Ask Me About Kpop

It's an age old question, and we're not really going to definitively answer it lol. But we ARE going to talk about 10 different idol groups and soloists that are not of Korean descent who tried to take a shot at being Kpop idols. What did their music sound like and how were they received by the public? Is this a trend that will continue to grow? Or will people always want their idol groups to be majority Koreans? We're not sure! But let's talk about it anyway!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is the official TEN YEAR anniversary of the day that Shannon first discovered Kpop. So we're celebrating with a super specific time machine episode looking at this exact week of Kpop in 2013. We'll take a look at the top songs on the Gaon chart, who won the music shows, what idol variety was airing on tv, the week in news and gossipy rumors, as well as a general look at where Kpop fans hung out on the internet during this time. So much has changed since then, and we've heard so many great songs and had so many once in a lifetime experiences. Cheers to 10 more years! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shawol has waited two long years, and Alikes have waited another week longer to hear all about SHINee's incredible 8th album, HARD! So this week we're running down all the best parts of this excellent comeback so far! We're starting with thoughts about the SHINee World VI concert, going into the excellent JTBC comeback special. And then it's time to talk about the album track by track without gushing too long (stay tuned for an upcoming listening party patreon ep for more!). And finally, more SHINee content to add to your watchlist and some thoughts from other Shawol Alikes! Thank you to our beautiful SHINee boys for working extra hard to make this comeback special, and for making a perfect album and making our lives joyous and musical always! Love to our Jinki whom we miss and hope gets well soon! Jonghyun, we miss you for always Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time again to finish out MBC's hit stage flashback from 10 years ago! The 2013 Kpop fashion reigns strong in these stages, and we get a little bit of whiplash from some of Latte's ordering choices. What was your favorite song from this stage compilation?This is the full version with the video already playing underneath, but if you want to still watch along with the video, it can be found here: https://youtu.be/qQ3HtE-rSeQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time again to finish out MBC's hit stage flashback from 10 years ago! The 2013 Kpop fashion reigns strong in these stages, and we get a little bit of whiplash from some of Latte's ordering choices. What was your favorite song from this stage compilation?This is the full version without the playing underneath, so you can watch along with the video found here: https://youtu.be/qQ3HtE-rSeQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's see if we've actually learned anything in the last 251 episodes. Shannon dug into the archives of some random quiz websites to find some 'general Kpop knowledge' online quizzes created from 2010 - 2023 and we did our best to conquer them. But it's gonna be a challenge as we run into tiny pixelated pictures, idols we've never heard of, completely wrong (and distressing!) information, and everything in between! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod, we are thrilled to welcome Brittany Press and Tiffany Bae from Helix Publicity! Helix is a PR firm that represents so many great Kpop artists like FIFTY FIFTY, EPEX, Omega X, VAV, and Secret Number just to name a few! Tune in to get to know Tiffany & Brittany's personal Kpop origin stories, learn exactly what public relations is, discuss the joys and the challenges of promoting international artists in the West, and so much more! Thank you so much to the whole Helix team for connecting with us and for all you do for Kpop! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the 250th episode of Ask Me About Kpop!!! Wow!!!! And just like we did 50 episodes ago, we're celebrating with a song battle! With the help of our Patreon patrons we ranked 10 different songs with the title 'Stay With Me' in the hopes that all you lovely people will stay with us for however much longer this ridiculous podcast continues. Thanks for listening!!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We wanted to make a short episode to acknowledge our recent loss of Astro's Moonbin and offer some support and sympathy to all of our listeners who may be navigating this type of loss for the first time. We will share some beautiful things about Moonbin, and try to read some words from those closest to him, and just talk out our thoughts and feelings in the hopes that it comforts someone. This episode is very raw, so a warning for triggering content and sincere apologies for crying on mic. We love you all so so much <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So excited to welcome new friend of the podcast and author, Lily Chu to AMAK! Her new book, The Comeback tells the story of a hardworking Toronto lawyer who finds herself falling for her roommate’s cousin who is on a hiatus from his work in Seoul. Little does she know, he’s one of Kpop’s hottest stars! And their whirlwind romance may be more than she bargained for… We sat down with Lily to discuss The Comeback with as few spoilers as possible so that y'all can be surprised when you read it! (Full spoiler Patreon book club episode impending) Hear all about what details are needed to create a fictional boyband, diversity in romance novels, the biggest pros and cons of dating an idol, and so much more! You can get The Comeback by Lily Chu anywhere books are found starting May 9th, 2023 - Order on Bookshop.org Audiobook as narrated by Phillipa Soo is available now! https://lilychuauthor.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Good morning! Let's wake up with some great Kpop! This week we asked our Patreon patrons to give us a Kpop song that they use as an alarm. We've got a pretty great range of songs that you might want to work into your wake up routine. Whether you need to be risen very gently, or screamed at to get your butt out of bed, we've got options for you! Then, a super long random game and an extended recommendation segment for a true gift of a breakup song. Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0HMN5t041xkoGbF3WUAyzS?si=db0c1c6f1bf74b66 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're revisiting one of our oldest and most oddly controversial episodes. We've made an updated, chronological list of some Kpop companies who have made an impact over the years, discussing who started them, who they represent, and what makes each company unique. Perhaps, it's better than last time, but maybe it's not. Try to count how many times we say the phrases "We'll see" and "I don't care" in this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh goody it's time for another 20 year flashback episode! This time it's 2003, and from our perspective Kpop is in a weird transitional moment before the 2nd gen really and truly kicks off, but the good news is, everyone is MUCH better at singing than they have been previously. Tune in 6ish months from now to hear about the rest of 2003! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for MARCH MADNESS!!!! And since we've exhausted every possible option for SHINee tournaments, we're turning to the group that causes the most madness in us... EXO of course. Angelica carefully ranked and seeded 16 top EXO title tracks and we're gonna battle them against each other to find the 'ultimate' EXO song. Some of these matchups were SO PAINFUL. So EXO should reward our effort with a comeback. Like yesterday. Thank you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this special bonus episode of the show, we're introducing you to LAist's podcast 'California Love: Kpop Dreaming' available now wherever you get podcasts. Kpop Dreaming tells the story of Kpop as woven through the childhood memories of an LA native Korean diaspora, and we think you will really like it. Tune into this bonus episode where we took a field trip to Choice Music to speak with the producers of Kpop dreaming and watch someone win a very special shopping spree. Listen to Kpop Dreaming and let us know what you think! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode is brought to us by a lovely listener! They sent in an emoji puzzle guessing game and we played it! And then when we finished their slides, we tried to make some more up on the spot! It was really hard and really fun! Thanks so much Jules! If anyone else ever wants to send us a game to play, please do!!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been more than 25 years since SM debuted their very first girl group, S.E.S. And since all things y2k are the hotness of the moment, why not look back at who was the hotness during the actual time period. Learn all about the members of S.E.S. and what they've been up to for the last 25 years. Then get into their trendsetting style and 'New Jill Swing' music that swept the nation for the 5 short years they were around. 'We hope that you remember' S.E.S.! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a back to basics episode as we try to figure out how and why Korean song and album charts work the way they do. There's even vocabulary words!! Shannon walks us through the history of song charts, which ones exist, where the data comes from and how they maybe only mean whatever you want them to mean. Ending with a super special surprise guest star popping up in our random game video!Check out our new merch store at askmeaboutkpop.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's that time of year again to watch the first part of MBC's hit stage flashback from 10 years ago. And this time it's extra special cause it's OUR YEAR!!! And this one is relentless in just how many important stages it hits us with!!This is the full version with the video playing underneath, but you can still watch along with the video found here: https://youtu.be/ZYds7MMsY3s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's that time of year again to watch the first part of MBC's hit stage flashback from 10 years ago. And this time it's extra special cause it's OUR YEAR!!! And this one is relentless in just how many important stages it hits us with!! This is the commentary version meant to be synced with the video, found here: https://youtu.be/ZYds7MMsY3s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a very special episode today, because our guest is ONEUS!!! We're starting out with a quick rundown of ONEUS' career so far and an intro to the members. Then we're recapping our night seeing ONEUS on their Reach For Us tour stop in LA, and hearing from some listeners who saw them in other cities. Followed by our interview with ONEUS themselves! Learn each members origin story, favorite tour moments, thoughts on Kpop meets tradition, questions straight from TO MOON and more! And finally, settle in to watch a beautiful performance of Same Scent together. Thanks for stopping by ONEUS!! You're welcome back anytime!!Thank you to ONEUS, RBW, Lobeline, our translator Kate, and Shannon's husband Wade, and of course our listeners for all their help to make this possible!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back with another spotlight onto a producer who has made oh so many Kpop songs we love, BUMZU! Meet the man behind basically every Seventeen and NU'EST bop, starting with his time as a reality show competitor and solo artist. Followed by his very prolific tenure as a Pledis vocal trainer and songwriter. He's done so much and he's just getting started!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're still floating on clouds from our incredibly fun birthday party, so we just wanna play games today!! But first, a couple of very exciting announcements that were made during the live show that we needed everyone to be in the know about. Then, we're playing a super classic game, Password!! And we're pretty good at it!! If you have games to submit to the pod, send em in anytime!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've probably mentioned and discussed this show in more than 20 episodes at this point, but it still needs one of it's own!! So tune in for a rundown of all things MBC's Weekly Idol, a weekly idol variety show that is legendary for laughs in Kpop. Learn all about the show format, the many hosts over the years, the idols who have guested the most, and some of the most viewed segments of all time. What's your favorite Weekly Idol episode? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh boy it's a new year!! ...but first we need to talk about all the perfect things we saw at the end of last year. Come along for lots of screaming and fawning over all our favorite Gayo stages, and our personal favorite stages from Kwangya New Year. Then we touch on a few recent news items, including the death of VLive, a surprising survival show contestant, Dispatch couple reveals and more. What are you most looking forward to in 2023?!?Come to our 5th Birthday Party! moment.co/amakpopANNIVERSARY HOMEWORK5 Song BattleBest SHINEE Title Track Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We made it to the end of another glorious year of Kpop goodness! We'll start out this year with some reminiscing about all the fun Kpop things we did this year, before getting into our traditional chore of ranking 15 title tracks and combining our scores for an ultimate countdown. We've got a ton of 3-way ties this year, resulting in 17 songs total, oops. But they're all so good! What else were we supposed to do? Happy New Year! Thanks for all your support this year and every year! We love you!!Editor's Note: Apologies if this week's episode has volume issues, we were using a travel recording set up but we did our best to make it sound normal!!Come to our 5th Birthday Party!! moment.co/amakpop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for the 5th annual AMAK Awards! The award show where we find any excuse or explanation to fit all our favorite songs into 10 categories! We've got so much great kpop to cover, from all the way back at the beginning of the year, to just a week ago. It was so hard to make these choices, but we hope all our faves know they're always winners in our hearts.Come to our live birthday party! moment.co/amakpop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It finally happened!!! Our ultimate favoritest only boy has finally completed the SHINee puzzle and released a solo mini album!!! So we've got a special bonus mini episode discussing all things Minho CHASE! We've definitely got some gripes, but we also have a whole lot of praise and squealing for our guy. We're so so so proud of you Minho!!!!!Come to our live birthday party! Tickets at moment.co/amakpop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the end of the year!!! We painstakingly compiled 30 incredible songs from equally incredible Kpop albums that we really need you to hear. We've got songs for booty shaking, feeling feels, standing up for yourself, and having main character moments in the car. Plus: A very super special announcement and a traditionally creepy random game!!Get tickets to our live birthday party!! moment.co/amakpop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're following up on Ep. 211 and covering the Winter set of SMTOWN company compilation albums. But first, Shannon breaks her literal silence on last week's Hyudawn news. Then it's time to get in the Christmas spirit with a whole lot of jingle bell sounds over club beats and crooning to baby Jesus. We have 12 releases to cover and one to look forward to later this month so get your cozy sweaters and ski goggles on. Oh, and I hope you like The First Noel, cause it's in these a lot.Submit your confessions for Kpop The Cork: https://forms.gle/ZHTYnw3jmNFKpdVu7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very special week in the world of Kpop, because 2nd gen girl group KARA has reunited with a stunning 15th anniversary comeback and old timer fans everywhere are celebrating, so we are too!! Tune in for a classic deep dive about a classic girl group that showed us what kpop was all about with trendy dance crazes and relatable lifestyles. Learn all about their record breaking career in Japan, and the contract dispute that almost tore them apart. Get ready to shake your booty cause these songs are bangers!! Thanks for returning to us KARA! We can't wait to see what else you have in store!Submit your Kpop Confessions for Kpop The Cork HERE: https://forms.gle/ZHTYnw3jmNFKpdVu7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bienvenido al podcast! This week Angélica has a ton to teach us all about the spread of Hallyu and Kpop fandom in Latin America! First we'll start out with a crash course on Korean immigration to Latin America and how it all ties into today's ministry of culture. Then, a timeline of how concerts and Hallyu events grew across the continent, a list of collabs between idols and latin popstars, and a few examples of Kpop songs that use Spanish in their titles or lyrics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In attempt to get one song out of our head, we're forcing it out by listening to the same song 25+ times! This time we found as many covers as we could of Baek Ji Young song 'My Ears Candy'. We came up with criteria for what to look for in each performance and analyzed them all carefully! We've got stages ranging from pretty spicy to mannerly and awkward, some with 5 people and some with siblings(?). Which 'My Ears Candy' was your favorite? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For literally no other reason than we wanted to, we're finally doing a SISTAR deep dive this week!! Tune in to learn all about 4 member superstar girl group SISTAR and their spotless reputation, excellent voices, cheeky music videos, sexy tan legs, and seven straight years of incredible iconic bops. Kpop would never have been the same without our summer queens and we are forever grateful!!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Halloween!! Let's celebrate by watching spooky themed Kpop videos submitted by our Patreon Patrons! We've got some cheeky fun music videos, a few actually scary ones, costumed dance practices and special stages to discuss! Join our Patreon to see the full video of our real time reactions to these submissions. What's your favorite Kpop spooky? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kpop Star Season 2 aired 10 years ago this fall, so let's do what we did for Season 1 and check in on the Top Ten to see where they ended up! We've got a rundown of how this season worked and differed from the first, along with an intro and an update to all the singers (and groups?!) that made it to the top 10, ending with a list of great stages from throughout the season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last two years, 10 different Kpop songs have all been released with the same trendy title. So we're returning to an old format and doing a head-to-head hosts-only song battle for the title 'Villain'! What is it about this word that has Kpop so swept up? Find out as we hear and judge 10 very fun villainous songs! What's your personal favorite from this list? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been so so so busy the last few months with important Kpop business that we haven't had any time to just gab and chitty chat on the show about Kpop news and comebacks and such. So let's do that today! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ready to get into some new girl groups?! It's time for one of our absolute favorite yearly traditions, introducing you to every girl group we could find that has debuted since last September. We've got 34 new groups for you to meet and great songs to recommend! We wish nothing but success and many many comebacks for all of these gals. Who is your favorite from the AMAK girl group support class of 2022? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you believe it? Yes it's really our 6th concert recap for the year. We were graciously invited to see true Kpop superstar Sunmi on her 2nd World Tour and it was A TREAT! Hear all about all the ways that queen Sunmi mesmerized and impressed us and the setlist that was full to the brim with bangers. Here's hoping that Sunmi gets the 3rd world tour she wished for and that you all get the chance to behold her wonder in person someday!! Thank you so much to Abyss for making this happen! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to get in the time machine blah blah you know how these work by now... seriously though why are all the music videos from this time period about dead women?!? We're finishing out our recap of Korean popular music in 2002 and ooh boy it's a doozy. Tune in to hear us describe so so many 8 minute long tragedy music videos. Oh, also I guess there were songs? But for real these mvs are all we can think about.Help us figure out what merch to do! https://forms.gle/LYHsyEjJBmPNYTWS9 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seventeen came back to LA and everything was right again! And we're here to tell you all about our 4th time seeing Seventeen live and in person! Hear about our very oddly placed seats and the things we saw because of them, as well as a full recap of the whole concert based on our hastily taken notes as always. Then, we have highlights from our dear friend Genna who was our date for the concert, and even more emails and voicemails from Carats who saw this tour from different cities all over the world! Seventeen please come back to us next year so we can resume our yearly tradition!Random game video link: https://youtu.be/t_tyLHqA-P0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh wow it's a special 2 episode week and here's the second one! Listen to us recap our time at the Saturday KCON 2022 concert in LA! Find out how the small children in front of us reacted to boy groups, what happened to San's hair dye, which Stray Kids member caught Shannon's eye, and the ITZY song choice that made Angélica scream. As well as some pondering about the fairness of time allotments and why the show took so dang long! Plus, stay tuned after the random game for a recap of the Sunday concert that we didn't go to by some of our Alikes who did! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KCON LA is back!! It's really back y'all!! And oh did we really do KCON this year. Hear our recap of everything we saw over the weekend, including our precious Alikes, so many adorable idols, knowledgable professionals and nice dads just to name a few. Stick around to hear from some KCON-ers who we talked to outside the concert, as well as our thoughts on how this year's con was different than other years. Come back on Friday for a full recap of our concert night! Hope to see so many more of y'all at next year's KCON! Thank you to KCON USA, CJ ENM and Toyota for making all of this possible! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 13 years on the air, KBS late night music talk show 'You Huiyeol's Sketchbook' ended with it's 600th episode in July 2022. This week, learn all about You Huiyeol and his history as a composer and one man band. Then, a primer on You Huiyeol's Sketchbook and why it is every Korean singer's dream to be invited as a guest. Hear about some of the most memorable moments and our personal favorite performances throughout the years. Ending with the plagiarism controversy that brought the show to an abrupt close, plus a recap of the final episode. Tune in for great singing and lamentation over what a loss this is for fans of great performance. What's your all time favorite Sketchbook performance? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In celebration of Kpop's biggest competition returning, this week we're bringing you the good, the bad, and the painful of MBC's Idol Star Athletic Championships! Learn all about the 21 different editions of ISAC, what the idols were wearing and what they were playing. Hear the records of ISAC's winningest Idol Athletes, as well as a long list of injuries sustained at the games. Plus, some of our favorite and most memorable moments and recommendations for what to watch before this year's games! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's return to a classic AMAK thought experiment, painstakingly choosing idols to fit into a fantasy group! And this time we're doing mixed gender groups!! We both approached the assignment very differently, resulting in some last minute changes (Angelica gets to make 2 groups cause Shannon is bad at rules) Which of these groups would you want to see the most? Who would be in your fantasy group! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's Deep Dive is celebrating 25 years since the debut of Kpop's first ever girl group, Baby V.O.X. The girl group who on one hand, was greatly responsible for the creation of 'Hallyu', and on the other hand had more anti-fans than anyone else. What did they do? Exist as women of course. Hear all about the early member changes (including a member hiding a huge secret), concept experiments, wild hairstyles, violence over dating rumors and so much more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The song that swept the entire world in the summer of July 2012 is 10 years old this week, so we're dedicating an entire episode to Gangnam Style! We break down every bit of the song, the mv, the dance, Psy's whirlwind experience with the global media, controversies and the endless amount of parodies. Finishing it all off with a viewing of the legendary video itself. Do you remember where you were the first time you saw it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, tune in to hear our live 'meet the hosts' Q&A segment from this year's KPSN Podcast Festival! Learn what we'd steal from each other's closets, our fangirl lives before Kpop, how we deal with ugly questions from 'locals', which idols we'd want to help us move house, and so much more. Thanks to everyone who tuned in live, and everyone who made this possible by sending in these great questions!You can still donate to KPSN's charity cause, the National Alliance for Mental Illness for the rest of July with this link: https://donate.nami.org/fundraiser/3783658 Even $1 goes a long way to reaching the goal. Thank you!zaJJK3F050k4xKr9phdB Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.