Last year, Kpop Demon Hunters was a surprise hit for Netflix. It seems like people either love K-Pop (Korean pop; the hyphen was dropped from the film’s title for branding purposes; the original script had the hyphen) or they don’t understand it. Though I’m sure there are some who have given it a chance and decided it wasn’t for them. So in a nutshell, Korean pop music mixes elements of pop, dance, and rap with English lyrics mixed in (which is “cool” to Korean youth).

The biggest K-Pop band in the world is arguably BTS, but I don’t like most of their songs. This song is different. If HUNTR/X (the girl group from KPDH) went up against BTS instead of the Saja Boys and BTS played this song instead of Soda Pop, HUNTR/X wouldn’t have stood a chance.

I don’t want to say HUNTR/X (and Saja Boys) aren’t making "real* K-Pop. They are, it’s just watered down for international audiences. A couple of the songs have the punchiness I’m here for, but it mostly just sounds like radio pop to me, music manufactured for the masses, rather than a bold, individual statement.

Other than the spoken intro and “Nah, not today”, Not Today is almost entirely in Korean. I linked the official music video because it has an official English translation. It would be cool to hear a good English cover, but I’m fine with subtitles. Reading the official translation, you might be wondering — yes, he does say “crow tits” (it’s a Korean saying, I forget what it means — my guess is it’s similar to the American saying “useful as tits on a bull,” in other words, useless) and no, crows do not have breasts. (However, in Animal Crossing, Brewster, the pigeon barista, can ask if you want “pigeon milk” in your coffee. I advise you to not look up what pigeon milk is. Just say “Ew, no” when he asks.) What I like about the song is the positive message. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. And the overarching message that the “bullets” society uses to divide people can’t stop them — that’s why he says, “Ready, aim, fire.”

I wanted to post this on a Monday, because it’s a great anthem for going into work on a Monday, but with time zones and whatnot, by Monday it may have been too late to reach people. (Also, this comm hasn’t really taken off yet.) So I figure, post on Friday, a couple people hear it and jam to it over the weekend, then carry it into work on Monday. Own your own fate and don’t let naysayers stop you from being your best self. And when you go into work next, remember the opening lines: “To all the underdogs in the world: the day may come when we lose. But it is not today. Today, we fight!”