The term “pop” is a very vague
term. Some seem to associate it with a certain sound or color of a track, its
catchy hooks, or the simple fact of sales numbers: what ever sells most must be
popular, right? Pop music, to me, is a relative, constructed moment by which
the mainstream media captures an immerging underground trend and takes it over
to milk it until dry. Thus, yesterday’s hot new trend become today’s “pop” and
today’s pop become tomorrow’s throwback.

So what is K-pop? Because Korean
popular music was not a phenomenon until quite recently, it used to be a
potpourri of genres, from soul, ballad, rock, to dance. However, when the idol
culture from Japan, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys’ success in the west, all
merged with techno and other earlier forms of dance music, K-pop reemerged as
an empire of its culminations. Due to the early success of idol groups like
H.O.T. in both Korea and nearby Asian countries, entertainment companies like
YG, JYP, and SM continued to spew out girl groups and boy groups with numerous
members, dressed in uniforms, dancing and singing in an almost militaristic
unison, taking over the music charts all over Asia. But because South Korea is such
a small country (despite its density), competition intensified, causing those
same companies to focus more and more on exporting outside of Korea.

One way make connections with other
Asian countries was buying beats from foreigners. For example, one of the songs
of Rainbow, a Korean girl group, was made by Daishi Dance, a Japanese DJ and
Producer. Another big step the companies took was casting non-Korean Asian
artists as one of the members of their Korean groups. For example, Nikhun of
the boy group 2PM is Thai, Pei of girl group Miss A is Chinese, and Takuya of
Cross Gene is Japanese.

The next step was connecting with
America. JYP, a prominent producer and an active musician himself, began by
going around record labels in America and ended up selling beats for artists
like Will Smith and Mase. Then he introduced a few of his artists to the
American music market. Namely, he was able to set up Wonder Girls as opening
act for Jonas Brothers in their tour, and got Lil’ Kim to feature in Se7en’s
American debut single. Although neither of them
were extremely successful, they managed to break ground and initiate
collaborative works between Korea and the US. SNSD, of SM Entertainment,
had Snoop Dogg feature in one of their songs, and even appeared on American
television shows. Then, with the help of youtube, Psy’s Gangnam style broke the
trend and changed the game. He was later able to collaborate with Snoop Dogg,
have his song remixed by famous EDM DJ/Producers like Diplo, and made numerous
appearances on American media.

Today, the K-pop Empire is so grand
that international collaborations of Korean musicians have become almost
commonplace. Now there are American television shows about K-pop, Korean
Americans, Korean food, and other Korean cultures. Same kinds of groundbreaking
Korea-US collaborations that happened in music happened almost
synchronistically in movies and other media. When Korean TV shows hold
televised auditions, like “Superstar K” or “Kpop Star,” they hold preliminaries
across the globe. Korean media is here to stay.

1. Hallyu: The Inter-Asian Flow of Korean Pop Culture
2. K-Pop Idols and Youth Body Imagery
3. The Precarious Nature of Enjo Kosai and JK Businesses: Linking Human Trafficking and Japan’s Idol Industry
4. Youth Consumption of Korean Idol Culture
5. Masqueraders and Empty Vessels: Barriers to Hybridity in Popular Korean Music
6. Cultural Harmonies: Successes and Failures of Musical Hybridity through International Collaboration
7. Hallyu: The Inter-Asian Flow of Korean Pop Culture
8. Western Influences on K-Pop (Knife Party - Boss Mode)