If ever you wanted to look into your favorite idol’s minds, now is your chance if you’re a fan of Alex Reid of RaNia.
Behind every idol is an average person, and even though there are not many entries, you can see into her mindset, and I find that fascinating.
It shows she’s a person like you and me, and she likes to vent and get excited, just like you and me. She’s a fan turned idol, just like a lot of you want to be, how a lot of our idols started out.
Take a look at her post titled, “Being in Love with K-Pop” here:
It was 2009 when my non-tech-savvy self was just catching on to the YouTube wave. While surfing videos, I randomly managed to come across “Sonata of Temptation” by Ivy. It was a conceptual premise that started like a fairytale, and then abruptly turned into an action flick. It was uptempo and high energy with quick edits and trippy effects. It reminded me of Britney Spears, but more fanciful, and boundless. The artist was sexy, yet sweet. The choreography was dramatic. I kept clicking. One click after another lead me to T-Ara, 4 Minute, 2NE1, and Jewelry. All dope.
I remember thinking how strange it was that there was all this awesome music that none of my friends even knew about, and that I had only lucked in to knowing about. As funny as it sounds, it felt like secret music, and now I was in the club. Every now and again, a hit goes global and everyone catches on (PSY’s Gangnam Style for instance), but K-pop heads know that their iPods are FULL of those gems.
K-Pop is not just Korean performers making pop music. To insinuate such would be to sell it short. Of course all credit goes to the nation by which it was created and to which it belongs, South Korea, but K-Pop is a sound, a visual, and a world all of it’s own! It’s where the genuine “superstar” still exists. It’s where you can still see powerhouse performers deliver world class performances, and FEEL the discipline and work ethic that went into them. It’s ear candy melodies reminiscent of Max Martin circa forever. And perhaps the most defining feature of all, if which in it’s absence K-Pop wouldn’t be K-Pop… The fans. It’s where the fans are still fanatics unlike any other fandoms. Loyal, die-hard Stans who will post up outside of a record label in the snow for 12 hours waiting for that brief moment when their idols will walk in and out. As an artist, that’s the type of support that keeps you going on the hardest of days when a part of you just wants to give up. Artists all over the world only dream of that support. It’s what I dreamed of, but wrote off as an impossibility.
Now… I am here. In Seoul. In the studio. At dance rehearsal. In hair and makeup tests. In wardrobe fittings. At Namdaemun Gate for goodness sake! Speaking Korean to my new managers. Eating Samgyeopsal with my new sisters. Sharing a stage with K-Pop veterans! Sitting in traffic above The Han River trying to snap a selfie with the city backdrop to reassure myself that this is actual reality! And… Hopefully… Even inspiring some people to chase their own dreams no matter how far fetched they seem.
This is literally a dream come true. Something I fantasized about, but never believed could come to fruition because it had never been done by someone with my background before. I know how many people would give so much to have this opportunity. I know that they are just as talented, hardworking, and deserving as I am. I don’t take a single moment for granted or believe that I am entitled to any of it. (I’m so humbled that I have tears in my eyes while writing this.) I am simply grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of the larger than life world of K-Pop!
Like Alex Reid?
Ms. ThugBear 