Want to know more about K-Pop? Let’s talk about it! K-pop stands for Korean Pop music that is very popular in South Korea. While people automatically assume it only includes artists that only sing pop, that is far from the case. Many groups and solo artists will also have influences from genres that include but are not limited to dance, jazz, rock, and hip-hop. K-Pop is different in many different ways that will be discussed further on this website, but one main thing I want to point out is how these artists, mainly referred to as Idols, are able to rise to fame. Idols go through very rigorous training before they are allowed to debut in a group or solo.
Typically, the process starts with the aspiring artist undergoing a tryout process with a company. That is the common route, but some actually get approached on the street mainly because of their looks, asking for them to consider signing with them. The tryout process not only includes singing, but also dancing as it’s pretty much the norm for an idol to dance and sing for performances. Once past this process they start their training. Training times vairy for everyone and some can be as short as six months while others go for ten or more years.
During those training months, or years, they have numerous singing and dancing classes that they must take and are evaluated. They also work on their live performances that are sometimes uploaded online for us to view. Once they are deemed ready to debut they can be placed into a group which can be a small group, or a large one like NCT who has 23 members.
From there on they start to promote their music and hope to win some awards, along with getting invited onto different shows for interviews. It takes not only the group to showcase and maintain their talent, but also their companies’ ability to properly promote and write good music for these artists to obtain the fame they want. K-pop definitely has had some western influences upon it and it is noticeable but it is helping them gain international recognition. As the years go by, more and more groups gain popularity internationally and get invited to interviews and award shows, for example. There are even some groups who are more popular internationally than in South Korea, which is crazy to think about! But then you have some groups who are very well known everywhere, like BTS, and who are now considered the standard and groups try to gain the success that they have.
Mainly when someone thinks about K-pop they think about the groups over the solo artists. Understandably so as the groups have made quite the impact, other than Psy who became very well known for his song "Gangnam Style." Now one thing that had always confused me when I started listening to groups was when people would classify a groups as a "1st gen" group for example. It took a while to realize that depending on when a group debutes depends on what generation they are in. Now you're probably questioning why this is even important and it's because the generations help provide an understanding and representation of the changes to trends and how the music changes. Below is a timeline representing the generations, we are currently in the 4th generation, and some groups for example.
Some groups during this generation are Fin.K.L, Sechskies, and Shinhwa are considered as the foundation of K-pop and the music this time was very much influenced by Hip-hop.
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Some groups during this generation are BIGBANG, SHINee, 2NE1, Girls' Generation, and Super Junior. These groups have had a major impact on K-pop, essentinally putting K-pop on the map. Numerous songs that came from this generation are still very well known today.
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Some groups in this generation are BTS, EXO, BLACKPINK, Twice, GOT7, and NCT. This is really when K-pop became worldwide and the way Idols interacted with fans changed and now sets the standard for today.
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Some groups from this generation are NewJeans, Stray Kids, ITZY, TXT, and aespa. In comparison to other generations, these groups had an easier upbringing to their current fame than other genrations. Because the other generations gained their fame they were able to help grow their companies, which results in the comany being able to promote the new groups better. A great example of this is BTS with their current company Hybe. Hybe, once called BigHit started as a almost noname company will little to no company. With the company forming BTS and with their success over the span of the last 10 years, Hybe is now the biggest company in South Korea.
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Other than the obvious that makes K-pop different from western pop, the language being the #1 thing, is their albums. Typically in America when an artist is releasing their album they will sell it on a CD, vynyl, and then they will sell some merch as well. With K-pop they truly take it a step further with their albums.
K-pop albums typically take the shape of a book and can get as big as big as a textbook but thinner and not so heavy. These albums tend to be very creative in the design thats on the outside, along with the inside. Normally the inside of these albums contain pages and pages of photos of the group members that are consistant with a theme. They will also contain pages with the lyrics on them, and some groups have a section where they have a note that is dedicated to fans and they thank everyone who is apart of the creative process.
K-pop albums for most fans are collectables and most fans try to get a groups whole disography. These albums also include photocards, which are polaroid sized photos of the members, typically selfies. Many fans will have binders to collect these cards as some cards can be rare from limited addition albums, resulting in many people selling and trading cards to get their favs. It is normal for a group to have multiple versions of one album and they are typically titled version A,B, and C with a Limited version. The only difference in these albums are the differences in the photos, photocards, and you can only buy the limited ones during presell.