Video Analysis: "Where You At"

In the last few years, the South Korean culture has spread across the world through the South Korean popular music, famously called as K-pop (Lie 2012). Several South Korean popular music bands and singers are responsible for the global success of K-pop (Choi and Maliangkay 2014). Despite not being in the forefront of the global K-pop wave, NU’EST has been in news lately after four of the five band members made an appearance on the second season of Produce 101 (Herman 2018). This paper will argue that bands like NU’EST are cultural ambassadors and have successfully challenged the Western hegemonic stereotypes. This paper will mainly focus on the question, what message does the band convey to the West with regard to the Korean culture, masculinity and sexual objectification? Through the music video “Where You At” by NU’EST, this paper will examine issues related to Korean culture, masculinity and sexual objectification.

Korean culture comprises of the elite culture and the culture of the masses. The elite culture is influenced by the Chinese derived Confucian culture. The culture of the masses is mainly the culture of the peasants. While the elite culture was about harmony and order, the mass culture was about energy and chaos. The music and musical instruments reflected these cultural values. The Chinese inspired music was smooth and melodious whereas the latter included folk songs and drums. The music of “Where You At” is loud, the vocals are clear interspersed with rap. In this it is distinctly Korean, however, the red suits and red car are distinctly Chinese. In this context, it can be said that the music video promotes cultural hybridity (Shim 2006). This also challenges the notion that cultural hybridity is essentially a combination of West and East. In this context, it can be said that cultural hybridity can be an intersection of Eastern cultures as well. According to a study the K-pop industry is made up of singers who like to flaunt their sexuality (Lie 2012). This is evident from the music video. All the four members look beautiful, with their hair and makeup fitting the video concept. In this context, their looks and physicality are against the usual stereotypes of an Asian male. Their beauty and style threaten the usual hegemonic masculinity promoted as an ideal by the Western media (Connell 2001). This counter-hegemonic portray is likely to challenge skewed image of Asian men held by the Westerners. While this is good for the band in Asia, it might not help the band to gain popularity in West which prefers Asian men to conform to the role of funny, short, caricature people can laugh at. However, there have been instances of artists like Rain who have successful in the West (Shin 2009). The music video does not have any sexual objectification or sexually suggestive content. While the band is known for pushing boundaries of sexuality, even Ren appears subdued and does not portray his androgynous image in this music video. It can be said that sexuality is subdued in the video. The reason for this might be that the band is trying to conform to social norms and its beneficial to be in the good books of the government. As K-pop is a soft power tool used by South Korean Government to attract international attention (Fuhr 2016).

“Where You At” provides a melody, which is full of energy and a video which is visually aesthetic. The styles and performative expressions used in the video indicate that it is an example of cultural hybridization. This shows that it is possible to combine the grassroots’ culture and the elitist culture. Furthermore, the image and masculinity portrayed in the music video challenges the hegemonic masculine ideal. Music such as this, makes the dominant culture take K-pop seriously. In this context, it can be said that the current generation of K-pop artists challenge the stereotypical construction of Asian culture, masculinity and sexuality.

Reference

Choi, Jungbong, and Roald Maliangkay. The international rise of the Korean music industry. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014.

Fuhr, Michael. Globalization and popular music in South Korea: Sounding out K-pop. New York, NY: Routledge, 2016.

Herman, Tamar. NU'EST W discuss their artistry, career resurgence & ending 2018 on high note. 12 December 2018. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8491642/nuest-w-discuss-artistry-career-resurgance (accessed April 12, 2019).

Lie, John. “What is the K in K-pop? South Korean popular music, the culture industry and national identity.” Korea Observer 43, no. 3 (2012): 339-363.

Shim, Doobo. “Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia.” Media, Culture & Society 28, no. 1 (2006): 25-44.

Shin, Hyunjoon. “Have you ever seen Rain? and who''ll stop the Rain? The globalizing project of Korean pop.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10, no. 4 (2009): 507-523.