The Korean wave, also known as Hallyu, means the rising popularity of Korean movies, dramas, music, fashion, and foods…etc. Hallyu has already been building for the last few decades, but among them, Korean pop music has become the most significantly popular recently. Most Kpop fans were only in Korea and a few other Asian countries back in 2010, but now, Kpop has gradually become a global phenomenon. Take “Gangnam Style” as an example, this song from the solo artist PSY, 2012, went super viral all around the world. Its music video even broke the upper limit of YouTube’s views, forcing YouTube to upgrade its system.
Although here’s an example of PSY, many iconic Korean pop music artists are bands. The popularity of Kpop bands started to increase noticeably from the second generation, which includes BIGBANG, SNSD, Super Junior, SHINee and Wonder Girls…etc. Some of them even entered the music industry of the US. The third generation, which began in 2013, including BTS, EXO, TWICE, NCT, and BLACKPINK…etc, were distinctive from the second generation in that they showed up on various shows and had much more interaction with their fans. The rise of different media platforms (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Vlive…etc) also helped these idols a lot. Most of them entered the music industry in many other countries outside of Korea. This generation has made Kpop remarkably more visible around the world.
