K-pop can trace its origins to "rap dance", a fusion of hip-hop, techno and rock popularized by the group Seo Taiji and Boys, whose experimentation helped to modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene in the early 1990s. Their popularity with teenagers led the music industry to focus on this demographic. Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, who developed the Korean idol system in the late 1990s, created H.O.T. and S.E.S., the "first generation" of K-pop.
By the early 2000s, TVXQ and BoA had achieved success in Japan and gained traction for the genre overseas.
In the 2010s, the Korean Wave and social media drove the international popularity of K-pop. In 2019, South Korea ranked sixth among music markets, led by artists BTS and Blackpink. The following year, South Korea's music market a record 44.8%, making it the year's fastest-growing major market.
Despite heavy influence from American pop music, some have argued that K-pop is distinct in mood and energy. The "Koreanness" of K-pop has been debated in recent years, with an increasing share of Western songwriters, non-Korean artists, songs in English and marketing for a global audience. Some authors have called K-pop a new kind of "transnational culture" with "global dissemination".
K-pop is known for its tight managerial control. It has been criticized for its commercialism and treatment of artists. The industry is dominated by four companies: SM, YG, JYP and Hybe. In the 2020s, the genre has seen greater artist autonomy and companies producing music overseas; groups like JO1 and Katseye have resulted from this globalization.
Etymology
The term "K-pop" is the South Korean equivalent of the Japanese "J-pop." The first known use of the term occurred in Billboard in the October 9, 1999 edition at the end of an article titled "S. Korea To Allow Some Japanese Live Acts" by Cho Hyun-jin, then a South Korea correspondent for the magazine, which used it as a broad term for South Korean pop music.
Cho himself, however, is not sure if he coined the term, since some articles stated that the word 'K-pop' was already being used by music industry insiders, even though he had never heard it personally.
The term K-pop became popular in the 2000s, especially in an international context. In South Korea, domestic pop music is referred to as gayo (๊ฐ์), which is still widely used within the country. In 2022, the Korean Music Awards established a separate genre-specific field for K-pop, defining its "distinct aesthetic tendencies" as dance-pop music originating from the Korean idol system with a focus on performance.
In academic circles, the term has been retroactively applied to the popular music of Korea going back as far as the 1930s.
Characteristics
Audiovisual content
Although K-pop generally refers to South Korean popular music and the associated industry, some consider it to be an all-encompassing genre exhibiting a wide spectrum of musical and visual elements.[unreliable source?] The French Institut national de l'audiovisuel defines K-pop as a "fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits." Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, and electronic music genres.
Idol trainee
The mainstream method is to become an idol trainee through agency auditions, online auditions, or street casting.
South Korean management agencies offer binding contracts to potential artists, sometimes at a young age. Trainees live together in a regulated environment and spend many hours a day learning how to sing, dance, speak foreign languages, and gain other skills in preparation for their debut. This "robotic" system of training is often criticized by Western media outlets.
In 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported that the cost of training one Korean idol under SM Entertainment averaged US$3 million.
Hybrid genre and transnational values
K-pop is a cultural product that features "values, identity and meanings that go beyond their strictly commercial value." It is characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and Afrobeats) with a Korean aspect of performance (including synchronized dance moves, formation changes and the so-called "point choreography" consisting of hooking and repetitive key movements).
It has been remarked that there is a "vision of modernization" inherent in Korean pop culture. For some, the transnational values of K-pop are responsible for its success. A commentator at the University of California, San Diego has said that "contemporary Korean pop culture is built on ... transnational flows ... taking place across, beyond, and outside national and institutional boundaries." Some examples of the transnational values inherent in K-pop that may appeal to those from different ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds include a dedication to high-quality output and presentation of idols, as well as their work ethic and polite social demeanor, made possible by the training period.
Use of English phrases
Modern K-pop is marked by its use of English phrases. Jin Dal Yong of Popular Music and Society wrote that the usage may be influenced by "Korean-Americans and/or Koreans who studied in the U.S. [who] take full advantage of their English fluency and cultural resources that are not found commonly among those who were raised and educated in Korea." Korean pop music from singers or groups who are Korean-American such as Fly to the Sky, g.o.d, Rich, Yoo Seung-jun, and Drunken Tiger has both American style and English lyrics.
This type of music has a different style from common Korean music, which attracts the interest of young people. Increasingly, foreign songwriters and producers are employed to work on songs for K-pop idols, such as will.i.am and Sean Garrett. Foreign musicians, including rappers like Akon, Kanye West, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg, have also featured on K-pop songs.
Entertainment companies help to expand K-pop to other parts of the world through a number of different methods. Singers need to use English since the companies want to occupy markets in the other parts of Asia, which enables them to open the Western market. Most K-pop singers learn English because it is a common language in the world of music, but some singers also learn other foreign languages such as Japanese to approach the Japanese market.
Similarly, K-pop bands increasingly use English names rather than Korean ones. This allows songs and artists to be marketed to a wider audience around the world.
However, the use of English has not guaranteed the popularity of K-pop in the North American market. For some commentators, the reason for this is because the genre can be seen as a distilled version of Western music, making it difficult for K-pop to find acceptance in these markets. Furthermore, Western audiences tend to place emphasis on authenticity and individual expression in music, which the idol system can be seen as suppressing.
According to Elaine W. Chun's research, even though hybridity appears more and more often in K-pop, and sometimes may even make fans admire K-pop stars more because it is fresh, new and interesting, ideals of linguistic purity are still difficult to alter.
Artist names, song titles, and lyrics have exhibited significant growth in the usage of English words. No singers in the top fifty charts in 1990 had English in their names: people who worked in the Korean music industry viewed using Korean names as standard. In 1995, most popular singers such as Kim Gun-mo, Park Mi-kyung, Park Jin-young, Lee Seung-chul, and Byun Jin-sub still used Korean names, but fourteen of the singers and groups in the top fifty used English names, including DJ DOC, 015B, Piano, and Solid.
After the 1997 financial crisis, the government stopped censoring English lyrics and Korea started to have a boom in English. Since the late 1990s, English usage in singers' names, song titles, and lyrics has grown quickly. Seventeen singers in the top fifty charts used English names in 2000, and thirty-one did so in 2005.
In 2010, forty-one singers used English names among the top fifty songs, but usually, three or four singers and groups had more than one or two songs on the chart simultaneously. Korean names (e.g. Baek Ji-young, Seo In-young, and Huh Gak) are seen less frequently, and many K-pop singers have English names (e.g. IU, Sistar, T-ara, GD & TOP, Beast, and After School).
Notably, until the early 1990s, musicians with English names would transliterate them into hangul, but now singers would use English names written with the Roman alphabet. In 1995, the percentage of song titles using English in the top 50 charts was 8%. This fluctuated between 30% in 2000, 18% in 2005, and 44% in 2010.
An example of a Korean song with a large proportion of English lyrics is Kara's "Jumping," which was released at the same time in both Korea and Japan to much success.
Marketing
Many agencies have presented new idol groups to an audience through a "debut showcase" which consists of online marketing and television broadcast promotions as opposed to radio. Groups are given a name and a "concept" along with a marketing hook. These concepts are the type of visual and musical theme that idol groups utilize during their debut or comeback.
Concepts can change between debuts and fans often distinguish between boy group concepts and girl group concepts. Concepts can also be divided between general concepts and theme concepts, such as cute or fantasy. New idol groups will often debut with a concept well known to the market to secure a successful debut. Sometimes sub-units or sub-groups are formed among existing members.
Two example subgroups are Super Junior-K.R.Y., which consists of Super Junior members Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung, and Super Junior-M, which became one of the best-selling K-pop subgroups in China.
Online marketing includes music videos posted to YouTube in order to reach a worldwide audience. Prior to the actual video, the group releases teaser photos and trailers. Promotional cycles of subsequent singles are called comebacks even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus.
Dance
Dance is an integral part of K-pop. When combining multiple singers, the singers often switch their positions while singing and dancing by making prompt movements in synchrony, a strategy called "formation changing" (์๋ฆฌ๋ฐ๊ฟ; jaribakkum).[unreliable source?] The K-pop choreography (์๋ฌด; ๆ่; anmu) often includes the so-called "point dance" (ํฌ์ธํธ ์๋ฌด; pointeu anmu), referring to a dance made up of hooking and repetitive movements within the choreography that matches the characteristics of the lyrics of the song.
Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" and Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" are examples of songs with notable "point" choreography. To choreograph a dance for a song requires the writers to take the tempo into account. According to Ellen Kim, a Los Angeles dancer and choreographer, a fan's ability to do the same steps must also be considered. Consequently, K-pop choreographers have to simplify movements.
The training and preparation necessary for K-pop idols to succeed in the industry and dance successfully are intense. Training centers like Seoul's Def Dance Skool develop the dance skills of youth in order to give them a shot at becoming an idol. Physical training is one of the largest focuses at the school, as much of a student's schedule is based around dance and exercise.
The entertainment labels are highly selective, so few make it to fame. Students at the school must dedicate their lives to the mastery of dance in order to prepare for the vigorous routines performed by K-pop groups. This, of course, means that the training must continue if they are signed. Companies house much larger training centers for those who are chosen.
An interview with K-pop choreographer Rino Nakasone lends insight into the process of creating routines. According to Nakasone, her focus is to make dance routines that are flattering for the dancers but also complementary to the music. Her ideas are submitted to the entertainment company as video recordings done by professional dancers.
Nakasone mentions that the company and the K-pop artists themselves have input on a song's choreography. Choreographer May J. Lee gives another perspective, telling that her choreography often starts out as expressing the feeling or the meaning of the lyrics. What starts out as small movements turns into a full dance that is better able to portray the message of the song.
Fashion
The emergence of Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 paved the way for the development of contemporary K-pop groups. The group revolutionized the Korean music scene by incorporating rap and American hip-hop conventions into their music. This adoption of Western style extended to the fashions worn by the boy band: the members adopted a hip-hop aesthetic.
Seo and bandmates' outfits for the promotional cycle of "I Know" included vibrant streetwear such as oversized T-shirts and sweatshirts, windbreakers, overalls worn with one strap, overalls worn with one pant leg rolled up, and American sports team jerseys.[citation needed] Accessories included baseball caps worn backwards, bucket hats, and do-rags.[citation needed]
As K-pop "was born of post-Seo trends," many acts that followed Seo Taiji and Boys adopted the same fashion style. Deux and DJ DOC can also be seen wearing on-trend hip-hop fashions such as sagging baggy pants, sportswear, and bandanas in their performances.[citation needed] With Korean popular music transforming into youth-dominated media, manufactured teenage idol groups began debuting in the mid and late 1990s, wearing coordinated costumes that reflected the popular fashion trends among youth at the time.
Hip-hop fashion, considered the most popular style in the late '90s, remained, with idol groups H.O.T. and Sechs Kies wearing the style for their debut songs. The use of accessories elevated the idol's style from everyday fashion to performance costume, like ski goggles (worn either around the head or neck), headphones worn around the neck, and oversized gloves worn to accentuate choreography moves were widely used.[citation needed] H.O.T.'s 1996 hit "Candy" exemplifies the level of coordination taken into account for idol's costumes, as each member wore a designated color and accessorized with face paint, fuzzy oversized mittens, visors, bucket hats, and earmuffs, and used stuffed animals, backpacks, and messenger bags as props.
While male idol groups' costumes were constructed with similar color schemes, fabrics, and styles, the outfits worn by each member still maintained individuality. On the other hand, female idol groups of the '90s wore homogeneous costumes, often styled identically. The costumes for female idols during their early promotions often focused on portraying an innocent, youthful image.
S.E.S.'s debut in 1997, "('Cause) I'm Your Girl", and Baby Vox's second album 1998 hit, "Ya Ya Ya," featured the girls dressed in white outfits, "To My Boyfriend" by Fin.K.L shows idols in pink schoolgirl costumes, and "One" and "End" of Chakra presented Hindu and African style costumes. To portray a natural and somewhat saccharine image, the accessories were limited to large bows, pompom hair ornaments and hair bands.
With the maturation of female idol groups and the removal of bubblegum pop in the late 1990s, the sets of female idol groups focused on following the fashion trends of the time, many of which were revealing pieces. The latest promotions of the girl groups Baby Vox and Jewelry exemplify these trends of hot pants, micro-miniskirts, crop tops, peasant blouses, transparent garments and blouses on the upper part of the torso.[citation needed]
As K-pop became a modern hybrid of Western and Asian cultures starting from the late 2000s, fashion trends within K-pop reflected diversity and distinction as well. Fashion trends from the late 2000s to early 2010s can largely be categorized under the following:
- Street: focuses on individuality; features bright colors, mix-and-match styling, graphic prints, and sports brands such as Adidas and Reebok.
- Retro: aims to bring back "nostalgia" from the 1960s to 1980s; features dot prints and detailed patterns. Common clothing items include denim jackets, boot-cut pants, wide pants, hair bands, scarves, and sunglasses.
- Sexy: highlights femininity and masculinity; features revealing outfits made of satin, lace, fur, and leather. Common clothing items include mini skirts, corsets, net stockings, high heels, sleeveless vests, and see-through shirts.
- Black & White: emphasizes modern and chic, symbolizes elegance and charisma, mostly applied to formal wear.
- Futurism: commonly worn with electronic and hip-hop genres; features popping color items, metallic details and prints; promotes a futuristic outlook.
K-pop has a significant influence on fashion in Asia, where trends started by idols are followed by young audiences. Some idols have established status as fashion icons, such as G-Dragon and CL, who has repeatedly worked with fashion designer Jeremy Scott, being labeled his "muse."
According to professor Ingyu Oh, "K-pop emphasizes thin, tall, and feminine looks with adolescent or sometimes very cute facial expressions, regardless of whether they're male or female singers."
Government support
The South Korean government has acknowledged benefits to the country's export sector as a result of the Korean Wave (it was estimated in 2011 that a US$100 increase in the export of cultural products resulted in a US$412 increase in exports of other consumer goods including food, clothes, cosmetics and IT products) and thus have subsidized certain endeavours.
Government initiatives to expand the popularity of K-pop are mostly undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is responsible for the worldwide establishment of Korean Cultural Centers. South Korean embassies and consulates have also organized K-pop concerts outside the country, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regularly invites overseas K-pop fans to attend the annual K-Pop World Festival in South Korea.
In addition to reaping economic benefits from the popularity of K-pop, the South Korean government has been taking advantage of the influence of K-pop in diplomacy. In an age of mass communication, soft power (pursuing one's goals by persuading stakeholders using cultural and ideological power) is regarded as a more effective and pragmatic diplomatic tactic than the traditional diplomatic strategy hard power (obtaining what one wants from stakeholders through direct intimidation such as military threat and economic sanctions). Cultural diplomacy through K-pop is a form of soft power.
An example of the South Korean government effort in diplomacy through K-pop is the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), a K-pop music award ceremony. Park Geun-hye (the Korean president at the time) delivered the opening statement at the 2014 MAMA, which was held in Hong Kong and sponsored by the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA).
This event was considered a deliberate endeavor by the Korean government to support Korean cultural industries in order to strengthen the nation's international reputation and political influence.
Another example of cultural diplomacy is K-pop performances in North Korea. Prior to 2005, South Korean pop singers occasionally gave performances in North Korea. After an interval of more than a decade, approximately 190 South Korean performers, including well-known musicians Red Velvet, Lee Sun-hee, Cho Yong-pil, and Yoon Do-hyun, performed in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 31 and April 3, 2018. Kim Jong Un was present in the audience.
