If you’ve ever creeped across to the ‘dark-side’ of YouTube, or have one of those really odd friends that’s into everything wonderfully weird then it’s quite possible you’ve experienced K-Pop. But how did it become so popular and why does it have such a pressing sense of familiarity to it? From the wonderfully excessive outfits, intricate album storylines and overall manic personalities we couldn’t help falling in love with Korean pop music too!
American culture has influenced K-pop since the early days of Korean popular music. Groups like Seo Taiji and Boys experimented with a wide range of Western music styles such as rap, hip hop, pop and alternative rock. Seo Taiji and Boys is widely regarded as the first idol group and are often considered to have changed the Korean music industry forever. Since their debut in 1991 there have been multiple generations of K-pop groups to replace them from H.O.T to SHINee to the more recent TWICE, each of these new generations have drawn inspiration from US culture as well as their predecessors.
Hip Hop became popular in America in the 1980's, reaching Korea in the 1990's and appearing in popular culture due largely to a growing hip hop club scene and the influence of the internet. In 2012, the TV reality series 'Show Me the Money' featuring both underground and mainstream rappers further heightened the popularity of Hip Hop in Korea and kept it's links to America by filming parts of the show in the US. Not to mention our go-to favourite 'American Hustle' featuring BTS and Coolio.
Pop is the most obvious genre in Korean popular culture that shows the influence America has had on the K-pop industry. The genre made most popular by idol groups. Examples of K-pop mirroring US pop include when pop ballads became extremely popular in both American and South Korean popular culture in the 1980's. K-pop often mirrors American popular music whilst still adding it's own unique twist. Did we mention that they're way cute too? That's not the only reason we love them... Promise!
Few K-pop song titles are in Korean and most use a lot of English phrases in their music. 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." and can be used to gain popularity in America. American artists such as Sean Garrett have also been brought in to work on song for idol groups. K-pop has even been criticised for being nothing more than a dilluted version of American pop by some critics although it is still loved by millions of fans worldwide.
The concept of idols in Korea has also had influences from the birth of celebrities in America. The idea of having a musician or actor in the public eye being idolised by fans (hence the term 'idol') is arguably from the days of Old Hollywood in the US when members of the public would aspire to look and behave the same way as their favourite movie stars. Today in Korea it is common for young people to change their appearance to be more like the K-pop idols they look up to and this mirrors the fans of actors and actresses in old Hollywood.
K-pop idols often openly talk about their inspiration from western music and even collaborate with some American artists. Idol group BTS have made spotify playlists including American artists and Rap Monster has voiced his love for US group fifth harmony, saying "I really want to get to know about them and I think they're so good." and sharing their songs on the BTS twitter account. Collaborations between Korean and American artists such as the collaboration between BigBang's G-Dragon and US artist Missy Elliot at the 2nd Annual K-pop Conference KCON (hosted by psy), as well as girl group 2NE1 & Will.i.am and T-ara N4 & Chris Brown just to name a few.
Psy is the perfect example of K-pop becoming popular in the US since he is still remembered for his big hit 'gangnam style'. Yeah, you can thank us for getting that stuck in your head again, never. However, it's not only psy who is gaining international recognition. the hallyu wave in recent years has meant that more kpop idols have been being noticed in western countries such as america leading to BTS being the first kpop group to have 3 entries on the billboard 200. Even former US president Barrack Obama has made comments on popular Korean culture saying "no wonder so many people around the world have caught the Korean wave hallyu" in an offical visit to Korea in 2013. It could be that kpop has come full circle and will soon start influencing US culture. Because we can totally picture Drake doing aegyo... Not!
American culture has influenced k-pop in a multitude of ways and the reason for this is fairly obvious. After the first world war America occupied South Korea, ending the 35 year rule Japan had over the Korean peninsula. This mixed with the presence of US soldiers after the Korean war (1950-53) meant that US culture was gradually accepted then embraced by Koreans. Key figures such as Marilyn Monroe even visited Korea in the 1950's and having such a clear link with US popular culture in a time when technology was developing quickly led to American culture influencing K-pop.
We hope this little piece has opened your eyes a little more to the history of K-Pop. And possibly even inspired you to take a listen... We recommend staring out with BTS... It's not like we're biased or anything (get it?!... biased...)
Who's your favourite K-Pop group? Let us know!