My first cultural artifact based on my target language (Korean) is one of the most popular songs in Korea currently in the Hip Hop/Pop music genre. The title of the song is "it's been a while" by an artist named Loco. When I first listened to this song, I didn't really understand most of the words. There were only a couple of words that I could make out and understand, but it was hard for me to fully comprehend the actual meaning of the lyrics.
To better understand the lyrics and the meaning of the song, I first slowed down the song on YouTube to half speed in order to clearly hear the words the artist was saying. This helped me clearly hear some words that I didn't hear the first run through. There were words that were said in a different way, much like slang in English.
The song itself is very interesting when compared to American pop songs. The beat is a lot different, where the bass isn't as boosted or emphasized. There aren't many high hats or strong, overpowering baselines. The treble sounds and melody are more emphasized in the instrumental. There are also elements of English in this song where the artist says a word in English as he speaks in Korean. The line for this part of the song was: 달라진 건 더 이상 쫄지 않아도 돼 모든 price tags (price tags). In the song, Loco actually says price tag in English. He talks about a girl and how she doesn't have to change her personality and compares her to price tags. At first, I thought it was really odd because the "price tags" kind of came out of nowhere and didn't seem to fit the song. But as I listened to it a couple more times, it actually had a good flow with the song and made it that much more interesting. The whole song is about a girl that the artist was close to in the past and hasn't seen in a while. He reminisces about their past together and how she has influenced him to the person he is now. He still misses her and wants her back, and Loco brings up how much he still loves her.
The meaning of the song is similar to most pop songs in America, where most songs are about love. But compared to American pop music, there are fewer lyrics about sex, drugs, and guns. I also thought the music video was very interesting in the way it was directed and filmed. Every scene is very simple and odd, but there is deeper meaning within the scenes. To practice reading and understanding Korean, I took the lyrics in Korean and printed it. Then I read through each line and attempted to translate each line and word. After I finished, I looked at the English translation to see if I was somewhat correct in interpreting the lyrics. Furthermore, I listened to the song one last time to recognize all the words I read through.
Comments
I think having subjects like music can be really helpful because they tend to be repetitive so they allow you to pick up words faster and also give you a glimpse of the culture. For example there isn't really Jewish music outside of what is used in service but Israel music gives a glimpse into the culture of Israel, and even the music that is written in Hebrew, its subjects give you a sense of what is important in Judaism
Oh my god, I love loco and I listen to a lot of his songs！His voice is deep, powerful and warm, which is great for rap. American rap has a lot of critical facts and comments on other people's lyrics, and the tempo of the song is fast. But a lot of Loco's songs are about love, And many of his songs have attractive melodies and not very fast rhythms, and I like a song he sang with Hwa sa called "Don't". This song has a very interesting background, Loco is a big fan of Hwa sa. In the mv, every time Hwa sa looked at him, he would become so shy and lower his head to avoid eye contact, smile like a little boy.
I noticed the difference between pop music in Korean and American songs as well. While the rap part in American songs tends to be intense, powerful, and strong, the rap in Korean ones is not pushed to do so. It can go well with smooth music and a slow base in the background music as well. It is also interesting to see how you noticed the English words a little bit wired in Korean songs too. I didn't realize it as an uncommon thing until I played a Korean song to my American roommate during my freshman year. She got used to it as well after a few tries too since they usually rhyme with other lines in the song.