10 minute read
K-pop Thrives
STUDENT LIFE
HOPE O'BRIEN MADDIE ALONSO
K-POP THRIVES FANS OF KOREAN POP ARE STRONGER THAN EVER
OLIVIA MUNSON
COLLEGE TIMES purple and orange hair, who smile unwaveringly beside her bed. she’s forked over $1,500 on concert tickets. Once, it took her four days A sea of eyes. Twenty K-pop albums are neatly straight on her laptop to get tickets
That’s the fi rst thing stacked in her cubby area. O’Brien to BTS’ concerts at Rose Bowl you see in Hope O’Brien’s has every release by BTS on CD, Stadium in Pasadena. bedroom in Chandler. The posters, including four versions of the band’s That concert was postponed amid juxtaposed against white walls latest album, “Map of the Soul: 7.” the COVID-19 outbreak, just as girl covered by splattered paint, More mementos, such as group (G)I-dle was set to perform in poignantly gaze at whoever comes keychains, banners, wristbands the Valley on April 19. It, too, will be in. and lightsticks, clutter the room. rescheduled.
“I probably have upward of 30 A basket fi lled to the brim with But even with postponed concerts, Korean men on my walls,” O’Brien merchandise, such as photocards, the Arizona K-pop community is says. cup sleeves and stickers, sits next stronger than ever.
Each wall is plastered with posters, primarily of icons of Korean to her desk. Each item comes from a different K-pop-themed event IT ALL BEGAN WITH BTS pop, also known as K-pop. created by and for fans in the Valley. Initially, O’Brien disliked K-pop.
This includes the K-pop boy The ASU student has been a K-pop She often made fun of those who band BTS, her favorite band. fan since 2017. Within that time, listened to this style and thought She has tacked photocards of she’s spent over $5,000 to satisfy alternative music was meant for her. the band members, with blue, her K-pop appetite. In the last year, It was not until high school when a friend fi nally wore her down.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll watch one music video,’ and of course it was ‘Spring Day,’” she says.
The 2017 single by BTS piqued O’Brien’s interest instantly.
“I am a literature nerd, and when I found out this song was connected to one of my favorite short stories (‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’), I was hooked from there,” she says.
One video led to another and then another. She spiraled into K-pop. She spent hours on end watching music videos and learning more about these BTS boys she has come to love dearly. BTS was O’Brien’s fi rst K-pop love, but now she’s addicted to 10 boy bands and listens to many more. She has over 396 songs on her daily playlist.
For O’Brien, K-pop is much more than elaborate dances, catchy beats BTS and breathtaking visuals.
2 ECOLLEGETIMES.COM | JUNE 2020
KRISTINE LUENGAS
This music has given her something she always wanted—a community.
MUSICAL ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION
K-pop originated in South Korea and was heavily infl uenced by the music of American troops stationed in the country during and after the Korean War. In 1957, the American Forces Korea Network radio broadcasted Western pop music, increasing the genre’s popularity. It was from there Korean music began to adapt and change to fi t the mold of the American style.
South Korea was impoverished by the war, and one way for Koreans to earn money was by performing for the American troops. Clubs dedicated to musical entertainment rose in number, as did the South Korean economy. This momentum would only grow throughout the years.
By the 1990s, the genre was still booming, but it needed an update. In 1995, South Korean producer Lee Soo-man, who was educated in the United States and knew of its musical trends, founded his own entertainment company to shift the focus of the K-pop industry toward teen-centered pop music.
Boy and girl idol bands began to infi ltrate the scene, targeting a young, under-30 market.
H.O.T., an acronym for Highfi ve of Teenagers, the fi rst boy band, had its debut in 1996. H.O.T. set the trend of forward-thinking fashion, upbeat melodies and energetic dances.
With the 1997 Asian fi nancial crisis, K-pop idol groups began to
look toward international markets, including the United States. By the beginning of the 21st century, there was a tide of Hallyu, or Korean Wave, stars. TVXQ brought forth this second coming of idols, which included SHINee, Big Bang and Girls’ Generation, catapulting this music onto the Billboard charts.
Despite its growing popularity, K-pop did not hit American mainstream until 2012 with the viral success of Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” which is the fi rst YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. There had been several attempts to fully break into the Western music scene by K-pop artists, but none proved to be successful until 2017.
BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, was the fi rst K-pop act to win a Billboard Music Award. The group’s performance of “DNA” at the American Music Awards was the fi rst stage by a K-pop artist, helping the song peak at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Since then, BTS has sold out stadium tours across the United States and has performed on various shows, including Stephen Colbert and Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve. The band performed this year at the Grammy Awards with Lil Nas X, and in 2019, its album “Love Yourself: Tear” was nominated for a Grammy.
The band’s collaboration of “Old Town Road” with Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus brought even more attention, catapulting BTS further into the American music scene, having reached 18.7 million viewers.
According to Billboard, BTS’s agency, Big Hit Entertainment, is valued at over $1 billion, as of 2019. By 2017, the K-pop industry itself was worth $5 billion.
RIDING THE KOREAN WAVE
Like O’Brien, Diana Franco was introduced to K-pop by a fan, in this case Franco’s big sister, Yesenia. Franco, of Tucson, recalled listening to the boy group Big Bang with her sister and becoming intrigued.
As she got older and more involved in other groups’ fandoms, Franco found a way to incorporate another passion into her newfound one—art.
“I loved to draw,” she explains. However, Franco, riddled with selfdoubt, never showed off her art. It was not until she joined the K-pop community that she decided to take a chance.
Franco began collecting K-pop pins designed by fans after seeing BTS at the Rose Bowl in 2019. She began to design enamel pins herself and sell them online and at fan events. She was 16.
Once she received parental approval, Franco created her fi rst pin based on the song “Mikrokosmos” by BTS. Her company is called “MoonchildChimChim,” and she sells on Etsy, BigCartel and at fan events.
Without K-pop, Franco says she would not have been able to come out of her shell. It allowed her to form a business, express her creativity, and connect with an American K-pop fan community.
O’Brien has followed a similar path, but in her case by way of poetry. She fell in love with the written word in English class when she was in grammar school. Since then, she has written many more poems. The most recent poems are based on BTS and its songs.
O’Brien’s twitter hashtag, #PoemsForArmy, allows fans to message her to get personalized poems and positive affi rmations— which most of the time relate to BTS.
“Creating these poems forced me to grow and expand my ability to write,” she says, and “brought inspiration back into my writing.”
In addition, O’Brien has written a book on Wattpad, called “The Theory of BTS.” It has been viewed nearly 600 times, and she continues to update it whenever BTS posts new music.
FIRST STORE OF ITS KIND
Kristine Luengas, a student at Grand Canyon University who resides in Goodyear, operates a popular and well-known store— KPOP Arizona—with the help of her family.
She said she and her younger sister constantly listened to K-pop, with a focus on BTS.
On February 23, the store hosted a launch party for its online store at a park in Goodyear. About 100 people attended, even though the launch party had to be rescheduled due to rain.
“We expected hardly anybody to come out,” Luengas said. “When we saw the amount of people that came, it really showed us that no matter what there will always be people in the K-pop community supporting you, as long as you treat them with the respect they deserve.”
Other vendors, including Franco, and attendees ate homemade BTSthemed desserts, danced, sung, and simply gathered from across the state for their shared love of K-pop.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, online K-pop commerce is thriving. But, KPOP Arizona has had to adjust to the recent changes in regard to its shipping and handling.
“We do receive all our products straight from South Korea, so shipping has been slower than usual, and right now we can’t unbox
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everything as soon as it’s received,” seats, we realize how each moment Luengas explains. with you was,” member Kim Seokjin
“The boxes that we get have to be says. sprayed down with a disinfectant (G)I-dle, alongside the boy group and sit in the sun for four hours.” Monsta X, is scheduled to appear YOU NEVER WALK ALONE in Phoenix during the summer. The group participated in Twitch’s
Maddie Alonzo, of Mesa, found “Stream Aid.” Donations from the the genre during a low point in her 12-hour online program went life. At a birthday party, one of her toward the COVID-19 Solidarity friends sat Alonzo down to watch Response Fund for the World Health hours’ worth of K-pop content. Organization.
“It was then that I saw how From April 17 to 18, BTS beautiful and complex the K-pop livestreamed its previous concerts industry is,” she says. and fanmeets (musters) from 2014 to
Fans often note K-pop is an 2019 as a free gift. icebreaker that takes them out of Bang Bang Con was set up in their comfort zone that helps them response to the group’s postponed meet new people. worldwide tour, which was supposed
“With BTS specifi cally, I have been to start in April. Fans were even able to meet such wonderful people encouraged to sync their lightsticks that will be lifelong friends,” Alonzo to the Weverse app, which utilized says. Bluetooth to change the lightsticks’
This is how it works: O’Brien and color and sync with whatever song Julie Nguyen were school friends was being performed during the who later bonded over K-pop. stream. Nguyen and Alonzo struck up a Throughout the stream, many friendship on the ASU shuttle after fans commented praise toward the Nguyen noticed Alonzo’s K-pop members of BTS for their hard work photocard on her phone case. Now, and dedication that helps fans feel O’Brien, Alonzo and Nguyen are connected during this diffi cult time. friends and created their own fan On March 30, BTS took part in club. a televised concert event called THE COMMUNITY’S ENDURING SPIRIT “Homefest,” organized by late-night host James Corden. The group performed its single “Boy with Luv”
In a time when coronavirus is hoping, it said, to raise spirits in a causing worldwide chaos, the K-pop dark world. community remains strong. Many “I was really bummed about the recent fan events were postponed, concerts being pushed back and this including KPOP Arizona’s pop-up set virus, but then hearing RM (BTS’s for April 18. leader) say we are still connected
K-pop bands and solo artists are made me feel less alone,” O’Brien also using their platforms to connect says. CT with fans.
BTS created a YouTube video as a reminder to stay strong during this time, thanking doctors and medical staff for their effort in fi ghting the virus. The group emphasized the importance of taking preventative measures to ensure the fans can see them quickly. “Standing on a stage facing empty VISIT US @ ecollegetimes.com
