It is not surprising that when social networks such as Twitter are opened, the first thing that appears on the list of trends are words in Hangul (Korean alphabet) related to the kpop; short and apparently difficult to pronounce names such as Jungkook, Taeyong or Hyunjin; or expressions as foreign as selca day, oppa and fighting.
And it is difficult to imagine that despite cultural differences, different languages and geographical separation, the hallyu (translated as Korean wave) has had such a significant impact on the public in the West, especially in Colombia, a nation that has been characterized as a great consumer of K-dramas, gastronomy, K-beauty and others.
K-pop is a case that is well worth highlighting, because currently its greatest exponents have begun to invade the lists of the most famous songs such as the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200, they have surpassed historical records of artists of the stature of The Beatles and have even been nominated in the grammy.
Therefore, it is not surprising that streaming platforms give it a space and have created its hit list, as is the case of Apple with its top K-pop songs available for at least 39 countries, Colombia included; thereby encouraging South Korea’s music industry leap between oceans and disrupt other cultures.
Here a list of top 10 songs today:
1. hurt
Artist: NewJeans
2. Haegeum
Artist: August D.
3. AMYGDALA
Artist: August D.
4. People Pt.2
Artist: Agust D & IU
5. SDL
Artist: August D.
6. Super
Artist: SEVENTEEN
7. Welcome To MY World (feat. nævis)
Artist: aespa
8. Shoong! (feat. LISA of BLACKPINK)
Artist: TAEYANG
9. like crazy
Artist: Jimin
10.Yet To Come
Artist: BTS
Modern K-pop (from English “Korean pop”) originated in the 1990s with the debut of the popular group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992, known for incorporating Western music genres such as rap, hip-hop, rock, jazz, electronics and techno into their songs.
This trio, made up of Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Junomade her debut on a talent show on MBC with the song Nan Arayo, leaving the jury shocked, who gave them the lowest marks. However, the success of this single on radio and television was resounding, which led to the release of more songs of that style and more artists who opted for it.
It was not until 1995 when the producer Lee Soo Man founded one of the firms that to date remain a “heavyweight” in the music industry, SM Entertainment; while former Seo Taiji & Boys member Yang Hyun Suk created YG Entertainment (nineteen ninety six); followed by JYP Entertainment (1997), established by singer Park Jin Young.
These three companies were long called the “Big 3” ‒until the success that BTS achieved by the hand of BigHit Entertainment (today known as Hybe Labels)‒ and were dedicated to training the first generations of idols, in order to satisfy the demand of the Korean public to want to see younger artists.
In this way, the HOT group was one of the first to debut in the industry, followed by others that made up the well-known “first generation of K-pop” such as Sechs Kies, SES, Fin.KL, NRG, Baby VOX, Diva, Shinhwa and god
At the beginning of the new millennium, some of the idol groups that had debuted were inactive while others like Baby Vox were successful in various regions of Asia, an example of which was their song Coincidence, which was promoted at the 2003 Soccer World Cup and which ranked first on the Chinese music charts.
At the same time, other artists who went solo also marked a milestone: Boathe first Korean singer to lead the Oricon chart in Japan, an equivalent to the Billboard chart but Asian and in which artists from other countries rarely manage to enter and Rainan actor and singer who gave a concert for 40 thousand people in Beijing.
Later I would initiate the call “second generation of K-pop”again at the hands of groups that were made up of young figures such as TVXQ (debuting in 2003), SS501 (2005), Super Junior (2005), BIGBANG (2006), as well as girl groups such as Wonder Girls (2007), girls generation (2007) and KARA (2007).
By 2008, South Korea was already leading the entertainment market in Asia with an annual growth rate of more than 10% in the exports of its musical and television products with K-dramas, even accounting for 68% of the music market in Japan, ahead of China (11.2%) and the United States (2.1%).
Later, more groups like SHINee or INFINITEthe latter who managed to secure the record of being first to top Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart in 2014 with his song Last Romeo; 2PM, EXO, 2IN1, until you reach the third generation of K-pop where new groups such as BTS, Seventeen, GOT7, Twice, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK, MAMAMOO, among othersup to the present Fourth generation which are all those who debuted between 2017 and 2018 like Stray Kids, ITZY, Ateez, Astro and more.
It is worth mentioning that a watershed that should be considered is Gangnam Style by rapper PSYa song that not only managed to break unimaginable records on music platforms such as Youtubebut it also went around the world and showed that language was not a barrier to success in highly competitive countries such as the American industry.
To date, the baton as the greatest exponents of K-pop is held by the group bts ‒integrated by Suga, RM, Jin, Jimin, J-Hope, V and Jungkook‒, who in addition to dominating the music industry in South Korea and consolidating their fame in the rest of the world, have been named “Asia’s trend leader” by The Economist and “Artists of the Year” by TIME magazine, going through his Grammy Award nominations and his 10 Billboard Awards.
