K-pop. What is it? You turn on the TV and see this group called BTS dancing, rapping, and singing in this language you’ve never heard before. You like the music, but you don’t understand them. So, what exactly is Korean pop (k-pop) and why is it becoming so popular in the USA?
It’s important to understand its history first; Korean Pop, better known as K-pop, is a subset of Hallyu Wave (also known as Korean Wave). Hallyu (pronounced Hall-you) is the sweeping popularity of Korean pop music, dramas, and movies. Hallyu has been popular for years, but it became popular in western cultures only within the past five years with the rise of big groups like BTS, EXO, TWICE, and BIGBANG which bring in massive fan-bases and money. In 1992 k-pop started with a group called “Seo Taiji and the boys” who brought funky pop beats with a Korean style. It was new to the Korean people and took some time for them to warm up to, especially because they needed something new after the same kind of music was being brought in. K-pop was developed by combining Europop and popular American music together and thus the Koreans made their own style with it, calling it K-pop.
So how did K-pop leak into American music and become so popular? It first started in 2009 with a girl group called Wonder Girls who released “Nobody” which was in Korean as well as three other languages including English, but it didn’t quite explode into American Media, like in 2012 when “Gangnam Style” racked up over 3 Billion views on Youtube. Funnily enough, this song is considered a parody video in Korea, but even PSY, the creator of the song didn’t expect it to rise in popularity like it did. Around the same time BIGBANG released “Fantastic Baby,” although it did not become as popular as “Gangnam Style.”
In June 2013, a new boy group under the label BigHit called BTS (Korean name “BulletProof Boy Scouts”) debuted a song called “No More Dream” on Korean Television. It involved lots of hip-hop elements, rapping, and hardcore dance moves. It was a new concept for Koreans, as they were used to more conventional pop music. BTS originated with this hip-hop style, but soon realized that wasn’t going to work for Korean fans. In 2015, BTS released “I Need U,” marking a stark change from their previous style. This was the first time the group could be considered pop. But it wasn’t until 2017 when BTS released “DNA” and performed on American TV for the first time during the American Music Awards (AMAs) where they secured their international stardom, growing popularity and brought K-pop into Western culture.
A lot of fans (who call themselves ARMY) like to think that “BTS paved the way” for K-pop’s popularity outside of Korea. As a humble BTS fan and writer of this article, I agree. There is still stigma and negative opinions that people have of Korean music in America, and that will never change. I hope that more people become open to new cultures and accept that music is a forever changing art-form, and would consider listening to a K-pop song? It may change their life like it did mine.
