Riding the wave with their massive hit Butter, following on last year’s hit Dynamite, Korean boy band BTS are proving K-Pop is here to stay. The K-Pop phenomena is truly global.
Photo - teenvogue.com
The Korean Wave Kraze
In the 1990s tensions eased between South Korea and China. South Korea began to import TV dramas and pop music which gained huge popularity in a culturally starved country. This has provided a massive market from which to expand across the world.
Boy band H.O.T’s performance in Beijing in 2000 is reportedly the start of what has been termed the Korean Wave or Hallyu.
Thanks to the internet, by the mid-00s K-Pop was making inroads into the West. Ten years ago my teenage daughter and her best friend were listening to K-Pop. My lass liked CNBlue and her friend was a huge fan of SHINee. It’s was quite niche music in the West at that time.
Now, I too, have fallen for the youthful charms, talent, sex appeal and just sheer enjoyment of the Hallyu boys.
My daughter’s friend got so into the whole culture of South Korea thanks to her love of K-Pop, that she got her degree in Korean Studies and spent a year in the country.
The Power of the Idols
The pop stars are referred to as Idols. Idols are viewed as role models in Korean society. Everyone dreams of being an Idol. We are now on the third wave of Idols.
To become an Idol, though, one must work incredibly hard whilst enduring draconian conditions. Hours of exercise, dancing, language and vocal lessons and they are not even supposed to date for fear of upsetting the fans.
Idols are created by an intense process. Ground out, boot-camp style, like military recruits. Even so, being an Idol does not prevent you from being called up for actual military service. Although the discipline the Idols display in their training is transferable to their military service.
Boy band numbers can fluctuate at any time whilst a member or most of them are doing national service. Last year the South Korean government passed a law allowing BTS another two years in which to complete their service.
Photo - allkpop.com
Members of popular band EXO are currently doing military service. Here they are posting an image of a members shaven head.
EXO are an example of a group that has a mix of Korean and Chinese members. They even perform their songs in Korean, Mandarin and Japanese.
The Dark Side
This is an industry with a dark side. With it’s treatment of stars one thinks of the Hollywood stable in the 1930s or the Disney factory of child actors. K-Pop has been dogged by scandals, claims of mistreatment, queer baiting, abuse, bullying etc.
Plastic surgery is not only common it is encouraged in the industry. Those perfect chiseled cheek bones and double eyelids look perfect for a reason. Unrealistic beauty standards or what?
There is a prevalence of eating disorders amongst both male and female Idols as a result of unrealistic beauty standards, regular weigh ins, drastic dieting and public shaming in front of other members if they put on weight.
Phot AFP
Fans were rocked when SHINee member Jonghyun (pictured above) took his own life at the age of 27. His suicide note cited he was broken from inside and engulfed in depression.
Money Making Machine
The industry in K-Pop is controlled by four major companies.
SM, JYP, YG and Big Hit Music. Companies like SM Entertainment are managers, producers, record labels all rolled into one. They control their artists completely. Tying up artists for 13 year contracts are not uncommon.
Every year the big companies hold auditions and upwards of 50,000 hopeful teenagers turn up.
Training stars for three to five years. Accommodation costs, clothing, investing in plastic surgery for example, all equates to a pretty big investment.
The Idols are expected to work off their “debts”. As well as being members of a large band, individuals do solo projects or collaborations. Always producing content and product for fans to consume.
The Fans
Francis Cha (a South Korean journalist) has said that K-Pop fandom reaches heights seldom attained by other genres.
The selection process via talent competition makes it easy to become very involved, rooting for your bias (or favourite).
Of course, it is all about the merchandise. Fans spend quality money to buy albums that are filled with photos, glossy booklets, and other items that make you feel you are purchasing something special. Globalists should note there is a strong appetite for the K-Pop physical asset at this time.
What Cold War?
What is great about the international fans and K-Pop is that it transcends the increasingly cold war, anti-Asian sentiment being voiced in the US. Whilst the West’s economic and social decay increases, so the power of K-Pop to unite the world in celebration of the East advances.