Truth Collective

I’ve read about a severely oppressed society, one that was fed information and facts that were pure propaganda. The people of the society allowed the oppression to evolve much too long without taking action against it resulting in thousands upon thousands of people who were all afraid to think or act outside the pretense laid in and around them. They let it get too far. It’s history was contrived as were stories about any nations and people outside its boundaries. In the mind of every individual was a singular face, one that was imprinted and could easily transcend time. This face was that of the one supreme overseer, a father of the entire nation. Am I speaking about North Korea Or Oceania, a fictitious nation depicted in George Orwell’s 1984–a book I read in high school. I can’t help but wonder in amazement as I survey the history of some nations whose regimes and social order resemble this: how could such a society ever allow itself to turn to this? What must its history be like?

I’ve heard plenty of stories about North Korea and its notorious Kim Jong Il, but I frankly had no idea it was on this level:

So this past semester at Boston College I did an independent study on the general topic of Asian popular culture. I started out reading up on topics like Bruce Lee, Japanese hip hop, and modern East Asian cinema, but I eventually found myself researching something that I’m a little more obsessed with (no offense Bruce!): b-boying. So if you are even remotely interested in the topics of Asian popular culture, South Korea, hip hop, b-boys, history, read on!! My apologies in advance for the shitty formatting and lack of citations. If you want to read more about these topics, check out some of the following.. a lot of the quotes in the paper are from these books, as well as bboyworld, style2ouf, and koreanroc!!

Hip Hop Hallyu: The Korean Wave and the Rise of the Korean B-boy

Introduction.
In TIME magazine’s 2007 poll of the 100 most influential people of the year, Korean pop idol Rain (Bi) was named as the second-most influential individual in the world with over 1.5 million votes, beating celebrities, politicians, and other notable individuals ranging from Stephen Colbert to Barack Obama. The Korean Wave of pop culture, a global trend that arguably began in 1997, has turned South Korea into a cultural production center, with its products being exported and consumed around the globe. An interesting development within the Korean Wave has been the rise of the Korean b-boys (breakdancers), who are unquestionably among the best b-boys in the world, dominating a dance style that originated in the Bronx in the 1970s. A decade ago, the South Korean b-boy scene had been in its infancy; during the relatively short period of time since 1997, it has grown into one of the most well-developed b-boy scenes in the world, supported in part by corporate and government interests. This paper will examine the history of Hip Hop and b-boying within the United States, b-boying’s paths of transmission to South Korea, its subsequent development, its place within the Korean Wave, and the broader implications of the rise of South Korean b-boy culture and the Korean Wave. (more…)