The Philippine Online Chronicles

People always ask me why I’m so into Korean pop culture – why I put up with watching shows on tiny screens with even tinier subtitles, why I listen to songs whose lyrics I can’t understand, and why I take the time to learn their dance moves. The truth is that I’m jealous. I’m jealous that most of their artists can and do actually perform live, that they have primetime dramas that go beyond the usual sobfest, and that they have shows and pop music which the locals can patronize without having to qualify their interest as a guilty pleasure.

Last January, local network GMA7 started promoting a girl group called SH3 (pronounced like the pronoun), whose members were all known as actresses on station-produced dramas. It’s awkward enough that there is a Taiwanese girl group named S.H.E., but the real trouble was the amount of material lifted directly from K-Pop acts. Their first single entitled “Move” was just about identical to the Wonder Girls’ hit “Nobody” in both melody and vocal processing. The choreography (which, by the way, was performed messily even though they were already lip-synching) was a mishmash of steps from the aforementioned Korean mega-hit plus some from SNSD’s “Gee” and “Oh!” To make things even worse, SH3 later performed in hot pink body suits identical to those which the Korean group Brown Eyed Girls used for live performances of their song “Abracadabra.”

Naturally, this didn’t go over well with K-Pop fans. Even now, the “live” performances of SH3 continue to rake in angry comments from netizens. A few months later would come the release of XLR8 and The Pop Girls, at which the networks began to use the term P-Pop (Pinoy Pop). The idea was that these new, younger acts could satisfy the teen-young adult market by creating something current and distancing themselves from the traditional ballads Filipinos are known for. On paper, the idea sounded good. However, they were bogged down by comparisons to K-Pop. XLR8’s lead single “You’re So Hot” had a main riff strikingly similar to Super Junior’s 2009 hit “Sorry Sorry.” I’ve heard complaints that The Pop Girls’ image seemed to be such a muddle of all the stereotypical Korean accoutrements – miniskirts with leggings, cutesy pastel colors, baby curls, and high-pitched voices – that it came across as cluttered and confused. It’s no surprise that P-Pop is struggling to shake off the image of simply being K-Pop wannabes.

However, we have to admit that in spite of all that, P-Pop is still the most current thing to come out of the Philippine pop scene in a very long time. Take, for example, the music video for XLR8’s “You’re So Hot.” Sure, the dance moves are not as complex as Big Bang (see "With U" and "Gara Gara Go") and 2PM's (see the opening of "Heartbeat") or as sophisticated as that of Super Junior (see "It's You") and SHINee (see "Love Like Oxygen" and "Lucifer"), and there definitely needs to be less closeups and more shots of the boys actually dancing, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen a Filipino pop music video with such a contemporary vibe. The boys are fit and good-looking, wearing colorful sneakers and white tee shirts under either black structured blazers or leather jackets. And if you ignore the “Sorry Sorry”-ish riff, you’ll notice that the rest of the song isn’t that bad. The voices themselves sound good – young and fresh, and the use of auto-tune gives the song a modern twist. The rest of the album, which can be found on Youtube, has a very current sound quite different from a lot of the traditional ballad-based Philippine pop music.

It’s a far cry from the usual offerings of the Philippine pop industry, with the likes of Sarah Geronimo, Regine Velasquez, the Bautistas Christian and Mark, and Zsa Zsa Padilla serenely belting out the high notes while dressed in suits, long gowns and similarly polished attire. They are established, talented, and truly very good in their genre, but many teenagers nowadays are less interested in traditional ballads than they are in pop music that is hooky, danceable and beat-driven, and since very little of that is available locally, they get that from foreign artists.

P-Pop groups are clearly being positioned to fill that gap, and we should be glad that the Philippine pop industry recognizes the need to tap into the younger market and keep up with global trends. With more training, better songs and choreography, more innovation, and a lot of hard work, the younger pop groups stand a chance. P-Pop is a step, albeit shaky, in the right direction. Here’s proof: while P-Pop fans among the K-pop fandom are rare, you’ve got a small but growing population of P-Pop listeners over at the Livejournal community dedicated to Korean pop culture called Omonatheydidnt. (Fun fact: They stan hard for XLR8’s Caleb Santos.)

We may have qualms about the current state of P-Pop, but let’s give them a chance. I believe things will get better in time. People usually forget that many successful artists had inconspicuous beginnings – even Super Junior had their awkward hair and confusing music video phase! – and I’m hoping the same will be true for our pop culture as well. There’s also nothing wrong with taking cues from global trends. It isn’t unusual for art to inspire art – you don’t hear anyone complaining that Big Bang does hip-hop, that Taeyang dresses like Chris Brown, that G-Dragon dyed his hair blonde, or that the structure of the pop group is essentially a Western invention. Maybe we’re too caught up in our colonial mentality that though we seek more modernity, we’ve become quick to reject local products with foreign influences.

In the context of a globalized world, the argument that we must completely turn our backs to the outside world while looking for inspiration is outdated and unrealistic, to say the least. There can be no such thing as purely Filipino pop music in the same way that there is no purely Korean pop or even purely American pop music. The goal is not to create something pure; the goal is to create something unique.

At the same time, we must not completely forget our roots. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my immersion in Korean pop culture, it is that success stems from a good balance of global influences and local charm. Whether you listen to K-Pop or watch Korean dramas, you’ll notice the distinctive Korean flavor present in their cultural exports. In the same way, we ourselves can create something unique by taking a Filipino approach.

And a lot of our pop culture has been doing so – the popular and critically praised comedy Kimmy Dora (2009) had a very Filipino sense of humor. Our major indie film festival Cinemalaya continues to bring to the public eye films that tackle uniquely Filipino experiences: featured in this year’s selections were the organ trade among the underprivileged (Donor), children selling sampaguita in the streets (Sampaguita), illegal immigration to Sabah (Wag Kang Titingin), and the war in Mindanao (Pink Halo Halo).

Meanwhile, P-Pop has mixed English and Filipino lyrics. XLR8’s “You’re So Hot” has lyrics like “Sa tingin ko ay isa kang top model/Katawan mo ay shaped just like a bottle.” (In my eyes, you are a top model/your body is shaped just like a bottle.) Grammar Nazis may cringe at Taglish (Tagalog plus English), but mixing languages is a method used by many Asian artists so that their appeal would not be limited to speakers of their native language. Whether P-Pop is simply adopting the trend to attract Filipinos who listen to other Asian music or they’re actually planning to go global, they’re able to recognize the trend and use it to their advantage. And the fact that so many people are talking about it – loving, hating, or getting confused – only goes to show that they’re making an impact.

While interviewing college junior Pia Inserto for the K-Pop and Koreanovela articles of this series, I asked her how much the Korean Wave affected her interest in our local offerings. She answered “Not much really. It just reinforces my dreams for Filipino pop culture.”

There are two ways to view the Korean Wave. One way is to see the detriments – how patronizing the cultural exports of another country over our own is unpatriotic, how K-Pop only pushes Filipino artists further down the food chain. However, a better, more optimistic way to look at the situation is to think of the Korean Wave as competitive inspiration. Korea is a small Asian country, yet its products have immense global appeal and are able to compete with the cultural exports of the West, despite English being the more common language. In doing so, they’ve questioned the dominance, the order of things. We know it can be done.

Little by little, we’re getting there, too.

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Photo: “B2ST_Annex” by , c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

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