It is rare that I am presented with an example that so perfectly proves my point that Korean pop media is an artistic endeavor, and not just the hobby of rich chaebols. I have spoken at length about the misconception that popular media, and more specifically K-Pop, is not art. Usually I will have to argue this point, and I can’t just point and say “Look.”

So when my partner and I saw  “iNSTEAD” by Xdinary Heroes, I knew I had to talk about it.

You see, gatekeeping is the enemy of joy. Xdinary Heroes doesn’t just kick down the gate, it melts it into oblivion. What I mean by that is they take away the stigma against Korean Pop media by virtue of…well, everything they do. They are rock musicians, they are pop stars, they are incredibly talented writers – they’re artists. As simple as that.

Of course, the biggest argument against my statement is “Xdinary Heroes isn’t K-Pop, they’re K-Rock.” This statement is condescending at best. Pop and Rock are interlinked as genres. You’re not going to say that The Beatles aren’t rock, or that The Rolling Stones are rock, but both also qualify as pop according to the Oxford Dictionary of Music. That said, the band ABBA, which also qualifies as pop under the same definition, is not considered rock even though they rely on real-world instrumentation. At best, it’s considered pop-rock, but the band’s foundation in disco is a disqualifier. And yet, Queen and Electric Light Orchestra both have disco influences – but they are considered rock and pop, albeit progressive pop in the context of ELO.

Then again, ABBA has women in it. Maybe that’s why they can’t straight up qualify as rock.

All digs at the patriarchy aside, the point is that Xdinary Heroes is rock and pop. The K-Rock has an edge because of the use of actual instrumentation, but my mantra has always been that K-Pop is a medium, not a genre, due to the interdisciplinary nature of the music, the videos, and performance within it. Ergo, a K-Rock band can still be K-Pop, just like how Bibi, an artist who primarily sings R&B, is still considered K-Pop by the vast majority of fans due to her use of the medium.

Again, it’s truly interesting how a woman has the mantle of K-Pop thrust upon her, but a band of all men that is managed by one of the largest K-Pop companies and uses K-Pop aesthetics just as fluently doesn’t automatically get the distinction, especially with K-Pop’s stereotypically feminine connotations despite the fact that both push the foundations of gender, but I digress.

Xdinary Heroes shook me to my core because for a K-Pop group – not just a K-Rock group – to go metal is rare. Korean metal is also more localized to Korea rather than globalized, unlike its Japanese counterpart. That isn’t a bad thing but does mean that only diehard fans of metal, and Korean metal at that, will be acquainted with it. So a mainstream label like JYP doing metal is not only fascinating, but it’s also groundbreaking.

It’s not something I expected out of JYP Entertainment of all places. JYP, the company known for TWICE and Wonder Girls and 2PM and a middle aged man whispering in your ear, going metal…it’s a choice. A good choice, but a choice nonetheless. Then again, JYP’s arguably biggest group is Stray Kids, which is hip hop, and hip hop and metal go hand in hand as predominant counterculture movements.

And that’s also part of what makes iNSTEAD such an iconic and perfect counterculture moment. Mainstream companies can still participate in counterculture without tokenizing it, as long as the artists themselves are very clearly involved in those decisions. In the case of Xdinary Heroes, it is clear that this is what they wanted to do, not just from their own words, but from the amount of joy and passion put into the actual construction of the song and video. My expertise is more in film than in music, so certain technical terms do escape me when it comes to explaining why the song gets stuck in your head.

That said, I do have a unique qualification that allows me to speak on this.

I am a metalhead.

Well, sort of. To be fair, I am a baby metalhead. I am an aspiring metalhead. I’m not listening to Metallica. But my partner and I will headbang the heck out of HANABIE’s entire discography once a week, give or take. I will listen to Babymetal for writing ideas when writing specific characters. And Lingua Ignotta made my heart stop multiple times. In short, I do have a grasp on what makes metal good.

A lot of people think that good metal needs to be loud and angry, but only one of those things needs to be true. It needs to be loud and cathartic. Catharsis is vastly more important than anger, though the two often can coincide. For instance, “Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now” by HANABIE is the angry type of cathartic, where it’s all about how frustrating and mind numbing a desk job can be, and how hard it is to set boundaries. That said, HANABIE’s “Be the Gal” is the opposite – it’s just about vibing with the girls. And as a femme with mostly female friends, I will say, sometimes you just want to vibe with the girls. And there is catharsis and validation in a song that is just…vibing with the girls, but with screaming this time.

So in essence, there is an anger to the song “iNSTEAD”, but more than that, there’s a powerful catharsis to it. And because of that catharsis, there is a profound joy. And that’s what makes iNSTEAD so revitalizing.

Xdinary Heroes stands out not just because of their musical ability or preferred genre, but because they clearly love playing. Just look at their recording video for iNSTEAD, where they not only got to meet and work with Yoon Do-Hyun and his band – they got to jam with him. These boys are elated to just be in the room doing what they love with someone who helped define Korean music since the 90s.

Joy is the best weapon an artist can have. It’s the best weapon anyone can have, because those who seek to take others down will try to take it first.