Shortcuts in life
Are there quick roads to success?; iKON (again); what does B.I, Jay Park, & G-Dragon have in common; and self pick-ups.
The past week has been a heavy load for me.
I've been working on something that has really stressed me out.
But, a little back story on it first…
The preparation of a risk-averse individual
Being the risk-averse person that I am, before I dived into this something (and anything really), I took quite the time to gather knowledge, in research, e-books, and online courses.
Only when I had enough information (I think it could be considered from Step 1-Step 7-ish), and know what the worst-case scenario would be, I was convinced to start this scary something.
Now here's the thing..
Because of that Step 1-7 knowledge that I amassed, somewhere along the way of me doing Step 0.5, was also me thinking I could sprint till Step 3 at the very beginning.
But a lot of roadblocks showed sign that it’s not quite possible now.
It was... a whole lot of (unnecessary) stress of “why can’t I just do Step 3 now instead of revisiting and adding in Step 3 later?”.
When I couldn't really quite figure why, I took a break. I slept, and I watched videos on YT.
Basically, long story short: I procrastinated.
The procrastination gave me an insight that..
Having knowledge about something, VS actually doing it, are two different things.
You may be so well-informed about a topic, but that doesn't determine how skillful and good you are on the playing field.
For example; anyone can read a whole encyclopedia of playing tennis, but when it comes to actually playing the game, now that's a different level of skill-set required.
So while I took quite a long redirection: reading back my old notes from learning days; stumbling upon research after research, one research pulled me back to the ground.
It was the timeline of a person who has succeeded in something, that is pretty much similar to my current undertaking.
I took a hard look at their timeline, this year is their 5th year in doing this something.
Half a decade in? Of course, they have succeeded! It’s common sense.
Seeing other people's timelines was a huge blow to my ego of "I've done this course, read this ebook, and constantly researched, so perhaps I can accelerate the process..."
There are no shortcuts in life
Naturally, looking for shortcuts is human nature.
But there are no shortcuts in life. And upon the many tales in this world, taking dodgy shortcuts have repercussions closely tied to roads of regret.
I am on Step 0.5.
While my greed thinks I can jump many steps and implement Step 3 now, the reality is I actually can't, given the current resources and circumstances.
It’s not time yet.
There are orders to everything.
Now, all I have to do is to forget about Step 3, momentarily... until I'm at Step 2.9.
Are you a shortcuts-person, or a long game-person?
Current obsession
Spiraling down further into the iKON rabbit hole because of Chef Song’s guest appearance in Yuri’s channel, I’ve recently checked out some of iKON’s stuff. Previously, my only surface-level knowledge of iKON goes to the extent of Bobby, YG Future Strategy Office, and B.I.’s departure.
Rhythm Ta & At Ease performances in Kingdom.
Favorite moment: the tune beginning 1:26. I can’t unhear Inspector Gadget’s intro theme song in this tune hahah.
Favorite moment: Bobby’s Song Mino kumawo1 at 0:15
iKON’s cover of Bang Bang Bang
Favorite moment 1: Bobby’s bang bang bang’s uncanny similarity to TOP’s
Favorite moment 2: B.I. in a furry jacket doing the dance highlight.
+ More reasons to be explored below
Serious things
Speaking of people's timeline, a person's timeline that has intrigued me recently is Kim Hanbin. Better known as B.I, the 25-year-old was the former leader of iKON, now singer-soloist, and executive director of 131 Label.
While some are familiar with his life story, I have to give some context here (so skip ahead one paragraph to IDs and iKONICs2).
He began to be a part of the music industry since a young age, went through hurdles of participating in survival shows to debut with his former members, debuted as the leader of iKON in 2015, produced and composed most of their songs, only to depart from the group in 2019 following an alleged drug scandal.
Now, what's fascinating to me about B.I are that:
On what basis was YG that confident back then to pass their throne to B.I? Besides the fact that he wrote and composed most of iKON's songs and dabbled in music from a young age, like GD?
That was until I watched their Bang Bang Bang cover video…
Disclaimer: As a VIP3, I have watched A TON of Bang Bang Bang's cover, and iKON has the closest impersonation that gave justice to their seniors.
My first impression of watching this? Shocked, and wondered if B.I., was in fact still in iKON, how much further the milestones of the group could go is just unimaginable.
But here's the issue with people claiming Artist B as the next Artist A, you can't mold a person into the next trend because of a previous success! This is a person we are talking about.
His departure, some have dubbed it to be the next Jay Park phenomenon
I was a teenager during Jay Park's sudden departure from 2PM. I knew all about the commotion (and was part of the outrage too).
But look at Jay Park now—holy moly! CEO, an umbrella/savior for other K-artists that do not fit in the BIG 4's4 requirements.
P/s: this is my favorite to-date interview of Jay Park.
& to understand B.I better as an artist, I've watched two of his recent music videos: Illa Illa and Waterfall. Hmm, the lyrics, the emotions they carry... As a fellow writer and a wannabe poet, they are like bullet shots right through your heart.
While I am not a fortune teller..
But being compared to two influential beings in the Kpop scene is HUGE. And here's what I could deduce:
He had enough experience (10 years to date) in his field to make it on his own.
He's one of those rare cases that the Universe thinks do not fit in a formulaic—boy group. Although some would like to believe there's no formula—hey, there is! The decision-makers can always refer to 'what did the senior bands do before', implement them in fresh faces, and add new things that are in trend (going on LIVEs, etc) along the way.
I personally think the Universe knew that B.I. deserved more than that. And B.I’s short stint in iKON was a necessary training ground to prep him for the artist he’s transitioning to today.
As per Sky Quizon’s insight, his forced departure could result in his long-term greater good (perhaps in his artistry), over a short-term misery (leaving as a leader and leaving his former team members). Eg: Jay Park, again.
Some people are meant to shine, on their own.
They are meant to carve their own path, even if they'll have to scar badly along the way. Because honestly, he's not the next G-Dragon or Jay Park. He is B.I. Artists aside, everyone hates being compared/molded into the copycat of others.
If one day, I was given the chance to interview B.I., or Jay Park, I would like to ask them this question,
"Have you ever thought, for a second, that you were never meant to belong anywhere else, besides your own home?"
G-Dragon is not so different.
GD did not have to leave YG because…
He and the rest of Big Bang members earned their spots after playing a major part in building YG from the rubble to what it is today.
YG is also his empire, considering how many shares he has in it. So, GD is not that different to B.I and Jay Park. They all, assert some sort of power (in titles or shares) over the company they’re at.
Also Dear GD, & Big Bang I am still waiting for the day you’ll announce your next concert. The last time you had one, I was a broke student... Just sayin, yknow ✌🏼
—plea of a VIP 👑
People like these three—B.I, G-Dragon, and Jay Park—are meant to build their own empires, not other people’s empires.
Time to save more money cause I just added iKON & B.I’s to my never-ending #concertwishlist 🤪
Recently finished
The dark side of selling your soul to the public. Creepy~
📍From Kitty City
One thing I’m absolutely grateful for because of this pandemic is the visibility of menus online, and the normalcy of self-pickup options.
Thank you in Korean
iKONICs: iKON’s fandom name
VIP: Big Bang’s fandom name
South Korea’s largest entertainment groups: YG ent, SM ent, JYP ent & HYBE Corp.