K-Pop | This Popular South Korean Music is Taking the World by Storm

K-Pop | This Popular South Korean Music is Taking the World by Storm

K-Pop has been around since the late 80s and in 2018 has grown into a super phenomenon. What's in? Left Handed K-Pop Idols. Fans all over the globe just can't get enough of this super genre. Kpop groups are the ish! And if they're left handed?!?  Better step out of the way. The world need not sleep on this music as they are not only taking over South Korea, but the world, including  the United States.  And they are not going anywhere no time soon.  Just recently, South Korean group Red Velvet performed at KPop Night Out during the 2017 SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas per CBC.

South Korean group Red Velvet performs at KPop Night Out during the 2017 SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW)

Photo Credit: South Korean group Red Velvet performs at KPop Night Out during the 2017 SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW)

 

K-Pop fans are the most loyal fans in the world!  Kpop news in New York.  Check out this Integration of K-POP gala concert and large K-Wave Convention for K-Culture fans around the world in New York.

 Another awesome performance in New York.

www.allkpop.com is a great resource for keeping up with kpop news, updates, music release dates and concert tours.


Here are Billboard's top 5 KPop Stars and the ones to watch in 2018:


1. Stray Kids (@Stray_Kids)

Stray Kids


Despite their official debut said to be weeks away, fans of this promising boy band have already been a journey. The latest act from JYP Entertainment (home to 2PM, GOT7 and TWICE) was set to be formed on the 2017 singing competition show titled Stray Kids where nine competitors worked to survive and earn a spot in the band's final lineup. At one point it looked like the group would debut as a septet, but ultimately Park Jinyoung, Mr. JYP himself, decided the group was complete as nine. The guys released a "pre-debut" album titled Mixtape that included studio versions of the songs showcased on their reality show, with the tracks highlighting the band's promising rap styles and production skills. While lots of promising new boy bands look keen to make an impact on the scene (rookies like ONF, Seven O'Clock, MyTeen and A.C.E have all caught our eye), Stray Kids look like the boys to lead this potential new flight of stars.
Notably, even with just their Korean TV show and a YouTube video to promote the song, Stray Kids' song "Hellevator" hit the top 10 of Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart in October.


2. Loona (@LoonaTheWorld)

Loona


In perhaps the most epic lead to a pop group possibly ever, Loona is expected to officially debut in their final, 12-member form after more than a year of revealing the outfit piecemeal. Starting in October 2016, the girl-group project was announced by label Blockberry Creative with plans to debut a new member or sub-unit of members each month. So far, fans have been introduced to 10 members and two units, with two more ladies and potential more splinter groups to be revealed. Despite the long rollout, there have been signs that fans and critics have been getting on board with Team Loona, with the September unit of Odd Eye Circle (consisting of members Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry) landing a Top 10 entry on the World Albums chart and their "Crazy Sweet Love" single snagging a spot on Billboard's year-end list of best K-pop songs.
By letting each member's unique talents and charms shine, Loona looks poised to have a strong fanbase ready to support the 12 women whenever they finally release that group album.


3. DPR LIVE (@_DPRLIVE)

DPR LIVE


Relying strictly on their ambition and talent, DPR LIVE is a shining example of how artists sticking to their vision can truly pay off in the long run. By hustling and proving quality over quantity, the creative hip-hop collective has garnered admiration from the industry, collaborating with some its best like (like Crush, Jay Park, Dean and Dumbfoundead), and eventually earning their place to be competitive on the scene.
With their first Top 10 entry on World Albums chart with December's Her EP, DPR LIVE looks set to be the crew to look out and shake things up in the rigid Korean pop industry.


4. The Rose (@Band_TheRose)

The Rose


It's rare for rock-leaning bands to make a major K-pop impression upon debut, but The Rose's gorgeously emotive "Sorry" was able to do that, scoring a spot on Billboard's year-end critics' song list and confirming themselves a multifaceted, new talent on the scene. Follow-up single "Like We Used To" evoked the same stirring melancholy, indicating strong promise from the group that they could break out past the rock scene to follow in the footsteps of FTISLAND, CNBLUE and DAY6.


5. YG Entertainment's New Girl Group (BLACKPINK's Sister)

 


Despite Blackpink only having five singles to their name, Korea's super label YG Entertainment has confirmed in late November the plans for a new girl group to hit the scene in 2018. While details have been purposely vague, the explosive debut from Blackpink (where they became the first K-pop act to send their debut singles to No. 1 and 2 on World Digital Songs and nearly earned a Hot 100 hit with "As If It's Your Last") along with the history of global curiosity that follow YG artists like PSY, BIGBANG and CL, there's no doubt many will be talking about these ladies whenever they're revealed.
Keep in mind, fans may need to be patient as Blackpink was rumored for years before making their 2016 debut, and YG is also reportedly preparing a new boy band to join their roster soon too.

Here's a snippet of K-Pop per Wikipedia and some July 2018 release dates:

"K-pop (abbreviation of Korean pop) is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. Although it includes all genres of "popular music" within South Korea, the term is often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of South Korean pop using styles and genres from around the world, such as Western pop music, rock, experimental, jazz, gospel, Latin, hip hop, R&B, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country and classical on top of its uniquely traditional Korean music roots. The more modern form of the genre emerged with one of the earliest K-pop groups, Seo Taiji and Boys, forming in 1992. Their experimentation with different styles and genres of music and integration of foreign musical elements helped reshape and modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene.

Modern K-pop "idol" culture began with the boy band H.O.T. in 1996, as K-pop grew into a subculture that amassed enormous fandoms of teenagers and young adults. After a slump in early K-pop, from 2003 TVXQ and BoA started a new generation of K-pop idols that broke the music genre into the neighboring Japanese market and continue to popularize K-pop internationally today. With the advent of online social networking services and Korean TV shows, the current global spread of K-pop and Korean entertainment, known as the Korean Wave, is seen not only in East and Southeast Asia but also Latin America, India, North Africa, the Middle East and the Western world, gaining a widespread global audience.

 

New July 2018 Releases Per Wikipedia

Date Album Artist(s) Genre(s)
2 One & Six Apink Dance, Ballad
3 The Fairy Tale MeloMance Ballad, Indie folk
Teen Top Story: 8pisode Teen Top Dance, Ballad
5 Gemini 2 Yoon Mi-rae Neo soul, Pop-rap
9 Summer Nights Twice Dance
10 F;uzzle Myteen TBA
16 Red Moon Mamamoo TBA
You Make My Day Seventeen TBA
18 TBA Chungha TBA
REtro Futurism Triple H TBA
19 TBA GFriend TBA
20 The Great Seungri Seungri TBA
25 TBA Kard TBA
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