How Do I Get Into K-Pop?

[Timothy Hunter]

There is a friend of mine who is obsessed with K Pop. She swears up and down that that (genre?) of music is the best thing since sliced bread, and that K Pop is lightyears ahead in quality in relation to the pop music of the west. However, from what I have experienced with the most popular K Pop acts, such as for instance, BTS, Black Pink, or Got 7, these artists seem to be only slightly improved variations of the mediocre bands and artists that are dominating the American charts in my opinion.

As you can probably infer by the previous paragraph, I'm not too impressed by what I have experienced from the K Pop scene. However, I am still interested in this genre of music, and I would like to know what are the best artists/albums to get into K Pop?

[numberthirty]

One guy's take...

K-Pop is kinda like Black Metal in that it seems to be a squarely "Take It" or "Leave It" proposition. I can't really recall ever hearing examples of either that seemed like they were created with attempting to appeal to anyone outside of the true believers.

[Vic Vega]

On it's own merits, I think indy K-pop band Hyukoh is pretty good. Its a lot less blatantly "poppy" or copy cat-ish than most of the other stuff.

But yeah, most but not all of K-pop sounds like 90's boy band pop and early aughts R+B slammed together.

You have to either enjoy the reinterpretation of stuff we've heard before or you won't see what the fuss is all about.

Which is a valid reaction, to be fair. This whole genre reminds me of British pop stars in the 80's reinventing Motown to audiences in the States to massive acclaim.

But this time, it's meant for a foriegn language audience

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

I say don't try to force yourself to like something you have no interest in. It's nice that you're making the attempt for the sake of friendship, but your innate disdain for the material is going to eventually win out, and then you'll just be irritated with her. If you're good enough friends, then she'll understand that the two of you don't need to share EVERYTHING.

[Toreador]

I'd say do a Youtube search of kpop top bands/solo artists and browse clips to find something of your liking.

[Mormel]

I co-sign what Vic and Handsome said above, and I'd like to add that maybe instead of just listening to the songs and watching the videos, you could watch some live performances. These guys and girls go through rigorous training, and the way they present themselves on stage is a huge factor in why they garner so much popularity and esteem among Asian audiences at least. They are entertainers.

[Starter Set]

Don't know if it's available where you live but there is this tv channel called Arirang, it's made for audience outside of Korea. It's in English and you can find very often some K-pop in their program. Which can you a taste of it.

One thing i noticed is that they do seem to enjoy large band of teenagers/young adults. Up to 8 people sometimes lol. Don't know, not my cup of tea but it's not terribly unpleasant.

[Attila Kiss]

I don't know about K-Pop artists and music being "lightyears ahead of the west", but they are disciplined and quite melodic, I can attest to that.
Pop isn't my thing, so I don't follow the genre, nor look for it, but I do enjoy the many works of Lee HyunSuk.
And he is the extent of my knowledge in the matter.

[CellarDweller]

I don't know that you can make yourself "get into" K-Pop. That's like someone who is a huge classic rock fan asking how to start liking club music. You either like it or you don't.

K-Pop has been making some inroads in the US, but not a major 'hit maker' yet.

Psy's "Gangnam Style" got to #2 in 2012, becoming the first K-Pop song to get into the US Top 10. Last year, boy band BTS (Behind The Scenes) got to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second K-Pop single to hit the Top 10. BTS' 3rd album got to #1 on the Billboard album chart.

[PaulBullion]

I guess the trick is to be a good looking Korean kid and be able to sing and dance a little.