Music, music, music
Iโll be updating this page periodically to include music thatโs piquing my interest at the moment. Song of the day: โPretty Babyโ by Blondie.
Category: Music
Young Posseโs Music Video for โColdโ Addresses Abandonment & Objectification
The K-pop girl group Young Posse released the stunning music video for โColdโ on March 2. Itโs by far one of the most meaningful videos Iโve watched in a long time โ maybe since K. Willโs โNo Sad Song for My Broken Heartโ and IUโs โLove Wins All.โ
The Making of Jinโs Sweeping โAnother Levelโ
Jinโs vocals on โAnother Levelโ (from his debut EP โHappyโ) blew away co-songwriter Ben Samama.
Big Ocean: Meet the Deaf K-Pop Group Thatโs Breaking Barriers
Big Oceanโs Hyunjin, Chanyeon, and Jiseok talk about their remarkable journey and what they want to do next. My latest exclusive for Rolling Stone.
K.Willโs โNo Sad Song For My Broken Heartโ explores a one-sided gay relationship
It is easier for a cisgender man than a gay man to survive in a cutthroat society where the latter is unwelcome. This is true in just about any society, but especially so in South Korea where LGBTQ rights are still sorely lacking.
Chung Ha Shares the Next Step in Her Evolution
โI knew that I had to have a comeback eventually, because I had promised my fans that I would,โ says the adventurous K-pop star Chung Ha. โThis is what I love to do.โ My latest exclusive for Rolling Stone.
TWICE is determined to keep rising โ but theyโll never stop having fun
The K-pop sensations and TODAYโs latest cover stars open up about self-care, sisterhood, and their new project, โWith YOU-th.โ
IUโs Evocative โLove Wins Allโ Music Video (featuring V) is Thought-Provoking
Itโs not easy for two well-known celebrities to immerse themselves in their roles so well that we donโt see them, but rather their characters. But watching IUโs music video for โLove Wins All,โ I didnโt see pop stars IU and V, but rather a pair of anguished characters who were trying desperately to survive in this post-apocalyptic inferno.
Sistar19: Inside the K-Pop Duoโs Comeback
Hyolyn and Bora talk about their first new music in seven years, how K-pop has changed over the years, and their dreams for the future. My latest article in Rolling Stone magazine.
The Rose, Lollapalooza & Rock โnโ Roll
โOur goal as artists is for everyone who comes to our shows โ no matter what age, what gender โ to feel included,โ said The Rose frontman Woosung. โThatโs the energy we want at our concerts. We want it to be this happy place, a garden of roses where youโre enjoying music together with all kinds of different people and everybody feels safe.โ
The 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music
What follows is not only the story of Korean popular music, and how it birthed the K-pop business, but also how a small peninsula nation learned how to make art in the face of colonialism and political change, culled sonics from all corners of the globe, and keeps striving to find new ways of distilling the purest, most thrilling aspects of the human experience into four-minute packages of pop revelation. For Rolling Stone.
Sugaโs D-Day Concert Review: Agust D, Yoongi, and BTS Suga in One Glorious Fusion
In the final moments of the concert, the cameras seem to multiply, his cadence intensifies, the lights flash like paparazzi light bulbs. On the giant screen, surveillance-style footage captures him at a dozen different angles. Itโs all fury and flame and breathless swagger; Suga can dance, Agust D prefers to stalk. And the last image we see is Min Yoongi, his retreating back, the house lights already up, a person at the very end of it all.
โSuga: Road to D-Dayโ
โItโs my dream to travel around the world and play with local musicians playing their traditional instruments,โ Suga says in his documentary Suga: Road to D-Day. โItโs my dream to record them and make music based on that.โ But he has trepidation, too. โI worry that I wonโt have anything to talk about,โ Suga says. โI have fears that I have no more dreams to follow.โ
Epik Highโs Tablo on Trauma, Triumph, and the Truth
A year ago, Tablo wasnโt sure there would be another Epik High album. Now the Korean hip-hop star is ready to talk about it all โ from their new EP, โStrawberry,โ to the trauma he faced from an online troll campaign, to his next collaboration with BTSโ RM. My exclusive interview for Rolling Stone.
The 79 Best K-Pop Songs of 2022
The 79 Best K-Pop Songs of 2022, according to 79 journalists and pop culture writers โฆ including me! My pick of the year? Jinโs โThe Astronaut,โ which preceded the BTS memberโs military enlistment on Tuesday (December 13).
ATEEZ Do It All for the Fans
At their Chicago concert, ATEEZ had mentioned that theyโve now experienced the first snowfall of this tour. In South Korea, there is a romantic notion that who you spend the first snowfall with is someone who will remain in your future. It feels right that for ATEEZ, this snowfall landed on a day they spent with their fans. My exclusive interview for Rolling Stone.
The Epik Highs and Lows of Tablo
Had Tablo not experienced the alienation and toxicity of TaJinYo, Tabloโs music โ and therefore Epik Highโs, too โ most likely would not have resulted in โEpik High Is Here ไธ (Part 2).โ From all those lies, truth survived.
The 54 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021
Teen Vogue asked 54 music writers to pick their favorite K-pop songs of 2021. I chose Monsta Xโs โOne Day,โ which features gorgeous harmonies, along with heartbreaking lyrics that may make the listener sob in commiseration. Radio really dropped the ball on this song.
BURDOCK Magazine Cover Story: BTS
BTS approaches their music as art, because thatโs what they want to create โ something beautiful and meaningful that withstands the test of time.