Over the past few years, a trend has been accelerating rapidly across the country. That trend is the rise in Korean pop bands.
From BTS to Blackpink, Stray Kids and Twice, people across the country have been falling in love with K-pop bands and artists. All bands have their own charm and members, creating new hype around international music. Fans of certain bands also have fun names. For instance, fans of Stray Kids are called Stays.
There are a multitude of reasons why this rise is happening, from good social media presence to captivating performances and strategic investment by the South Korean government to promote Korean culture.
According to thekoreaninme.com, “YouTube has been particularly instrumental in K-Pop’s globalization. Music videos often rack up millions of views within hours of release, allowing fans worldwide to access new content instantly.”
Along with that, thekoreananime.com states that “The visually captivating nature of K-Pop music videos makes them highly shareable, encouraging fans to spread the content across their social networks.”
Bands like Blackpink and BTS have become part of the mainstream radio cycle. Stray Kids have become rich in their own right, between merchandise of every single member, and concerts that pull in $200 a ticket.
K-pop, like all internet and mainstream fandoms, have certain lingo and terms that only those in the community know. Here’s a guide to understanding K-pop sayings and slang.
- Bias- the favoritism of one band member over all others.
- Kin- A member someone could relate to.
- Stan- formerly used to refer to stalker fans or obsessive fans now used in a more casual context usually to refer to fans in general.
As K-pop becomes even more integrated into American listening trends, the only question is how big it can get, not how quickly will it fall out of fashion. K-pop is never going to leave, it’s only going to grow as the years go by.
