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Creating in the age of AI.

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This is a bit of a different and more personal post than what I usually write on here, but I thought I couldn’t go much longer without addressing the elephant in the room – AI-generated art. Recently, watching AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style pictures circulate the Internet has added to a sense of hopelessness and anger around creating art. Although I haven’t watched many Ghibli films, I have read about Director Hayao Miyazaki’s views on AI and life in general and witnessed the incomparably comforting quality of his animations that speak to the beauty in the slowness of human existence. Thus, watching AI instantly, emotionlessly generating his art felt like an insult – an insult to him and all artists everywhere. And it added to a looming feeling of futility that I cannot fully banish every time I sit down to write, to sing, to create in general.  The instantaneousness of AI-generated art and the fact that anyone can make it and replicate existing art styles, writing styles and wor...
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Channeling Female Rage Through Music (Women's Month Special)

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This Women’s Month, I wanted to write a post about songs expressing female rage. Rage or anger are emotions that women are often told to mask or suppress, and we are expected to be quiet, polite and agreeable. Expressing rage or anger is often seen as ‘unladylike’ and is frowned upon. Women thus don’t often get to express the rage that comes with being oppressed by the patriarchy in so many aspects of our lives. As the world regresses further into oppressive systems that deny women the rights to reproductive care, work and free expression, I think rage is a key emotion women are collectively experiencing this Women’s Month. It is a valid emotion that we should experience and channel into action. And so, let’s dive into some music that helps us express this rage together! TW: This post contains mentions of grooming, abusive relationships and sexual abuse. If any of these topics trigger you, please refrain from reading further. Of late, more women are sharing their experiences with groom...
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Do Me A Favour (the orchard ft. Kim Daniel): Expressing Love through the Underlying

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It’s been a while since I wrote on this blog, so to keep it alive, I decided to make a short post about a pretty old song that I often come back to – ‘Do Me A Favour’ by The Orchard (Jin Dongwook) and Kim Daniel. I was a little nervous about writing this post – my translation of the lyrics and the associated analysis involve a lot of intricacies related to the Korean language, which I’m not fluent in besides understanding songs and lyrics with some help. So, please excuse me in case I misinterpret something! I had to re-discover ‘Do Me A Favour’ to experience the real magic that this song uses to convey its message. Once I did, though, I simply could not stop thinking about how masterfully it is written and composed, and how beautifully its minute linguistic details add to its overall sound and message. This analysis focuses mostly on the lyrics because I feel the beauty of the song lies in the words carefully chosen to convey its emotion and message.  ‘Do Me A Favour’ (in Korean: ...
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