K-Pop's "Sexy" Renaissance - Evolution Or Corruption?

The key to popularity in the 2013 K-Pop scene was "sexy". Girl and guy groups with "sexy" concepts were the most popular among viewers. This year, the "sexy" concept seems to have gone a step further to become the "sex" concept.

Three years ago, Leessang introduced a revolutionary song named "Turned Off the TV" which received a "Forbidden Under 19" rating. Leessang's Gary recently released what most fans perceive as a continuation of that borderline pornographic concept. Idol groups such as Girl's Day, AOA, Dal Shabet and RAINBOW are all choosing to take their clothes off to draw more and more attention, which begs the question - is the widespread "sexy" concept a corruption to the purity of K-Pop or an evolution of the entertainment value of K-Pop?

Most producers seem to agree that a "sexy" imagination is required to produce a great album or music video.

Take Gary, for example. His title song, "Shower Later", has explicit lyrics that depict a sexual love between a man and a woman. Some have labeled the title song "pornographic", while others artists, such as PSY, stated that the song is "honest and poetic".

Let's take a look at his lyrics. Instead of leaving it up to his listeners to interpret confusing sexually driven lyrics, he just simple depicts sex with his rhymes. Lyrics such as "I like your small but cute breasts" or "I want to lock thighs like we lock fingers when I hold hands and talk about love with you all night" are rather graphic depictions of sex.

The title song is rather well received, but the music video has done more than raise a little eyebrow. Sexually suggestive and graphic depiction of sex aside, it is distinctly misogynistic, with Gary playing the protagonist who enjoys encounters with various women. The amount of touching that happens between the model and Gary has people saying that the music video should be banned altogether or labeled as a soft-core pornographic film. Its misogyny divides even those who favor Gary's new "sex" concept.

The ones who have moved on to a "sex" concept from "sexy" concept are not only the guy groups. Girl groups such as Girl's Day, Dal Shabet, AOA, and RAINBOW have all turned to graphically depict sex at least in their choreography. Girl's Day's newest single, "Something" has them wearing deep slant skirts and on the floor for half of the choreography. They are, however, also the reigning first place on many weekly online music charts.

This is a drastically different pattern than the previous girl groups whose cute concept was used to promote a pure image like Girls' Generation ("Into the New World", "Gee"). The reigning notion was that girl groups cannot enduring doing only "sexy", but Girl's Day's success seems to blow that notion away. RAINBOW has a subgroup that only does the "sexy" concept, while AOA converted from being a band to being a sexy idol girl group.

But what about the public? How can the general public, which includes underage teens and children, be shielded from the onslaught of the "sexy" being sold by K-Pop stars? Some TV stations have opted to ask the idol groups to take out certain parts of a song's choreography to make it more suitable for television.

It's not as though the initial problem of the "sexy" concept is going away - the fact that delving too far into the "sexy" concept makes a group or an individual a one-dimensional entertainer is still the problem. Looking at stars like Gain, for example, it seems difficult to see them in any other light.

It is, however, also very true that sex sells. K-Pop stars that have chosen to adapt the edgy, borderline pornographic concept are all doing fairly well. It seems to especially appeal to the adults who are growing up with a sense of K-Pop but can't enjoy the new wave of rookies as much as the teenage fans. Adult-content K-Pop for adult K-Pop fans is a refreshing concept, in a way.

The only thing left for discussion is how to protect children and teenagers from the overexposure of sex.

Tags
LeeSsang
Gary
Girls Day
AOA
Dal Shabet
Rainbow
Shower Later
Something
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