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The rise of k-pop, and what it reveals about society and culture.

Initially a musical subculture popular in South Korea during the 1990s, Korean Pop, or K-pop, has transformed into a global cultural phenomenon.

Characterized by catchy hooks, polished choreography, grandiose live performances, and impeccably produced music videos, K-pop — including music by groups like BTS and BLACKPINK — now frequently tops the Billboard charts, attracts a fiercely dedicated online following, and generates billions of dollars.

Yale sociologist Grace Kao, who became fascinated with the music after watching a 2019 performance by BTS on Saturday Night Live, now studies the subgenres of K-pop and its cultural, sociological, and political effects.

Kao, the IBM Professor of Sociology and professor of ethnicity, race, and migration in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and director of the Center on Empirical Research in Stratification and Inequality (CERSI), recently spoke with Yale News about the kinds of research her interest in K-pop has prompted, why the genre’s rise has been important to so many Asian Americans, and why she urges today’s students to become familiar with various musical genres.

The interview has been edited and condensed.

You have said that watching BTS on Saturday Night Live changed your view of K-pop. How did that performance transform your interest in K-pop from a personal one into an academic one?

Grace Kao: I saw that performance, and it stayed in the back of my mind. Then, when we were on lockdown because of COVID, being stuck at home set the stage for having time to watch more K-pop videos. At first, I was just watching them for fun. I knew K-pop was something important, but I didn’t know anything about it. I thought “I should educate myself on this.” My current research collaborator, Wonseok Lee [an ethnomusicologist and a musician at Washington University], and a Yale graduate student, Meera Choi, who’s Korean, offered guidance.

I’ve always been interested in race and ethnicity and Asian Americans. I knew in my gut that K-pop was important, but it was hard to figure out exactly how I could work on it, since I’m a quantitative sociologist. What's fun about being a researcher and being in academia is that we can learn new things and push ourselves. I think that’s the best part of this job.

Grace Kao recommends this playlist to get started.

When I started working on it, I tried to learn without having a clear research question. Then, along with my collaborator, Lee, we started thinking about papers that we could work on together. I was also able to take first-semester Korean, so now I can read Korean, and Choi and I can begin working on different research papers.

What kinds of research are you doing?

Kao: One paper is about the link between ’80s synth-pop and very current K-pop. Others have argued that K-pop borrows heavily from American Black music — R&B, hip hop, and so forth. And it’s true, but we’re arguing that K-pop has links to all these different genres because the production is much faster. We also finished another paper looking at the links between New Wave synth-pop to Japanese city pop [which was also popular in the 1980s] and a Korean version of city pop. And we’re probably going to start a reggae paper next.

In another project, with two data scientists we’re looking at Twitter data related to a 2021 BTS tweet that happened about a week after a gunman in Atlanta murdered eight women, including six of Asian descent. The tweet, which was about #StopAsianHate, or #StopAAPIHate, was the most retweeted tweet of the year. Everyone in that world knows that K-pop is extremely influential, but there are moments now where it seems like it’s ripe for political action because fans are already really organized. We’re looking at how the conversation about the shootings before and after they tweeted changed. The analysis involves millions of tweets, so it's very data intensive work.

Last March you gave a talk on campus in which you talked about the role of K-pop in “transformative possibilities for Asian Americans.” What is an example of those possibilities?

Kao: Partly it’s just visibility. The SNL performance by BTS was really important for people. Especially people my age, we had never seen a bunch of East Asian people on the stage singing in a non-English, non-Western language. I knew that was an important moment regardless of whether or not you like the music or the performance.

I think during COVID, BTS made Asian faces more visible. They were on the cover of Time magazine, every major publication. They were everywhere. But it also brought up questions of xenophobia. People were making fun of them because of how they looked. At the time there was also the extra baggage that comes with being Asian. But any time BTS were attacked, because their fandom is so big and so passionate, their fans would jump on anyone who did anything to them. Then journalists would cover it, and suddenly there were all these stories about how you shouldn’t be racist against Asians.

Many of us who study Asian Americans have observed over time that it often seems acceptable for people to make fun of Asian things. Just by virtue of the fact that it’s [BTS], that their fans are protecting them, and that that gets elevated to the news is a big deal. President Biden invited them to the White House. These are all things I would have had trouble imagining even just five years ago.

You teach a first-year seminar, “Race and Place in British New Wave, K-pop, and Beyond,” which focuses on the emphasis on aesthetics in both genres’ popularity. What understanding do you hope students walk away with?

Kao: I want students to take pop culture very seriously. Sometimes pop music seems not serious, but so many people consume it that it can have pervasive and serious consequences on how people see folks of different race, ethnic, gender, and national identities.

Another thing I wanted students to learn about is genres of music. Students today like music, but they consume it very differently than people did when in college. We listened to the radio or watched MTV, so we were fed something from a DJ or from actual people who were programming the content. You’d end up listening to a lot of music that you didn’t like, but you’d also have a better sense of genres than students now. Today students consume music through Spotify or YouTube and so forth, which use algorithms to give you songs that are similar to the songs you liked, but not necessarily from the same genre. Students can have diverse and wide-ranging experiences with music, but I found that they have trouble identifying that any particular song is part of a genre. So I feel like it’s important for them to listen to a lot of music.

I want them to consume it because sometimes we think we can comment on things that we don’t know anything about. We don’t actually consume it. I think it’s important for students to walk away knowing something about these genres and to be able to identify them: this is a reggae song, this is a ska song, this is synth-pop, et cetera.

What K-pop groups are you currently into?

Kao: Besides BTS, I enjoy listening to groups such as SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, NewJeans, Super Junior, and new group TRENDZ.

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K-Pop’s Global Influence: How It Became a Cultural Phenomenon

K-Pop, short for Korean Pop, has taken the world by storm in recent years. From its humble beginnings in South Korea, K-Pop has become a global phenomenon, influencing cultures and music scenes around the world. In this article, we will explore the rise of K-Pop and its impact on the global music industry.

K-Pop has its roots in South Korea, where it emerged as a distinct genre in the 1990s. Initially, the music was influenced by American and Japanese pop music, but over time, it developed its own unique style, blending elements of pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic dance music. K-Pop was initially popular in South Korea, but it wasn’t until the late 2000s and early 2010s that it started to gain traction outside of the country.

One of the biggest factors contributing to K-Pop’s global success is the rise of the internet and social media. In the early days of K-Pop, fans could only access the music through imports and bootlegged videos, but with the rise of the internet, fans could easily find and share K-Pop music and videos. This led to a growing interest in the genre, and soon K-Pop started to gain fans around the world.

K Pop star, Doh Kyung-soo, covered Usher's classic DJ Got Us Falling In Love at his Tokyo concert last week pic.twitter.com/Fr5Yfjfn9z — cj (@cjs_confessions) December 13, 2022

Another factor contributing to K-Pop’s success is the industry’s focus on image and performance. K-Pop groups are known for their flashy and carefully choreographed performances, and the industry places a strong emphasis on visual appeal and image. This has helped K-Pop groups to stand out and gain attention, as they offer fans a unique and visually stunning experience.

One of the most notable aspects of K-Pop is the intense training and preparation that goes into creating a successful K-Pop group. Most K-Pop artists train for several years before they even debut, and they are often subjected to rigorous training regimes that cover everything from singing and dancing to language and cultural skills. This dedication to training and preparation has resulted in a level of professionalism and showmanship that is unmatched in the music industry.

In addition to its music, K-Pop has also had a significant impact on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. The industry has a strong focus on image, and K-Pop artists are often seen as trendsetters, influencing fashion and beauty trends around the world. K-Pop concerts and events are also known for their elaborate stage setups and production values, and fans often come dressed in elaborate costumes and accessories, inspired by their favorite K-Pop groups.

K-Pop has also had a significant impact on the music industry as a whole. The genre has proven that there is a market for non-English language music, and it has opened the door for other non-English language music genres to gain global recognition. K-Pop has also challenged the traditional music industry model, as K-Pop groups are often managed by large entertainment companies, which handle everything from music production to marketing and promotion.

Despite its success, K-Pop has faced criticism and controversy over the years. Some have criticized the industry for its focus on image and appearance, and the intense training regimes that K-Pop artists are subjected to. There have also been concerns about the exploitation of young performers, and the industry’s treatment of female K-Pop artists, who are often subjected to strict beauty standards and sexualized imagery.

Wild stat: tweets from BTS band-members account for 17 of the 30 most-liked tweets ever. pic.twitter.com/2QRohZEBRl — Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) February 21, 2023

Despite these criticisms, K-Pop’s global influence continues to grow. The genre has inspired a new generation of music fans, and it has opened up new avenues for artists to reach a global audience. K-Pop has also helped to break down cultural barriers and bring people from around the world together, and it has established itself as a cultural phenomenon that is here to stay.

In conclusion, K-Pop’s rise to global prominence is a testament to the power of music and the internet. From its beginnings in South Korea, K-Pop has become a cultural force, influencing fashion, beauty, and music scenes around the world. The industry’s focus on image, performance, and training has helped K-Pop artists to stand out and captivate audiences, and its impact on the music industry as a whole has challenged traditional models and opened up new opportunities for non-English language music genres. While the industry has faced criticism and controversy, K-Pop’s influence continues to grow, and its impact on the world is a testament to the power of music to bring people together and break down cultural barriers.

Featured Image: Blackpink Official Twitter

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How K-pop became a global phenomenon

No country takes its fluffy pop music more seriously than South Korea.

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They call it Hallyu, the Korean wave: the idea that South Korean pop culture has grown in prominence to become a major driver of global culture, seen in everything from Korean dramas on Netflix to Korean skincare regimens dominating the cosmetics industry to delicious Korean tacos on your favorite local menu. And at the heart of Hallyu is the ever-growing popularity of K-pop — short, of course, for Korean pop music.

K-pop has become a truly global phenomenon thanks to its distinctive blend of addictive melodies, slick choreography and production values, and an endless parade of attractive South Korean performers who spend years in grueling studio systems learning to sing and dance in synchronized perfection.

Hallyu has been building for two decades , but K-pop in particular has become increasingly visible to global audiences in the past five to 10 years. South Korean artists have hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart at least eight times since the Wonder Girls first cracked it in 2009 with their crossover hit “Nobody” — released in four different languages, including English — and the export of K-pop has ballooned South Korea’s music industry to an impressive $5 billion industry .

Now, with South Korea hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang at a moment of extremely heightened geopolitical tensions , K-pop has taken on a whole new kind of sociopolitical significance, as South Korea proudly displays its best-known export before the world.

How did K-pop become a $5 billion global industry?

Vox explore K-pop’s elaborate music videos, adoring fans, and killer choreography for our Netflix series Explained .

Watch now on Netflix.

What the Winter Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies told us about K-pop (and vice versa)

During the Olympic opening ceremonies on February 9, 2018, athletes marched in the Parade of Nations to the accompaniment of a select group of K-pop hits , each playing into the image South Korea wants to present right now: one of a country that’s a fully integrated part of the global culture.

The Parade of Nations songs all have significant international and digital presences, and each advertises the cross-cultural fluency of K-pop. Twice’s “Likey” is a huge recent hit for the group, and recently made it to 100 million views on YouTube faster than any other song by a K-pop girl group. (The video prominently features the girls on a fun field trip to Vancouver, marketing the idea that they’re at home all over the world.) Big Bang’s “Fantastic Baby” was one of the first K-pop hits to make inroads in American culture and was featured on Glee’ s K-pop episode along with “Gangnam Style,” which also played during the Parade of Nations.

Psy’s ubiquitous 2012 hit is part doofy comedy and part clear-eyed satire, made by a musician who’s part of a wave of South Korean musicians who’ve studied at American music schools. “Gangnam Style” spent five years racking up more than 3 billion views on YouTube, reigning as the most-viewed video in the platform’s history before being dethroned in 2017.

As a whole, these songs and performers show us that K-pop stars can excel at everything from singing to comedy to rap to dance to social commentary. And their fun, singable melodies make it clear that the South Korean music industry has perfected the pop production machine into an effervescent assembly line of ridiculously catchy tunes sung by ridiculously talented people in ridiculously splashy videos. When Red Velvet sing, “Bet you wanna (bet you wanna) dance like this” in their single “Red Flavor,” they’re sending a message to the world that South Korea is modern but wholesome, colorful, inviting, and fun.

And at the Olympics closing ceremonies, we saw live performances from two more K-pop icons: solo artist CL, formerly a member of the powerhouse girl group 2NE1, and multi-national band Exo. CL’s appearance was a testament to her success in achieving one of the holy grails for K-Pop — a crossover into US fame, or at least onto the Billboard Hot 100. CL has landed on the list twice since 2015.

Exo, meanwhile, is arguably one of the two or three biggest K-Pop successes going right now. The band was a perfect fit for the Olympics — they’re multilingual and were formed with the intention of performing in Mandarin and Japanese as well as South Korea. And for several years, Exo was split into two subgroups, one performing mainly in Korea and one mainly in China. All of this made them a great choice to serve as a symbolic transition between nations, as Tokyo gets ready to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, followed by Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Prominently missing from the live performance roster at the Olympics was the most popular K-pop band in the universe at the moment: BTS. BTS became an uncontested US phenomenon in 2017, with two songs hitting the Billboard Hot 100, a huge performance at the American Music Awards, a New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square, and a remix of their latest single, “Mic Drop,” done by Steve Aoki. If it’s possible to ascribe a tipping point to a “wave” that seems to be endless, BTS might be it; it certainly seems that the all-boy group has gone as far as a South Korean band can go in terms of making inroads into American culture — they recently graced the cover of American Billboard magazine. But while the band was missing from the Olympics, their song “DNA” — the other of their pair of 2017 hits — did at least play during the opening ceremonies, much to the delight of fans.

None of this is accidental. K-pop has become the international face of South Korea thanks to an extremely regimented, coordinated production system. More than any other international music industry, K-pop has been strategically designed to earworm its way into your brain — and to elevate South Korea and its culture onto the world stage.

How did we get here? Through a combination of global political changes, savvy corporatization and media management, and a heck of a lot of raw talent being ground through a very powerful stardom mill.

K-pop began in 1992 with one electric hip-hop performance

K-pop as we know it wouldn’t exist without democracy and television — specifically, South Korea’s reformation of its democratic government in 1987, with its accompanying modernization and lightening of censorship, and the effect this change had on television.

Prior to the establishment of the nation’s Sixth Republic , there were only two broadcast networks in the country, and they largely controlled what music South Koreans listened to; singers and musicians weren’t much more than tools of the networks. Networks introduced the public to musical stars primarily through weekend music talent shows. Radio existed but, like the TV networks, was under tight state control. Independent music production didn’t really exist, and rock music was controversial and subject to banning ; musicians and songs were primarily introduced to the public through the medium of the televised talent show, and radio served as little more than a subsidiary platform for entertainers who succeeded on those weekend TV competitions.

Before the liberalization of South Korean media in the late ‘80s, the music produced by broadcast networks was primarily either slow ballads or “trot,” a Lawrence Welk-ish fusion of traditional music with old pop standards. After 1987, though, the country’s radio broadcasting expanded rapidly, and South Koreans became more regularly exposed to more varieties of music from outside the country, including contemporary American music.

But TV was still the country’s dominant, centralized form of media: As of 1992, national TV networks had penetrated above 99 percent of South Korean homes, and viewership was highest on the weekends, when the talent shows took place. These televised talent shows were crucial in introducing music groups to South Korean audiences; they still have an enormous cultural impact and remain the single biggest factor in a South Korean band’s success.

As Moonrok editor Hannah Waitt points out in her excellent series on the history of K-pop, K-pop is unusual as a genre because it has a definitive start date, thanks to a band called Seo Taiji and Boys. Seo Taiji had previously been a member of the South Korean heavy metal band Sinawe , which was itself a brief but hugely influential part of the development of Korean rock music in the late ‘80s. After the band broke up, he turned to hip-hop and recruited two stellar South Korean dancers, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, to join him as backups in a group dubbed Seo Taiji and Boys. On April 11, 1992, they performed their single “Nan Arayo (I Know)” on a talent show:

Not only did the Boys not win the talent show, but the judges gave the band the lowest score of the evening. But immediately after the song debuted, “I Know” went on to top South Korea’s singles charts for a record-smashing 17 weeks, which would stand for more than 15 years as the longest No. 1 streak in the country’s history.

“I Know” represented the first time modern American-style pop music had been fused with South Korean culture. Seo Taiji and Boys were innovators who challenged norms around musical styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship. They sang about teen angst and the social pressure to succeed within a grueling education system, and insisted on creating their own music and writing their own songs outside of the manufactured network environment.

By the time Seo Taiji and Boys officially disbanded in 1996, they had changed South Korea’s musical and performance landscape, paving the way for other artists to be even more experimental and break even more boundaries — and for music studios to quickly step in and take over, forming an entire new studio system from the remnants of the broadcast-centered system.

Between 1995 and 1998, three powerhouse music studios appeared: SM Entertainment (often referred to as SM Town) in 1995; JYP Entertainment in 1997; and YG Entertainment in 1998, created by one of the members of Seo Taiji and Boys, Yang Hyun-suk. Together, these studios began deliberately cultivating what would become known as idol groups.

The first idol group in South Korea appeared on the scene in 1996, when SM founder Lee Soo-man created a group called H.O.T. by assembling five singers and dancers who represented what he believed teens wanted to see from a modern pop group.

H.O.T. shared traits with today’s idol groups: a combination of singing, dancing, and rapping, and disparate personalities united through music. In 1999, the band was chosen to perform in a major benefit concert with Michael Jackson, in part because of their potential to become international pop stars — an indication that even in the ’90s, the industry was attuned to K-pop’s potential for global success.

That potential can be seen in the studios’ eager promotion of multilingual artists like BoA , who made her public debut at the age of 13 in 2000 and in the ensuing years has become one of South Korea’s best-known exports thanks to a brand built on raw talent and multicultural positivity.

All the while, K-pop as a whole was building its own brand, one based on flash, style, and a whole lot of quality.

Don’t ask what makes a K-pop song. Ask what makes a K-pop performer.

There are three things that make K-pop such a visible and unique contributor to the realm of pop music: exceptionally high-quality performance (especially dancing), an extremely polished aesthetic, and an “in-house” method of studio production that churns out musical hits the way assembly lines churn out cars.

No song more perfectly embodies these characteristics than Girls’ Generation’s 2009 hit “Gee,” a breakout success that came at a moment when K-pop was starting to turn heads internationally due to a number of recent milestone hits — notably Big Bang’s “Haru, Haru,” Wonder Girls’ “Nobody,” and Brown Eyed Girls’ “Abracadabra.” “Gee” was a viral internet earworm , breaking out of typical K-pop fan spaces and putting Girls’ Generation within striking distance of US fame.

The combination of cheeky, colorful concept, clever choreography, cute girls, and catchy songwriting makes “Gee” the quintessential K-pop song: It’s fun, infectious, and memorable — and it was all but algorithmically produced by a studio machine responsible for delivering perfect singing, perfect dancing, perfect videos, and perfect entertainment. The then-nine members of Girls’ Generation were factory-assembled into the picture-perfect, male-gaze-ready dolls you see in the song’s music video via extreme studio oversight and years of hard work from each woman — a combined 52 years of training in total, beginning in their childhoods.

Through highly competitive auditions, starting around ages 10 to 12, music studios induct talented children into the K-pop regimen. The children attend special schools where they take specialized singing and dancing lessons ; they learn how to moderate their public behavior and prepare for life as a pop star; they spend hours in daily rehearsals and perform in weekend music shows as well as special group performances. Through these performances, lucky kids can gain fan followings before they even officially “debut.” And when they’re old enough, if they’re really one of the lucky few, the studios will place them into an idol group or even, occasionally, launch them as a solo artist.

Once an idol group has been trained to perfection, the studios generate pop songs for them, market them, put them on TV, send them on tour, and determine when they’ll next make their “comeback” — a term that usually signals a band’s latest album release, generally accompanied by huge fanfare, special TV appearances, and a totally new thematic concept.

Because of the control they exert over their artists, South Korean music studios are directly responsible for shaping the global image of K-pop as a genre. But the industry is notoriously exploitative , and studio life is grueling to the point that it can easily cross over to abusive ; performers are regularly signed to long-term contracts, known as “slave contracts,” when they are still children, which closely dictate their private behavior, dating life, and public conduct.

The studios are also a breeding ground for predatory behavior and harassment from studio executives. In recent years, increasing public attention to these problems has given rise to change; in 2017, multiple studios agreed to significant contract reform . Still, as the recent suicide of Shinee artist Kim Jong-hyun revealed, the pressures of studio culture are rarely made public and can take a serious toll on those who grow up within the system.

Despite all this, the cloistered life of a K-pop star is coveted by thousands of South Korean teens and preteens — so much so that walk-in auditions to scout kids for the studio programs are frequently held in South Korea and New York.

In addition to studio auditions, a wave of new TV audition shows have sprung up in the past few years, giving unknowns a chance to be discovered and build a fan base. Often called idol shows or survival shows, these audition shows are comparable to American Idol and X-Factor. Competitors on these shows can make it big on their own or be grouped up — like the recently debuted group JBJ (short for the fan-dubbed moniker “Just Be Joyful”), consisting of boys who competed in the talent show Produce 101 Season 2 last year and then got put in a temporary group after fans started making composite Instagram photos of them all together. The band only has a seven-month contract; enjoy it while it lasts!

These TV-sponsored idol shows have caused pushback from the studios, which see them as producing immature talent — and, of course, cutting into studio profits. That’s because a K-pop group’s success is directly tied to its live TV performances. Today there are numerous talent shows, along with many more variety shows and well-known chart TV countdown shows like Inkigayo and M Countdown, which factor into how successful — and therefore bankable — a K-pop idol or idol group is seen to be. Winning a weekend music show or weekly chart countdown remains one of the highest honors an artist or musical group can attain in the South Korean music industry.

Because of this dependence on live performance shows, a song’s performance elements — how easy it is to sing live, how easy it is for an audience to pick up and sing along with, the impact of its choreography, its costuming — are all crucial to its success. Groups routinely go all-out for their performances: Witness After-School learning to perform an entire drumline sequence for live performances of their single “Bang!” as well as pretty much every live performance mentioned here .

All of this emphasis on live performances make fans an extremely active part of the experience. K-pop fans have perfected the art of the fan chant , in which fans in live studio audiences and live performances will shout alternate fan chants over the musical intros to songs, and sometimes as a counterpoint to choruses, as a show of unity and support.

This collectivity has helped ensure that K-pop fan bases both at home and abroad are absolutely massive, and intense to a degree that’s hard to overstate. Fans intensely support their favorite group members, and many fans go out of their way to make sure their favorite idols look and dress the part of world-class performers . K-Con, the largest US K-pop convention, has grown exponentially over the years and now includes both Los Angeles and New York.

(There are also anti-fans who target band members — most notoriously an anti who attempted to poison a member of DBSK in 2006. But the less said about them, the better.)

You might expect that in the face of all this external pressure, K-pop groups would be largely dysfunctional messes. Instead, modern-day K-pop appears to be a seamless, gorgeous, well-oiled machine — complete with a few glaring contradictions that make it all the more fascinating.

Modern K-pop is a bundle of colorful contradictions

Though government censorship of South Korean music has relaxed over time, it still exists, as does industry self-censorship in response to a range of controversial topics. South Korean social mores stigmatize everything from sexual references and innuendo to references to drugs and alcohol — as well as actual illicit behavior by idols — and addressing any of these subjects can cause a song to be arbitrarily banned from radio play and broadcast. Songs dealing with serious themes or thorny issues are largely off limits, queer identity is generally only addressed as subtext, and lyrics are usually scrubbed down to fluffy platitudes. Thematically, it’s often charming and innocent, bordering on adolescent.

Despite these limitations, K-pop has grown over time in its nuance and sophistication thanks to artists and studios who have often either risked censorship or relied on visual cues and subtext to fill in the gaps.

Case in point: the 2000 hit “Adult Ceremony” from singer and actor Park Ji-yoon, which marked the first time a K-pop hit successfully injected adult sexuality into fairly innocuous lyrics, representing a notable challenge to existing depictions of femininity in South Korean pop culture.

The women of K-pop are typically depicted as traditional versions of femininity. This usually manifests in one of several themes: adorable, shy schoolgirls who sing about giddy crushes; knowing, empowered women who need an “oppa” (a strong older male figure) to fulfill their fantasies; or knowing, empowered women who reject male validation , even as the studio tailors the group’s members for adult male consumption.

An idol group’s image often changes from one album to the next, undergoing a total visual and tonal overhaul to introduce a new concept. However, there are a few girl groups — 2NE1 and f(x) spring most readily to mind — that have been marketed as breaking away from this gender-centric mode of performance; they’re packaged as rebels and mavericks regardless of what their album is about, even while they operate within the studio culture.

Yet the women of K-pop are also increasingly producing self-aware videos that navigate their own relationships to these rigid impositions. Witness Sunmi, a former member of Wonder Girls, tearing down her own carefully cultivated public image in her recent single “Heroine,” a song about a woman surviving a failed relationship. In the video, Sunmi transforms physically , growing more empowered and defiant as she faces the camera and finally confronts a billboard of herself.

If songs for women in K-pop break down along the “virgin/mature woman” divide, songs for men tend to break down along a “bad boy/sophisticated man” line. Occasionally they even break down in the same song — like Block B’s “Jackpot,” the video for which sees the band posing as wildly varied members of a renegade circus, uniting to kidnap actress Kim Sae-ron into a life of cheerful hedonism.

Male performance groups are generally permitted a broader range of topics than K-pop’s women: BTS notably sings about serious issues like teen social pressures, while many other boy bands feature a wide range of narrative concepts. But male entertainers get held to arguably even more exacting physical and technical standards than their female counterparts, with precision choreography — like Speed’s all-Heely dance routine below — being a huge part of the draw for male idol groups:

If you’re wondering whether co-ed bands coexist in these studio cultures, the answer is, not really. Most of the time , co-ed groups tend to be one-off pairings of members from different bands for one or two singles, or novelty acts that are quickly split into gendered subgroups. The most famous actual co-ed band is probably the brother-sister duo Akdong Musician, a pair of cute kids who made it big on an audition show; and even they get split up a lot to pair with other singers. (See the “Hi Suhyun” clip above, which features Lee Hi and the sisterly half of AM, Lee Su-hyun.)

It probably goes without saying that this traditional gender divide isn’t exactly fertile ground for queer idols to thrive. Despite a number of K-pop stars openly supporting LGBTQ rights, the industry aggressively markets homoeroticism in its videos but remains generally homophobic. But progress is happening here, too: South Korea’s first openly gay idol just appeared on the scene in early 2018. His name is Holland, and his first single debuted to a respectable 6.5 million views.

Hip-hop tends to be a dominant part of the K-pop sound, particularly among male groups, a trend that has opened up the genre to criticism for appropriation. South Korea grapples with a high degree of cultural racism, and recent popular groups have come under fire for donning blackface , appropriating Native American iconography , and much more . Still, K-pop has increasingly embraced diversity in recent years, with black members joining K-pop groups and duo Coco Avenue putting out a bilingual single in 2017.

Last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention South Korea’s emergent indie music scene , which includes a thriving crop of independent rap, hip-hop, and, increasingly, R&B artists , as well as a host of grassroots artists who’ve made waves on SoundCloud .

Taking stock of all these changes and paradoxes, we might be able to extrapolate a bit about what the future of K-pop looks like: even more diverse, with an ever-increasing number of independent artists shaking up the studio scene, even though most of them will still have to play within the system’s rigid standards.

This gradual evolution suggests that part of the reason K-pop has been able to make international inroads in recent years is that it’s been able to push against its own rigid norms, through the use of modern themes and sophisticated subtexts, without sacrificing the incredibly polished packaging that makes it so innately compelling. That would seem to be a formula for continued global success — especially now that South Korea and its culture has the world’s attention. Hallyu may swell or subside, but the K-pop production machine goes ever on. And from here, the future looks fantastic, baby .

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Home Essay Samples Entertainment

K-pop Essays

K-pop, also known as Korean pop music, has taken the world by storm in recent years. With its catchy tunes, vibrant choreography, and charismatic performers, it has captured the hearts of millions of fans worldwide. Therefore we will discuss some K-pop essay topics, ideas, and tips for writing a K-pop college essay. Here are 5 K-pop topics to write about:

The evolution of K-pop – This topic explores how K-pop has evolved over the years, from its early days in the 1990s to its current global popularity. You can analyze the various stages of K-pop and how it has changed over the years.
The impact of K-pop on Korean culture – K-pop is not just a music genre; it is also a cultural phenomenon that has influenced Korean society. You can discuss how K-pop has influenced Korean culture, such as fashion, beauty standards, and language.
K-pop and globalization – This topic analyzes how K-pop has become a global phenomenon and its impact on globalization. You can discuss how K-pop has introduced Korean culture to the world and how it has influenced other cultures.
The business of K-pop – K-pop is not just about music; it is also a massive business. You can explore how the K-pop industry works, from training programs to music production and marketing strategies.
K-pop fandom culture – K-pop has some of the most passionate fans in the world. You can explore the fandom culture and the role of fans in the success of K-pop.

When writing a K-pop essay, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the topic. It is also crucial to research and gather relevant information to support your arguments. You can use K-pop news articles, academic papers, and documentaries as sources.

In conclusion, K-pop is a fascinating subject to explore for students looking for unique essay topics. Remember to conduct thorough research, organize your thoughts, and present your arguments clearly to impress your professor.

Intellectualism In K-pop: Hidden Intellectualism

In “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he discusses his view on intellectualism by describing it through the lens of a sports fanatic, arguing that intellectualism is found in other places rather than only in academics. He goes on to explain that through sports such as...

Hidden Intellectualism

K-Pop: Unveiling Its Discourse Community and Influence

The major difference between humans and animals is the ability to communicate with each other. Throughout the course of human development, people need a way for mass communication to reach a final decision or to represent a certain point of view or belief. This can...

Discourse Community

The Star Of K-pop, Bts, And Their Relation To Fans

In today's generation, music with various languages has gain traction with the international audience. One of them is Korean music, or what is often referred to as KPOP. Not knowing the language doesn't stop us from enjoying it. KPOP has become a global sensation that...

Music Industry

Understanding The Negative Sides Of K-pop Industry

The era of Korean pop music (shortly K-pop) began in the 1990s with the rise of Seotaiji and the Boys – a hip-hop group with their hit single Nan Arayo/I Know – who brought a new audience to music: teenagers. Idols’ job is not merely...

The Reasons Why K-pop And Korean Music Are So Popular

South Korea is well-known for beautiful places, delicious foods and modern technology. However when people talk about South Korea, they will mention about K-pop as well. K-pop is an abbreviation of Korean pop, according from an encyclopedia, K-pop “is a genre of popular music originating...

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The Visibility Of K-pop As A Music Genre And Wave

“There are three things that make K-pop such a visible and unique contributor to the realm of pop music: exceptionally high-quality performance, an extremely polished aesthetic, and an “in-house” method of studio production that churns out musical hits the way assembly lines churn out cars”...

Exploring Why K-pop And Korean Wave Is So Popular

Intro Hello everyone. Today I will be discussing how the integration of social media into Kpop fandoms, particularly through video streaming platforms like Youtube, has affected fan participatory culture, by altering the interaction and behaviours of fandoms and the distribution of Korean content throughout the...

The Relationship Between K-pop's Popularity And Self-esteem

Scholars have analyzed the impact that K-pop has on its audience and listeners (Lie, 2012). The popularity of South Korean popular music (K-pop) has since spread from “Japan and Taiwan” to “the Americas and the Middle East” (p. 340). This is because of the gradual...

The History of K-Pop Popularity in Latin America

K-pop means 'Korean pop', however this concept refers in general to the popular music industry in South Korea. It can be said that K-Pop is not a specific musical genre, but a mixture of different western musical styles such as rock, jazz, hip hop, among...

Pop Culture

K-Pop Fandom as a Subculture: Comparing K-Pop and Western Fandoms

Subcultures are when individuals join specific groups to collectively carry out certain activities that deviates from mainstream culture or society (Grinnell College, n.d.). Whereas the term ‘scene’, is often used to — particularly in the context of music — capture the relationships between members, such...

Analysis of the K-Pop Industry and Its Eye-Catching Marketing

K-Pop (Korean pop music) refers to 'Korean pop music, or popular music from Korea, including dance music, modern rhythm, and blues, pop music, hip hop music.' (Wikipedia, 2019) This industry can fit in Richard Caves' seven economic properties. Firstly, in terms of A list/B list,...

The Dark Side of K-Pop Industry

The day I started writing this article was also the day I happened to visit a book fair in my hometown. I was more than surprised when upon entering, I could hear ‘Fake Love’ by Korean boy band BTS blasting on the speakers. While I...

Effects of Patronizing Korean Pop (KPOP) Songs in the Philippine Music Industry

Abstract Philippine music, with its famous OPM and other genres of music brought by the influence of the westerners, have been affected when foreign music like Korean pop songs became famous to the Filipinos. It has been affected in a sense that only a few...

The Popularity and Love of Kpop Culture Among Teenagers

The world has many cultures trending nowadays, most of them help on shaping “the world”, what I mean is that many of these culture flow in our lives and bring impacts to our society, maybe also economic markets. One in that many cultures are becoming...

Understanding the Influence of K-Pop on Filipino Teens

Kpop are becoming more popular in Asia especially in the Philippines more particularly on Filipino Teenagers or what we call nowadays as millennials. The influence of Kpop on Filipino teenagers is gradually increasing. The visual, music, choreography, and artistic content of Korean music and videos...

My Attitude To BTS, Korea Boyband

BTS, Korea boyband, arguably the biggest boyband in the world today. Maybe you've heard it, maybe you saw it at Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. A group of sweet-faced young people who took k-pop to the next level. I've written a bit about how k-pop...

Best topics on K-pop

1. Intellectualism In K-pop: Hidden Intellectualism

2. K-Pop: Unveiling Its Discourse Community and Influence

3. The Star Of K-pop, Bts, And Their Relation To Fans

4. Understanding The Negative Sides Of K-pop Industry

5. The Reasons Why K-pop And Korean Music Are So Popular

6. The Visibility Of K-pop As A Music Genre And Wave

7. Exploring Why K-pop And Korean Wave Is So Popular

8. The Relationship Between K-pop’s Popularity And Self-esteem

9. The History of K-Pop Popularity in Latin America

10. K-Pop Fandom as a Subculture: Comparing K-Pop and Western Fandoms

11. Analysis of the K-Pop Industry and Its Eye-Catching Marketing

12. The Dark Side of K-Pop Industry

13. Effects of Patronizing Korean Pop (KPOP) Songs in the Philippine Music Industry

14. The Popularity and Love of Kpop Culture Among Teenagers

15. Understanding the Influence of K-Pop on Filipino Teens

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Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning Essay

Globalization has made people more aware of other cultures, traditions, values, and viewpoints. In this sense, Asian cultures, including their artists, performers, and actors, gain more popularity in other nations. Among the well-known Asian music genres is K-Pop, which introduced to the world a large number of talented musicians. However, while learning about K-Pop can contribute to the understanding of the new genre, it can be valuable to study this field from a cultural perspective. This way, the cultural meaning of studying K-Pop involves a deeper understanding of the Asian communities, their values, preferences, perception of aesthetics, and artistic activity.

K-Pop can be referred to as a part of the popular culture of the Asian region. From an academic point of view, such kind of culture is an “inferior culture” culture and involves popular entertainment, art, press, and cinema (Storey 8). While being considered inferior, K-Pop is still valuable in terms of Asian ideology, which implies a systematic set of beliefs. The first cultural meaning of studying K-Pop involves learning “a general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development” of Asian people (Storey 1). This will allow other nations to gain a more profound knowledge of great artists and the philosophy behind some lyrics. Furthermore, K-Pop can be useful in terms of learning about “a particular way of life” of South Korean individuals since clips of K-Pop songs might give references to or show Asian holidays, sports, and religious festivals (Storey 2). Lastly, “the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity” might be learned via K-Pop due to Korean approaches to performances (Storey 2). This way, K-Pop serves as a conduit of information to learn about the Asian community.

Therefore, comprehending the cultural significance of K-Pop requires a better understanding of Asian populations, including their values, tastes, and conception of aesthetics and artistic endeavor. Learning a broad pattern of the intellectual, social, and artistic growth of Asian people is the primary cultural meaning of studying K-Pop. Additionally, K-Pop can be beneficial in learning about a certain approach to the life of South Korean people because music videos may make references to or depict Asian holidays, sporting events, and religious festivals. Finally, due to Korean attitudes to performances, practices of artistic activity may be learned through K-Pop.

Storey, John. “What is Popular Culture?” Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction . Routledge, 2021, pp.1-15.

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IvyPanda. (2023, August 25). Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning. https://ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/

"Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning." IvyPanda , 25 Aug. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning'. 25 August.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning." August 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/.

1. IvyPanda . "Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning." August 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning." August 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/.

Asian Studies: K-Pop in Japan and in the World
Gender Bias in K-Pop: Gender Bias in Korean Society
The Impact of Korean Popular Music
Korean Popular Culture and the Selling of Place by Youjeong Oh
Korean Popular Culture: Problem Statement
Korean Pop Music and Youth Identity
"Gee" Song by Girls’ Generation
Sociology: The Areas of Interest
Create, Produce, Consume Book by David Bruenger
I.D.E.A.L. Decision-making Model: A Concept Map
A Scarf as a Cultural Metaphor
Fashion Impact on International Students in London
Native American Fashion Discussion
The Phenomenon of Americanization
Haitian Culture, Its Components, and Significance

K-pop and Cultural Appropriation: Influences from the West and Within South Korean Society

Celine Hong Academy of the Holy Angels
Harrison Cho
Diana Kinney Academy of the Holy Angels

Korean pop music, or K-Pop, has become an international sensation and a multi-billion industry in just the past 20 years. K-Pop groups such as BTS, Blackpink, and EXO have become household names and carry huge influence on the international youth audience. New cultural products within the K-Pop industry consequently have to cater to fans across all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. However, there are increasing accusations against Korean artists of cultural appropriation, or taking the possession and performing elements of a subordinate culture without proper accreditation. Many artists imitate and attempt to profit from marginalized communities, who are criticized and ostracized for performing their own culture. In the West, cultural appropriation manifested from the colonization by the West (and particularly the US) of African American, Native American, and Hispanic cultures. The clear power imbalance between the colonizing and colonized countries defines the parameters of cultural appropriation. However, cultural appropriation in South Korea is more difficult to ascertain due to the country’s complex position within the international community. South Korean companies and the government need to be more conscious and have a united front against cultural appropriation to create media that respects the culture of those all over the world.

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Eberhardt, M., & Freeman, K. (2015). ‘first things first, I'm the realest’: Linguistic appropriation, white privilege, and the hip-hop persona of Iggy Azalea. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 19(3), 303–327. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12128

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Kpop Essay Examples

K-pop as a subculture and its influence on the world.

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The Impact of American Culture on K-pop Idols

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