What I agree with:
- “GP and media think of kpop as this manufactured machine and that idea is constantly being reinforced by the media who only ever talks about the ‘dark sides’ of kpop.”
This is a gist of my arguments in the above responses. The Western media has been framing the discourse of K-pop as an issue of superiority vs. inferiority between the West and the Other.
- “The OP seemed to be taking issue with fans wanting to distance BTS from the stereotypes of the “Kpop”… but that this inadvertently implies that the stereotypes DO apply to other artists under that category…so they feel like it’s perpetuating the stereotype?”
- “Because if you try to remove that label, are you not pushing other acts more firmly into that box?”
- “the discussion of Nicki Minaj and female rap…Like, why keep talking about her as “female rap” when she’s definitely in the same league of all the greatest rappers regardless of gender?”
Yes, instead of joining the discourse that enhances stereotyping a certain group of artists based on their regional origin, we should point out how the framework itself is ill-conceived.
What I disagree with:
- “Because kpop isn’t a culture right?”
A culture can emerge and develop without a local ground (e.g., fanfiction culture, global hip-hop culture, etc.). K-pop is a global culture with a group of people sharing certain cultural languages, values, practices, etc.
- “And I get people want to kind of ‘honour’ where BTS came from, but even in their beginning they were very different from what was typically ‘kpop’ at the time…”
I am not sure as to how it was “very different.” They do have similarities with a typical K-pop group — the idea of the group was first conceived by the producer; multiple teenagers applied for the audition; the scouted ones went through traineeship and debuted as an aidol group; and they had an official fan club managed by the fan management department in the company, to name a few.
“Are there opinions expressed that are potentially the result of misinformation? If yes, what?”
Just the two I already mentioned above.