Kpop Growing

How did K-pop grow to be such a global phenomenon?

Hallyu, or the Korean wave, refers to the idea that South Korean pop culture has risen to prominence as a major driver of global culture, as evidenced by everything from Korean dramas on Netflix to Korean skincare regimens dominating the cosmetics industry to delectable Korean tacos on your favorite local menu. Hallyu is based on the ever-increasing popularity of K-pop (short for Korean pop music, of course).

K-pop has become a really global phenomenon because to its unique blend of addictive melodies, elegant choreography and production values, and an endless parade of stunning South Korean performers who spend years in grueling studio environments learning to sing and dance in synchronized perfection.

Hallyu has been expanding for two decades, but K-pop has become increasingly visible to global audiences in the last five to ten years. South Korean artists have charted at least eight times since the Wonder Girls' crossover hit "Nobody" — released in four languages, including English — first cracked the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2009, and the export of K-pop has inflated the country's music industry to an impressive $5 billion industry.

Now, as South Korea proudly exposes its best-known export to the rest of the world during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang at a time when geopolitical tensions are at an all-time high, K-pop has taken on a whole new level of sociopolitical relevance. For additional information, go to KPop Craze.

What the Winter Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies revealed about K-pop

On February 9, 2018, athletes marched in the Parade of Nations during the Olympic opening ceremonies to the accompaniment of a selected collection of K-pop tunes, each expressing the image South Korea desires to convey right now: that of a country thoroughly integrated into global culture.

Its song in the Parade of Nations has a large international and online following, and each fosters K-cross-cultural pop fluency. Twice's song "Likey" has recently become a blockbuster hit for the group, surpassing 100 million views on YouTube faster than any other K-pop female group record. (The girls are prominently featured in the film on a fun field trip to Vancouver, supporting the idea that they belong wherever.) One of the first K-pop tracks to have an impact in American society was Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby," which was featured on Glee's K-pop episode with "Gangnam Style," which was also played during the Parade of Nations.

Psy's omnipresent 2012 hit is half doofy humor and part clear-eyed criticism, and it was created by a musician from a generation of South Korean musicians who attended American music schools. Before being dethroned in 2017, "Gangnam Style" had amassed over 3 billion views on YouTube, ruling for five years as the most-watched video in the platform's history.

Overall, these songs and performances show that K-pop musicians can excel in a wide range of genres, including singing, comedy, rap, dancing, and social critique. And their infectious, singable songs show how the South Korean music industry has polished the pop production machine into an effervescent assembly line that produces outrageously popular tracks performed by impossibly talented people in absurdly spectacular visuals. "Bet you want to (bet you want to) dance like this," Red Velvet sings in their single "Red Flavor," sending a message to the world that South Korea is modern yet wholesome, colorful, inviting, and joyful.

At the Olympics closing ceremonies, two more K-pop superstars performed live: solo artist CL, formerly of the formidable girl group 2NE1, and multi-national band Exo. CL's appearance was a nod to one of K-holy Pop's holy grails: getting famous in the United States, or at the very least making the Billboard Hot 100. CL has been on the list twice since 2015.

Exo, on the other hand, is without a doubt one of the top two or three K-Pop groups right now. Because the band is multilingual and was formed with the objective of performing in Mandarin, Japanese, and South Korean, it was a perfect choice for the Olympics. For numerous years, Exo was split into two groups, one performing largely in Korea and the other primarily in China. They were a great alternative to serve as a symbolic transition between nations as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in 2022.