10 Things Writers Should Know About the World of K-pop
K-pop has become a household term the world over, but if you’ve yet to dip your toe into this highly addictive world of bilingual lyrics, technicolor visuals, elaborate choreography, and beats you can’t get out of your head—not to mention fandoms who can drive their own headlines—here is a quick-and-dirty primer.
Once upon a time when I was living under a rock, I, too, tried to resist. But all it took was a single YouTube video to convert me. Next thing I knew, I was writing, then publishing, a debut novel—titled The Band (coming from Atria on April 16 to a book dealer near you)—about a global K-pop sensation who finds themselves in the cross-hairs of cancel culture, a mental health crisis, and a revenge-murder scheme at a music awards show.
1. K-pop fans aren’t just the newest form of Beatlemania or the boy band craze of the 90s and early aughts.
Whenever I tell people I wrote a novel about a K-pop band whose fandom is known as much for their dedication as their obsession, if the person is of a certain age, they’ll likely mention the Beatles. The four-member OG of boy bands from Liverpool actually make quite an extensive cameo in The Band, but I’d argue that the K-pop fandoms of today—particularly BTS’ A.R.M.Y.—are not really extensions of the hoards of screaming girls that defined Beatlemania.
If you look at the long list of achievements ARMY has done, they’ve proven themselves to be much more organized, strategic, and geopolitically engaged than the fandoms of yore. They’ve raised $1 million for Black Lives Matter. They’ve messed up Trump rallies during the last presidential election. They’re not just fans. They’re a movement.
2. It’s not a monolith and contains multitudes.
Related to the previous point, the K-pop fandom is shockingly diverse. The notion of teenyboppers gushing over boy bands is an outdated stereotype. Although the fandom does seem to be majority female, their other demographics are incredibly varied: geographically (they come from all over the world, from more than 100 countries/territories), age-wise (a little less than a third are under 18, about half are between 18-29, and the remaining are older). For the full breakdown, see btsarmycensus.com.
K-pop idols, too, are diverse: Although majority are Korean, a significant number do hail from other parts of the world, including Thailand (e.g., Blackpink’s Lalisa), China (e.g., Jackson Wang), Japan (e.g., TWICE’s Sana), to name a few. Others are ethnically Korean but from other parts of the world, like Canada (NCT/SuperM’s Mark) and New Zealand (Blackpink’s Rosé).
3. It’s a global phenomenon.
According to the latest reports (Savage, 2024), K-pop made up four out of the 10 most top-charting musical artists this past year. Groups like Stray Kids and Seventeen are apparently surpassing even The Weeknd and Drake. Other K-pop group like BTS and Blackpink have headlined the most famous stadiums and festivals the world over, including Wembley in London and Coachella in California. NewJean’s hit “Super Shy” made Rolling Stone’s and Billboard’s best of 2023 lists.
4. It’s part of a greater movement called “hallyu.”
If you’ve noticed that K-pop, K-dramas, and K-beauty are everywhere, you’re not alone. South Korea’s global dominance in these two industries are part of a broader phenomenon scholars call “hallyu,” or the Korean wave.
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5. It didn’t happen by accident.
South Korea’s cultural influence is years in the making. Decades ago, when other East Asian countries like China and Japan were focused on manufacturing or technology, South Korea decided to focus on “soft power.” They honed in on developing the most appealing musical and screen stars in the world so that Korean popular culture would one day become their most beloved export. Clearly, it worked.
6. The fandoms all have distinctive names, and this fact highlights how organized and strategic they are.
BTS has their ARMY. Blackpink has their Blinks. TWICE has Onces. Super Junior has Elfs. Together, they’ve gotten together to build schools (e.g., in Africa for Super Junior’s anniversaries and in China in honor of EXO’s Kai), donate money to various causes for women, children, and the environment (e.g., by Danity in honor of Daniel Kang), just to name a few.
7. Like Swifties, K-pop fandoms can have enormous geopolitical influence.
Taylor Swift is known for her voter registration campaigns, and K-pop fandoms exert a similar level of influence over political outcomes. Globally, K-pop groups have been credited for improving Korea-Japan relationships as a result of their growing fanbases there. K-pop fans have also banded together to drive voter registration campaigns in Brazil and even influence presidential outcomes in Chile (Youn, 2023).
8. In addition to fans, there are also anti-fans, stans, and saesangs.
Remember how we discussed earlier that K-pop fans aren’t a monolith? With that comes with the reality that there is a dark side to fandom in the form of antis and sasaengs. Some are driven not by their love of one musical group but by hatred of another (antis). Others engage in the kind of unhinged stalker behavior known the world over (sasaengs).
9. It’s not just a YA thing.
Not surprisingly, a number of books about K-pop have been written in the YA space. This might just be a natural extension of the long-standing associations between fandoms and young women, but as we’ve established, teenage girls actually make up a minority of fandoms like ARMY.
Check out Christine Ma-Kellams’ The Band here:
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To my knowledge, other than The Band, there is one other adult fiction book about the world of K-pop: awhile back, Esther Yi released Y/N about a Berlin woman who travels to Seoul to chase down her Kpop idol. The Band takes a notably different spin: An American therapist offers shelter in her McMansion to a canceled K-pop boy bander on the run, but their relationship turns out to be both seductive and problematic.
10. There’s also J-pop, C-pop, T-pop, V-pop.
K-pop may have long reached global dominion, but pop music from other Asian countries are also gaining momentum: Be on the lookout for the next worldwide musical sensation from Japan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
References
Savage, M. (February 21, 2024). Stray Kids: How Kpop took over the global charts in 2023. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68362811Youn, S. (February 13, 2023). How Kpop fans are shaping elections around the world. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/16/1067943/kpop-fans-shaping-elections-worldwide/