Music Videos (2021-22) - Artists in Alphabetical Order is a link to one of my playlists on YouTube. Below are some music videos that I have liked over a more extended period of time. This begins with three K-Pop singles released in early 2022 when I originally wrote this, it being edited a few times since then. In part these songs were selected because the first two are relevant to girls and women who play chess: the first, the girl group (G)I-dle's "Tomboy", because playing chess is a tomboyish thing for girls/women to do, and it is imagined especially in Korea because of their more traditional gender roles that a motivation for being a tomboy who hangs out with the boys is that a girl is looking for love, which the song is playing around with as a subtext; and the second, "Sneakers", is the lead single from girl group ITZY's EP entitled Checkmate. The third single is from the best new K-Pop girl group to emerge this year, NewJeans, and their chart-topper, "Hype Boy". Their music video is very cute in a girly way, but also seems about hanging around with the boys. Of course, these songs are open to interpretation: for example, while the subtext of (G)I-dle's song might be about a girl looking for love, what is most emphasized is their refusal to conform to the "perfect girlfriend" stereotype, with the hook "Tomboy" intended to sum up their defiant and/or rebellious attitude. Relatedly, South Korea has the lowest birth-rate in the world, 0.81 per woman. See: 'South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate again' (BBC 25 Aug. 2022).

Next, some Latin American reggaetón released in 2022: "La Loto" features the Argentine singer, TINI; Mexican-American singer, Becky G.; and Brazilian singer, Anitta.

Becky G's most successful song on the Billboard Hot 100 is "Shower" back in 2014 which peaked at #16 and reached even higher in my own country of Australia at #11. However, being entirely in English the song didn't perform well in the Latino market: it only reached #37 in Spain and didn't even chart in Argentina.

Other good early songs Becky G did were collaborations with male artists, the first being her debut single with Pitbull, "Can't Get Enough" back in 2013.

The next with Bad Bunny, "Mayores" (trans. Older Ones) in 2017.

My favorite female singer at the moment is Doja Cat. In 2022 I liked her "Freaky Deaky" featuring Tyga more than "Vegas", the latter being for the ELVIS Soundtrack.

There wasn't much music produced with a male singer that I liked in 2022. Bad Bunny was the best, but it was in his Latin language. Amongst those in the English language, one of the best also featured Doja Cat, with the lead artist being Post Malone.

When I first began writing this in early 2022, another of the better songs by a male singer released around that time was by one who has been around for a very long time, the R&B singer, Chris Brown. I liked his "We (Warm Embrace)" because it expressed his more sensitive side. But admittedly, the song is boring and the music video takes awhile to get going. It had felt worth watching at the time for when Normani arrives at 1:26. For those who find it too boring, or don't have the patience to listen to Chris Brown feeling vulnerable while falling through the clouds, it is advised to fast-forward to that point in the music video.

The above song reminded me of a much earlier and better song that Chris Brown did with Tinashe that was released back on 2 Oct. 2015. This was when he was at his artistic peak, though it was post- what happened with Rihanna, so it didn't chart at the time.

With respect for Rihanna's account of what happened in her interview with Oprah back in 2012, it was originally able to be played when the YouTube video was linked below. However, it was then no longer able to be played, and the message that was displayed to explain why is that it is not available in Australia, the country where I am from, and has been removed from this website for that reason by the content creator. So out of a sense of common decency that I still believe that Rihanna's version of events should be acknowledged, I will now include the below instead.

And Chris Brown's version of events, as had been originally included as well.

Anyway, I don't expect people unfamiliar with the music of Chris Brown to agree with me, but I do believe that he deserves to be forgiven. In my own opinion he is quite clearly the best ever male R&B artist. Most of his best songs have been collaborations with female singers, and his music can be interpreted as being targeted at the same listeners as those who like Beyoncé and Rihanna. Another example that he did around the same time as being featured on the Tinashe song "Player" was with Pia Mia and Tyga that had been released only a few months earlier on 4 May 2015.

Returning to K-Pop, my favorite solo singer from South Korea is Chungha. A good example is "Play" -- released back on 6 July 2020 -- as it is inspired by Latin pop and reggaetón, combines acoustic guitar and synthesizer, and climaxes with a subtle brass set to a dembow rhythm: that is, a four-on-the-floor percussive loop with a 3+3+2 cross-rhythm that places a slight syncopation on every other half-beat.

The best example of dembow rhythm from a Latin American reggaetón song is the ridiculously infectious dance rhythm that drops in at 1:13 in Luis Fonsi’s smash hit “Despacito”, that was released on 12 Jan. 2017.

Returning again to K-Pop, my favorite girl group is BLACKPINK. It is difficult to pick a favorite song by them, but "Kill This Love" -- released back on 4 April 2019 -- is a good example of their personality.

A song that most clearly reveals their playful sense of humour about being sexy is "Ice Cream" -- released on 28 Aug. 2020 -- that features the American singer, Selena Gomez.

"Shut Down" is Blackpink's latest single released on 16 Sept. 2022.

My favourite boy group is BIGBANG, albeit they have been mostly retired since their main rapper, T.O.P. was enlisted for mandatory two-year military service on 9 Feb. 2017 as a conscripted policeman. Of course, such a fate is ridiculous, but it does need to be respected that there is an ongoing conflict between South and North Korea. Anyway, "Bad Boy" -- released on 29 Feb. 2012 -- is not their most popular song, but their personality as a boy group is most clearly revealed in the music video.

I haven't liked BTS over the past few years, but did like them before that. A good example of a BTS song that I do like is "Boy with Luv" -- released on 12 April 2019 -- that features the American singer, Halsey.

It feels like Justin Bieber has been my favourite male singer now for about a decade. That might be an exaggeration as it took me a few years after his debut as a child singer for me to truly respect him as a young adult. However, "Baby" -- the lead single for his debut LP that was released to radio on 26 Jan. 2010 when he was only 15 years old -- had certainly captured my attention.

I did buy the album My World 2.0 from the supermarket at the time. I didn't have the internet for reasons that are related to me having a disability. I was diagnosed with autism a few years ago. At the time that "Baby" was released, I had recently failed my Post Grad Teaching Degree when on placement. I had an epileptic seizure triggered by the light in the classroom, spent the night in hospital and when I returned to the school the principle had told me: "I cannot believe you are showing your face here again." Admittedly I was failed not only for that reason as I got average marks for most of my assignments, but I had worked for 3 years as a teacher aide in advance of doing the Post Grad., so it was devastating. I lived in poverty for a few years after that, so poor that I couldn't even afford the internet, though I did have a computer.

Anyway, after revealing that personal stuff about me I should return to the subject. My favourite song by Bieber is "What Do You Mean?" that was released back on 28 Aug. 2015 as the lead single for his fourth LP, Purpose.

An earlier song that featured Bieber that year was "Where Are Ü Now", that was released along with the album Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü on 27 Feb. 2015.

The next year Bieber released another song with Diplo, "Cold Water" on 22 July 2016, this time for the latter's collaborative project, a DJ trio named Major Lazer, and it also featured vocals from the Danish singer, MØ. The song spoke most directly to how I was feeling at the time.

The next Justin Bieber song that I loved was when he was featured on a remix of Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”, a song that has already been included above, though not the remix version. That is when I first started to listen to Latin American music and a few years afterward I also started to listen to K-Pop, so it did have a huge impact upon my taste in music. The “Despacito” remix was released on 17 April 2017, and a few months later Bieber released "Friends" on 17 August. At this point I had become a huge fan of Bieber, coinciding with when I got the internet back, and that has remained the case ever since. As such, for all of the above reasons he has probably had more impact upon me than any other popular music artist, or at least since I was a teenager, as I was much more impressionable back then.

ReubenJFraser