The good and the ugly
Mar. 13th, 2026 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauradi7dwIn a week, BTS will release their first album in four years, called Arirang, named after an old Korean folksong. People (including a writer at Forbes) have been digging into the story of seven Korean students who ended up at Howard University in the late 19th century and were later recorded (on wax cylinders) singing Arirang. Everything old is new again. (there are seven members of BTS).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahabraham/2026/03/13/bts-arirang-trailer-who-were-the-seven-koreans-at-howard/
Similar article here
https://boundarystones.weta.org/2020/02/12/k-pop-there-was-arirang-first-korean-students-howard-university
People online are much amused by the mention of "a dozen persuasive damsels" of the college who got the Korean guys to sing at a gathering, before the wax recording was made. There has been discussion of them as the first American fandom of Korean guy singers. I like the idea of merch with Persuasive Dansel on it. But I worry that I'd be misrepresenting myself - I never was a student at Howard. I don't worry too much about cultural appropriation when I'm playing with the Pungmul group because they have a stated policy of openness.
There is a dark underside of fandom. One of the members of the group Enhypen (Lee Heeseung) has announced that he is leaving the group. He explained what kind of music he's planning to do on his own, the company has issued a generally supportive message, and one assumes that the other members are sympathetic and that his contract was up, or about to be. The reaction of many fans has been less supportive. Online demands that he not be allowed to quit, actual in-person demonstrations in Seoul, etc. I guess this is one manifestation of the attitude that at worst leads to stalking. However much someone's life can revolve around fandom, it doesn't mean the group members owe anything but public performances and recordings.
I remember that a lot of ink was wasted blaming Yoko Ono for the breakup of the Beatles, but there was a lot of other stuff going on. I've been wondering today what social media would have done with the whole thing, if it had existed then.
I have learned that there is a k-pop dance team at Howard U. There seems to be more on tiktok, but here's the youtube page
https://www.youtube.com/@1oakdanceteam991/featured
Added - people have started posting links to the earliest recordings from their own countries. Here's Ethiopia
https://youtu.be/qbL6Q9LoNvY?si=XBe3dUnxMiT_ttzA
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahabraham/2026/03/13/bts-arirang-trailer-who-were-the-seven-koreans-at-howard/
Similar article here
https://boundarystones.weta.org/2020/02/12/k-pop-there-was-arirang-first-korean-students-howard-university
People online are much amused by the mention of "a dozen persuasive damsels" of the college who got the Korean guys to sing at a gathering, before the wax recording was made. There has been discussion of them as the first American fandom of Korean guy singers. I like the idea of merch with Persuasive Dansel on it. But I worry that I'd be misrepresenting myself - I never was a student at Howard. I don't worry too much about cultural appropriation when I'm playing with the Pungmul group because they have a stated policy of openness.
There is a dark underside of fandom. One of the members of the group Enhypen (Lee Heeseung) has announced that he is leaving the group. He explained what kind of music he's planning to do on his own, the company has issued a generally supportive message, and one assumes that the other members are sympathetic and that his contract was up, or about to be. The reaction of many fans has been less supportive. Online demands that he not be allowed to quit, actual in-person demonstrations in Seoul, etc. I guess this is one manifestation of the attitude that at worst leads to stalking. However much someone's life can revolve around fandom, it doesn't mean the group members owe anything but public performances and recordings.
I remember that a lot of ink was wasted blaming Yoko Ono for the breakup of the Beatles, but there was a lot of other stuff going on. I've been wondering today what social media would have done with the whole thing, if it had existed then.
I have learned that there is a k-pop dance team at Howard U. There seems to be more on tiktok, but here's the youtube page
https://www.youtube.com/@1oakdanceteam991/featured
Added - people have started posting links to the earliest recordings from their own countries. Here's Ethiopia
https://youtu.be/qbL6Q9LoNvY?si=XBe3dUnxMiT_ttzA
