Category: Music
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Idols, Fandoms, and Where the Moral Compass Lives
BTS partnered with Google on an AI ad. Namjoon and J-Hope went to a Chris Brown concert and posted it. One did not bother me at all. The other did not register until I saw the uproar online.
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Many Bodies, One Beating Soul
A week after BTS at MetLife: the freebies, the fan projects, seven men under the spotlight, and what fandom and belonging mean to one ARMY family.
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I Made the Song from the Novel
The song in A Star Keeps Its Distance has a name: Asteroid B-612. It was always meant to be heard. So I gave the lyrics to an AI music generator and told it: K-pop R&B, deep male vocal. What came back was close enough to feel like recognition.
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The Politics Of Joy
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). Each day, I religiously scroll through my Facebook memories. With well over a decade of posts on there, it often surprises me how I live life in patterns. In the midst of everyday living – school opening, mid school year blues, fall festivities, end of year festivities, there are…
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Crossovers I Didn’t Expect
“… my little soda pop…” I am humming as I get ready to log in. The entire soundtrack of K-Pop Demon Hunters has been on loop this past week. The songs work well in the movie and work even better as an album to play on repeat. I am not even sure when was the…
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Breaching New Frontiers
“You can get drunk as much as you want to…” Ammu says playfully in conversation where her dad and I talk about her and her twin getting their learner’s permits and eventually their drivers license. “Ani! Neva…” I call out laughing as I do and head back to my oasis that is my study. “True!…
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Jungkook Over Jagannatha?
I am bopping to I Wonder by JHope ft Jungkook as I savor my ghee toasted bread this morning when Amma eyeing me from across the island goes “You used to listen to Vishnu Sahasranamam every morning even loudly singing along…” The wistfulness in her voice tinged with passive aggressiveness makes me pause. I am…
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Why I am Dope Old ARMY
Fri(end)s by V has been playing on loop since 5:30 am on a Friday in my home. My usually patient husband is on the verge of losing it when he gives in and starts humming along. “Take a video of me vibing to this song.” I say. I am dancing and making pasta while imagining…
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The Lyricism Of Taylor Swift #Swiftie
These days I wake up to Taylor Swift filling my social media feed(s). I hit like, retweet, repost, add to stories and move on to my Korean world. Then, there are the quiet hours after the kids leave for school and the husband for work. I walk around my home or fold clothes or work…
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Don’t Leave Yet
Around 4:45 pm one Saturday evening, our family of five stood at the intersection of two roads, by a fenced in parking lot, five of many in a winding line waiting for the doors to the Fillmore Philadelphia to open. It was windy, our light jackets just about enough to keep us from being too…