*new* k-pop compendium: DJ DOC - i'm a guy like this

i dont know if im going to keep that entire title. its already annoying and this is post one. anyways, the idea of this segment is to introduce to some of my reading (and yes, neglected as of late) audience a taste of what is blasted at you every second of the day from every corner as you're walking through south korea. you could be walking through a farm in the country-side and i bet you would still hear the same five songs over and over blasting out of some hidden speaker in a corn husk.

first: a general thought on the current state of korean pop music. i don't want to sound like an asshole but its pretty obvious that most popular music being produced in asia is heavily motivated by what's been done in the states and other western countries. japan, for example, seems to have gone in the direction of synthesizers and electronic based pop music. korea, on the other hand, has latched aggressively onto the american hip-hop scene. so, as i go through some of these selections, you'll probably start to notice a lot of nods to the likes of missy elliot, gwen stafani, and 90's rap - especially the style/fashion.

okay! so my first selection here is in memory of the fantastic weekend i just had in seoul (shoutouts: connie, annie, kailey, joanne, andrew, lawrence, carolein, tony, miran, canadian dude, frenchman, makgeolli man, das rascists, etc.). this song is often played in tandem with LMFAO's shots (they have a really similar section that culminates in 'everybody' being shouted), but whereas shots is a really (really) stupid anthem to uh..shots, i'm a guy like this escalates into pure pop awesomeness. sure, you're watching the video and you're thinking, "this could be the worst thing i've ever seen. why would you even put this on a blog?" and i'll admit that the first 40 or 50 thousand times i heard it i was in the same boat. but right at number 50,001 something just clicks.

and it clicks right when they go into the "나 이런 사람이야" (it's the part that sounds like: na! ileon saram-iya!) section. it's an earworm. i don't even know what it means (although now that i know the title i'm thinking it means "i'm a guy like this" as the na part refers to "i" and "saram" means person - ie. miguk-saram means "america person" or "american" - whoa, long parenthetical) [rewind] i don't even know what it means but i find myself singing it all the time. it usually goes something like, "na! ileon saram-iya! arrest a kido! i need a shit-a! a centipede-a! (fading out...)something somethin somethin somethin somethin somethin ocho olay! (triumphant return!) na! ileon saram-iya!" etc. etc. also that beat is something straight out of a timbaland track.

apparently dj doc has been around since the 90's, which sort of explains how cornbread that dude looks with the curly hair and glasses (seriously, is he the other guys lame cousin who went to conservatory so they had to invite him), but the whole image is a big wtf? its like daddy yankee meets barenaked ladies. figure it out fellas! you can't be hip hop when half of your group belongs on the set of 'that thing you do' (maybe outkast would disagree). anyways, this was just an introduction. for the next installment i plan on taking a look at 2ne1, a real freakshow on this side of the pacific pond. but for now, here's dj doc doing i'm a guy like this: