Finally.
The first word that came into my mind as I finished watching Mamamoo’s new music video for their title “HIP” was Finally. K-Pop is finally selling some sort of political voice. And it’s finally coming from a female idol group.
Basically, the song “HIP” is a gal’s anthem. It is about confidence. It is about being a strong independent woman who doesn’t give a damn about what others think. If “Empowering Gal’s Anthem” was a genre and someone took the time to categorize it, “HIP” would fall under the same category as Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” or Alicia Keys’ “Girl On Fire”. The theme itself is not uncommon nor controversial K-Pop. Yet, Mamamoo goes the extra mile in their music video. The concept of their album “reality in BLACK” is the Mamamoo multiverse. The characters in their music videos represent the members in an alternative universe — what if the members of Mamamoo didn’t end up as an idol group? What would they be doing instead?
And in doing that, they took a rather controversial route for a girl group.
In their music video and their music, Mamamoo, out of all things, illustrate the experiences of women. Hwasa’s bit on ridiculous clothes in the music video and the lyrics about their controversial outfits is a nod to the scandalized and sexualized way female artists’ fashion is covered by the press. Hwasa also appears in the music video as a mother who has to juggle work and home at the same time. With the rise of the book and the movie “Kim Ji Young, Born 1982” in Korea, talking about the experience of married women with kids somehow became the most controversial topic ever, and Mamamoo seems to have made the bold choice to depict aspects of motherhood.
K-Pop has remained an unpolitical realm. Both in their music and the public image they present, K-Pop artist has refrained from having an agenda. For female artists, especially, remaining unpolitical seemed to be more of a requirement than a choice they could make. When Naeun posted a picture of herself holding a phone case that had the words “Girls can do anything” on it, she had to face a backlash of offensive comments. When Irene from Red Velvet simply said that she has recently read the aforementioned book — “Kim Ji Young, Born 1982”, her fans burnt her photos and destroyed her album. The message from these haters is crystal clear: Sit still, and look pretty.
Considering these precedents, Mamamoo’s new music video is a big deal. It is a risky choice they made as female artists. Fortunately, there does not seem to be a backlash against their bold new music video. Or at least it has not surfaced. And for that, I am genuinely thankful that Mamamoo took such direction- for pushing the boundaries of what people told they could do as a girl group.
Maybe Mamamoo did not intend to be seen as political. Maybe it was just commercialism doing its thing “selling” social awareness- a business tactic. Maybe it was only possible for Mamamoo because of their large international, female fan base. And hey, this song maybe isn’t feminist!
But there are these moments I feel that the world is changing, slow and steady. Female idols including Mamamoo and many more are speaking more about their experience as women in an industry that is built upon selling their youth and beauty. With solidarity among the artists and us as listeners, we will someday be able to see more and more of these works.
So as the song “HIP” goes, whatever you do, respect, no matter what they say.
