f(x)! No, not the math function.

Yay! Time for my f(x) intro!

Well, I don't have much to say. Only that when they debuted, I was still only into YG fam, and I had a weird loyalty to them so I didn't even consider looking into other K-Pop artists. That is definitely not the case anymore!

I started watching them more after I found SHINee. I like that they're not overly girly, unlike their SNSD unnies, and more "contemporary", like their SHINee sunbaes. I like them for the same reasons I like 2NE1, they're my style, but even more so. 2NE1 is like an extreme version that I can really only dream about, and f(x) is more attainable.

Victoria's the oldest (22). She was the noona in SHINee's Replay MV! Lucky.
Amber (17) is effing dope! She just straight up refuses to be girly. (She might replace CL as my favorite girl if CL doesn't stop going Lady Gaga on me. Shhhh..don't tell CL.) AND she's from San Fernando Valley! SoCal girl FTW.
I really like Luna (16) too for some reason, I just don't know why.
Sulli (15) is just too cute! (Just like Taemin!)
Krystal (15) is from San Francisco. She's also Jessica's sister.

Gah! These girls are so young!

Alright. Enough talking. Here's their vids (with subs!) courtesy of LunaLoveSubs

1. LA chA TA MV


2. Chocolate Love MV (CF song)

2 comments: Sulli looks sooo badass in this one. And this one is sooo much cooler than the SNSD version.

3. Chu~♥ MV

I love how Krystal throws away the heels at 1:02 LOL. That would be me too.

All nighter...

watching SHINee's performances and "SHINee's YunHaNam" and finding all their music. Good thing I've been sleeping so much the past couple of days. I ♥ Jonghyun & Key. I wish they weren't my dongsaengs. All 5 of them are such adorable young men. Loving their music and especially their dancing...I'm hesitant to admit it, but they're better dancers than 2PM...(Hottests, don't kill me.) I will post a stage-presence comparison in the near future.

Pre-"Ring Ding Dong"

Post-"Ring Ding Dong"

(They stand in the same order in both pics kekeke)

They matured SO MUCH for their 3rd mini-album. It's really evident in the MVs.
Debut song: "Replay (Noona Is So Pretty)"
Latest song: "Ring Ding Dong"

Until next time, peace!

Jang Geun Suk

I woke up to this pleasant surprise today on allkpop :)

Too bad it's only sold in Japan. I would love to have him hanging on my wall.

My Jang Geun Suk story:
When I was watching "You're Beautiful" I liked ShinWoo first, but then (as always) I ended up falling and rooting for the main guy character, TaeKyung. He's snobby and full of himself, yet soooo adorable because he's fallen in love with the girl he's supposed to hate. He's such a great actor and on top of that, a super cutie.
Wanting to see more of Geun Suk's work, I watched "Baby and Me". He proved that he could be a good father! Super plus points in my book. And now I'm in the middle of "Beethoven Virus". OMGAH! He's just so sweet and tough and loving and I hate Du Ru Mi for what she's done to him so far.

Sukie's got a killer smile (and body). It makes me melt.

2PM + 2AM = ONEDAY

So my 2PM/2AM story is fairly short. It started with 2PM. I don't remember how I found them, but I know it was in the beginning of September. They became an obsession SUPER quick. That's just how beastly they are. At first I was more in love with them than their songs. They really don't hide their real selves behind the idol facade. I have never seen such a collection of fun-loving and dorky boys (aside from my bboy crew). Their songs eventually got to me and when they dance...OMG!!!! Game over for me.
If I remember correctly, I first saw 2PM's counterparts while watching the Christmas episode of Idol Army. They were so cute and silly and brotherly all together as one. I got to know 2AM better through Hot Blood. And after the Men's Health article/pictorial...*faint*. Changmin...ahhhhhh!!! Anyways...I love that they're ballad singers. Such strong, sultry voices (ESPECIALLY Changmin's). Makes me swoon. Plus they're dorky.

If you can't tell by now, I love dorks. They're just so loveable.

Why I ♥ 2PM:

• Realness. They're young men and don't hide it.
• Their individual personalities: they're all so dorky, cute, loving, adorable and beastly in their own way.
• Dancing machines!
• Brotherly love. They really care for each other.

Why I ♥ 2AM:

• Those voices.
• Fun-loving personalities.
• They can take care of a baby! Definite husband/father material. (Love Escort Ep. 2/2)
  

My 2NE1 Story

So, honestly, when I first heard that YG was going to debut a "female Big Bang" I thought, "WHAT? Ew. Why? You can't make another group as good as my boys." When they debuted with "Lollipop" I still didn't really like them. Too flashy, too girly, too strange (Dara's palm tree hair, the makeup). But I still kind of supported them because they were BB's little sisters. When they officially debuted with their first single, "Fire" (Space ver., Street ver.), I still wasn't feeling it. They were still too "out there" for me. And then comes "I Don't Care" and suddenly, I found myself liking them a lot more. They had a more down-to-earth feel and I could relate to their music more. And now they are my one and only favorite girl group. EVER. Period.

CL is definitely the "baddest female" in my eyes. Her style is sick and she can hold it down against the guys and she's a great leader. As a group, the totally stand out from all the other girl groups out there. They're tougher, more truly hip-hop. They don't depend on a totally cute/sexy wardrobe, they have their own unique style. Same with their dancing, not all cutesy or seductive, they have flava!

Why I ♥ 2NE1:

• Sick style
• Different from all the rest
• Personalities:
  - CL = baddest female. Enough said.
  - Dara = Sooo random and unique
  - Bom = Bunny! Sweet and funny
  - Minzy = confident and fun-loving

Just watch 2NE1 TV for further proof.

Why I ♥ Big Bang

• They're amazing singers and rappers
  - I find it hard for anyone to beat G-Dragon and TOP. (But then again, I'm biased.) And Taeyang+ Daesung's voices are amazingggg and Seungri's getting there too.
• Dance, dance, dance
  - Seungri, the dance machine FTW! Their routines are catchy and memorizable.
• Personalities
  - TOP is hilariously silly/dorky
  - Taeyang is soooo innocent
  - Daesung is just too loveable
  - G-Dragon leader is too cool
  - Seungri is an attention whore but so cute about it
• There are a bunch more reasons, but I'm getting too lazy to list them.
  

Why, Joelle, why?!

This December marks my 1 year anniversary of my K-pop obsessiveness. Yup, I've been stuck in my Korean "world" for a whole year. You want to know how it all started? Well if you don't, too bad. I'm going to tell it anyways...

It all started with a single music video. Big Bang's "Lies" mv to be exact. My friend Sam "Panda" showed it to me. He's a 24-year-old bboy, mind you, so it must have been worthy of his manliness and rep for him to show it to me. So I watched it, and even though I couldn't understand what they were singing, I was hooked by the storytelling and catchiness of the song and the odd appeal of these foreign Asian boys. (I say "odd" because of Seungri's semi-bleached hair and the "hip-hop" clothes that I hadn't gotten used to yet.) Plus, it wasn't the kind of music video where the artist sings to the camera while some almost-naked girls bodyroll around them.

So the music video sparked my interest and I went on a massive search for more of their videos to see if they were as good as "Lies". Hello, "Haru Haru"! Just as good. Their "tough-guy" image was growing on me. (My previous thoughts about K-pop were that all the guys were super girly looking.) And so after that, the snowball effect ran its course and I had completely fallen in love with Big Bang.

They can sing & dance at the same time. Full routines. None of that "sing and stand, maybe sway and bob up & down a little while the back up dancers do all the impressive choreography" that I'm used to from American artists. I like to dance, I want to see more of it.

So in general, my obsessiveness with K-pop groups includes:
1. Familiarizing myself with all the members
2. Watching all the music videos
3. Watch at least one live performance of each song
4. Watch all the subbed TV shows/interviews/radio broadcasts/etc. they were in
(Random tidbit: Korean radio shows are video taped and broadcasted alongside the radio airing so you can see what's going on inside the studio. Pretty dang awesome!)
5. Figure out the dances to the songs

And so that is how the K-pop obsession began. Next came 2NE1, 2PM, 2AM, and very recently (like, "this week" recent) SHINee. But I will explain each one in separate entries.

Go rest your eyes. That was a long one. (That's what she said.)