Let's talk about K-POP

What is K-POP? As the name suggests, K-POP stands for Korean Pop. It is a largely known music genre has mysteriously managed to gain immense popularity around the world, despite the language barrier.

So why is it so popular? One of the factors contributing to its popularity is because of its impactful choreographies. Some examples are PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and Twice’s “Cheer Up” both of which gained recognition for their catchy choreographies. “Gangnam Style” became the biggest dance craze of the year 2012 while the point move for Twice’s “Cheer Up”, “Shy shy shy”, was used as a famous part of aegyo. Aegyo (which means to act in a cute manner) is commonly used by idols to provide fanservice for fans.

Despite these reasons, many people question why K-POP is able to sustain the interest of fans for such a long amount of time. K-POP fans have proven to be extremely loyal to their idols, so loyal that some of them have been fans for more than half a decade. When asked for a reason, Phyllis Lai of 3 Integrity , a fan for more than 6 years answered with a variety of answers. “Stunning visuals, talent, difference between the culture and behaviour of American artists and Korean artists. In my opinion, Korean artists are of a better influence as there are lesser reports of them being under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

In addition, it's also the amount of hard work put in by Korean artists. Before Korean artists can debut, they go through years of strenuous trainings to sharpen their singing and dancing skills. A trainee typically trains for at least 4 years, but in some rare exceptions like EXO’s Baekhyun, some trainees train for only maybe a year or two.

Although there are many people who view K-POP positively, it has an equal share of people who disapprove it. Many people assume that all K-POP idols undergo plastic surgery. However, this is merely a myth as one example, Akdong Musician, a co-ed group under YG Entertainment, insisted that they would not go under plastic surgery, even before the topic of it was brought up.

Korean artists are also discriminated because they are unable to speak English. However, there are in fact quite a number of Korean artists that are able to speak English fluently. Some of these people include 15&’s Jimin Park, soloist Eric Nam, Day6’s Jae Park and Kim Namjoon, better known by his stage name Rap Monster from the group, BTS.

Overall, many people like and support K-POP. But of course, there will be people who dislike it- everyone has different preferences. As the years passed, there has been a sharp increase in the amount of people getting into K-POP as YouTubers like Superwoman, TheFineBros create videos of themselves reacting to K-POP Music Videos, hence increasing their popularity.