Tuesday, September 12
Introducing Taeyang: the Justin Bieber of Korea. Fr. You guys all know how crazy JB fans are. This was literally the equivalent. First off, K-pop, or Korean pop, is an entity in itself. Thanks to Wiki: it’s a “music genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements.” Think… The Backstreet Boys of our generation. Translation: the hype is real.
Taeyang, or “Youngbae,” is a member of K-pop group BIGBANG, which explains all the yellow Big Bang flower props I saw tonight. Seriosuly, almost everyone in the pit had one in their hand. This was his sold out LA show at The Wiltern on his 2017 World Tour. He just released his solo project WHITE NIGHT, which sold out in stores in literally days. Like, the project digitally crashed servers… breaking the Internet like Kylie Jenner’s lip gloss status lmao.
this about to be lit af, low key. @Realtaeyang pic.twitter.com/wxhkYbC9RN
— Shirley Ju (@shirju) September 13, 2017
Huge thanks to Humbert for the invite. This White Night Tour was about to be lit af. The historic Wiltern was the perfect venue, too. His set time was supposed to be at 7:30pm, which is mad early compared to these rap shows I’m used to. Luckily, he was 24 minutes late. Tonight was a culture shock more than anything. The show was so organized, so calm, yet at the same time so magical and heartwarming. I remember looking up multiple times throughout the night and just noticing all the smiles on these fans’ faces. They were genuinely excited to be here and so ready to see their favorite artist perform.
.@Realtaeyang's SOLD OUT World Tour at the @wiltern in LA 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/TcROz4MYsN
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) September 13, 2017
We enter as he’s performing the song in which he screams “I FEEL AMAZING.” I actually tried to listen to some of his music earlier today, and noticed the majority was in Korean. I love how he randomly squeezes in a line in English. Or two lmao. We head all the way to the pit to be as close as possible, which landed us literally 10 feet away. I was so fascinated by homeboy’s wardrobe and choice of outfits. Fashion in Asia is prob way more sophisticated than America. Well, I take that back. I think we’re just on different wavelengths. But I was definitely a fan of his face glitter and see-through white attire.
.@Realtaeyang performing "NAKED" in LA 🎤 pic.twitter.com/8zCHq5KjIN
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) September 13, 2017
His song “NAKED” made me think he was a bit on the ratchet side lmao. But in all honesty, the ladies LOVE him. I mean, the lyrics say, “I want you naked.” Self-explanatory. This made me wonder if fuckboys exist in Korea, and if there’s a word for it lmao. Lord knows they do here. The entire show was pure magic. We were smitten by his presence. My Korean rapper friend warned me I was going to be swept away tonight. I don’t even like Asians but he had me crushin’ a little.
His band was so dope. They were on stage the entire night. And held it down during his outfit changes lmao. I loved the moment he got on the keyboards. His vocals were isolated for this one song and we were all speechless just soaking it all in. In that moment, I realized how talented he really was. Shout out to my bae Yeon for joining me. I asked her to teach me Korean because I wanted to learn a few words and be educated. She taught me “hello,” which I already forgot lmao. Fail.
By the end, the crowd was screaming for Youngbae to take his shirt off. He kept frontin’ like he couldn’t hear what they were saying. But he knew lmao. I have to applaud his English too. He totally had an accent but for it being his second language, he sounded great. He talked to us mostly in English in between songs and kept thanking LA. It was adorable. I’m a fan. <3
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