#so basically this means the only music i listen to in english is rap

[berryunho]

it's only when normal people give me music recommendations that I realize what strange and inexplicable music taste I have like wtf is wrong w me

[helloiamadrawer]

Class 1A Boys + music they listen to (PART 2)

There's always that ONE person who is like a parent when it comes to his whole class and music making sure it's "school appropriate" and that would be no other than the class rep, Iida.

Has a playlist for literally his life routine lol (study, relaxing, outings, running in the rain in his retro raincoat 😂,etc.). I feel like he would listen to like 90's music, classic rock (his fav artist is Foo Fighters for sure) he doesn't mind playing his stuff every now and then but he's busy most of the time preparing for class. nerd lol.

May sound shocking but he likes SOME rap but it's all old school rap/hip-hop like Biggie, Ice T, Usher, MC Hammer but he only listens to it outside of U.A though because he doesn't want "taint his image of class rep". He tried trying new school rap and..let's say he'll just stay where he is (he almost got hurt BUT that's for another story!)

The only classmate that is so chill with almost every genre of music is Sero. Even songs in different languages and more exotic genres like nudisco, jazzfunk, and french house (which are his favorites, cause it's a rarity he cherishes). He would play japanese funk while he drives down the road JUST for the ✨aesthetic✨ (future au idea). Dua Lipa, Kali Uchis, Doja Cat, Rosalia, JIAFEI just any other artist that sings in another language other than english he'll know. And he sings it so well but has no idea what a lick of it means well except for japanese.

Is not scared of talking about it to any of his classmates and actually persuading them to give it a try or if he plays it on his bluetooth speaker before class starts and then one of his classmates asks him the next day for ex: Tokoyami asks him "Hey Sero, what was that techo like song were you playing yesterday, for some reason it's in my head." and then the tape boi will go through his recently played songs from yesterday (he's a yt music kinda guy tbh). Then basically almost everybody is interested in what he has in store next

In other words he's the one who always brings his speaker to class but is respectful and plays it before class even starts, he's an early bird.

Denki, is the twin of Sero cool with any kind of music but leans more into the weebcore/rap category. He most likely will play weeb music in his dorm room, the usual anime openings and ending theme songs with a dorky smile on his face humming along while reading manga.

Is the aux cord GOD, will never disappoint the Bakusquad with any music he plays in the car he'll play some Marshmello and everyone would get littt🔥🔥🔥 or some nostalgic jpop to sing awfully off tune to to piss off Bakugo ofc.

Fun Fact: The whole Bakusquad got kicked out of his car at least five times singing terribly lmaooooo

(!!I'M WRITING THIS HEADCANON BEFORE THE TRAITOR ERA HE HAD!!)⬇️

💅Voguing king✨ that's the title Yuga Aoyama gives himself when his headphones are filled with the sounds of VOGUE EDITS IM SORRY HE SERVES CUNT ISTG GO LOOK AT HIS HERO COSTUME UGHHHH 😫 he even putson fashion shows with the Class A Girls 🥺🥺 *imagines him voguing to this 1 hour playlist of just phonk/runway music cause I can*

He is also very bold at expressing his love for future funk obsession, his peers don't mind it at all..well, ONE person *cough cough bakugo*. ⬇️

Totally applies his makeup (generally eyeliner cause he has the ✨prettiest✨ eyes, fight me 🤪)to either one of those two categories imo (he gives me when i suddenly want to try runway eyeliner makeup😭 -cries in non fem queen-)

BEST FOR LAST MOTHAFUCKIN' BAKUGO AND KIRISHIMA aka BakuKiri or KiriBaku (shoutout to the shippers for that pair✌️) 💥🤟

Heavy Metal/Death Metal for Bakugo

NEFFEX, Rock and workout tunes for Kirishima

Five Finger Death Punchis literally Boom Boom Boi's fav and Kiri is in the car just vibing and just not minding it at all knowing it's his way of relieving stress from work plus it's manly sounding anyway to him as well so whatever makes him happy ❤️

Psst..come here..*whispers in your ear* Bakugo gets with Tokoyami for secret thrashing sessions sometimes 🤫

YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT THEY DON'T! THE DARK OVERLORD AND THE ANGRY POMERANIAN THRASHING TOGETHER LMAOO AND THEN KIRI JOINS IN LATER AND THEN THE WHOLE BAKUSQUAD LMAOAOAO

Now Kiri goes to the gym pumping iron to some Neffex is a must for him that's his whole workout niche but anywhere his workout playlist goes who knows?

Has a whole thrash playlist as well go figs

Disco on the treadmill? yes please

Dubstep while throwing around that heavy ass rope? yessir yessir

At the end of the day he's chillin' to some chillstep while laying on his bed after a shower, resting to recharge for the next day

MIneta...yeahhhh dont give him the aux cord..just don't trust him

Imma just say one word that he would blare on someone speaker

Cupcakke

That is all..so hide yo aux cords or don't bring it at all and just stick to the radio

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

the unofficial ramuda amemura song rec list

ft other recs. by someone who knows 0 lore but likes the music. major warning this is like 600,000 miles long. i am so sorry. i am mentally ill. @snobwaffles

tdd legend (the tdd song i was talking about. the one song we actually have from the days when people were still kinda nice and friends not counting the stage songs. group song but ramudas got some catchy parts)

lesson (yes i know you listened to it already okay its just THAT good. ramuda and that old man used to be friends. rip)

drops (ramudas first solo song. one of my favorites because im a sucker for pop-y music)

pink coloured love (it has kind of a long intro. catchy first lyrics and then it goes INTO things. ramudas second solo)

stella (once you know anything about fling posse you will cry. group song with gentaro and dice)

shibuya marble texture (fling posse represents shibuya btw. im too tired to explain hypmics basic premise but Yeah. chill-er song, group)

shibuya ghost night (MY SONG OF ALL TIME. this one is an original from the anime. group song)

black journey (once you know anything about fling posse you will cry. part two. group song)

anyway get on the floor (this is a newer song that i had the honor of being in the fandom for its release. it is so good and calls back to the original solos. i lobe it so much. group song)

bonds of friendship born of bonds of pain (the name is only slightly shorter in romaji. another fling posse means everything to me song. this was their win song from the second division rap battle.)

reason to fight (fling posse vs mad trigger crew rap battle song. im convinced they put drugs in the instrumental)

battle battle battle (the girls are fighting. the gays are fighting. same thing. the chorus is lacking but the rest is good. fling posse vs matenrou rap battle song)

survival of the illest (all star song, meaning all the groups are in it. fling posse is usually the 3rd in all star line ups. fling posses part is phenomenal, as always. this is my favorite all star song)

division rap battle+ (all star. this is basically an intro to all the different divisions. while i am a fling posse fan through and through bad ass temples part is objectively and truly the best)

cross a line (all star. i was also lucky enough to be here when it released. this is such a happy song i love it so much)

hang out! (all star. ANOTHER HAPPY SONG. my beloved. gentaros part was the best and i take no criticism)

glory or dust (all star! not only does this one have english subtitles, but also killer animations! a lot more of an epic song. i mean that seriously and in terms of vibes. really cool)

united emceez - enter the hexagon (all star, but its just the group leaders. insanely catchy. everyone should be best friends again rn or else)

summit of divisions (all star. catchy chorus. character cards.)

trap of fling (this is a stage play song, and fling posses introduction song there. damn hes bisexual? I didn't know that. to be honest i don't like it that much but somebody had to type out the lyrics and make the actors sing it so i am incredibly appreciative)

champion in da house (this is it. my favorite fling posse song ever. stage play song)

rhyme animas mixtape (anime original! introducing the four original divisions they gave each a small musical segment. i wish these all had full versions. order is buster bros, mad trigger crew, fling posse, matenrou. you can tell the switch from the instrumental change)

rhyme anima ed3 (fling posse version of the animes ending theme. its funky)

other recommendations

once upon a time in shibuya (this one is just gentaro and dice. yes this is where that stupid 'yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo' audio came from. did you know the autism creature is also from hypmic?)

scramble gamble (dice's second solo. his entire thing is that he's a gambler. it makes for catchy songs though.)

femme fatale (ft. the canonical milf, lady who i think personally wants ramuda to suffer?, and white haired dude from mad trigger crews sister. the milf is dices mom. these guys are chuuoku and they took over the japanese government.)

run this city (anime original. this is objectively the best song in rhyme anima to me. its by buster bros)

requiem (buster bros, saburos second solo. it is either exactly or nothing like what you expected based on that title. typical 14 year old behavior in my opinion)

champagne gold (hifumi is here to party. i am worried for his liver. hifumi from matenrous first solo)

dont stop the party (hifumis second solo. you heard him)

scarface (LISTEN. i dont like mad trigger crew. but this is one of the best hypmic songs in general ever. i hate this.)

joy for struggle (buster bros beat the ass of their absent father. buster bros vs dotsuitare hompo rap battle song.)

violet masquerade (jyushi win. jyushi from bad ass temples second solo. su will agree with me)

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Solar - Colours

I enjoyed this album a lot! I don’t know much of Solar’s solo stuff (in fact I only really know Honey), and I only really know Mamamoo’s titles, and most of Mamamoo+’s discography. So I have a decent understanding of how Solar and her voice are used, but I was still very pleasantly surprised with this album. I heard some sides of her that I hadn’t before, and some sides of her that I wish I could hear more of.

Another thought that I had was “Wendy and Jihyo wish they had done this album” lol, which maybe sounds mildly insulting … and I guess it kind of is. But here’s what I mean. Jihyo did the whole self-producing thing for Zone, and it ended up fine, but it didn’t end up particularly diverse. A lot of the songs were very samey to me, and so I was kinda bored by the album. Wendy’s album was good, a bit more diverse, but she didn’t contribute at all to it. And as a result, it was very safe; the producers did what they knew she could do well.

This album, on the other hand, was really creative. It’s basically just Solar flexing on us for 16 minutes straight, and honestly it was a really enjoyable experience. I really do love her voice, she can do so many things really well. I want her to rap more, that part in Honey lives in my head rent-free. Regardless, this album showcased so many sides of her, I loved it. I guess one criticism is that it’s so short: only one song was over three minutes long! The songs didn’t have much time to develop because of that; they were more snapshots in time than moments in time.

Average score of 8.2, which might be a tad high, but still. Really good mini overall, definitely give it a listen. I imagine that most of these songs will survive on my playlist.

(Also, why is the album called “Colours” but the first song is called “Colors”? That feels a bit odd, is there a reason for that?)

- Colors

Not what I expected

Okay, this is more what I expected

I should comment that I don’t usually check out teasers or trailers or whatever. So I’m completely blind to this

But I think this is what they call “gay club music”

What’s this instrument in the chorus?

Haha the “ahhhhh!”

Oh wait, this is all English isn’t it

8/10, you have my attention Solar, but I want a bit more. The song didn’t really go anywhere

But I

Notice how everything is very muted color

Except the fire, and now her dress

Lol okay

This feels like what Wendy’s IWYH could’ve been

Not typing too much because I’m paying so much attention to the MV

Lovely visuals

But yeah, basically the only Colors in this MV were the fire and the dress

8/10

Empty

Ballad time?

That was a neat intro

Maybe slow jam time, these snaps are very slow jammy

Okay, not a classic slow jam

Actually she’s kind of doing the Nmixx thing in this album, where she stars off doing one song, but then subverts our expectations

That song Felt too short. And looking at the runtime, it definitely was

7/10

Honey Honey

Well this won’t get confusing with her other songs lol

This album feels overall more electronic than I think I expect from Solar

A bit too close to the Ive album, in that sense

I like this song, doesn’t feel a thing like Honey though

Oh it’s in six, that’s cute

Dude Solar is actually Such a good rapper oml

Or, maybe not technically great, but I love her rapping voice

That cute vocal run around 2:00 was so fun

I kind of get rainy vibes out of this song, not really Honey vibes

Maybe it’s “honey” as in “darling”, and not as in “bee juice”

8/10

Easy Peasy

Le Sserafim have ruined this phrase for me

This does NOT sound like Solar lmao wow

I guess we don’t often hear her with this range/tone, usually she’s beltier

I actually get early IU vibes out of this song

Yes lol with the plucks and the drums and the harmonies omg

Honestly I really enjoyed this song

9/10

Blues

(This sounds nothing like blues)

This is like … electronic r&b so far, based on the intro

We’re in three

Solar does harmonies so well

Yeah, here’s the classic Solar voice we like so much

The “dadadada” part is So good

Haha the vocal flexing, love it

And the guitars! Yes!

And now the piano

Too anthemic to be blues

And now the drums here

I mean I can kind of get it, but honestly I’d call this rock more than Blues

Actually it’s really theatrical

Lol mic drop

9/10

[soysaucevictim]

I just watched/listened to Daniel Thrasher's "Igowallah". (Otherwise titled, "How rap sounds to non-english speakers".)

It got me thinking about music and linguistics shit.

On the one hand - this kinda makes me think of Adriano Celentano's "Prisencolinensinainciusol" and Neil Cicierega's "Word Disassociation" in that it's meant to be gibberish. Tho I think the fact Celentano had a bit more of "a point" since he was Italian (presumably ESL), making a song blending phonemes in how he crafted that song. Just to grab this blurb from the wiki article:

The song is intended to sound to its Italian audience as if it is sung in English spoken with an American accent, however the lyrics are deliberately unintelligible gibberish with the exception of the words "all right".[8][9]... Celentano's intention with the song was not to create a humorous novelty song but to explore communication barriers. The intent was to demonstrate how English sounds to people who do not understand the language proficiently. "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."[6]

And Neil's song also has a lovely, vaguely "fluent aphasia" sort of feeling. But like. Some of the strange couplings of the nonsense strings of actual words conjure surreal as hell imagery. Like what the hell even is, "My elusive hula yellow sketching creamy helium gentlemanly communique"?? ?

I don't really know what was like, the artistic intent behind Thrasher's song here - besides some kinda of parody of rap. Which I guess is fine? It is kinda of interesting - in comparing it w/ Adriano and Neil.

I'm just kinda iffy about some folks just being snobs about rap in the comments of it, man. It feels like this veers a bit dangerously close to how White people can mock Chinese (and Cino-adjacent) speech. Just because of the, well, distinctly Black American roots hip hop has.

As someone who probably has mild language processing issues with lyrical content anyways (so i typically first pay attention to instrumental/production elements), but also enjoys hip hop regardless... people just going off abt how that's just what rap sounds like to English speakers. Just gives me a bit of the ick? (Especially with me realizing that maybe, just maybe, hating on disco being popular was at least partially fueled on by antiblack attitudes... sooo...)

Can't really glean or comment on intent here (not really that familiar w/ Thrasher as an entertainer, so I'm trying to be charitable) - just commenting on some of the feedback I've seen there. Also also, just as a bit of writing care (like in art, not like casual txt conversation) - it's worthwhile to check if a key-smash bit of gibberish isn't some kind of obscure slur in a different language, just as a show of good faith. Because man, this song almost sounded like it was at least flirting with that mistake. (Just an experience I've seen from the larger writing community on world-building stuff.)

Basically there are things I do legitimately enjoy about this song that I got recc'd. There's some fascinating linguistics and art philosophy conversations to be had here. But there's also a just some background reservations I just wanted to ramble about.

Idk if any of this makes much sense. But. Yeah. :,D

[lixiehugs]

mila profile

tw : mentions of jonghyun, eating disorder

BASICS !!

stage name : mila (hangul : 미라) birth name : mila sophia youngsoo hoffmann-lee korean name : lee young-soo (hangul : 이영수) chinese name : li mei-lai (mandarin : 李美来) (meaning : 美 means beauty and 来 means to return) japanese name : okada amaya (kanji : 岡田天谷) (okada is kangjeon but in kanji instead of hanja) (meaning : amaya means night rain) nicknames : miely. mimi. lala. cookie. princess of SM/nct. nation’s producer.

birth date : june 5th, 2000 zodiac : gemini birthplace : detroit, usa hometown : n/a → mila : “i moved around so much as a child that i don’t consider anywhere home”

ethnicity : german-korean nationality : american-german-korean languages : english (100% — native), korean (96% — fluent), japanese (75% — proficient + learning), german (60% — proficient), spanish (40% — sufficient), mandarin chinese (8% — beginner)

PHYSICAL !!

height : 160 cm or 5′3 weight : 44 kg or 97 lbs blood type : o

eye color : brown natural hair : dark brown, wavy

body modifications : 18 piercings (and counting!) & two tattoos face claim : ex-ioi/wekimeki doyeon vocal claim : apink jeong eunji//nmixx lily rap claim : dreamcatcher dami//blackpink jennie dance claim : n/a

CAREER !!

agencies : sm entertainment (2014 - present) training period(s) : 2014 - 2016 groups : nct, superM, meraki subunits : nct dream, nct 127, nct u positions :

nct dream : main vocalist, main dancer, sub/lead rapper (took over lots of mark parts), producer, visual, and face of the group

nct 127 : main vocalist, main dancer, sub rapper, producer, visual, and face of the group

superM : main vocalist, lead dancer, sub rapper, producer, visual, and maknae

meraki : main vocalist, main dancer, visual

individual fandom : milazens/records (mila : “i’m the record player and you guys are the records because a record player is nothing without the records but the records still look pretty and have a purpose without the record player.”) representative emoji : 💽 or 📀 (because mila is a producer so the discs symbolize albums/songs that she has produced) social media : @/milahoffmann on instagram

best known for : being the female member of nct/superM. her songwriting and music writing skills + producing. her vocal stamina and high notes + low notes. can rap but only does it rarely so everyone is surprised when she does it. her acting and modeling. being a meme. her friendships with other idols. her immaculate stage presence. cursing a lot. giving an interviewer shit if necessary. her mental health representation.

PERSONAL !!

mbti : esfp-t

positive traits : happy ! almost always smiling and laughing, brings light into a room. very sarcastic. hyper (jumps a lot when excited). kinda flirty. cute (only sometimes). loyal. independent (so much so that she won’t ask for help when she desperately needs it). friendly (has lots of friends outside of nct). spontaneous.

negative traits : has major self confidence issues (had her entire life). feels like a burden to nct (this issue gets better over time though). fakes having confidence, so she comes off as somewhat narcissistic to outsiders. self-critical. has suffered from anxiety and depression her entire life. suffered from anorexia when she was a trainee and before but she’s better now (the members still think she has tendencies though + relapse in empathy 2018). bottles everything up. overworking herself. zones out a lot.

habits : doesn’t give eye contact sometimes (makes her feel awkward). cracking her knuckles. scratching her arms when she gets flustered. messing with her hair. pacing. playing with her hands when bored or nervous. talking to herself (only when alone). bites her tongue to keep herself from crying. faking voice cracks. man-spreading.

hobbies : listening to music. playing on her nintendo switch and pc. writing and producing songs. making dance routines. likes to make people flustered by winking, shooting kisses and getting in people’s faces. staying up all night and sleeping all day. doing solo lives to keep the fans updated. bullying haechan. gossiping with chenle.

BACKSTORY :

mila hoffmann-lee was born on june 5th, 2000 to an american-korean mother and a german-korean father. her mother, monica lee (born 1971) is a lawyer, currently practicing in seoul, south korea. her father, thomas hoffmann (born 1973) is an engineer, currently working in seoul, south korea. 

mila was born in detroit, michigan as the third child of her family, youngest to her older sister, sierra (born 1994), and her older brother, jamie (born 1997). the hoffmanns moved to portland, oregon in late 2000, when mila was six months old. in 2005, the family then moved to san francisco, california. in 2006, mila’s younger sister, natalie was born. in 2009, the hoffmann family moved, yet again, to munich, germany. the three older siblings were put into an english-speaking international school while natalie was put into a german kindergarten. in 2013, mila’s family, minus her older sister who had started university in the UK, moved to seoul, south korea. her family hasn’t moved since then. her older siblings live in the UK, having both graduated from university.

throughout the times that mila was moving around the world, she developed a passion for gymnastics. she started gymnastics at age five, and at age six, she had already passed three levels. she was a mini competitive gymnast when she was seven years old, making her the youngest on the team by four years. because of her extreme skills and young age, she was predicted by all of her coaches that she would go to the olympics someday. unfortunately, when mila had to move to germany, she quit the sport and refused to join a german gymnastics team out of stubbornness. there, she joined a british dance club, thus earning a passion for dance. still having all of her tumbling skills from gymnastics, mila was a very talented member on the team. 

FACTS :

mila auditioned secretly for SM in late 2013. she told her mother that she was going to her friend’s house. in her audition, she sang someone like you by adele and she danced to growl by exo, as well as freestyling.

she became a trainee in january 2014 but didn’t start training with NCT until november 2015.

mila trained for two years and four months. she was supposed to debut with red velvet but she was taken out of the plans because the SM staff thought that she would fit better in NCT.

mila didn’t tell her school friends that she was a trainee until the day before she debuted. 

she hates her korean name. 

mila said that her father’s korean last name (before it faded away) was kangjeon. since that name has japanese origins, mila believes that she has/had some japanese relatives. 

mila had severe confidence issues when she was a trainee, which lead to her developing anorexia nervosa. she never received treatment for her disorder, but she improved a lot when she started training with NCT.

mila has a room in the nct 127 dorm and in the dream dorm. in the 127 dorm, she shares a room with haechan, in the dream dorm, she has her own room. she has half of her things in each dorm and she spends half of her week at each dorm, as well. 

when jonghyun passed away, mila’s depression intensified to an extreme extent. she had suicidal thoughts at one point but she never told anyone. mila was seen crying very hard at his funeral next to yeri. 

in 2017, mila had gotten jonghyun a ring as a christmas gift. unfortunately, jonghyun passed before she was able to give it to him. now, mila wears the ring every day on her thumb because it’s too big for her finger. she panics when she doesn’t know where it is. 

in may 2018, mila had a whole psychiatric evaluation. she was diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression, OCD, and anorexia nervosa. she was already aware of these conditions, the only reason why she was evaluated was because of taeyong.

mila doesn’t have any medication for her anxiety or depression. she has medication for her OCD which she takes daily.

mila also has hand tremors and low blood pressure. she doesn’t have any medication for this, either. 

mila has a stutter. it’s not that severe anymore but mila said that it used to be really bad when she was a child and that there are still times where you can see her stutter now. 

when mila graduated in june 2018, everyone in NCT at the time (NCT2018) came to her graduation. 

when nct 127 was on tour in 2019, mila, doyoung, mark, and haechan flew to las vegas to see ariana grande in concert. they flew back to LA that night for the show the next day.

once, mila was doing a vlive and she fell asleep. she had been out for ten minutes before haechan came into their room and saw her. he finished the vlive and then proceeded to tease her for it for days after. 

when mila first went to japan in 2017, she cried. she was so excited to finally see japan. yuta and mila explored the city for hours because mila was so excited. 

mila is adorable when she speaks japanese. she literally has everyone whipped. 

in march 2021, mila started seeing a therapist after taeyong had spoken to her in december about her mental health. 

mila calls the older members by “hyung” instead of “oppa” because it makes her uncomfortable to use the word. there are only a handful of people that mila will call “oppa”. 

mila’s vocal range is from Bb2 to Bb7. she is considered one of the best vocalists in the kpop. 

she has perfect pitch and can sight-read.

mila can play the ukulele, piano, marimba, and bass. she can also play the guitar but not as good as the other instruments (mark is teaching her).

mila doesn’t have a role model but she said that she looks up to zendaya. 

her favorite singers are one direction, 5 seconds of summer, stray kids, ateez, melanie martinez, troye sivan, ariana grande, halsey, and conan gray.

mila said that she doesn’t have a favorite movie but her favorite disney movie is mulan. 

mila has two cats that live with her parents called louis-george and grace.

mila has the title of best kart rider player in all of nct.

mila is a member of the nct frat boys. 

mila got her driver’s license in 2019. she drives a black tesla model x.

mila has a tattoo of a cursive sea/c wave on the side of her right index finger.

mila said that she hates wearing skirts and dresses.

mila is very messy and has been threatened to be kicked up to the tenth floor dorm many times. 

[olderthannetfic]

I have a real stupid question/challenge for you, if you want. (you can also tell me to shoo, i won't be mad lmao)

I have a friend who insists that I'll fall in love with BTS if I give them a chance, based on the fact that I love montero and lemonade. they don't listen when I tell them that 1) just cuz I appreciate a few beautifully-crafted, pop-flavored hip-hop albums, doesn't mean that I now like pop; and 2) I have a raging hate-on for manufactured boy bands that dates back to the new kids on the block era. I'm not mad about them anymore, just can't find it in my limited attention span to engage with manufactured pop groups, even when they're quite good in every measurable way.

I've listened to the big singles and they didn't hook me. i appreciate what they're doing, but it just doesn't appeal to me. 🤷

so, I guess my question to you is, do you know any good BTS songs that might change my mind? anything bluesy or reminiscent of old-school 80s rap? any super 90s throwback tracks? idk, I'm doing my best to be open minded :|

--

BTS has a massive discography, and I dislike plenty of individual songs. I guarantee there's at least one song you'll find tolerable, though whether you'll become a BTS fan is another story.

I have little patience for New Kids, though I do like some bouncy dance music. BTS have a pretty high degree of artistic freedom, considering everything. The packaging is slick. The inside is considerably less hollow than usual. If you've been listening to their recent English-language hits... uh... they have their good points, but I really don't think those are representative of BTS overall—except insofar as they represent their intense desire to win a Grammy.

I'm not great at telling what's like what, so IDK which of their songs best fit your criteria necessarily, but I'll pick a few for you to try. As a listener, I'll think some hip hop sounds familiar, but it's only when I see other people's reviews that I understand what era it's reminding me of. (TBH, what I personally did was make a spreadsheet of everything they'd done, including random soundtrack songs and solo work and just try everything in order.)

--

I might start with the BTS rappers' solo work. Try RM's second mixtape, mono. I like listening to this as soothing background music at night.

Suga goes by Agust D as a solo artist. His song 'Agust D' is one of my favorites. The lyrics to many of their songs are quite clever too, though of course, as a non-Korean speaker, I have to rely on other people's explanation. (The basic content here is "I may be an idol, but I'm still twice the rapper you are".)

J-Hope tends to sound kind of... well... goofy. I like his voice in Baseline.

He did cover Chicken Noodle Soup, which is certainly old, but I don't actually like the original version of that song.

The Cyphers are great: Cypher Pt. 2, Cypher Pt. 3, Cypher Pt. 4.

To get a sense of their wordplay and why it's cool, check out this video where a Korean guy explains Ddaeng.

--

If you want to know who they think their influences are, they outline a bunch of them in Hip Hop Lover.

Dionysus is one of their big showstoppers that I like a lot better than, say, Permission to Dance.

Louder Than Bombs is a favorite of mine.

--

I'm not usually super into the vocalists-only songs, but maybe you'd enjoy some of them. Some people find House of Cards bluesy. Not sure how much I agree.

--

I guess a couple of their older albums are considered particularly oldschool, though maybe that's because of that ultimate scourge of old albums the skit. (Kill it with fire!) Also, I like a lot of the sound, but their fashion at the time, gaaaaah! You can see some images of the full horror on this lyric video to We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2. I like N.O a lot and Satoori Rap. That latter celebrates regional dialects, which is neat.

And one of their better-known songs and one of my personal favorites is Baepsae, an anthem of youthful discontent that makes use of a Korean saying and turns it on its head.

--

And hey, if you loathe all that, you can go listen to Tiger JK as a palate cleanser. RM features on a couple of his songs like MFBTY's Buckubucku and Timeless off of Drunken Tiger X.

[mako-lies]

I’ve been really into Cambodian music lately, specifically the growing Original Music Movement. For some context, Cambodia had a really rocking music scene in the 60s, prior to the Khmer Rouge taking over. A lot of the Khmer cultural heritage was lost during the Cambodian Genocide, and recovery after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime is... still ongoing in a lot of ways. 

 Specially focusing on music, a lot of the music that Cambodia “produced” after that was basically Khmer (Khmer, referring both to the people of Cambodia and also the Khmer language) covers of foreign songs. There was no producer of original Khmer music. It wasn’t until recently that there was a revival of Cambodian original music. 

The figure I’m most familiar with is Laura Mam, though she isn’t the only figure. She is co-founder of a record label called Baramey Productions, which produces Khmer original music. Her story is really interesting. Here are some NPR articles about her and a TED talk that she did. 

 Her production company, Baramey, is the one I’m most familiar with and has artists such as VannDa, Sophia Kao, Khmeng Khmer, and Songha. There’s another popular production company called KlapYaHandz with artists like Vuthea, SreyLeak, and AGO. I also was able to find an alternative label called Yab Moung Records. 

 History lesson aside, LETS TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC. 

VannDA 

 Basically, if we’re talking about contemporary Cambodian music, we HAVE to start with VannDa. He is considered the King of Cambodian Rap, and for good reason. His ability to seamlessly weave old and modern music styles, English and Khmer, is incredible. An incredibly versatile artist, I don’t think I’ve heard anything of his I don’t like. Honestly, a lot of his songs read like poetry—and they’re all subtitled in English so he’s a really good jumping in point.

Time to Rise is his most famous song. It’s helped him reach international fame, and really meshes traditional Khmer music with modern rap. It also incorporates vocals from Master Kong Nay, a musician who survived the Khmer Rouge, to really solidify this blend of past and present. The lyrics are gorgeous, the beats amazing, and it’s just such an incredible song. The instrumentals (the ones not done by Master Kong Nay) are done by Vanthan, a fantastic musician who’s mastered all of the Khmer traditional instruments.

  Queen Bee is a sweet love song. This is a live performance he did, linked mostly because you can really see the flute here!

Sorrow lmao he did a video on his phone when he was in quarantine 

 Laura Mam 

While she mostly produces these days I think, she does still make music sometimes, especially for Women’s Day. She has such a sweet sounding voice, and I love everything that she puts out! Also, she dances really well—sometimes she shows up in Baramey Productions videos to dance and things. Again, her videos are subtitled in English, so an easy jumping in point.

 Just Like You is a really cool song that honors three Cambodian women and tells their stories of resilience. Has some bonus VannDa in it, and is catchy as hell. 

 Kmeng Khmer 

Literally meaning “Khmer Youth,” they’re a duo who were actually the first group signed on with Baramey Productions. I really like that they’ve got a young, kind of lighter sound. Their stuff doesn’t have subtitles, so I don’t understand the lyrics, but it’s such fun music to listen to!

 Far Away is such a bop. And their dancing is really nice. I love how bright and fun the video is, too. 

Komlos Tang 3 is another fun, catchy bop that I really enjoy. 

 Sophia Kao 

She’s more of an R&B singer. I love how distinct her voice is, it’s so relaxing and good. She mostly (entirely?) sings in English, and often collabs with the other Baramey artists. I really love her sophisticated sound and sad vibe. 

Time is a great sad love song. I love her mix with VannDa, the blend of English and Khmer they have going~! 

 Hell is another sad love song in her typical style. 

 Vuthea 

A hugely popular Cambodian artist, he works in a variety of styles ranging from pop-rock to hip hop to more traditional styles as well. Vuthea’s songs are some of the most popular in Cambodia today, and for good reason—he’s super fun to listen to. 

Kromom 3 Styles is a fun song to listen to, and possibly his most popular song?

Oun Sas Ey is another easy listen. His songs always have such a nice beat, and his voice is so nice! 

Sreyleak 

A farmer who sings both pop and traditional music, Sreyleak has such a beautiful voice. She is super popular in Cambodia, and I love all of the music of hers that I’ve heard. 

Saravan Rok Ku is super neat because she’s got this very traditional sound going on, compared to the rap that goes on in the middle. Her voice is just so lovely, and I never feel like she’s overpowered by the rappers. 

Rom Tov Mit is just a really nice display of her vocals, it’s super sweet~! 

Sin Setsochhata 

The granddaughter of one of Cambodia’s most famous singers, she is a soul and pop singer. Her voice is beautiful, and she’s able to sing a bunch of different styles too. She’s working on a new EP and I’m super hyped to see what she’s going to make! 

Champa Battambang is a remake she did of one of her grandfather’s most famous songs. It’s honestly so beautiful, the first time I listened to it, it took my breath away. 

Truth is a beautifully sad song, that shows off her voice so well. It also has English captions, and is an incredibly poignant song about facing the reality of her father’s death. 

Vartey Ganiva 

Dubbed Cambodia’s Queen of Punk, she’s one of the few punk/alternative Khmer artists. I honestly couldn’t find much about her, but she seems really neat! 

Evil Husband is about domestic abuse. Such a strong song. I love her voice, and the instrumentals are so good too! ​

I’ll stop here because uh… this list is already GINORMOUS, but I hope you like at least some of the songs I’ve linked. Some of the artists are on iTunes if you decide you want to support them. It’ll be really cool to see how Cambodia music continues to develop~! Note: I’m not like… a huge music person, so I don’t know all the terminology or anything so sorry about that! I just got really excited. Also, I’ve done some research for this, but if I’ve gotten anything glaringly wrong, please let me know (:

[reveliz]

"i never die" review 💔🎬🎸🚗

the title of (g)i-dle's first full album makes a hefty claim, but does it deliver?

i've heard about (g)i-dle a lot during my time as a k-pop stan, but i've never had the chance to learn the members or thoroughly listen to their music catalog. still, i've been meaning to get into the group for a hot minute.

so when this comeback was announced, i thought it would be a great way to change that.

and while i would say that i don't enjoy "i never die" as much as some of their other projects (cough, "i trust", cough), this album can definitely still hold a concept of its own.

first, i'd like to tackle the title track of this album: "tomboy". "tomboy" is a raw, grungy take on the typical k-pop formula, albeit with mature lyrics utilizing more english than a typical k-pop song.

there are two things that i struggle with on this title track (although the first doesn't even have to do with the song itself). the primary is this era's music video and styling. i love the consistent red and black color palette, the numerous references to bands such as acdc, and the black combat boots plastered throughout, but why is there so much feminine imagery for a song named "tomboy"?

there's imagery of smudged eyeliner, sultry lip stains, and heart lollipops. possessed barbie dolls, wearing shiny skirts and trendy hairstyles. i'm fine with this styling, i don't dislike it, but it doesn't echo the theme of "tomboy" at all. only one of the scenes in the music video has the members wearing pants. pants, i tell you!

even though itzy's "mafia in the morning" is definitely not my favorite title track from the group, i appreciated that their stylists gave the girls pants, so that they actually felt comfortable while performing. it just seems like such a missed opportunity to incorporate some iconic styling into this comeback, since it already had such an interesting concept to work with.

the other is, and please forgive me for saying this, i hate soyeon's rap. believe me, i love soyeon just as much as the next person, but the english lyrics in the track not only have no correlation to the message of the song, but also generally make no sense. and when you add soyeon's questionable pronunciation of this hodgepodge of words to that equation, you end up getting a rap that immediately turns off the listener once the chorus dies out.

however, this title track still has several strengths. the song feels almost provocative at times with the way soyeon stretches some of her spoken syllables. the loud, almost obnoxious censor right when the chorus kicks in makes this song feel so badass, you wouldn't mind breaking a few rules while listening to it. and while the "it's neither man nor woman" chant in the song's final leg still confuses me a bit, i appreciate that it attempts to tie everything together into a cohesive package, even if it doesn't exactly succeed.

as for the b-sides, i still feel conflicted, even after listening to the album several times. in my "feel my rhythm" review, i said that each of the b-sides featured on that ep were cohesive, yet still had something different and unique to offer. on "i never die", i can't help but feel that all of the b-sides blend together like a mush of grunge-adjacent pop. i love the flavor the guitar and bass synths add to all of the tracks here, but that aspect gets stale once it's been on repeat without any switch-ups for 25 minutes.

the only track that i saw myself coming back to was "villain dies", in part because the song's storytelling was so strong. this track basically sums up the entirety of this ep, which makes the other tracks feel unnecessary. the minimalistic chorus paired with the low thrumming throughout make this song feel addictive in an effortless sort of way. after listening to the entire album, i really wish that this was the album's closer, instead of a song so repetitive and empty as "my bag".

"my bag", while it certainly possesses a shock factor with soyeon's bizarre rap, becomes so redundant by the halfway mark that i almost feel obligated to skip it. the grammatically-incorrect english lyrics (are we seeing a trend here?) coupled with the iffy pronunciations certainly aren't helping this song's case, either.

this leads me to my final consensus of this album: it's certainly not bad, but not all that good either. the amount of english present, not just on the title track, but also on its respective b-sides, is concerning, considering how cringy and nonsensical the lyrics are. i had always thought of (g)i-dle as the mature, think-outside-the-box 4th gen girl group, but it feels like that artsy factor is being stifled by the growing need to appeal to the western music market. i appreciate how unique and mature this concept is, and i think it will definitely stand out when looking at (g)i-dle's discography as a whole. still, i feel that this release had a lot of potential, some of which was never explored.

and finally, here are the stats for this review!

ranking

1. villain dies

2. tomboy

3. liar

4. never stop me

5. already

6. my bag

7. escape

8. polaroid

scores

title track score: 7/10

album score: 6.5/10

[alwaysabeautifullife]

How did you learn so many languages. Do you have any tips?

Yes!!!! Yes I do!!!

Everything I wish I could tell myself before starting my language “journey” lol:

🦩Dont be intimidated

Don’t be intimidated, specifically by doing listening or speaking practice. I know in the US (or for most English speakers), when we hear someone that speaks perfect English but merely has an accent we think “they don’t speak English”, but from experience this mentality is not shared with other languages. When you know even a little bit of a language or can’t speak it very well, natives speakers are really really encouraging. I think since we view not being 100% fluent without so much as an accent, as “not knowing any of a language” we are hard on ourselves and give up pretty easily.

🦩Listening practice is as important as studying vocabulary and grammar

When you listen to native speakers talk, you are training your ear even though you don’t understand it. Listen and listen, eventually your brain stops picking out English words that aren’t even there, but rather, starts to catch patterns in the language (for example, the same words sticks out to you over and over).

🦩Set realistic and doable goals or you’ll get discouraged and quit

If you are a busy person, make small goals to fit language study in. Don’t tell yourself that you need to master _____ within a week. Instead give yourself 15 mins of reading in the evening, and 25 mins of language listening in the morning. It’s also easier to add the language into stuff you do on a daily basis anyway. For example if you are religious, find your prayers you pray daily in the language you are learning.

🦩learn to read the language first (obviously this tip might not be applicable for character based languages like Chinese)

I know everyone says “immersion is the best and most important part of language” but honestly, a lot of our native speaking knowledge comes from our literacy education. When we are taught how to read, it’s through reading we can discover new words through context. It’s also easy to pick up new language reading since it’s available anywhere, where immersion is only available when you are surrounded by native speakers. The first thing I do is learn how to read and write the language, then the entire language becomes accessible to me.

🦩Spend time perfecting the sounds of the language that are most difficult for you

The vocal sounds of a language is the foundation of a language. I know we are all impatient and want to simply learn as many phrases as possible as fast as possible, but if you get down the unfamiliar sounds of a language that don’t exist in English, you’ll have a better foundation of the language and your speaking and listening will be better from the very beginning. So take the time to practice those weird sounds by looking into the position of the tongue and where the sound comes from, from the chest to the lips. Look into how tense the mouth is, how much air comes from the lips, what the sound is like next to other sounds. When you master this speaking becomes more instinctual and it’s easier to pick up the language.

🦩Search YouTube, google, Instagram IN THE LANGUAGE YOU ARE STUDYING.

Don’t search “korean music” or “korean kids tv” or even “korean vegetables” in google. Just translate how to say them in a translator app, then copy and paste them into the search bar. This way native korean information, videos, posts will come up. For example, if you’re in the mood for some horror comics, and want to read/watch them in the language you are learning, go to the translator app, and figure out how to say them, then search it. It works way better, even if the translation isn’t correct or more natural, you’ll still get the information, posts, and videos you want to see.

🦩Find ways to practice speaking the language (I use HiNative) and don’t be discouraged by corrections.

Getting corrected does not mean you’re wrong, corrections are the most useful part of learning a language. If you are the type of person who is sensitive to criticism, you need to remind yourself corrections are NOT criticism. They are NOT a reflection of your progress, they are NOT you failing! You will always be corrected as a language learner and the sooner you are gentle with yourself in learning the sooner you will learn more. Get those first corrections out of the way, allow yourself to butcher pronunciation, get corrected for the first 10 times, let it sting a little and move on. Eventually you will be begging native speakers to tell you every little detail in where you went wrong!

🦩Tv and Books seems to be more useful for immersion and listening practice then music does

So far in my experience music is its very weird and abstract, and the things said in music aren’t really useful in speaking? It’s good for gathering vocab, but if you want music listening practice that’s music based try searching for rap in that language, although obviously you’ll be picking up a lot of informal language in music/rap. Tv shows however are typically how people really do talk, so turn off English subs and just listen! Books are really useful for learning new vocabulary, but sometimes written language is different than spoken (often), although when you speak it the way you’ve learned from a book the worst you’ll sound is “formal and poetic”.

🦩Look up “insert language you are learning phrases and words that aren’t useful or correct”

There so many programs and books that teach you phrases you’ll never use or that are only appropriate in very specific situations. I don’t know why language programs do this, but learning which ones are weird or only in specific settings before you start learning really helps. Chinese Especially does this...like I learned so many phrases and words that natives will never use and have no purpose???

🦩Know the different subjects of learning a language and which apps to use for that

Everyone uses Duolingo, but this app alone won’t make you speak a language. Duolingo and Memrise are great for memorizing vocab, but, is it vocab that in the context of your reading and listening practice? Are you learning words you are hearing and reading all the time? Duolingo is a lot of fun but I feel like the vocab is so broad and it doesn’t go deep enough into the language. Feel free to use it at first to get used to the sounds of the language, but try using flash card apps like quizlet or Anki instead where you can write down and study words you are hearing constantly. Memrise does have actually study sets for many language books and lessons! So you can study words you are hearing in specific programs and books which is pretty useful in regards to vocab.

There obviously is more than just learning vocab. What about grammar, listening practice, speaking practice and reading? If you are wanting to use primarily apps find out which apps are available for your language. Here is an example of the apps I use for each subject. Be aware some languages are not available on them.

Vocab: quizlet, anki

Grammar: books (printed or kindle), YouTube grammar lessons, websites

Reading: books (printed or kindle), beelinguapp, instagram (posts that have text), Netflix/YouTube with both subtitles in the language you are learning and spoken in language you are learning, epic app

Writing: just use paper and pencil/pen

Listening: audio books (beelinguapp/epic/kindle/YouTube), tv and movies (Netflix/YouTube etc with no English subs), conversations on YouTube (search in language you are studying, don’t search “Spanish conversations” or “Japanese conversations”)

Speaking: HiNative (pretty much all I use since it’s all languages, quick, and you get immediately answered and corrected by native speakers), get friends in language you are learning through lots of apps

Translator: it’s really hard to find a good one, most of them are really weird so only use them for words and the most basic or simple phrases and sentences, otherwise use HiNative to ask native speakers directly, or ask people on the apps that connect you to native speakers

🌱I should note that for talking to native speakers I only like HiNative, since it’s built to NOT be a form of social networking at all. It’s not personal in anyway, and there’s no way to private message or speak to other users outside a asking questions publicly. The people on there are only about learning or teaching a language, not usually making friends. I’ve found the sites that are built to make native speaking friends aren’t useful to me personally, as most of the native speakers are either dudes looking for a woman to date or people wanting to only practice English with you, so they wasted a lot of my study time. People who are willing to help you learn are there, but it takes time to filter everything else out. If you would find it helpful to make friends by all means use them but I don’t really use it myself.🌱

You don’t want to really study EVERY SUBJECT every single day (unless you have the time). It can get really overwhelming, and you don’t really absorb information that if you are just cramming. While I would say it’s good to read and listen daily, spread subjects out over the week. Grammar on Monday and Friday, vocab on Tuesday and Thursday. Take one day to review all of what you’ve learned all week. Pick a day you have the largest block of free time. Bi-weekly works fine too.

I have an old post on how I organize my study time for multiple languages: https://alwaysabeautifullife.tumblr.com/post/182817883372/what-do-you-use-to-learn-your-languages-im

🦩Write sentences daily of everything you’ve learned (no THIS I RECOMMEND DAILY)

Write as many as you can. Use all the grammar you’ve learned, the words you’ve learned, everything! Write them in your notes and submit them to be corrected in HiNative. The sentences they correct, put them in flash cards!

🦩It’s ok to abandon languages you aren’t passionate in

So you’ve learned to read the language, and you know basic phrases, and now you just don’t want to do it anymore. If you can’t think of any reason to maintain it and don’t know why you are studying it, learning some of the language is good! Fluency does NOT need to be everyone’s goal. You can hold a conversation, and that’s good enough for you. Feel free to try out various languages, there will be one or some that really are your passion, it’s fine to have the goal of fluency in those and conversational in others.

Don’t abandon languages however because you feel discouraged. Discouragement is just a bump to get over, when you train your brain to maintain study habits through the days you feel discouraged, you make it habitual. Habits are harder to break and abandon! Evaluate your reasonings for wanting to speak a language, and your reasons for abandoning them if you want. Don’t let difficulty, disorganized, discouragement, or poor time management get in your way!!

🦩With all that said it’s ok to take breaks

It’s ok to get overwhelmed and take breaks from language learning. If you can still maintain what you’ve learned by listening to music in your language or staying connected in some way that’s good, but the “you’ll loose a language” isn’t entirely true. I’ve taken year long breaks and refreshing what I learned previously is pretty easy! Your brain really does go “oh yeah I do remember this!” when you’re studying information you studied years ago.

🦩Be gentle with yourself

Be gentle with yourself. People that claim to be fluent in 6 months are selling something or want to be an influencer. Don’t compare yourself to them. Language learning even for natives is a lifetime education. It’s not something you do for 6 months then stop. It’s continual and that looks different for everyone (yes native speakers included). Don’t bother watching YouTube videos on how to learn in 10 mins or 3 months, you’ll only get discouraged about your own amazing progress and all the work you’ve done.

🦩Plan your “can you say something in it” phrase now

This one is just for fun but after hearing you are learning a language the first thing you’ll get asked is “oh cool you speak (insert target language here)? Can you say something in (insert target language here)?” It does not matter what level of fluency you are at, you will absolutely forget the entire language and your own native language when you are asked this because it sends your brain to another dimension. So think of some funny phrases to say to people who ask, master them, then when they ask what they mean you can have a laugh. Other wise you will say something stupid of jumbled words (my go to was ‘we women are fruit’ for some reason thanks brain you’re incredible) you’ve learned that don’t belong in a sentence, or even worse you’ll run a blank and you’ll just look at them like:

🍳👄🍳

So think of inside jokes to tell your friends, funny phrases, even goofy insults! Memorize them and tell them at your friends and family to torture them because they can’t escape sound waves! It’s a good way to memorize the language but also to become confortable speaking it!

Please excuse any errors I don’t wanna go over my mistakes so pretend u can’t see them 🙈

[afrival]

Hetalia Characters and Their Music Tastes

I’ve been in the hetalia fandom for like a year now and I stg thinking abt what these bitches listen to NEVER gets old

no warnings

will feature mostly modern day music, like 1950s-2010s

I don’t know a lot of artists that don’t sing in English so there’s probably A LOT that I’m missing on here, not even including shit from like the 1800s

The Allies

Alfred:

Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Crazy In Love by Beyoncé

- Listens to basically everything, but particular fond of like 80s rock and early 2000s shit

- Likes country music bc ofc he does, a huge fan of Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, and The Band Perry

- Got his love of rock from England 💀 Especially during the like the 60s-80s when Queen, The Beatles, and Elton John really popular

- They really only bond over their love for this period of music lmao like they would absolutely go ape during karaoke

- He loves more mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, all those iconic mfs

- Probably enjoys old wartime music just for nostalgias sake. Shit from the 40s and he listens to Civil War tunes (Union Dixie lmao)

- Definitely listens to musicals and forces Ivan to as well. His favorites are Hamilton, Hairspray, and Chess

- LOVES LOVES LOVES The Backstreet Bogs holy shit. This man had a whole phase where he dressed like they did. Don’t even dare play I Want It That Way because he WILL sing along

- Speaking of which he’s actually a really good singer, like he probably used to sing at clubs and shit back in the day

- It’s very specific but I imagine his voice to sound like Taron Egerton’s cover of “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

Arthur:

Killer Queen by Queen, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele, Tiny Dancer by Elton John

- Old man who had a weird punk phase in the 90s. Definitely listens to The Beatles and Gorillaz

- Like I said, he and Alfred bond over Queen and Elton and Bon Jovi and FUCKING Michael Jackson

- Refuses to admit he really likes Elvis

- Oh boy. He had so much fun in like late 2000s and early 2010s— Panic at the Disco, MCR, Green Day, he absolutely got his ears pierced during this time

- Doesn’t listen to like current mainstream music that much he will sob to Adele and probably really likes the Cry Baby album by Melanie Martinez.

- Francis plays so much Lady Gaga in the car that at this point he really likes her music

- He likes Ed Sheeran I am so sorry </3 and he absolutely gets bullied for it

- He can sing too honestly? I know I just said he listens to Ed Sheeran but I honestly think he kinda sounds like him too just maybe a little deeper

- Listen to Galway Girl and you’ll get a basic idea of what I imagine he sounds like

Ivan:

Dance and Cry by Mother Mother, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, смерти Больше нет by IC3PEAK

- THIS MANS MUSIC TASTE MAKES NO SENSE. It ranges from fucking Aerosmith to Ic3peak to Lady Gaga

- Literally has every Mother Mother album downloaded and probably on Vinyl bc he’s a fucking dweeb

- Also a huge musical stannie, loves Wicked and Hairspray

- He and Al will split the parts to sing along to in the car

- Alfred made him listen to Britney Spears ONCE in like the 90s and now he’s obsessed

- Speaking of the 90s he went absolutely fucking ape during this time. The USSR wasn’t very big on western music but when it fell there was a HUGE influx of it and suddenly like it was just his favorite thing ever

- Alfred also got him into Carrie Underwood, literally lost of his music taste comes from Alfred forcing him to listen to shit

- During the 70s/80s he got really into Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith, maybe even a little bit of disco but not a lot

- Went to a club with Al a few times and he won’t ever forget dancing to Footloose by Kenny Loggins at like one in the morning and having the absolute time of his life, easily one of his favorite memories

- Like I get so soft thinking about him just letting loose and actually having fun, even though he was very stiff and shit during the 1900s

- He can’t sing LMAO but my friend and I said once that he could lowkey rap really well and now it’s all I think about

Francis:

From Eden by Hozier, La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf, Primadona by Marina

- If you look up the gay agenda his playlist would just show up

- I mean seriously he has it all: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lorde

- HOWEVER she does really enjoy softer sounding music. Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, and Vera Lynn are favorites of his

- Listens to the Les Mis soundtrack like once a month

- REALLY REALLY loves Hozier, like a whole lot. He’s probably one of his favorite artists along with Sufjan Stevens

- Even more of his homo playlist includes Marina, Madonna and Troye Sivan

- Bullies Arthur for liking Ed Sheeran but he also really likes Ed Sheeran, just refuses to admit it

- Stromae ofc 🙄🤚 can’t just not include like the most popular French musician or whatever

- He can also sing but he sounds kinda raspy, it’s nice tho

Yao:

- I don’t think he listens to music LMAO, if he does it’s probably instrumental

The Axis

Ludwig:

Elastic Heart by Sia, From Now On from The Greatest Showman, Natural by Imagine Dragons

- Also doesn’t really listen to music but my friend said that when he does it ranges from classical to heavy metal

- For some reason I think he really likes Sia, he seems like a Sia kind of guy

- Doesn’t listen to Hozier but really loves Take Me to Church

- Most of his music listening comes from giving Feli the aux in the car

- The whore listens to Imagine Dragons like he fucking loves them

- When The Greatest Showman came out he had the soundtrack on repeat for a solid month, From Now Onis one of his favorite songs ever

- Cannot sing Jesus Christ do not let him near a mic

Feliciano:

Thank u, next by Ariana Grande, Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, Bella Ciao by Manu Pillas

- Pop music! So much pop!

- Loves Ariana Grande and Conan Gray

- Probably listens to A LOT of classical because of his time with Austria

- His music taste is kinda all over the fucking place and it’s mostly happy and peppy shit

- Weirdly tho he listens to GRLwood? Like it’ll just shhow up on shuffle and suddenly he’s an entire different person

- Will listen to absolutely everything just to find something that Ludwig likes, was so proud of himself when Ludwig really ended up loving The Greatest Showman

- Doesn’t sing but plays like 5 instruments. Violin and piano are his faves

Kiku:

It’s Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, Faded by Alan Walker, Ophelia by The Lumineers

- LISTEN. LISTEN. HE LOVES VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND FUCKING THE LIVING TOMBSTONE

- The fnaf songs are his guilty fucking pleasures, he fucking loves them

- Loves loves loves the Undertake Soundtrack

- Listens to a lot of anime openings 💀 Me too tbh they’re so good at for what

- Big fan of TheFatRat

- In general he enjoys techno shit? Idk what the word is but it’s a lot of instrumental

- Listens to regular music as well (The Lumineers especially)

- Likes listening to Elvis because it makes him happy to see Alfred having fun

- Feli also introduces him to a lot of music but he can never fucking remember the names of the songs or artists

- He hums a lot rather than sings, and it’s really soft and gentle

If anybody wants any more characters lmk bc I love coming up with these, also I do have playlists for these bitches 😎✌️ Spotify is in my linktree (bio)

[fyeah-bangtan7]

The Boundless Optimism of BTS

IT IS THE MORNING OF CHUSEOK, A KOREAN HARVEST FESTIVAL akin to Thanksgiving, and the members of BTS would normally be spending it with their families, eating tteokguk, a traditional rice-cake soup. Instead, Jin, 28; Suga, 27; J-Hope, 26; RM, 26; Jimin, 25; V, 24; and Jung Kook, 23, are working. Practicing. Honing their choreography. In a few days, the biggest musical act in the world will perform in the live-stream concert that, for now, will have to stand in for the massive tour they spent the first part of this year rehearsing. At this moment, they’re seated inside Big Hit Entertainment headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, the house they built, dressed mostly in black and white, ready to answer my questions. They’re gracious about it. And groggy.

Before I’m done speaking with them for this story, BTS will have the number-one and number-two songs on the BillboardHot 100, a feat that’s been achieved only a handful of times in the sixty-odd years the chart has existed. Their next album, Be, is weeks away from being released, and speculation about the record, the tracklist, the statement, is rampant across the Internet. BTS are, to put it mildly, huge.

There is something about complete world domination that can really cement a friendship. What jumps out at me as I connect with the members of BTS is their level of comfort with one another. Tension has a way of making itself evident—even over Zoom, even through a translator. There’s none to be found here. They are relaxed in the manner of family. Lounging with their arms around each other’s shoulders, tugging on each other’s sleeves, fixing each other’s collars. When they speak about one another, it is with kindness.

“Jimin has a particular passion for the stage and really thinks about performance, and in that sense, there are many things to learn from him,” J-Hope says. “Despite all the things he has accomplished, he still tries his best and brings something new to the table, and I really want to applaud him for that.”

“Thank you for saying all these things about me,” Jimin responds.

Jimin turns his attention to V, explaining that he is “loved by so many” and describing him as one of his best friends. Suga jumps in, sharing that Jimin and V fight the most among the group. V replies, “We haven’t fought in three years!” They tell me this distinction now belongs to Jin and Jung Kook, the oldest and youngest members. “It all starts as a joke, but then it gets serious,” Jimin says.

Jin agrees and recounts what their arguments sound like. “Why did you hit me so hard?” he says, before mimicking Jung Kook’s response: “I didn’t hit you that hard.” And then they start hitting each other. But not that hard.

Since the start of their careers, BTS have shown a certain confidence in their aesthetic, their performances, and their music videos. It’s right there in the name: BTS stands for “Bangtan Sonyeondan,” which translates to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts,” but as their popularity grew in English-speaking markets, the acronym was retrofitted to mean “Beyond the Scene,” which Big Hit has described as “symbolizing youth who don’t settle for their current reality and instead open the door and go forward to achieve growth.” And their affection with one another, their vulnerability and emotional openness in their lives and in their lyrics, strikes me as more grown-up and masculine than all the frantic and perpetual box-checking and tone-policing that American boys force themselves and their peers to do. It looks like the future.

“There is this culture where masculinity is defined by certain emotions, characteristics. I’m not fond of these expressions,” Suga tells me. “What does being masculine mean? People’s conditions vary day by day. Sometimes you’re in a good condition; sometimes you aren’t. Based on that, you get an idea of your physical health. And that same thing applies mentally. Some days you’re in a good state; sometimes you’re not. Many pretend to be okay, saying that they’re not ‘weak,’ as if that would make you a weak person. I don’t think that’s right. People won’t say you’re a weak person if your physical condition is not that good. It should be the same for the mental condition as well. Society should be more understanding.”

When I hear these words in October 2020, from my house in a country whose leader is actively trying to make the case that only the weak die of COVID-19, well, it sounds like the future, too.

IF YOU ARE JUST NOW CONSIDERING GETTING INTO BTS, IT IS natural to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff. It’s a bit like saying, right this second, “Let’s see what Marvel Comics is all about.” In the streaming age, BTS have sold more than twenty million physical units across fourteen albums. Their multi-album concept cycles, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Love Yourself, and Map of the Soul, have unfolded over multiple records and EPs. There are collaborations with brands, including a BTS smartphone with Samsung. There is a series of short films and music videos, called BU, or BTS Universe, and an animated universe called BT21, in which they’re all represented by gender-neutral avatars. Their fan base, known as ARMY, is a global cultural movement unto itself.

“Dynamite,” their first English-language single and their first American number one, is pure, ecstatic pop. Shiny and joyful. What sets them apart from many of their peers, and many of the pop acts who achieved worldwide fame before them, is what came earlier. Beneath the sheen and the beats has always been an unflinching examination of human emotion. Their lyrics seek to challenge the conventions of society—to question and even denounce them. BTS’s first single, “No More Dream,” unveiled at their debut showcase in June 2013, concerns the intense pressure South Korean schoolchildren face to conform and to succeed. According to Suga, lyrics about the mental health of young people were mostly absent in Korean pop music. “The reason I started making music is because I grew up listening for lyrics that speak about dreams, hopes, and social issues,” he tells me. “It just came naturally to me when making music.”

Suga’s early ambition of making music didn’t involve him being in a group at all. About a decade ago, in his hometown of Daegu, the fourth-largest city in South Korea, he started recording underground rap tracks under the name Gloss, listening to and learning from the early works of songwriter and producer Bang Si-hyuk, known as Hitman Bang. Bang is the founder and CEO of Big Hit Entertainment. In 2010, Suga, a junior in high school, moved to Seoul to join Big Hit as a producer and rapper. Then Bang asked him to become part of a group, envisioning a hip-hop act with fellow new Big Hit recruits RM and J-Hope. The guys call this “season one” of their development.

“At that time, I don’t think our label exactly knew what to do with us,” RM says. “They just basically let us be and we had some lessons, but we also just chilled and made music sometimes.”

It got more intense. The family grew, occasionally by accident.

V accompanied a friend to a Big Hit casting call in Daegu for moral support and ended up being the person chosen from those sessions.

Jung Kook was signed in a feeding frenzy after being dropped from the talent show Superstar K, fielding offers from numerous entertainment companies before settling on Big Hit because he was impressed by RM’s rapping.

Jimin was a dance student and class president for nine years running at his school in Busan; he auditioned at the behest of his teacher.

And then, to hear him tell it, Jin got picked up off the street. “I was just going to school,” he says. “Someone from the company approached me, like, ‘Oh, this is my first time seeing anyone that looked like this.’ He suggested having a meeting with me.”

“Season two is when we officially underwent hard training,” J-Hope says. “We started dancing, and that’s how I would say our team building started.”

School in the daytime, training at night. “We slept during classes,” V says.

“I slept in the practice studio,” J-Hope counters.

Hitman Bang kept the pressure comparatively low. And he encouraged the guys to write and produce their own music, to be honest about their emotions in their lyrics. Suga is on record saying that no BTS album would be complete without a track that scrutinizes society.

And yet for their new album, Be, they’re putting that aside. Even this has a greater purpose that relates to mental wellness: RM, the group’s main rapper, says, “I don’t think this album will have any songs that criticize social issues. Everybody is going through very trying times right now. So I don’t think there will be any songs that will be that aggressive.”

Though the new rules of COVID-19 mean they can’t come here and promote Be, its first single might not have happened in the first place but for the pandemic. “ ‘Dynamite’ wouldn’t be here if there was no COVID-19,” says RM. “For this song, we wanted to go easy and simple and positive. Not some, like, deep vibes or shadows. We just wanted to go easy.”

Jin agrees. “We were trying to convey the message of healing and comfort to our fans.” He pauses. “World domination wasn’t actually our plan when we were releasing ‘Dynamite.’ ” World domination just happens sometimes. You get it.

MAP OF THE SOUL ONE AIRED VIA THEIR ONLINE FAN PLATFORM and attracted almost a million viewers across 191 countries. The guys say they tried not to think about the enormousness. J-Hope adds, “I felt a little bit more nervous knowing that this was being broadcast live. I actually feel less nervous performing live at a stadium.” Jin replies with a smile, “J-Hope, born to perform at a stadium.”

The graphic layout of the title throws a colon between the final N and E, which makes it look like Map of the Soul On: E, and as I watch it live, as I do in my office at 3:00 a.m. with noise-canceling headphones and a steaming pot of coffee, it feels a lot like I’m watching Map of the Soul on E. It is an explosion of color and fashion and passion, over four gigantic stages, from the boozy swagger of “Dionysus” to the emo-trap introspection of “Black Swan.” Not a step, not a gesture, not a hair is out of place. If there were nerves, they didn’t come through.

There is also, at the end of Map of the Soul One, an intimate version of their 2017 track “Spring Day,” which encapsulates what’s really made BTS stand out. On the surface, it’s about nonspecific love and loss, about yearning for the past. “I think that song really represents me,” says Jin. “I like to look to the past and be lost in it.”

Fair enough, but there is an undeniable allusion, in both the song’s video and its cover concept, to a specific incident in recent South Korean history. “Spring Day” was released just a few years after the sinking of the Sewol ferry, one of the country’s biggest maritime disasters, in which a poorly inspected, overloaded ferry toppled in a sharp right turn. Hundreds of high school students drowned, having obeyed orders to stay in their cabins as the boat was going down. According to some reports, the South Korean government actively tried to silence entertainers who spoke out against it, with the Korean Ministry of Education fully banning the tragedy’s commemorative yellow ribbons in schools. I ask whether it was about a specific sad event, and Jin tells me, “It is about a sad event, as you said, but it is also about longing.” The song kept the disaster front of mind for young Koreans and for the media, indirectly leading to the impeachment and removal of then president Park Geun-hye.

If an overburdened, undermaintained, slow-moving vessel capsizing because of a reckless rightward turn strikes you as somehow symbolic of the country in which BTS are about to explode even further, you won’t hear it from them. “We’re outsiders—we can’t really express what we feel about the United States,” says V. But their actions speak volumes; in the wake of the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests in America, the group made a $1 million donation with Big Hit Entertainment to Black Lives Matter, one that was matched by BTS ARMY.

The fans offer a fascinating inversion of stan culture: Rather than bullying rivals like many other ardent online fan bases do, ARMY have put the positive message of the music into action. Their activism goes deep. Through micro-donations, they’ve regrown rain forests, adopted whales, funded hundreds of hours of dance classes for Rwandan youth, and raised money to feed LGBTQ refugees around the world. Where pop fans a generation ago might have sent teddy bears or cards to their idols for their birthdays, where five years ago they might have promoted a hashtag to get a video’s YouTube viewer count up, for RM’s twenty-sixth birthday in September, international fan collective One in an Army raised more than $20,000 for digital night schools to improve rural children’s access to education during the COVID-19 crisis. ARMY may have even entered the conversation around the 2020 presidential election when hundreds of thousands of Tulsa Trump rally tickets got snapped up online in June. The event’s actual attendance was pathetically low. No particular person or entity claimed credit for this top-notch trolling, but a video urging BTS fans to RSVP to that rally did get hundreds of thousands of views. We have no choice but to stan this fan base.

The relationship is intense. “We and our ARMY are always charging each other’s batteries,” RM says. “When we feel exhausted, when we hear the news all over the world, the tutoring programs, and donations, and every good thing, we feel responsible for all of this.” The music may have inspired the good works, but the good works inspire the music. “We’ve got to be greater; we’ve got to be better,” RM continues. “All those behaviors always influence us to be better people, before all this music and artist stuff.”

Yet for every devoted member of BTS ARMY, there is someone who’s looked right past BTS. Jimmy Fallon, whose Tonight Show hosted the group for a full week this past fall, was one of those people. “Usually if an artist is on the rise, I hear about them ahead of time. With BTS, I knew they had crazy momentum, and I’d never heard of them.”

Here’s a thought that used to be funny to me: There were members of the live audience of The Ed Sullivan Showon February 9, 1964, who weren’t there to see the Beatles. Elvis was in the Army, Buddy Holly was gone, and the three number-one albums in the months before Meet the Beatles! were an Allan Sherman comedy record, the West Side Story original cast recording, and Soeur Sourire: The Singing Nun. America had left rock ’n’ roll behind for the moment, and with the culture aimless and fragmented, it wasn’t quite sure what to pick up in its place. It is possible to imagine that a youngish, reasonably hip, and culturally aware human being might cop a ticket to that week’s show, settle into his seat, and say, “Bring on a medley of numbers from the Broadway musical Oliver! and banjo sensation Tessie O’Shea.”

The instinct is to laugh at that guy, and it’s a good instinct, because what a dope.

And then you become that guy.

Sometimes there is a whole universe alongside your own, bursting with color you’re too stubborn to see, bouncing with joy you think is for someone else, with a beat you thought you were finished dancing to. BTS are the biggest thing on the planet right now, yet the job of introducing them to someone new, particularly in America, seems like it’s never done. Maybe it’s because they are adored by screaming teenagers and we live in a society patriarchal enough to forget that screaming teenagers are nearly always right. Maybe it’s the cultural divide, in a moment when our country is unashamed enough of its own xenophobia to get openly bent out of shape when it has to press 1 for English. Maybe it’s the language barrier, as though we understood a single word Michael Stipe sang before 1989.

Whatever the reason, the result is that you might be missing out on a paradigm shift and a historic moment of pop greatness.

IF BTS SEEM A BIT CAUTIOUS WITH THEIR WORDS PUBLICLY, IT’S because—perhaps more than any other massive pop act in history—they have to be. Shortly after our second meeting, BTS were given the General James A. Van Fleet Award by the U. S.–based Korea Society for their outstanding contributions to advancing relations between the United States and Korea. In his acceptance speech, RM said, “We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations shared together, and the sacrifices of countless men and women,” as seemingly diplomatic and innocuous a statement as he could have made. But because he didn’t mention the Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War, it didn’t go over well. The Samsung BTS smartphone disappeared from Chinese e-commerce platforms, Fila and Hyundai pulled ads in China that featured the group, the nationalistic newspaper Global Times accused them of hurting Chinese citizens’ feelings and negating history, and the hashtags “BTS humiliated China” and “there are no idols that come before my country” began trending on the social-media site Weibo. The pressure is not small.

Even as the number-one pop group in the world, even with their hard work day in and day out, even with tens of millions of adoring fans redefining the concept of “adoring fans” by literally healing the planet in their name, these guys still suffer from impostor syndrome. RM explains, “I’ve heard that there’s this mask complex. Seventy percent of so-called successful people have this, mentally. It’s basically this: There’s this mask on my face. And these people are afraid that someone is going to take off this mask. We have those fears as well. But I said 70 percent, so I think it’s very natural. Sometimes it’s a condition to be successful. Humans are imperfect, and we have these flaws and defects. And one way to deal with all this pressure and weight is to admit the shadows.”

The music helps. “When we write the songs and lyrics, we study these emotions, we are aware of that situation, and we relate to that emotionally,” J-Hope says. “And that’s why when the song is released, we listen to it and get consolation from those songs as well. I think our fans also feel those emotions, maybe even more than us. And I think we are a positive influence on each other.”

If there’s one thing they’re sacrificing, besides free time and the ability to speak freely without the Chinese foreign ministry releasing an official statement, it’s a love life. I ask about dating, broad questions like “Are you?” and “Is there time?” and “Can you?” and the answer to all of them is pretty clear: “No.” “The most important thing for us now is to sleep,” Jung Kook insists. Suga follows right up with “Can you see my dark circles?” I cannot, because there are none, because flawless skin translates even over Zoom when there’s an ocean between us.

So they’re not, at least publicly, having romantic relationships with anyone. If there is a strong relationship that’s guided their journey into adulthood, it’s with Big Hit. “Our company started with twenty to thirty people, but now we have a company with so many employees,” RM says. “We have our fans, and we have our music. So we have a lot of things that we have to be responsible for, to safeguard.” He considers it for a moment. “I think that’s what an adult is.”

“Our love life—twenty-four hours, seven days a week—is with all the ARMYs all over the world,” RM adds.

In a world that is determined to sand down anything that isn’t immediately recognizable to the average pop-music fan, when it comes to acquainting you with Korean culture, BTS very much do not wanna hold your hand. While the first song on night one of their Tonight Show week was a joyous but expected take on “Dynamite” with Fallon and the Roots, they took some chances during their second performance.

As a friend of mine, a thirty-three-year-old BTS fan in Los Angeles, told me, “The second song they performed was ‘IDOL,’ ” from 2018’s Love Yourself: Answer, “and it celebrated their Korean identity. They performed it in Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. They wore clothes inspired by traditional dresses called hanboks;it was almost entirely in Korean, so it felt super subversive. As a fan, I read it as: ‘Dynamite’ was an invitation, and this is who we are and this is our home.”

“I was a little concerned that people might not understand,” Fallon says. “I was like, ‘There’s nothing in English here.’ But what you see is just pure star power. Pure talent. Immediately, I thought, Oh, this is everything. If you’re that powerful, it transcends language.”

American popular music in the twenty-first century is more fragmented than it has been since . . . well, since Allan Sherman, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, and the Singing Nun battled for that number-one spot. The monoculture that the Beatles helped bring on has breathed its last breath. Each of us is the program director for our own private radio station, letting our own past habits and streaming-service algorithms serve up something close to what we want. Which is great, except that huge moments can whiz right past our ears. Each of us, even if we’re more clued in than our parents were when they were our age, can miss some era-defining, excellent shit. Particularly if the radio is our Spotify Discover Weekly, or the Pandora channel based on the band whose T-shirts we wore in college. We can let a moment pass us by if prime time is a Netflix binge, and the Tonight Show hour is spent on one more episode before bed. But we shouldn’t. “Honestly, I think it’s history that we’re living through with BTS,” Fallon says. “It’s the biggest band I’ve seen since I’ve started late night, definitely.”

THERE IS ALSO THE SMALL DETAIL THAT, UNLIKE THE BEATLES AND literally every other worldwide sensation to break in America, BTS don’t particularly need to go to the trouble. They are massive all over the world. Thanks to the recent IPO of Big Hit Entertainment, of which each member is a partner, they are all now incredibly wealthy. (Hitman Bang is the first South Korean entertainment mogul to become a billionaire.) What good is a culture in decline to a pop act this much on the ascent? “When I dreamed of becoming an artist, I listened to pop and watched all the awards shows in the United States. Being successful and being a hit in the U. S. is, of course, such an honor as an artist,” says Suga. “I feel very proud of that.”

They’re breaking out in a country that either worships them or fails to notice them. So do they feel like they’re getting enough respect in America? “How can we win everyone’s respect?” Jin asks. “I think it’s enough to get respect from people who support us. It’s similar everywhere else in the world. You can’t like everyone, and I think it’s enough to be respected by people who really love you.”

Suga agrees. “You can’t always be comfortable, and I think it’s all part of life. Honestly, we are not used to getting a ton of respect from when we first started out. But I think that gradually changes, whether it be in the States or other parts of the world, as we do more and more.”

There is, without a doubt, one colossal, unmistakable sign of respect for a musician: a Grammy. They’ve been nominated only once, and even then it was for best recording package. But their sights are set on a big one next year. RM puts it out there: “We would like to be nominated and possibly get an award.” Dragging the hoary, backward-looking, and Western-focused Grammys into the gorgeous, global world of the present through sheer force of will, talent, and hard work? Stranger things have happened. “I think the Grammys are the last part, like the final part of the whole American journey,” he says with a smile. “So yeah, we’ll see.”

The Recording Academy’s seal of approval is one thing. But BTS have already conquered the world, clowned tyrants, inspired individual fans to perform the small and achievable acts of activism that have collectively begun to save the planet, challenged toxic masculinity by leading with vulnerability, and, along the way, become bajillionaires and international idols. Whether the Grammys are paying attention matters about as much as what an Ed Sullivan audience member expected to see that night in 1964. BTS have already won.

© source

[binniesoob]

Hi everyone I am back with...

OnlyOneOf theories and analyses (that nobody asked for)

part 1 is [here] , this is part 2 and we are going to talk about...

2. the inspiration for byredO + hints to the libidO mv

I find veery cool where they seem to have taken inspiration from for byredO, and I feel like this can not only be interesting but also useful to expand and better understand the meaning of the song... so imma share this ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

a. What is byredO?

(in case you want to listen to it while reading this :)

Byredo is a Swedish luxury brand founded in Stockholm, producing fragrances, leather goods and accessories.

The Byredo name comes from the old English word 'redolence', which roughly means sweet-smelling and aromatic.

b. Lyrics

The lyrics of byredO are built with references to perfume and if we look closely we can find specific references to the descriptions of some particular perfumes of the company...

byredO lyrics (official eng translation):

My limbs are numb, it's like they were broken up into pieces // I'm in an unfamiliar light drunkenness, but it's not bad

[...] The light that reaches me // Maybe ain't no sunshine

Parfume description (from the company website):

1. Sundazed (sunshine, nostalgia, escapism) - to be seduced by the sun in a state of summer bliss. To bask in the freedom of solar worship, a place where time stands still. A mythical undoing of body and mind in a mid-summer’s daydream. The state of total immersion - an addictive experience for sun-chasers everywhere. In a psychosomatic journey of free love, [...] Nostalgia and escapism entwine to channel the warmth of an endless summer.

More byredO lyrics:

Byredo, byredo, baby // The scent of you that is at the tip of my nose

[...] The infiltrated scent makes my head spin again // Memories in a small glass bottle // Drippin', one, two, three // Your emotions fill it up drop by drop // They look transparent

[...] The breath that reaches me // Maybe, ain't no purfume

[...] I want you to pick up my scent, baby // What do you think of this sample in a beaker, baby // I'm attracted to this familiar feeling // Spray it for me, spray it for me (Every night, oh) these h0rny boys I-

Parfumes descriptions:

2. Lil Fleur (fruity, light, summer) made with the ups and downs of teenage years in mind, the Lil Fleur eau de parfum from Byredo [...] Capturing youthful emotions, the fragrance opens with top notes of fruity aromas – we’re talking cassis and tangerine – [...].

3. Slow Dance (feminine, masculine, bitter, sweet) a rites-of-passage moment for both girls and boys before they metamorphose into women and men. A feeling of exhilaration tempered by awkwardness, a heady collision of innocence and experience, not knowing and knowing, felt across countries, cultures and time. Slow Dance mixes ideas of the feminine and masculine, bitter and sweet, in a rich, intoxicating distillation redolent of warm skin and breathless exchange.

c. Sound

All these feelings and vibes are also transmitted through the melody and the elements that make up the instrumental of the song (I'm so sorry I'm not good with technical musical terminology) like...

the whistles

the sound effect at 00:12 which seems like a signal of "ready, set, go"

the sound effects that seem purrings or moans lol

the whispered lyrics

the pre-chorus, chorus and rap part with the piano in the backgroud that give us the effect of euphoria and exhilaration

d. hints to the libidO mv

The themes of the parfumes Sundazed, Lil Fleur and Slow Dance also go with the vibes, symbolism and meanings of the libidO music video...

mid-summer’s daydream, warmth of an endless summer

teenage years, youthful emotions, rites-of-passage moment

journey of free love

(the whole music video basically)

collision of innocence and experience

(yoojung & kyubin)

(mill & love + nine)

warm skin and breathless exchange

(nine & love)

(when they play baseball)

fruity aromas

(mill & the tree)

(the whole sequence where they eat fruits)

[credits for these stunning photos and gifs go to @stylexuxi , @woojong , @all-for-the-feels ]

AM I FASCINATED BY ALL OF THIS? YES. YES I AM.

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

Part 3

Summary: Soulmates have different ways of being connected to one another. Sometimes it’s through being able to write on their arms and having it show up on their soulmates. For others it was having their first words spoken to one another permanently tattooed into their skin. You had a unique connection with yours, one that you really hadn’t ever heard of happening before. Whatever song was stuck in your soulmate’s head was also stuck in yours and the same was for them. When Yoongi realizes one of his songs is playing on repeat in your head, he immediately takes to writing songs to communicate with you in hopes it will finally bring you two together.

Genre: Fluff. Just pure tooth rotting, sweet fluff.

Part 1       Part 2     Part 4

Yoongi sat at the computer, mind blank as he stared at a rough draft of a song he had been writing for his mix tape. However he soon realized that he was going to have to completely scrap everything and start all over. The lyrics he had written to go with this melody didn’t suit the words he wanted to say to you at all. He’s been at the studio for well over an hour now, pen and notebook laying next to him as he tried to think of lyrics to write for you. 

“God this sucks. I can’t think of anything!” He sighs in frustration and brings his hands up to his face to rub his tired eyes. He’s about to give up and start fresh tomorrow when he hears another song begin to enter his mind.

Alright banbokdwen shisogeim

He smiles to himself as he realizes another one of his songs is stuck in your head. And begins to chuckle when he realizes you must not know too much Korean as most of the words are just jumbled while the melody plays in your head. Are his songs really that catchy? Or did you possibly feel a connection to him through his music? He pulls out his phone to call Hoseok for help.

“Yoongi! How’s the song writing going?”

“It’s absolute shit. I haven’t wrote anything yet. I was wondering if you could help me? Or at least help me sort through the rough drafts of these tracks I’ve already produced to help me find one that is catchy and will get stuck in their head so I know they heard me.” 

“Of course! I’d be happy to help.” 

They spend a good half hour in the studio going over the different beats and songs Yoongi had saved before Hoseok shouts excitedly. 

“That’s it! That’s the one. This is perfect. It’s catchy, but it’s also soft and I think will really show the emotions you’ve been feeling towards your soulmate. There’s a bit here where the melody turns a little more harsh and that’s where you could speak your feelings honestly, your fears about never getting to meet. But then maybe at the end make it clear that this song is for them as a way to communicate. I don’t know just some ideas-”

“Hoseok that’s brilliant. Thank you. I think I finally know where to go with this.” 

“You’re welcome! Don’t spend too much time here, make sure to rest!” 

“I’ll rest when the song is finished. You know me.” 

“Alright. But just take breaks every once in a while, yeah?”

“Sure Hobi, thank you.” 

Yoongi sits down with his notebook and begins scrawling lyrics on the page. He works through the night and by the time he’s finished he is beginning to see the sun rise over the horizon. He smiles and decides he’s going to post it now, not wanting to wait any longer and hoping you’re awake. He opens up their twitter and posts a link to his song on soundcloud. Immediately people are liking, retweeting, basically going nuts over Yoongi having released another solo song. He smiles to himself and continues scrolling through the replies, until he comes across one particular one that makes him stop. 

I don’t know if you’ll see this but I hear you. I’m listening to every word. 

It’s about 5:00 pm when a notification on your phone goes off that BTS has tweeted something new. You open it immediately, and see a link to a song. You are seriously excited when you see it’s a new song for Yoongi’s mixtape. You click on it, anxiously waiting for the page to load as a slew of army also try to access the song. After the website crashes a few more times it finally opens for you and you listen to a sweet, beautiful piano melody playing. When he starts singing, even though you aren’t fluent in his language you can feel his emotions and what he is saying through his words. The song sounds... hopeful. But then towards the middle begins to sound more dark, as if he’s doubting something. As if he has all of this uncertainty and is rapping out his frustrations. The song ends on a more upbeat note, and the very last line is in English and it sends sparks up your spine. 

 I don’t know if you’re listening, but this was for you. 

You freeze, hand hovering over your phone before it drops to the floor. He wrote this song for you. Tears well up in your eyes as you realize he has been just as frustrated not being able to see or talk to you too. You stand there for a few moments processing everything when your phone starts ringing. You realize it’s your friend. You answer it, still feeling dazed.

“HE WROTE A SONG FOR YOU!”

“I am aware of that.”

“So you finally have come to terms with the fact that Yoongi is your soulmate huh?”

“I mean it’s pretty hard to deny it at this point. It feels like something is tugging on my heart every time I listen to his music.” 

“This must be his way of trying to find you and talk to you. He’s going to write a whole mixtape dedicated to you just watch.” You scoff into the phone.

“I don’t know about all that...” 

“it’s true! He will! Yoongi has always been very open and honest with his feelings. If this is at the forefront of his mind, then he’s going to write about it.” You sigh and flop onto your bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Maybe he’ll start including times and places he wants to meet you or something.” 

“That would just be stupid do you know how many fans would go there if he did that?”

“He’ll probably do it cryptically then. Listen to what he’s saying y/n, like really listen.”

“That’s gonna be kind of hard when I don’t know Korean...” 

“He posted a translation with the song!” 

“Oh? Really?”

“Yes! Go read it!” You immediately switch back over to their twitter and see that he did post screen shots of his notes with an English translation. You read the lyrics and it doesn’t stop you from tearing up even more. To read all of the frustrations he’s had with thinking he was never going to meet you, to now having hope that he’s heard you listening to his music that one day you will find each other. You don’t hesitate to grab your phone and tweet a reply. 

I don’t know if you’ll see this but I hear you. I am listening to every word. 

Yoongi doesn’t quite understand why reading that comment sent such intense butterflies into his stomach. Could it be you? Is it possible that he happened to find his soulmate in a sea of countless other replies? He tells himself no. That there’s no way that is even possible. But there is a small nagging in the back of his mind that keeps reminding him of what Namjoon had said to him, what all the guys have said to him. 

The universe has a way of making sure you two will be brought together. 

He taps on your page and sees that you just recently made it if the fact that one of only things on your page was the reply to him and another one stating that you were a new army. He smiles at that. And now he’s internally debating with himself if he should talk to you and try to get to know you, or if he was just being crazy. He’s leaning more towards being crazy. Maybe the lack of contact with his soulmate for this long is just making him see you in every body. He sets his phone down and sighs, but before long he begins to feel a pulling urge in his chest. Like someone is tugging him back over to his phone. Before he can stop himself he makes himself a fake suga stan twitter account and responds to you. 

I’m sure he will see this. He’s on social media much more than you think he just doesn’t always respond unless he has something really thoughtful to say.

Ah, thank you. I probably sound like some crazy fan don’t I?

Not at all.. I think... I think he would be happy to know that someone is listening to him. Like really hearing his words.

I hope so. I just feel bad you know? Like I wish I could just pop over to Korea be like here is your soulmate! So he doesn’t have to be sad anymore.

Are you his soulmate?

He has to wait a while before you respond. 

I believe so. I sincerely hope so. Anyone would be lucky to be his. He’s a wonderful person and cares about others so much. Even just in my short time being an army I can see that. 

Yoongi stops responding after that, not trusting himself to reveal who he is and fly you out on a plane to Seoul just to see for himself if you are his soulmate. He is frustrated, wondering how exactly he was going to get to meet you. He could set it through his song, but he needs to be careful about it. He can’t reveal too much or the entire fandom will be wherever the place is he is talking about. He’s about to start working on the next song when a text comes through. 

HYUNG GO TO BED! I know you’re still awake so sleep! Work on another song tomorrow night! Goodnight! 

Yoongi laughs as he reads the message from Taehyung. He texts him goodnight and lays down on the couch in his studio, drifting off to sleep with his song playing on repeat in his head and a wide smile on his face.

Tag list: @anoesjkaax​​​ ( didn’t forget you this time heheh) @just-call-me-trash-can​ @thestral-balerion​ @xcastielbabyangelface​ @rukinamukami​ @r-e-d-i-s-h​ @heartblackerthancoffee​ @rosita7703​

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Teen Witch

Controversial opinion: stories about witches are the best stories. Just look at WandaVision - bitches ate that UP because it’s about WITCHES, which means it’s ultimately about loss and trauma and female (literal) empowerment in the face of those tragedies (and I mean there’s some complicated stuff in there about inflicting trauma upon others, even accidentally, and that’s kind of a witch thing too). And Sabrina is all well and good and everything, but what if you want your witch story to be a little less Dark Arts and a little more candy-coated? Have I got the film for you! Wes requested Teen Witch as part of his quest to expand my cheesy 80s cult classic knowledge, and boy did this one deliver. How 80s-tastic are we talking? Well...

The basic story is this: Louise (Robyn Lively) is a typical teen girl who occupies the nerd level of the high school hierarchy. You know the type - soft-spoken, nerdy best friend, has a crush on the cutest guy in school (Dan Gauthier), made fun of in gym class by all the cheerleaders. One day she crashes her bike in front of a psychic’s home/place of business and goes inside to use the phone, but gets her palm read first. The psychic, named Madame Serena, (Zelda Rubenstein, playing, I’m assuming, herself) tells her she will soon come into some witchy powers on her 16th birthday. When Louise’s birthday rolls around, you guessed it - witching aplenty. She gets the popularity, she gets the cute guy, she ditches her nerdy friend; it’s basically The Princess Diaries without Queen Julie Andrews. But then, y’know, she learns a valuable lesson about the high price of popularity and how important it is to be true to yourse--wait, no she doesn’t, she takes off her magic necklace and smooches with the boy she likes at the school dance and that’s how it ends.

Some thoughts:

This slow motion credit sequence is incredible. See, we just don’t have this anymore, where the movie starts and you have no fucking idea what’s going on. The 80s really knew how to draw an audience in. Is this a dream? Is this a music video? No one knows! That’s why it’s exciting!

Why are tv and movies so obsessed with a completely made-up depiction of what takes place outside a high school’s entrance before the first bell? Apparently there’s a busker festival going on at this high school every day - there’s guys doing BMX tricks, an all white rap group, I think I saw some jugglers.

I’ve actually taught in both middle and high school, so I know this English teacher (Shelley Berman) wouldn’t be fired for being such a shitty teacher, but he should be. 

Is this like...a musical? First there was the terrible rapping, now there are cheerleaders doing “the new cheer” which is literally a song just saying “I...LIKE...BOYS!” and there’s a dance routine on top of lockers - there’s a lot of towel choreography. It feels like a musical in the sense that it’s nonsensical, but I don’t actually think it IS a musical. Genre-defying!

It’s kinda creepy that Louise is watching an extended montage of Brad (Gauthier) working out shirtless from the shadows but like...same, girl. Damn, Brad.

Aw, at least Brad is reasonably nice. Louise, show some backbone! You shouldn’t have been too proud to let him drive you home after he ran you off the road on your bike accidentally!

I am just mystified by the market for roles that were appropriate for Zelda Rubenstein in the 80s. What is this niche? Which came first, Zelda Rubenstein, or these characters? 

I am also mystified by this gremliny little brother (Joshua John Miller) who seems to be obsessed with eating cake and never washing his hair. He’s like a goblin trapped in a diminutive nonbinary body made of pizza and spite. [ETA: I now feel a little bad for finding him so repellent in this, as the actor wrote one of my favorite meta horror movies, The Final Girls, in 2015. So at least he grew up and made something cool of himself.]

OMFG did Brad just hit the soda machine for her like the fucking Fonz? 

There is (temporarily) a Very Good Dog who is not harmed in any way.

In what universe does Louise see what her date, David (Jared Chandler), is wearing and be like “he’s such a geek” when she looks like an extra from Leave it to Beaver. 

The DJ just said “OK guys, grab your wallets, it’s a slow song.” What...does that even mean? Is he implying that slow dances are expensive? Ooh or even more nefarious, that there’s a rampant pickpocketing problem during slow dances?

Did Louise...just imply that the number of light years away a star is dictates how soon a wish you make on that star would come true? Listen. I’m no astrophysicist. But I have read enough Neil Degrasse Tyson tweets to know that that’s not how any of this works. 

OK I take back what I said, David is a fucking CREEP. Drag his ass, Louise. However, I think she may have straight up murdered him by making him disappear. David is never seen or heard from again in this film. 

Obsessed with the dad’s sweaters both because they are ridiculous and because he is the lesser Darren from the original Bewitched. 

It feels weird that Louise’s revenge involves forcing Mr. Weaver to take his clothes off in front of the class.Who wants that? Like I get that it’s humiliating for him, but really, you’re only punishing yourself here Louise. 

There is a rap-off that is meant to convey electric sexual tension between two nerdy ass white kids. 

I don’t know what it was like at your school, but I can tell you for sure that at my high school no one ever applauded when the most popular girl in school walked into the classroom like she’s Kramer making an entrance on Seinfeld.

Why is Brad taking her to an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere? And why is she wearing heels?

Oh god she took the heels off and now she’s barefoot in this decrepit house, that’s so much worse! TETANUS EXISTS LOUISE.

Wait are they going to fuck in the abandoned house? Brad has a girlfriend! You brought heels, but did you bring condoms?? I guess she has bigger concerns than tetanus now. Also I feel so bad for these actors, they are both DRIPPING sweat. That must have been a miserable shoot.

I’ve said this before, but the 80s were such an incredible time for himbo fashion. Crop tops, those tank tops with the giant holes for the arms, teeny little basketball shorts. In the 90s all we had were JNCOs and weirdly “urbanized” Looney Tunes characters on baggy t-shirts. Gen X has no idea how good they had it re: male fashion. 

I’m genuinely obsessed with the idea that popularity means the school just has banners all over that say “LOUISE” and she gets like, cards and fan mail that say “Louise U R the best.” This feels like if you ask a kindergartner what being popular means.

Madame Serena just said “the real magic is believing in yourself” which is exactly what Louise’s dad said like 15 minutes ago, but I guess he wasn’t a 3-foot-tall witch so no one paid attention when he said it. 

Y’know for an 80s prom outfit, Louise’s dress is pretty cute. 

I cannot stress enough that Brad’s girlfriend is at this dance while he and Louise are kissing! Does no one care? Were high school attitudes toward monogamy just way more flexible in the 80s? 

Did I Cry? Shyeah, right. 

This is such an odd, mostly charming, but wildly perplexing little movie. There was no antagonist or real conflict here, at all. Louise barely struggles with any sort of tension or remorse about having her powers and what it means for her life, she just kind of decides at the end that she’s over it, and she still gets the guy and no actual negative consequences from bending the entire school to her will for the past few months. I mean, in The Craft, when people use magic for their own gains, other people fucking DIE. I was definitely entertained, but a lot of it was due to me saying, “What? How? What?” loudly at the screen. I can see how this has gained a cult following in much the same way that other oddball 80s fare like Better Off Dead or Girls Just Wanna Have Fun did. Watch it once, then watch it again while you get drunk with your friends (in a post-Covid world, obviously) and you’ll probably have a pretty great time. 

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[mcrmadness]

Hey friend! This isn't part of any ask game but I was thinking about it so I'm asking anyways :D out of Bela and Farin whose solo music do you like better? And which is your favourite solo song of each?

Hi!!!

I like Farin’s solo stuff more, definitely. And I actually like FU stuff much more than even FURT, Am Ende der Sonne being my favorite solo album of his (and it’s also the go-to album for me whenever I feel angry). I am also extremely fond of Berliner Schule.

Fun fact: It took very long for Fasztination Weltraum to open for me, I really liked “Herz? Verloren!” and its B-sides so when I finally got the full album to my hands, it was a bit of a turn-off and I was almost disappointed with it. Had to listen to it so many times in order to warm up and I still think it’s probably the worst FU/FURT album so far. There’s some gems ("iDisco", for example) in there but everything else is so... basic? Like, they just don’t make me feel almost anything at all. Not positive nor negative. Just nothing. (And pretty much the same happened with Farin’s songs on HELL apart from maybe like 1-2 songs...)

From Bela’s solo stuff I own the 1st and 2nd albums on cd and they’re okay. I liked Code B more than Bingo as there’s lots of skipping to do (for me), too. I think when his third album (and also the rest) came out, I was in the middle of my “not on the mood for any new music” so I did not check out any bands or artists I like no matter how many new albums would have come out so I never did that with bela's albums either. I did watch some music videos but I just didn’t like them at all (and the album name, I think it’s “Bye”? It gave me again even more anxiety than what I had of my own that year.) because honestly, country music is just not my thing. There’s a few music styles I just absolutely cannot stand and they are: schlager, rap/hip hop and country. Even if I'm a horse groom myself, I still cannot stand country music! :DDD

And about his later solo projects I don’t even have a clue what are those or how many albums he has even done. I probably should give them a try one day but I still haven’t had the motivation nor mood for that. I’m sometimes really bad at doing this. I mean, I meant to check out King Køng for YEARS and I did that only this year. And talking of King Køng, that’s not really my cup of tea. There were some okay songs but I have to say that “No More” sounds much better when it’s in the middle of those die ärzte interviews, and it’s actually a very anticlimatic song when you hear it as a whole between all those other songs on the album. I guess I have to listen to these albums a couple of times more still, but let’s just say that I was listening to these while I was drawing and the 3rd album got eventually so boring for me that I had to quit listening to it before it even ended because I was getting way too restless and needed something faster to go with my drawing in order to keep myself focused and from becoming (mentally) hyperactive.

^Here's that part of my collection so far. (Btw I have never listened to FURT's Livealbum of Death despite owning it, idk why. I also don't have FURT's live dvd because I just would not be able to focus on that. I sometimes have trouble even focusing on dä live dvds and other concert videos but those I at least have watched all, and most of them at least once as a whole without skipping.)

***

And then the other part of your question - my favorite song from both.

Pudelsong from FU!!!

I also love songs like Dusche, or Karten. Both also have awesome lyrics (Farin's one of the rare people who writes lyrics even I can sometimes understand), I think Dusche was the first I saw with English translation and holy shit that is just genius and I still can't get over it :DDD I love surrealistic humour and stuff like that, idek how to call that really! But I like it. And Karten is quite relatable sometimes and the instrumental solo is just amazing. I also like the story in Die Leiche, I've just always been drawn to "creepy tragic stories that won't really explain themselves" like that, same with the song Schatten from Berliner Schule. It's just weird that I'm drawn to such lyrics/stories when I absolutely hate any kind of poetic "oh try and interpret me" lyrics because I don't want to fucking guess anything, I want to KNOW. But then I do love a good mystery if it has something to do with death or murder ::D

---

And from Bela I think Wiehr Thind Ssuper is my favorite? At some point I used to think that Zappingsong was my fave but I just listened to it and not anymore? Anyway - that beeping in the beginning has also been somewhere else, maybe in a video game or so and it always makes me think of this song. From Code B my fave song is Schwarz/Weiss. I've no clue about the lyrics in any of his songs so we're going soundwise here now.

And then I have to mention Tag mit Schutzumschlag (thanks I can never write that name down without looking it up from somewhere first) because when I saw the video for the first time ever, the little Tim Burton fangirl in me got loose:

Mainly because my FAVORITE SONG (or scene) from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie/soundtrack is the Mike Teavee song and one part of Bela's video is made to happen in the same room/scene :D They've also recreated some scenes and character designs so well from the Burton movie.

Lol my answer got a bit long again but did you really expect anything else from me? XD