K-pop
Encyclopedia
K-pop (an abbreviation of Korean
pop
or Korean mainstream
music) is a musical genre
consisting of electropop
, hip hop
, pop
, rock
, and R&B
music originating in South Korea
. In addition to music
, K-pop has grown into a popular subculture
among teenagers and young adults around the world, resulting in widespread interest in the fashion and style of Korean idol groups and singers. Through the presence of Facebook
fan pages, availability on iTunes
, Twitter
profiles, and music videos on YouTube
, the ability of K-pop to reach a previously inaccessible audience via the Internet
is driving a paradigm shift in the exposure and popularity of the genre.
South Korea
is today one of the largest producers of contemporary music in Asia-Pacific
. Their popular culture
is today serving as a major driver of contemporary culture
all across the Pacific Rim
, with special reference to mainland China
, Hong Kong
, Japan
, Taiwan
and Vietnam
. The K-pop genre is currently moving towards a position in the region, similar to that enjoyed by American
music in Europe
and the West, up until the 1990's.
and techno. Hip hop duos such as Deux were also popular in the early 1990s.
The founding of South Korea's largest talent agency, S.M. Entertainment
, in 1995 by Korean entrepreneur Lee Soo Man
led to the first K-pop girl groups and boy bands. By the late 1990s, YG Entertainment
, DSP Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment
had burst onto the scene and were producing talent as quickly as the public could consume it.
Groups such as, S.E.S., Fin.K.L
, H.O.T, Sechs Kies
, G.o.d.
, Fly to the Sky
and Shinhwa
had huge success in the 1990s. Also during this period was the emergence of hip hop and R&B music in Korea, leading to the success of artists including Drunken Tiger
.
, which often lasts two years or more, trainees hone their voices, learn professional choreography, sculpt and shape their bodies through exercise, and study multiple languages all the while attending school.
Many of K-pop's biggest idol groups and solo acts, including BoA
, TVXQ
, SS501, BIGBANG, KARA
, Girls' Generation
, BEAST, MBLAQ
, 2PM
, Super Junior
, SHINee
and 2NE1
. began targeting the Japanese market. The group members conduct interviews and sing in Japanese.
K-pop is steadily gaining influence in foreign markets outside of Asia
, most notably in the United States
, Canada
, and Australia
. In 2001, Kim Bum Soo
became the first Korean singer to place on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
chart with his single, "Hello Goodbye Hello". In 2009, Wonder Girls
, one of Asia’s most successful music artists who sold millions of singles including the international #1 songs “Tell Me,” “So Hot” and “Nobody”, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
In a push to further globalize the genre, K-pop artists are increasingly working with talent outside of Korea. In the United States, Korean artists are touring with groups such as the Jonas Brothers
and collaborating with well-known producers including Kanye West
, Teddy Riley
, Diplo, Rodney Jerkins
, Ludacris
, and will.i.am
.
By 2011, K-Pop had become popular in Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Ireland, China, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Romania, Croatia, Australia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom and the United States (including Puerto Rico
).
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
or Korean mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
music) is a musical genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
consisting of electropop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
music originating in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. In addition to music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, K-pop has grown into a popular subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
among teenagers and young adults around the world, resulting in widespread interest in the fashion and style of Korean idol groups and singers. Through the presence of Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
fan pages, availability on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
profiles, and music videos on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, the ability of K-pop to reach a previously inaccessible audience via the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
is driving a paradigm shift in the exposure and popularity of the genre.
South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
is today one of the largest producers of contemporary music in Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
. Their popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
is today serving as a major driver of contemporary culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
all across the Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
, with special reference to mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. The K-pop genre is currently moving towards a position in the region, similar to that enjoyed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the West, up until the 1990's.
1990s: Conception and industrialization
The debut of Seo Tai-ji & Boys in 1992 was a turning point for popular music in South Korea, incorporating elements of rap rockRap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
and techno. Hip hop duos such as Deux were also popular in the early 1990s.
The founding of South Korea's largest talent agency, S.M. Entertainment
S.M. Entertainment
S.M. Entertainment is an independent Korean record label, talent agency, producer, and publisher of pop music, founded by Lee Soo-man in South Korea...
, in 1995 by Korean entrepreneur Lee Soo Man
Lee Soo Man
Lee Soo Man is a South Korean entrepreneur and the founder & chairman of S.M. Entertainment Co.,Ltd. Group, which includes two subsidiaries specializing in K-pop groups....
led to the first K-pop girl groups and boy bands. By the late 1990s, YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment is a record label and talent agency founded by Korean band Seo Taiji & Boys member Yang Hyun Suk and based in Seoul, South Korea. It specializes in producing R&B and hip hop music. YG stands for Yang Goon and are also the initials of the chief executive officer, Yang Hyun Suk...
, DSP Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment is a Korean music record label, founded in South Korea in 1997 by Park Jin-young.- History :Park Jin-young founded the company in 1997 as "Tae-Hong Planning Corporation", which eventually became "JYP Entertainment" in 2001....
had burst onto the scene and were producing talent as quickly as the public could consume it.
Groups such as, S.E.S., Fin.K.L
Fin.K.L
Fin.K.L was a Korean pop girl group that debuted in 1998.Their name stands for Fin Killing Liberty, and was intended to mean that the group stood against "the oppression of all freedom" . The group's name was selected by a poll of young people by the record company before the group's inception...
, H.O.T, Sechs Kies
Sechs Kies
Sechs Kies or 6kies is former Korean hip hop boy band from Daesung Entertainment and onetime rival of H.O.T. Currently, the two members, Kim Jae Duc and Jang Soo Won, have associated with Click-B to form another group, JnC....
, G.o.d.
G.o.d.
g.o.d. was a Korean pop music group. The name is an acronym for Groove Over Dose. Their name is lower cased to avoid confusion with God. The group was one of the few groups to have an album become a "million seller" in K-pop. The members have gone to solo careers after dis-forming.- Career:The...
, Fly to the Sky
Fly to the Sky
Fly to the Sky was a South Korean R&B duo, consisting of Korean American Brian Joo and South Korean native Hwanhee.Initially marketed as a duo that can sing, rap, and dance, their early works featured bubblegum pop and upbeat techno music. The duo later changed their image and style with the...
and Shinhwa
Shinhwa
Shinhwa is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members , and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, g.o.d., Turbo , Fin. K.L., H.O.T. and S.E.S...
had huge success in the 1990s. Also during this period was the emergence of hip hop and R&B music in Korea, leading to the success of artists including Drunken Tiger
Drunken Tiger
Drunken Tiger is a critically acclaimed Korean/American hip hop group which debuted in 1999 and has since released eight albums.As of 2009, Drunken Tiger's central figure is Korean American Tiger JK...
.
2000s: Globalization
Today, apprenticeship is the universal strategy for nurturing girl groups, boy bands, and solo artists in the K-pop industry. To guarantee the high probability of success of new talent, talent agencies fully subsidize and oversee the professional lives and careers of trainees, often spending in excess of $400,000 to train and launch a new artist. Through this practice of apprenticeshipApprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
, which often lasts two years or more, trainees hone their voices, learn professional choreography, sculpt and shape their bodies through exercise, and study multiple languages all the while attending school.
Many of K-pop's biggest idol groups and solo acts, including BoA
BoA
Boa Kwon , commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music"....
, TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...
, SS501, BIGBANG, KARA
Kara (band)
Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media . The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara (Hangul: 카라, Japanese: カラ, often stylized as KARA) is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara...
, Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation is a nine-member South Korean electropop girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. The nine members are: Taeyeon , Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun...
, BEAST, MBLAQ
MBLAQ
MBLAQ is a South Korean quintet boy band created by Korean entertainer Rain under J.Tune Camp. The group consists of Seung Ho , G.O , Joon , Cheondoong/Thunder , and Mir...
, 2PM
2PM
2PM is a South Korean boy band, originally a seven-member group, but currently consisting of six members due to the sudden contract termination of leader Jaebeom following an Internet controversy in September 2009. They are managed by JYP Entertainment...
, Super Junior
Super Junior
Super Junior is a South Korean boy band. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak, and was once claimed to be the world's largest boy band...
, SHINee
SHINee
Shinee is a contemporary R&B South Korean boy band. Formed by SM Entertainment in 2008, they made their debut on May 25, 2008 on SBS's Inkigayo with their promotional single, "Noona Neomu Yeppeo "...
and 2NE1
2NE1
Both the song and the group became popular online: Fire topped Mnet's online chart and 2NE1 became a popular search term. The group was awarded three Cyworld Digital Music Awards; "Lollipop" and "Fire" both won "Song of the Month" and the group won "Rookie of the Month" for May 2009...
. began targeting the Japanese market. The group members conduct interviews and sing in Japanese.
K-pop is steadily gaining influence in foreign markets outside of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, most notably in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 2001, Kim Bum Soo
Kim Bum Soo
Kim Bum Soo born January 26, 1979, is a South Korean R&B and soul singer famous for his smooth vocals and emotive ballads....
became the first Korean singer to place on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart with his single, "Hello Goodbye Hello". In 2009, Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls is a South Korean girl group. Its producer and manager is singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young and the Wonder Girls is signed to his talent agency, JYP Entertainment. Each of the five original members were selected through auditions...
, one of Asia’s most successful music artists who sold millions of singles including the international #1 songs “Tell Me,” “So Hot” and “Nobody”, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
In a push to further globalize the genre, K-pop artists are increasingly working with talent outside of Korea. In the United States, Korean artists are touring with groups such as the Jonas Brothers
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers are an American boy band. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel children's television network. From the shore region of New Jersey, the band consists of three brothers: Paul Kevin Jonas II , Joseph Adam Jonas , and Nicholas Jerry Jonas...
and collaborating with well-known producers including Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Teddy Riley
Teddy Riley
Teddy Riley is the name of:* Teddy Riley , jazz trumpeter* Teddy Riley , singer-songwriter, musician, record producer...
, Diplo, Rodney Jerkins
Rodney Jerkins
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Jerkins received two Grammy nominations in 2011.-Biography:...
, Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, and will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
.
By 2011, K-Pop had become popular in Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Ireland, China, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Romania, Croatia, Australia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom and the United States (including Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
).
See also
- Korean musicKorean musicTraditional Korean music includes both the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music, along with arts, painting, and sculpture has been practiced since prehistoric times....
- South Korean music
- Korean waveKorean waveThe Korean Wave, also known as the Hallyu , refers to spread of South Korean culture around the world. The term was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of Korean entertainment and culture in China...
- Contemporary culture of South KoreaContemporary culture of South KoreaThe contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea, and on its own path away from North Korean culture since the division of Korea in 1948. The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea, especially Seoul, have brought many changes to the way Korean...
- List of South Korean bands
- List of Korea-related topics
- J-popJ-pop, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...