Something is fashionable, like sports betting online, something has gone out of fashion, like UGG boots, and something is as eternal as people’s love for something new and unusual. K-pop is just something so uncommon and unknown before.
Large-scale foreign interest in South Korea emerged in 2011-2012 after PSY’s world hit “Gangnam Style”. From that moment on, K-pop began to sound more and more popular overseas, followed by an interest in Korean cosmetics, fashion, tourism, and language.
Let’s try to figure out what is the cause of the Korean fever.
K-pop
Big Bang, Super Junior, PSY, BTS, EXO, iKON, NCT – these and many other groups are popular not only in South Korea but also abroad. Millions of fans from different countries are studying Korean, dreaming of going to Seoul and meeting their bias.
Korean pop culture touches with a mix of styles, vivid images, and catchy melodies. K-pop is an amalgamation of hip-hop, rap, dance music, and electropop.
What Is the Popularity of the Genre and Its Features?
K-pop songs are performed by idols. From childhood, they are prepared for a stellar future in production centers, where they teach vocal, dance, and acting skills. By the way, they often appear in local TV shows. Idols also learn foreign languages and bring their looks to perfection. They are forced to constantly keep themselves in great shape, sit on strict diets, and almost everyone has had plastic surgery. Most of the time, nothing is known about idols’ private lives, which makes it mysterious. K-pop groups are either all boys or all girls. Their number varies from five to nine people in a team.
The producers of the groups pay great attention to the visual component of the groups and the images of their members. The artists are constantly professionally made up, each has his own individual style, which is carefully developed for him.
Another important component of the genre’s success is the “army” (fans). In South Korea, the interaction of artists with fans is different from what is customary in Europe. Here it went to a completely different level.
Most often, the communication of stars with fans occurs through Twitter, which is popular in Asia. There, idols often post photos, write thank you posts, and try to interact with fans as much as possible.
K-pop groups do not have a consistent and clear concept. After all, the production centers follow the trends and the situation in society, therefore the positions and conceptuality of the groups can radically change from album to album.
At first, in the 90s and 2000s, K-pop groups inherited their Western counterparts and adopted all their features. In the tenths, everything changed. South Korea has begun to better follow trends and is now ahead of Western artists.
Cosmetics and Fashion
Korean masks and creams that promise a face like IU. Miniskirts with colored pullovers, long winter down jackets, and classic trench coats. Trends are emerging in Seoul. It is enough to walk along the main street to understand what kind of hairstyle, what kind of makeup, and what kind of clothes are popular now.
The idols of popular Korean groups play a big role in the development of fashion and cosmetics trends. For example, G-Dragon and his brand Peaceminusone’s collaboration with Nike made a splash and made all of Seoul and the world queue up for the trendy Air Force 1.
Language
The Korean language is popular thanks to K-pop and K-dramas (Korean dramas). Young people from different countries come to Seoul to learn Korean.
In fact, he should be taught not only to finally watch your favorite TV shows without subtitles. Korean is ranked 21st in terms of language proficiency in the world. Imagine how great it would be to add it to your resume and make it unique.
By VIneet Maheshwari