Niche To Mainstream: Let’s Talk About K-Pop!

Once upon a time, in 2002 (or was it 2003?…) I stumbled across K-pop aka Korean pop music. I had already been introduced to the world of J-pop (Japanese pop music) and C-pop (Chinese pop music), but once I found K-pop it was pretty much the only thing I consumed. I spent endless hours downloading songs, watching music videos, and watching interviews. However, it definitely was not mainstream or accepted by people outside of the tiny community back then. I used to lie about the music I listened to because people would look at me like I was crazy. Now, this once niche interest has gained global popularity.

Most people may only be aware of the boy band BTS or Psy’s highly famous Gangnam Style (pronounced Kahng-nahm) when they hear the term K-pop, but there have been multiple artists that tried to break out into the US market, prior to Psy releasing one of the most viewed YouTube videos of all time. Artists such as Rain (Bi, which is the word for rain in Korean), Se7en, and BoA were unsuccessful in gaining popularity outside of Koreans and the small percentage of non-Korean fans that already loved their music prior to their US debuts. They sang in English to appeal to the US market, but this was still not enough to grab the attention of new listeners. So how did K-pop get to global status? An article posted on Vox.com in 2018 titled “How K-pop became a global phenomenon” stated, “Through a combination of global political changes, savvy corporatization and media management, and a heck of a lot of raw talent being ground through a very powerful stardom mill” (Romano, 2018). While the article goes into depth on the history of K-pop, one event that helped it’s spread to the rest of the world was the 2018 Winter Olympics that were held in PyeongChang, South Korea. When athletes of the nations were entering the stadium for the opening ceremonies, K-pop was playing. For the closing ceremonies, the boy band EXO and solo artist CL (a former member of the girl group 2NE1) performed. Though BTS had gained attention in 2017, the Olympics was a chance for South Korea to show off other talent.

I think the internet played a huge role in spreading K-pop around the world. For example, the way I found out about so many artists was YouTube and all the related videos that would pop up on the side of the screen. However, now there are platforms such as Tik Tok where users upload videos of them trying to replicate the choreography from a hit K-pop track. Even my best friend, who does not have interest in K-pop, stumbles upon tik toks of K-pop artists and then sends them my way.

I could go on, but I will leave you with a few recommendations:
BoA – Only One https://youtu.be/PQjovLrnvVo

Jay Park ( who is American and originally debuted with 2PM) – Solo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4SXwYZUWy0

TVXQ – Mirotic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJS32n6LNQ (got my friend into them. She learned the dance, taught me and other friends. We performed it in front of the class at the school we were studying at in Japan)

Ailee – Feelin’ (Feat. Eric Nam)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMpq2NrDkeM (they are both American)

SHINee – 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTASffPQGhY

Need subtitles? try searching for the artist, song title and the phrase “eng sub”

Fun Facts:

• there are K-pop idols that are Korean-American, Taiwanese-American, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, and more!
• There are idols that have studied in English speaking countries, such as RM of BTS.
• Many idols have learned others languages to perform in other markets, such as Japan and China. Artists that gained fame in other parts of Asia include BoA and TVXQ (aka DBSK/Dong Bang Shin Ki or Tohoshinki as they were referred to in Japan)

Source: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/16/16915672/what-is-kpop-history-explained