Summary

The author, despite self-described musical ineptitude, has unexpectedly achieved the status of Top Writer in Music on Medium, largely due to a passion for K-pop, particularly BTS.

Abstract

The author expresses surprise and amusement at being recognized as a Top Writer in Music on Medium, considering themselves musically challenged and tone deaf. The journey into music writing began with a K-pop obsession sparked by their daughter's introduction to BTS in late 2016. The author's interest in K-pop quickly grew into a dominant passion, replacing previous music phases and leading to extensive research into the genre. Despite the author's articles on music, including K-pop, not garnering a high number of views, the quality of the content was sufficient to earn the Top Writer title. The author plans to continue sharing their love for K-pop and its nuances, regardless of the readership size, as writing about music is a joyous endeavor.

Opinions

The author is self-effacing about their musical expertise, admitting to being tone deaf and lacking the ability to sing.
K-pop, specifically BTS, had a significant impact on the author, leading to an intense and enduring fascination.
The author values the process and backstories of K-pop music as much as the music itself.
There is a hint of humor and self-deprecation in the author's reaction to the Top Writer accolade, suggesting they find the situation both surprising and entertaining.
The author's passion for music writing is driven by personal enjoyment and a desire to share their enthusiasm, rather than the pursuit of a large audience.
The author feels somewhat isolated in their K-pop obsession, as it seems not many around them share the same level of interest.
There is a sense of pride in achieving the Top Writer status, despite it being in a genre they stumbled upon relatively recently and without any formal background in music.

Top Writer in Music.

Top Writer in Music?

How the hell did that happen?

Me? Music? Top writer? I’m laughing my frock off while, at the same time, I’m decidedly blown away. This wasn’t something I expected, a Top Writer accolade in anything, never mind music!

I’m no kind of music expert. I’m completely tone deaf, have absolutely NO capacity to sing (I scare more than birds with my caterwauling when I get a bit carried away and happen to sing along with my favorites), and wouldn’t know acapella or a clef note from my big toe!

And yet, here we are. Apparently, music is my jam. Who’d a thunk it? Not me, that’s for damn sure.

All that said, I do absolutely love my music and I absolutely, positively, undeniably LOVE K-pop.

How did it come to this?

Falling down the K-pop rabbit hole.

2016. At that time, I was still deeply invested in my Spanish phase. Prior to that, I think it was maybe the Disturbed and Evanescence phase. I’ve always gone through phases of music obsession although my current one has lasted the longest of all of them and is simply expanding rather than phasing out. In any case, 2016. Late 2016.

I blame it all on my oldest daughter, the self-same one responsible for my introduction to guinea pigs and the first of my now two mini-ponies, and the rabbits and, well, she has this tendency to drop stuff on me. In this case, K-pop. BTS, to be exact.

She was living next door at the time (house-sharing with her two siblings, the twins) and visited daily and, on this particular day, she came rushing over, all enthusiastic and wired, literally, for sound and said I simply had to check out this new music she’d discovered and I’d never believe it but it was Korean and it was awesome and did I have a few minutes and. . . well, you get the drift! She commandeered my computer and pulled up this piece of epicness. . .

Fire (BTS)

And I was hooked. Instantly.

Because when I get vested in something, I get totally vested, I immediately pulled up everything BTS had dropped to that point. I learned their names. I learned their histories. I researched K-pop and discovered more K-pop to fall in love with. Spanish was out the window, rapidly replaced solely with K-pop, and the obsession escalated into becoming very, very real.

My daughter wasn’t as keen. One BTS track was enough for her and she really couldn’t get her head around why it had hit me so hard. Nobody did, to be honest. I had my K-pop obsession all to myself, not that this bothered me too much, and my playlist and favored artists continued to grow. If you’ve checked out any of my previous music lists or my Medium playlist, you’ll notice that I’m predominantly male-artist-centered. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some exceptional female artists out there (and I do have a few, mainly in collaborations) but that I simply can’t be bothered wading through the school-girl candy-pop to find them.

My future as a Top Writer in Music

I’m feeling a little honored by the title, admittedly. As well as amused. It didn’t take much, apparently, and maybe the bar isn’t set too high. My top-achieving music article claimed a spectacular 216 views. Of which six were Fans. One of the three which got me to this title wasn’t even technically a music article. It was one of my latest PR15M episodes and, although I have it under the music hashtag, it hasn’t yet developed to the point where it’s actually relevant yet. (It will get there. I promise!)

Meanwhile, I will, however, continue to share my love of K-pop and its associated genres. Why? Because I’m in love with it, it’s a passion, and. . . why not? I may dig deeper in the future. I may share more of the wealth of knowledge I’ve accumulated over the last few years simply because I’m fascinated not only by the music but by the processes and backstories. It doesn’t bother me how widely they are or aren’t read. I simply enjoy writing them and that is, after all, the whole point.

Meanwhile, I intend to celebrate my win. I may not be a Top Writer in Fiction (my actual writing passion) but I am a Top Writer. Of a sort. I’ll take it and roll with it. Because I bloody well can and I bloody well will.

To all of you fabulous writers out there,

Kia kaha and aroha nui. 💞

Fighting! 👊