Why a Rock & Metal Fan Like Me Fell in Love with This Pop Group

[Nachtmeerde]

So my musical track record includes artistes such as La Dispute, Rammstein, Apocalyptica, Bring Me the Horizon (Sempiternal onwards), Linkin Park and Ling Toshite Shigure. I'm also getting into Five Finger Death Punch, Nightwish and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I think it's safe to say that I'm at least a fan of rock, if not metal (just to satisfy the purists).

And yet, at the same time, I've fallen in love with all-girl Korean pop (Kpop) group 2NE1. Not only do I have favourite members and songs, I'm learning to sing said favourite songs despite not knowing a shred of Korean. But how in the hells does someone who doesn't care for Taylor Swift and crew get so sold?

1) They're Not Afraid to Experiment

Did I say they were a pop group? I meant they're a pop group with strong hip-hop, R&B, reggae and electronic and dance influences, who can also pull off a soulful ballad when called for. Their music videos, similarly, reflect this kaleidoscope of explorations. Want an in-your-face, badass self-empowerment song with shit getting destroyed and boastful rap? Check:

How about a sad, slow song with a cyberpunk storyline that references drug and Internet addiction?:

Maybe a ballad with a tastefully colourful pop-art setting is more your cup of tea:

Or a combination of slow-paced R&B and Gothic romance:

I rest my case.

2) They're an Unapologetic Cultural Outlier:

If there's one word that keeps popping up regarding this group, it's "edgy". And it's not hard to see why: while demureness, cuteness and femininity are the accepted norms for women in the entire region, 2NE1's group identity as a whole is much more bold and aggressive.

Just look at their fashion sense. While other female Korean singers perform looking like this:

2NE1's costumes tend to look like this:

You gotta admit, even if you don't find their swag sexy, the difference is still refreshing and interesting. (Also, I wouldn't know about you, but I know who I'd want with me in a fight, bruh :P )

Oh no no no, don't take it from ME:

This South Korean Pop Idol Is Dominating the TIME 100 Reader’s Poll

2NE1 Sets New U.S. Record for Highest-Charting, Best-Selling K-Pop Album

Now, (*starts singing Fort Minor) what the hell are you waiting for???~~~

NOTE: Remember, just because someone else has different tastes in music doesn't mean it's the end of the world, ok? (*strokes head of haters to calm them down)

[dangerDoge]

As a person who listens to metal / rock, I shall give my opinion on this band.
(Oh and just to clarify... note that when I mean metal, I mean bands like Periphery, Bullet For My Valentine, Animals As Leaders, Testament, and when I mean rock I mean Foo Fighters, Old Avenged Sevenfold, My Chemical Romance, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and so on...)

The band 2NE1, in my personal opinion, does not sound pleasing to my ears. It sounds all similar to me-- like electronic pop.. though I admit, the last one sounds more R&B. I think the issue I have with them is that they don't really hold any of the qualities I like in metal, which is why I am a bit disappointed with them.

1.) Instrumentation: One of the reasons I love rock / metal are the musical aspects. It sounds more raw with the core of it being a person and their instrument playing. It isn't tons of digital manipulation.
2.) Technicality: For bands like periphery, it is quite difficult to play the parts. For drums, I would have to sit down and listen to it quite a bit before I have memorized it. However, in songs like these, it thrives on repetition in general to get the "hook" stuck in your mind. Rock / metal has repetition, but not near to the extent in my opinion and when things repeat too much it creates a boring composition to my ears.
3.) Rawness: From the sense of electronic instruments, I lose a sense of the feeling and emotion. With the instrumentation produces a certain sense of emotion that I don't feel from this. I dunno, could be just me. I know it isn't the language barrier though because I like songs like this just fine haha:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtW4-X-dqXc

I don't have a thing against pop per say. I do like old Goo Goo Dolls a lot, along with bands like The Kooks, The Fray, and some Ed Sheeran. Heck, I even liked some Awolfnation songs despite their electronic use haha. I dunno, I'm not getting the emotion or instrumentation technicality from this band.

Oh also note that I don't listen to music based on their look or such. I judge it off only the music (hence why I didn't go over their "edgy-ness" lol)

People are totally free to like the band as they want. I mean, it's their choices. Ehh it just isn't for me. I guess I just wanted to give my reasoning why (^_^)

[dangerDoge]

Oh yeah, as an aside, here is what I would consider metal (albeit on the lighter side)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQFDKB0gig

Somewhere heavier and definitely more metal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Ct_Yg5CuM

[Nachtmeerde]

It's alright. I understand that everyone has different music tastes, and I'm really, REALLY flattered you even took the time to listen to their songs one by one. Thank you for giving them a chance! :)

I don't normally judge a group by their looks either, except I happen to be an Asian woman myself (I'm Malaysian Chinese). So I know firsthand the casual prejudice, constant disapproval and dictating of my fashion aspirations that comes with not wanting to look feminine; which is why it brings me such joy to see a group of women not only be allowed to look more masculine and/or aggressive, but succeed in life while doing so. 2NE1's story allows me to hold my head high that much more.

Thank you again for the polite, engaging feedback! ^_^

[Nachtmeerde]

Oh, by the way, what's the name of the Japanese group in the music video below? And ermmm I think you linked the wrong video by accident for the 2nd one.

[dangerDoge]

The name of the band is OldCodex, with the song being "Feed A."

As for the second video (All New Material by Periphery)-- the beginning and chorus isn't super metal, but the verse at 1:15 I would consider metal. It maybe isn't the best example of something heavy, but I would still call it some genre of metal. xD

The bottom video/3rd one is Passenger by Periphery by the way

[Mustachekitteh]

I actually like the band 2NE1.

I'm also a metal fan. ^^ Which I will listen to bands like these Also @dangerDoge check out these songs if you want to hear more guitar playing. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVAQQujgSxQ&list=RDFVAQQujgSxQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhQZFTvAn4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZttiXu6Yj6g

[dangerDoge]

I liked the guitar and the instrumentation (drums and such) in the first one quite! I couldn't get into the screams though. I dunno really why, but I could never get into the Cannibal Corpse style low screams.

LOL at the second one. Not bad.

As for the third one... well... ehh... I like the 6/8 time stuff they do, but I'm not a big fan of... erm... everything else.
----
The stuff you posted reminds me a little of the song "I spit on your grave" by Sinergy. It has a pretty crazy guitar part!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS7VP4EBAB8

[Mustachekitteh]

@dangerDoge Doing high pitch roars for Viking metal wouldn't make to much sense. I understand though. I used to not be able to stand that kind either. Though after hearing this band I got used to it and started to like it. :)

The 2nd one is a power metal as you can tell. The band is Scottish. ^^

The 3rd one they were singing in European portuguese. Though I would have to say I like Opium more by them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Neih_2F_M

[Mustachekitteh]

@dangerDoge Ah they must be a power metal band as well. Yep like I thought one of the genres they do is power metal.

This next band isn't metal. They are both folk rock and Irish rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj41xZHA5Eg
This song has a seriously long guitar solo. :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaFzuiVVCrU

[spuitkaas]

I also like rock and metal and most of the bands you listed but I also like classical music and folk and indie. Even Fado (which is Portuguese folk singing). What I'm trying to say is that a taste in music doesn't define you. You can like Mozart and still call yourself a metal/rock fan.

[Nachtmeerde]

That's great :D For some reason, I just meet a lot of metal fans that go, "You're not a REAL fan" once I mention that I like other genres, or if they don't approve of the rock/metal bands I listen to. Tiring drama really :/

[ashisimo]

not a huge fan but then again i know all these videos by heart lmaoo, turns out i might be a blackjack.

[Lynx122]

Give in you can't resist it. Muhahaha :P

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i watch all kpop videos lmao, i know all about most of the groups but i consider myself a *fan* of only bts and shinee

[Lynx122]

My list of favorite Kpop groups is:
1. 2NE1
2. SNSD
3. Girl's Day
4. Crayon Pop
5. BIGBANG

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 lol that's cuz you're a guy. i like
1. BTS
2. Bigbang
3. Shinee
4. EXID
5. Twice

[Lynx122]

Well I admit that part of why I like SNSD and Girl's Day is because of Sunny and Minah but not the others. I like 2NE1 because they have so much energy & stage presence and they're badass performers and I like their songs. With Crayon Pop I like them because they're weird but they perform their weird songs with such enthusiasm and conviction that you kind of have to love them. And I think their story of beeing rejected by the music shows but not giving up and performing on the streets is very inspiring. And with Girl's Day &SNSD I do like their songs aswell it's not just the girls :P.

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i won't lie i like shinee because of how attractive minho and taemin are and i like bts and bigbang because they're insanely talented and i can't find a song of there's that i don't like. exid and twice are talented too, twice is just starting out but they hold a lot of promise. i was obsessed with the 1 one song they've come out with and can't wait for more.

[Lynx122]

Well yeah I thought Twice was pretty good but I don't really want to put a group in my top 5 or top ten when they only have 1 song out. Here would be some of the girl groups that I still have above Twice at the moment: f (x), AOA, 4Minute, T-ara, Kara, Red Velvet, Miss A, Hello Venus, Sistar, Wa$$up and I thought Oh my Girl was also not bad in their debut I would have them at the same level as Twice

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i totally forgot about red velvet, 4minute and f (x). forget what i said, i love all groups. 4minute replaces exid in my top 5 and red velvet replaces twice. i still love those two tho.

[Lynx122]

Haha no problem it's tough to make a good ranking and you can still like other groups. Honestly I used to have f (x) much higher, they were the first Kpop group I discovered (Electric Shock was the song that got me into Kpop) and I liked their style but nowthey're going in a completely different direction. I have no problem with a group doing something new but I just haven't seen the identity of the new f (x) yet. They used to have a identity with their old style but now they're just making random songs (that's the way it seems to me at least) I didn't see any part of f (x) in that song 4 Walls, it was just some random song. So that's why they're not in my top 5 anymore but if I get a sense of where they're going with this new f (x) and I see some creative concept behind it I'll probably put them up higher again.

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i'll be honest, electric shock and red light didn't appeal to me. i like f (x) because of 4 walls exclusively. surprisingly Exo got me into kpop but i'm not a fan, they're too bubblegum. the group that has never failed me in producing good songs is BTS and that's it.

[Lynx122]

You should check out some of the older f (x) songs like Danger, NU ABO, Chu, Rum pum pum, so you can see who they were before :). It has really been quite a change, I don't dislike 4 Walls because of the song itself, like I said I just thought f (x) had their own style and now the have no style that I can see, at least not yet.

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i'll definitely check it out as well as crayon pop, i have never listened to a crayon pop song lol

[Lynx122]

They're pretty funny, this is a performance that I like :).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qih5cpmB_sQ

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 that thumbnail tho... gives me high expectations lol

[Lynx122]

Check out both groups thoroughly and tell me what you think later :)

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 alright, when i get time. prepare yourself for an essay haha

[Lynx122]

Do I have to grade it? :)

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 lmao, if you want to

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 omg i watched a couple of their videos and their weekly idol appearance. 1 word, awwwww. they are adorable, i like soyul and ellin the best. that performance is soo cheeky i actually am in love with it. i'll get around to stalking them thoroughly but so far i like how they're adorable yet not childish. their weekly idol appearance was super funny and they seem mature unlike how i expected.

[Lynx122]

I like Soyul the best too :). I hope you will forgive me when you become a Kpop addict/zombie it was all your personal decisions nothing was my fault I swear :3

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 i'm already a kpop addict, you just gave me something new to obsess about haha

[Lynx122]

It's a terrible fate :(. I don't even like western pop music with a few exceptions but Kpop is so annoyingly addictive. I'm glad that I have listened to so much other music before I got sucked into Kpop so I can withstand the pull of the black hole a little bit but I am not imune. You commented on my question about Sunny so you know she is the greatest weakness in my defense against the evil powers of Kpop :P

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 she is adorable, like a kitten. i love western pop music just as much, i was sucked in by BTS choreography because im a sucker for dance

[Lynx122]

Y they're really good I've seen some of they're stuff too like Dope and Danger. I wonder why the gd & top song was called zutter when they say it it sounds more like djara to me but whatever :)

[ashisimo]

@Lynx122 they're trying to be cool and also, zutter/jjeoreo means dope so they couldn't just copy BTS lol. i love both songs soo much

[Nachtmeerde]

@Lynx122 @ashisimo LOL guys, guys, I'm really happy you're hitting off so well, but could you move this conversation to private messages with each other? My notifications is pinging like crazy! 😂😂😂

[ashisimo]

lmao, sorry i tried to message but @Lynx122 didn't follow me yet

[Lynx122]

Sry :)

[Bluemax]

My wife would have LOVED this mytake. She was a music teacher, in love with Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and... Kpop.

[Nachtmeerde]

LOLOLOL that's one heck of an incongruence! 😂 Consider me impressed. What acts does she like?

[Nachtmeerde]

*did. Shit, I'm sorry. :/

[cupcakes94]

YES YES YES. Huge Kpopper right here. Thank you for helping 2NE1 get some attention. They're total badasses.

[Nachtmeerde]

No problem ;)

[bustas]

hahaha me too , i am a big fans of panteRa , and t-aRa ; p

pantera

loudwire.com/files/2014/09/Pantera.jpg?w=630

t-ara

eisya99cute.files.wordpress.com/.../cover10.jpg

[TheAngryBanana]

Metal !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR7U1HIhxfA

[Nachtmeerde]

😂😂😂

[MapleFairy]

OMG I'm a fan of kpop and how did i not know about 2NE1? This group rocks! Thanks for sharing!

[Nachtmeerde]

You're welcome! I'm glad you like 😤

[Nachtmeerde]

Oops, that emoji didn't come out as intended. Here: (◡‿◡✿) +ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+

[alice55]

because K-pop is really cool :)
I like metal, rock and K-pop your not alone

[Nachtmeerde]

YAS SISTA :D (*horns)

[alice55]

high five :)

[Klara-Hitler]

Whenever you could listen to this 14 minutes and like every moment of it you're a metal fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7tXYOAoLPM

[dangerDoge]

This sounds like a more opera-ish, less metal-ish version of Dream Theater. xD

[Nachtmeerde]

LOL funny enough, there's a guy up there who recced me the exact same thing. The tongue in cheek humour of the song is cute, but, I dunno (please don't take this the wrong way), somehow the riffs and the guy's voice all sound kinda tame? :/

When I think of the songs I like that are most LIKELY to be metal, I think of Amorphis' Skyforger, Cruachan's I Am Warrior, Rammstein's Du Hast (THOSE RIFFS AAAAHHHH <3 <3 <3 <3) and Apocalyptica's Hope. What do you think of those? :)

[Klara-Hitler]

@dangerDoge This is Blind Guardian. An 80’s German heavy metal band, and this song is power metal/neo-classical metal.

What do you consider more “metal-ish”?

From Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrVKmTPFYZ8

To the masterpiece of Randy Rhoads and Daisley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OozIDOzGWH4

To hell awaits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yew9L0Xjm_g

Metal was always atmospheric, and the best songs always had/have some kind of classical tone or a very Wagner-ish dark atmosphere in them.

Having more classical elements and heavier atmosphere always makes a metal song more metal-ish. Having less of them makes it ‘less metal-ish’.

Metal has its roots in Hard Rock. Black Sabbath got famous because of their atmospheric, dark, classical-like tones. Zeppelin was more bluesy, Deep purple had more of a classic hard rock tone.

[Klara-Hitler]

Black Sabbath and then Rainbow and Ozzy especially when Randy Rhoads was alive, are the definition of heavy metal that influenced 80’s Thrash Metal and they influenced Death Metal, and they influenced nu metal.

Metalcore/deathcore are a mix of hardcore and metal, and most of the metalheads don’t like them, if they don’t absolutely hate them.

And many nu metal bands aren’t even slightly close to what metal was in 70’s and 80’s. Most of their songs are very bad riffs with a scream above it.

Djent is a pretty new genre that so many metalheads including myself dislike it. It’s a mix of playing meaningless patterns with exceptional picking and drumming technique and literally nothing else. It’s like a guitar player trying to show off how good he picks and how fast he riffs. That’s what I hear in a Meshuggah song, technical riffing, technical drumming, plus a random scream above it.

[Klara-Hitler]

You hear more guitar techniques in one minute of Zakk Wylde or Randy Rhoads playing a softer tone than hearing 4 minutes of a Djent song that they claim to be so technical. They have technique for sure, but they have also 0% musical creativity. The band you posted as what you consider “metal” is Djent.

This is what I consider “metal”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKcuPnkG-mM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfh7to0dmco

This is Dio. If you don’t know Dio, one of the Godfathers of heavy metal who popularized metal horns, and don’t consider his tones metal-ish then I don’t have much to say :PP

And this is another song from Blind Guardian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljz70cDsaFE

Do you find any similarity between them and Dio? If you see, it is because they are both real “heavy metal”.

[Klara-Hitler]

I don’t say what you posted isn’t metal. It’s a new genre of metal that I and many of the old school heavy metal fans don’t prefer. And about being metal-ish there is no metal tone more metal-ish than Dio and Black Sabbath the godfathers of heavy metal.

[dangerDoge]

Black Sabbath (who is quite awesome by the way. I friggin love N. I. B / Basically esp.) was at the time, heavy metal. Compared to todays standards though, they verge more towards a hard rock. They are what made heavy metal what it is today and they will always be great from that, but by today's classifications I wouldn't consider them "heavy metal." Slayer's heavyness has remained though through the years

Granted, metal classification doesn't have that great of a definition, as it is quite vague, but I would consider metal to be more so measured by intensity contrary to atmosphere.
What you linked sounds like symphonic metal. The reason I said it sounded more opera-ish and less metal ish than Dream Theater was because it sounded like it focused more on the classical aspect rather than the intensity. It was a different kind of heavy.
To be Continued -->

[Klara-Hitler]

Nah. There is no yesterday and today "heaviness". "Heavy metal" is both the name of all metal genres and the tone of early metal. When metallica became heavier than Black Sabbath they were named Thrash. When Death changed the singing tone the new tone was called Death.

When Meshuggah used the monotonous D-jent heavy riffing sound they were called Djent.

They are all heavy metal for the fact that all of them are heavier than classic hard rock. And after 80's we have different categories of heavy metal that used more speed, heavier drumming, heavier riffing, etc, that makes them different from each other.

[dangerDoge]

At this point, it all boils down to personal beliefs. You seem to go for in thinking symphonic metal has more emotion/atmosphere/intensity/power, while I would argue that something like Cannibal Corpse to be on the far end of the spectrum for "most metal." (Not emotion, just metal-ness

That being said, I do not like Cannibal Corpse and think their music is meh. Not a fan. But they are still heavy, and they are still metal in my opinion.

You mentioned guitar techniques and compared djent to Randy Rhoads and such, I would argue otherwise.
Well, ok, stereotypical crappy open note djent sucks, but that is why I listen to progressive djent. Progressive djent --> Animals As Leaders / Periphery come to mind.

Randy Rhoads was great. I mean damn-- he was a classical guitarist turned electric and had some nice skills from that.
Continued --->

[kdizzleforizzle91]

I'm similar with my music tastes. I still have my guilty pleasure of 90's boy bands and a sprinkle of a few other genres.

[Noxifer626]

Park Bom be like "This is my black dog. There are many like it, but this is mine"

[Nachtmeerde]

Nah, that's Minzy. But you're right, her face really DOES say that. 😂

[Noxifer626]

I'm sorry, I just started listening to them a week ago, I can't recognize them that well yet XD

[Nachtmeerde]

It's ok; I'm not quizzing you on who's who or anything lol! 😂

[Noxifer626]

Yeah, but I want to remember!

[Nachtmeerde]

Don't worry; you will. In time ;)

[Noxifer626]

Haha, I hope so!

[DarkHumorRUs]

You can't really call any bands you listed "metal" so...

[Nachtmeerde]

(*shrugs) Fair enough. I did mention that I'm only calling myself a "metal fan" cautiously because no metal purist would consider me that by any definition.

[lumos]

You sound like you could also like the boy group BTS. :)

[f_ckmeup]

YASSSS❤

[Nachtmeerde]

@lumos Well I already listen to 2NE1 and Big Bang sometimes, I guess I could give them a spin. (*shrugs)

[Righttobeararms83]

Be honest its because you have an Asian fetish abd you jerk off to these music vids.

[RandomPerson1324]

Hahaha

[Nachtmeerde]

Uh, I'm Asian myself.

[MimTcgraw]

At least they're much better than that "Gangnam Style" dude!! hahahaha!

[CafèMachiatto]

That groups does a lot of cultural appropriation bs (see last pic) and to each their own but I don't really like anything other than hard rock and metal

[Nachtmeerde]

Wait, cultural appropriation as in how? O. o You're more than welcome to look what you like though. I just wrote this with people who MIGHT like Kpop in mind.

[CafèMachiatto]

Well I don't want to stir shit but... to put it in a nice way I don't like how a lot of kpop groups are recognized for rap, dressing "black" acting black but when a black person does that... you get my drift? I do like some of their songs and whatnot.

[FilthyPervert]

Instead of saying this group is cool you had to say 'omg i'm a metal fan and this is all about me'.

[Nachtmeerde]

I was hoping what others would take away from the title is that 2NE1 is worth a try, even if Kpop wasn't their genre. Anything else wasn't my intention.

[Lynx122]

I love 2NE1 too ! :)

[Nachtmeerde]

YAAASSSS fellow Blackjack! (*brofist)

[Lynx122]

Sure :P

[Anonymous]

So wot? Not weird at all... I'm a new-wave fan mostly but I enjoy a country/southern rock song every now and then... it's natural to not listen to only one genre...

[Nachtmeerde]

True, but we're not talking 'every now and then' in my case; we're talking legit borderline stalking and being able to sing a foreign language that I don't know a word of. 😂 Also, pop is often considered the antithesis of rock and/or metal, so the hilarity of the situation wasn't lost on me.

[f_ckmeup]

Fellow Blackjack here ✋❤👍

[Nachtmeerde]

(*high five)