Musical Monday – Cinematic

My spouse is a total nerd. That’s not a judgment, it’s a fact and one that he would fully agree with. The man loves Tolkein and Star Wars and is part of not one, but two long-running D&D groups. I fully support his relationship with the fantastical because what is my love of Kpop if not a rich and time-consuming fantasy. His nerd buddies, spanning multiple states and countries, are smart and interesting people who have forged close friendships outside of their characters and unfolding adventures. They chat back and forth all day long on their texting platform of choice and send funny memes and pretty pictures to each other to prompt laughs and encouragement when life gets tricky.

Sound familiar? Huh, #Klife friends? 

I mention this little group because over the years they’ve added a couple of chicks to their ranks and I fully respect these smashingly awesome women and all that they put up with in order to enjoy their imaginative play. Also, one of the ladies was a Kpop fan when she joined up and the other is legit 100% in the fold now that I’ve gotten my grubby little hands on her. I do love witnessing and participating in the conversion of a muggle to a fangirl. 

My husband kind of set us up because he had a feeling that we might like each other and he thought it would be awesome if she and I bonded because he has always had these grand visions of double dates. One fall day in 2019, as our new friend was helping my husband build his Halloween costume, she asked me if I had any interesting shows I could recommend on Netflix. As an anime lover, she was interested in trying a Kdrama and knew that I might have a few to recommend. 

As with many of us, after a few shows and a solid base of love and lust developing at the root of her budding obsession, my new pal sent out the request for Kpop groups to check out and some videos to watch. Having gotten to know her tastes a bit, I was able to link her to some Victon, Nu’est, Golcha, and so on that I thought she’d enjoy. But, as it had just been released and because we’d both fallen hard and deep for The Untamed, I also shared with her Lay’s new MV Lit. 

A love affair was born. 

For the uninitiated, Lay is one of the original Chinese members of EXO, and though he hasn’t publicly performed with the group in a number of years, he is still technically a member. In 2017, Lay started his own personal label in China to manage his solo musical and acting activities. He has stayed incredibly busy in his country of birth to much acclaim. Lit, the pre-release single for his latest album, is a heavily hip hop influenced Mandopop single featuring traditional instruments and almost monotone lyrics. It’s phenomenal. The MV is sweeping landscapes, lush costuming, stylized fight scenes, and everything any of us could ever ask for in a period piece. 

It’s perfection.

Lit, Lay