Everyone asks this question, and everyone has a different opinion. But everyone does seem to sum up either genre in this way:
Kpop is more about image and catchy songs. Jpop is about the music and variety.
dudeohno : J-pop. I think it’s more original. Japanese put their culture in their music. I like K-pop, but it’s extremely americanized. It lacks culture
dragon-goddess-lexii : I prefer k-pop because I feel more emotion from the songs. Not a huge fan of j-pop because a majority of the songs feel forced.
Of course being a fan of both, I do have to ask myself this question. My first exposure was Japanese music and I have always found J-Pop to have a more variety of musical genres that make me feel emotions and relaxed. As a musician, J-pop artists (excluding the idols) are much more focused on the music than K-pop – artists aren’t just stars, they’re musicians.
I only started listening to Korean music more because my best friend introduced me to some of their idols who debuted in the Japanese market. I thought the likes of BoA, Se7en and DBSK were Japanese back in 2007. These days, I find myself more in a K-Pop community. The thing is with K-Pop is that the amount of time a fan has to spend getting updated with the artist one follows is crazy and you slowly get addicted to it. The idol groups do so much outside of music and album promotions that it’s hard to keep up really and if you really like a group, you want to watch all their appearances e.g. variety shows, dramas etc.
But really, I would definitely say that I prefer J-pop more than K-Pop. I know that K-pop is catchy to begin with but its lifespan as “music to my ears” is relatively short. Compared to J-pop, there is more variety. K-pop songs can be nonsensical as well and some of the lyrics do not make sense especially with the addition of English words misplaced in some of the sentences.
But anyways, what do you prefer J-Pop or K-Pop and why? Some of you may say both, but honestly what do you listen to and prefer more?
This post is also posted on Unitedjpop.
