The Korean Kylie Minogue

A lot of K-Pop (or Kah-Yo) isn't very good, but there are a couple of stand-out tracks, like Lee Hyori's "10 Minutes" (sounds like Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair") or Ivy's "Temptation of Sonata" (Fur Elise meets Final Fantasy). So far, my favorite is D.I.S.C.O., a track from the Republic of Korea's answer to Kylie Minogue, Uhm Jung Hwa:

This version of the video is nice, too, as it has the lyrics in Hangul characters, an approximate Roman alphabet pronunciation, and then the lyrics in English. My favorite line is right there on the video preview image before you even press play. While "mi chin deushi chum chu go" may literally translate to "dance like crazy," the word "mi chin" has a meaning that is closer to "retarded," which explains why Korean children are so fond of calling each other crazy. For them, the word just has a bit more kick.

However, I suppose it's not enough kick to censor D.I.S.C.O., or offer a more family-friendly version of the song for radio play. Also, thanks to the Black Eyed Peas, we empirically know that retard(ed) is not as derogatory a word in South Korea as it is in America, as they did change their song "Let's Get Retarded" into "Let's Get It Started" for both radio play and basketball advertisements.

Anyway, I am definitely going to Evan Records tomorrow.