{"id":38702,"date":"2024-01-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=38702"},"modified":"2024-01-19T13:25:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T18:25:09","slug":"how-k-pop-has-taken-global-pop-culture-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2024\/01\/26\/how-k-pop-has-taken-global-pop-culture-by-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"How K-pop Has Taken Global Pop Culture by Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

K-pop group SEVENTEEN at their “Be The Sun” world tour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you turn on one of today\u2019s top-40 radio stations, you may hear \u201cBTS\u201d being said frequently \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t mean \u201cback to school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BTS, in the context of today\u2019s pop culture, generally refers to K-pop group Bangtan Sonyeondan<\/a>, who are also referred to as the Bangtan Boys.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is K-pop? And what about it has people of all generations so mesmerized?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K-pop, which is an abbreviation for Korean pop music, is a genre that has roots in the 1950s but has grown in popularity within the last two decades. According to The Los Angeles Film School<\/a>, K-pop can\u2019t really be traced back to one particular style or influence; instead, it draws from many sources, including R&B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And K-pop doesn\u2019t just involve members \u2013 or, as they\u2019re known within the genre, \u201cidols\u201d \u2013 getting up on a stage and singing. The prospective stars go through years of auditions and training camps to hone their skills. Only after that are they able to begin practicing choreography and appearing on television shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A close friend, Manilyn Gumapas was, for a while, not interested in K-pop despite being musically inclined. However, when a friend was persistent about getting her to at least give it a try, she found herself immersed in everything the genre had to offer. She particularly fell in love with hearing the stories of the individuals in the limelight. In short, it \u201cchanged her life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Manilyn at a BTS concert in Chicago<\/strong>. Photo Credit: Manilyn Gumapas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During her interview with The Clarion, Gumapas wanted to make one thing clear: \u201cK-pop fandoms are not cults.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spoke about the frequent discourse around female versus male fans and how K-pop is often dismissed as a legitimate interest because it is female-dominated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gumapas, although still very much a fan, now looks at K-pop through an academic lens. For example, she examines how fans are able to come together to show support not only for the artists they love, but also for the causes they care about. For example, upon the death of a member of the group SHINee, they shared and comforted each other in grief. This, she said, is a way in which fans develop relationships with each other \u2013 as well as the artists \u2013 and foster a sense of community across geographical and cultural boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jas De Guzman, another friend and K-pop fan, through their own efforts within the K-pop space, also shows that fans go far beyond online interactions. For De Guzman, Korean pop music is a \u201clucrative hobby\u201d that has \u201copened doors\u201d for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Guzman has enjoyed K-pop and similar genres since 2009, with that type of music being popular in the Philippines around that time. They grew up with a passion for dance, and seeing the stars engage in that only made their interest blossom. They especially liked seeing the representation that came from girl groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
K-pop concerts are unrivaled in their ability to create a feeling of community between strangers. Photo Credit: Jas De Guzman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In previous years, De Guzman worked with entertainment companies and venues \u2013 such as Live Nation Korea and United Center \u2013 to coordinate the creation, distribution, and display of banners for K-pop groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, they have attended many fan-organized events \u2013 often known as \u201ccup sleeves\u201d \u2013 in the Chicago area. According to De Guzman, these events are the most popular in Asia and are used to celebrate occasions such as idols\u2019 birthdays. They started gaining traction on the west coast in the 2000s and into the 2010s. De Guzman says that they \u201cfeel old\u201d seeing K-pop grow to what it is now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For these two fans, and many others across the world, K-pop is about much more than the outfits or the stadium concerts. K-pop is about fostering community. And it seems that both Gumapas and De Guzman have been able to find their places within it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carly Webster, Staff Writer and Business Manager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

K-pop group SEVENTEEN at their “Be The Sun” world tour If you turn on one of today\u2019s top-40 radio stations, you may hear \u201cBTS\u201d being said frequently \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t mean \u201cback to school.\u201d BTS, in the context of today\u2019s pop culture, generally refers to K-pop group Bangtan Sonyeondan, who are also referred to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":38705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3613,2104,5528,2144,3],"tags":[5309,231,1386,2259,73,276],"class_list":["post-38702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-entertainment","category-events","category-music-entertainment","category-tartan-news","tag-carly-webster","tag-concerts","tag-entertainment","tag-k-pop","tag-music","tag-sinclair-community-college"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-a4e","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image9.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38702"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38948,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions\/38948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}