In September, a close friend of mine, who is in the U.S. Army, was deployed oversees over 6,000 miles away. His wife, one of my best friends knew for almost two years he was going to deploy. However, when he finally got the final orders it was still a huge blow. Well, this is how … More It’s Happening: BTS Enlistment
For you K-pop stans this Ticketmaster kerfuffle has been an on going issue for more than a decade. However more recently Ticketmaster and their questionable practices have only been exacerbated by the pandemic and loosely regulated standards of practice for the ticketing industry. In addition with the use of “bots“, a computer program that runs automated tasks … More The Saga that is Ticketmaster
On July 12th I had the opportunity to finally check off an item on my music bucket list and see Korean R&B artist and Voice Korea 2020 winner Kim Ji-Hyun, better known as G Soul (aka Golden). I discovered his beautiful soulful voice in 2018, when I was going through my Korean R&B journey. Out … More Soul From Seoul: The Underappreciated Genre of Korean R&B
As I listen to J-Hope’s new solo album Jack in the Box and read English translations, something occurs to me. What if all the accolades, the number one albums and singles, all the chart topping and record breaking, history making was just too much. What if all the excessive album buying campaigns and purposely purchasing … More Here Me Out: Unpopular Opinion-Can extreme fan support be detrimental.
Let me start first by saying I am a multi group fan. I do not just support just one group, listen to just one group or talk about only one group. With that being said BTS, them Bangtan Boys, are without a doubt my ultimate group. They were not the first group that started me … More My BTS Story
I had the chance to go to a sold out exhibition called Korea Cubically Imagined that was organized and sponsored by Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) https://www.kocca.kr/en/main.do. The KOCCA is a governmental agency that oversees and coordinates the promotion of the Korean content industry, was established in May 2009 by integrating five related organizations, including … More Korea Cubically Imagined
Roughly two months ago I saw a heated debate about the newly elected South Korean President Yoon Seok Youl on Twitter. Many Korean Americans and native Koreans alike were disheartened and disappointed in the outcome of the 2022 election. Yoon’s campaign, who is a part of the conservative People Power Party, was plagued by controversy … More An Americans view of the Inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Seok Youl
Recently I had a friend ask me about the name of this blog, The Melanin Ajumma, and why I had chosen such a name. Being Black American, she understood the melanin part of the name, but not being familiar with Korean Culture, she had no idea the reasoning behind Ajumma. It then hit me, that … More Why do I call myself the Melanin Ajumma?
In the United States, the entire month of February is observed as Black History Month. Stating in 1926 as “Negro History Week”, Black History Month evolved into an entire month celebration and achievements of African Americans in the U.S in 1976. This Black History Month, I wanted to shine a light on some Black creatives … More Black Creatives in the Korean Music Industry
As I revisited my favorite Korean Pop albums of 2021, I found myself listening to “Magic Carpet Ride” by NCT 127 on repeat. I grew up in the 90’s where R&B was king and you would sit anticipating when you could here your favorite songs on the radio. “Magic Carpet Ride” give me the same … More Harvey Mason Jr: A potential ally for K-Pop inclusivity into The Recording Academy-Grammy’s
The Melanin Ajumma 