KPop or K-Pop is an abbreviation that stands for "Korean pop music." It can be used with respect to all popular music in Korea, but it often describes the specific genre that has dominated the Korean music market over the past 20 years. This genre includes elements of western pop music, dance, electronics, R&B and hip hop.
Mini story
Like many South Asian countries, the region of today's South Korea has undergone a number of foreign influences that have led to the development of its own popular music market. During the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), local and foreign composers created a mixture of traditional Korean music and the gospel, which is still popular today and is known as the trot.
The end of the brutal colonial rule of Japan marked the advent of Westernization. Western music began to be broadcast on the radio, and clubs appeared in different places where music was played in this style in order to please American soldiers who were still in South Korea. It was at this time that not only the Korean public, but also domestic musicians became interested in various genres of Western music.
South Korea's own music industry began to flourish in the 60s. At that time, the first Korean pop artists, labels began to appear, the first singles were released, talent contests were organized. The 70s were marked by the time of hippie folk pop
and the advent of DJ culture. The 80s are known as the "era of ballads."
Korean pop in the 90s
What we know today as K-Pop is a phenomenon of the 1990s. At that time, new musical groups created cutting-edge, catchy songs with lyrics that dealt with the everyday problems of Korean society. That is how the path to modern sound was paved. In the mid and late 90s, many music labels were founded, which today dominate the market. Then the underground musical movements of hip-hop and rock began to become more and more successful and popular.
XXI century: the beginning of the Hallyu wave
The beginning of the 21st century marked the beginning of the global Korean wave. Over the past 15 years, interest in Korean culture, especially in entertainment goods such as Korean television dramas and Korean pop music, has begun to increase rapidly.
K-Pop bands and their hits
The phenomenon of Korean pop, known as K-Pop, has captured the whole world. Let's look at the largest representatives of this style.
Perhaps the most famous K-Pop song is Gangnam Style, which was a global hit performed by Korean rapper Psy. The song and companion video, which included a distinctive dance, became viral, spreading Korean pop music to a wider audience. By the end of 2012, the song topped the charts in more than 30 countries and had a huge social and cultural impact. Even then US President Barack Obama was spotted performing a dance!
One of the brightest big stars of K-Pop is G Dragon, which in his songs touches on such deep and complex topics as self-destruction and narcissism. In 2016, Forbes named him the most influential person under the age of 30 in Asia. Initially, he was a member of the Big Bang group, and since 2009 began to act as a solo artist. Since then, he has released many singles and albums.
K-Pop is not only solo artists! So, a group of nine girls called Twice released a video for the song Cheer Up, gaining more than 195 million views on YouTube.
Girls Generation is a group of eight girls. The concept of their music is to balance sweetness and sexuality. The group debuted in 2007 and has already released nine studio albums.
Boy bands
Of course, K-Pop songs are found not only in the performance of girls. For example, EXO is a group of nine members. They debuted in 2012, having since released four studio albums. In 2017, they shot with a clip for the song Ko Ko Bop.
One of the most influential K-Pop style bands is BTS. At the moment, they are rightfully considered the legends of Korean pop music. They became the first Korean artists whose song debuted on the Billboard chart. They were also honored to appear on American television during the AMA Award. They debuted in 2013, released four studio albums and sold nearly 10 million singles.
One of the latest K-Pop news is that BTS is expected to return with a new album on May 18, 2018. In addition, on May 20 they will again perform at the BBMA American Music Award, which will retain the title of true legends of the Korean pop music industry. Their breakthrough into the global music scene shows that K-Pop is not just for Korea.
How do they become K-Pop stars?
There are three things that make K-Pop so noticeable and unique in the field of pop music: exceptionally high-quality work (especially dancing), extremely polished aesthetics and a “home” studio production method. However, the domestic pop industry is highly competitive. From 10-12 years old, children begin to attend music auditions, special schools, where they study singing and dancing. The behavior of children is also polished there: pop stars prepare them for life. From a young age, children spend hours at daily rehearsals, take part in music shows on the weekends, as well as in special group performances. Thanks to these performances, children can gather a certain circle of fans before they debut as official pop stars.
After the idol, which is the name of the stars in Korea, is perfected, the label begins to work on it: recording an album, going to TV shows and a tour begins.
What is not visible
The K-Pop industry is known as exploitative. The life of idols is debilitating to such an extent that it resembles slavery. Contractors regularly subscribe to long-term contracts, known as “slave contracts”. These contracts are so strict that sometimes they contain the behavior that a pop star must adhere to. Artists are forbidden to have any personal life.
In recent years, increased public attention to these problems has led to changes. So, in 2017, several studios agreed to a significant contract reform. However, as the recent suicide of Shinee artist Kim Jong Hyun shows, the pressure exerted on the performers is carefully concealed.
Fan base
The army of fans of Korean pop music is not limited to Asia. In fact, fans are the foundation of K-Pop's success. So, this style of music is extremely popular in the CIS. For example, in the VKontakte social network there is a K-pop Stock group. A huge number of fans of musicians from Korea gathered here. Fans actively support their favorites. There is also a site k-pop.ru, which has the same function as the above group.
The modern K-Pop seems to be a seamless, gorgeous, perfectly working machine complete with several egregious contradictions that make it even more fun. Yes, Korean pop music is a set of vivid contradictions.
None of this is accidental. K-Pop is South Korea's international face thanks to its extremely streamlined, coordinated production system. K-Pop, more than any other music industry, is strategically designed. It seems that it was created in order to make its way into your brain, thus raising South Korea and its culture on the world stage.
Due to the combination of global political changes, the work of the media, the support of fans, as well as the huge number of talented performers who have gone through a difficult school of musical life, we have the opportunity to enjoy the real phenomenon of the Korean pop.