Six months ago I was watching a Fine Brothers: Teens React video on YouTube. That episode, the teens were reacting to EXO's "Call Me Baby" music video. I decided to watch the video, which lead me to watch the actual music video, and then I watched more and more, and that is how I discovered K-pop. For everyone who doesn’t know what K-pop is, it is a genre of music that stands for Korean pop. Currently in Asia and Europe, K-pop is gaining major popularity, and here in the U.S. it is slowly but surely gaining the true recognition it deserves. Enough about technical information, right? Let me give you five reasons why I listen K-pop (and why you should too).
1. The music videos are amazing.
I mean, I love listening to the song, but I always love to see the concepts of the music video. Will it relate to the song? Will it have nothing to do with the song? It’s amazing the end product of all these music videos. They usually go all out. Some K-pop groups release more than one music video with the song. Usually when that happens, the group releases two videos: one is the real MV and other one is a performance video, where they are dancing. What I really love is that when the music video is dropped, most of the time the whole album of the artist is also released. So there is never a real wait. I can get everything all at once!
2. The dances are amazing!
If you are a dancer or just love to watch dancing, then you might enjoy K-pop. Most K-pop groups/artist dance, and when they dance, they dance. The choreography is amazing and very intricate. Sometimes music videos do not show the full choreography, so then the group will release a performance music video, which is just them dancing, or they will release a dance practice video, which is the group or the artist in the studio dancing. With these dance practice videos, they are sometimes filmed at different angles and different scenarios that the idols play along with. I always look forward to watch them.
3. Their endurance is amazing.
When a single is released, an idol or an idol group has to do a “comeback stage” if they have had their debut before or a “debut stage” if this is the first time they are performing. They perform and promote this single continuously for about three to four weeks on different music and variety shows. Sometimes they will perform that single three or four times in a day at different variety/music shows. They keep going and going just to keep fans happy. Even behind the smiles and the amazing dancing, you can tell that they are tired. Yet most of the time, they do not make mistakes and keep performing!
4. They are all super attractive!
This might be a little superficial, but who doesn’t want attractive men and women singing great songs to them? Exactly! Groups are known to have a ‘visual.’ A ‘visual’ is usually who the company deems the most attractive in the group. They become the face of the group, and they use this person to market the group. Well, to me, they are all visuals. Each member of each group has their own unique look that shows their assets. They are all beautiful people!
5. Music is Music!
Music is music even if it’s in a different language. If it sounds good, then listen to it. That is why I listen to K-pop. I might not know what they are saying, but it sounds good and when I have time, I go and find the translations. It’s all on YouTube. It’s not just K-pop; it’s K-Hip Hop, R and B, there are so many to choose from!
At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what to listen to. I am just here to suggest that if you are looking for something new and different, you should listen to K-pop. It'll give you a new perspective on the world of music!
