Jedi by Knight

Many of you probably only know K-pop from Psy’s Gangam Style and Gentleman, so let’s begin your real K-pop education now.  Every month or so I’ll feature one of my favorite music videos for your enjoyment.  Let’s start with one of the first MVs I watched:

This is SHINee, my favorite Korean boy group, and the song is Ring Ding Dong, released in 2009.  It’s a great catchy song, although it’s a little heavy on the Auto-Tune (which these guys don’t need…).

The members (in the order they start singing):

• Jonghyun (0:02)—main vocalist
• Key (0:33)—vocalist, lead rapper
• Onew (0:39)—leader, lead vocalist
• Taemin (0:48)—main dancer, vocalist, maknae
• Minho (2:20)—main rapper, visual

“Main” is ranked higher than “lead” in these positions.  The leader is typically the oldest, and the maknae is the baby of the group.  The visual is basically the most attractive member.

Things I love about this video:

• Jonghyun’s hair.  This is probably my favorite look for him, especially in the white jacket.
• Taemin randomly drinking milk at 0:49.
• The choreography is fabulous (and the water is visually cool).  It really highlights Taemin, who is one of the best dancers in K-pop.
• Ok, so my drinking game for SHINee would be a shot every time one of them touches his mouth in some way.  Seriously, watch again and tell me it’s not true.

 More from SHINee:

• Replay (debut single, Japanese version)
• Why So Serious? (2013)