The K-Pop Revolution

K-Pop fever has swept the nation as 'IDOL' by k-pop boy band BTS breaks the Youtube record for most viewed video within the first 24-hours of its release. After winning the Billboard 'top social artist of the year' award three times in a row and selling out their U.S tour in less than five minutes, BTS are the biggest boy band since the Beatles.
Originally only successful with Asian countries and westerners with Asian backgrounds, over the last five years many K-Pop stars have found a new platform of listeners all over the world. The international success of BTS has paved the way for a K-Pop revolution, ushering in a new ear of pop music. Contrary to popular belief, K-Pop music is not the stereotypical bubblegum pop that first comes to mind when someone mentions K-Pop, nor is it the same or similar to western pop. K-Pop has its own style which is badass and the future of pop music.
Many western artists have also jumped on the K-Pop bandwagon, though some of the legitimacy of their collaborations with K-Pop stars is questionable. The most recent of these questionable collaborations being Nicki Minaj doing a guest rap verse on 'IDOL', who has long benefitted from incorporating Asian culture into her music. In wake of her feud with Cardi B, the collaboration comes across as a last-ditch effort to save her dying career, rather than a genuine want to be creative with some of the most talented artists in the world. However, other artists like Dua Lipa, who is set to release her collaboration with K-Pop girl group BlackPink on October 16th, seem to have a genuine respect for the talents of K-Pop artists.

Speaking of talent, these K-pop artists are the ultimate triple-threat which western artists will struggle to compete with. They train for years in dancing, singing and star-quality, with little-to-no focus on anything else. While this style of training is producing exceptionally high-quality dancers and vocalists, these artists miss a lot of important schooling, as well as never learning basic things such as how to use a dishwasher or open a bank account. This is a huge issue if an artist is not successful or retires, as they have nothing else they can do. More concerning is that the artists receive very little of the profits made from their music and tours, as it goes mostly to their agencies and investors, so artists have almost no money to fall back on when they retire.
K-Pop artists also face a lot of public ridicule, often more than western stars, yet in spite of the odds, these artists are creating entertaining, high-quality music which is making headways in western pop-culture and transforming the pop music industry.

Interested in listening to K-Pop, you can find links to songs at the top of the K-Pop charts below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBuZEGYXA6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNzOHi8sJs