In South Korea, K-Pop has been an unstoppable force since the late Nineties, when early trailblazers like Seo Taiji and Boys and H.O.T. kickstarted a larger wave of idol groups. Meticulously put together and trained up at dedicated bootcamps – sometimes for years – before being launched publicly, stars often cultivate a squeaky-clean image and have a carefully managed public persona.
Musically, the genre is a bright, hooky melting pot of global influences – including rap and various dance subgenres such as EDM and house – and a treasure trove of interlinking symbols and easter eggs for fans to pore over with every release.
Further down the line, the genre went global. In 2009, Wonder Girls became the first ever South Korean group to break the Billboard Hot 100, and the year after Psy’s ridiculously catchy Gangnam Style became an inescapable force around the world, the floodgates well and truly opened. Big Bang’s Made World Tour was attended by a whopping 1.5 million people worldwide. By 2017, BTS cracked the US Billboard Hot 100 with the Steve Aoki-featuring MIC Drop, and became the first ever K-Pop band to win an American Music Award.
When the group jetted into Los Angeles for the AMAs, they were followed by huge mobs of fans, Beatlemania-style. By 2020, BTS had landed a number one single in the US with the Grammy-nominated Dynamite. Their incredible rise to global stardom is now the subject of a new, eight-part Disney+ documentary, BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star; out on December 20.
Now, K-Pop is one of the biggest, fastest-growing and most powerful genres in the world. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, eight out of the ten best-selling albums of 2022 came from K-pop acts; earlier this year, the girl band Blackpink became the first ever non-British music act to be honoured with MBEs.
In other words: K-Pop is a force to be reckoned with. Here are some of the key acts to get to know.
BTS
When BTS first launched in 2013, they offered something a little different to the rest of the pack. Though they were still carefully pieced together through auditions and lived together in a sort of bootcamp-esque house prior to launch, their label Big Hit was also crafted to make sure that each member of the group had heaps of individuality; their songs didn’t shy away from acknowledging the trappings and pressures of fame, and label bosses gave Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook direct input into the music as co-writers and co-producers. The group are currently on hiatus while they complete military service, which is compulsory in South Korea.
Where to start: Dynamite, Butter, I Need U
Blackpink
First debuting in 2016 after years of training, four-piece Blackpink are arguably one of the world’s biggest girl bands – Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa have collaborated with Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga, and made history this year as the first Asian act to headline Coachella. Last year’s Born Pink world tour was the highest grossing tour of all time by a female group.
Making precise, hooky pure pop, it’s not just Blackpink’s choreo that is ridiculously good fun; from the huge, squelching trap beat of How Do You Like That to Pink Venom’s playful use of sampling (it draws on Rihanna’s Pon De Replay, P.I.M.P by 50 Cent and Kick in the Door by The Notorious B.I.G.). Their lyrics are often very playful, and subvert stereotypes of K-pop being completely squeaky clean: "Sometimes I like to go play dirty. Just like all of the f***boys do,” quips Tally.
Where to start: Pink Venom, How Do You Like That, Ddu-Du Ddu-Du
Seventeen
Occupying the gritter, beat-heavy end of the spectrum, there’s plenty of EDM influence in Seventeen’s pulsing dance-pop – and hits like the Marshmello-featuring SOS even come with a touch of emo. The thirteen strong group – S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino – are split across three units: rap, performance, and vocals. Led by producer and songwriter Woozi (who is sometimes described as the backbone or ringleader of Seventeen) all members have a big hand in the creative process; it gives their music plenty of eclectic edge.
Where to start: SOS, Super, Wave
NewJeans
Channelling a sprinkling of liquid drum’n’bass, and plenty of pop perfection, NewJeans’ Super Shy is easily one of the biggest hits of 2023 – and next year could be their biggest yet. The five-piece originally debuted in 2022 with a surprise release of the dance indebted single Attention; their name is a nod to switching up the DNA of pop and doing things a little differently.
Earlier this year they followed in the footsteps of Blackpink when their second EP Get Up bagged number one in the US – making them the second K-Pop girl group to land it – and with a couple of extended plays now under their belts, look out for a debut album come 2024.
Where to start: Super Shy, Attention, OMG
TXT
TXT (or Tomorrow X Together, to give them their full name) are also newer kids on the block. They made their debut in 2019, six whole years after BTS took K-Pop global, and their music is a bright and breezy blend of indie, pop and disco. The aim of the game is fun and fantasy (Harry Potter is heavily referenced in their song Run Away), with a few songs about the home truths of being a teen thrown in. The members – Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and HueningKai – have also talked about wanting to be more involved in the songwriting.
Where to start: Run Away, Fairy of Shampoo, 20cm
Aespa
Queens of the Metaverse, Aespa, offer an intriguing blend of real-world and digital. Formed in 2020 by SM Entertainment, their name is an amalgamation of the words “Avatar x Experience” and “aspect”; the group’s four members – Giselle, Karina, Ningning and Winter – all exist in the Metaverse as digital avatars of their real-life selves, with whom they often appear in photos and videos. The lore is deep (their avatars have their own backstories and narrative arcs), their videos are a slick blend of real life and CGI and their music is infectious.
Where to start: Spicy, Black Mamba, Better Things
Itzy
This hyper-coordinated girl group has been steadily on the rise ever since they debuted in 2019. Comprising five members – Yeji, Chaeryeong, Ryujin, Yuna and Lia – their debut single Dalla Dalla, accrued 17.1m views in 24 hours and broke the record for the most-viewed K-pop debut music video. That said, their music isn’t traditional K-pop fare; it leans heavily on EDM sub-genres including future house and bass house, combining it with empowering lyrics about self-love.
The band are still together, but in September JYP Entertainment announced Lia would be taking a break due to anxiety; their eighth EP, Born to Be, is still due to be released in January and will feature the first solo recordings by members of the group.
Where to start: Wannabe, Dalla Dalla, Mafia in the Morning
Red Velvet
It’s a testament to their versatility and popularity that Red Velvet are still going strong. Formed in 2014 by SM Entertainment, its five members (Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri) make an artform out of mixing music genres. The band’s name reflects this – their bolder “Red” side is all about electronic and funk, while their “Velvet” side mixes R&B and hip-hop with (oddly) ballads. Despite being together for ten years, they’ve only released three albums, the last of which, titled Chill Kill, was released in November.
Where to start: Red Flavor, Bad Boy, Kingdom Come
Girls’ Generation
They don’t come much bigger than Girls’ Generation: this eight-piece, all-girl band is so popular that it’s been nicknamed 'The Nation’s Girl Group' by its fans and admirers. They’re also veterans – the band first formed in 2007, when male K-pop groups were all the rage and female-led ones struggled. They were formed to explicitly target overseas markets, with various members fluent in Chinese, English and Japanese; with a universally-appealing bubblegum pop sound (though this has veered off into hip-hop and EDM on occasion), it set the standard for many of the groups that followed.
Where to start: Gee, All Night, I Got A Boy
Stray Kids
Formed very much in the public eye, on a survival reality show of the same name, Stray Kids co-write and co-produce their own music: they came up with the moniker to reflect the idea that they’re a band of lost boys chasing the musical dream, Peter Pan style. Though they’ve been going since 2017, last year represented their big global crossover, with the band signing to Republic Records in the US, and mounting the Maniac World Tour. Compared with the rest of the K-Pop pack, Stray Kids have particularly strong rock leanings.
Where to start: LALALALA, Blueprint, District 9
Twice
Another K-Pop group formed through the reality show to bands pipeline, Twice were put together on the show Sixteen, and officially launched in 2015 with the mini-album The Story Begins. If you’re a fan of the glossy, polished pop of Ariana Grande or Victoria Monét, this nine-piece will be well up your street. Currently in the process of cooking up a brand new era, Twice are teasing a new single, I Got You, for February 2 next year.
Where to start: MOONLIGHT SUNRISE, The Feels, Like Ooh-Ahh
Fifty Fifty
In a packed line-up that also included (deep breath) Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj, and Ryan Gosling in Ken mode, Fifty Fifty achieved the huge feat of crafting the standout track – the bubblegum banger Barbie Dreams. The four-piece (who have been through a number of lineup changes amid a legal dispute with Attrakt) debuted last year with EP The Fifty, and went onto collaborate with Sabrina Carpenter on the excellent Cupid Twin Vers.
Where to start: Higher, Cupid Twin Vers, Barbie Dream
