Do you know the most famous boy band in the world? It’s called BTS (방탄소년단), and they’re from South Korea. BTS is made up of 7 members, whose names are RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jimin and Jungkook. They debuted for the first time back in 2013.
This year, BTS’s Love Yourself: Tear album received a Grammy nomination for best recording package. At the 61st Grammy Awards ceremony on Feb. 10, BTS also presented the award for Best R&B Album.
When it comes to BTS’s performances, they are powerful because the band uses sharp dance moves and have talented rap skills. They not only have great performance skills, but also they have charming and fun personalities. Their physical appearance is another reason why they have become so popular.
Having BTS at the head of the list, K-Pop is really popular all over the world, but especially in Asian countries (Japan, Thai, Indonesia, etc.). For fans worldwide, K-Pop music festivals are annually held in some big cities, such as Los Angeles, Paris even and Hong Kong. KCON is by far the biggest Korean culture and live concert event fans can attend! You can enjoy learning about Korean culture, eat foods, meet with your favorite artists and listen to new and popular K-Pop artists perform!
Some reasons I believe K-Pop could become one of the popular music cultures in the world include:
1. K-Pop artists are great at singing and dancing.
It takes roughly three to four years on average to officially debut as a K-Pop Idol. Among them, there are some trainees who took over eight years to debut. After they debut, they need to practice dancing and singing every day and even through the night, especially during the release term of their songs. The high quality performances are made by their continuous efforts. To see just how much effort they put into their dances, you can watch their practices in YouTube videos and documentaries.
You can see their effort from dance practice videos and some documentaries on YouTube, such as their performance for their song “Fire”. Their recorded dance practice videos are really popular content as well as their music videos, and many of their fans enjoy watching their character shine.
Additionally, their singing skills are very good. Their main vocals are powerful and they can hold long notes. Lead singers who have good reputations for their singing skills tend to become solo singers, such as Taeyeon from Girls’ Generation.
Not only are there lead singers and dancers in K-Pop, but also there are main rappers, such as G-Dragon from BigBang. Their rap brings a dope taste to their songs! Korean sounds are also really suited for rapping! If you personally like rap music, please listen to K rapper’s own songs or K-Pop Idol’s rap song, such as “I” by Taeyeon (feat. Verbal Jint). They are not just my idol, but also they are one of the most talented artists that represent South Korea!
2. There are lots of K-Pop music videos on YouTube.
You can watch a lot of K-Pop artists’ music videos on YouTube. Korean entertainment agencies have their own YouTube channels and also 1theK (the worldwide K-Pop channel by LOEN Entertainment) runs their personal YouTube channel, which has a lot of K-Pop artists’ music videos who belong to other agencies. Most of the music videos and TV programs posted on YouTube have English subtitles, and the music is really catchy and addictive to listen to! On the TV program, you can even watch funny videos, such as bloopers and other types of video compilations.
Compared to music artists in other countries, Korean music companies are open-minded to promote their music. Beside music videos and official TV broadcasting programs, there are also individual live streams by artists to promote K-Pop culture to their viewers. Although they are performing worldwide, K-Pop artists are familiar faces to their fans because of these activities. You might be able to find your favorite K-Pop music on YouTube! By watching these videos, you can simultaneously enjoy Korean culture and learn the Korean language.
Last year, popular K-Pop artists collaborated with popular artists from the United States, such as BTS and Nicki Minaj in “Idol” and BLACKPINK and Dua Lipa in “Kiss And Make Up,” which appeared on the super deluxe edition of Dua Lipa’s album.
3. K-Pop fashion styles and visuals are sophisticated.
As you can see in music videos, K-Pop artists have varied concepts, but their fashion style is quite unique, cute and cool. Visual sense is especially demonstrated by TWICE in “Dance the Night Away” with their summer outfits—
—as well as BLACKPINK in “DDU-DU DDU-DU” with their “girl crush” aura—
With K-Pop artists, their performance costumes and everyday clothes often become a hot topic in the media and usually become a new fashion trend. For example, recent popular K-Pop artist BLACKPINK became a new fashion icon in South Korea. One of the members, Jennie Kim, is especially famous and coined the trend of new fashion by Gucci. Her fashion is usually reported in the media and she is often called “Human Gucci.”
K-Pop idol’s fashion in any place (especially airports) are often taken in photos. Their fashion in Korean daily life has a big influence on fashion businesses, so they usually wear clothes from “top dog” fashion brands.
K-Pop music not only consists of high quality performances, but also their artists often don the most charming fashion and personalities. As a first step, listen to any K-Pop song today! Nowadays, popular and new K-Pop artists have begun performing in the United States (such as New York City, Los Angeles and even Minneapolis). If you’re interested in attending one of their future concerts, click here for a list of tour dates as well as previous performance videos!