These days, there is probably a good chance you’ve heard about K-pop. Whether it’s through someone you know, or perhaps seeing groups such as BTS performing at the Grammy Awards or Blackpink on SNL, there is a good chance K-pop has wiggled its way into your knowledge. But why is K-pop so popular? Because of the advancement in technology and social media, popularity of the South Korean culture started growing, the term Hallyu, or Korean Wave, was created. And at the heart of the Korean Wave sits K-pop. For someone who isn’t too familiar with K-pop, it may just look like a bunch of attractive people with crazy fashion and wild dancing, but there is a bunch more to this genre than meets the eye. So, what is K-pop?
As a genre, K-pop is not defined to one style of music such as genres like Country or Jazz. What defines this genre is the highly produced, beautiful music videos, insanely talented and skillful choreography, and fun fashion styles. K-pop singers, or more often referred to as idols, will practice for years on end with entertainment companies before finally debuting with a group. They spend a copious amount of time learning how to sing and dance, and most importantly, singing while dancing. Yup, you heard me right. All that crazy intense dancing and a majority of the time they’re singing live while doing it. Being a K-pop idol is no joke. The music style can range from R&B to Hip Hop and everything in between. We can see groups like Blackpink that are more western influenced, producing songs like “Kill This Love,” or Twice with influences of Bubblegum Pop in their song “Likey,” or even Reggae influences such as Wonder Girl’s “Why So Lonely.” The list could go on and on. Even within groups, we can see a big contrast in the style of music they produce. Take BTS for example. Just to name a few, within the music they have released we can see genres such as Hip Hop, EDM, R&B, Rap, and Jazz Rap. And this is only one group!
Artists from South Korea usually release mini albums (basically EPs). These mini albums could have anywhere from two to eight songs on them. And not long after, the artist will release a full album adding on more songs. Fans of K-pop are constantly getting new content, sometimes only waiting a month for new releases. Along with getting the new music, getting the physical album is still very much a thing for K-pop. These albums of course come with the CD, but often include a bunch of extra things such as posters, photocards, photo albums, stickers, you name it! Along with constantly getting new music from artists, the music industry and acting industry often overlap. A lot of singers within the K-pop industry are more than just amazing singers and dancers, but also flawless actors. You could think of it like the Disney channel shows we all grew up watching, but rather then everyone starting out as young actors that then go into the music industry, with K-pop you often get the reverse. More often than not, they start out singing in their group, then after a year or two will also act. Not to mention there is a constant flood of music videos, dance practice videos, various variety shows with the artists and live streams were fans can talk and interact with the artists. K-pop fans seldom run out of content, which is why you can get sucked in so fast.
Apart from the vast variety of music and constant production of content, it is also the high concept of the groups and the people that are make up these groups that keep drawing in fans. Sure, they’re a Korean group that usually produce music in Korean, that doesn’t always stop them. Take the group NCT. This group not only produces music in Korean, Chinese, Japanese and sometimes English, but they have around eight members that can speak English. Their group consists of people from America, Canada, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, and of course South Korea. These days most groups have at least one English speaking member, if not more. The more K-pop grows in popularity, the more the content is subtitled with English, and while music transcends language, if you want to know what the lyrics of the song is, there are hundreds of lyrics videos out there for you to watch.
K-pop is more than guys wearing makeup or girls wearing strange, colorful outfits and singing. These are people who have worked hard for years and have a huge amount of talent and are getting recognized for that. K-pop is becoming popular because the music they are constantly producing make their listeners happy and they are able to make connections with their fans in a way that is unseen in many other music industries. To these singers, producing music is more than just a way to make money, but something they truly enjoy, and fans can see that. Their sincerity in what they do is a big part of what makes it so popular.
HCXO, Hannah