Korean pop (K-Pop), as we all know, has been blowing up the international charts recently. As a more recent K-Pop fan, this makes me really happy. The genre is getting more recognition globally, and the groups I started out with are flourishing. However, with this sudden burst of popularity, it’s made me wonder about other groups from years ago. How their music influenced the groups we all know and love today (BTS, GOT7, BIGBANG, etc), and how K-Pop has grown overall as a genre.
As a rookie K-Pop fan, I was introduced to classic K-Pop when BTS did that “Perfect Man” cover in 2015. That brought me deep down the K-Pop rabbit hole. I liked the song initially because it brought me back to my days of listening to NSYNC on my CD player. You know, those portable CD players when we all had to carry physical CDs with us if we wanted to listen to music. Ah, those were the days.
And then it dawned on me, K-Pop had to have had a whole 90s era worth of music too, right? Yes. The genre did have a moment in the 90s just like America did with NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears. Once I learned about Shinhwa, I realized just how vast the genre of K-Pop really is, and why people have been listening to it for years at a time, including myself.
Whilst I learn more about the evolution of K-Pop, there will be a series of articles that go along with it. I will be doing this by company, starting with the Big 3 (SM, YG, JYP), and moving from there. Talking about the groups that those companies successfully created, along with some groups that disbanded. If you want to follow me on this journey of learning the history and evolution of K-Pop as a genre, then stay tuned!
