Music mirroring current events
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
Music today is still great, though it seems to me that there is not a lot of hype for it in the case of US music. Also, K-Pop appears to be finally going mainstream in North America with the boy band BTS. Their fans, called the BTS Army, are even louder than Justin Bieber’s fans.
The Grammy Awards this year showed that a lot of diverse music is being recognized. Childish Gambino released This Is America last year and won Best Record, which made it a very historic night in music history.
Music videos are important to the industry because they get us excited about music. The following videos are related to current events and trends in the music world.
Kacey Musgraves – Butterflies
I was surprised that Kacey Musgraves’ recent album Golden Hour won Best Album in the Grammy Awards this year because it is a hidden gem of a record. I like Musgraves because she has the sound of old country. The music video of one of the hit singles from the album, “Butterflies,” involves Musgraves seeing a mysterious man during a night at a bar while seeing symbols of butterflies. One of the themes of Golden Hour is the LGBTQ+ community, which is referenced in the footage that is seen in this song’s music video, the lyrics of the song, and the sensuality of the video. “Butterflies” has a whimsical style, especially during the scenes where Musgraves walks in the street.
BlackPink – DDU-DU DDU-DU
I first heard this song when it was performed on Produce 48 last summer. During that time, it was one of the biggest songs not only in South Korea, but also in Japan. Unexpectedly, BlackPink performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Good Morning America last month, announced a world tour, and “DDU-DU DDU-DU” is now one of the biggest songs out there. In some ways it is a typical K-Pop music video, except it is one of those types of videos that goes to the extreme, which matches the group’s style. It is extreme in how one of the members is riding a tank, my favourite member in the group Rosé swings on a chandelier, and the group makes shooting gestures when they sing, “DDU-DU DDU-DU.”
IZ*ONE – I Want to Say That I Like It
So far, IZ*ONE’s career is off to a great start after the success of their debut EP COLOR*IZ and after winning awards. Unlike other K-Pop groups when they go to Japan, IZ*ONE’s next hit single and first Japanese single showcases the J-Pop style with a bit of K-Pop. Half of the music video has the usual choreography in K-Pop and we see Sakura, Nako, and Hitomi doing moves they did not usually do in their former group AKB48. I like this song better than “La Vie en Rose,” another song from this group, because the Japanese members are showcased more. The evening scenes in this video remind me of E-girls (the female version of the famous Japanese group Exile), a group which is also influenced by K-Pop.
Drake – God’s Plan
This year’s Juno Awards will take place this month on St. Patrick’s Day. One of the albums that could win awards this year is the Toronto rapper’s recent album Scorpion, which includes this song. Throughout the music video for “God’s Plan,” we see Drake donating at least $900,000 to a lot of people in Miami through deeds like buying people their groceries and giving out oversized cheques. The music video is like a promotional video for a charity. Also, there are moments where we see more of Drake dancing, like in his previous videos.
