'I Got A Boy' Makes a Splash in American Media

Girls’ Generation’s “I Got A Boy” album was released worldwide on January 1st at 5PM KST, and only a few days later, its international impact is already evident. The positive response from the American media is noteworthy, especially with the girls’ visit to the United States as part of their American “The Boys” promotions.

An article on the website of the Los Angeles Times described “I Got A Boy” as something “as strange and structurally progressive as anything in the current commercial pop realm”, likening the song to a crossword puzzle or a “modern-day ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’”. The author also compared “I Got A Boy” to the works of popular artists in the American music industry today, including Skrillex and Ellie Goulding. These songs all share the “structural dissonance” that makes “I Got A Boy” a “beautiful mess”, one that the author theorized responds to the theme of impatience that is so prevalent in current American society.

MTV Style, meanwhile, looked at a different aspect of “I Got A Boy”: the girls’ fashion sense. The article declared the music video to be a “fashion whirlwind” and “total TREASURE TROVE of outfit inspiration”, featuring items from popular labels including Lazy Oaf, Stussy, and Obey. The article also pointed out specific pieces for the readers’ enjoyment, such as Taeyeon’s “Good Vibe” tee and Sooyoung’s Batman shirt.

Girls’ Generation was also featured on GRANTLAND, a sports and pop culture website owned by ESPN. The site listed “I Got A Boy” first in its “Songs of the Week” article. The author mentioned K-Pop’s significant break into the American music scene with PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and continued by commenting on “I Got A Boy”‘s musical complexities and unique lyrics.

Billboard.com released a review for “I Got A Boy”, which is the first Billboard track-by-track review of a non-English album. The title song got high praise as “one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country” for its intense mix of different sounds and melodies. Jeff Benjamin, the author, commended Girls’ Generation for “[setting] the bar truly high for pop in 2013″ with “I Got A Boy”. Benjamin greeted the remaining nine tracks of “I Got A Boy” with praise. Billboard.com retweeted a shout-out tweet by Benjamin to over 700,000 followers, thanking SONEs for their warm reception.

'I Got A Boy' delivers a scattered anthem of the Girls' Generation

By Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times Pop Music Critic

January 4, 2013, 5:44 p.m.

The new single by South Korean pop group Girls' Generation is called "I Got a Boy," and if the song and its accompanying music video are a signal about pop's direction in the year to come, we better buckle our seat belts.

Clocking in at 41/2 minutes, "I Got a Boy" travels in so many directions that it feels like a scattering of musical miniatures cleverly puzzled together by M.C. Escher. As seen in the equally tripped out video, the nine women who are Girls' Generation have delivered something as wonderfully weird as their outfits — skimpy, multi-colored and mismatched — and as strange and structurally progressive as anything in the current commercial pop realm.

Hopefully this is a portent. A few similarly ridiculous tracks released of late suggest this may be the case. A day after "I Got a Boy" dropped on Tuesday, young rapper Azealia Banks released "BBD," a jam nearly as twisted, if more linear. In a tweet announcing its arrival, Banks described the song by referencing a few different pop/EDM/hip-hop subgenres: "It's Trap, but it's Rave. it's Banjee, But still a lil classy." On Soundcloud, she tagged its genre as "witch-hop." It's everything at once, a beautiful mess.

Both reflect the kitchen-sink, short-attention-span present. In the case of "I Got a Boy," impatient bursts of synthetic melodies, hooks, bridges, breaks and bass drops change every eight or 16 bars in drastic directions, as though Katy Perry/Kesha producer Dr. Luke were trying to make a modern-day "Bohemian Rhapsody." These rhythmic explosions are connected by choruses that arrive with surprise and glee, part of an addled impatience permeating chunks of global culture. The song, built around a set of conversations among a girl and her friends, has already been viewed on YouTube more than 15 million times.

The first time I heard "I Got a Boy," nothing fit together. It boomed and banged, but felt scattered, a mini-mixtape. In the middle, in fact, the song abruptly stops, and one group member says, "Hey, yo, stop! Let me put it down another way." The track goes into double-time, as though the DJ had just dropped a hot new track into the mix. This new component becomes an avenue in the maze.

When it clicked after repeated listens, I felt like I'd finished a crossword puzzle. It was produced by Soo Man Lee and written by K-pop hitmaker Yoo Young-jin along with the group's longtime Norwegian collaborators Dsign Music, who produced the more traditionally constructed track "Beep Beep" for Girls' Generation in 2012.

Recent dance pop hits by Rihanna, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lady Gaga have relied more conservatively on the joy of expectations met, delivering streamlined groove tracks that wobble and weave along a single path, modern but still remaining true to the same verse-chorus-verse structure that's reigned for half a century. "I Got a Boy" travels wherever it wants, like a willful 2-year-old in a McDonald's Playplace.

This is in stark contrast to last year's breakout South Korean megahit, Psy's "Gangnam Style," both of which feature lyrics sung mostly in Korean, with a smattering of English woven in. The two songs share a sense of whimsy, of celebrating in artificial, cartoon-colored playgrounds. "Gangnam," however, is nothing if not relentless, single-mindedly focused on the same galloping rhythm.

Though less chaotic than "I Got a Boy," Banks on "BBD" is restless, and understands the demands of a current-day track. The Harlem-born rapper, 21, rose through social media and YouTube, ultimately signing with Interscope Records. She's become one of the most discussed new voices of the past few years. The arrival of "BBD" is teasing the release of her debut full length, "Broke With Expensive Taste," which arrives on Feb. 12.

Such fractured magnetism shouldn't come as a surprise. You can hear it in the angular bombast of American dubstep, in which the structural warbles and around-the-corner hooks and breakdowns suggest a kind of sonic cubism. Ellie Goulding's 2012 song "Bittersweet," though softer and more nuanced, has a similar trait. The Skrillex-produced track has a shattered feel to it, with delicate, colorful melodies and rhythms that can't seem to make up their mind. Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat," is similarly choppy, featuring the already obligatory bass-drop and many rhythms jumping in and out.

Why the structural dissonance? I think it is, in part, the consequence of an instant-access, on-demand era, one in which shuffle and channel-click entertainment choices have altered the relationship between medium and listener. Whereas a generation ago choosing music meant committing to a decision — I'll listen to this CD or single and when it's done I'll put on the next one — listeners now jump moment by moment, YouTubing from clip to clip, file to file. After hearing a melody and a verse, most can predict what will happen over the rest of a pop song — one reason why sample-happy DJs thrive by mixing in hundreds of tracks over the course of a set.

Granted, pop is nothing if not impatient, constantly looking for the most creative new portal into the public's ear. During the heyday of hit radio, the need to hook a listener in a song's brief first moments dictated quick, catchy introductions, lest an itchy car-radio finger hit another preset button.

In the click-and-play present, though, when an Internet-connected mind hears a new song, it's usually while on a computer where, chances are, her mind will soon start wandering. With infinite options a click away, many aural Roman candles must be fired to sustain interest for four whole minutes. It's tough, after all, to focus through a full song when a cat video, text message, Tweet, Facebook post or — OMG! — an even better cat video is screaming for attention. "I Got a Boy," more than any pop single in recent memory, seems to appreciate this, and adapts to such impatience accordingly.

Seohyun poses with her guitar

 SNSD's maknae Seohyun updated SNSD's official website with some new photos.

She asked fans of their new image as they changed so much from their previous cute image.

Besides, she took some photos in the waiting room of Romantic Fantasy, did you enjoy her performance?

Taeyeon grabs Yoona's collar?

 

A photo of Girl's Generation Taeyeon grabbing Yoona's collar has attracted attention from fans.

A forum uploaded a short video with the tittle "Scary leader Taeyeon grabs Yoona's collar". It was taken when Girl's Generation made a surprise visit to SMTOWN Pop-up store to promote their newest album "I Got A Boy".

They were surrounded by security guards when suddenly Taeyeon grabbed Yoona's collar and "angrily" shaking it. Then when Yoona started explaning something, Taeyeon put her hands down and showed a michievous laughing expression.

Fans after seeing the video commented,"They seem really close with each other","Both are so cute,"Taeyeon is a kid leader as always", and so on

130105 TTS MC on Music Core full cut

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wckp7H-8js

"Dancing Queen" Girls' Generation is back with "I Got A Boy" on Music Core

Girls' Generation is back with "I Got A Boy" on Music Core, check out their highly anticipated comeback stage below

SM to hold 2013 Global Audition

'I Got A Boy' Music Video Breaks Record for the K-Pop Video to Hit 10 Million Views the Fastest

 

Girls’ Generation’s music video for “I Got A Boy” has broken the record for the K-Pop video to hit 10 million views on YouTube the fastest, reaching the mark in only 55 hours since release.

Previously, the record was held by Hyuna’s “Ice Cream” music video, which hit 10 million views in 87 hours, followed by Girls’ Generation’s own “The Boys” at 110 hours.

It’s been 14 months since their last comeback, and “I Got A Boy” was hotly anticipated, hitting that 10 million milestone in half the time it took for “The Boys”. “I Got A Boy” is generating plenty of buzz for its wild, colorful style, choreography by the Emmy-winning duo Nappytabs, and roller coaster ride of a song.

Girls’ Generation will continue their comeback performances with “Dancing Queen” and “I Got A Boy” on KBS’s “Music Bank” at 6:00PM KST on January 4th.

The reason behind Soo Young and Woo Bin's rumor revealed

 

 

 

 

The Sports World recently claimed that they found the source of the rumors Sooyoung (SNSD) dating actor Won Bin.

According to them, the rumor started from a netizen who posted photo of Won Bin on the community board with title "Exclusive: Won Bin Sooyoung" (Sooyoung in Korean also means swimming). Due to that word-play, a lot of fans misunderstood that Wonbin was dating Sooyoung and spread the rumor blindly. When that secret was revealed, everyone is surprised and laughed at themselves.

After the 2 stars dating rumors spread through X-Files Celebrity, a representative of SM Entertainment has already denied: "They are not even friends or met each other yet. It's impossible for those things to happen."