Author: Waris Ismail

The music video for sexy single “You Know” on Jay Park’s 2015 rap album WorldWide, integrates a combination of provocative lyrics, sexy choreography, and foreign locations to tell a “bad boy” narrative. This analysis will discuss how Jay Park attempts to build authenticity through emphasis on male gaze, sexual objectification, and criminality to capitalize on the “bad boy” image associated with hip hop culture.

The lyrics of “You Know” tells a narrative of a man who calls a girl late at night because he desires sex, making it clear that the relationship is no strings attached, asserting the dominant male/submissive female concept of the MV. Through the abundance of half naked women surrounding the rappers in the MV, we can see the voyeuristic treatment of women bodies, common in Western hip-hop music videos. As stated by Cedarbough, the movements of the women “serve the overwhelming focus of promoting the artist (Cedarbough 2016: 258). Therefore, the women are given the same hair style and clothing, stripping them of individuality, focusing on their bodies role of making Jay Park look more “bad-ass”, enhancing the authenticity of the MV.

The reoccurring bad boy aesthetic flowing throughout the video, is also authenticated through sexual objectification of the women in the MV, including objectifying K-pop idol Hyuna. The limited screen time on Hyuna throughout the video is essentially used as a prop. Despite being talented and one of the major “sexy” icons in Korean pop culture, we can see how the MV uses Lin and Rudolf’s concept of “dollification”, defined as “a way the fantasy narrative of women being objectified into petty, sexy-yet-submissive, nonthreatening dolls in K-pop” (Lin and Rudolf 2017: 31), on Hyuna to build on the bad boy dynamic of the MV. The way Hyuna is sitting on the edge of the bed, innocently curled up in a shielding state, while Jay Park sits confidently on the opposite end of the bed, places her in the compliant role. However, as mentioned by Epstein and Joo “exposed legs operate as consumer fetish, encouraging desires to both gaze at and posses the “perfect” body (Epstein and Joo 2012: 8), so not is Hyuna used to portray the female in the lyrical narrative; an object of a sexual fantasy for the male to claim, but also as the ideal woman that men desire.

Since style is an integral factor in contemporary hip-hop culture, Hare and Baker argued that style is used to impose hierarchies by “using commodities to claim the cultural terrain” (Hare and Baker 2017: 2). “You Know” MV incorporates “commodities” such as an entourage of women, well-known underground rappers, gang-affiliated activity, money and expensive jewellery as an important marker of hip hop authenticity” (Ibid: 5). Yet, an interesting point in this video is the use of a foreign space rather than a Korean backdrop. Throughout the video we can see influence more commonly linked with western hip hop culture mentioned earlier. However, in many scenes we see Chinese imagery such the cheongsam (high-neck red dresses), the lanterns, fans, paintings decorated in the room they occupy in many scenes as well as the game of mah-jong the rappers are playing are all cultural aspects that aren’t Korean. Why use other Asian influences in addition to hip hop cultural elements on the MV?

Since cultural hybridization between Western universalism and Asian exoticism is pivotal in attracting transnational audiences, the incorporation of foreign elements decreases “cultural odor” therefore, increasing interest of Korean viewers by presenting them with visuals that are not simply Korean or a copy of Western products. However, the use of a foreign space can be used to not only gather interest among domestic viewers and increase authenticity of the male hip hop bricolage, by stylistic features the “thug life” (i.e gambling, promiscuity, drug deals, etc..), but it can possibly be a way to separate the delinquency of Western hip-hop culture from Korean hip-hop culture.

Cedarbough, Saeji T. “Cosmopolitan Strivings and Racialisation: The Foreign Dancing Body in Korean Popular Music Video.” In Korean Screen Cultures: Interrogating Cinema, TV, Music and Online Games, edited by Andrew David Jackson and Colette Balmain. 257-92. Oxford: Peter Lang Publishers. 2016.

Epstein, Stephen J., and Rachael M. Joo. “Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and the Transnational Imagination.” The Asia Pacific Journal 10, no.1 (2012): 1–24.

Hare, Sarah, and Andrea Baker. “Keepin’ It Real: Authenticity, Commercialization, and the Media in Korean Hip Hop.” SAGE Open 7, no.2 (2017): 1-12.

Lin, Xi, and Robert Rudolf “Does K-pop Reinforce Gender Inequalities? Empirical Evidence from a New Data Set.” Asian Women 33, no.4 (2017): 27-54.

 

In the 2016 article “Cosmopolitan Strivings and Racialisation: The Foreign Dancing Body in Korean Popular Music Video.”, Saeji Cedarbough argues three main categories of cosmopolitan strivings visible through the incorporation of foreign bodies into K-pop music videos; authenticity, atmosphere and sexuality (Cedarbough 2016: 268). I will use atmosphere and sexuality to discuss the ways in which Jay Park uses foreign bodies in his MV, appreciating culture rather than appropriating cultures. Cedarbough states that “the presence of dancing bodies demonstrates the group/singers star wattage, sends a message of inclusion (one world, enjoying together) and situates the video in transnational context.” (Ibid: 273). Jay Parks recent MV for single “V” is a perfect example of this. Jay park incorporates women from multiple different countries and nationalities in his MV, sending the message “that he supports/embraces other cultures and does not discriminate, while also increase his “star power” or global popularity.

Sexuality of foreign bodies in K-Pop tends to be a way K-Pop artist objectify foreign women, through, as Cedarbough mentioned, hypersexualizing them stimulate interest and attract more views. These women tend to be used as props rather than love interests in these MVs and as argued by Cedarbough play the role of neither the love interest nor the sexual desire of the K-pop star in focus. Jay Park deviates from this common use of foreign women by having MV where a African-American woman such as in “Me Like Yuh” or a Latina woman such as in “Hulk Hogan” or a plethora of different woman in “V” are the love interest of Jay Park, rather than an sex object to make him look better, deviating away from the standard use of foreigners in K-Pop or hip-hop music videos. Therefore, all though there are many MVs where foreign bodies are used merely as prop to gain authenticity, Jay Park in many ways incorporates foreigners, especially Black and Latino individuals in his MVs to appreciate them rather than appropriate, and by doing so actually gains recognition and authenticity.

 

Cedarbough, Saeji T. “Cosmopolitan Strivings and Racialisation: The Foreign Dancing Body in Korean Popular Music Video.” In Korean Screen Cultures: Interrogating Cinema, TV, Music and Online Games, edited by Andrew David Jackson and Colette Balmain. 257-92. Oxford: Peter Lang Publishers. 2016.

There is no question that Korea’s history with America has played a huge role in shaping Korean pop culture. Some music scholars, such as music critic Pak Yong-ku, suggest that Korean traditional music was essentially forced into adopting Western music styles through the lens of the Japanese during the colonial period (Maliangkay 2007:54). While others argue that Americanization was not a dominating force that infiltrated Korean culture through imitation of Western ideology, but rather a process that had been gradually spread incorporated into various aspects of Korean culture (Shin & Ho 2009: 85). Despite the opposing views, it is evident that Americanization has had a huge impact on Korean pop music dating far back into history and I believe its impression continues to grow today.

Through the process of, what Shin and Ho termed, “translatability”, Western music traveled globally, thus be adopted into various music genres across Asia, really took off as an influencing force on Korean pop culture since the Cold War (Ibid., 84). The military shows are a prime example of “translatability”, where American entertainment mannerisms were adopted by Korean performers such as ‘stage manner’ and ‘showmanship” (Ibid.). The stage presence of K-Pop idols today, such as the incorporation of complex choreography and charismatic stage presence is an aspect of K-Pop that fueled its global domination.

Even some negative aspects of these military shows are present today, such as the demanding training and tight scheduling needed to keep up with the worldwide audience demand. Shin and Ho also suggested that creativity of the artist was not a focus of these performances, and that many good musicians couldn’t pass the audition because they did not fit the look that was in demand (Ibid.). The “production” of idols has been a topic of criticism, with some suggesting the image of what “idols” is and the songs they release may reflect the views of their companies, rather than creativity and musical style of the musician themselves. This longstanding issue is why I believe that some underground artists choose to stay underground and call rappers who join idol groups “sellouts” or the influential force behind decisions of artists, suggested by Jay Park in a 2016 interview with i-D magazine, leaving companies so they can have more freedom in what they produce, incorporating their own originality.

Roald Maliangkay suggested that various qualities of Western music, such as individuality and exhilaration of performers and, of course, the use of foreign language, attracted Korean students (Maliangkay 2006: 23), which is still largely appealing to Korean youth today. Just think of all the song choruses that non-Korean speaking audiences can sing along too. K-pop, and many other forms of Korean music, have been incorporating foreign languages, particularly English, to not only appeal to the international audience but also to display the exoticism of language for young Korean audiences. There are many rap competitions shows, such as “Highschool Rapper” and “Show Me the Money” that exemplify this incorporation of foreign language into lyrics. By watching the reaction of the other contestants, the rappers who use English in their raps are clearly seen as more impressive lyricists.

Therefore, with all this in mind, I believe that “americanization” remains a leading influencer on South Korea politically, economically and, most relevant to this course, culturally in the form of K-Pop.

Glasby, Taylor. “International Superstar Jay Park Talks Controversies and Creative Freedom.” i-D, October 25, 2016. https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/bjngkv/international-superstar-jay-park-talks-controversies-and-creative-freedom. (accessed 10/01/2018)

Maliangkay, Roald “Their Masters’ Voice: Korean Traditional Music SPs (Standard Play Records) under the Japanese Colonial Rule”. The World of Music 49:3 (2007): 53-74.

Maliangkay, Roald “Supporting Our Boys: American Military Entertainment and Korean Pop Music in the 1950s and Early 1960s.” In K-Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard. 21-33. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2006.

Shin, Hyunjoon and Tung‐hung Ho. “Translation of ‘America’ During The Early Cold War Period: A Comparative Study on the History of Popular Music in South Korea and Taiwan.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10:1 (2009): 83-102.