K-pop rises worldwide, in the U.S.
December 7, 2016
The 1960’s brought the British invasion, and 2016 may be the first wave of a new musical invasion.
Modern Korean pop music started in 1992 with the band Seo Taiji and Boys. Its experimentation with their music caught the attention of many other bands. Now, adding foreign elements to songs is a common practice in the Korean pop (K-pop) genre. K-pop’s expansion outside of Korea started in the 21st century with Japanese marketing, beginning the “Korean wave.” Since then, K-pop has had large success in India, Latin America, the Middle East, and much of the Western World. The success of Korean bands in the U.S is still on the rise.
These K-pop songs consist of a mix of Pop, Rock, Electronic, and Hip hop. Many of the videos include extravagant colors and vigorous dance routines.
Management agencies in South Korea will scout talented children at a young age and begin a serious training program to help them fulfill all that is required to become a K-pop “idol”. This includes spending hours a day learning music, dance routines, and foreign languages.
Many people have criticized this intense training, calling it robotic. It has been estimated that it cost around 3 million to train a K-pop idol.
A popular trend in K-pop is the use of English words and phrases. This helps market the songs in a wider range. As well as using English words, some bands use American songwriters such as Will-i-am.
Many famous rappers have been featured on K-pop singles as, such as Kanye West, Akon, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg. Billboard even has an entire page dedicated to K-pop news.
For those in America, there are ways to see the top performers without flying to South Korea. Major K-pop idols get together for international festivals to give foreign fans an opportunity to see their favorites. KCON is a popular convention that brings in multiple K-pop bands every summer to Los Angeles.
Popular K-pop boy group GOT7 is touring the US this summer hosting shows in Miami, Washington DC, Chicago, Houston, and L.A., giving fans a rare chance to see them live.
