For the past few months, I’ve been haunted by an abbreviation. It follows me through the halls at school. It dominates my feed whenever I go online. I’m talking about K-pop.
K-pop, short for Korean pop music, is an all-encompassing music genre that relies heavily on audiovisual content and meticulous training of its artists. Originating in South Korea, K-pop incorporates the styles of dance-pop, electropop, R&B, and hip hop. Its musicians are offered contracts at ages as early as thirteen years old. These “trainees” live together and learn together, spending hours a day studying dance, music, and language. Years of this rigorous training are required before the artists are grouped together into bands and make their debuts.
I was a bit skeptical of this phenomenon at first. Usually when something is this popular, I run the other direction, at least until the hype dies down. However, my curiosity got the best of me. And I’m grateful that it did.
These dynamic and diligent K-pop artists churn out some of the catchiest, noteworthy pop tunes that I have heard in years. Combined with slick dance routines (that you can learn through tutorials made by the groups themselves), the songs are sung in Korean yet showered with English phrases. But by far the most captivating facet is the music video.
The production quality of their music videos are unprecedented. It’s like watching an art film, minus the pretension. K-pop is meant to be a visual experience as much as an auditory experience. The videos help build a brand or a concept while connecting a global audience.
If you are looking for something to get you through these frigid winter months, I would highly recommend inquiring Professor Google about K-pop and diversify your Spotify.
