Last year’s early quarantine managed to change my audio perspective. Since I got nothing much to do at home (after finishing the take home tasks) I would hang out at several social media sites to pass the time. One of my students have been posting his dance vids and one of them caught my attention. It was Ryujin’s shoulder pop move from Itzy’s Wannabe.
I got really impressed by the choreo and so I searched and watched the entire video. Little did I know that I was diving right into this new musical hole.
Here’s the thing: I really don’t listen to KPop that much. In fact, during pre-quarantine era the only girl group that I listened to was Blackpink because their beats remind of electronic/tech music I used to love in the past. Itzy is part of that musical range and so I checked their other stuff — eventually getting me hooked on Dalla Dalla and Icy. Soon enough, YouTube’s algorithm caught on, showing a web of other KPop acts on the sidebar.
By the end of 2020, I was quite into the following: Itzy, Twice, Red Velvet, Stray Kids, and Loona. And at the beginning of 2021 I started listening to (G)I-dle and Mamamoo.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t change my musical taste. In fact, I expanded it, and somehow my whole head got rewired, making me appreciate more the things which I find difficult to understand. The language barrier is real, but the music remains accessible and open. Soon enough I find myself extending my ears beyond KPop, slowly treading through other musical acts from Asia.
I made a Spotify KPop mixtape with the help of my friends over at Facebook last year. Early this year I made another mixtape which is composed of mostly Southeast Asian acts (some Filipino tracks included). I’m really digging these stuff right now, and I’m quite happy to have fallen in love with music which feels more closer to home.