19 K-Pop: The WorldWide Phenomena

KPOP:

THE WORLDWIDE PHENOMENA

By: Noëllie Inard Entertainment Editor

Korean culture has been impacting Western countries as no other Eastern culture has ever been. The influence of Korean culture on the West is due to one primary factor that crossed frontiers and started a snowball effect, K-pop.

K-pop stands for Korean Pop and usually refers to Korean music associated with the idol industry in South Korea. However, it also carries a broader meaning that refers to a style of music with different influences like pop, experimental, rock, hip-hop, R&B, electronic and dance with its traditional Korean roots.

K-pop has some particular characteristics that separate it from other kinds of genres. K-pop is aesthetically driven and has a huge audiovisual component that we don’t find anywhere else, most K-pop artists go through training and K-pop usually carries values and a meaning that goes beyond the simple commercial value of making music.

Even though K-pop has its recent breakthrough in the West, it has been around for a long time and the first group to be considered

as a K-pop. They revolutionized Korean music by merging it with Western music while adding hip-hop choreography. After them, many new generations of K-pop groups made their debut. Among many others were H.O.T in the 90s, TVXQ in 2003 and BigBang in 2006. Another group was “Seo Taiji and Boys” in the 90s. While those names may not resonate with people who don’t listen to K-pop, it leads us to today, with the main group that not only everyone knows but the group that broke the barriers of racism to appear in Western music charts and billboards, BTS (Beyond The Scene).

BTS is a group that debuted in 2013 as a hip-hop group and has since explored different genres like pop, R&B, hip-hop and EDM. It is their overall positive message as a group that focuses on mental health, loving oneself and coming of age that has conquered the whole world. Political activism, which according to www.linkspringer.com is “the range of nonprofessional and voluntary activities performed by citizens that are primarily aimed at influencing decisions and outcomes at any level of the political system,” is a big part of K-pop and BTS is a good example. Indeed, among others, they spoke against the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S and started a campaign with UNICEF against bullying with the message of loving oneself.

As said previously, one thing that makes the K-pop industry unique is the training that the artists have to go through. Big companies start recruiting artists as soon as middle school. Then, the trainees start a process where they continue going to school and learning the normal curriculum but on top of that learn how to dance, sing, rap and play instruments.

The K-pop industry is a heartless industry where only the more competitive and passion-driven can succeed. Every month they have evaluations, and if they don’t pass, they are fired from the training program. The industry in itself is usually hated by the fans of K-pop because of its dark side. There are many instances of companies overworking their artists, and sometimes, artists have no freedom whatsoever I asked Saba, a student at USF and a fan of Kpop, her opinion about the industry: “The Kpop industry has become a global phenomenon but there is so much of the industry that does not sit right with me. Compared to the western music industry, I think the Kpop industry is more strictly related to the image of the idols/groups which is why most idols are monitored by their staff everywhere they go [...].”

Recently, many scandals involving the entertainment industries in South Korea were discovered. From CEOs blackmailing and assaulting their artists, artists being forced to perform while being sick or even companies starving their artists. Many artists have committed suicide or have been on a hiatus for mental health problems due to the high pressure and the behindthe-scenes of the industry.

Most fans do make the distinction between the love they have for their South Korean artists and the toxicity of the industry that surrounds them. Elvia, a USF student and K-pop fan, stated, ”I think the K-pop industry is like a factory just producing for profit. Especially because they train idols from a young age and have really high exceptions for them. However, Kpop does hold a special place in my heart.”

Kpop was the breakthrough that brought Korean culture into the West but mostly allowed people to discover a variety of Korean artists that may be famous in South Korea but didn’t have as much fame in the West.

From Korean rap, R&B, Rock, and Hip-hop; the wave that K-pop started brought a lot of opportunities for Korean music to cross the world. Though racism in Western countries keeps this new wave from enlishing its full potential, slowly, more and more Asian artists are represented in Western music charts or awards ceremonies.

"It's easier for people to process [that] Kpop is going to be 15 kids on a stage with purple hair, wearing flashy clothes and dancing. That's why I am hesitant, in the States, to say that I am a Kpop artist. [...] What's the most important to me is that I am able to take part in a movement that really pushes the enveloppe for representation, diversity and inclusion when it comes to music [...]; pushing forward this movement and culture of Asians and Asian Americans." - Pop Artist, Eric Nam