy you would want to start dancing anywhere at anytime. But the main reason was because I found myself trying to learn new languages and Korean was one of them. All my foreign friends would tell me that the best way to learn a language was to listen to their music, watch their movies and shows, and simply learn about the culture and history. So I tried to do just that.
I began my music exploration with kpop. It all started for me with a group named SHINee. SHINee is a group that consists of five members who’s names are Onew, Minho, Jonghyun, Key, and Taemin. Well they’re four now, but that’s an entire different topic for another post. Moreover, I fell in love with this group and I remember playing their music so loud in my room and in the shower. I used to live across from a park that I would meet up with my friends at every afternoon. I remember always walking out of my house and towards my friends and as soon as I reached them, they would start making fun of me because they heard my “asian music.” They were not the only ones to make comments like these. My other friends would tell me that I “thought I was asian” and every time we had a hang out, people would play their music but they never allowed me to play my music because “all I ever listened to was asian music.” This made me feel so out of place. I didn’t understand why it was so bad for me to listen to foreign music.
I began to hide the fact that I listened to Korean music so I wouldn’t be made fun of. However, I began to discover new groups like my all time favorite BigBang (who happen to be the best in the game), super junior, and 2ne1. I was motivated even more to try and learn Korean so I would be able to understand what they spoke about. I began studying their words and characters with my younger sister and now I understand some of the words here and there. However, little by little I stopped telling people I listened to kpop just so I wouldn’t be made fun of. And to the day, sometimes I’m a little hesitant.
Nevertheless , these days I am so happy to see that something that was completely out of the ordinary when I was in middle school, has become such a huge world phenomenon. I have to sayWell, I’m not that happy because ticket prices are obviously going to rise, but nonetheless, I’m happy. I have thankfully been able to see some of my favorites in concert before ticket prices skyrocket. Through kpop, I have met so many new people that I keep in touch with and learn from. Not only have they helped me learn a little more of the culture and language, but they have also helped me learn that it doesn’t matter what people think about what I do. Especially what I listen to. I have learned to push that aside and listen to anything I want freely. I have learned not to be embarrassed and always continue to do what I like even when it’s out of the ordinary.
An Insight 