ARKpop Podcast Episode 22 - All Good

For episode 22 we’re recording a day late again, but luckily dissipated Tropical Storm Emily hovered over my island and kept late morning temperatures nice and cool which made recording during the day bearable.

Download Episode 22

World Music News
- 2NE1 places Fourth on the Billboard World Music Chart for their 2nd Mini-album.
- Wonder Girls perform a cover of B.o.B’s “Nothing on You” for Billboard’s Mashup Mondays, haters still claim Sohee cannot sing.
Untouchable members Sleepy & D.Action enlist in the Korean military together.
Rumour Has it: The big Entertainment companies will boycott overseas concerts held by TV networks.
Debuts/Comebacks/New Releases
- G.Na to return
- Kyujong from SS501 to have his solo debut.
- DalShabet to be back with a weird concept (bling bling)
- Sistar’s up next with “So Cool” and their first full length album
- Bang Yong Gook (Jepp Blackman) to have a duet with B2ST’s Yang Yoseob
- Kara confirmed for a Korean comeback in September.
- Super Junior releases last album before members Eeteuk & Heechul enlist and their first single Mr. Simple
- New girl group with three Korean-American members, Chocolat to debut soon
Ban Train
- To the surprise of absolutely no one, Hyuna’s Bubble Pop choreography and outfits were found to be unsuitable for broadcast.
  
  Eleven million views would seem to argue otherwise. Here’s a piece I read in the aftermath of the banning that argues about the difference between stage persona and the real person behind the celebrity.

Free Talk

This week we’re discussing the Korean training system and the changes we’re like to see. However, the trainees are small cogs in the well-oiled machine we call Kpop, and it’s possible if you fiddle with them too much the entire machine comes crashing down. I’m not sure where I’m going with that metaphor either.

Artist Spotlight

Bobby Kim, leader of Buga Kingz, and one of the pioneers of Korean Hip Hop. Born to a famous trumpeter, Bobby moved to the US at a young age, where he developed a love for Hiphop and Reggae. He moved back to Korea in 1992 and embarked on his musical career with group Dr. Reggae, following that up with his first solo album. He participated on Drunken Tiger’s fourth album in 2001, and that same year released his first album with new rap group Buga Kingz alongside other members Juvie Train and Gan-D. Nowadays he is primarily a vocalist and his smooth, unique voice can probably be held responsible for the births of a child or two.

Buga Kingz – Tic Tac Toe