J Pop

... also known as Japanese Pop. Dominating the music scene like a tasteless behemoth, the Industry (capital "I" like how The Man is capitalized) churns out pre-fab music performed by pre-fab artists, which is then eagerly gobbled up by the consuming masses, which comprise a good majority of my student body.

In burning CDs for my students, I have a rule that they have to bring some music for me to listen to and tell me about it. Usually it's this J Pop stuff and I tune out after the kid is talking for about 15 seconds and start daydreaming. 99% of it is total crap, to tell the truth.

BUT... There is this one song that is SO DAMN CATCHY!! I heard it EVERYWHERE I went for and finally broke down and bothered to ask what it was. It turns out, it's the best selling single of 2005 and is called "Seishun Amigo" (Youthful Amigos). AND man, can you really snap your fingers to it.

You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOX3RrlIa8&search=Seishun

It's performed by Shuji and Akira, who are characters from a TV show. It turns out the whole damn song is a promo for their TV show! The real guys are these two dudes named Tomohisa Yamashita and Kamenashi Kazuya.

I know it's bad for my health, but I can't help. It's my J Pop guilty pleasure. Whooooooooooooooo!