pump me up!

If you work out, you know that good music can make or break your workout. Personally, I’m always on the lookout for new songs to keep my feet moving. Here are some of my favs when I’m in the mood for a K-pop-a-licious workout.

Warm-up

Big Bang – Love song. It starts off slow but I find it’s a good song to ease me into cardio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKZEmLvYVF0

Verbal Jint – Perfect Day. This song makes me so happy! Listening to it in the mornings gets my day started on the right track.

Cardio

Jo Kwon- I’m da one. Jo Kwon is so quirky and upbeat he makes me want to dance, but I’ll settle for the treadmill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWgH0DsD0pQ

Tasty – You know me. I cannot say how much I love this song. Or, more accurately, the twins’ dancing. They’ll never be able to teach me how to dance if I’m huffing and puffing. Cardio UP!

Teen Top – Supa Luv. This song has a great beat and the rhythm is perfect for jogging. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boQFnQAaCZc

Sistar – So cool. I mostly just added this song because I noticed I had no female singers on this list. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj3q0ZChgFE

U-kiss – Te Amo. I do cardio so that when I finally meet U-Kiss I can chase Eli down singing this song. Motivation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxumtpLkyl4

Super Junior – Super Girl. LeeTeuk from SJ has enlisted in the Korean Army *sigh*. I figure when he gets out we’d better be in equally as good shape.

Weights

Younique – Maxstep. This is actually a brand new song so I haven’t been listening to it for long. The group is made up of members from several different groups (including my second favourite member of SJ!). So far it definitely gets me pumped up!

BAP – No Mercy. Someday, I want to be as tough as BAP “,) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hzz4mGyehw

2NE1 – I am the Best. After the gajillionth time hearing it, the bratatata’s still get me goin’! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o

G-Dragon – One of a Kind. So me and G-D are homies and we like to do badass things together. Like pump iron.

Cool-down

BoA – One dream. An inspirational song. I need inspiration to do abs and stretching after a hard workout!

Big Bang – Ego. A nice winding-down song that doesn’t put me to sleep.  Plus, beginning and ending my workout with Big Bang makes me a happy girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-oj33ZnAlQ

This is not the full playlist, obviously but I thought I’d share some gems with you :)! Please send more pump-up music my way too!

Oppa Gang… enough already!

I have seen a lot of news recently about Gangnam Style being “over” and that people are getting sick of it. While I am definitely sick of hearing the song, the hype over Psy and his horsey dance has come with its benefits and hindrances.

On the bright side – people all over the world are LOVING K-Pop! It’s amazing that people are enjoying listening to a Korean song so much! Hopefully this will encourage people to listen to music in different languages and in turn, learn a bit about other cultures.

exactly!

Psy has also put Korea on the MAP! I mean, two months ago when I told people I live in Gangnam they’d be like “Gang-what?” but now everybody knows what I’m talking about (sorta)!

… my Gangnam.

On the other hand… all the fame and attention towards Psy definitely has its drawbacks. A lot of Korean artists feel frustrated that their music isn’t being taken seriously. I read this yesterday and I can kind of see where he’s coming from.

According to Tiger JK (a Korean rapper), hecklers in the audience insisted that he perform the “horse dance” from the choreography of Psy‘s “Gangnam Style“, and he was unable to hold back his frustration. He tweeted, “Creators project event other night. I went crazy on all them white folks in the crowd, Cussing them out. During my set, these dudes kept telling me to horse dance , F*** rapping just dance. I had to cut all my song short. Without self control. My F*** you turned into F*** everybody To F*** all the white people to F*** CNN To F *** Hollywood. To Fu** all yall who think Asians are here to make you laugh by dancing my ass off. F*** Hollywood thinkin Asians are just a comic relief.”

Tiger JK at the Creator Project

Tiger JK has since apologized, but I can’t really see who’s in the wrong. Is it wrong to make racist comments to people who are acting racist towards you?

If you want to read more along these lines, Ranier “The Falco” attempts to explain the Psy hype on his blog here.

A lot of really hardcore K-pop fans get very haughty when people talk about Gangnam Style. They think people don’t really know K-pop… they just act like they do because they know one song. Personally, I’ve never heard anyone claiming to be a K-pop expert after listening to Gangnam Style.

Um, a little extreme?

To summarize, I don’t think that Gangnam Style is a true representation of K-pop. While it’s a good introduction to K-pop, I don’t think many North Americans realize that there is a huge, creative and diverse music scene in Korea (and all of Asia). So if you loved Gangnam Style (how could you not?), keep in mind that there’s lots more where that came from, but it won’t all be SO ridiculous. 🙂

If you have been living under a rock, here is the original video:

I was going to post another song from Psy’s most recent album but it’s impossible to find a song other than Gangnam Style on youtube! Instead, here is another song that’s very ‘typical’ K-pop.

Hey, I never said it was great K-pop, just typical ;)! That was Gee by Girls Generation (SNSD).

There is soooo much good K-pop out there that I just want to post video after video. For now, I’ll just post ONE more video – super popular at the moment! A beautiful song and really creative video. G-Dragon, That XX:

HBDGD!

Saw this on my news feed today and it made me smile :)!

Cool dude!

BEST CITY EVER :)

Click here to read a great article about Seoul and why it’s so awesome.

I loved this article… please please read it! Then maybe some people will actually come visit me 😉 haha! I especially liked:

– #30 – G-Dragon. I never use to get all the hype about this skinny, nasally-voiced guy but have grown to ADORE him and of course his fashion is just amazing.

-#19 – because I know the answer to the first question! What’s the best transgender bar in Itaewon? Queen of course, on Hooker Hill. Fun place!

-#14 – ‘A bang for every occasion’ – now that’s just funny!

-#1 – Galbi definitely earned first place. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to leave Korea :P!