macho men

For some reason it seems like some weeks there are just no new songs out and then BAM! In a few days there are 10 that you can’t stop watching and talking about. Recently, I have noticed a high discrepancy in the manliness of a lot of popular (male) K-pop singers.

Exhibit A – Dazzling Girl by SHINee

Clearly SHINee is on the bottom of the manliness scale. This video is of this “plain” girl who Shinee transforms into a “dazzling” girl. The boys show off their make-up artist and designer skills while dancing around in skirts and purple feathers. I’m pretty sure this is ultra-gayfeminine behaviour even by K-pop star standards. Hey, if some of the members are gay then all the power to them, but I really don’t think a ‘gay best friend’ image was the intention of this video.

Exhibit B – Please don’t by K.Will

Watch the video before you read below!

OK. Hopefully you watched the video till the end and I’m not spoiling anything by saying I LOVE THE TWIST AT THE END!!! It blew my mind the first time I saw it and I had to immediately watch from the beginning again. In Korea, there is not a lot of presence of LBGT-ness in the media or public. Yes, they have a gay pride parade but that’s the only time I’ve seen it discussed and celebrated out in the open – unlike Canada where we are loud and proud about our LBGT community. So people back home – the end of the video might not seem like a big deal to you but in Korea it is a huge risk and a small step forward I would say.

Exhibit C – Up by Epik High 

Moving up on the MAN-scale! Epik High has been away for a few years and they are about to release their new album ’99’. I don’t know Epik High too well but what I do know, I like! They are a bit more edgy and hip hop than your typical boy band and they collaborate with a lot of different artists. I love how they can go from a soulful female chorus to a fun upbeat verse. ‘Up’ is basically just about getting back up after you fall – it’s a super fun and inspiring song!

Exhibit D – Nillili Mambo by Block B

Despite all the make-up, I put Block B at the top of the macho ratings for this week’s new videos. The video actually has a story line and the boys play gangsta-ish jewel thieves. The very end of the video was a bit too cutesy but P.O.’s super deep, gruff voice makes up for it. OK, so they’re probably not actually gangstar-ish guys in real life, but let’s face it, all the singers in these videos are just acting, and I think Block B pulled it off!

To re-cap: there are lots of new videos out this week and these four caught my interest for obvious reasons because of the super-girlie to mean-muggin levels of macho-ness portrayed in them. Hope you liked them too :)!