How I Became a K-pop Fan
So I know most people don't expect someone who looks like me to be a K-pop fan. So let me tell you how this happened. Over fifteen years ago when social media was still good, a friend of mine posted a very cryptic message and the message said this “#Gee is trending number one in Japan”. That was the whole message.
Of course I had to figure out what this person was talking about. I asked them and they sent me a link. And it turns out on that day, the K-pop group Girls Generation, they had a hit song called Gee, and they released on that day the Japanese music video for that song, and it was getting so many views on YouTube.
I went to go and listen to this song. And for those who know, you already know. Everyone else, this is one of the most insidious earworms of all time. Just a warning if you're going to go and listen to it. Good luck getting it out of your head.
So I'm lured in by this really catchy song and music video. But I still did not become a K-pop fan. Up until this point, I had heard of Girls’ Generation, but I wrongly thought that they were one of those creepy J-pop idol groups that I was avoiding. Clearly. I was wrong, so I had to do more research, and instead of finding the world of K-pop, I ended up finding the world of Korean television.
There was a link to Girls’ Generation making a guest appearance on a Korean variety show, and I ended up watching Korean variety shows for many years, and various Korean celebrities would make guest appearances on these shows. And then I sort of went full circle and learned about all of the Korean entertainment industry and the other K-pop idols, the other groups there, other songs.
And then I became a K-pop fan.
Why I Enjoy K-pop
The things about K-pop that I really enjoyed the most that kept me coming back for more was, of course, number one is the stylish and eye-catching choreography. They put just more effort into it than I think pop music artists from other countries. It's really fascinating and unbelievable. And secondly, the genres that K-pop spans just happen to be ones I really enjoy, music that is really powerful.
Of course, we already mentioned the pop music earworms. There's a whole set of K-pop songs that are basically Broadway show tunes that just don't have a show associated with them. I really love those. There's a lot of EDM bangers. You think about groups like T-ara, you know, those songs are really get you going in the morning. There are some powerful ballad songs. I mean, there's ballad songs of all kinds. I don't really like the sort of weak ones. I like the, you know, the powerful ones.
And of course, I think my most favorite in K-pop are these sort of tongue in cheek, almost comedy kind of songs. Everyone knows PSY’s Gangnam Style, but there were other groups back in the day, such as Crayon Pop or Orange Caramel that really went harder and were more creative in that realm, and those don't exist anymore.
And that's part of the reason why, more recently, I'm sort of fading away from the K-pop scene. I do still look at it a little bit, pay attention to what's coming out, but for the most part, in the more recent groups, the younger groups, the musical genres have gone away from the ones I just mentioned. The choreography is also has a different style to it. And you know, I understand how it's still appealing for other people, but it's sort of gone away from what pulled me in and my interest has waned quite a bit. So for me, I'm really a fan of second and third gen groups for the most part.
K-Pop Fandom Can Be Very Inexpensive
Despite being a K-pop fan for such a long period of time, I've spent relatively little money on this hobby. That's one of the greatest things about K-pop is that it is so inexpensive. You do not need to spend a dime to enjoy this hobby. You can listen to all the songs. Watch all the music videos. See all the TV appearances with subtitles. Follow your groups on social media. It's just all on the web for no money whatsoever.
The only times you want to spend money is if there's a concert or if you want merch. And of course, I go to a concert whenever a group I like tours near where I live, whether it's K-pop or any other genre. But K-pop merch has really not impressed me. Even for my favorite groups, there were only three times that I have bought any sort of physical K-pop goods.
The Moobong
So my favorite K-pop good that I have ever purchased is this, the Moobong. This is the light stick for the K-pop group MAMAMOO. In my opinion, this is the greatest light stick ever made for any K-pop group, anywhere, at any time. In the Korean language, the word moo means radish, and MAMAMOO made their light stick in the shape of a radish. Absolutely immaculate. Perfection. Amazing.
I've gone to see MAMAMOO or MAMAMOO members in concert four times, and they're doing a world tour again, basically right now. I'm going to see them again for the fifth time. This has been a terrific investment. The only light stick I own it will ever own. Go and watch and listen to all of MAMMOO music. They do not miss.
Albums
The only two other K-pop goods I've ever purchased are albums. I just got done talking about how everything in K-pop is free. Why would I purchase an album? Especially people who know me know that I do not like physical media. Even two albums over fifteen plus years is a lot. I should have gotten zero, but I ended up with two. The first one is this, Red Velvet’s Summer Magic.
The reason I bought this album is because it was the first time that I ever saw the actual K-pop company create an official website where you could directly preorder the album as an international fan, so it was very easy to buy. I didn't have to go through some other record store that was going to do international shipping, but I didn't actually want this album.
What I wanted was the Red Velvet Summer magic t-shirt, which is still, in my opinion, the only K-pop official merch t-shirt I've ever seen that actually had a good design that I would want to wear. In order to get that t-shirt, I had to preorder the album I didn't want. That's why I have this album.
The second album that I purchased was this. This is Girls’ Generation Forever One. This was an album they released for their 15th anniversary. As of this moment, it's still their most recent album. Their most current release. I obviously don't need the CD inside. But as the group that got me into this whole mess, that I'm still a pretty big fan of, it was their fifteenth anniversary Effectively, they're sort of, you know, last hurrah, although I'm sure they'll they'll be back again. Right? They're not completely done forever, hence the name Forever One. But it felt like something that I should buy for sentimental reasons. And so I did.
History of Photo Cards
This brings us to today's topic K-pop photo cards. What is a K-pop photo card? It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a card with a photo of a K-pop idol on it. Most often included as a free insert inside of an album. What is the history of these? Where do they come from? It was actually very difficult to find any cited sources explaining the history of K-pop photo cards.
One thing is for certain, photo cards did not begin with K-pop. I'm going to link to a video showing somebody who looked in their parents cassette collection and found a deluxe double cassette of Diana Ross and the Supremes 25th anniversary, which I believe was from 1986, and includes several photo cards of Diana Ross and the Supremes. So Motown was doing K-pop photo cards before K-pop was doing in K-pop photo cards.
Okay, as for when K-pop began doing photo cards, I could only find unverified comments from various K-pop fans. They seem to suggest that the first K-pop group to ever have a photo card was TVXQ in one of their Japanese releases. Also according to fans, the first K-pop group to include a photo card in a Korean album was Girls Generation in the album Oh!.
My Three Photo Cards
In the two K-pop albums that I purchased, there were three K-pop photo cards included. The Red Velvet Summer Magic album included this, a photo card of Wendy. I guess I got lucky at a five member group. I had a one in five chance, and I got my favorite member. Wendy is one of the best vocalists in K-pop, period. Definitely go look her up and listen to her. She can really, really sing. Wow. But this photo sorry Wendy is a little weird, but what are you going to do? Not going to complain.
In the Girls Generation album there were two photo cards included. One of them was this full group shot, so I don't know if they included the same full group shot in every single album or not. But hey, nice to have. And the second one, so an eight member group with a one in eight chance, we got Tiffany. Tiffany is a member of the group that I like quite a bit, and she is the only member of Girls’ Generation that I have ever seen live in person. One time I saw her at a special interview event during my lunch break, and another time I went to her solo concert. I've never seen any other member of Girls Generation live in person, but Tiffany, sorry again. You're not my favorite member of Girls Generation. That would be Yoona. So if anybody has a Yoona photo card who wants to trade for Tiffany, send me a message.
Asking the Experts
As a K-pop fan and a card enjoyer I knew I wanted to make this episode about K-pop photo cards, but my expertise is really limited. I've already said everything I have to say about them. I needed to bring in some professional help. Luckily, a friend in the neighborhood turned me on to the fact that there was going to be a K-pop photo card trading event occurring in Central Park.
A few weeks ago, I headed down there to see if I could get some interviews. I head down to the park that day with no expectations, and I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. The turnout was larger than I had thought it was going to be, but I was told it was smaller than in past years. Only a few people were really trying to sell cards for money. Many of those who were told me they had just overzealously collected in the past and were trying to pare down their collections to only the cards that they truly cared about.
The majority of people there were trying to socialize and make friends with other K-pop fans. What other easier conversation starter is there than “Hey, can I take a look through your binder? Please do.” I found in the park that day exactly the thing that I am trying to promote with this show. Cards were being used to bring people together at a lovely picnic in the park. Amazing.
Interviews
It should come as no surprise that the majority of people at this event did not agree to sit for a video interview with a strange old guy who came out of nowhere. I hold nothing against anybody who turned me down. As for the people who agreed to be interviewed. I extend my deepest thanks for making this video possible.
If anyone was interviewed and is disappointed not to see themselves in this final video, I profusely apologize. Some of the footage was unusable because of my own technological failings. It was quite challenging to conduct interviews and manage the audio and manage the video all at the same time as one person. I have a lot more respect for people who do video interviews now. It is not as easy as it looks. And so without further ado, please enjoy these interviews with some actual K-pop photo card experts.
And lastly, my apologies to anyone reading this blog post. I did not transcribe the interviews only because it was a lot of work. The interviews are available in the YouTube video at the top of this poast. If anyone really wants the transcriptions, please let me know, and I may update this post in the future. Thank you for understanding.
Bonus
For anyone who isn’t a K-pop fan, the one group you have almost definitely heard of is BTS. This is my favorite BTS performance of all time. Please enjoy.