Asma's 2K16 - Top 10 Artists/Groups whose albums I’ve played all the way through

There are the 10 K-Artists whose albums I’ve played all the way through - Made by me, Asma from 2K16.

*1st Note: I realized that if I can listen to an entire album all the way through without skipping, it was a great album.

*2nd Note: This is only the opinion of one person; ME. So I apologize if my musical taste or mainstream preferences doesn’t match yours. Thank you for reading and maybe even agreeing.

*3rd: By the way this aren't in any particular order. So by me putting one artist over another doesn't mean that one is better or worse than each other. Do not misunderstand.

Here goes:

1. BTS

 

The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever (released May 2, 2016)
Genre: Dance/Hip-hop
Title: "Fire" "Save Me"

 

Wings (released October 10, 2016)
Genre: Dance

Title: "Blood, Sweat and Tears"

2. MADTOWN

 

Emotion (released June 21, 2016)
Genre: Dance

Title: "Emptiness" 

3. Seventeen

 

Love & Letter (released April 25, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "Pretty U"

4. Jonghyun (Shinee)

 

She Is (released May 24, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "She Is"

5. NCT

 

7th Sense & Without You (released April 9, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "7th Sense""Without You"

 

NCT #127 (released July 10, 2016)
Genre: Hip-hop
Title: "Fire Truck"

6. DAY6

 

DAYDREAM (released March 30, 2016)
Genre: Rock
Title: "Letting Go"

7. 2PM

 

Gentlemen's Game (released September 13, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "Promise"

8. SHINee

 

1 of 1 (released October 5, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "1 of 1"

9. MONSTA X

 

THE CLAN Pt. 2 'GUILTY' (released October 4, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "Fighter"

10. PENTAGON

 

Pentagon (released October 10, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "Gorilla"

 

Five Senses (released December 7, 2016)
Genre: Dance
Title: "Can You Feel It"

Asma's 2K16 - Top 20 K-Songs I’ve played nonstop

These are the 20 K-Songs I’ve played nonstop - Made by me, Asma from 2K16.

*Note: This is only the opinion of one person; ME. So I apologize if my musical taste or mainstream preferences doesn’t match yours. Thank you for reading and maybe even agreeing.

  

1. The Legend “Sound Up!” from Crush on you (released January 21, 2016), Dance, Ballad
2. Winner "BABY BABY” from EXIT: E (released February 1, 2016), Pop
3. Dean "D (Half Moon) (ft. Gaeko)" from 130 Mood: TRBL (released March 22, 2016), R&B
4. DAY6 "Blood" from DAYDREAM (released March 30, 2016), Rock
5. Mamamoo "Woo Hoo" from G5 & Friends OST (released April 4, 2016), Dance
6. Seventeen "Pretty U" Love & Letter (released April 25, 2016), Dance
7. HISTORY "Queen" from HIM (released April 11, 2016), Dance
8. Akdong Musician (AKMU) "How People Move" from Spring Vol. 1 (released May 4, 2016), Folk, Ballad, Dance
9. BTS “Butterfly (Prologue Mix)” from The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever (released May 2, 2016), Dance
10. Madtown "Ya!" from Emotion (released June 21, 2016), Dance
11. ROMEO "MIRO" from MIRO (released June 23, 2016), Dance
12. Heize “And July (feat. DEAN and DJ Fritz)” from And July (July 18, 2016), Rap/Hip-Hip-Hop
13. BEAT WIN "Your Girl" from Come To Me (released July 19, 2016), Dance
14. EXO "Lotto" from Lotto: Repacked (released August 18, 2016), Dance
15. Agust D (Suga of BTS) "Agust D" from Agust D (released August 15, 2016), Rap/Hip Hop
16. BTS "Am I Wrong" from Wings (released October 10, 2016), Dance/Hip-hop
17. PENTAGON "Gorilla" from Pentagon (released October 10, 2016), Dance
18. Jay Park "Me Like Yuh" from Everything You Wanted (released October 26, 2016), R&B/Soul
19. EXO-CBX "Hey Mama" from Hey Mama (released October 31, 2016), Dance
20. VICTON "What time is it now?" from Voice To New World (released November 9, 2016), Dance

  

Asma's Diary Throw-up #15

Gather round, everyone, for I will share to thee a story.

There was once a girl with finals a week away and struggling to make ends meet. 

My Baabo is back in Somaliland

Today, my Baabo (dad) is traveling to Somaliland for a two-month trip. He'll be back in February, but if he gets a good opportunity, he might stay there.

My Hooyo (mom), for the past week, has been a nervous wreck and has been going out of her mind, preparing this trip for him. Last night and this morning when we were leaving, she was so anxious that she was pacing around the house looking for more things to pack up for him. We had to take her car to the train station and she was driving. Bad idea. She was braking a lot and commenting a lot about how weird she was feeling. My father told her that he could drive if she wanted and she got out of the car with the door open. She even said that she doesn't know why she wants to cry right now. I had to keep telling her to calm down and breathe in and out. When he left, she couldn't take a nap and when she did fall asleep, she woke up looking like the world had asked her to run its circumference.

I thought it was really cute that she was acting like that. I've never seen my mother get fluttered (I don't know the right phrase) over my father and it was nice to see, even though it was during an extreme moment. This is going to sound really bad, but I've never witnessed Somali love, affection and appreciation between married couples first hand, so to see it today in its morphed form was refreshing. I hope to one day show Somali love as a mainstream phenomenon.

My mother has always misunderstand my feelings of depression and my language during those times. What's been kind of cool to see is my mother going through some of the things I've been through this fall. I comment of this coincidence sometimes, because I don't want to seem pretentious. I hope that she notices the similarities someday.

Another thing I want to remember today was that I paid for my dad for the first time. It was for an extra carrier that cost $175. It was momentous. I'd never paid for him before. I'm saving that receipt.

P. S.

I also was nervous. When I'm nervous, I make horrible jokes, laugh awkwardly, or become uncomfortable silent. My Baabo seemed to be nervous, too. When he was pulling out his passport for check-in, his hands were shaking so badly that I kinda felt bad for him.

MY HUNDREDTH POST - THANK YOU!

My hundredth post was about John Mayer and how I wished his album would arrive soon.

sigh....... #stillpissedbutwaitingpatiently

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for sticking with the whirlwind of a blog. I started this blog January of this year. I wanted to have a space where I could talk about my thoughts and opinions about the entertainment fields I was interested in because my family was sick and tired of talking about celebrities and I didn't have any friends around. Even when I had friends around, they could never understand how a "smart, Muslim girl" like me could know so much about pop culture and music. I always upset me, but still I loved the gossip, the business, the lovely memories I've made, and the stories each project would tell.

JOHN MAYER IS COMING BACK. IN 2017. #ARGH

MY WISH CAME TRUE. 

JOHN MAYER IS COMING BACK. 

WITH A FULL ALBUM. 

I AM SO EXCITED.

The first single is "Love on the Weekend".

I LISTENED TO IT. IT'S REALLY GOOD. JUST LIKE THE OLD DAYS. THANK YOU, JM.

The 7th full-length studio album is tentatively named "The Search for Everything".

Guess when it will come out. 

BTS Part 5: BTS "WINGS" Overview

I love artists that make me feel like I can love them irrevocably and vice versa. Like they care for me, understand me, get me even if they don’t know me personally. Even though the same words could apply to any of their other fans. I’m not special but they make me feel like I am because I listen to them and support them. Such great words that relate to my life and others like me feel like we see each other as humans going through the same things. This is what BTS has done for me this comeback.

I’ve learned a lot while listening to Bangtan’s music. I’ve been following them for over a year now. I didn’t how I had so much love in my heart to give to each member. Sure, I love Jimin, but I can fan-out over each of them in a very unhealthy way. And my love for them has grown exponentially since I become an A.R.M.Y. I’ve loved their music, their performances, their choreography, the concepts they work within, the stories they’ve developed. I love their rudeness, their cuteness, their laughter. You could try your best not fall deeper into them, but it really can’t be helped. They do that naturally. Of course, I want them to be happy forever. I know that is unrealistic, so what I really want is for the people around them and for the fans that love them to support them and always love them as they go through their lives. They are still human. They will still have their low days. It’s really insensitive to expect to hear good music out of them at that time.

BTS Part 4: About WINGS - Tracks 10 thru 15

So... continuing on...

10. Lost

Story: This song is for the Vocal Line and was proudly written by Rap Mon. It is again about a young person expressing their thoughts, being lost between their childhood and their resistance to grow up within a harsh world. There are so many meaningful lyrics that asked questions but didn’t receive any good answers. It makes you imagine a young person really is in the middle of a desert and a raging storm. I also like the line about how ants who can't find their way keep bumping into each other but always came back home in a straight line. This is such a well-made song and one of the best among the Vocal Line’s songs that I’ve heard.

General Thoughts: The sound kind of reminds me of the Peter Pan concept from HYYH Pt.2. It also reminded me of when BTS did their reality show “Bon Voyage” when Suga “Lost my Taehyung, lost my Taehyung” on their broadcast screening. Not that Taehyung had anything to do with the song besides sing beautifully. It just reminds me of that. My buddy, Jimin, starts off the song, then Jin's part kills me in the second verse, but V's voice though [ugh, the pain]. The build-up to the chorus is phenomenal, including Kookie's high-note riffs.

BTS Part 3: About WINGS - Tracks 1 thru 9

I’ve always wanted to learn about what an artist is thinking when they create their work and how they can tell a story within their medium. BTS is one of the artists I wish I was a fly on the wall, watching them craft songs. They’ve told stories about their lives through their music and because music is supposed to an open dialogue, I wanted to add what I gained from listening to this album. I never did well in poetry English classes, but this review of BTS’s “WINGS” album is not actually a review, nor is it an analysis. It is more like an observation of what I’ve felt after repeating them, plus a little bit of fanning out.

My dream is to own all BTS merchandise one day.

Also, as new information came out and as I found more qualities of the album, my thoughts kept changing and rearranging. I’m not sure this post will be certain in all that I want to say, but it feels close to what I thought, whether it affected me personally or as I continued to find keywords that matched the concept.

So, here goes...

1. Intro: Boy Meets Evil

Story (in my head or what I choose to believe): What kinds of evils do young people face? Family, school, peer pressure, money troubles, the unknown future, and the fear of failing. This greed to succeed at all costs, the ambition to dream bigger and higher, becomes evil when reality snaps you out of all of it. These all would cause the temptation being used as a theme. The more you believe you are striving intrepidly toward your goals, the less the world cares. The world will not let go of you willingly. Without clean intention in your heart as you aspire, the world will throw curveballs from every corner to test your resolve. It is your duty not to fall on the wrong path and into temptation. That’s exactly what the song is not doing. The character has fallen into sin(?), i.e. pride, ego, lust, greed etc., because that is what humans do.

General Thoughts: I want to thank Jung Hoseok. Thank you for working so hard to provide us with such a powerful introduction into the album. It was his first time doing an intro to one of their albums and I got to see how much he's been wanting to do it, Hopie-style. He spent a lot of time stressing out about perfecting the choreography and the song for us. He ended up giving A.R.M.Ys, like me, who were on the edge of stanning, a reason to fall even harder for him. Where was the cute Hopie? Answer: Elsewhere. This was aggressive, sexy, rude Hoseok. That high kick, those body rolls, that tongue, the cheeks, the sudden appearance of J-abs. I'm positive he just wanted fangirls/boys to die. Read my post about J-Hoping.

Watch J-Hope - 'WINGS' Comeback Trailer: Boy Meets Evil - over and over and over again.

BTS Part 2: About the Music video

Just from the beginning:

So BTS is in a museum, even though they are the art and artists. My two biases, Jimin and Suga, come out like it’s nothing. Suga smacks Jimin upside the head while on a bike. That already was like damn, we in it.

They’re all playing with their new pairs. Suga and Jimin is with each other now, J-Hope is standing with V, and Namjoon is with Kookie. J-hope looks at Jin with binoculars, who is all by himself, staring deeply at a painting.

BTS Part 1: BTS's Comeback is going to save my entire semester

BTS's comeback has saved my entire semester.

I'm telling you right now this album WILL BE ON REPEAT forever.

Okay, so BTS's second album WINGS came out and ever since then I've been a complete total mess. During the first week, I barely ate. I stared blankly at the ceiling. I've cried before and after their release. I also hate feeling like my feelings are being judged, so here I'd like to exclusively tell you the tale of "The Day of the Comeback".

First of all, before I start rambling, I wanted to say "Happy Birthday" again to the ever-confusing but always beautiful, heart and soul Jimin on my blog. It already passed in Korea, but I am pretending like it's the 13th in America. Here goes: To my UB (ultimate bias), my absolute killer of feels and f’s. If a Somali man was anywhere close to as hot, sweet, angelic, manly, cute, sexy, talented, ambitious, hardworking, modest, squishy, just everything sweet and lovely and hopeful about the world, then marriage is for me.

"The Day of the Comeback"

The album came out on Sunday Oct 9th in the east at 11 am. I woke up at 9 am and waited, trying not to think about my imminent doom. My sister, now a hardcore Army because of me, kept bothering me.

"Asma, we’re trending!"

"Asma, we broke the V-app!"

"Asma, we are going to die."

At the time the MV came out, I was happily (distractedly) conversing with my mother and arguing with my brother. When I realized the seconds that passed, I hurriedly removed myself because I knew they wouldn’t understand my fangirling. And while I waited for the video to load into Super HD Full-Screen, my sister came through the hanging curtains, wide-eyed and shook. She watched it already! (I should have never made her an Army.) I yelled at her to go away. Usually I have enough patience to wait when a video is fully loaded for a proper viewing experience, but since my sister watched greatness before me and I was already anxious, I clicked it at about 1/8 of the way.

The whole thing was a blur. I couldn’t dance erratically. I couldn’t scream. I only flapped my sweater paws and tried not to faint and groan loudly. My brother was already judging me. Because of him, my mother wanted to know what was going on. In the end, I was sprawled out on the floor holding my head as if a dementor kissed me. I was almost in tears. My mind was so full of provocative thoughts. My heart was overflowing with emotions I couldn’t place. It was like the wind was literally punch out of me. All happening while my brother stared at me from the kitchen like I was stupid.

I quickly ran upstairs to our room and caught my sister watching the MV for the third time, squealing over Jungkook (her bias) to go away. We watched it together again on my MAC, dying again at our respective biases and the other members.

Since that fateful day, I’ve been living within a vacuum. I’ve stared blankly into the distance as I listened to the album without moving. That Monday was Columbus Day. I went to work, even though I wasn’t supposed to, maybe subconsciously just listen to the album alone loudly in my car. I’ve cried to all of the solos, especially "Begin", "First Love", "Reflection" and "2! 3!", BTS's official fan song for Army. I’ve sung fervently to "Lie", "Stigma", "Awake", and "Lost". I danced aggressively to the bangers ("Mama", "Am I Wrong", and "21st Century Girls", "Interlude: Wings") my effing heart out. I swayed sensually to "Intro: Boy Meets Evil" and "Blood, Sweat and Tears". I try to rap to "BTS Cypher 4", but who am I kidding?

This album is everything we wanted and more. I'm so proud of BTS and all that they have accomplished and for all the good things that will come.

HI, EVERYONE

How is everybody??? I missed you all. Writing entertainment nonsense people don't care to listen to me talk about is my forte and I missing writing to you!!!

I just wanted say thank you to you guys, the people who read, for checking up on me. I see two or three people from all over the world come back every day and visit to see if I've written anything new that day. Does that mean you like what I write? Could that be true? Or are you secretly mad that I don't post as often that you are passive-aggressively visiting my blog? First of all, I'm sorry. Honestly. However, if my family, college, work, and in general LIFE, doesn't leave me the freak alone for 5 hours a weekend to write and edit one blog post, then I hope you guys can understand why I can't write like I used to.

I still have things I want to talk about and opinions I want to express, so thank you again for bearing with me and being there for me as I struggle to find my voice in this overwhelming world.

Now, as I preview the next blog posts coming soon, I'm "Still Wishing There Will Be Better Days" together.

Love, Asma.

Been thinking about variety shows and their meanings

I think it's really funny that I watch both American and Korean variety shows regularly now. But then I started to ask myself what makes a variety show, in an entertainment context? What are the necessary ingredients?

First, I wanted to show you the types of variety shows I watch in America and by Korean television, via YouTube.

I'll start with the American TV variety shows I seen and explain why they were and are so good:

In The Last Millennia

The Carol Burnett Show

In Living Color

The Muppet Show

"Old" Saturday Night Live

Now it's not like I was born to watch all of these shows, but since then I have caught a few episode and laughed my cheeks off. These were the shows I thought made American Comedy so great and what I wish people would go back to.

The Ghost of The Past

American Idol –  season 4 to 7 (2004 - 2008)

So You Think You Can Dance - the cool seasons

The Arsenio Hall Show

American Idol used to be my shit. I learned a lot about old American classics hits, like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel, "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys. I learned about some of my favorite artists from this show and they created some new favorite artists. It had its moments and its low moments, like the White Guys with Guitars.

Stuff I Watched Last Year

Little Big Shots

Maya & Marty

These are the shows I used to watch just a couple of months ago before they were either canceled, done for the season, or just got boring. Check out some of the performances on YouTube. Some of them were really incredible.

Shows I Still Watch

The Wendy Williams Show

Conan

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

@midnight

There are the shows I continue to watch. Most of them are late night talk shows that I watch on their respective channels apps. They're all awesome and funny. And don't care what you think about me watching Wendy. We both know she is trash but we still love it.

Coming Soon

Saturday Night Live (SNL)

Honestly, I watched the first episode this season it wasn't that good but I'm sure they can bring it back. They haven't given me a big laugh yet, so I'm waiting. Good luck!

For Korean Variety Shows, I watch:

Happy Together

Gag Concert

Hello Counselor

Weekly Idol

I love all of these shows weekly when I find time and I'm so happy that Doni is back and healthy on Weekly Idol. I can't wait for hilarity to ensue. SHINee's going to be there. Yay!


After what I've put together here... I learned that a variety in America needs to be hosted by a celebrity who can celebrities. Often times that host is a comedian and they along with the establish pace of the show add expected humor along the way. Some varieties are competition shows or talent showcases where the celebrities are the judges and the audience are the voters. Others are simply chat shows (political or gossip-based) with an acknowledged comedian helming the ship where celebrities and others in the creative industry promote their works, hence the musical act closing out the show. The most feared varieties are sketch comedies because the ones from the past were so good that people are also comparing new attempts to old punchlines. Sketch comedians have tried to live to the standards of yesteryear in an age where people were forced to be comedically immature and it breaks my heart when jokes land for me and not for others.

In Korea, I've noticed that hosts take into consideration the personality of celebrities and performers because that is what the audience is attracted to. In America, the personality is kind of glossed over almost to the point that is was nonexistent or over-exaggerated. A personality that is digestible (not oversimplified) for the people at home is good because it engages them in the speaker's life without being invasive. If you want to get invasive, then (sigh) your name with be all over the internet. (Poor Zico smh). Many of their celebrities are young people, so they take care of them while also trying to be funny for the show. It helps them open up more. As for variety competitions shows, I didn't list any because thank god they aren't yearly. I like that competition shows are company-based because companies know what they are looking for in an artist. If the artist fulfills that criteria and charms the audience, they will be a new signee, they will have established a fanbase that want to see them grow and develop under the guidance of that company. I still don't know the labels names by heart in America (I'll do my own research for those later and come back to you guys). And the competitions are shorter!!! Therefore it becomes a more fulfilling time for both the performers and the audience because we go through hell together.

Honestly, the reason why I thinking about variety shows like this is because I hope to make some entertainment for Somali audiences. So I'm learning as much as I can about the creative industries so I can use it in the future to introduce and promote Somali talent in a better way than both countries combined.

I hope you enjoy this post that took me three weeks to write. College sucks when you don't like what you're majoring in.

I'll try to write more soon. :)

image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Why Hoseok deserves all of the love.

There is a reason why I don't talk about BTS (or Bangtan) that much on this blog. Even though I genuinely love them, I feel like I'm going to be another internet Army saying some more mess and I don't want to do that to my boys.

Instead, I just wanted to say what was on my mind for a longest time. I'm going to make this quick because it doesn't need anymore hashing out.* I've been watching more people react to J-Hope's Sexy Moments today because more Hobi fans have made complilations than before. The reactors kept bring up his V-live in Tokyo where he voluntarily left the broadcast he started to Jimin because people were rudely calling for other members.

I realized that I also saying the same things the reactors said: "Hoseok is so cute, I don't see him as sexy. I probably will after this video, though." Then I kept remembering how anti-fans started a petition to kick him out of the group because they thought he was ugly.

I'm sure there's no more issue about this now but I just wanted to say all of the things I've been thinking about.