Juventude.life!Korean Music Culture: The K-POP"Your Life! Your Way!"

Have you ever heard about K-pop? K-pop is taking over the world now. People from all around the world listen to their music and some of them are even obsessed with it.

What is K-POP?

K-pop is the music culture from South Korea. K-pop includes different genres of music such as hip hop, rock, R&B, and electronic music. Actually, K-pop is affected by Western pop culture in the 1950s, especially American pop culture. Since that time, it has created its own style.

K-pop artists are called ‘idols’. Idols can be seen in different ways: as a member of a K-pop group and as a solo idol. Also, an idol who is a member of any group can release a solo album or just a song if her/his entertainment allows.

How to Become a Member of the K-POP Groups?

Entertainment starts training the idols at a very young age. Fourteen-fifteen-year-old girls and boys enter the entertainment to become an idol. The road to become an idol is a very long one.

At first, teens have to pass the auditions to be an intern idol. In the auditions, they are asked to dance, sing and rap. The idols cannot be overweight so they are careful about that. Idols have to fit in the beauty standards of the Asian countries so they take this into consideration, too. There is a huge competition for famous entertainment companies such as JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment, Bighit Entertainment, etc. The groups that are debuted from these entertainment companies have high views even though they’ve just started their careers.

After they enter these entertainment companies as an intern idol, they have a tough schedule. They have dance classes, singing classes, language classes, and many more. Some of the intern idols give up their school in order to focus on these classes. Moreover, intern idols have to pay as well. The fees are not fixed but of course, famous entertainment companies are very expensive. They fire interns if they cannot pay for it. Furthermore, it is not certain that interns will actually become idols. They have to be really really successful. They have to dance well, sing well, or rap well.

Entertainment companies audition the interns to choose the members of the new group that will be set. The successful interns are selected for the new group. Only then the selected intern idols can become real idols. They meet with the other members of the group and start to work on their first song.

The Positions in the Groups

Every member has a position in the group. A member can have two or three positions so there is not just one role for each. Also, more than one idol can fit in that position.

Leader:

Mostly, the leader is the oldest or one of the older members in the group. The leader is responsible for the representation of the group in TV programs, stages, or interviews. Also, the leader takes care of the other members and motivates them. For example, RM is the leader of BTS.

Visual:

Visual is the most attractive member of the group. Their task is to advertise the group by attracting people’s attention. There are a lot of groups in the K-pop industry, so visuals are needed. For example; Tae-Hyung is the visual of BTS.

Face of the Group:

Simply, the face of the group is the most popular member. Generally, people think of them as a leader but they are not. It is just because they are very active so everybody knows their names. For example, Jungkook is the face of BTS.

Maknae:

Maknae means the youngest in Korean. There is no special task for them. For example, Jungkook is the maknae of BTS.

Main Vocalist:

It is the member who has stronger vocal ability than the other vocalist members in the group. Often, they have more lines and main parts are given to them. Jungkook is the main vocalist of BTS.

Main Rapper:

Main Rappers have the best rapping skills and technique. Generally, they write the lyrics of the songs. RM is the main rapper of BTS.

Main Dancer:

They are expected to have perfect dancing skills. They usually have fewer lines than the other members. Usually, the solo dancing parts are given to them. For example, the main dancer of BTS is J-Hope.

Why is K-POP So Popular?

Firstly, their music videos are well done. There are a lot of types of concepts for music videos. Some of them are very colorful and just like a fairy tale. On the other hand, some of them are very dark and gothic. Everybody can find their aesthetics such as fairy core, grunge, indie…

Secondly, idols encourage their fans to follow their dreams, to stop being insecure about how they look, be confident and love themselves. The lyrics are generally about these topics. Furthermore, there is no dirty word in the lyrics. Therefore, people of all ages can listen to K-pop.

Thirdly, the choreographies of the songs are pretty memorable. People learn the choreography and share the video of their dances on social media. This is a free advertisement for the group. How clever is that!

Last but not least, idols have very good personalities. Also, they are so pretty/handsome. It makes all young people fall in love with them, which increases their popularity.

Thank you with all my heart for reading my post. I hope you enjoyed it <3

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