LftS: K-Popping Cultural Exports

6/7/2018

Photo of Psy and BTS from Digital Music News

MoTown Is BACK!!! Well the formula that they used to churn out supergroup after supergroup and hit after hit earning them the nickname of the hit factory is anyway. That formula involved taking a group of people each with a specific look, talent, and feel, putting them together and training them in all manner of performance arts, and having them perform songs specifically written for them by the most talented songwriters in the world. The result of that formula is something we are all familiar with, an explosion of Black Music all over america, the successful crossing over to white audiences by many black bands, and an exponential growth in black contributions to the American Economy and cultural influence overseas through exporting Black Music and Black American Culture.

But as I said earlier, the formula is back, but Motown is still a fond memory. To find out who is using that formula you would have to go all the way to the other side of the globe to a peninsula that has been dominating our political conversations for decades, The Korean Peninsula. While North Korea has been focusing on developing its nuclear arsenal, South Korea has been developing its economic and cultural arsenals and lets just say that they have both met with great success in their endeavors. During this episode of Lessons from the Screen we will be looking at K-Pop as a music genre and as a Cultural Export as well as the cultural exports of the black community. We will also be talking about the power of cultural exports and why we should take them more seriously than we do. In this episode of Lessons from the Screen we will be K-Popping Cultural Exports.