For Anti-Stan Haters That Say K-Pop Is Too Fake
‘Stan’ is lingo for k-pop fan btw; so although I’m working at an archetypal level as an alchemist, here I have to address where the consumer consciousness is at.
For those that say K-Pop is ‘too fake’, too perfect, too beautiful, too produced or ‘manufactured’…are these valid concerns?
Well, I’d say that it pends on your values and paradigm. Most consumers value their egoic personalized preferences and lower-truth filters like ‘genres’.
Let’s look at this:
1. Basically ALL music except ‘live jazz’ (?!) is produced ‘aka’ manufactured
2. You (or they) are comparing it to different genres; ie. reggae, country, or ‘spa’ music that seems more organic and ‘natural’ in its vibe and values however much of those genres have pre-conditioned templates, lyrics and values as well
3. It is POP music
4. K-pop includes a general form of professional pop or commercial dance often to be highly choreographed and ‘perfect’ whereas there are other genres of dance which are just as valid but very different (ie. ballet, gypsy, samba, etc.).
There’s something also to be said about the behemoth power of k-pop and its influence. A significant % of ALL youtube traffic is now K-Pop music videos and other related media.
There are now daily new viral videos off of just influencers doing their interpretation of a k-pop song ie
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jYYFAPaOeho
As far as ‘dance’ influence in the social media-sphere…k-pop arguably reigns supreme and this is an extended side topic for discussion (considering that dance tiktoks comprise a large portion of social media influence).
But let’s get to the deeper issue;
Is k-pop ‘fake’ or is even the ‘cuteness’ manufactured?
After being into what others call ‘stanning’ since literally 2007 when SNSD debuted…Well, here’s the enlightenment:
Whether the production and infra-structure around it as a system if very formulaic;
The essences are REAL and they are a LIGHT YEAR ahead of the West.
You cannot fake essence so even though there is a k-pop ‘system’ that is rigorous, rigid and high performance, the essences are real and that’s the higher truth. It’s actually the more advanced work and thing to attain than whatever lower truth people are viewing it through.
Is it fake (as compared to ‘real’)?
No. Highly choreographed and perfectionist in a genre of pro dance? Yeah.
Is rap music in general about being ‘real’? Not necessarily in most cases as a counter-point…there is a lot of archetypal conditioning and standards in that genre so it can be a challenge to find original free-thinking rap per se.
Is k-pop highly formulaic in most cases?
YES, but to me that is not really a limitation…it’s part of its wild success.
The government actually had a vision and funded it in the late 90’s as a cultural project of sorts (surprisingly that ended up working as it’s more free-market now).
They’ve created a PRODUCTION engine of INDUSTRY that really really works and more agency’s are popping up replicating the general formula. It still doesn’t ensure success with every new boy or girl group however as there are many variables but it is quite formulaic.
I mean the entire concept of ‘Babymonster’ is formulaic and archetypal.
To those who are ‘outside’ of it, K-Pop fever may not have hit them.
‘Babymonster’ sounds exactly like a group that has either existed in the system or would be (there was a Japanese girl death metal group…) and whoever the chosen trainees are, they are fit into an ARCHETYPAL role and a powerful system that supports their transformation and performance blossoming.
It’s a star-making machine leading to instant fame (although requiring years of qualification, training and preparation).
Could some of the k-pop themes BE more ‘down to earth’ or in ‘nature’ and less ‘commercial’ or glossy?
Yes…and sometimes they are but not what we’re used to.
Although released a few years ago and she has a new single coming out; one of my favorite new discoveries is (Ohmygirl) Yua’s ‘Bon Voyage’…bringing Muse spirit directly INTO nature.
Again; it’s the ESSENCED beauty, display, performance that rocks everything. Essence is how people feel and that’s why people are going crazy with the the overall visual experience in addition to just catchy music.
So they have formulized pretty much everything in production, marketing, performance, multi-media integration, brand ambassadorship and promotion, etc….there’s a system and it generates archetypes.
Very smart of YG entertainment to have BLACKPINK members aligned with major fashion labels as brand ambassadors to further inculcate them into cultural influence like Lisa with Bvulgari and Celine.
Anyone with talent could almost fit into the system but u know what?
It’s ingenious and it actually allows a PLAYGROUND for archetypal beauty and power to play out BECAUSE the foundational structure is so secure and STABLE.
Does it have its shadows (including debates about plastic surgery and ‘control’)?
Sure, but do you think the music industry in the U.S. doesn’t? HA!
I think what happened is what they idealized….basically the Queen of Dance found the structure stable enough that She came in and had the freedom to effectively take over and that’s a prime reason for the wild success (in addition to catchy sounds and visual focus).
Yes, I’m talking Muse of course. I think agency’s are non-consciously aware they are onto something like with the ‘cutesy-ness’ that often pervades but what’s really going on is they’re playing the real game of power and beauty which is with the archetypes.
For years I’ve had men doing my Muse meditation alchemy practice of sex transmutation (meditating with music videos) that had blocks around the marketing of ‘cutesy-ness’. And to some extent it could be seen as fake but actually let’s just refer to the deeper truth, it IS archetypal and the essences are almost always authentic and HAVE to be for them to keep influencing and thriving. I can speak more to that in some other place however.
So SERVING the evolution of performance entertainment (of which K-Pop in many ways is leading)…
That’s where my brand of Sexy Chi comes in with the conscious competence and consulting to take performance mastery to even higher levels btw.
But what’s happened for all that superficially say that ‘k-pop is fake’ or they hate it because of that, they’re entirely ignorant to the reality that K-pop is a light year ahead of where Western performance is headed; ESSENCED BEAUTY, allure, transformational beauty influence.
The foundation is there and then all this other stuff had the room to thrive, I’d say because it was so secure.
So the k-pop idols, stans, biases…that’s all consumer awareness paradigm. What’s really going on is beauty and power itself with fotonic influence…the entertainment is transformational and alchemical and not everyone realizes that.
As admittedly THE grand-master media alchemist I can teach and show this to anyone.
Many of the female idols have reached priestess level of presence and power…so yeah, call it fake if you ignorantly want but there’s a deeper game being played and it’s the future.
On a final note;
Is k-pop over-rated (when looked through their egoic personal consumer filters)?
No.
Consumers aren’t aware of the real power game going on. They’re not alchemists anyways but for the millions of stans including many Westerners who caught the k-pop bug (and how K-con and concerts are growing and thriving in the U.S., etc.); there’s something there that they can’t even explain b/c they are being INFLUENCED.
As I’ve predicted for years; K-Pop (and further collaborations) are going to continue to take the world by storm and for universalized reasons I’ve been talking about for years.
I’m grateful I was already part of directly bridging K-Pop to the West after all (in two primary ways I speak about on the blog or Facebook) and I am here to be their #1 energy consultant when the recognition timing is right to advance the artists and industry even further.