Sometimes, you just wanna have a few drinks and get sappy while listening to Korean ballads.

"다음번에 만나면,

못본 척하고,

지나쳐줘, baby."

From the song Happening by AKMU.

Dear friends,

I wrote about how The Karaoke Bars of NYC’s Koreatown Helped Me Find My Voice.

Check it out!

A good Korean ballad takes me to places where nothing else can.

The cold side of the pillow,

listening to chill 90s Korean music,

been so tired all day,

slept only a few hours yesterday,

but in bed right now,

feeling dread,

if I lived alone,

I’d probably just start getting tanked,

or uncomfortably full,

good thing I’m not,

because it’ll wake the roomie, 

I hate having to use the bathroom at night,

small apartment,

big anxiety,

sirens nonstop,

I refuse to rot,

keep thinking dumb shit,

gonna pop,

it’s past 3 now,

horns on the avenue still honk,

people yelling on the street,

I wonder who else is up,

with similar thoughts.

I miss going to karaoke.

"You fill this night with me."

From the song Fill This Night by Clazziquai.

이젠,

버틸 수 없다고.

From the song 기억의 습작 by Exhibition.

"사랑을 했다,

우리가 만나,
지우지 못할 추억이 됐다."

From the song Love Scenario by iKON.

I've heard this song on so many Korean memes, and always thought it was by some older folk singer. I had no idea it was by a boyband.

"I'm a Koreana in New York."

From the song Koreana in New York by Roo'Ra.

If you're looking for a great quality Korean album from the 90's with a wispy sound that perfectly captures and invokes emotions from the decade you never knew you had, I highly recommend this: TOY (토이) - 내 마음 속에.

This album seems to especially make sense on a crowded subway ride, where I can close my eyes and feel transported in a completely different way.

It's funny when you realize that a favorite childhood 90's Korean pop song of yours was ripped off a Carpenters song.

"난 나쁜 기집애,
난 나쁜 기집애,
난 나쁜 기집애,
---where all my bad girls at?"

From the song 나쁜 기집애 by CL.

HAHAH.

"We can fly away... fly away together like in the movies and shit."

From the song After Love by Clazziquai.

"하루 하루
조금씩 나아질거애."

From the song 비밀의 화원 by 이상은.

i was eating yummy street food with earlier in the streets of bangkok, and i ran into the thai version of 2NE1's dara.

right now i'm completely digging deux, a korean hip hop duo from the early 90's with members kim sung jae and lee hyun do. listening to deux always reminds me of my sister because she used to be obsessed with them when we were kids, especially lee hyun do.

the duo pretty much started the movement of 90's hip hop, rap and r&b in korea and also had the "bad boy" image of the music industry, or at least they were marketed that way. from what i can recall as a kid, i remember thinking that the group's major fan base was a certain demographic of girls. all the female hardcore rebels and bad-girls of korea finally had an anthem and soundtrack to play in the background at the clubs and in the streets as they beat bitches down korean-style. listening to their music now, some of their tracks have obviously been sampled from american songs but the countless number of people who get a sense of nostalgia every time they listen to deux can easily look past that (probably also due to the fact that many koreans back then didn't know american hip hop). one of their songs in particular titled "여름안에서" is my karaoke-go-to-song, it's easy to sing and there's no complicated rap part on top of being a sentimental classic for anyone who listened to their music back then.

the duo released three studio albums as well as additional remix and concert albums, then the they split and kim sung jae put out a self titled solo album which i really like. he died suddenly in 1995 soon after his album release and being young and not understanding korean that well back then, i'm still not sure how he passed away. i remember there were a lot of rumors and speculation going on and it was reported that his girlfriend killed him by giving him some drugs that were horse tranquilizers, but knowing the korean media and how they love to sensationalize things, especially shit that has to do with illegal drugs, i have no idea what happened to him. the sad thing is he died pretty young.

here are their albums that i never get sick of.

i still listen to korean music and really like a group called 2ne1. this group has four girls and i think they're all so cute (but not in a cheesy big lollipops and "look at me i'm so fucking cute" way). each one has their own thing going on and my favorite is the youngest of the group. i think she's like fifteen years old and her name is minzy. i think she's so full of talent for someone such a young age and also love the fact that she has very korean features on her face. i see her and think she's adorable, i want to hug her like she's my younger sister.

who knew that such a petite and bookish looking young girl with round glasses had such a voice?

to add to my obsession of korean music from the 90's and earlier, i've recently been listening to the music of lee sun-hee a lot. she dominated the korean music charts in the 80's and 90's and played a huge role in korean pop culture. unfortunately i don't know that much about her, but just from listening to her music, i know that this is the stuff i would have been jamming out to if i were able to appreciate music back then. like the lee moon sae albums i've blogged about before, her music is from the similar time period and also has that old-school-folky sound as well. all her stuff is pretty well produced and my favorite song of hers is called "서울의 밤" (Seoul Nights). it's really upbeat and i love listening to it while i'm walking around nyc alone as i imagine myself being 26 in the 80's and listening to it while walking around seoul. i wonder how different seoul looked back then and try to imagine what i would be wearing, eating and thinking about. i probably would have blasted the song on my record spinner as i got ready for a special night on the town to a local coffeehouse or bar. i like moments like that when i can really think and appreciate how so many things have changed since then, yet the song remains and brings out the same reactions in people as it did back then.

then i think about things like, is there anyone else in this city of 8 million that also happens to be listening to this very song and having similar thoughts?

below are two of her albums that have really grown on me.

i am a kid of the 90's.

i absolutely love 90's music (mostly everything before 1997) and i've always listened to korean pop music my whole life and enjoy korean music even now, which means i fucking love 90's korean music.

my favorite all time korean group for the rest of my life will always be Roo'Ra (룰라). growing up, i was fucking obsessed with them and their music, especially their second, third and fourth albums. they had some stylistic and member changes after that, but none of it compared to their 2nd (1995), 3rd (1995) and 4th (1006) albums---for real, THEY'RE THE SHIT. listening to them now, sure, i admit that a lot of their songs sound like rip-offs of american songs, but i don't care they're still the shit. i will never change my opinion about roo'ra, their music really means a lot to me.

each one of their albums that i love brings back happy memories of where i was living and how my life was at that time. i moved around a lot as a kid and had a million other weird issues but listening to roo'ra always made me feel very happy.

the following roo'ra albums will ALWAYS be classics to me.

*i am aware and saw their recent comeback, but refuse to acknowledge that it happened due to the fact that it was really bad.