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The rise of k-pop, and what it reveals about society and culture.

Initially a musical subculture popular in South Korea during the 1990s, Korean Pop, or K-pop, has transformed into a global cultural phenomenon.

Characterized by catchy hooks, polished choreography, grandiose live performances, and impeccably produced music videos, K-pop — including music by groups like BTS and BLACKPINK — now frequently tops the Billboard charts, attracts a fiercely dedicated online following, and generates billions of dollars.

Yale sociologist Grace Kao, who became fascinated with the music after watching a 2019 performance by BTS on Saturday Night Live, now studies the subgenres of K-pop and its cultural, sociological, and political effects.

Kao, the IBM Professor of Sociology and professor of ethnicity, race, and migration in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and director of the Center on Empirical Research in Stratification and Inequality (CERSI), recently spoke with Yale News about the kinds of research her interest in K-pop has prompted, why the genre’s rise has been important to so many Asian Americans, and why she urges today’s students to become familiar with various musical genres.

The interview has been edited and condensed.

You have said that watching BTS on Saturday Night Live changed your view of K-pop. How did that performance transform your interest in K-pop from a personal one into an academic one?

Grace Kao: I saw that performance, and it stayed in the back of my mind. Then, when we were on lockdown because of COVID, being stuck at home set the stage for having time to watch more K-pop videos. At first, I was just watching them for fun. I knew K-pop was something important, but I didn’t know anything about it. I thought “I should educate myself on this.” My current research collaborator, Wonseok Lee [an ethnomusicologist and a musician at Washington University], and a Yale graduate student, Meera Choi, who’s Korean, offered guidance.

I’ve always been interested in race and ethnicity and Asian Americans. I knew in my gut that K-pop was important, but it was hard to figure out exactly how I could work on it, since I’m a quantitative sociologist. What's fun about being a researcher and being in academia is that we can learn new things and push ourselves. I think that’s the best part of this job.

Grace Kao recommends this playlist to get started.

When I started working on it, I tried to learn without having a clear research question. Then, along with my collaborator, Lee, we started thinking about papers that we could work on together. I was also able to take first-semester Korean, so now I can read Korean, and Choi and I can begin working on different research papers.

What kinds of research are you doing?

Kao: One paper is about the link between ’80s synth-pop and very current K-pop. Others have argued that K-pop borrows heavily from American Black music — R&B, hip hop, and so forth. And it’s true, but we’re arguing that K-pop has links to all these different genres because the production is much faster. We also finished another paper looking at the links between New Wave synth-pop to Japanese city pop [which was also popular in the 1980s] and a Korean version of city pop. And we’re probably going to start a reggae paper next.

In another project, with two data scientists we’re looking at Twitter data related to a 2021 BTS tweet that happened about a week after a gunman in Atlanta murdered eight women, including six of Asian descent. The tweet, which was about #StopAsianHate, or #StopAAPIHate, was the most retweeted tweet of the year. Everyone in that world knows that K-pop is extremely influential, but there are moments now where it seems like it’s ripe for political action because fans are already really organized. We’re looking at how the conversation about the shootings before and after they tweeted changed. The analysis involves millions of tweets, so it's very data intensive work.

Last March you gave a talk on campus in which you talked about the role of K-pop in “transformative possibilities for Asian Americans.” What is an example of those possibilities?

Kao: Partly it’s just visibility. The SNL performance by BTS was really important for people. Especially people my age, we had never seen a bunch of East Asian people on the stage singing in a non-English, non-Western language. I knew that was an important moment regardless of whether or not you like the music or the performance.

I think during COVID, BTS made Asian faces more visible. They were on the cover of Time magazine, every major publication. They were everywhere. But it also brought up questions of xenophobia. People were making fun of them because of how they looked. At the time there was also the extra baggage that comes with being Asian. But any time BTS were attacked, because their fandom is so big and so passionate, their fans would jump on anyone who did anything to them. Then journalists would cover it, and suddenly there were all these stories about how you shouldn’t be racist against Asians.

Many of us who study Asian Americans have observed over time that it often seems acceptable for people to make fun of Asian things. Just by virtue of the fact that it’s [BTS], that their fans are protecting them, and that that gets elevated to the news is a big deal. President Biden invited them to the White House. These are all things I would have had trouble imagining even just five years ago.

You teach a first-year seminar, “Race and Place in British New Wave, K-pop, and Beyond,” which focuses on the emphasis on aesthetics in both genres’ popularity. What understanding do you hope students walk away with?

Kao: I want students to take pop culture very seriously. Sometimes pop music seems not serious, but so many people consume it that it can have pervasive and serious consequences on how people see folks of different race, ethnic, gender, and national identities.

Another thing I wanted students to learn about is genres of music. Students today like music, but they consume it very differently than people did when in college. We listened to the radio or watched MTV, so we were fed something from a DJ or from actual people who were programming the content. You’d end up listening to a lot of music that you didn’t like, but you’d also have a better sense of genres than students now. Today students consume music through Spotify or YouTube and so forth, which use algorithms to give you songs that are similar to the songs you liked, but not necessarily from the same genre. Students can have diverse and wide-ranging experiences with music, but I found that they have trouble identifying that any particular song is part of a genre. So I feel like it’s important for them to listen to a lot of music.

I want them to consume it because sometimes we think we can comment on things that we don’t know anything about. We don’t actually consume it. I think it’s important for students to walk away knowing something about these genres and to be able to identify them: this is a reggae song, this is a ska song, this is synth-pop, et cetera.

What K-pop groups are you currently into?

Kao: Besides BTS, I enjoy listening to groups such as SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, NewJeans, Super Junior, and new group TRENDZ.

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Essay On K-pop: Best Topics And Tips For Choosing

It all started with gangnam style – the video that went viral in 2012, and went on to top music charts in over 30 countries..

The song earned the Guinness World Record as the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views and paved the way for the Korean wave of pop culture and ideas. The seldom-known genre of music has garnered a lot of influence, and the music industry is ranked among the top ten music markets worldwide. If you’re a student or researcher, let us show you the best topics about pop culture you can write a paper on and how to choose one yourself.

Kpop as a Research Topic: Why to Select

Kpop or Korean pop is a fast-rising music style and popular culture, so it is quite a widespread research subject for many. But not every student is genuinely interested in music. It’s better to choose everything to taste. However, if this is an assignment from the teacher, or you just lack skill, pay someone to write your paper on Papersowl.com for 100% original academic essays. Besides expertise, also check out topic concepts for inspiration if you’re stuck. When students pay for college essay, they ensure that the writing is not plagiarized or badly written. And the theme does not matter to professionals. Meanwhile, if pop is something you’ve been crazy about, go ahead and enjoy completing your assignment.

10 Best K-pop Topic Ideas To Write About

The popularity of pop has broken the language barrier and has raised awareness of Asian music and culture. It has also spread inclusion and diversity over the world and broken stereotypes. Below are popular kpop essay topics and angles to explore for your article:

The globalization of K-pop: A study of the factors that have contributed to the global popularity of Korean pop music.
Pop and its impact on Korean culture: A discussion of how pop has influenced the cultural identity of South Korea.
The role of social media in the success of Korean pop: An analysis of how social media has helped to promote and popularize pop.
The rise of BTS and the impact of their music on the international music industry: A study of how BTS has broken down barriers and achieved success in the US and other global markets.
The influence of Hallyu on fashion and beauty trends: A discussion of how pop has influenced the beauty and fashion industry both in Korea and internationally.
The dark side of pop in Korea: An exploration of the challenges faced by pop idols and the negative effects of the industry on their mental and physical health.
The impact of pop on the Korean economy: A study of the economic benefits of the pop industry for South Korea.
K-pop and gender representation: An analysis of the way pop portrays gender and sexuality in its music and visuals.
The role of K-pop in promoting Korean language and culture globally: A discussion of how pop has helped to promote the Korean language and culture around the world.
K-pop and fandom culture: An exploration of the unique and passionate fandom culture that surrounds pop and how it differs from other music fandoms.

Tips for Choosing a K-pop Essay Topic

Before choosing a topic, read the assignment brief and the directions. This will help you understand the requirements you must satisfy for a perfect grade. Then, choose a topic you have an opinion about. You won’t produce an A-grade article about something if you don’t have passion for it. Hence, select an intriguing theme. It should be something you already know, care about, or would like to learn more about. Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I interested in this topic?
Is it appropriate for my audience?
What is my purpose for deciding on this theme?
Can I develop it into an article within the time frame and word count required?
Can I research it adequately to meet the source requirements?
Is the topic too broad or narrow to fit the requirement?

If a subject is too broad, narrow it down to make it easier to manage. One way to do this is to tackle the problem from a specific perspective. Don’t combine topics or attempt to be overly ambitious. Instead, reduce the scope, and don’t be shy to ask your tutor for recommendations.

Things to Pay Attention to When Writing Your Kpop Paper

There are various ways to format your article. Pay attention to the following:

Follow Structural Requirements

There are different types of essay writing. Your paper can be persuasive, informative, or descriptive. It all depends on the purpose of writing an academic essay or article. Most papers follow the introduction–body–conclusion structure. But the body paragraph differs depending on the article type. Pay attention to the guideline and use the following to structure your article:

Introduction: open your article with a hook – something fascinating to capture the reader’s attention. It can be a question, a fact, or a famous quote. Follow it with your thesis statement and introduce the concepts you want to discuss.
Body paragraph: discuss the concept in detail using paragraphs. If the brief does not provide instructions on the number of sections to write, use your discretion. But only use one paragraph to discuss a concept to aid understanding. Use transition words to flow between sentences and maintain coherence.
Conclusion: recap the main points of your article here and leave a call to action.

2. Research The Topic

The next thing to do after deciding on the topic is to spend time researching Korean pop culture. Read books, watch interviews, and invest quality time into listening to the songs. You can join a few fan clubs to know what happens behind the scene. If something is not clear, don’t hesitate to consult your instructor for further instruction.

3. Reference To Avoid Plagiarism

Don’t forget to cite sources you use for your article to avoid plagiarism. Popular referencing styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Read the brief to know the required citation style.

4. Proofread and Edit

After writing your article, manually read through for grammar, sentence, and punctuation mistakes. Ask a friend to also read through for errors you missed or use an online grammar checker for more efficiency. Submit your paper only after proofreading it.

South Korea is Asia’s fourth-largest country by economy. Its music culture started making worldwide headlines and has impacted the sector a lot. This didn’t only happen in Korea but also in the United States, Germany, and other countries. Popular culture has broken several barriers, but it is not without its backlash. As a result, it is the ideal space for a writer to explore.

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Order bidding, kpop essay sample on its sensational popularity.

K-pop (Korean pop music) is nothing new to the global audience, but now, with the emergence of global K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK, this genre of music is becoming more and more popular.

K-pop is a generic name given to music from South Korea.

Kpop is a global phenomenon that invaded modern culture with the speed of light. It seems that the popularity of Korean culture began not only in visual and musical art, but in Korean cosmetics five years ago. Actually, Kpop takes its roots from the year 1992, and thanks to the bands Seo Taiji and Boys, we have become familiar with modern and unique Korean-style popular music. The history of how Korean popular music influenced the whole world is a great topic for an essay about Kpop.

Photo from Depositphotos

Even the most skeptical spectator can’t take their sight away from the screen when they see modern Kpop groups of beautiful singing girls and boys. That’s the most typical reason teachers like to assign such topics for essays as Kpop.

Some students don’t know how to start their research. We propose these students to pay attention to the samples of essays on WriteMyEssayOnline. Here you can get inspiration for any subject and discipline. WriteMyEssayOnline offers students to read an example of an academic essay on Kpop to understand better how to write an exciting essay about modern culture.

Why Is Kpop So Popular? Korean pop is a musical genre that has taken the world by storm. According to a Tellwut survey, one out of three people has heard of Kpop (“Kpop?”). Kpop artists are idolized by their fans, so they are often called idols and for good reason. They are people of many talents, and their catchy music videos have imaginative choreography, colorful costumes, and good-looking singers who exude a special charm. How did K-pop start? Of course, initially K-pop was born in South Korea, but soon it captured the imagination of audiences throughout Asian. K-pop is not just a musical genre, because it followed the development of the Korean information technology industry and made the most of all the latest developments and technological innovations. The history of K-pop began in 1992 with the performance of the South Korean boy band Seo Taiji and Boys. They were the first to attempt to “Koreanize” modern American rap, adding dance and a Korean artistic sensibility to the music. Later, one of the members of Seo Taiji and Boys, Yang Hyun Suk, opened YG Entertainment, a record label and talent agency. By the end of the 90s, K-pop had become not just a popular music genre, but a national treasure, along with Korean dramas. The state began to use content as a tool of soft influence on neighboring countries – Japan and China, and then far beyond Asia. The rapid spread of Korean culture has been described as the “Hallyu effect” (or “Korean wave”), with this effect reverberating through the South Korean economy. In 2004, the export of all entertainment content amounted to 0.2% of the country’s GDP and was estimated at $1.87 billion, and 15 years later – it had already reached $12.3 billion. Most popular bands The band BTS epitomizes K-pop. Due to the popularity of K-pop, even those who haven’t been following this musical trend may have heard of BTS. BTS along with other Korean artists appear in the world rankings of ‘persons of the year,’ become ambassadors of luxury fashion houses, and even release collaborations with tech giants. But all this did not come overnight. K-pop made PSY a star with his viral track Gangnam Style and gave the world the likes of 2NE1, Big Bang and Blackpink, all of whom also have record-breaking hits. After YG Entertainment, entertainment companies SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment entered the Korean market and contributed to the popularization of K-pop. The basis of the spread in global popularity, and not just in the Asian region, was the spread of social networks and mobile devices with internet access. Thanks to the creation of accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, representatives of the K-pop genre have become incredibly popular all over the world. Reasons for popularity First of all, Kpop songs are catchy, and it is hard for listeners to forget them. An author of the American music magazine Rolling Stone believes that Korean popular music “preys on listeners’ heads with repeated hooks” (Benjamin). It is hard to deny his statement considering the overwhelming popularity of “Gangnam Style” with its 3.5 billion views on YouTube (Park). Furthermore, Korean music videos are also known for astonishing visuals. These videos glitter with the bright colors of the costumes and lively dance numbers that are hard to forget. One of the most memorable music videos is “Catallena” by Orange Caramel that shows different sushi sets represented as real people. It should also be mentioned that all singers have a unique style and image. Actually, it is crucial to be extremely attractive and multi-talented to be successful in this industry. For instance, the boy band GOT7 made spectacular tricks and elements from martial arts a special part of its performance (Wang). Rumor has it that in the Asian region there are literally K-pop farms that churn out groups and keep them in optimal shape. And the reason is simple – it is a very, very profitable business. Thus, the popularity of Kpop is caused by multiple factors. Undoubtedly, the music is good, but most importantly, beautiful Korean singers hook the audience with catchy tunes and spectacular dances. That is what makes Kpop not just a genre, but a global phenomenon. Works Cited Benjamin, Jeff. “The 10 K-Pop Groups Most Likely to Break in America.” Rolling Stone , 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-10-k-pop-groups-most-likely-to-break-in-america-158612/miss-a-80444/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2020. Jae-sang, Park. “PSY – GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V.” YouTube , uploaded by officialpsy, 15 June 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2020. “Kpop?” Tellwut. 2013, www.tellwut.com/surveys/entertainment/music/41380-kpop-.html/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2020. Orange Caramel. “[MV] ORANGE CARAMEL ‘까탈레나(Catallena)’ Music video.” YouTube , uploaded by PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT, 12 March 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Med2XipHJJM/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2020. Wang, Angelina. “K-Pop’s GOT7 Has It All: Glamour, Stellar Sound, Killer Good Looks, and True Diversity in an Otherwise Strictly Controlled Industry.” South China Morning Post, Young Post, 15 Aug. 2019, yp.scmp.com/entertainment/music/article/108143/k-pops-got7-has-it-all-glamour-stellar-sound-killer-good-looks/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2020.

What Else to Analyze In Your K-Pop Paper

If you need more ideas about what to analyze in your essay, check this out:

BTS and BLACKPINK and how they influenced the development of K-pop.
Comeback (every release of new music since debut).
Dance practices.
Fancam (video made by fans or music shows featuring one particular idol during a performance).

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Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning Essay

Globalization has made people more aware of other cultures, traditions, values, and viewpoints. In this sense, Asian cultures, including their artists, performers, and actors, gain more popularity in other nations. Among the well-known Asian music genres is K-Pop, which introduced to the world a large number of talented musicians. However, while learning about K-Pop can contribute to the understanding of the new genre, it can be valuable to study this field from a cultural perspective. This way, the cultural meaning of studying K-Pop involves a deeper understanding of the Asian communities, their values, preferences, perception of aesthetics, and artistic activity.

K-Pop can be referred to as a part of the popular culture of the Asian region. From an academic point of view, such kind of culture is an “inferior culture” culture and involves popular entertainment, art, press, and cinema (Storey 8). While being considered inferior, K-Pop is still valuable in terms of Asian ideology, which implies a systematic set of beliefs. The first cultural meaning of studying K-Pop involves learning “a general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development” of Asian people (Storey 1). This will allow other nations to gain a more profound knowledge of great artists and the philosophy behind some lyrics. Furthermore, K-Pop can be useful in terms of learning about “a particular way of life” of South Korean individuals since clips of K-Pop songs might give references to or show Asian holidays, sports, and religious festivals (Storey 2). Lastly, “the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity” might be learned via K-Pop due to Korean approaches to performances (Storey 2). This way, K-Pop serves as a conduit of information to learn about the Asian community.

Therefore, comprehending the cultural significance of K-Pop requires a better understanding of Asian populations, including their values, tastes, and conception of aesthetics and artistic endeavor. Learning a broad pattern of the intellectual, social, and artistic growth of Asian people is the primary cultural meaning of studying K-Pop. Additionally, K-Pop can be beneficial in learning about a certain approach to the life of South Korean people because music videos may make references to or depict Asian holidays, sporting events, and religious festivals. Finally, due to Korean attitudes to performances, practices of artistic activity may be learned through K-Pop.

Storey, John. “What is Popular Culture?” Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction . Routledge, 2021, pp.1-15.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Studying K-Pop: The Cultural Meaning." August 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/studying-k-pop-the-cultural-meaning/.

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K-pop As A Subculture And Its Influence On The World

Category: Music
Topic: Kpop , Music Industry

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