If there’s one group you should know that epitomizes K-pop as a genre, it would be Girls’ Generation, also known as GG or SNSD (an abbreviation of their name in Korean).
GG has so many great videos; I chose “Run Devil Run” to start for several reasons:
- The clean, cool monochromatic visuals
- Lens flare 😉
- A transition to a sexier concept from their previous “cuter” concepts
- First MV where I could tell all these girls apart!
- One word: Ahri
Ahri the Nine-tailed Fox is a mage/assassin character from the multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends. She’s obviously Asian-inspired, based on East Asian mythology of nine-tail foxes (in Korea, the kumiho). Her dance moves are taken directly from this MV. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
One of her skins, Popstar Ahri, is clearly based on Girls’ Generation and features dance moves from their “Genie” MV. You can see that comparison here.
The members (in the order they start singing):
- Jessica (0:12)—main vocalist (she recently left the group)
- Yuri (0:19)—vocalist, lead dancer
- Yoona (0:27)—vocalist, lead dancer, visual
- Taeyeon (0:34)—leader, main vocalist
- Tiffany (0:41)—lead vocalist
- Sooyoung (0:49)—vocalist, lead dancer
- Hyoyeon (0:53)—main dancer (often raps as well)
- Sunny (1:00)—lead vocalist
- Seohyun (1:08)—lead vocalist, maknae
“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, who does promotional work.
More from Girls’ Generation:
- Genie
- Gee (featuring a cameo by Minho of SHINee)–the 2nd most-viewed K-pop video on Youtube, excluding PSY
Jedi by Knight 