Why Olivia Rodrigo is making me rethink my opinion about Kpop vocals.

I literally just talked about how vocals in KPop dont matter. This morning or yesterday in another thread, i reiterated my stance that nobody should care about vocals for boyband music.

But after watching yet another Olivia masterpiece, i'm wavering.

Let's just say...I fucking LOVE her voice. I dont know what it is, there is a certain type of husky, raspy tone that i love in both my male and female vocalists, everyone knows how much i worship Morissette Amon for the ladies and the lead singer of Journey for the boys.

And Olivia has absolutely none of that huskiness. However she has this emo quality that's off the charts, her voice literally embodies angst. And she KILLED it again with her new single. Easily the best local song since Drivers License which is pretty much the best local song in like 5 years at least.

So i'm in a quandary. I can't help but wish some of my Kpop faves had vocals like her. She ain't no Morisette, but boy oh boy, she gives me goosebumps with her voice, like i cant help but react emotionally to it.

And i find myself wishing for Kpop to somehow incorporate vocals into their music. I wish Kpop ballads would become a popular subgenre, maybe bringing some of that 80s hair metal ballad energy or even some Jrock energy. A place where we can sit back and enjoy real storytelling and real emotions, instead of watching a performance spectacle all the time. A place where trainees are picked for visuals and vocals, not just visuals and dance.

Band and vocal focused Kpop will probably never be a thing but i still find myself wishing for it anyway.

Quote from unbannBLACPINK

ended Yena

ps i dont like vocal focused songs at all

i just wish idols wouldnt completely suck at singing their own songs live

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lol no one ends Yena. She is bulletproof.

Quote from K-PL

If vocals are that important time to give up on kpop, because nothing in kpop is even close to

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I actually know these ladies, i got introduced to them via Morissette, actually just one of them, Lee Younghyun. Phenomenal ballad, and she sang it nicely.

But "Original Singer Killer" Morissette just trounces it. Just listen to the difference in vocal tone/color. And Mori's was truly live, not sure how live these Korean singing shows are tbh. I've posted this literally 23 times already probably but imma post it again.

Live version (you clearly hear her sheer power here)

Lee Younghyun has a more developed better lower range obviously, Mori's voice was already damaged at this point and she didnt have the amazing lower register that she has now.

But ultimately, as the OG singer of a hit song, you dont want Mori to cover it lol.

Quote from TheBotter

Because she eats up 99% of Kpop vocalists.

Glad she's back with more quality.

You didnt like Driver's License? Traitor? Happier? Deja Vu? Olivia had the best local album since Taylor Swift's triumverate of Fearless, Speak Now and Red.

Quote from KpopJop

Sounds like OP is this close to becoming a trot stan, not that there's anything wrong with th at

Bro, trot has fine vocal technicians but we're talking about color/tone here. Olivia moves me to tears with her emotiveness, trot singers make my bowels move, big difference.

Quote from whisk

What you’re describing is vocal colour / vocal timbre tho, not vocal talent. Extraordinary talents don’t really matter in pop music, but vocal colour, or voice “quirks”, absolutely has a role in driving the popularity of an artist.

Very damn true. Color is so much more important than proper "techniques" in pop music, these acts arent expected to belt out Nessun Dorma or even Let It Go, they're basically talk rapping half the time and spending the other half of the time nailing down the syncro choreography.

Although there are outliers out there, all around aces that can outdance, outvisualize and yes even outsing their peers.

So much of Kpop vocals is based on processing them to make them all sound like clones of each other. The dudes all have the same nasally sound, the girls all have the same thin, high pitched tone. It's so rare to get vocals that are incredibly unique like this.