K-pop or Korean popular music has experienced great success in recent years and continues to grow. Korean pop has become so popular that it has dethroned kings like Taylor Swift on YouTube and in May 2018 it managed to lead the sales ranking in the United States.
They have it all: extravagant video clips, they appear on series, fan clubs around the world, they share the stage with the aces of American pop. What is the success of South Korean pop
? What is their music
? What are the best K-pop groups?
- It may interest you: What are the Cybergoth, what music do they listen to and how do they differ from the Gothic
What is k-pop
Probably the turning point was the overwhelming success of Gangnam Style, a catchy song by South Korean rapper PSY that hit the dance floors in 2012. It was the most viewed video of that year, it received the record for Likes on YouTube , and years later it is still the third most viewed video, behind Despacito and See You Again.
Who can forget that extravagant dance?
One of the secrets of the K-pop genre is what a subject wears in the final video clip: it is about elaborate marketing campaigns around a cultural product that ranges from millimetric choreographies to production and costumes. .
In this way, the group Girls Generation managed to dethrone Lady Gaga from the reign of YouTube in 2013 with the song I got a boy.
This is what the success of K-pop in recent years consists of: presenting youth bands from which you can squeeze, through a catchy melody, their fresh and dynamic potential for attractive, colorful and spectacular productions .
That is why the world of audiovisual music has become a business in Korea. The record companies carry out castings continuously looking for a new idol and making bands that can be successful. In recent years, the essence of South Korean pop has expanded its registers to dance, hip-hop, R&B, rap, etc.
Top 10 K-Pop Groups
K-pop groups in South Korea are prefabricated products of the record companies, that is, they function as a company. In recent years, more than 240 pop bands have been “manufactured” whose success has crossed borders .
10. Super Junior
After several years in the market, Super Junior have established themselves as one of the great groups of the first waves of K-pop. They debuted in 2005 with a dozen members, and in addition to appearing on various television programs and youth series, they were pioneers in many areas of K-pop.
They were the first group to form sub-units, the first to enter the Latin Billboard charts, the first to reach 100 million views.and the first to achieve such sustained success over time. If you want to know them, listen to “The 7h Sense” or “Cherry Bomb”.
9. SHINee
K-pop also has its martyrs: in 2017 the leader of the band SHINee committed suicide at the age of 33. At his funeral, the members of the group took the place of his family and both they and the fans conspired to maintain the group’s wake, which gives an idea of the feeling of community that these groups try to create.
SHINee is the only K-pop group that has the privilege of having visited the Abbey Road Studios (where, among others, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Coldplay passed). Its concept is energy, and that is why before going on stage they join their hands to the cry of “Ultra transformation Shinee”.
8. Girls Generation
Five girls debuted in 2007 under the name Girls Generation , one of the pioneering girl bands of the first wave of K-pop. They are highly appreciated in their country, where many know them as “the nation’s girl group.”
The pressure that these groups are subjected to by the industry that surrounds them is reflected in Taeyeon, the leader of the band who had a period of recess because she entered a depression derived from stress. In addition, it was the first band trained to make the leap to international fame, receiving English and Japanese classes for months.
7.twice
5 Koreans, 3 Japanese and 1 Taiwanese form the girl band Twice, one of the reference groups of female K-pop, which was born in 2015 to start a meteoric career until it became the only group to exceed 100 million visits in all your Youtube videos. His fan band, Eleven, spans the globe.
Like all Korean pop in general, the music is just a small section within a large industrial dimension. In the case of the Twice, they have a collection of jewelry valued at 3,000 dollars whose limited edition sold out quickly.
6. NCT
In 2016, the NCT group made its debut in South Korea, made up of 9 Koreans, 5 Chinese, 1 Japanese, 1 Thai, 1 Canadian and 1 American. In fact, althoughmembers have been incorporated over time, there have never been dropouts.
That is why the photo of the large group gives the idea of community, and that is the spirit of the group. Not in vain their fans are called NCTzen (pronounced citizen, citizen) because they form a city of unlimited citizens. His single “Cherry Bomb” managed in record time, one week, to position himself with 6 million visits.
5. Red Velvet
If you are a fan of K-pop, you have to know Red Velvet, one of the best Korean pop bands. SM put these 5 girls on the world stage in 2014 and to this day they have garnered a huge number of fans worldwide who are grouped around the group ReVeLuv (love for Red Velvet).
The girls always start their performances, full of color and addictive choreography, shouting Happiness! (Happiness), which reveals her youthful and cheerful, optimistic and vital character. In 2017 they hit the ceiling with the single “Red Flavour” which became an all-kill (number 1 on download sites) five minutes before its release.
4. EXO
Another successful product manufactured by Korean record labels is the boy band EXO which debuted in 2012 with twelve members, and has been reducing its artists as its popularity has increased. Their success in all parts of the world is such that they have a global fan club nicknamed EXO-L (the L is for Love).
In addition, one of the attractions of the band is that each member is associated with an element (ice, water, unicorn, light, scorpion, wind, fire, etc.), so that fans can more easily identify with one of the members. items.
3. Oh, My Girl
Through that cheesy romantic name with high hedonistic content, the production company WM Entertainment has managed to propel a group of 8 girls who were carefully trained for 4 years before debuting in 2015 to worldwide success.
Their first single, “ Cupid” (Cupido) gives an exact idea of his style thought for teenagers in love, a fun and carefree pop that has hit the United States with force. In fact, the announcement that member E-Jin was leaving the bandIt was a trauma for many, which has not prevented the group from continuing to grow in success: it already has six albums.
2. Black Pink
This group of four recently born girls has managed, in just two years, to position their songs among the favorites. This 2018 they have become the first female K-pop group to enter the British charts and their song Ddu-du, Ddu-du has been the most successful female K-pop song on the US Hot 100 .
This 2018, in addition, they have caused a stir by accompanying Dua Lipa in her single Kiss and Make Up, which has generated a wave of enthusiasm throughout the globe and the video already exceeds 2 million views on YouTube.
1.BTS
After the market opened by Gangnam Style in the United States for K-pop, the band BTS has been the first to reach number 1 on the sales list with their album Love Yourself: Tears. It was in May 2018, a year in which they also won, for the second time in a row, the award for best network artist at Billboard.
BTS is a kind of remake of the Beatles with Asian airs in the XXI century, a band of seven members between 20 and 25 years old with symmetrical haircuts that began in 2014 with hip-hop themes and have been evolving towards other styles like R&B and soul. It would be impossible to enumerate the successes of the band in its dizzying four years of life.
Other elements of K-pop
In a single by any Korean pop group, everything counts: the melody, of course, but also the dance, the clothes, the effects. Once successful, it can be exported to other formats such as series and movies.
The dance of K-pop
When Gangnam Style broke all records, its choreography was the great secret of success. This is one of the ingredients that makes Korean pop irresistible to legions of teenagers and groupies: its catchy dances. There are, however, various styles.
In some choreographies, precision and complexity place them only within the reach of professionals. This is the paradigmatic case of Fire, by BTS, which includes some tutorials to learn its difficult steps.
In Coming Age Ceremony, on the other hand,more space is given to slowness and sensuality . It was the first sexy dance and helped break the mold for female bands in the K-pop world: it was in 2000, with Park Ji-Yookn, and the hips and arms play a big role.
Others are also more affordable and fun choreographies that become real challenges for fans. In this case, EXO is one of the most popular groups, for their fun dances like Ko Ko Bop.
K-pop clothes K
-pop is not a musical genre, it is a total spectacle, and in order to attract the masses, one of its obsessions has been the color of its staging. Korean pop groups often come out on stage with very bright colors and well-matched .
Yellow, orange and green in bright colors are the most used, in addition to combining classic designs such as stripes and checks with more daring ones. The miniskirt is the usual accessory for girl bands.
It was very clear to the members of the group Twice (Twice) that they explained in an interview that they chose this name because they wanted to conquer the public twice: once through their melodies, the other through their eyes, visually.
K-pop on television
The thinking minds that design Korean pop industrial products are inspired by the magic formula created by the Disney production company with High School Musical and other series that became number ones in current pop.
Most of the idols of K-pop bands appear in television series and reality shows, giving their music a media dimension that makes them true commercial marketing products . All this world has resulted in the appearance of the K-series or K-dramas, where the oppas or idols of the youth who are fond of K-pop appear.
Remember these names: My only love song, Hello, My Twenties and One more Time.
- You can also read: Otaku: what is it, types and clothes of this urban tribe.
