Since the beginning of the 2000’s, the rise of K-pop can be seen within the mainstream music industry. From Gangnam Style to BTS, K-pop has played a huge part in shaping the world we know today. But what exactly is K-pop? It is a genre of music originating from South Korea, including groups such as BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, NCT and TWICE, just to name a few.
What might look like just a couple of songs, K-pop is more than what meets the eye. Through the art of music, K-pop has managed to impact and bring together many people around the world. From what was a predominantly white industry, K-pop began to bring more diversity into mainstream music. As a result, Asians get to have more representation in pop culture. However, despite the positive impacts of K-pop , the rise of K-pop has also led to some negative side effects. Because of the spotlight now on Korean culture, there are some people who tend to view it as a trend. Romanticisation of this culture has quickly become mainstream. This has materialized in the term “koreaboo,”-- someone who is overly obsessed with the Korean culture to the point that they reject their own culture and heritage. They claim the Korean culture as their own while failing to properly respect and appreciate it.
What then are the implications of K-pop in our society? If anything, K-pop breaks the perception that English fluency is a must in order to penetrate the mainstream music industry. With this perception broken, there is now more diversity in mainstream music, shedding light on aspiring people of color. Societal norms are now given the opportunity to be redefined.
It’s hard to deny the impact K-pop has had to our society. Through its messages and songs, K-pop has managed to bring people from around the world together through the love of music. The female K-pop group BLACKPINK themselves said it best: “With good music, language barriers and cultural differences are not a problem. That’s when we feel that music truly is universal.” At the end of the day, what matters isn’t what language you are speaking but the message you intend to spread.
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