Korean pop music, or K-pop for short, started gaining popularity when the song “Gangnam Style” by PSY went viral in 2012. Recently, a band called Bangtan Sonyeondan, also known as BTS, became popular. So, you’ve probably heard of the new band called BTS rising to stardom, or you are nostalgic about the song Gangnam style, but whatever piqued your interest, welcome to K-pop 101. We may not have cookies, but we surely have the boppy music and a lot of awesome K-pop stars to look forward too!
First Lesson: Music Starter Pack
K-pop’s popularity is only rising because of the stunning music videos that these bands make. The catchy tunes, the energetic music and breathtaking dancing shown in the music videos are what makes the K-pop world so enticing. To begin your K-pop journey, here are a few bands to start listening to first!
1. Big Bang
Debuting in August 2006, Big Bang is an all-male band with five members and is one of the first influential K-pop bands that became internationally popular. With their bold and edgy music as well as style, they completely changed the view of K-pop and are one of the only bands that write their own music. Start with these three songs of theirs:
-
“Haru Haru“- this is their most popular song.
-
“Bang Bang Bang“- one of my favorite songs.
-
“Let’s Not Fall in Love“- their second most popular song.
2. Girl’s Generation (SNSD)
Debuting in 2007, this all-girl band with nine members has won lots of music awards and gained a lot of popularity overseas, especially in Japan and America. They have a bubbly and softer tone to their music and their music videos are quite silly, but it’s fun to jam to! Check out these three songs of theirs to begin!
-
“Gee“- this is the song that piqued their popularity.
-
“Genie“- the song that made them famous in Japan.
-
“Mr. Taxi“- one of my favorite songs!
3. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan)
Debuting in 2013, this boy-band was created with the intention to create songs that were more about the hardships of a teen’s life. They sing about topics varying from romance, to pain and mental health issues. Because of their recent success in of the Music Billboard Awards for the past few years, BTS has skyrocketed in popularity and their fan base (a.k.a the Army) is growing immensely in numbers. Check out their newest song and their other songs:
-
“Idol ft Nicki Minaj“- the newest song that is out.
-
“DNA“– the song that came out before their Billboard Award.
-
“Blood Sweat and Tears“– one of my favorites!
-
BONUS: “Mic Drop”– their most popular song.
Second Lesson: Words and Terminology
After you start listening to music, you will start to hear the some unfamiliar lingo thrown around in this industry, and they are very important to learn to be able to understand what’s going on. Here a few popular words used in the K-pop world:
Bias: A bias is someone who you like the most in a band. This the person you find the most good looking, most talented or most entertaining.
Bias Wrecker: A bias wrecker is essentially someone you like in a band so much that he may be your bias, but you already have another bias. This the person who questions your bias loyalty, this is someone who “wrecks” your bias.
Aegyo: Aegyo is a type of behavior, it’s when a person acts cute and innocent through voices, dances and facial expression as a form of flirting. This is very common in Korean culture to make K-pop stars act this way in interviews.
Oppa/Hyung/Unnie/Noona: Oppa is what a female would call their older brother, or sometimes used to show affection to a significant other. A male would call his older brother hyung. Unnie is what a female would call her older sister, and a male would call his older sister noona.
Saranghae: Saranghae is heard very often in songs, because this means “I love you.” This is an informal version of the word, which would be commonly said by the older significant other to their partner.
Third Lesson: Interviews
Even though the music videos and the songs are insanely popular, the most popular thing people love watching is the interviews. Usually in Korean interview shows, the interviewers are all about practical jokes and games, so the interviews these bands do reveal a lot of the band member’s personality quirks and life story. K-pop artists get very comfortable sharing a lot about themselves, and about the other members on these shows, so it’s really fun to see how they are as people. Examples include K-pop stars going into haunted houses, stars competing in sports games and these artists participating in pranks on each other. The possibilities are endless, but here is an example of an interview with BTS.
And that’s all of the information you need to start to your Korean journey! There is so much more to the Korean industry, more content to watch and a lot of amazing artists out there, so hopefully you give K-pop a chance because it will be an amazing experience and totally worth it!
Image Credits: Image1, Image2, Image3, Image4, gif1