Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
KCON LA: Experts Explain the Global Explosion of K-Pop and the Issues Ahead for Long-Term Dominance
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThousands of excited and knowledgeable fans on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center for KCON LA would dispel any doubt that K-Pop and Korean culture have become major phenomena in America.
But such raw energy must surely burn itself out. Right?Two high-profile U.S. professors were on hand on the sidelines of this weekend’s K-culture confab to offer high-minded analytical of the current Korean wave and suggest ways in which it may be made sustainable.Kim Suk-young, a professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, explained that K-Pop is closely in tune with Gen-Z, generally defined as people born between 1995 and 2010.
YouTube, TikTok and online fandom all work as perfect vectors with this group of digital natives. Kim also characterizes Gen-Z as idealistic, inspirational and welcoming of globalization, meaning that they are open to global culture, the ideals of free trade, borderless societies and unlimited online consumption.
They are also socially liberal, but fiscally moderate or conservative. Korean pop culture plays to many of these themes with its emphasis on “small things in exquisite harmony and looking lovely,” says Kim.“To take a look at a BTS video, you’ll see so many cute gestures and lyrics about the pleasure of spending today, because the future is futile. [What could be seen as] a satire about a bleak future is sublimated as cute and affective.
Read more on variety.com
