Homework: Crayon Pop & Gaga It's About The Music People!!!

Crayon Pop is coming to America! Lady Gaga announced last Thursday that quirky K-Poppers Crayon Pop would be the opening act for her upcoming ARTRave Tour for select dates in North America and Canada in June and July. This comes a week after Gaga performed at SXSW where she also acted as the keynote speaker. The singer was also spotted watching the K-Pop Night Out event, where popular acts such as HyunA of girl group 4Minute and rapper Jay Park showcased their talents.

Homework: NS Yoon Ji Is Coming Back (Finally) :D

HOLD THE PHONE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! ALL OTHER K-POP COMEBACKS HAVE BECOME IRRELEVANT! REPEAT! ALL OTHER COMEBACKS IRRELEVANT!!!

Homework: Kanye West's "The College Dropout" Ten Years Later...

Publications were commemorating the birth of Kanye West’s first solo labor of love “The College Dropout”. I was aware that it had been a while since the album dropped, but ten years! Damn, that's a while. I remember seeing the video for “Through The Wire” on MTV almost every 15 minutes when I would stay over my aunt’s house on the weekends and was disturbed by the images of Mr. West’s swollen face.

Homework: What Does Nicole's Departure From KARA Mean?

Some major news has hit the Hallyu world today: It was annonced that Nicole, member one one of the most popular idol group's KARA, was not renewing her contract with DSP and will no longer be a member, starting this January. This comes as a major shock to probably everyone on the outside looking in at DSP, when we all under the impression that the groups contract negotiations were going well and that we would get another mini sooner than later. I literally just got into KARA when "Pandora" was released back in August of last year. I was mesmerized by the amount of fierceness that her and Seungyeon were able to convey without overshadowing one another. Their "Damaged Lady" single has been doing wonders in my library as well, especially since English-language music releases have finally kicked into high gear. The winner for me though was when I went back to 2011 and saw the video for "Step" (note 2:07 where Nicole is slaying all your basic faves by hopping and pointing) Being the optimist that I am, I'm hoping between now and the end of this year, Nicole will reconsider and continue on (which is reaching something serious) but there are also positives that can come with this decision:
1.We may get a solo career from her in the near future-I could see Nicole coming back and doing a Sunmi and releasing a killer with the times K-Pop tune complete with good choreography and oodles of confidence. I mean, her one off song "Lost" is quite the tune. She also gives me the Ayumi Hamasaki vibe, so she could work that angle in Japan if she wanted.
2.She may do more dramas/variety shows-A lot of people who mention Nicole mention her time on the now defunct TV show "Star Golden Bell." If she leaves DSP and decides to sign elsewhere, I'm pretty sure dramas and variety shows would be lining up to have her host/be a major star.
3.It gives a chance for KARA to re-tool their image-KARA would still have Hara, Seungyeon, and Gyuri (other member Jiyoung is also considering leaving to continue her studies). KARA could drop Sweetune, (who should exclusively produce for Infinite and Nine Muses tbh) pick up a producer like Rphabet or Duble Sidekick, and continue on as a more mature trio, filling a niche that is missing in K-Pop at the moment. KARA doesn't have to end just because Nicole is gone.

Either way, it's still sad to see one of K-Pop's most beloved idols leaving. I hope we at least get a goodbye group single, just so I can see KARA get that all-kill...

Homework: T-ARA N4 and Chris Brown Was a Bad Idea

After hearing that T-ARA N4 were on a trip to America to promote themselves to the Western world. I was excited. But when I heard that it was to meet up with Chris Brown (yes, THAT Chris Brown)I have to admit I was skeptical, but still stoked nonetheless. T-ARA are still feeling some strong backlash after the big bullying scandal with former member Hwayoung early last year. They decided to continue with promotions and released their hit-or-miss single "Sexy Love," which received a tepid response and is one of the groups worst selling singles. Then they decided to flock to Japan to promote themselves there, which is typical of Korean superstars as a kind of repentance for their alleged (or actual) scandalous deeds. Now we are here with their Korean sub-unit, made up of members Areum, Jiyeon, Eunjung and Hyomin "Countryside Life" is one of the more stronger K-Pop songs to come out this year and the bullying incident has really put a hurting on their sales in the digital field. All the "Why you hatings" in the world can't fix that. Now, from the information I gathered, the girls were only supposed to be in the States for a few days, meet Brown (since he was "friends" with T-ARA's newest recruit Dani) and come back to finish promoting "Countryside Life". But more articles about the girls staying in LA, having a meet and greet, recording an English version of "Countryside Life" with Brown, meeting Ray J and Wiz Khalifa made me uneasy. I have the feeling that Core Contents Media, the label T-ARA is signed to, was using this as some type of media ploy for the girls to garner interest in them back home in Korea, rather than an honest attempt for the girls to expand their international fanbase.
The fact that they chose Brown of all people was a horrible idea on CCM's part. I mean, I would have rather they send the girls to the United Kingdom to meet up with someone respectable in the industry and in their own genre of music. Just because their styling and concept says urban, T-ARA are known because of the dance-pop/electropop songs like "Bo Peep" and "Lovey Dovey". Or CCM could have reached out to PSY and set up a meeting with Scooter Braun (God forbid) and promote themselves that way. Put Justin Bieber's "talent" and star power to good use other than to whine about how he's doing good for a 19 year old pop singer. Brown is a bad media magnet. Everyone is still sore about the Rihanna incident almost four years later and he keeps getting himself into trouble with the law, getting into fights. Now neitizens just have more ammo to fire at the girls. Then there is the pool party performance.
I have been watching their promotions since they stared and I know that the girls can do much better than what that video showed, but I don't blame them at all. CCM literally threw them under the bus with that one, saying they were unaware that the concert was going to be a festival style affair. Aren't you supposed to get all of that information before you agree to do a show? That's like you signing a contract blindfolded! Anything for publicity I guess. There are other concerns about the situations I want to address, but we will come to that bridge if something surfaces later on. Maybe when the girls stand with Breezy at the BET Awards at the end of June. He better have them preform with him. Now enjoy the girls and their "Countryside Life" music video.