Oh My Breaka Shaka...

K-pop has faced numerous plagiarism issues in the past year, everyone from G-Dragon to Lee Hyori and CN Blue got hit with some kind of trouble. Some of them were dealt with smoothly, others just became a big mess. SM Entertainment (home to Super Junior, SHINee, F(x), Trax etc) seems to have a great plan to avoid time wasting trivial plagiarism accusations and opts for copying songs its own artists have already released. Its probably even the same song writer who got stuck with having to write the Chinese hit again so just went with the default.  Compare and contrast:

Super Junior M - Super Girl (2009)

Kangta - Breaka Shaka (2010)

I envision a weary SM songwriter called into a boardroom and questioned about the similarities between sections of these songs, where he would break down, slamming fists on the glass table exclaiming "but you have no idea how hard it is to fit mandarin sentences into upbeat euro disco! that's the only rhythm I could think of!! I just had to use it again!" and then the top SM exec just nods his head and says "fair enough".  It's only Kangta's Chinese album anyway.

If you were going to clone a song, i'd say Super Girl is a fantastic choice,  one of the finest k-pop (sometimes in Chinese) songs i've ever come across. "You're my shuuper ghurl" has never failed to impress even my most hardened nonplussed non k-pop friends.  The video is also a masterpiece, the rare delight of cuts between 2 dance sets and a storyline... with a party! its a real treat! Its also a treat to see Super Junior M (a 7 member "subgroup" containing 5 of the usually 13 member group Super Junior and 2 additional Chinese speaking members, taking Super Juniors maximum number up to 15, just in case you're not up to speed) looking their very best. Especially you Donghae, especially you.

The first time I played "Breaka Shaka" I was ready to hit the floor laughing by the time he got to "its the torn, it's the torn, it's the torn" (mainly because I thought he was trying to say "time") but I pulled myself together and enjoyed the bubbling club beat euphoria beats I could hear faintly building in the background, and then it went into Super Girl 2 for a bit before the euro disco anthem really kicks in and then back to Super Girl 2 for the verse again, by which point I realised I was totally into it.  Also I like to imagine the video is an intentional homage to the life and work of Super Junior's favourite jesus-o-holic, mountainous eyebrows Choi Siwon.  I'm referring to the points made by various members of SuJu that Siwon lives his life like its a movie shooting, you can watch everyone making fun of Siwon on Strong Heart here and please pay special attention to the Siwon impressions by Kyuhyun and Donghae, especially Donghae's morning reenactment in the first clip.  

Really there are so many Siwon moments in this video, smugly smiling at himself in the mirror (see Kangta 0.47), pointing at himself in the mirror (see Kangta at 1min), wagging finger (1min17), sitting legs crossed in a chair looking like a boss (see throughout) even slam dunking his dirty laundry into the basket (dance move at 3min47).  Was this one big SM private joke? well i'm laughing too.

If you have no idea who Kangta is by the way, he's SM's solo star, originally he was in the 90s boyband H.O.T (looking like this), then he was in a couple or other groups, released a lot of stuff and acted in a few dramas and then in 2008 got a terrifying crew cut as he entered into the army. February 2010 his military service was over, he grew out his hair, got back to work at SM Town and finally hits us with this Super Junior -esque return to form.

Oh and about my theory of Kangta poking fun at the masterful Choi Siwon,, it's all the more poignant because they can look so freakishly identical that its sometimes difficult to tell them apart. See for yourself:

See what I mean?

- BUNNY